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CNN Headlines: Sources: Iran Is Building Drones Faster Than Expected; Acting Attorney General: Violent Conduct Will Be A Factor In "Anti-Weaponization Fund" Payouts; U.S Doctor Who Tested Positive For Virus Receiving Treatment in Berlin. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired May 21, 2026 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:22]
BRAD SMITH, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. intel reveals that Iran is rebuilding their military capabilities since the six-week ceasefire began. Just how soon Iran could fully restore its drone attack capability?
And --
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TODD BLANCHE, ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL: One of the factors the commissioners have to consider is what the claimant did, the claimants' conduct, okay? So in the hypothetical you just described, the claimant would have to say, "I assaulted a cop and I want money."
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SMITH: Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche says January 6th violence will be considered by the new Anti-Weaponization Fund Commission.
And another American citizen exposed to Ebola now hospitalized in the Czech Republic. The latest on the outbreak and the potential experimental treatment for those at high risk.
Plus --
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, throw me your kid. Okay, yep, I got it.
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SMITH: A dramatic rescue. A baby had to be dropped from the window of a burning home. That officer able to safely catch her. We hear from that hero.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Brad Smith. This is CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS. Glad that you're with us this morning. Let's get this started.
New this morning, Iran is rebuilding its military capabilities faster than expected. And its already producing new attack drones, according to U.S. intelligence sources shared this information with CNN. This rebuilding adds up to a big deal for U.S. allies in the region if hostilities restart, experts believe, and it calls into question the extent to which U.S. Israeli strikes have caused long term damage to Iran's military.
U.S. intelligence has said to think that Iran will be back at full speed, making drones within six months, one of the sources, a U.S. official, told CNN.
We're also learning new details about what a CNN source describes as a tense phone call between the president and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week. The two leaders are said to be diverging on the future of the war with Iran.
But on Wednesday, Trump seemed concerned about the relationship.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He'll do whatever I want him to do. He's very, very good man. He'll do whatever I want him to do. And he's a -- he's a great guy to me. He's a great --
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SMITH: He also told reporters that he's willing to keep negotiating a peace deal in order to save lives before mentioning the war during a commencement speech at the Coast Guard Academy.
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TRUMP: We're respected all over the world. You saw that with China just recently. You saw that in Venezuela. You saw that right now in Iran, everything's gone. Their navy's gone, their air force is gone. Just about everything. The only question is, do we go and finish it up? Or are they going to be signing a document? Let's see what happens.
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SMITH: Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson dismisses talk of ultimatums, adding that Tehran is operating under, quote, suspicion and good faith.
Well, we have new details this morning about the Justice Department's nearly $1.8 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund. In an interview with CNN's Paula Reid, acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said violent conduct will be taken into consideration when determining who would get funds from that compensation fund.
Blanche said that the fund is nonpartisan, but critics say it's a way for the president to compensate allies who say they were unfairly targeted by the Biden administration. Blanche says a five member commission will decide who should receive the money from the fund. He will be in charge of appointing the commissioners.
Now, keep in mind, Blanche was President Trump's former personal attorney, and ultimately, Trump would have the power to fire the commissioners. Reid asked Blanche about the possibility that people who ride it at the Capitol on January 6th could end up with payouts from the pot that some critics call a slush fund.
Listen to the exchange here.
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PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: You're the nation's top law enforcement official right now. Would you be okay with people who were convicted of hurting police, getting taxpayer money?
BLANCHE: Just to be clear, people that hurt police get money all the time. Okay? There's a process where -- where if you are -- if you are, if you believe you have your rights violated, you can -- you can apply for funds, you can sue, you can file a claim, you can go to court.
In some of those cases, the state, the government, the federal government settles those cases. It's abhorrent to ever, ever touch a law enforcement officer, which is why anytime anybody does that and it's a federal officer, we'll prosecute them.
[05:05:04]
But that's a completely different question with whether an individual is allowed to apply for a claim, whether they'll get a claim, who -- it depends. I can't -- it's not -- it would not be appropriate for me to talk about absolutes, like absolutely not. Under no circumstances.
I mean, we can talk about hypotheticals until we're blue in the face, but that really wouldn't be fruitful.
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SMITH: Time and location is important context as well here. Two police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol on January 6th have sued to block the payouts from the fund.
Turning now to the Ebola outbreak, which the World Health Organization has officially declared a public health emergency of international concern. But it insists that the global risks remain low. The Democratic Republic of Congo says that there are at least 148 deaths thought to be linked to the outbreak, and nearly 600 suspected cases.
