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The Situation Room

NBA Playoffs Continue; Interview With Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM); Interview With Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL); Food Insecurity Rising; Senator John Cornyn Loses Primary. Aired 10:30a-11a ET

Aired May 27, 2026 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

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PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Happening now: Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara has resigned after a report shows he interfered with an investigation into his own conduct.

O'Hara was being investigated for accusations that he was engaging in intimate relationships with city employees. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey says O'Hara chose to resign, rather than face disciplinary action. The city still has 17 open complaints against O'Hara that are under investigation.

And a massive tornado caught on camera right here. You see it in Mexico. This was in the northern part of the country, as strong thunderstorms rolled through yesterday. Fortunately, no major injuries or structural damage have been reported.

And calling for accountability. Residents in Fairfield, California, are demanding justice after body camera video shows the violent arrest of a high school student. Fairfield police say the teen hit an officer and resisted law enforcement before being taken into custody.

But many question the police narrative, since that officer in question has been linked to a similar violent arrest from a year ago. The officer involved in the recent incident has been reassigned as an independent investigation is under way -- Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: And happening now: growing GOP anxieties after President Trump helped oust another member of his party. In last night's Texas Senate run-off, Republican John Cornyn's nearly 25 years in Washington came to a very dramatic end after a double-digit loss to Trump-backed challenger Ken Paxton.

Paxton will now face off against Democratic nominee James Talarico in the fall in the November election, setting up a pivotal race that could determine which party actually winds up controlling the U.S. Senate.

Let's discuss what's going on. CNN political commentator Paul Begala and CNN political commentator Shermichael Singleton are joining us right now. Paul, let me start with you. Who would have been a stronger challenger

to the Democrat, Talarico?

Would it have been Paxton or Cornyn?

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, Cornyn would have been a stronger candidate. There's no question.

First, he's fundamentally a decent man. And I don't know Attorney General Paxton, but to know him apparently is to hate him. Most people think he's a pretty loathsome guy.

But Cornyn just got swamped. He got crushed. This is, I think, the sort of the last gasp of the cult of personality. President Trump has a really firm grasp on that MAGA base. But as he tightens that grip, he's alienating all the people in the center.

We're talking about Texas, Wolf, Texas, Sherm, in my home state. We haven't had a Democrat win any statewide election there in 32 years. They haven't won a governor's seat in 36. They haven't won a Senate seat in 38. They haven't won a presidential in 50 years.

And yet, quite rightly, you're saying it could be the pivotal race. That's extraordinary.

BLITZER: It is pretty extraordinary when you think about it, Shermichael. The race wasn't even close, not close at all.

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes.

BLITZER: Cornyn lost by a whopping 28 points. Our own John King broke down the stunning loss. Listen and watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: If you go back and look at the primary, Cornyn had 910,000 votes when they were all counted. He was the top vote getter in the primary by almost 30 -- just shy of 32,000, 31,818.

All right? Tonight, he's trailing that same Ken Paxton by 213,236 votes. So that is a huge swing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: A huge swing indeed.

Shermichael, while Paxton dramatically won, can Paxton woo those Cornyn voters who still voted against him last night?

SINGLETON: He's going to have to. That's 30 percent of the Republican electorate in the state of Texas.

If you listened to his victory speech the other night, he was gracious enough to thank the senator for his service, his public service. The president posted on TRUTH Social today an interesting post, saying that the senator is going to remain a long-term friend.

These are obvious efforts to get the senator at some point, I presume, to maybe directly endorse the attorney general, maybe campaign with him, maybe lend his name to a couple mailers, phone calls, et cetera, to try to get this across the finish line.

Lookit, let's be clear about this, Wolf. This is going to be very expensive. Paul is correct. Senator Cornyn would have been a formidable candidate. Unfortunately, the voters and the president saw it a bit differently.

So we're going to have to spend likely $200 million to get Paxton across the finish line, but it's still Texas. And while the demographics are starting to change in the state, people moving from California, increased immigration in the state, I don't think it's ripe at this point for Democrats to see another statewide race.

[10:35:02]

Maybe come 2028 perhaps, but not now.

BLITZER: Well, let me get Paul back into this conversation.

Last night, as you know, the Democrat, Talarico, he publicly thanked Cornyn for his service in the Senate, extended an olive branch to Cornyn supporters, saying they have a place in his campaign. But he had a very different message for Paxton. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STATE REP. JAMES TALARICO (D-TX), SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: The most corrupt politician in America just became the Republican nominee for the United States Senate.

For 50 years, megadonors and their puppet politicians like Ken Paxton have stolen from us. But that ends this year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So, Paul, Talarico has been known for running a fairly positive campaign. With Republicans expected to throw everything they can at him, should he go nuclear against Paxton?

