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3 Killed In Shooting At San Diego Mosque, 2 Teen Suspects Found Dead; Police: Security Guard's "Heroic" Actions "Undoubtedly" Saved Lives; Trump Endorses Ken Paxton In TX GOP Primary Runoff Over John Cornyn; A Fresh Look At A First Lady Vilified & Misunderstood. Aired 12:30-1p ET
Aired May 19, 2026 - 12:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[12:30:00]
DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: -- we know what this does to people's mental health. Listen to what one 9-year-old said describing the incident.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ODAI SHANAH, STUDENT: I felt a bit scared. My legs were shaking and my hands. And my head was like hurting me a lot. I felt like a rock.
I went inside the closet with my whole class. We heard like 12 or like 16 gunshots and then the SWAT team said, FBI opened up and they opened the door and they went inside. They told us to put our hands up and form a big line.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Just absolutely heartbreaking. CNN's Kyung Lah is there in San Diego. It's just very difficult to hear that incredibly brave little boy, but obviously it could have been so much worse. What are we expecting as we wait for officials to update us on what happened?
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Basically just trying to figure out what could lead a teenager to do this. The focus of this investigation right now is this hate crime investigation centered around 17-year-old Cain Clark. He's been identified as one of those teenage suspects.
And I want you to listen to the mayor of San Diego as he characterizes some of the evidence, specifically the writings this young man left behind.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR TODD GLORIA (D), SAN DIEGO: It's just been relayed to me that it has to do with white supremacy. And it's why we are obviously treating this as a hate crime. While we had no specific information that would direct us to the Islamic Center of San Diego, obviously those writings are pretty damning.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LAH: So specifically those writings that he's talking about there, it is a suicide note that was found at the gunman's home where he lived with his mother. He left it behind and she discovered it. She called the police because she found them to be so disturbing.
There were three weapons that the mother then found were missing, her weapons, and then the hate rhetoric found on one of those weapons, Dana.
BASH: And the situation was very bad. It could have been, as we were talking about, so much worse. And that apparently is, thanks to a security guard, who's being hailed as a hero.
LAH: Brother Amin, that's how everyone's been characterizing him to me. And he was just over here, just over my right shoulder. His security office was right there.
And there are being -- flowers being laid. This is an interfaith mourning of this community, in large part because of what this man did. And I want you to listen to a friend of the security guard.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAM HAMIDEH, FRIEND OF SECURITY GUARD KILLED IN MOSQUE SHOOTING: I know that he knew he was sacrificing his life for the kids, because if he didn't take that bullet, they would easily walked up stairs. And then there's just innocent eight and younger and women and, you know, people that couldn't defend themselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: And just returning to how you started this, Dana, there are kids' lunchboxes strewn in the playground just outside the school. I can see it through the glass. And it is these little kids who are going to now have to live with this, Dana.
BASH: Something is terribly, terribly wrong in our society.
Thank you so much. I appreciate it.
We're going to go back to our political news, and we have some breaking news. Stay with us. We'll bring it to you after the break. Some big breaking political news out of Texas. Don't go anywhere.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:38:24]
BASH: Big political breaking news. President Trump just announced he is endorsing Ken Paxton in the Texas Republican Senate primary runoff. That is instead of the man he is challenging, the incumbent Republican Senator John Cornyn. Here's part of what the President said in a lengthy social media post.
"I know Ken well, have seen him tested at the highest and most difficult levels, and he is a winner. Ken is a strong supporter of terminating the filibuster and, very importantly, the Save America Act, something which polls at 87 percent, including Democrats, and yet can't seem to get approved."
There is a lot more in this post. Our panel is here. He does call John Cornyn a good man, which he doesn't always do when he picks a side.
Let's just take a step back here, because this is a runoff that was supposed to happen next week, May 26th. This is a runoff that started after Election Day back on March 3rd. And so this is a fight that has been going on with tens of millions of dollars spent, in fact, a total just in the runoff of $26.5 million spent that didn't need to be spent if the President was going to put his thumb on the scale the way that he did.
Texas is a huge, huge goal of Democrats. And the question now is whether Ken Paxton really is the Republican who can keep it in GOP hands. Go ahead.
JOHN BRESNAHAN, CO-FOUNDER, PUNCHBOWL NEWS: It's going to be tens of millions more they spent. I mean, the Senate Republican leadership, John Thune's allied Super PAC spent $90 million for Cornyn in the primary before March, OK, and now it's spent more money. So now they're going to have to spend another $100 million or $150 million or whatever it is.
[12:40:17]
Of course, they have the money. But Paxton's got a lot of baggage. This is going to be a tough race. Talarico is a good candidate. We were talking about this before during the commercial, like, but we have seen the Democrat hopefuls in Texas fail before. Beto, of course, Beto O'Rourke, you know, was the dream candidate for them.
So, you know, look, this is going to be -- this is going to put in place a race that they didn't have to do it if he had done it the other way. But he just -- you could tell all along he didn't want to do with -- he didn't want to support Cornyn.
