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CNN Headlines: Trump Comes Out On Top In Primary Challenges Against GOP Critics; WHO Chief: Central Africa Ebola Crisis Not A Pandemic But "Warrants Serious Concern"; New Graduates Face Job Market Hungry For AI Expertise. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired May 20, 2026 - 05:30   ET

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

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[05:31:20]

BRAD SMITH, CNN ANCHOR: It is half past the hour. Let's hit the refresh button on our top stories.

It's the morning after primary election night in six states and President Trump tallied more victories in his campaign against his Republican critics. That includes Kentucky where his preferred candidate defeated incumbent Congressman Thomas Massie. And this fiercely fought primary season sets the stage for the crucial November midterms, which could change the balance of power in Washington.

And the former president of Cuba, Raul Castro, is expected to be indicted today in connection with the 1996 shootdown of two civilian aircraft. Four people were killed, including three Americans. The charges are expected as tensions between the U.S. and Cuba escalate with a formal announcement expected in Miami during ceremonies honoring the victims.

And the World Health Organization sounding the alarm about the deadly Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. At a briefing just moments ago the WHO chief announced that right now there is not a "pandemic emergency" but there are several causes for concern. The public health agency head says that the virus, which has already killed at least 130 people and is tied to more than 600 suspected cases, "warrants serious concern."

The fear is also fueled by the difficulty health care workers face in reaching hundreds of thousands of people who have been displaced by conflict in remote regions. There's also growing fear in some of the more densely populated areas.

CNN correspondent Larry Madowo breaks down the latest for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The concern from public health experts in the region is that there's a likelihood that many people could be -- have -- could have been exposed to Ebola, they're just not showing symptoms yet. It might take until two weeks before that begins to happen.

This area in Ituri in northeastern DRC, which is the epicenter of the outbreak, has a lot of insecurity. About 100,000 people are displaced. It's a mining town. There's a lot of border traffic between this area and Bunia, to Uganda across the border. So even though Uganda says there's no local infections in the country, the two people who were confirmed were Congolese. One died and was sent back across the border and the other is receiving treatment.

The people move back and forth. Some may be asymptomatic right now but in a few days or in a few weeks they might begin to show symptoms and they might have come into contact with a lot of people.

We've seen the numbers rise to more than 513 suspected cases and more than 130 deaths associated with Ebola. So as they do more lab testing, contact tracing, and surveillance, the numbers might as well skyrocket and that affects a huge number of people within these countries -- Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and possibly South Sudan as well. And you've seen these reported even in Kampala, which is a few hundred kilometers away.

So that is why the WHO and many of the experts say this could be much deeper of an outbreak than they currently know and it could have already been spreading for a few weeks in the community before it was detected and confirmed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SMITH: Thank you, Larry.

A passenger aboard the cruise ship with the hantavirus outbreak says that he felt "blindsided and misled." That's after he received new orders to stay under federal supervision at Nebraska's National Quarantine Center. At least two passengers were ordered to remain in quarantine after wanting to leave. Other passengers were also ordered to stay quarantined.

And those who got off the Hontius cruise ship and returned to the U.S. before the outbreak are identified -- are being monitored as well by state and local public health agencies where they live. Officials continue to stress that the risk to the public is low.

[05:35:05]

Let's take you now out to Texas. That's where the GOP Senate primary runoff between incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is taking place. Paxton heading into a runoff with a new burst of support thanks to a late endorsement from Donald Trump.

Here's what he had to say about the president's vote of confidence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEN PAXTON, TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL, U.S. REPUBLICAN SENATE CANDIDATE: I'm so honored to have President Trump's endorsement. His endorsement, in my opinion, is the most significant endorsement that I -- in my lifetime. So when he endorses it has a tremendous impact.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: Cornyn and the president have generally worked well together but the incumbent senator was slow to support Trump for his 2024 bid for the White House. He also worked with Democrats to pass gun safety laws in 2022. But Cornyn isn't giving up hope just yet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX), U.S. REPUBLICAN SENATE CANDIDATE: You may have that he endorsed Ken Paxton in this race, and I think that will certainly have an impact. But we're not -- we're not giving up the fight. I know who gets to choose our senators and it's the people of Texas, and there's no substitute for that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: Early voting began Monday and the runoff is just one week away.

