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New CNN Film Follows World War II Veterans; Michael Phelps Speaks Out; Democratic Agenda?; U.S.-Iran Negotiations Continue. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired May 25, 2026 - 10:30   ET

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

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[10:30:55]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Happening now: finding a wedding ring among burnt rubble. Firefighters helped this Ventura County, California, woman find it after she lost her home in the recent wildfire. That fire has burned more than 2,000 acres and is now 75 percent contained.

Plus: Mr. Rogers is coming back to your neighborhood. The U.S. Postal Service is bringing back a Mr. Rogers stamp from 2018. These will be available nationwide starting June 1.

And shocking new video into THE SITUATION ROOM showing a first responder rescuing a baby in Texas. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold on. Hold on, bro.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. Cover him. Cover him. (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got the baby out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Police say that a driver tried to go through a flooded crossing, and the car began to be swept away. That's when an officer stepped in, saving the baby while other first responders also assisted. Thankfully, no one was hurt.

Police are reminding people to never try to drive through flooded roads.

Let's get back to our top story right now. The U.S. and Iran are reporting some progress in their long-stalled peace negotiations. They're trying to hammer out a so-called memorandum of understanding. It would stop the fighting and gradually reopen the Strait of Hormuz, where 20 percent of the world's oil flow has been cut off and would also set off a 60-day process to try to negotiate other key issues, including Iran's nuclear program.

Joining us now, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander retired U.S. Army General Wesley Clark.

General Clark, thanks so much for joining us.

As of now, this so-called memorandum taking shape would end the fighting and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Do you believe these smaller steps are the right move right now, or does it alleviate too much of the pressure on Iran?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, it certainly surrenders U.S. leverage, Wolf.

On the other hand, I don't see any really good military options, and this is the problem we have. I know the president doesn't want to restart the bombing campaign. And, honestly, their campaign, after five weeks, had -- I think it had gone through most of the lucrative targets.

And it turns out we did not destroy the 27 missile cities, nor were we able to take out enough in the Strait of Hormuz to consider the Strait of Hormuz open. So, hopefully, during this period, Admiral Cooper has been really working the plans over, figuring out what to do with the strait, combination of forces, land, sea, and air, underwater unmanned vehicles, and all of the technology we have, so we do have a military option on the Strait of Hormuz.

If we do start, I hope that's where we -- restart, I hope that's where we restart. But the sad truth about negotiating with the Iranians is, with the same regime in place, and unless they have changed their determination to strike Israel and become the regionally dominant power, an agreement risks confirming their ambitions and giving them the wherewithal to further strengthen their military and go after our friends and allies in the region.

BLITZER: A lot of experts are suggesting the new regime in Iran may even be more hard-line than the previous one.

A source is also telling CNN, General Clark, that Iran's chief negotiator, as well as the foreign minister of Iran and the Central Bank governor, are all in Qatar for talks today. Does that suggest to you that talks are inching perhaps closer to that so-called memorandum of agreement?

CLARK: It does.

But I also note a lot of opposition by -- in the United States by members of the Republican Senate group. And they -- I think they see the inevitable, that what happens if you sign an agreement like this is, there's no guarantee that Iran won't get nuclear weapons.

[10:35:09]

There's nothing in it that we know of about the missile technology. And it may just be a pause before the next conflict. And so really what John Bolton has argued persuasively for years is, you have got to have regime change in Iran to really end the conflicts in the region.

And when we started this, we had some hopes for regime change, but we didn't really have any plans. So I don't know -- not on the inside of it, so I can't tell you whether there's been any progress in that respect.

But just to get the strait open, sure, that's important, but it's more -- it's another step of sort of temporizing with this regime, giving them resources while they further their own ambitions in the region, at the expense of our friends and allies there.

BLITZER: As you probably noticed from his social media posts over the past day or so, President Trump is now urging leaders of several Gulf, Arab and Muslim countries to sign on to the Abraham Accords as part of this new peace agreement.

That would make these countries have a peace agreement with Israel. What do you make of that?

CLARK: Well, on the one hand, it gives the president some talking points that make the outcome of the war look more positive.

