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Now: Trump In Situation Room Weighing Iran 60-Day Agreement; Talarico Working To Win Black Voters Who Backed Crockett; Crockett Questions Whether Dems Should Invest In Texas Senate Race; Some Maine Female Voters Struggle To Look Beyond Platner's Past. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired May 29, 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]

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: -- 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.

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, one of many key details before any of this is finalized.

Thank you so much, Kevin, for that excellent reporting.

John King, the -- I mean, maybe they'll pull a rabbit out of a hat. But the notion that Iran is suddenly going to say, here, the United States, take all of our enriched uranium, and we're going to open the Strait of Hormuz while we're at it. It would be fantastic if all of that happened. But the -- color me skeptical.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: For good reasons, history and facts, even just the facts during this conflict. Look, we have to pay as close attention to this as we can and trust the great reporting of Kevin and the rest of our White House team. But facts are facts. The President said this war would be over in a few days. It's not.

They say there's a ceasefire right now. There's things flying and bombing and blowing up all the time. The timelines the President has laid out in the past have simply not held up. The things he has said about the United States taking or getting the nuclear materials in the past have not held up.

You're right. We should hope for that day. But if you put Truth Social post back up, you don't need to do that. Most of what's in it is just not factual. It doesn't match up what happened here. So that's the problem we have here.

You have a geopolitical crisis, life and death crisis, deep impact on the global economy, and the words of the President of the United States that simply don't pass the smell test most of the time.

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Can I just add to the skepticism here? First of all, welcome to negotiating with the Iranians. And yes, President Trump says he wants a few more days. Everyone would like a deal, yes.

But as our Global Affairs Analyst Brett McGurk said last night on CNN, and he has been through this a lot, until there's a deal, there's not a deal. Almost, near, close doesn't count. And this is simply to negotiate another round of talks.

BASH: Yes, yes.

All right, everybody stand by. Up next, Jasmine Crockett may not be on the ballot, but she could be a really important factor in the Texas Senate race. We have brand new reporting on why Democrats are pushing to get her in Talarico's corner, which hasn't happened yet.

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[12:36:56]

BASH: James Talarico in Texas may have a Jasmine Crockett problem. That's according to some really terrific reporting by our colleague CNN's Patrick Svitek in, quote, "How James Talarico is working to win over Black voters who strongly backed Jasmine Crockett." I strongly encourage you to go on CNN.com and read that.

In the meantime, we'll tell you a lot about what's in it. The problem for Talarico is that Jasmine Crockett doesn't seem ready to help. After a really bruising primary where Crockett accused Talarico supporters of racial undertones, she appears to be advising Democratic donors, maybe spend your money outside of Texas.

Crockett's spokesperson said in a statement to CNN that Democrats need to make tough decisions on where to prioritize spending, saying, quote, "Do they invest in Texas -- in a Texas long shot or double down in states where they've won statewide such as Alaska and Georgia?"

I mean, wow, that's pretty incredible. And Mariana, I'm just going to read part of James Talarico's statement. It's also part of the story. "As the candidate at the top of the ticket, it's on me to earn the trust and support of black voters that have been taken for granted by the National Democratic Party for far too long."

MARIANNA SOTOMAYOR, CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT, PUCK: I mean, what a way to blow some steam out of Talarico just earlier this week, right? He -- all Democrats kind of going and saying, OK, he has momentum and it's possible maybe that he could flip Texas once and for all. And then you have this pretty incredible Crockett statement saying, well, I don't know. I don't think that's possible, making it pretty clear that his campaign does have to court her.

And it's interesting, Patrick did talk to a number of Black advocates in key parts of Texas, obviously, Talarico going and trying to meet with all of them. And they're saying, you know, we need to look past what happened in the primary and get behind the Democratic candidate. But Crockett has a different kind of constituency.

BASH: Yes.

SOTOMAYOR: It's younger. She has a crazy social media outreach.

BASH: Yes.

