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CNN Headlines: Blue Origin's "New Glenn" Rocket Explodes On Launchpad; Former AG Pam Bondi Facings Questions On Her Handling Of Epstein Case Files; U.S. Officials: Tentative Deal Reached With Iran, Trump Yet To Sign Off. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired May 29, 2026 - 05:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL)

[05:30:10]

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

In just hours former attorney general Pam Bondi will be grilled behind closed doors by a House committee investigating the Jeffrey Epstein probe. She'll face questions about how her Justice Department handled the Epstein case files. Bondi will not be under oath but will be warned that lying to Congress is a crime.

Also, dramatic new video showing the moments that a Blue Origin rocket exploded during a ground test in Florida. The company says that all staff are accounted for. NASA is looking into what caused the mishap.

And authorities in the Bahamas are letting the U.S. Coast Guard send divers to new spots in the search for a missing American woman. Investigators say that they found inconsistencies between Lynette Hooker's husband's statements and the location data recovered from his electronic devices. Brian Hooker claims that Lynette fell out of a small dinghy last month in rough waters.

Well, we've got some more news to get back to here. It's one of our stop stories here as a Blue Origin ground test went terribly wrong last night. The company's "New Glenn" rocket exploded on a launch pad at Cape Canaveral during what's known as a hot fire test. No one was reported hurt and an investigation is underway.

An expert told us that the launch site is going to be locked down for a long time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURIE LESHIN, FORMER DIRECTOR, NASA JET PROPULSION LABORATORY: This is going to be a setback for sure for Blue Origin's plans and for NASA's plans potentially because Blue Origin is a key partner in the next set of Artemis missions which are ultimately designed to get our crew down to the surface of the moon.

But the next mission, Artemis III, was supposed to be the Orion capsule which, of course, we all saw during Artemis II taking the astronauts around the moon. Another Orion capsule was supposed to dock with the landers that would have ultimately taken then down to the surface in Earth orbit, and Blue Origin had one of those landers.

So it's going to be tough because that mission is supposed to happen next year and it's hard to see how they're going to be ready to launch and operate their lander in Earth orbit on that kind of timeframe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos wrote on X, "It's too early to know the root cause but we're already working to find it. A very rough day but we'll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It's worth it."

Now to Capitol Hill. Former attorney general Pam Bondi is about to go before the House Oversight committee to take questions about the Jeffrey Epstein case, but it's not clear how much we'll learn, and it won't be under oath.

Here's CNN's Annie Grayer with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, the former attorney general is expected to appear for a closed-door interview with the House Oversight committee and she's appearing voluntarily after what has been a long road to get here.

Lawmakers initially subpoenaed Bondi in a bipartisan basis back in March and then Bondi appeared for a voluntary informal conversation that Democrats walked out of because they said Bondi was not under oath.

Then Bondi was fired from her job and that really delayed the process here. But finally, today, she will appear for this interview and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have a lot of questions.

While the Department of Justice has released 3 1/2 million documents of the Epstein files, a lot of those documents are heavily redacted and there's still some 2 1/2 million documents that even lawmakers haven't been able to see.

Also throughout this investigation and through the interviews that the committee has done so far, they've learned that the Department of Justice and FBI did not interview a lot of key figures in Epstein's orbit from previous investigations that lawmakers have a lot of questions about.

Now, when Bondi came into office she was pushing for transparency. She even famously once said that she had the so-called client list sitting on her desk. But as time unfolded, she walked back those comments and actually received a lot of heat from even the far-right base who was pushing for more transparency and information about what was in the Epstein files.

And this interview today comes at a very personal moment for Bondi who recent was -- revealed that she has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer and is recovering from treatment.

But this interview where Bondi will be questioned by both Democrat and Republican lawmakers behind closed door. We are expecting to receive a transcript in the days ahead from this interview but there is not expected to be a videotape.

Annie Grayer, CNN, reporting from Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SMITH: Thank you, Annie.

[05:35:00]

The U.S. and Iran appear to be moving closer to a possible breakthrough. U.S. officials say that the two sides have reached a tentative agreement, but it remains unclear whether President Trump will sign off. Now, at the same time, Iranian state media sources say that no final deal has been reached for now. This framework keeps negotiations moving forward as both sides try to work through the most difficult issues, and while there are signs of progress officials stress that there is still a long way to go.