On the other hand, it certainly adds diplomatic complications in the region. We know, for example, Saudi Arabia has an agreement with Pakistan. They have Pakistani troops there and so forth. And I think there will be certainly a conflict of conscience in going forward with this prematurely.

So, I realize what the president's trying to do. And you're in the realm of grand strategy here, but I'm just looking at it militarily. I think we don't have yet an assured, good military option, and that's a real problem for us that's complicating the decisions about what to do diplomatically.

BLITZER: And he said, if there is a peace agreement with Iran, he hopes that Iran eventually signs on to the Abraham Accords and establishes full diplomatic relations with Israel as well. We will see if that ever were to happen.

CLARK: Sure.

BLITZER: General Wesley Clark, as usual, thank you very, very much.

Also happening now, Democratic officials are grappling with the recent release of the party's so-called autopsy report examining Kamala Harris' 2024 election loss to Donald Trump and trying to determine what comes next just ahead of 2028.

And not addressed in the Democratic National Committee's analysis, President Biden's decision at the time to pursue reelection in the first place or Kamala Harris' taking over the ticket without a formal nominating process.

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MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: How do you think this has been handled by the DNC?

SEN. BRIAN SCHATZ (D-HI): Poorly.

(CROSSTALK)

SCHATZ: And I scanned it, and I read a summary of it. And it's not exactly explosive. I think the explosive part was the implication that they were hiding something.

RAJU: Do you think that they should have released this earlier, this DNC autopsy?

SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): I don't really care. I mean, I'm not sure those are the right people to diagnose what went wrong with the election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And joining us now to discuss, the Democratic Congressman and gubernatorial candidate in South Carolina Joe Cunningham.

Joe, thanks very much for joining us. I know you're the author of a brand-new book entitled "Life of the Party: How Democrats Lost America's Trust and How They Can Win It Back."

The whole book is about your party's mistakes and missteps in recent years. Did you get the answers you wanted from your interviews with all these various Democratic leaders?

FMR. REP. JOE CUNNINGHAM (D-SC): No, look, I think the autopsy report was pretty blank and void of the reasons for the things that you mentioned.

Most of these answers are in my new book, "Life of the Party," and people can get it at lifeofthepartybook.com.

I would say, Wolf, there's good news and there's bad news for Democrats. The good news is, they do have a 11-point generic ballot advantage this fall. The bad news is, our favorability is still at 20 percent.

And, look, as a lifelong Southern Democrat, I wrote this book out of a place for love of wanting the party to correct itself. And, yes, it centers on the 2024 election, because I think that was the buildup to losing trust with American voters, with Biden not stepping aside and then the coronation of Kamala Harris.

But the question is, we recognize those mistakes now, but what do we do to move forward? And we have to have solutions. One of those solutions, I believe, should be age limits, because we have politicians that are both gripping onto life and power at the same time.

And Democrats need to put forth a bold idea, something like that, that's on the positive side of an 80/20 issue and show Americans what we actually stand for, as opposed to just standing against President Trump.

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BLITZER: I know you flipped your South Carolina congressional seat back in 2018 from red to blue. Have Democrats sufficiently reckoned with their failures in 2024 to win back key battleground districts and states in the upcoming midterm elections and in the presidential election in 2028?

CUNNINGHAM: I think it's too early to tell.

What I would tell -- I flipped a district that Trump would carry by 13 points. So I know a bit about talking to voters and independents and even moderate Republicans. And what I would say to the Democratic Party right now is, we have spent the last better part of 10 years just bashing President Trump.

American voters know President Trump. They understand him. What they don't understand is what the Democratic Party stands for. At a time where private equity owns one out of four homes, pushing the American dream further out of reach, at a time when one out five Americans aren't filling their prescriptions because it costs too much, at a time where the gas prices are increasing, the Democratic Party needs to put forth ideas on what it can do to help average and working-class Americans.

BLITZER: Who do you believe, Joe, is the current leader of the Democratic Party?

CUNNINGHAM: Yes, I think you would be hard-pressed to find one, Wolf.