BASH: And let's just also kind of think about, as we sort of digest this breaking news, how these two men have played it to try to get Trump's endorsement since that March 3rd election that led to this runoff. First of all, I think Paxton, and you see that the President alludes to this, the winning play was him announcing that he would do what he could to end the filibuster and support what the President calls the Save America Act.
And that has to do with voting rights and other things as well. And that was something that very much appealed to the President, because he said that is his top domestic legislative agenda issue.
And John Cornyn was caught a little bit flat footed. He tried to do other things like last week, tried to name, maybe he was even successful, tried to name a big highway in Texas after Donald Trump. But it didn't work out.
I mean, it was not what the President wanted. John Cornyn is doing what he can to be pro-Trump, but he's a traditional veteran Republican, maybe even more of a sort of country club Republican than Donald Trump is used to supporting in any way, shape or form.
JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: And Trump really is kind of -- he's feeling very emboldened right now, as we've seen with our last discussion, as we saw with Bill Cassidy losing last week. You've seen and we'll see what happens with Massie, obviously, tonight. But he is someone who really feels like the wind is at his back and the party is around him.
And he's been able to jettison those five Indiana lawmakers. He keeps on racking up these primary wins and packs into someone who's been a fellow traveler since go with Trump. He's been a long like not just like how some Republicans in the Senate support the President's agenda.
Paxton's been all in and clearly he's being rewarded right now, just endorsement.
BASH: Yes. I mean, we will see how --
KUCINICH: We'll see with his endorsement.
BASH: -- I mean, there's still going to be a vote -- at votes and there is still going to be a runoff election day at May 26, unless, you know, Cornyn suddenly backs out, which I don't see happening.
I do want to put up on the screen some of the numbers that we saw going into this about what these hypothetical matchups could be. So James Talarico, we know, is the Democratic candidate who wants to make this red seat blue after Democrats have been trying for decades.
If you up against John Cornyn, 33 percent against Ken Paxton, not much different, 34 percent. So if you look at, yes, he's -- Talarico's up a couple of points at 42 percent. But all things considered, right now, before, you know, the gloves are really off, it's about a wash.
ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right, before gloves are really off.
BASH: Yes.
KANNO-YOUNGS: And there is still that concern about the baggage that Ken Paxton would bring to this race. The investigations that he survived as well. My colleague Shane Goldmacher has a piece out right now about about this pick.
And also what's in there is, you know, potentially the President also felt more comfortable choosing Ken Paxton. And that speaks to how maybe little he thinks of James Talarico and his electoral, you know, prospects. However, there is concern in Republican circles that he's underestimating Talarico here, and with this pick.
It's estimated that Republicans would need to spend about $100 million more for to back Ken Paxton if he has a chance here. So there is going to be a challenge, you know, moving forward here. It also is just amazing that this endorsement is coming now --
BASH: Right, that's --
KANNO-YOUNGS: -- I have to say. Like, I was in Corpus Christi like a month or two ago when the President went to Texas and saw all of these candidates --
BASH: Yes.
KANNO-YOUNGS: -- show up there. In that speech, there was a thought that at that point an endorsement might be coming. But now to wait until the end --
BASH: Yes.
KANNO-YOUNGS: -- of this, it's --
BASH: Because -- and there was a thought because that's what the President said he was going to do.
BRESNAHAN: Yes.
KANNO-YOUNGS: That's right.
BASH: He said, I'm going to endorse soon. I'm going to go to the Hill. Manu Raju is there for us. Manu, what are you hearing in the halls there, particularly from John Cornyn's colleagues, who very much wanted him to be the person that President Trump endorsed?
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, shockwaves, anger, disappointment and real concern among Republicans in this building.
[12:45:02]
They had been lobbying President Trump for months to get behind John Cornyn. Senate Majority Leader John Thune to some of his top deputies, like the number two Republican Senator John Barrasso, had been speaking to President Trump for months, saying that they believe Cornyn was best positioned to win this race.
He could save the party so much money in a critical race and that ultimately they wanted him to get behind Cornyn early and fend off any primary challenge. And Trump continues to dilly-dally, not making a decision. His indecision on how to proceed ultimately led more candidates to jump into the race, not just Ken Paxton, but also Wesley Hunt in that first round, that primary round that ultimately no one got 50 percent of the vote.
And it led to that two-person runoff that we're seeing that will take place on Tuesday between Cornyn and Paxton. And there was a real belief here in this building that Trump would stay out of this ultimately because he had not made a decision in so long. But now that he has gotten off the fence and backed Ken Paxton to be the next senator, a lot of Republicans are fearful that it will cost him a seat, a critical seat in keeping the majority, including Senator Thune, who just moments before Trump made this announcement was in the dark.
He had no idea what Trump was going to do. He had been making that case to Trump privately to get behind John Cornyn even in the last several days. And he told our colleague Ted Barron that he was still uncertain what would happen.
