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One World with Zain Asher
Israel Issues More Evacuation Warnings for Southern Lebanon; Rescuers Find Five if Seven People Trapped in Laos Cave; Ken Paxton Beat Out Incumbent Senator John Cornyn in Runoff; Supreme Court Struck Down Louisiana Congressional Map; NASA Shares Updates on Plans for Permanent Moon BASE; Trump Meets with Cabinet Amid Talks with Iran to End War. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired May 27, 2026 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: Hello, everyone. Live from New York, I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ZAIN ASHER, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: And I'm in Zain Asher. This is "One World". Any moment now, U.S. President Donald Trump is set to hold a
meeting of his cabinet as talks to end the nearly three-month war with Iran appears to be crucial at a crucial stage right now.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, the meeting was due to be held at Camp David, the historic presidential retreat, but was switched to the White House because of
possible bad weather. We will bring you that meeting live when it happens. But let's start with the breaking news of this hour.
Iranian state media reporting on what it says is a draft memo of the negotiations between the U.S. and Iran.
ASHER: Yeah, according to state TV, the memorandum of understanding calls for the U.S. to withdraw military forces from the vicinity of Iran and lift
the blockade of Iranian ports.
GOLODRYGA: In return, Tehran would commit to restoring traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to pre-war levels within a month, and the strait would be
controlled in joint coordination with Oman.
ASHER: CNN has a team across all the latest developments. We've got CNN's Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Matthew Chance, just returned from
Tehran. But first, let's go to CNN's Kevin Liptak, joining us live now from the White House. Kevin, what's the latest?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, the White House is dismissing these Iranian state TV reports as quote, a complete fabrication
of what's included in this perspective memorandum of understanding that's still being negotiated between the U.S. and Iran.
They haven't specified what exactly they're saying Iranian state TV is fabricating, and when you look at what was actually reported, it doesn't
really differ in a huge amount from how the U.S. has been describing this deal. You know, for example, President Trump has said, or his officials
have said, that he would be willing to lift the blockade on Iranian ports if Iran allows commercial traffic to begin flowing through the Strait of
Hormuz.
I think perhaps what they're disputing is the emphasis here because that report from Iranian state TV made no mention of Iran's nuclear program,
which is the major piece of this that the president has been trying to emphasize. You know, the American side has said that they have gotten this
commitment in principle from Iran to give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, although President Trump has been showing some
flexibility on that.
You know, he says that the U.S. doesn't actually have to take possession of it, that it could be disposed of inside of Iran or in a third country. So,
I think, bottom line, there's still a lot of back and forth here, the two sides continuing to haggle over wording, over sentences that are contained
in this deal, it's not precisely clear how much longer that's going to go on.
And what you've seen over the last few days as the both sides exchange fire. You see all of these examples where potentially something could come
in and upend all of the work has that has been done, you know, the longer this goes on, the greater the likelihood, I suppose, that something could
come in and throw the whole thing off course.
And so, we'll almost certainly hear from the president this hour about the state of these negotiations. He said over the weekend that this whole thing
was largely negotiated. It's been several days now since, and we haven't seen a final deal. So, it will be interesting to see just how he frames
this when he comes before cameras in this cabinet meeting.
I think it is clear that he is anxious to get this done as the domestic political ramifications begin to pile up. He will, of course, say in this
meeting that he is in no rush. Behind the scenes, though, you do hear a great amount of urgency to try and get this over the finish line.
GOLODRYGA: All right, Kevin Liptak, thank you. Let's bring in Matthew Chance. We should note that the White House has pushed back on this state
media report out of Iran, calling it a complete fabrication. And Matthew, to pick up on what we heard from Kevin as to what was excluded from this
Iranian report, any mention of Iran's nuclear program or its highly enriched uranium stockpile.
I mean this coinciding, we should note, with Iran lifting, or reportedly lifting some of its internet blockage that we've seen since the start of
this year in the country.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, in terms of those key issues like Iran's uranium enrichment activities, I think we
didn't expect any memorandum of understanding to include specific measures about how that very sensitive issue was going to be dealt with.
[11:05:00]
That was always going to be kicked down the road for a 60-day period, or even longer, to be sorted out later. The focus of this memorandum, if it
ever is actually agreed, will be to bring an end to the fighting. So, in that sense, yes, this list that was put out, this kind of leak that was put
out by Iranian state media, state television, very close to the hardliners in the regime is a bit of a wish list.
But it also contains the elements that, having just come from Tehran and spoken to many Iranian officials about this, are entirely expected. I mean,
the first thing on the list mentioned by Iranian state television is the U.S. military must withdraw from the vicinity of Iran, not clear exactly
specifically what he's meant by that, but in the past the Iranians have called on the United States to evacuate their military bases in the Gulf
region.
