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Trump: "I Don't Know" If I Have Control Of Senate GOP; Dems Scramble To Stop Texas Candidate Who Pushes Antisemitic Rhetoric Ahead Of Tuesday's Primary; Star Of HBO's "The Pitt" Pushes For Healthcare Worker Protections. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired May 21, 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 CORRESPONDENT: Just talk about that answer, especially in the context of, again, what we have seen over the last several days, that he was trying to send a message to Senate Republicans, very clear one, number one, by ousting Bill Cassidy, the Republican senator from Louisiana, supporting the Republican primary challenger who successfully won. And then making a decision to endorse incumbent Senator John Cornyn's Republican primary opponent, clearly angering a lot of Cornyn's fellow Republicans.

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That was a remarkably honest answer from the President. And I think inside this White House, we have known that they have a very limited amount of time to enact their legislative priorities. The recognition has been they have until midterms.

And so what President Trump has done by enacting this retribution internally against members of his own party is that he has effectively kneecapped that time to get anything done months ahead of the midterm elections.

BASH: And Lauren, I mean, another part of the equation here is that what the President has wanted is them to get rid of the filibuster in order to push legislation for the -- what he calls the SAVE America Act. He is really upset because it's pretty clear that Senate Republicans don't want to spend the billion dollars that he wants for security and also for his ballroom.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. And I think these Republicans are combating the fact that this isn't just one issue and then a couple weeks go by there's another issue. This came in quick succession, and the mood among Senate Republicans that I'm talking to is very dark.

I mean, I think they feel as though if John Cornyn can be challenged, and he has been pretty loyal to Donald Trump, I mean, he was the Republican whip when they passed his signature tax bill back when he was in his first term. I think there's just this feeling and this recognition that this could happen to any of them. And that really starts to sit with you if you're a Republican senator, and you do have real clear concerns with the weaponization fund, with the ballroom, with the fact that the President is constantly trying to fire the Senate parliamentarian. That stuff starts to weigh on you in a way that perhaps you are not going to be as amenable to his agenda.

BASH: Right, and we're going to take a break, but they have concerns and they also see the political reality that it's not something that you can really sell back home when you're running to a broader electorate for a lot of these Republicans.

Don't go anywhere. Up next, Democrats are scrambling to stop a Democratic House candidate who pushes not just vile antisemitic rhetoric, but policies. Who's behind the millions quietly keeping her campaign alive?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:37:10]

BASH: Democratic leaders are racing to stop a candidate for Congress in their own party, someone who pushes vile antisemitic rhetoric. Here's what's on Maureen Galindo's campaign Instagram. "She'll turn Karnes ICE Detention Center into a prison for American Zionists and former ICE officers for human trafficking. It will also be a castration processing center for pedophiles which will probably be most of the Zionists."

The hate is blatant. It is grotesque. And it is not coming from some long shot campaign. Galindo finished first -- look at that there -- first in the Democratic primary for Texas's 35th district and is on the ballot again this coming Tuesday in a runoff to be the actual Democratic congressional nominee for that district. A mysterious pack with ties to Republicans is boosting her campaign while Democrats like Senate candidate James Talarico endorse her Democratic opponent, Johnny Garcia.

My panel is back here. I just want to read Dave Weigel what she said in response, defense to the first one. She said, "My proposal for Karnes Detention Center was never for Jewish Zionists, it's for billionaire Zionists, regardless of religion. If they've done business for genocidal prison state materials or there's evidence of pedophilia from Epstein files, they should be brought to trial."

DAVID WEIGEL, POLITICS REPORTER, SEMAFOR: Right.

BASH: I mean, that definitely clears that up.

WEIGEL: Well, look, thanks to Isaac, the bar for good news for Democrats stays very low. It is actually good news for Democrats that this is getting so much attention. The Blue Dog PAC, other Democrats who were investing in this race were very worried because it's low profile, the San Antonio area, but the Rio Grande Valley.