SOTOMAYOR: Huge donor base. So that is helpful. And it's something that he definitely, I think, needs to be able to confidently go into the general.

BASH: And specifically on the black vote in Texas, black voters make up about 14 percent in the electorate --

SOTOMAYOR: Right.

BASH: -- which is not small. Hispanic voters make up 32 percent of the electorate.

GANGEL: Right. This is going to be a tough race. This is going to be an ugly race. The negative ads we're going to see in this may be historic. He needs every single vote. She used a word in that statement that jumped out long shot. It's as if she's not even giving him a chance.

BASH: Yes. Our colleague Laura Coates talked to the Democrat who came closest to turning a statewide seat blue, and that's Beto O'Rourke, and here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR: How important is it for him to be able to win over Black voters in Texas?

BETO O'ROURKE (D), 2028 TEXAS SENATE CANDIDATE: It's critical. I mean, I think it's the ballgame. They'll say something about Jasmine Crockett. I think, like James Talarico, she is a generational talent.

She has more star power than anyone I can think of in Texas apart from James Talarico. When she uses that to connect with the electorate here, I think James is going to have more than an even shot of winning this in November.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[12:40:25]

KING: Well, that's someone who understands the math and how hard it is in Texas, which is why two things. One, the Crockett statement says go to Georgia or Alaska. It's not enough. Democrats have to get to 51, right?

So they have to hold their own, Michigan and Georgia. And then you've got to find some others. Then you've got -- still got to find --

BASH: Not give up the one you have.

KING: Yes. Is it -- right. So if you keep Michigan and Georgia, then you've still got to be, is it Ohio? Is it North Carolina? Is it Maine? Is it Texas and Alaska? You need four of those five, right? And so you can't write off Texas, number one.

Number two, you can run these numbers. I was running these numbers the other day. I have a friend who was running these numbers. I ran into Ron Brownstein yesterday in the building here. He's more of a turbo nerd than I am. He's running --

BASH: He runs a lot of numbers.

KING: Yes, he's running the numbers. In Texas, you have to be perfect. They need high Latino turnout, numbers, raw numbers, and a giant percentage of that vote. They need some corn in Republicans, moderate Republicans to say, I can't vote for Ken Paxton.

And they need every eligible Black voter they can to vote for them. If there's any cracks in the math, it does not work. You get close again. You make a race of it again. And you have disappointment again, unless the math is perfect. He needs everybody.

BASH: All right. Everybody, coming up, will Maine turn the tide in the Senate? We just heard about a lot of states that John was talking about. Well, he went to a key one, to the state of Maine, talking to female voters wrestling with doubts about the Democratic candidate, Graham Platner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMILY BRUCE PLUMB, MAINE VOTER: I don't have all I need to be 100 percent behind him.

VIRGINIA SHAFFER, MAINE VOTER: There are some problematic things there, but I think that we really do need to think about people who understand life as it is today for working community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[12:46:21]

BASH: Maine is home to lobster rolls and one of the most watched Senate races in the entire country. Now, if Democrats have a chance of taking back control of the Senate, they almost surely need to beat longtime Republican incumbent Susan Collins in November.

Democrat Graham Platner, he had a quick rise, but with it came baggage from his past, including a now-since-covered-up Nazi tattoo and years- old offensive Reddit comments. CNN's John King went to Maine to see how Platner's past is sitting with voters, notably women.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KING (voice-over): The Portland headlight at Cape Elizabeth. Nearly half of Maine's population lives near the gorgeous southeast coast, and there are lots of these. KING: Do you stay with a known entity in which you have a lot of recent disappointments, Senator Collins? Or do you go with an unknown, a young political newcomer who has said some things that piss you off? Perfect.

KING (voice-over): Southeast Maine votes big-time blue. Portland and the towns an hour or so north and south are critical to any Democrat running statewide.

Yes, Graham Platner is a phenomenon, but Emily Bruce Plumb is proof he still has a math problem.

PLUMB: I don't have all I need to be 100 percent behind him.