Now I'm sure that any memorandum of understanding stops well short of that, but again, it's another sort of reference, probably for domestic
consumption in Iran to that aspiration by the Iranians for the Americans to leave the Gulf area. The U.S. will lift its blockade of Iranian ports.
Well, again, that's something that is currently being negotiated and would be expected of the Americans if this memorandum goes through. That
blockade, of course, is imposed on the 13th of April. Over 100 ships have been stopped by the Americans in the course of that time period.
Four of them have been disabled, and so it's been quite an effective strategy or tactic by the Americans to really tighten the noose around the
Iranian authorities. Iran, according to this draft memorandum of understanding in Iranian state media will restore the flow of commercial
ships shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to prewar levels within a month.
Again, that is something that we know is being discussed as well. Remember, there were more than 130 ships, approximately per day going through that
very narrow waterway before the war began, and that dwindled to virtually zero when the war was at its height yesterday.
According to the IRGC, the Iranian military, 25 ships went through, and so you know, in order for that corridor to come back to where it was before
the war, we're seeing a doubling, a tripling, a quadrupling of the number of ships that are currently going through. The final point on that
memorandum of understanding was that the waterway would continue to be controlled by Iran and, of course, by Oman as well.
Both of those countries have coastal waters on the Strait of Hormuz. And it's through both of those countries, that Iran wants to exert continuing
control over the flow of shipping through that crucial waterway. Up until that war began, Iran had not exercised its ability to charge, for instance,
ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. That may now change in the future.
ASHER: Right, Matthew Chance, Kevin Liptak, thank you both so much.
GOLODRYGA: Let's bring in Toluse Olorunnipa, a Staff Writer at "The Atlantic". He joins us now live in Washington. And Toluse, just the timing
of this state media leak coming ahead of the president's cabinet meeting now, this really putting now the president on his back heels, having to
focus and respond to this leaked report, some of it in line with what the U.S. had been proposing.
Yes, but the White House also calling this a complete fabrication. Just give us your interpretation of it all.
TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, STAFF WRITER AT "THE ATLANTIC": Well, it's very clear that the White House is feeling the pressure, especially from members of
the president's party, Republicans who have spoken out against this alleged deal, and as it was coming together, said that it would be a mistake for
the president to capitulate on a number of different issues that they -- these different Republican lawmakers, believe would be on the table.
And so, for the Iranians to add to that pressure by leaking their version of affairs in a way that does not necessarily put the president in a
flattering light in the eyes of those Republican lawmakers is part of the reason why you see this pushback so strongly from the White House.
This is a real battle over the narrative around this forthcoming deal, because both sides want to be able to claim victory. They both want to be
able to say that they were the victors, they were the ones that vanquished the other side of the negotiating table. And in a negotiation, you have
some give and take, and you have some areas where you may feel more successful than others.
But this president is not willing to allow that kind of nuance, he wants to come out of this as the complete victor, at least when it comes to the
narrative, and that's why you see this pushback so strongly from the White House.
ASHER: And Toluse, you absolutely right, that the war of information and the narrative is almost just as important.
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Now the president is able to sell this to the American people, especially given at the midterms are just a few months away, but another aspect of
this deal that is very much linked to the kind of narrative that the president wants to portray. The midterms are just a few months away, but
another aspect of this deal that is very much linked to the kind of narrative that the president wants to protect is the fact that he has to
ensure the American people do not believe that this deal is too similar to the JCPOA.
He has to sort of sell it as something completely different, because obviously the question then becomes is what was the point of this war in
the first place?
OLORUNNIPA: That's exactly right, and you've seen the president posting on social media about the JCPOA, saying that he would not agree to anything
that would be similar to what the Obama Administration agreed to several years ago, he called that agreement one of the worst ever that the U.S. has
entered into.
And he's publicly blasted that agreement, even though a lot of what's on the table now seems similar to that agreement, and the president has had to
walk back some of his major demands and war aims that he laid out at the beginning of this, saying that he wanted to completely destroy Iran's
nuclear program and get regime change out of all of this.
The Obama Administration never sought such large goals until they were able to get an agreement that was in line with what they laid out to do, which
was much narrower than what the president has talked about. But now the president has had to walk back from those major aims and seemingly focus on
a much narrower set of priorities, as he is under a lot of pressure to try to get this war to an end, because of the impact on gas prices, because of
the domestic politics that he's facing.
And so, he's trying to triangulate by saying that my deal is better than the Obama Administration's deal, and that my deal is a victorious
vanquishing of the Iranian opponent. And he's talked about that, and we're likely to hear him talk about that more at the cabinet meeting about how
Iran's navy is at the bottom of the ocean, but the reality is that he's in a very difficult situation where he's trying to make a deal, he's trying to
negotiate.