CNN's Alayna Treene has the latest from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: U.S. officials that my colleague Kevin Liptak and I have spoken with say that there has been a tentative agreement that has been reached on this memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran. Essentially, a short-term framework that would then trigger another 60 days of negotiations on this entire nuclear deal.

Now, what would actually be in this framework as we understand it in its latest form? It is 1) there would be an agreement to immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz to pre-war levels, and in return the United States would get rid of its blockade on Iranian ports. They would also have a commitment from the Iranians not develop -- to develop a nuclear weapon.

But the thorniest issues, we're told, still need to be worked out and that's actually expected to happen on the other side in that 60-day period where they really get into the nitty gritty of what this more permanent, longer lasting deal could look like.

That includes, of course, one of the biggest issues that has been, you know, and obsession of Donald Trump's. One, the enforcement mechanism to ensure that when Iran says they would not create a nuclear weapon, how does the United States and the Trump administration hold them to their word.

The other, of course, being what happens with the highly enriched uranium in Iran's possession? Now I will say from the conversations I've had with Trump officials today they are optimistic about where things stand. But as always, it's hard to know whether or not that optimism is really going to last.

And, of course, there has been skepticism because 1) President Donald Trump has not yet signed off on this agreement and as far as we know, the supreme leader of Iran hasn't either.

Now we did hear from the vice president, JD Vance, Thursday evening when he was getting off a plane from this trip to Colorado. Listen to what he said.

J.D. VANCE, (R) VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's hard to say exactly when or if the president is going to sign the MOU. We're going back and forth on a couple of language points. I do think that we've made a lot of progress here. It's very clear that I think the Iranians -- they want a deal.

TREENE: So he said he can't guarantee that they're going to get there. He also argued that he doesn't know if the president is going to sign this or when he would sign this memorandum of understanding. But again, optimism from him as well.

So we really have to see where this all ends up. And as always, any sort of change from either the United States or Iran, and particularly their leaders, could upend this entire state of play and progress. So we'll be watching closely to see whether there's any movement and whether or not the president -- President Donald Trump feels closer to wanting to sign his approval off on this.

Alayna Treene, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SMITH: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declined to answer questions about the administration's $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund. He cited ongoing litigation and referred questions to the Justice Department.

Bessent also pushed back on California Gov. Gavin Newsom's plan to tax proceeds from the fund, offering a brief response when pressed on the issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Governor Gavin Newsom has floated this idea of a 100 percent state tax on Californians who receive money from President Trump's anti-weaponization fund. Your response to that governor's call for a separate tax?

SCOTT BESSENT, TREASURY SECRETARY: There's no cure for stupid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: Critics have already challenged the legality of the fund in at least two separate lawsuits.

Tensions boiled over outside a New Jersey immigration detention center last night. It's where video shows federal agents tackling protesters during a chaotic confrontation. Demonstrators had gathered over allegations of violence inside the facility where some inmates are reportedly on a hunger strike over claims that they were served spoiled food. Several New Jersey Democrats say that their offices have received multiple complaints from detainees and families.

Eight kids had a roller coaster ride that they will never forget, and in a bad way. They were stuck 100 feet up in the air for several hours.

CNN's John Laurence has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAYCE ESCOBA, PARK VISITOR: It made like a big bang. Like, it went boom! So it just got stuck there.

JOHN LAURENCE (PH), CNN REPORTER: The Iron Shark is one of the tallest rides at the Pleasure Pier Park and the Galveston Fire Department had just enough reach.

CHIEF MIKE VARELA JR., GALVESTON, TEXAS FIRE DEPARTMENT: It is about 100 feet up right now and our ladder is 105 feet.

LAURENCE: Wow.

VARELA: So we're working with feet and inches here.

LAURENCE: The riders were individually placed in safety harnesses and brought down with no reports of any significant injuries.

VARELA: Of course, they were shaken up from climbing that ladder down and being in that hot sun. They have been checked for dehydration, and everyone seems to be doing pretty good.

LAURENCE: Pleasure Pier released a statement saying the ride "experienced a malfunction" and that it "will undergo a thorough inspection before returning to operation."

JEFERSON GALVEZ, PARK VISITOR: For me, I don't know what I would do if I was in their shoes, honestly. Yeah, it would be crazy.