The reason she did so well is just that people were not paying attention. They showed up to vote for James Talarico. They saw her name on ballot in Bexar County, said, sure, OK, well -- I've heard that she protested, sure, whatever.

They wanted her to become famous and they're very -- what they're doing, they're trying to jujitsu this by saying both parties have been funding PACs for years now that try to elevate a weak candidate that they want to beat. But the fact that Republicans are calling Democrats antisemitic problem and funding this candidate, they want to make that famous in Texas and elsewhere.

Because, unanimously, the -- you saw a stream of Democrats --

BASH: Yes.

WEIGEL: -- as soon as that post was reported in San Antonio on Instagram, a stream of Democrats with a very similar statement saying, I condemn this person. Of course they do. She's the kind of person who, you know, look, Lyndon LaRouche followers and neo-Nazis, these people will run in a no-win district and get a nomination. They want to prevent that and they want to make Republicans hurt for making it likelier.

BASH: You alluded to this, and this is a really big part of this dynamic here, and that is this PAC that is boosting Maureen Galindo's candidacy. It's called Lead Left, registered with the FEC, May 6th, though just last week, two weeks ago, spent nearly $1 million in Texas-35, boosted other Democrats viewed as weaker, general election candidates. And according to Punchbowl, the PAC is linked to WinRed, fundraising platform used by GOP candidates.

[12:40:27]

KLEIN: That is remarkable. And it's certainly showing something that, as David just pointed out, people on both sides of the aisle, these Super PACs have been trying to do, to elevate these weaker candidates and see if they can notch a win in these sort of low-hanging fruit districts.

BASH: And it's not new. I mean, this kind of candidate is --

WEIGEL: Right.

BASH: -- extreme in every way, but, you know, there are lots of other examples over the many years that we've been covering politics where a party and a candidate tries to boost a -- another candidate in the opposing party who they think that they can beat.

Claire McCaskill in 2012, she -- her campaign aired ads elevating Todd Akin because they thought he was easier to beat. And just a couple of years ago, the DCCC, the Democratic Party, successfully boosted an election denier, John Gibbs, in a primary against Michigan Congressman Peter Meijer. And Peter Meijer was somebody who was sort of helpful to Democrats in his fight against Donald Trump. It didn't matter because they really wanted the seat.

FOX: Yes, I mean, it's not illegal to do this.

BASH: No. FOX: And it is certainly something that requires voters to be extremely invested in educating themselves on. And it's purposefully very hard to figure out where this money is coming from, right? These groups that run ads, they say where the money's coming from at the end, but it sure sounds like a Democratic group, right?

BASH: Yes, and real quick, that's the key. It is not illegal.

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Right, it's not illegal.

BASH: And it's also not illegal that we don't know it's -- that it's dark money.

DOVERE: But it's also putting that out into the world and that is the choice of the people who are in the groups are making to put that out into the world.

BASH: Yes, that's very true.

Thank you all.

Coming up, from TV scrubs to Capitol Hill, Noah Wyle is advocating for real healthcare workers right here in Washington today. We got to tag along in a CNN exclusive.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:46:22]

BASH: You may know him as Dr. Michael Robinavitch from "The Pitt," which airs on CNN's sister network, HBO.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please, please don't fire me.

NOAH WYLE, EMMY AWARD WINNING ACTOR & EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, "THE PITT": This is Dr. Michael Robinavitch. I'm the chief of emergency medicine at PTMC. If you fire her, she will sue you and I will testify on her behalf.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Or Dr. John Carter from the 90s hit show "ER." But this week, Noah Wyle is right here in Washington. This morning, he led a rally of real life healthcare workers on Capitol Hill to lobby for things like mental health resources and tax credits for those working in areas with the greatest need.

I joined Noah on the Hill as he walked the halls with doctors and nurses pushing for more help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Welcome to Washington.

WYLE: Nice to meet you, Dana.

BASH: Nice to see you.

WYLE: Nice to see you, too.