KING (voice-over): A Democratic Senate to stymie Trump would be a dream, and she's willing to move past shocking things Platner has said about women and sexual assault.

PLUMB: What I like about the moment and the amount of people who are forgiving of the things he said is that it's not this purist cancel culture. I like that. I think we need to be able to give people second chances.

KING (voice-over): But she can't get to yes, despite all her Democratic friends who say stopping Trump is much more important than any Platner shortcomings.

KING: Can you see any circumstance, if you got to the end and didn't see that, that you would vote for Senator Collins?

PLUMB: No.

KING: Does that mean he gets your vote even if it's a reluctant vote, or is there a possibility you would skip the race?

PLUMB: That depends. I'm going to give him every benefit of the doubt. I want to want to vote for him. Yes.

SHAFFER: It's a great spot.

KING (voice-over): Bath is about 40 miles up the coast. This is the northern end of Casco Bay. Like Platner, Virginia Shaffer is an oyster farmer, Lady Oyster to those who come for her tours and tastings.

SHAFFER: That's the sweetest part of the oyster, the adductor muscle.

KING: OK.

SHAFFER: But that's probably enough because it's looking a little pre- chewed at this point, so. It's sort of a beautiful art. I fell in love with it, you know, 12 years ago.

KING: Kind of hard to imagine this becoming this.

SHAFFER: Truly.

KING (voice-over): Big generational change is more important to Schaffer than Platner's imperfections.

SHAFFER: I'm going to live a long life, and it's OK to give someone without some experience who really knows me and knows my lifestyle a shot.

There are some problematic things there, but I think that we really do need to think about people who understand life as it is today for working community.

KING (voice-over): Rockland is another 45 miles north along Maine's jagged coast. Winning big here is a Platner must. Brenda Garrand voted for Susan Collins four times, dating back to 1996, but not when Senator Collins won her fifth term in 2020 after the first four years of Trump.

BRENDA GARRAND, MAINE VOTER: She hasn't stood up in the way she should and could.

KING (voice-over): Not long ago, Garrand was both a never Trumper and a never Platner.

GARRAND: Platner wrote to avoid rape, women should, quote, "act like an adult for (INAUDIBLE) sake."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Graham Platner seriously. We blame the victim.

[12:50:01]

KING (voice-over): But Governor Janet Mills quit the race in April.

GARRAND: And now one finds oneself unexpectedly in a position where you've got to look at the situation as it exists.

KING (voice-over): To Garrand, Platner's everyman branding is, to be polite, incomplete, given his family resources and private school education.

GARRAND: I think it's clear to most of us that have lived in Maine for a long time that there are people that are authentic and there are people that put on a flannel shirt and try hard. He's got all the Mamdani sauce and more. And part of that's because he was found and brought forward by a very, very smart group of individuals with a lot of money.

KING (voice-over): And yet this.

GARRAND: As it sits today, I would vote for Platner. Do you abstain? Do you choose the best of the two worst options? And for me at this moment, the compelling logic is I want to make sure that the Senate becomes a Democrat institution, at least as we parse between now and 2028.

KING (voice-over): Keep heading north and veer a little inland and you are soon in the other main. The second district covers 90 percent of the state's land, Bangor, one of its few blue dots.

SARAH HENTGES, MAINE VOTERS: We might let the hands rest on the tops of the lakes.

KING (voice-over): Sarah Hentges owns this yoga studio, isn't independent because the Democratic Party isn't liberal enough for her.

HENTGES: A lot of people would probably describe me as being far left. I didn't go of competition with ourselves and with each other.

KING (voice-over): She was worried when she heard things Platner had said about women, was surprised Governor Mills dropped out, sought advice from friends who follow politics more closely.

HENTGES: Would I prefer to have a radical feminist to vote for? Probably. Is that who's going to be in this campaign? No. The bigger concern would be the ability for the Democrats to take the Senate and be able to block Trump.