And Iran, even though they have suffered quite a bit on the military battlefield, strategically and diplomatically has a number of cards to
play, and has continued to play those cards in ways that frustrate the president. And so, we are seeing the president lash out, and lash out both
at the Obama Administration and at the Iranians, as he finds himself in a very difficult political position.
GOLODRYGA: Well, the difference here also is that, unlike his predecessors, President Trump has actually been willing to take kinetic action, both in
the last few months this year and obviously last summer, going after Iran's nuclear program, and no doubt that has been set back, and as you noted, in
addition to Iran's military being degraded.
The question now remains as to what leverage the president has militarily going forward. He has continued to say over the past few weeks that if Iran
doesn't comply with the deal that he likes, that the strikes could resume, but the longer that he makes this threat, Toluse, without any kinetic
action. Does that leverage dissipate?
OLORUNNIPA: That's a really great question. In part, because the Iranians have been calling President Trump's bluff over the last several weeks, he's
talked about destroying an entire civilization, he's talked about taking out bridges and energy infrastructure of the entire country.
He's really gone back to the fire and fury kind of messaging that he had during his first term when he was dealing with North Korea, but the
Iranians have been willing to look at all of those angry threats and stare the president down and wait for him to see if he would actually act on
them, knowing that you know that's not necessarily something that would be popular, it's not something that the president's own base is calling for,
in many ways he could be accused of war crimes.
And so, the president has spent a lot of time making these empty threats, and he is under a lot of pressure to either come up with a deal or to make
good on some of these empty threats, even though that would be an entirely unpopular action to strike out against civilian infrastructure, and to kill
a lot of civilians in the process.
And it's not clear that even doing that would be able to achieve his aims, or end the Iranian regime or its nuclear program, and so the president does
not have a lot of good military options. It's part of the reason why we've gone back to the negotiating table and talked about diplomacy.
But the president has talked about still having this military option on the table, obviously knowing that if he were to take that option, not only
would there be mass casualties in Iran, there could be major retaliation from Iran against Gulf allies, and that could spike the price of gas even
further.
Just as we're getting ready to go into the midterm season, so the president does not have a lot of good options, but it does seem like he wants to take
the diplomatic option, because the military option is fraught with a number of challenges and risks that he may not want to take as he's preparing for
voters, preparing for his party to face voters in November.
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GOLODRYGA: Yeah, and notable then on that note that even when the U.S. military did strike earlier this week, the CENTCOM was quick to describe
them as self-defense strikes. Toluse Olorunnipa, but thank you so much. Please stand by. We'll have much more to discuss later in the hour, once
President Trump's cabinet meeting begins.
ASHER: All right, one of the main demands from the Iranian side that the war be brought to an end on all fronts, apparently not addressed in the
reported deal that the White House is now dismissing.
GOLODRYGA: Meanwhile, just hours after Israel's Prime Minister vowed to step up attacks against Hezbollah, the IDF issued more evacuation warnings
for Southern Lebanon.
ASHER: Tuesday was actually one of the deadliest days in Lebanon since the ceasefire began. Lebanon's Health Ministry says the Israeli air strikes
killed at least 31 people, and it's accusing Israel of carrying out what it calls a series of massacres in multiple locations.
CNN's Oren Liebermann joining us live now from Jerusalem. So, Oren, just the fact that while this deal between the U.S. and Iran is being hammered
out, you've got Israel stepping up its attacks in Southern Lebanon. What does that say about the sort of pressure the Prime Minister Netanyahu is
under, and also the level of sort of perceived, or I guess sort of real resilience that Hezbollah has on the battlefield.
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Zain and Bianna, keep in mind that all of this is happening while there is supposed to be a 45-day
extension to a U.S. brokered ceasefire in place in Lebanon between Israel and Iranian proxy Hezbollah, and yet when you look at what's happening on
the ground.
This is this is all but an open conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. Sure, the Israeli military isn't striking Beirut or other parts of Lebanon,
but it's carrying out strikes in the Bekaa Valley in Central and Eastern Lebanon. In Southern Lebanon, it's issued evacuation warnings for the
cities of Tyre and Nabatieh, both of which are outside of the zone in Southern Lebanon occupied by Israeli forces.
And Israel is expanding its strikes, and its forces are pushing north of that yellow line, carrying out more and more raids, and you see the effect
of that in these strikes, as Israel says it's targeting what it describes as Hezbollah infrastructure sites, as well as going after Hezbollah
militants themselves.
And yet, despite these evacuation warnings and waves of ongoing and escalating attacks, Hezbollah has been able to fight. They have effectively
employed fiber optic drones and other types of drones, including recently unveiled nighttime fiber optic drones that have attacked not only Israeli
forces and Israeli communities in Northern Israel, but also Israeli forces in Southern Lebanon.
