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Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump's - Anti-Weaponization Fund; Trump Voters Weigh In On Trump's Handling Of Epstein Files; New Video Of First Survivor Rescued From Flooded Cave In Laos; Now - Trump In Situation Room Weighing Iran 60-Day Agreement; Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired May 29, 2026 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[12:00:00]

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DANA BASH, ANCHOR AND CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: A judge hits pause on the President's massive payback fund. I'm Dana Bash. Let's go behind the headlines and inside politics.

It is a very, very busy Friday morning here in Washington on Capitol Hill. Former Attorney General Pam Bondi just finished testifying about her handling of the Epstein files, and she is pretty clearly trying very hard to throw Todd Blanche, who was her deputy and now at least an acting successor, straight under the bus. We're going to get to that in a moment. But first, a federal judge in Virginia is temporarily blocking the administration so-called Anti-Weaponization Fund intended to pay Trump allies and supporters who claimed they were wrongly targeted by the federal government.

I'm joined here by a terrific group of reporters and analysts, and we have Elie Honig here. Someone just in. Just slid right in. I do want before we get to the politics, which are important, can you just talk about what Judge Brinkema in Virginia actually did?

ELIE HONIG, FORMER ASST. U.S. ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NY: So this is a pause, a temporary hold that will last about two weeks. The judge has not issued any opinion on whether this fund is legal or illegal, constitutional or unconstitutional. She has simply said, I want to hear arguments. I want to receive briefs. The key thing though, she said, no money is to leave until I'm done. So she has put a pause on this. And I will say, it's a brief order. It's sort of formalistic. But there's a definitive note of skepticism towards this fund along the lines of saying, essentially, I don't trust that money is not going to start leaking out the door. So nobody pay out anything until I say so, because I need to see this. I need to hear the legal briefs. I need to consider them with some degree of deliberation. So don't try to expedite this and start paying out.

BASH: Yeah. And the fact of the matter is that while this is on pause, not blocked, but pause. This is against the backdrop of now two weeks of the President's fellow Republicans, many of them pushing back on this whole notion of taxpayer dollars, almost 2 billion taxpayer dollars being used for his supporters. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. BRIAN FITZPATRICK, (R) PENNSYLVANIA: I represent a very minded district in Bucks and Montgomery Counties in Pennsylvania, and they're going to get independent minded representation. They don't like this fund. They don't like money going to the ballroom.

REP. MIKE FLOOD, (R) NEBRASKA: I do not want $1 of that going to anybody who physically assaulted police officers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do not support the Weaponization Fund as it has been described.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just don't know how this puppy dog will work.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This whole thing smells.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. But I'll do everything in my power to prevent this from being in it. Believe me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: John?

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, especially the ones that are on the ballot this year. Tom Tillis is not running for an election, but he also represents a rural state. They're going home to states where a lot of their rural residents, a lot of Trump voters have lost their Obamacare subsidies. The price of gas has gone way up because of the Iran war. The price of groceries is up. You saw a new another inflation report this week saying inflation, they'll stay up. So they're going home to what they would call facts on the ground. And facts on the ground are, if you're going to spend a federal dollar, those people are going to ask, why are you not spending it on us?

And in the case of the health care subsidies, you took it from us. You took our help, and now you're helping your rich friends. Now the President's contrarian argument is Ken Paxton in Texas, this fund, so many other things that appeal direct to the mega base. One of the Republican problems in this cycle is turning out Trump voters, turning out disaffected Republicans. So we're going to talk in a second about the Epstein files. So if you're mad about the Epstein files, I'll give you this. So it's a competing debate about what this is about, but the President is clearly playing to the base and the anger and the rage. And a lot of Republicans who have to go home and run-in semi competitive places or competitive places are saying, dear god, this does not work.

BASH: Well, let's talk about the Epstein files because Pam Bondi did just finish testifying behind closed doors. They did release a statement. She, of course, now is a former Attorney General, released a statement, saying that she did not lead every aspect of this effort or conduct that document review myself. This is the key here. I delegated oversight over this process to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. End scene.

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Classic Washington dig. I mean, this is don't blame me. And let's not forget, she was fired. And now the acting Attorney General, Todd Blanche, who she is saying was responsible, really wants the job.

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So look, it's a shame her testimony is not being videotaped today. We will not see it. But from past experience, she can be very aggressive in hearings, to say the least. So we both --

BASH: By the cameras. Who knows what she's like now.

GANGEL: Yes. For, but we'll see a transcript. Look, there's one other thing that I think is interesting here. She did apologize, and she rarely does. She said there were redaction errors. That is notable. She also said she was deeply sorry for what victims had been through. But the line of the statement, what you just said, throwing Todd Blanche under the bus.