LAURENCE: I'm John Laurence reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SMITH: It's time for Buzz Express, the stories that have people talking.

"Toy Story 5" had its premiere in London last night and the gang was all there, including Joan Cusack. This was her first red carpet appearance in 11 years. She is the voice of cowgirl Jessie. You can see her posing on the red carpet with Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, who voice Woody and Buzz Lightyear in the beloved franchise. "Toy Story 5" will be released worldwide next month.

And new developments in a high-stakes legal battle over Taylor Swift's newest album "The Life of a Showgirl." Billboard reports that Swift's legal team was back in court this week using a first amendment defense to fight a trademark infringement lawsuit from a Las Vegas performer. She puts on a cabaret show called "Confession of a Showgirl."

Swift's lawyers argue that the album is a protected expressive work of art and they cited a recent court victory for Lady Gaga and her "Mayhem" album to push back against the demand to stop all merchandise sales. The judge is expected to issue a written ruling soon.

And there is a new National Spelling Bee champion. He is 14-year-old Shrey Parikh from San Bernardino, California. And for the third time in history -- just the third time in history, the finals went to a spell-off. Shrey correctly spelled a record 32 words.

Here's a look at some of that action.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Melengket.

SHREY PARIKH, WINNER, SCRIPPS NATIONAL SPELLING BEE: M-E-L-E-N-G-K-E- T.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Teraalin.

PARIKH: T-E-R-A-A-L-I-N.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Homelyn.

PARIKH: H-O-M-E-L-Y-N.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chikungunya.

PARIKH: C-H-I-K-U-N-G-U-N-Y-A.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bromocriptine.

PARIKH: B-R-O-M-O-C-R-I-P-T-I-N-E.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cashaw

PARIKH: C-A-S-H-A-W.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: The big prize there, $50,000, and the extreme pride, of course, of his parents. Excellent work there.

Next up on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS, what will it take for crews to start bringing out those five people found in a cave after being trapped for over a week? We've got the details ahead.

And check out who is making their runway debut. That is coming up on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS.

(COMMERCIAL) [05:47:25]

SMITH: Let's go around the globe starting in Europe.

A drone attack from Russia slammed into an apartment in Romania as Moscow forces targeted a nearby Ukrainian port. The Ukrainian port is about 40 miles away from the Romanian town. A CNN affiliate in Romania says that the drones struck the apartment building's roof.

Russian drones and missiles have repeatedly breached the airspace of NATO members in Europe, including Romania which has seen at least 28 such incidents including one that forced it to scramble fighter jets.

And a community in Kenya is seen consoling each other as investigators look into the cause of the latest school fire. Officials say at least 16 students were killed after the blaze ripped through a girl's school dormitory yesterday. Seventy-nine others were injured. Researchers say that the fires are often set by students to protest harsh discipline and poor conditions.

And an Austrian court, on Thursday, sentenced the 21-year-old man who admitted to planning a foiled Islamist attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna in 2024, leading to the superstar having to cancel her planned shows that summer. He was found guilty of various terrorism-related offenses and will spend 15 years in prison.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A 21-year-old man who admitted to planning a foiled Islamist attack on a 2024 Taylor Swift concert in Vienna was sentenced to 15 years in prison by an Austrian court. Beran A, whose last name has not been made public due to Austrian privacy rules, was arrested on August 7, 2024, the day before the first of three planned concerts which ultimately were canceled.

Dismayed Swift fans sang together in Vienna following the news.

TAYLOR SWIFT FANS: Singing "Shake It Off."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was found to have tried but failed to illegally buy weapons, including a machine gun and hand grenade, and followed instructions in an Islamic State video entitled "Make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom to produce a small amount of the explosive TATP."

Beran A was accused at the same trial of plotting separately with two school friends to carry out a solo attack earlier in 2024 in separate Middle Eastern cities. The pair did not follow through, and Beran A said in court he chose the concert as his target upon returning home.

[05:50:00]

Pictures show the Austrian man covering his face as he entered the courtroom. In his final statement after closing arguments, Beran A apologized, saying, "I would just like to say that I'm sorry."

(END VIDEOTAPE) SMITH: The future of fashion hit the runway in Seoul. That's where robots and human models strutted side-by-side in a first of its kind fashion show -- an AI fashion how, in fact. Now, the machines matched outfits with their human partners and they even danced in synchronized choreography. Organizers say that the goal wasn't to replace people but to show that robots -- as companions they're capable of sharing emotion.