So, you see this open conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, and that has deadly consequences. As you pointed out on Tuesday, the Lebanese Ministry
of Public Health said 31 people were killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon, and Hezbollah strikes, and drone attacks, as well as rockets, have targeted
Israeli soldiers. What effect, this has on the U.S.-Iran negotiations remains to be seen?
Iran had demanded a ceasefire in Lebanon as part of that. That is not being reported now by Iranian state media as part of the latest memorandum of
understanding. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself, Zain, as you pointed out, is under tremendous domestic pressure to widen Israel's
operations in Lebanon and to strike Beirut and other areas as well, in response to the drone threat, which Israel has not at all really been able
to cope with.
ASHER: All right, Oren Liebermann live for us there. Thank you so much.
GOLODRYGA: Five of the seven people trapped for nearly a week in a cave in Laos have been found alive this hour. The search continues for the other
two.
ASHER: Yeah, footage shot by one of the rescuers shows the moments when specialist cave divers found the stranded villagers. Now rescuers must
figure out how to get them out. One diver says they're working to bring the villagers supplies, which they'll need in order to regain strength for the
journey out.
GOLODRYGA: Let's bring in Will Ripley, live from Taipei, Taiwan. Wonderful news here that five of them have been found, of course concern about the
other two. What more are we learning about their condition now, Will?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What they told rescuers, Bianna and Zain, is that they are not sick. They were certainly
very happy to be rescued. Some of them were crying, they were so emotional, but they said they're desperately hungry.
The rescuers handed them a bottle of water. More food will be coming for them, as well as first aid, but the status of the other two who went into
this cave about a week ago searching for gold is still unknown. There are some rumors circulating around online about what may be happening with
those two, but there's no official word from the authorities there in Laos.
[11:20:00]
But what they are saying is that it is truly remarkable that they were able to reach these men. And they were in fact alive, sitting in an air pocket
in this cave, which was flooded after heavy monsoon rains. It is rainy season in this part of the country, and the storms pop up unexpectedly.
Flash floods can happen in a matter of minutes, and that's exactly what happened a week ago. And the caves are still flooded, even though they've
been working around the clock to try to drain the water, just rescuers getting to these men was really an extraordinary feat.
You actually, they brought in some of the elite cave divers who helped rescue a Thai soccer team back in 2018 and they were leading the effort.
But even they were saying that these conditions, in many ways, are much more treacherous than they experienced back in 2018, because these are
hand-dug, man-made mining tunnels, some of them less than two feet across, you're talking 23 inches.
One of the rescuers said he's about 180 centimeters, or 5.11 and essentially had to take off all of his gear, had to exhale and wiggle
himself through to get into one of the caverns in the cave, and then he had to dive through pitch black, muddy water. Just an extraordinary ordeal.
This is the moment when the divers realized that they had found five of these villagers alive. One of the men in that video is that Finnish expert
cave diver I was telling you about, his name is Mikko Paasi, and he issued a statement. I'll read you just a bit of it. I believe we have it.
It said the task so far has been far from easy, and everybody involved has done amazing work. Thank you to all the teams involved. This is only a
brief relief, as the five survivors are still in the terminal chamber, all healthy and in good spirits, but the extraction is still ahead, and it
ain't going to be easy.
They're being assisted in all of this with some pretty extraordinary technology. They were able to install internet routers hundreds of feet
below the ground, so the rescuers were able to send back video almost in real time. They were also able to scan the entire cave with radar, which
told them where to go to find these men.
So pretty incredible stuff, very encouraging news, but some very difficult and dangerous days ahead to get those five out of those narrow caverns
safely.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, we actually interviewed Mikko Paasi, one of the divers there that you just quoted yesterday on the show, and he proved to be quite
prescient. He knows his stuff, and he did predict that from an optimistic point, he did believe that they could survive, and that if so, they would
be in that terminal chamber that you just referenced.
So, again, we are hoping for the best for the other two as well. Will Ripley, thank you so much.
ASHER: All right, the Trump touch does it again. His pick in a Republican Senate runoff in Texas, Ken Paxton, just crushed incumbent John Cornyn.
Will that momentum propel him for November? Take a look.
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[11:25:00]
ASHER: Right, the power of a Trump endorsement was again on display in Texas last night. Texas State Attorney General Ken Paxton won the
Republican Senate runoff against incumbent John Cornyn. As you can see by a pretty wide margin, there.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, Paxton will face Democratic State Representative James Talarico in November's midterm election. President Trump's endorsement gave
Paxton a major boost, a fact not lost on the newly minted Senate candidate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEN PAXTON, U.S. SENATE REPUBLICAN NOMINEE: When everyone in Washington told him to abandon me and abandon the people of Texas, he didn't listen.