We've also learned that a U.S. citizen exposed to Ebola has arrived at a Czech hospital for observation. That person has only been identified as a male medical doctor. The head of the team treating him says that they've been told he is showing no symptoms.
Meanwhile, the American doctor who tested positive for Ebola in Africa is now being treated in Berlin. Dr. Peter Stafford was caring for patients with the virus in the DRC when the outbreak was declared. He is said to be in stable condition.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Berlin to bring us the latest on the American doctor receiving treatment, and he also has more on what's being done globally to try to contain the Ebola outbreak.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): A heavily protected convoy of special ambulances carrying American Peter Stafford to Germanys top infectious disease hospital in the middle of the night. The medical doctor working in eastern Congo confirmed to have contracted a strand of the highly contagious and deadly Ebola virus.
The Serge missionary charity that sent Dr. Stafford and his family to Congo for medical work telling CNN they're concerned but hopeful he'll pull through.
MATT ALLISON, SERGE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: He's in a state of mind and of health that he's able to communicate with us. He continues to have a fever, dizziness, lightness of head and some nausea, which is fairly typical symptoms for Ebola.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): The infectious disease ward at Berlin's Charite Hospital is known as one of the best in the world.
Peter Safford's wife Rebecca, and their four children also isolated here, even though they remain asymptomatic. Another U.S. doctor, Patrick LaRochelle, who had contact with Peter Stafford while in Congo, flown to the Czech Republic for isolation and observation.
PLEITGEN: The sign that you see behind me says restricted area, danger of infection. This is as close as we can get to the actual isolation ward, where the hospital says the American patient is getting the best care possible.
ALLISON: He's getting like a monoclonal antibody treatment. He's in a center of excellence for Ebola care with doctors who have treated Ebola before. You know, a day ago, he needed assistance to even walk into the containment unit for his air evac. And so, we see some progress and we're really encouraged.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): But encouragement is hard to come by in the areas affected by the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo, Uganda, and possibly South Sudan. A vicious strand of the virus for which no vaccine exists that causes severe pain, internal and external bleeding and bruises, often ending in death.
The World Health Organization now classifying this outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern. Dozens already killed by the virus and the number of infections rapidly rising, the WHO says.
TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: We expect those numbers to keep increasing, given the amount of time the virus was circulating before the outbreak was detected.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Ebola's mortality rates are extremely high, but German health officials say their doctors are well-equipped to give the U.S. citizen they're treating the best chance of survival and recovery.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.
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SMITH: All right. Thank you, Fred.
And you can be sure to stay with us as coming up at the half hour, we'll delve into what other steps are being taken from other countries to get the Ebola outbreak under control.
Well, with apologies to James Taylor, you're seeing fire and you're seeing rain. That is wildfires out west and major flash flooding in two major cities in the east. A wildfire has consumed nearly a third of California's Santa Rosa Island, adding up to more than 27 square miles.
Now, the state's biggest fire of the season, and the National Park Service has shut down the island to visitors.
[05:10:06]
Just one of many wildfires burning across the state, the Sandy Fire above Simi Valley, near L.A., is now 22 percent contained, and tens of thousands have been ordered out of their homes.
Now for the rain. Chaos for drivers in downtown Atlanta. Wednesday afternoon, flash floods leaving cars stranded up and down the interstate. The water proved too much for a nearby Waymo self-driving car. CNN affiliate WANF reports that no one was in the autonomous car and that Waymo suspended service soon after.
And in New York, strong thunderstorms triggered flash floods across parts of Queens and Brooklyn. Meteorologists say that some areas got two inches of rain in less than an hour. The storms ushered in big temperature drops in the northeast.
CNN's Derek Van Dam explains more.
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DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: How about a 20 to 30 degree temperature difference compared to yesterday? You'll certainly be feeling the change in the weather today across places like Philadelphia, the nation's capital, New York, into Boston. A cold front swept through. It's responsible for some wet weather over the past 24 hours, but it's also responsible for a marked difference in our temperatures, which you'll see in just a moment.
There's also a significant amount of moisture in the air. So this cold front is going to act as kind of a triggering mechanism for these thunderstorms to develop through the course of the day. Any one of them could drop a quick one to two inches of rain, especially as they start moving over the same locations. So anywhere from Atlanta to Birmingham, southward into Houston, this is the area where we could see some localized flash flooding. You can see the rainfall totals over the next three days. Again, widespread one to three inches, but locally higher amounts anticipated with this constant surge of moisture that's streaming in from the Gulf.