KING: The energy around the excitement about the Democratic newcomer, Platner, is obvious if you spend just a little bit of time here. But it's also worth remembering Senator Collins is a survivor and she is unique in today's politics. Collins, for example, the only Republican senator to represent a state won by Kamala Harris in 2024. She's also the only Republican senator to win in 2020 in a state also carried by Joe Biden that year.

KING (voice-over): Thirty years in the Senate is enough for some voters. But there's a reason Micky Young drives from one rural town to another for breakfast. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

MICKY YOUNG, MAINE VOTER: There's nothing against the others that are running, the new ones that are running, but why stop a good thing when you don't have to?

KING (voice-over): Young voted all three times for Trump.

JAMIE LAWLER, MAINE VOTER: Oh, how is that?

KING (voice-over): Same for Jamie Lawler, who sometimes mixes politics with waiting tables, sometimes knows better than to chime in.

LAWLER: I feel so if you're a full Trumper, you're a full Trumper. You know, and it's like your child. Your child does something wrong. You're still going to keep your child, still your child. He's a President. He's going to be a President.

KING (voice-over): So Platner's stop Trump argument won't work with Lawler. She's conservative and sees no reason right now to vote Collins into retirement. But she says Platner deserves a look between now and November. There is one clear opening.

KING: What's the biggest issue in your life right now, whether it's a great joy or stress?

LAWLER: The war is going on just because it affects everybody. And it's definitely affecting us here.

KING: And when you say affecting you here, is that gas prices -- LAWLER: Gas prices or --

KING: -- or mood of people or?

LAWLER: Mostly the gas prices. I mean, it's just -- and like you said, we live rurally. So we're not in town driving, you know, we're traveling 30, 40 miles to go to work. And that adds up after a while, you know, $200 a week to do gas.

KING (voice-over): One giant choice in November. Stay the course or go new and blue.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: And John is here now. I learned so much from that piece and those women, not the least of which is the palpable tension and, you know, sort of emotional torture that they're going through. Emily, at the beginning, this to me just summed it up. I want to want to vote for him.

KING: Yes. And then a long pause.

BASH: Platner.

KING: Yes. Yes. She wants to get there. She's a Democrat. She's got an Obama poster in her office. She's got a vote democracy poster in her office. She doesn't like Senator Collins because she thinks Senator Collins is not standing up to Trump enough.

She -- and she doesn't like Senator Collins for the Brett Kavanaugh vote, the Supreme Court that help led to overturning Roe v. Wade. So she wants to get there. But you meet so many of these women, college educated, professional women.

Number one, they supported the governor in the primary. The governor had to drop out. So some of it might just be some healing. But parts of it is they just don't trust him. They have these doubts about him.

Now, they despise Trump and they're disappointed in Collins. But they have doubts about Platner. So he has this -- to make his math work there. Collins is going to say, I'm the chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee. I bring a lot of money home to a rural state. I'm good --

BASH: Which is true.

KING: -- for Maine. I know you're disappointed that I don't, you know, about some things with Trump. That's the campaign she's going to run.

[12:55:08]

He's running revolution also. He's a Bernie Sanders revolution guy. And some of the voters in Maine are uncomfortable with that. They're more Olympia Snowe, Bill Cohen, Susan Collins, even George Mitchell. We're pragmatists. We're not revolutionaries. They were independents. We're not revolutionaries. That's how they think of themselves. So he's trying to remake the Maine brand. It's a giant test.

BASH: Yes.

KING: But he's a phenomenon without a doubt. He's just -- he's -- we talked about the Texas math. His math still needs a little work.

BASH: Yes. And it was also interesting to hear how many of the voters you talked to talk not just about Maine, but about the big picture and taking the Senate.

KING: Yes. That's a big part of his argument.

BASH: Yes.

KING: Yes.

BASH: Thank you so much.

KING: Thank you.

BASH: Really terrific piece.

Thank you for joining Inside Politics today. CNN News Central starts after a quick break.

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