Instead, he gave his complete and total endorsement. President Trump is the leader of our party and his endorsement in this is the most powerful force
in politics.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Meantime, the campaign source tells CNN the Democratic candidate Talarico raised $600 in the two hours after Paxton's win. He wasted no time
slamming his Republican opponent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES TALARICO, U.S. SENATE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE: The most corrupt politician in America just became the Republican nominee for the United States Senate.
For 50 years, mega donors and their puppet politicians, like Ken Paxton, have stolen from us, but that ends this year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Let's get some perspective on the race. We're joined by Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson. Governor, good to see you. So, Paxton's
primary blowout now puts the Senate seat in play, with Cook Political Report immediately downgrading from likely to lean Republican, even if John
Cornyn campaigns for Ken Paxton.
You've noted the Democrats are simply running on momentum at this point, and given how flawed Paxton is as a candidate. Do you think this is that
opportunity that so many Democrats have been waiting since 1994 to do, and that is to get a win in Texas?
ASA HUTCHINSON, FORMER GOVERNOR OF ARKANSAS: Well, it's a big opportunity for the Democrats. It is unprecedented for the President United States to
intervene on so many Senate races in behalf of attacking a Republican Senator, and he's had success, Louisiana, now Texas. So, his endorsement is
gold in these primaries, and it proved that last night.
But it now sets up a stage for November with a flawed Republican candidate going up against a fairly strong Democratic candidate in a state that Ted
Cruz nearly won, what, eight years ago, and so it's been trending bluer. it's almost a purple state, but this is an opportunity for the Democrats to
really pull off a surprise upset.
Now to me, the big question is going to be Senator Cornyn, and it's one thing to say he supports the ticket as he did last night, but it's another
thing to get out there and campaign shoulder to shoulder with Ken Paxton, the Republican nominee, I actually don't expect that to happen.
I think you're going to see a lot of Cornyn voters stay home in November, and that is going to give advantage to a very fired-up Democratic base. So,
it's going to be close, it's going to be an expensive race, and it's going to be, you know, a test as to whether Republicans can keep the United
States Senate or not.
ASHER: What does this tell us about the priorities of Republican voters right now? This idea that electability is sort of secondary, you know, if
you appeal to base, if Trump likes you, that is primary. It doesn't matter whether you've had corruption allegations, it doesn't matter if you've been
impeached, it doesn't matter how many scandals you had, doesn't matter if you're actually electable or not. What matters is, are you loyal to Donald
Trump?
HUTCHINSON: It's a connection to Donald Trump, and secondly, the message of I'm running against the establishment resonates, and it reflects a
frustration among the Republican-based voters, that more changes need to be made in Washington.
[11:30:00]
But as you pointed out, it is largely just a continued domination by Donald Trump and control of Donald Trump of the Republican Party and its race. And
so, you know this fall you're going to see a very close election, both for the House and the Senate. And there is one theory that Donald Trump will
feel actually more comfortable if you have a Democrat Senate to blame for, he is not being able to get his agenda across.
Right now, it's Republicans in the Senate and the House that could change in November, and his messaging will change, and if anybody can adjust,
Donald Trump can adjust very quickly.
GOLODRYGA: Right, because now you've got a pattern, you've got Cassidy, you've got Tillis, and now you've got Cornyn, the traditional Republicans
in the Senate who the president viewed were not loyal enough for him, but to just to go back to something you just noted, perhaps, that the president
may actually be open to a Democratic-controlled Senate, if for no other reason than to blame them for his policies not being pushed through. Just
expand on that a bit.
HUTCHINSON: Well, if particularly if the Democrats take the House, then you're looking at a very stymied agenda for President Trump over the next
his last two years in office, so he figures he's not going to be able to get much of his agenda through, and he's going to have a lot of opposition
anyway, and so he loves the blame game.
He's been blaming President Biden for any stagnation in our economy, for the problems that we have overseas, as well. Well, it's getting a little
bit old, so he needs a new opponent, a new target that he can blame, and if it can be a Democratic Senate or Democratic Congress that's blocking his
agenda, then, that plays very well into his messaging.
It doesn't help accomplish his agenda, but at least it gives him somebody to blame. That's not ideal for the Republicans. That's not something we
want when we want agenda to be accomplished, but that's the reality of life in the Trump world.
ASHER: And just in terms of what all of this means for the future of establishment Republicans. I mean, obviously they do sort of keep
weakening, but you know, five years from now or so, what is the future of the Republican establishment?