And other reporter -- our colleagues caught up with Senator Lisa Murkowski, another Republican here, of course, someone who has been targeted by Trump over the years, expressing real concern that, in her view, President Trump does not quite understand what it takes to keep the United States Senate, a real profound disappointment she expressed to reporters earlier.
And I was talking to a bunch of Republicans today, too, Dana. Many of them were all on down, saying, look, we need to get behind John Cornyn. He's the best person who can help us keep the Senate. But as you saw from that endorsement announcement just moments ago, Trump's still holding that personal grudge over Cornyn, even though Cornyn voted to acquit Trump in that second impeachment trial just because he offered some criticism of Trump post-January 6.
And just because he didn't quickly endorse him in the 2024 race, he did ultimately endorse Trump. He didn't back any other primary challenger. Still, those two things were on the President's mind. It is all about loyalty for President Trump, which is why he got behind Ken Paxson and why so many Republicans are angry about this President's decision here and worried that ultimately it will cost them so much money that they can spend in other battleground states to try to push Ken Paxson over the finish line or, in the worst-case scenario, cost them a seat in trying to hold on to their very narrow majority. Dana?
BASH: Thank you so much for that excellent reporting. And it is really remarkable. The throughline of really everything that we've been reporting on all day from Kentucky to the hearings on Capitol Hill, this big pot of money that the President wants to use, taxpayer money to pay people who feel that they stood up for the President and that they were prosecuted for it. The throughline is politics of personal grievance is number one for this President.
Manu, thank you so much. We have a lot more on this breaking news. Don't go anywhere.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:52:20]
BASH: A first lady vilified as extravagant and difficult. Plenty of recent names may come to mind, but we're actually talking about a woman who lived in the White House during the Civil War. "An Inconvenient Widow: The Torment, Trial and Triumph of Mary Todd Lincoln" is the first title in our series Inside Politics Summer Reading List.
And the author, Political Journalist Lois Romano is here now. It's so good to see you.
LOIS ROMANO, AUTHOR, "AN INCONVENIENT WIDOW": It's so good to see you. Thank you for having me.
BASH: Congratulations on this terrific book. Why Mary Todd Lincoln? What brought you into her story?
ROMANO: Well, I covered first ladies, as you know, and I started researching them and I realized that she just got a bad deal. History got her wrong, or at least they got her incomplete. She comes out as a one dimensional caricature and she was actually quite consequential.
BASH: Very consequential. She lived through so many unthinkable things. Individually would have been unthinkably traumatic. The Civil War, sitting next to her husband, President Lincoln, when he was assassinated. Three of her children died.
And you write in part, "There can be just so much loss in one's life before we become incapable of tapping our reserves to push on. She had lost hope, the most painful loss of all. Regaining it would require more than regaining her footing. For now, the walls had closed in."
She was obviously, she had a lot of trauma.
ROMANO: She had a lot to carry.
BASH: But she was also, because of that, perhaps very misunderstood in a way that maybe she wouldn't be in today's times because of the way people understand mental health now versus then.
ROMANO: That's right. She would have been protected today. There's no question she had some issues. She had high anxiety, which we know could be treated so easily today. She probably had some bipolar, but they balanced each other out.
People forget that Lincoln was a depressive. And I say this, and I know maybe some historians will take issue, but I do not believe Lincoln would have become president without her because he was brilliant and an incredible strategist and he had empathy, but he was a depressive and he would go into these spunks.
And she was an engine. She persevered. She wanted to make this man president. And even her enemy said that if it wasn't for her, he might not have made it to the White House.
BASH: It's so interesting. And, by the way, that's probably true of a lot of presidents and their --
ROMANO: Maybe.
BASH: -- wives. But the fact that she is one of them, given the way that historians have written about her thus far until you've taken it on is really interesting. And you really paint a picture of a woman trapped with impossible expectations, trapped by impossible expectations.
[12:55:03]
ROMANO: Yes. And she also -- she was ahead of her time. I mean, I believe that if she had lived today, first of all, her -- whatever mental illness she had would have been harnessed and she would have been protected. But I also think she would have been a formidable first lady today. I think she would have been a very, very powerful woman. And instead, she was just minimized.
Also, after he died, the 17 years after he died were just heartbreaking. I mean, she didn't have enough money to buy a house. The title comes from this idea that nobody stepped up to help her. Everybody just wanted her to go away.
And very few people know this, but her son had her committed. And he had her committed, Dana, because --
BASH: Yes.
ROMANO: -- she shopped and went to see spiritualists.
BASH: Oh, my God.
ROMANO: She was trying to reach because all of her children died.
BASH: Lois Romano, a terrific reporter.
ROMANO: Thank you.
BASH: Obviously, this book is going to be blockbuster. Also, a terrific mom to our fantastic colleague, Kristen Holmes, who's one of the best reporters here. Thank you so much for joining us.
ROMANO: Thank you.
BASH: Thank you for joining Inside Politics. CNN News Central starts after the break.
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