And that's obviously a problem that the Republican Party obviously has its leader. I think the Democratic Party is going through, let's just call it growing pains, to use the charitable term. But not all is lost. I mean, we're a great party with a great history. It's done a lot for people, and that's why I wrote this book, because going back to FDR, going back to the New Deal that brought in the TVA that built locks and dams in the areas of Western Kentucky, Western Tennessee, that put my grandfather to work and gave them the dignity of work and created cheap hydroelectric power.

These are big and bold ideas that the Democratic Party once had. And, right now, the only ideas coming out of the party are just being against Trump. And so we can still turn the nose of the ship. It's going to take people standing up and speaking out against their own party, and I have done that in the past, all from a place of love and all from a place of wanting to correct it to make a better future for our kids.

BLITZER: Who do you think should be the leader of the Democratic Party going into 2028? Would you support, for example, Kamala Harris running again for president?

CUNNINGHAM: Look, I think the voters have spoken on that. And, honestly, going back to what you mentioned earlier, this coronation of Vice President Harris in the time that President Biden stepped aside was really a big chip away from the trust that Americans had with the Democratic Party.

We have got to begin to repair that, and we got to listen to voters and get out on the ground and understand what concerns that they have. We wrapped ourselves in this save democracy banner in the last election. Meanwhile, we circumvented a primary and didn't give voters a chance to select who would succeed President Biden.

So there's a lot of work to do in rebuilding that trust. And, again, I have called out a lot of this in the pages of my book, but I have also put forth solutions and ideas on which I think that the Democratic Party should be leading on, instead of following.

BLITZER: So, what James Carville said during the Bill Clinton run for the White House, it's the economy, stupid, is that still the case?

CUNNINGHAM: It's always the case, Wolf. It's always the case.

And, right now -- and I understand the part of the party that's saying tax the rich and make sure people pay their fair share. But the truth is, we have a system that is just not working for people. People shouldn't be forced into bankruptcy because of health care bills or filling prescriptions.

And, I mean, private equity shouldn't be gobbling up neighborhoods. This -- these types of problems don't happen in other developed nations. This is the greatest nation on Earth, and the corporate greed that is strangling the life out of middle-class America right now has -- it has to be stopped.

BLITZER: Former Democratic Congressman Joe Cunningham, thanks so much for joining us.

CUNNINGHAM: Thanks for having me, Wolf.

BLITZER: And we will be right back.

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BLITZER: The all new CNN film "Why We Dream" follows a group of World War II veterans on a journey as they travel back to Normandy, France, for the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

Weaving together present-day moments of reflection with rare archival footage, memories of the liberation of Europe and the rebuilding of postwar America, the film explores and honors the living history of the Greatest Generation.

Here's a preview.

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TEC 5 ARLESTER BROWN, 599TH QUARTERMASTER LAUNDRY COMPANY: I had always wanted to go back to Europe to see and understand that I could have been part of one of those tombstones. And here I am. I'm present to see the slaughter of humankind because

of so much hate. How blessed I was and so many of us who had been part of that own slaughter and were able to return home. And although it was segregated, we were working on that understanding, that misunderstanding of humanity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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BLITZER: And joining us now to discuss is the director of "Why We Dream," Meredith Danluck.

Meredith, thanks so much for joining us. Thanks for doing what you did.

I actually covered the 50th and 60th anniversaries of D-Day for CNN and had the wonderful opportunity to speak with veterans on the very beaches they stormed back in 1944. Listen and watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Let's go back 60 years, June 6, 1944.

RAYMOND LETOURNEAU, D-DAY VETERAN: Yes.

BLITZER: You're 19 years old. What was your job?

LETOURNEAU: Well, we were in the amphibious engineers. Our job was, after the infantry went by, to bring in the material for the troops, guns, ammunition, food, everything. That was our primary job.

BLITZER: These trenches here, these bunkers that the Germans had, they overlooked the whole beach. They...

LETOURNEAU: Oh, yes.

BLITZER: They could just easily dominate what was going on.

LETOURNEAU: Oh, yes. Oh, yes. They did too for a while.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Meredith, that experience that I had has stayed with me over all of these years, one of the most powerful moments in my journalistic career.