HUTCHINSON: Well, politics is always about hope and change for the better, and improving lives, and so you know, establishment doesn't resonate, and
so you've got to run as the on the future. What does this mean for the Republican party? And it totally means that 2028 in that presidential race
will be another fight for the soul of the Republican party.
Are we going to go back to normalcy, which I would define as routine conservative politics, like was led with Ronald Reagan, strength abroad,
but also a conservative economic policy at home, controlling government spending, that's the traditional Republican view, that's what we had under
Ronald Reagan.
And that will be the debate that we have, whether we're going to continue MAGA, whether we're going to continue Trump-dominated party, or whether
we're going to return to our roots of conservative politics and a strong governing America that you would see in Washington.
GOLODRYGA: That's the camp you put yourself in, correct?
HUTCHINSON: Well, I put myself in it before, and it was the Trump year, it was still under Trump's control. It'll be different in 2028. And so, I see,
you know, major figures that are there. Marco Rubio, while he has navigated the Trump world, he also has been truer to his values, and I see him
governing differently.
He could be a player in that fight. There'll be many others that will be fighting for that. There will be others that will be trying to duplicate
Donald Trump's leadership style. My view is that there's only one Donald Trump, and you're not going to have many Trumps that will be successfully
running in 28th.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah.
HUTCHINSON: We will see, but I hope to be involved in shaping that future.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, maybe that's a message that JD Vance is listening to as you speak. Asa Hutchinson, thank you so much, governor, for joining us.
Appreciate it.
HUTCHINSON: Thank you. Good to be with you.
ASHER: All right, still to come, all eyes on the White House right now as President Trump holds a cabinet meeting amid pressure to end the war with
Iran. Details ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:35:00]
GOLODRYGA: All right, welcome back to "One World". I'm Bianna Golodryga. Here's some headlines we're watching today. Any moment now, U.S. President
Donald Trump is set to convene his first cabinet meeting in two months as he faces growing pressure to resolve the war with Iran.
Bad weather scuttled plans after gathering at the historic Camp David retreat, it's being held at the White House instead. Iranian state media is
reporting on what it says are details in a draft framework being negotiated between the U.S. and Iran. The White House is calling Iran's account a
complete fabrication.
According to the Iranian report, the draft calls on the U.S. to withdraw forces from the vicinity of Iran, and lift a blockade on Iranian ports.
Tehran would then commit to restoring traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is spreading too
fast for health authorities to keep up with it.
That is according to the International Rescue Committee -- latest outbreak on record, unless urgent action is taken. More than 220 deaths are believed
to be linked to the outbreak. In a daring 30-hour escape, Chinese dissident has arrived in South Korea after fleeing from China in an inflatable boat.
His lawyer says the South Korean Coast Guard picked him up on Monday. It was his fourth attempt to reunite with his family, who have been granted
asylum in Canada. All right, let's get back to our top story. A meeting of President Donald Trump's cabinet expected to begin any moment.
We'll bring that to you when it happens. Foreign affairs and domestic policy are both on the agenda as the Iran war pushes gas prices higher
ahead of midterm elections later this year. Let's bring our guests back in Toluse Olorunnipa, who is a Staff Writer at "The Atlantic".
And Toluse, if we could just get back to domestic issues as well, specifically this loss for the incumbent in Texas, John Cornyn.
[11:40:00]
Toluse, I don't know how else to describe, but a scandal-ridden and flawed Ken Paxton by a significant margin. The president endorsed Paxton last
week. I'm not sure if that endorsement came when the president read his own tea leaves, knowing that the polling suggested this would be such a large
win for him, but setting the stage for the midterms, does this give Democrats the opportunity that they have been craving now in Texas for
years?
OLORUNNIPA: Democrats feel much better about Texas this morning than they did previous to the results coming in, they realized that a lot of the
people who voted for John Cornyn, the incumbent Republican who had been representing that state for the better part of 24 years.
A lot of those voters aren't comfortable with the idea of voting for Ken Paxton. A lot of those voters would be open to the idea of voting for the
right kind of Democrat, someone who is seen as moderate and willing to embrace the kind of voters who don't necessarily see everything through an
ideological lens.
And so, Ken Paxton has a bit of an uphill battle, he is running in a state that has voted for Republicans for many decades now, but he is someone
who's not necessarily very popular in his state, even though he won overwhelmingly among the Republican runoff primary voters, that is a small
slice of the entire electorate in Texas.
And so, he's going to be running against James Talarico, someone who has raised a lot of money and gotten a lot of buzz and gotten a lot of support
because of the idea that he's a different kind of democrat that he's preaching a message of unity and love and not divisiveness the way that Ken
Paxton has done over his time in office.