And we're also keeping a close eye on Georgia where several unpredictable races have been playing out. The Republican race for governor is headed for a runoff next month since no candidate received at least 51 percent of the vote in that primary.

Now Lt. Governor Burt Jones will face off against health care billionaire Rick Jackson who is self-funding his campaign. Jones has President Trump's endorsement and served as a false elector in the 2020 election.

The winner of that runoff race will face former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. Now if she were to win in November, she would be the nation's first Black woman to serve as governor. Former President Joe Biden endorsed Bottoms, who served in his administration after her term in Atlanta ended.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS, FORMER MAYOR OF ATLANTA: We are going to fight for every single vote in every county in every corner of this state. We are going to knock on doors and have conversations with people across the communities of this state. And we are going to build a Georgia that works for all of us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: And the Republican Senate race is also heading to a runoff since no candidate crossed that 50 percent threshold. Trump-backed Congressman Mike Collins will advance along with Derek Dooley who is endorsed by Georgia's outgoing governor.

Well, testimony continues today in the trial of Ebony Parker. She's a former assistant principal from Virginia who is accused of failing to act in 2023 when a 6-year-old boy shot his teacher in class. Prosecutors allege that Parker had received multiple warnings about the student before the shooting but did not take action on them, including from the teacher who was shot and survived.

On Tuesday, Abby Zwerner took the stand and testified that two days before the shooting she reported the boy's behavior to the school after he smashed her phone. And on the actual day of the shooting she told Ebony Parker that the boy's demeanor was off and that he seemed to be in a violent mood.

Ebony Parker has pleaded not guilty to all charges and is facing up to 40 years if convicted.

Take a look at this video posted by California fire officials It's showing a massive smoke devil in Riverside County just east of Los Angeles. It's part of the so-called Verona fire, which has burned at least 175 acres. Evacuation orders are in place, and CAL FIRE says a firefighter was injured battling that blaze. One resident says up to four homes may have burned.

Well, fire crews are hoping that weather conditions are better today as they battle flames. Meantime, folks on the East Coast will be experiencing a change in the weather pattern over the next few days.

CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam has the forecast for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: One more hot day across the I-95 corridor before this cold front actually brings a cooldown and also the potential of some stronger storms. You can see it advancing eastward on the forecast radar. Watch how they start to bubble up here across the Ohio River Valley. That's who will experience the cooler weather first.

The cold front advances eastward then fires off some of these thunderstorms by the middle of the day on Thursday and once again into early Friday morning as well.

All in all there's a lot of rain associated with this system, especially into the Deep South. So heads up eastern Texas, much of Louisiana into Mississippi, western Tennessee. These areas could see anywhere from two to four inches of rain over the next three days, so we'll look out for the potential of some isolated flash flooding as well. Even across the mid-Atlantic where some of these slow-moving thunderstorms or storms that move over the same locations for several hours at a time bring heavy bouts of rain.

[05:40:07]

Now look at these high temperatures. This is incredible. Ninety-five for the nation's capital. Ninety-three in New York City. Seventy-six in Nashville. Fifty-five in Chicago. You don't need to be a meteorologist to see that there is a significant change in the air mass. That is thanks to that cold front I talked about just a moment ago, but it'll start to go back to normal, right? Once that cold front passes, we have a day of cooler weather and then we start to see the warmth building in along the Eastern Seaboard by the weekend once again. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SMITH: The nominations for the 26th Annual BET Awards are out and Cardi B is taking the lead. The Grammy Award-winning rapper scoring six nominations Monday, including Album of the Year and Best Female Hip-Hop Artist.

The BET Awards is making some history of its own by tapping 31-year- old comedian and content created Druski as the youngest person to ever host the ceremony.

The awards will be handed out in L.A. next month.

Next on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS a woman leads police on a high-speed chase through neighborhood streets, through a mall, and major roadways. How it ended later in the hour.

And talk about innovative. This man is dodging those skyrocketing gas prices with this Barbie car. What he used to get it on the road.

Stay with us. You're watching CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS.

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[05:45:50]

SMITH: The national average for gas is still above $4.00, and the president is asking the public for some patience. When asked about the spike in gas prices, Trump said that the cost was secondary to his larger goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We just hit a new high in the stock market. Everything is going good. I'm sorry, but we have to go down and take a little journey down to -- we have to do something with Iran. We cannot let them have a nuclear weapon. You want to see the world exploded? You want to see a problem? And this is peanuts.