Now, what you'll definitely feel is the cloud cover and the cooler temperatures across the northeast, only a high of 60 today in Boston, 62 degrees for New York, 68 for Washington, but significantly warmer as you head further south and east.
The temperatures will start to modify into next week. But of course, we've got a holiday weekend ahead of us, so we've got to be patient here. Here's the seven day outlook for New York City. It's not until Tuesday and Wednesday of next week when we enter the 80s again.
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SMITH: And as for how this is impacting flight plans, expect some delays if you're planning to fly through New York's LaGuardia Airport this morning, but its because of a sinkhole. It actually forced the closure of one of only two runways. It was discovered during a routine inspection yesterday. Flight tracking site FlightAware, it showed about a third of all flights into and out of the airport were delayed or canceled.
We've got lots more to come on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS.
The attorney for a former elementary school ex-principal is calling for a mistrial. Why he wants the case against her dropped. We've got those details.
Plus, check out this. A crazy scene on the streets of New York City after a car explodes, sending people running for cover.
And later, the indictment of former Cuban President Raul Castro over his alleged role in an attack on two civilian planes in 1996, and what it means for the current economic crisis in Cuba, all coming up.
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SMITH: Sources say that the white house could issue an executive order focused on artificial intelligence and cyber security as early as today. They'll tell us that the order will push for a voluntary government review of new A.I. models before theyre released publicly. The cyber security section of the order outlines that the goal would be to find and fix security vulnerabilities in the unreleased A.I. models. Anthropic and OpenAI are among the companies said to have engaged with the White House on the executive order.
Well, happening today, the trial continues for the former assistant principal from Virginia, who's accused of ignoring warnings that a six year old student brought a gun to school. The weapon was later used to shoot and injure his teacher. After several days of testimony, the prosecution rested its case yesterday, and now the defense team for Ebony Parker is expected to begin presenting their case today.
On Wednesday, Parker's attorneys pushed for a mistrial based on potential juror misconduct, but that was denied.
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JUDGE REBECCA ROBINSON, NEWPORT NEWS CIRCUIT COURT: The defense moved for a mistrial. The commonwealth has joined. The court is going to deny a motion for a mistrial in the case will proceed because conduct here was not prejudicial or is not prejudicial as found by the court.
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SMITH: Ebony Parker has pleaded not guilty to all charges and if convicted, she faces up to 40 years in prison.
Still to come on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS:
Captured on body cam, fire quickly spreads through a house and a mom is forced to toss her baby from a window with just minutes to spare. How quick thinking saved lives.
And Elon Musk, on track to be the world's first trillionaire. Yes, you heard that right, trillionaire. We'll break down the SpaceX's plan to go public.
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[05:24:05]
SMITH: Well, SpaceX has officially unveiled plans to go public, pulling back the curtain on one of the worlds most secretive private companies. The IPO has the potential to make founder Elon Musk the first trillionaire in history.
CNN's Paula Newton has more.
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PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If you're looking to own a piece of SpaceX, your opportunity is just around the corner.
The company filed the paperwork Wednesday afternoon to go public on the Nasdaq, in what could be the largest IPO in history, and put founder Elon Musk on track to be the world's first trillionaire. Reuters estimates a successful share offering could value the company at $1.75 trillion. Though SpaceX is known for its rocket launches, the company revealed it currently makes most of its revenue from the satellite internet business Starlink.
Now according to the filing, the company's mission is, quote, "To build the systems and technologies necessary to make life multi- planetary, to understand the true nature of the universe and to extend the light of consciousness to the stars."
[05:25:14]
Musk's future compensation is tied, among other things, to the establishment of a human colony on Mars with at least one million inhabitants. SpaceX will also continue to be firmly in the hands of Musk. He will have more than 85 percent of the voting rights in the company once it does go public.
Paula Newton, CNN, New York.
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SMITH: T hank you, Paula.
Straight ahead on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS:
Another U.S. citizen exposed to Ebola now hospitalized in the Czech Republic. The latest on the outbreak coming up.
And massive flooding on Georgia roadways caused a headache for drivers as spring storms continue to wreak havoc across the country. More on the severe weather straight ahead.
Plus, there's this:
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FLAVOR FLAV, RAPPER: I know what it feels like when my daughters do something good. They want to be recognized for it.
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SMITH: Flavor Flav's planning for a big Las Vegas party celebrating women athletes. It's a step closer to reality here. We've got the details.
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