And Democrats feel good about Texas even though it is an uphill climb for them as well, because they have the history of losing, and in many cases,
in recent years, getting close, but not getting close enough to win such a big state. And so, it will be an expensive, very hard-fought race, and the
broader political dynamic, in which President Trump is very unpopular, people are concerned about the cost of living.
Republicans are struggling to keep the coalition that they formed in 2024 Those political winds are going to be blowing against the Republican party,
and the question will be whether or not they will be strong enough to get a Democrat elected in Texas for the first time in about three decades.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, since 1994 to be exact, and we saw Ted Cruz just narrowly defeat Beto O'Rourke several years ago, and one has to wonder whether it's
the flawed candidacy of Paxton or the star power that many see in James Talarico that could get Democrats finally over that finish line that they
haven't seen in some three decades.
Plus, we'll have to watch that closely. I do want to turn to the question of redistricting. The news out of Alabama, specifically the Alabama map,
most likely headed now to the Supreme Court to settle whether or not the redistricting there was race-related. That is likely going to be determined
by the Supreme Court.
But the lower federal court, which ruled that it was, included two Trump appointees, and they explicitly cited intentional race-based
discrimination. Isn't the party's legal strategy on the voting rights bill now hitting a wall, given that those were two Trump-appointed judges?
OLORUNNIPA: Yeah, it's pretty clear that President Trump has called for the Republican Party to go as far as possible to redistrict these lines in
favor of Republicans, but there are limits on how much you can do without running afoul of the law, running a vow of anti-discrimination laws.
And Alabama is a prime example of that the fact that even Republican- appointed judges, judges appointed by President Trump, said that what they were trying to do was a bridge too far in trying to carve up the state in a
way that would dilute and limit the power of that state's African American residents in such a way that it's so egregious that even Republican
appointed justices or judges would say that that would not pass muster.
Now they still have the option in Alabama to go to the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court has been ruling in favor of these Republican-led
redistricting efforts in other states, and so they may have a chance to be able to get this passed at the Supreme Court.
[11:45:00]
But it's pretty clear what's happening here, which is that a number of these Republican states are carving up their districts in a way that, yes,
gives them a partisan advantage, but also limits the power, the voting power of their minority residents in such a way that could run afoul of
anti-discrimination laws, civil rights laws, and even the voting rights law as it exists.
And so they have to be careful with this, because they could go too far and find themselves having to revert to the maps that were in place before this
effort, because of these anti-discrimination laws that they have to still follow, even though the Supreme Court has struck down much of the voting
rights law, and so Alabama is a prime example of where this is happening.
We also saw in South Carolina that the state legislature decided not to carve out the one district that has elected an African American
representative James Clyburn, for the last several years, they opted against that, and it's clear that this redistricting effort is starting to
run out of steam.
There's not much more that Republicans can do. They've already redistricted and gerrymandered so much that there's not much that can be done between
now and November.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, and as Asa Hutchinson even noted to us, at some point this will just confuse voters and come across as inherently unfair if there is
such a desperate scramble by Republicans. Toluse Olorunnipa, thank you. I know you're going to be sticking around as we are awaiting that Trump
cabinet meeting.
We will bring that to you live when it happens. Meantime, still to come for us, at least one person is dead and others are missing after an accident at
a paper plant in Washington state. We'll have the latest on the recovery efforts just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GOLODRYGA: In Southern California, thousands of families are finally going home after a major scare at an industrial site. A tank holding thousands of
gallons of an extremely hazardous chemical began overheating last week, prompting local officials to order 50,000 people to leave their homes.
All the evacuation orders have now been lifted after the temperature inside the tank was brought under control. Fire officials say a crack in the tank
also helped relieve the pressure, and there's no longer any threat of an explosion or fire. Hazardous materials teams are continuing to monitor
conditions.
And in a separate incident, a Washington state -- in Washington state, at least one person is dead, and nine others are missing after an accident at
a paper factory. Officials say a huge tank containing hazardous chemicals used in paper making ruptured Tuesday morning.
[11:50:00]
Recovery efforts are set to resume today. Emergency crews say the situation is extremely complex due to ongoing safety hazards. Our Nick Watt joins us
with the very latest, and just talk about some of the concerns, Nick, here.
NICK WATT, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Bianna, listen, we've had 10 people taken to the hospital already, one person is dead, a firefighter
treated and released for chemical burns to his skin, and crucially, nine people still unaccounted for. Now, the issue here is the stability of that
tank.
It's very hard for rescuers, recovery workers to get in when that danger still exists. Take a listen to what officials had to say about that just
late last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT GOLDSTEIN, CHIEF OF COWLITZ 2 FIRE AND RESCUE: The tank remains unstable, creating a dangerous situation for our personnel, which has
created our additional planning. Crews are actively assessing the structural integrity of that tank and working on plans to stabilize that
tank before additional recovery operations can safely proceed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: So, the issues there that tank might collapse, but also about half a million gallons of this chemical called white liquor escaped from that
tank. There was also a fire hydrant that exploded, so you've got water sloshing this extremely caustic chemical around that whole site.