And I appreciate everybody putting up with it for a little while. It won't be much longer. But you don't have -- and frankly, there is so much oil out there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: Americans are feeling the sticker shock. Take a listen to some drivers in Colorado who have had to change their daily routines just to keep up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It never went over $30.00. I could go with like $20.00 or $25.00 for my Jeep Cherokee. So I needed $35.00 to fill up half a tank of gas. It's usually painful to watch but this especially, like, wow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we were down low and it was about 90 bucks to fill the tank and jumping to $175, it's definitely quite a difference.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: People are getting creative. A handyman found a rather creative way to cope with rising fuel costs. He transformed a pink Power Wheel Barbie Dream Camper into a fully-functioning vehicle that he can drive around his suburban Atlanta neighborhood. He built it by installing an engine salvaged from an old power washer -- interesting.

Computer science graduates are entering an even more competitive job market as Meta prepares to cut around 10 percent of its global workforce amid continued AI-driven restructuring.

CNN anchor Lynda Kinkade was able to speak with students and faculty about how they're navigating this shift.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR (voiceover): A computer science degree at Georgia Institute of Technology is considered a golden ticket to secure a position at a major tech company like Google, Meta, and Amazon. But after tens of thousands of layoffs and a rapid shift towards AI, students are entering a job market that looks very different.

KINKADE: So with all the mass layoffs in tech, how are you feeling approaching graduation?

HUNTER RICHARDSON, GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY GRADUATE: I won't lie, we -- my friends and I have been a little bit scared.

KINKADE (voiceover): This year more than 100,000 jobs were cut in the tech sector, according to industry trackers. LinkedIn shows entry- level hiring has fallen about six percent year-over-year.

RICHARDSON: How's your finals going?

KINKADE: Hunter Richardson is graduating with a job already lined up.

RICHARDSON: A few years into my degree program I added accounting as a second major to be able to apply the things I learned in computer science.

KINKADE (voiceover): Hunter represents one side of the story -- students who took steps to adapt early, combining technical skills with business experience and internships.

RICHARDSON: What I think excites us, particularly at Georgia Tech, is how we are being equipped to work with AI tools in a way that is unique and keeps us on the -- you know, he forefront.

KINKADE: What's one piece of advice you're giving students as they navigate this AI disruption? OLUFISAYO OMOJOKUN, ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR COLLEGE OF COMPUTING, GEORGIA TECH: Yes. Certainly, is to not skip the fundamentals. Things can change over time because of AI, but the fundamentals are going to always be important.

KINKADE: Which are?

OMOJOKUN: Well, we have this whole notion of computational thinking that's part of our curriculum. Being able to look at large problems and break them down into smaller pieces and understand the patterns and processes that make a solution.

KINKADE (voiceover): Professor Olufisayo Omojokun is the associate dean for undergraduate education in the College of Computing.

KINKADE: Do you worry about preparing students for jobs that might not exist in five years' time?

OMOJOKUN: Not necessarily because our goal is to create computational thinkers. We have 97 percent, at least last year, of our students landing a career placement within six months of their graduation. And we're doing the same survey this year and we're hoping for even better. We're having or asking students to broaden their horizons.

[05:50:03]

KINKADE (voiceover): Goldman Sachs estimates that Gen AI could affect 300 million jobs worldwide, though less than seven percent are at risk of full displacement.

KINKADE: So how do the number of jobs being lost compared to those being created?

ANDREW MCCASKILL, CAREER EXPERT: I mean, I think if you look at the jobs numbers from the last few months, we are not creating jobs at the numbers that we traditionally have.

KINKADE (voiceover): Career expert Andrew McCaskill says the number reflect a reset, not a collapse.

KINKADE: Andrew, when you look at white-collar jobs over the next 18 to 24 months what does the landscape look like?

MCCASKILL: Twenty twenty-six is going to be one of the most competitive job markets that we've seen in years.

KINKADE: So you're saying the key is to pivot, to adapt. What does that mean in real terms?

MCCASKILL: Yes, you pivot. You adapt. Get as many data points as you possibly can about where people are hiring, location. What industries are hiring? One of the fastest growing industries right now is utilities as the entire grid gets changed in advance of the AI- assisted workforce.