Honor to meet you.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R), MAINE: It's Susan Collins.

WYLE: A pleasure to meet you, Senator.

SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D), CONNECTICUT: Hey, how are you? Chris Murphy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

WYLE: It's wonderful to be here. This is my second trip to D.C. with FIGS and their ambassadors to try to lobby for some meaningful legislation that will help healthcare professionals.

BASH: We're used to seeing you in scrubs walking into a trauma unit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Robby?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no! You can't do this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, you're in a suit walking the halls of Congress.

WYLE: Yes. This is a little bit out of my comfort zone, but I am always amazed when I come to this city and get to see how sausage gets made. You know, I'm basically a Trojan horse that's trying to get some very unbelievable people inside the halls of Congress so they can speak their truths to people that will listen because I'm in the room.

The Lorna Breen Act, which got passed last year by Congress, now just needs to be funded. So we're here trying to ask for that funding, at least $45 million, so that all the programs that go under the Lorna Breen Act, all those mental health resources can get out there and be continuing to do the effective work that they're doing.

I brought Dr. Elisabeth Potter with me, who is an extremely talented plastic surgeon.

DR. ELISABETH POTTER, BOARD CERTIFIED PLASTIC SURGEON: It's 2025 and insurance just keeps getting worse.

WYLE: Dr. Potter was in the middle of a surgery, got called out by an insurance company.

POTTER: And the gentleman said he needed some information about her, wanted to know her diagnosis and whether her inpatient stay should be justified. And I was like, do you understand that she's asleep right now and she has breast cancer? And what proceeded to happen was that the healthcare company, the insurance company, sicced a group of lawyers on me and told me to be quiet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WYLE: The most important things I've ever done in my life have been in this hospital. Nothing will ever matter more than what I've done in this hospital, but it is killing me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: When you are in the writer's room and you're coming up with these storylines about, I mean, the main one I would say is Dr. Robby, you, and the mental health challenges that you are having as his character and how much that will affect and maybe help real world doctors.

WYLE: It is baked into the intentionality of our show, is to do this as accurately as possible so that we give context to people and families of people who are in these jobs to understand what they do for a living.

Watching a show like "The Pitt" is a little bit like exposure therapy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the nurses for why I'm here. So --

WYLE: Why I'm here too.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There you go.

BASH: What's the most important thing that you want these lawmakers to know?

WYLE: Cancer isn't partisan. Heart disease isn't partisan. So healthcare policies shouldn't be partisan either. So few of these policies actually go into helping the lives of the people that are actually doing the work. There's a lot of stuff that's patient- centric, there's very little that's actually practitioner-centric.

[12:50:06]

So that's what we're trying to do, is just put a little bit more awareness on the trials and tribulations of the people who put our broken pieces back together every day.

I'm pretending like I know where I'm going.

Brought my mom with me because my mother --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm retired nursing but --

WYLE: -- because she's the expert. 50 years --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Been a nurse for almost 50 years. WYLE: This is a multi-generational effort and getting to have my professional career and my mother's professional career dovetailed together in an act of advocacy that then is witnessed by my daughter who just said to me as we were walking down the hall, "Dad, I think I might want to be a doctor when I grow up."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I really admire that he's used his success as a platform for medical professionals. It's really, really heartwarming and it's been so nice to meet you.

WYLE: Sometimes you need something that has a visceral impact. I feel oddly comfortable here.

BASH: You do?

WYLE: I could have been on the West Wing. I think I could have handled a walk and talk with Rob Lowe.

BASH: You do? I mean, I am no Rob Lowe, but, you know. You do a lot of walking.

WYLE: Nobody's perfect. Nobody'd perfect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And you see him here on set. Noah Wyle will be here live after a quick break. Don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[12:55:54]

WYLE: I'm the son of a nurse who spent 50 years caring for other people, and I've spent decades trying to do justice to what she and the rest of you actually do. That is the only credential I am claiming today.