Now, white liquor is basically so strong, it's a strong alkaline, so strong that it is used to reduce wood chips to pulp. When that touches human skin,
you're talking second, third degree burns. Tragically, what we're hearing a lot of is the word recovery rather than rescue.
Rescue means that they would be going in to look for the living, for survivors. Recovery means they're looking for the dead. They're looking for
remains. And we have heard a lot about recovery rather than rescue. So, what they're doing right now is trying to stabilize this, so that teams can
get in.
They've got police, fire department, hazmat, even the National Guard has been deployed to this plant that's been around since the 1950s there on the
banks of the Columbia River, just in Washington, across the border from Oregon, small town, fewer than 40,000 people, about 500 people worked at
this place, a town on edge, Bianna.
GOLODRYGA: One dead, nine missing. Our thoughts, of course, are with their families and the surrounding community. Nick Watt, thank you so much. I
will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:55:00]
GOLODRYGA: Finally, before we go, NASA announced new details about its upcoming plans to build a permanent base on the moon. Phase one will see
robotic missions scout and prepare for surface operations, that includes the Moon Phase MoonFall mission, which will send four drones to fly short
hops to survey potential landing sites for Artemis astronauts.
All right, we are going to take you now to the White House for that cabinet meeting with President Trump.
(BEGIN WHITE HOUSE CABINET MEETING)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We're working today than we've ever had before in the history of our country, and many
other things, and I have a few words to say to you that I think will be helpful. Last night was incredible, not only Texas, but so many other
places, and the numbers were fantastic.
And they've really been that way for a year. If you look, hundreds of people won, and almost nobody didn't win, but last night was very, very
powerful. So, I'm thrilled to welcome everyone to the 12th cabinet meeting of our administration, and we're doing something that no administration's
ever done.
We're always letting the press join us, because we're very open and transparent. You like the word transparent, but we're more transparent than
any administration in history, no. To the best of my knowledge, press has never been invited ever to a cabinet meeting for any reason at all.
And it's an honor to have you. This team has achieved more than most other administrations achieve in eight years. We took the most dangerous, unsafe,
violent, and open border in the world. Anywhere in the world, there's no border like the border we had, and created the most secure border in the
history of our country.
We had no people 12 months now. No people reported in the last 12 months came in illegally. Zero illegal aliens admitted to the United States in the
last 12 months, and that's those charts are made by, you would say, politically unfriendly people, and the reason they don't come in is because
nobody comes up, because they know that they're going to be turned away, and if they get in, they're going to be moved out right away.
So, it's been zero. You're the one that do -- you do the reports. I'm actually surprised by the number, because I don't know how it can be zero,
but they say it's zero for the last 12 months. In 2025, we achieved the largest drop in the murder rate ever recorded. So, the murder rate was
quite high, and we achieved the largest drop in the murder rate ever recorded to the lowest level 125 years.
That's the year 1900 and that's despite the fact that many people came in from prisons, and from very rough countries, and from mental institutions,
and from lots of other places, drug dealers, others. They came in illegally during the Biden Administration. We've gotten many of them out, but we
still have some that we're looking for, quite a few that we're still looking for, but we've gotten over 11,888 murders were allowed into our
country.
We've gotten a lot of them out. We've gotten some. We put them in jail. We don't even trust the country to send them, because they'll come back in
maybe. We put them in jail. 11,888 murders, more than half of which have committed more than one murder, that's what they allowed in.
They should -- they can never be forgotten for the horrible things they've done to this country. Fentanyl coming across our border is now down by 61
percent. 61 percent and coming in by water, by sea, by ocean is down 97 percent. Can you imagine? Thanks to all Republican majorities in Congress,
we passed the largest tax cuts in American history.
All Democrats voted against the tax cuts, putting more money in Americans' pockets this year the typical family got tax refunds of nearly almost close
to $5,000. The stock market has set 68 all-time record highs since the election. So, 68 days we hit all-time highs. We're right there now, and the
average 401(k), and that's despite the conflict.
I don't call it a war, I call it a conflict, despite the conflict with Venezuela, who no longer has a navy, no longer has an air force, no longer
has a lot of people that were leading the country into very bad places. Their leadership is gone, their second wrong leadership is gone, and we're
dealing with their third, half of their third, because half of their third is gone too.
The average 401(k) is up almost $30,000 since I took office, so the Americans are benefiting working today. We have the most working, and we
have 401(k)'s at their all-time high, highest they've ever been, and that goes along with the stock market, which is the highest it's ever been --
END