MARIANNA SOTOMAYOR, CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT, PUCK: And it seems like Democrats are very much taking advantage of the fact that she continually in the room said this is Todd Blanche's fault. Democrats just came out and gaggled, and the Ranking Member, Robert Garcia, made that very clear that that was a position she constantly took. What I did hear from some in the room is that she did not plead the fifth. Some members were thinking that could happen. There was bipartisan call to put this on camera, make sure there was much more transparency. She didn't plead the fifth, but apparently would not answer any questions directly that had to do with Trump, what Trump knew, his involvement, any of this.

HONIG: There's an interesting intersection here happening between the law and politics, which is obviously Todd Blanche wants the job. All our reporting, Paula Reid and others reporting is that it's going well. He's pleasing Donald Trump. Now I think he's got two big issues. One, we just saw Pam Bondi say, look at him on the Epstein files. That's him. He's going to have to condemn with that. And two, the slush fund, the Weaponization Fund, is wildly unpopular. I mean, John, as you pointed out, we saw senate Republicans last week in full on revolt. Ted Cruz said publicly they were screaming at Todd Blanche. So I think he's starting to carry some baggage. Maybe it doesn't displease the President, but there's also that tricky fact that he needs 50 plus votes to get confirmed in the senate.

BASH: Right. And there's that. And then I do want to go back to more of what you're hearing, John, from voters that you met a couple of years ago and ended up voting for Donald Trump in 2024. You've been doing new series all over the map talking to just streaming on All Access. But talking to, voters and getting their sense of where they are now on key issues. This conversation is about the Epstein files.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was cynically lying to get my vote or whether there was powers that be that have stopped it. I don't know. And quite frankly, I'm not sure if I really care at this point, but he betrayed the promise. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're not giving him enough time. They're already on top of him. Like, I feel like he's the only one that's mentioning the children out of this whole thing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I think about Russia and I think about all of these attacks that they've made against President Trump, it makes me believe that there are ulterior motives to this deal, and they will do anything they can to take him down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When there is smoke, there is fire. And sometimes, there's just smoke.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: I mean, that last line in particular is to me is sort of classic Trump supporter. You just want to believe everything that he is saying.

KING: And yet, all four of those Trump voters, different states, different ages, different relationships with Trump. Some are all in, some are more reluctant Trump voters. All four said they think the President should testify about this. And they all said they think he should testify now about this. All four also said that was not going to happen. They didn't think that was going to happen while he was President of the United States, if ever. But there is this, look they were promised by Pam Bondi, by Kash Patel, by all these people that this is going to be full transparency. And now they see anything but. And so they know there's -- they all know there's something going on. If you talk about in the context of hearings, Democrats say, then they get tribal.

When you talk about survivors and don't they demand transparency and don't they deserve fairness and respect in a more civil conversation, it's a completely different conversation. And so if you take the politics out of it, they want to know what happened and their President did not deliver on his promise.

BASH: That's really fascinating about the way to talk about it, which is, by the way, the way people should be talking about it regardless of politics because it is about the survivors and trying to find a way for them to have peace and justice.

OK. We are following breaking news on the other side of the world like only CNN can. The first survivor is now out of a cave in the nation of Laos, plus exclusive CNN reporting James Talarico's primary opponent says maybe Democrats should stay out of Texas and put their resources into states like Georgia and Alaska instead. Ouch. Stay with us.

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BASH: We're following breaking news on a daring rescue mission inside a flooded cave in Laos. CNN just obtained brand new video of the first survivor making it out safely after more than a week trapped underground.

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What a remarkable breakthrough. The men entered the cave in search of gold, then torrential rains unleashed flash flooding, and it cut off their escape route and left them stuck really deep underground. Rescue operations are now suspended for the evening, but the mission is far from over. CNN is the only news outlet at the rescue site. Will Ripley and Kocha Olarn have been in contact with the rescue team throughout the mission, and they interviewed one of the divers moments ago learning about the condition of that one villager who is now safe. The four waiting to emerge and also two are missing.

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KOCHA OLARN, CNN PRODUCER: He just said that today's extraction activities will suspend for tonight. They will resume again at 9:00 a.m. The reason is that all the divers and rescuers are very, very tired. So the guys that he retrieved today has some problem with his hands and foots because it's been in the water and damped area for a long time. And he has some problem at his stomach. Four of them started to have some illness already. Some of them have like stomach issues, some of them have skin issues and also the skin at their hands and their feet have some problem because they have been in a damp area for a very long time and some of them have intestines issues because they didn't have like, they didn't go to toilet for a very long time.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Man. So when do they think they might be able to get them out? It's in the morning?

KENGKARD BONGKAWONG, THAI RESCUE DRIVER (translated): OK. So he explains that they try to start their job in the morning, but it's also pretty much depending on the understandings of these survivors, the remaining falls. He has to see that how much this survivor understands the procedures diving out of the flooded chambers. So he cannot say for a certain if, like, if there'll be more tomorrow, how many people would be ready to come out.