Every major change in healthcare has started with somebody brave enough to say, this is not working. It could be better. Healthcare is human. Not a symbol, not a slogan, not an endless resource -- human. And a health care system that forgets that fails us all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: That was just like an hour ago, and Noah Wyle is here with me now.

WYLE: Fresh, fresh from the fight.

BASH: Welcome to Inside Politics. How was it yesterday? And do you feel like you made headway?

WYLE: I think we did. I found -- this is the second trip we've made with FIGS and their ambassadors to try and push this legislation. Last year, doors opened but, you know, not that wide. This year, I felt like they were thrown wide open for us, and that may be a byproduct of "The Pitt's" popularity.

And also could be that a lot of the issues we're talking about are now on the forefront of their constituents' agendas. And so they're forced to talk about it.

BASH: And you're -- I mean, you make clear when we talked on the Hill, part of the reason you put storylines in is because they're on the forefront of their constituents' lives.

WYLE: We take meetings with all sorts of experts before we start writing the show and off of that data, we craft storylines that are really reflective of what's happening out there.

BASH: Two big issues. You talk about a lot of big issues, but two of the big ones that you focused on on Season 2 of "The Pitt" are violence against healthcare professionals. That was Season 1 as well, but also access to health insurance and to affordable prescription drugs.

Let's watch a few of those moments.

WYLE: Sure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm just checking your vital signs. Oh!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where am I? Why -- you're killing (ph) me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The hospital is giving you a big discount and Mr. Diaz, I know it's not ideal, but can you stay for at least 12 hours? It would get you out of the danger zone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. I really can't. Every minute I stay is a meal, shoes, school supplies.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does he take any other medications?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just the albuterol. He used to be on montelukast and symbicort.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why did you stop that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because he lost his Medicaid two months ago.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Noah, what are the conversations like around preparing those scenes?

WYLE: Well, for those particular storylines, we talked to a lot of people that were looking at how many people are going to fall off the insurance rolls in January when the Big Beautiful Bill comes to fruition and how many people are going to find themselves making just enough to not qualify for one plan and too little to qualify for another.

That used to be a very small gap, and now that gap is really widening. So people like that character of Orlando find themselves in this, you know, really unfortunate place of he's a diabetic, he has to pay for his insulin, he's taken out two jobs to do so, he's got medical debt. Coming to the hospital and DKA is going to increase that medical debt.

And like Willy Loman in "Death of a Salesman," he comes to realize that his death -- his life is actually worth more dead than alive with the health insurance and the burden. So that was a way of humanizing something that is becoming a major topic in American life right now.

BASH: OK, let's talk about some hints for Season 3.

WYLE: Season 3? All right.

BASH: We got to talk about Baby Jane Doe. Season 2 ends --

WYLE: Yes.

BASH: -- in part with Dr. Robby holding Baby Jane Doe. Any hints on what happens?

WYLE: One abandoned soul holding another --

BASH: Yes.

WYLE: -- trying to offer words of reassurance that he really wants to hear himself. And perhaps just that human connection will be enough to keep him on the side of the sabbatical that we don't want him to go on.

BASH: What about the baby?

WYLE: I -- you know, there's been a lot of speculation as to whether Robby takes that baby home. I maintain that a baby is not a life preserver to throw a drowning man.

BASH: But we're going to know what happens to the baby.

WYLE: I would like to eventually have Robby reach a place where he could have taken Baby Jane Doe home. But I don't think he's quite ready yet, but we'll get in there.

BASH: OK. Thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate it.

WYLE: Entirely my pleasure. It's always great to speak with you.

BASH: It's great to speak with you and clearly what you are doing along with the real-life healthcare professionals over these past couple of days is -- it seems to be -- it sounds like you're committing (ph) to it well.

WYLE: Trying to do what we can do.

BASH: Yes. WYLE: That's all.

BASH: Noah, thanks.

WYLE: Pleasure.

BASH: Appreciate it.

And thank you for joining Inside Politics. CNN News Central starts right now.