All right, just don't outshine me.

Still to come on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS we've got this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: A woman trapped in a car on an embankment cries out for help as rescuers try to free her.

And a flavor showdown as Anheuser-Busch offering up flavored beer and they want you to vote on it. The choices on the other side of the break.

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[05:55:30]

SMITH: Rescue crews in Laos are now working to evacuate the first of the five men out of a flooded cave. Teams have cleared an access route and are pumping water out faster after installing high-powered equipment near the entrance. The men have been trapped over a week and stranded about 850 feet underground after flash flooding hit while they were searching for gold.

CNN's Will Ripley just filed this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: All right, we're taking off -- Godspeed. Right now we're heading towards the mountains, although you can see they're pretty difficult to see. They're obscured by clouds and fog.

The weather has been a real problem with the effort to reach the miners down in that cave because every time it rain -- and it's monsoon season, so it's raining every day -- it just floods the caves, and the water levels rise making it difficult to bring anybody out or in.

And directly below us is where this cave rescue is unfolding as we speak. And you get a sense of just how dangerous and rugged this mountainous jungle terrain is. It would have taken us close to 10 hours if we were driving here. The helicopter flight is taking us just about 40 minutes.

Whenever it rains the water disappears into these mountains creating this vast underground limestone cave network with these hidden rivers and sinkholes and air pockets where it's believed that those villagers were trapped. It's also monsoon season and it's raining almost every day here. So when the water goes down, it instantly floods those caves, which is putting the lives of the villagers and rescuers in danger.

Getting equipment out here has been a huge challenge because as we flew in here, we saw that most of the roads are winding, dirt roads only passable during daylight hours. It's impossible to drive at night. It's much too dangerous. But they need that heavy equipment, particularly large generators, so that they can pump the water out of the caves in between rainstorms to try to get the water level low enough so that the divers can crawl out without having to attempt an extremely perilous dive. It's pitch black, murky water.

But the villagers say their health condition is deteriorating. They've been sending video messages to their families and they're desperately waiting to be reunited with their loved ones. And even though they now have food and medical care they still have said that they feel if they have to spend much longer down in that cave, they might not make it out alive.

Will Ripley, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SMITH: Well, heads up, parents. Some popular squishy toys are being recalled for potential asbestos.

Maribel Aber joins us from the NASDAQ MarketSite with that and the rest of your top Money Express headlines. Hey, Maribel.

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

So a children's squishy toy sold at major retailers, including Walmart, is being recalled over concerns it could contain asbestos. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says more than 120,000 Orb Factory Funkee Monkey gorillas may be affected. The toys were sold nationwide in multiple colors and sizes through April of this year. Federal safety officials urge customers to dispose of the toy immediately or return it for a refund. Additional details are available on CPSC's website.

CVS Health is restoring access to some Eli Lilly weight loss drugs beginning this fall. The company had dropped Lilly medicines in favor of a lower-cost deal with Novo Nordisk Wegovy. Well, starting next week CVS will offer Lilly's obesity pill Foundayo and add coverage for Zepbound injections in October. CVS says the move could mean more competitive pricing and lower patient costs by up to 15 percent. It also expands weight loss options for millions of Americans through its Caremark prescription network.

OK, Anheuser-Busch wants your help picking its next limited edition beer flavor. The Busch Light Flavor Showdown invites beer fans to vote on either orange, lemon or peach. The contest follows the successful return of Busch Light Apple, known to fans as "Bapple." Voting runs through July 7 on busch.com and on Busch Light's social channel.

So orange, lemon or peach, Brad -- or like me, none of the above?

SMITH: I think -- and this is a great Friday story. Let's just acknowledge that. Because now I'm thinking about happy hour already and -- well, at a different 5:00 a.m. hour. But I will go with the orange. What are you going with again?

[06:00:00}

ABER: OK. I'm none of the above, Brad.

SMITH: None of the above -- wow, OK.

ABER: I'm OG.

SMITH: Wow. All right. We'll have to find a different beverage for you to enjoy on this Friday.

Maribel Aber, thank you so much.

All right, excellent. Well, that does it for CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS, everyone. I'm Brad Smith. "CNN THIS MORNING WITH AUDIE CORNISH" starts right now.