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BASH: I want to bring in Charlie Roberson, a cave diving expert. Charlie, thank you so much for being here. You've been involved in cave rescues before. This one seems particularly complicated. As much as you know about what's going on in there, what are you -- what is your sense of what to expect in the near future, particularly given the fact that they have suspended operations overnight so that the divers can rest?

CHARLIE ROBERTSON, FOUNDER & CEO, FATHOM DIVE SYSTEMS: Thanks for having me, Dana. There's a few challenges that they face. The first is zero visibility conditions. Anytime that there's a flooding event where these caves become flooded, like in the Thai rescue, the conditions are very poor. These caves are already muddy and when they're flooded with water, the visibility is completely zero.

So you have rescuers that are trying to find these individuals and trying to bring them out in zero visibility conditions. Now, one of the ways that they're going to do that is they're going to put a continuous guideline in so that they don't get lost within the cave and that they can find their way out as well. But really I think the biggest challenge that they're facing is the risk of panic. And this is the risk of panic by the individuals that they're trying to rescue. These are not experienced cave divers. Obviously they've been in the caves before in dry conditions, but it's quite different when you're underwater.

And it sounds like they're trying to teach these guys how to breathe off a regulator, how to dive, and how to be least comfortable enough to exit the cave.

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But that is a huge ask that we've -- I've been doing this for 30 years and these kind of conditions would be difficult for even an experienced cave diver.

BASH: We saw one of the people trapped for about a week finally come out, which was really dramatic. One of the things that I've been wondering is, as the diver, when you go in, do you just rescue the first person you see? How do you determine who goes first?

ROBERTSON: I suspect that there has been some discussion and like there was in the Thai cave rescue they made some determinations about who should go first and who should come later. It's quite possible that they chose the person that's the strongest to go first because inevitably you're going to learn things from that. It's sort of counterintuitive.

BASH: Yeah.

ROBERTSON: Well, I think it's kind of the first go and you're going to learn things and you're going to improve as you go. So you probably want the guy that's in the best condition and the strongest to go first. And this is probably why that they've suspended the operations. One, I'm sure they've been working around the clock, so I'm sure the rescuers are very tired, which is going to put everybody in danger.

But also that I'm sure they learned something from this first rescue, and they probably want to adjust and change the way they're doing it, maybe just slightly. And they may also feel that the other four not quite ready. They haven't been prepped enough that they need more time with them breathing on the regulator underwater so that they don't panic, because that's really the biggest risk. If somebody panics, they not only put themselves at risk, but they put the rescuer at risk as well.

BASH: So fascinating. Thank you so much for coming on and explaining what you think is going on based on, as you said, your 30 years of experience.

ROBERTSON: Thank you. And up next, even more breaking news. President Trump says he's making a decision, "As we speak, on whether to sign a short term agreement with Iran." We're going to go live to the White House after a quick break.

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BASH: The breaking news were following here in Washington is at the White House President Trump is meeting in the Situation Room right now to discuss an agreement with Iran. CNN's Kevin Liptak is live at the White House. Kevin, what are you hearing from your sources about what's really happening there?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah. And the way we understand this has all unfolded is that Iran came back to the U.S. negotiators a little bit earlier this week to say that they were comfortable with the text of this agreement. President Trump asked his advisers for a few more days to make a decision on whether to agree to it. Now he is inside the situation room, making what he calls a final determination on whether to sign off on this memorandum of understanding.

We saw just about an hour ago members of the President's National Security Team arriving here to the White House, including the Secretary of State, the Vice President, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I think something that the President is going to press them on is what specifically has Iran agreed to as part of this understanding.

And in his Truth Social post, he does tick through a number of the points that he is insisting that Iran give in to his demands on, including that they say that they never be able to have a nuclear weapon. That, of course, is sort of the underpinning of these negotiations. He says that the Strait of Hormuz must be immediately open, without any tolls. He also says that the naval blockade that the U.S. has had in place on Iranian ports is now lifted. And that is interesting because, of course, the deal hasn't been signed yet, but the President seems to be suggesting, that the blockade is over.

Now when it comes to the highly enriched uranium, which is one of the most contentious issues in all of these discussions. The President is suggesting that it will be taken possession of by the United States and destroyed. And that is interesting because our understanding had been that this memorandum of understanding would essentially put off the question of what happens to that, near bomb grade material for further negotiations for another round of talks over the next 60 days to try and work out some of these thorny issues, of Iran's nuclear program. The President here suggesting that there is in fact a solution at hand, which is that the U.S. would take possession of it.

We have not heard that from Iran. In fact, we have not heard much from Iran at all when it comes, to what exactly is in this final text, and that I think will be a key detail before any of this is finalized.

BASH: Yeah. One of many key details before any of this is finalized. Thank you so much, Kevin, for that excellent reporting.