And I'm wondering, for you, what initially drew you to the stories of these World War II veterans and created this wonderful film?

MEREDITH DANLUCK, DIRECTOR, "WHY WE DREAM": When I heard about -- about the veterans going back to Normandy, I had a deep question of, why? Why would you want to go back to a place of such trauma?

And that was really the beginning of the story for me, is really understanding the act of revisiting history. BLITZER: So important.

The music, as you know, plays a really powerful role in film, especially in the story as emotional and as moving as this one. What was it like working with Christian Lundberg and Hans Zimmer to use music as a way to bring these stories to life throughout your film?

DANLUCK: When we approached, Hans Zimmer and Christian, they have so much experience in this world, in World War II films specifically, and they were just perfect collaborators on this.

And they even brought some instrumentation that was very, very specific from the time, in particular, something called the Victory Vertical. It was a piano that was dropped by the Allied forces for morale-boosting. And I think there's maybe nine in existence, and Hans Zimmer owns one of them. So you can hear that on our score.

BLITZER: Meredith Danluck, thanks so much for doing this. We really appreciate it. It's very, very powerful, very moving, especially for those of us who have been to Normandy. And I was there, as I noted, on the 50th and the 60th anniversaries of D-Day.

Be sure to tune in. This all new CNN film "Why We Dream" premieres tonight, 8:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN and on the CNN app.

And here's what's coming up all new at the top of the hour.

Rushing to stop a toxic explosion in California. The interim fire chief of Orange County, California, will join us live. That's coming up.

Plus, Pope Leo speaking out on artificial intelligence. Why the pontiff is now warning, A.I. is fueling warfare.

And, later, a stark warning from scientists: Rising seas will swallow New Orleans, and they say people should start relocating right now.

That's all new. It's coming up in THE SITUATION ROOM during the next hour.

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BLITZER: New this morning, Michael Phelps is speaking out, as the most decorated Olympian of all time is shining a light on the importance of mental health and revealing his own struggles.

Let's go live right now to CNN sports anchor Coy Wire, who did this special interview with the legendary athlete.

Coy, tell our viewers what he told you.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, he wants to instill hope in others. Wolf, when people think of Michael Phelps, they think of the gold

medals, the records, the dominance in the pool unlike anything sport has ever seen. But behind the smiles and the medals was a man silently battling anxiety, depression, and moments where he wondered if life was worth living.

Now, through the work of his foundation during Mental Health Awareness Month, the 23-time Olympic gold medalist is speaking out with remarkable honesty, hoping his story helps others feel less alone.

Here's part of my conversation with the GOAT.

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WIRE: When you look back now, what do you wish younger Michael understood about mental health?

MICHAEL PHELPS, OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: Man, I love getting asked that question, and it hasn't changed.

And it's nothing, because I think what I have gone through, myself, personally, has allowed me to learn more about who I am as a human. And, yes, has that been challenging at times and uncomfortable at times? Of course. But, again, like, for me, I'm more comfortable being my authentic self and living my life how I want to live.

And I feel like everybody should be searching for, what is our authentic and what does that look like and live that, because we are who we are for a reason.

WIRE: It reminds me of some of -- my former teammate Julio Jones, incredible wide receiver, superstar. You would think nothing ever is wrong with this guy, but he used to say -- his line was, embrace the suck.

He's like, sometimes things just suck, you know?

PHELPS: Yes.

WIRE: And you need to just embrace that. It's going to make you better in the end.

PHELPS: Right.

WIRE: Now, there's this myth in sports that toughness means staying silent, being stoic, right? You helped change that conversation, though.

Was there a specific moment where you realized if, I speak up, maybe I can help other people do the same?

PHELPS: I honestly think it's really when I got to that point of not wanting to be alive.

For me, I think, once I got to that point, I was like, OK, something is wrong. I need to ask for help. And that was the first time that I ever asked for help, because I -- I just didn't know what to do.

So I got help. And then I think, at that point, for me, just being able to find that kind of ground to stand on and be OK sharing the stories that I talk about, because being able to see my Olympic brothers and sisters, they were going through the same thing, right? And now we see a world, a country that's going through the same thing, right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)