KINKADE (voiceover): For decades a tech-based degree promised certainty. In 2026, it offers something different, opportunity -- but most likely only for those ready to adapt.

Lynda Kinkade, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SMITH: Thank you, Lynda.

Still to come on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS a terrifyingly close call. A metal beam falls onto a woman's car. What she said she was doing moments before impact. That story and more on the other side of the break.

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[05:56:00]

SMITH: Samsung and Google are showing off their new smart glasses design. They're going to be powered by Google's Gemini AI. And the glasses won't have a screen but are instead meant to use their onboard camera and speakers to pair with your phone.

So Samsung says its glasses can do things like offer shopping suggestions and give you real time audio translations for text. It's set to launch in select markets this fall. Let me know if you see them.

And a new federal law now requires apps and websites to remove non- consensual intimate images within 48 hours of reporting.

Let's go to Maribel Aber who has more details. Hey, Maribel.

MARIBEL ABER, CNN CORRESPONDENT, MONEY MATTERS: Hey, Brad.

So a new federal law, again targeting deepfakes and non-consensual intimate images, takes effect today. The Take It Down Act requires platforms to remove reported content within 48 hours. The law applies to both real images and AI-generated content.

Platforms that fail to act could face fines and other penalties. The Federal Trade Commission will oversee the enforcement and says platforms are already on notice.

Thousands of home listings in the Midwest could go dark on Zillow starting today. The legal fight involves Zillow and Midwest Real Estate Data, one of the region's largest real estate firms. MRED recently partnered with brokerage platform Compass to allow private listings where homes are shown to select buyers before becoming public. Well, Zillow wants listings made public within 24 hours and sued after MRED threatened to cut off Zillow's access to its database. Zillow has asked a federal judge to block that action and is awaiting that decision.

7-Eleven is now hosting weekday Slurpee happy hours ahead of free Slurpee day on July 11. Large Slurpees are just one dollar Monday through Friday from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. for rewards program members. That's the key, Brad. 7-Eleven owned chains Speedway and Stripes are also participating. And on free Slurpee day customers can get one free small Slurpee. The happy hours run through August 25. It's all to celebrate the company's 98th birthday.

Brad, I've never had a Slurpee.

SMITH: Really? Not even on free Slurpee day, July 11?

ABER: No. I'm going to have to go now.

SMITH: Oh my gosh, Maribel Aber. All right, cool. We will make sure that we convene to make that happen for sure here. I can already feel the sugary brain rush.

Thanks so much, Maribel.

Eight hikers, a swarm of bees, what can go wrong? That story starts off the look at news making headlines across the country.

We start in Phoenix, Arizona. The calls came from hikers Monday along two trails on Camelback Mountain. The crews found the hikers and walked them down the mountain. Now, one of the hikers went to the hospital to be checked out. The trails are currently closed.

And police in Milwaukee say that a driver led them on an eight-mile chase that veered into a suburban shopping hub of a mall, and it was all caught on camera. The incident started with a traffic stop when the woman fled the scene. Officers tried to use stop sticks and then a squad car to block the vehicle, but those didn't work. Police eventually used a pit maneuver to stop the car.

And we've got to show you this scene. Just digest it for a hot second. What you're looking at is a metal beam lodged through the roof of a woman's car in Wisconsin. That woman says that she was getting ready to merge to exit a tunnel when the impact shook her car. Yeah, it absolutely did. She pulled over and saw the beam sticking out of her roof.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOYCE ROBERTSTON-HOYT, DRIVER It wasn't until I got actually back in the car that I looked in the passenger ceiling and saw that it was actually sticking about eight inches into the passenger side of the cabin. Probably you need some days maybe of not driving the car, not that I'm driving this car anyway.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: Well, she won't be driving that car for a little bit longer. That driver says even though she wasn't physically hit, the experience was still pretty traumatizing.

[06:00:00]

And how did this Tesla Cybertruck end up in the middle of a lake? Police in Texas say that the driver purposefully drove it into the water to try out its wade mode feature. The feature lets the Cybertruck drive through shallow rivers or creeks. And the truck became disabled and water started coming in. Everyone inside the vehicle got out safely. Police arrested the driver.

That does it for CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS. I'm Brad Smith. "CNN THIS MORNING WITH AUDIE CORNISH" starts right now.