BEGALA: Absolutely, Wolf. Well, you know me. I always think that.

But here's the thing. The attack on Talarico is fundamentally that he's weak. Well, how do you show weakness? How do you show strength, rather? Well, one way is to attack. So I love seeing Talarico attack. And, by the way, he's not saying anything that Senator Cornyn hasn't said. It was Senator Cornyn who dubbed him Crooked Ken.

And, like, here's just one example. This one drives me crazy. Ken Paxton has been in public office for 24 years. He's had a state salary for 24 years. When he began that, his financial disclosure said his net worth was about $150,000. Today, he's a multimillionaire, multi-multi-millionaire. He owns, get

this, 11 houses, 11, many in Texas, but some in Hawaii, in Florida, in Utah. And this is the deal-breaker for me. He even owns property in Oklahoma.

I mean, Sherm, what kind of self-respecting Texan buys property in Oklahoma?

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: He's from Texas.

SINGLETON: We both are, Wolf.

BLITZER: You're from Texas too?

SINGLETON: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: All right, so we got a lot of Texans over here.

BEGALA: Yes.

BLITZER: Shermichael, before I let you go, quick question about Republican lawmakers in South Carolina right now voting to advance a new congressional map benefiting the GOP in this year's midterms.

Do you think, for now, at least, we have reached the end of all this redistricting wars that have been going on?

SINGLETON: I certainly hope so, Wolf.

From my perspective, I believe every person in this country should have the autonomy to vote for the candidate of their choice. Whether you're a Republican living in Massachusetts or Rhode Island or Connecticut, or whether you're a Democrat living in Texas, Mississippi, or Alabama, you should know and have the satisfaction of knowing that you have the ability to select someone who will represent your values.

Now, whether or not that person can win is a different discussion. And so this isn't healthy for the country in the long run. I get the knee- jerk reaction to want to win in the immediate. I'm a strategist. That's been my job for a very long time.

But the factionalism that this ferments over time is something that both sides here have to pause and consider as we move forward with these efforts.

BLITZER: Shermichael Singleton, thank you very much. Paul Begala, thanks to you as well -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right, Wolf, breaking news, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York releasing brand-new details on food insecurity and consumer pessimism. The report says in part -- quote -- "We find a remarkable increase in

food insecurity, particularly among lower-educated and lower-income households and households with young children."

Let's go live now to CNN senior reporter Matt Egan.

Matt, you have pored through this report. What more does it say?

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Pamela, this is a sobering report.

And it's another reminder of how beneath the service of those positive economic headlines on low unemployment and high stock prices, many American families are struggling right now. So, the New York Fed found that, as of February, 10 percent of households say that they had trouble finding enough food for their families or they even had kids who missed meals.

That means one in 10 families in America were suffering from food insecurity as of February. Now, this is a trend that's moving in the wrong direction, because this is up from 8 percent in the fall and 4 percent back in June of 2020.

And that's just overall families, right? This report found an even higher share of low-income and less educated households are suffering from food insecurity and nonwhite households; 19 percent of nonwhite households say that they had trouble finding enough food or even had kids who were skipping meals.

And that's up from 4.5 percent back in June of 2020. This report also found a significant increase of families who are on food stamps. When you're looking at SNAP benefits, back in June of 2020, it was less than 11 percent of households on food stamps. Now it's 18 percent.

When you look at nonwhite households, also moving in the right direction, now 26 percent of nonwhite households in America say that they're on food stamps. And there was also an increase in this survey of people who say they have been forced to dip into savings or that they have been forced to accept donations for food from friends and from family as well.

[10:40:11]

And the New York researchers, they say that they found a likely link between food insecurity and consumer confidence, because we know that the University of Michigan has found that consumer sentiment, it's never been lower than it is right now.

You can see on that chart that goes back to 1980, sentiment is at all- time lows right now, lower than during the 2008 financial crisis or even during the 1980s period of high inflation.

And, Pamela, unfortunately, the war in the Middle East, it could make matters even worse, because there's been a spike in prices for fertilizer, for the diesel fuel that farmers use and that truckers need. And so this could be a situation where food prices go even higher in the coming weeks and months -- back to you.

BROWN: Sobering report, indeed.

Matt Egan, thank you so much.

And coming up here in THE SITUATION ROOM: fighting sexual misconduct on Capitol Hill. I will speak to the Republican and Democratic lawmakers putting partisanship aside in a new push to hold their colleagues accountable.

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[10:45:36]

BROWN: Happening now: A bipartisan duo of female lawmakers is leading an effort to combat sexual misconduct on Capitol Hill after a series of scandals rocked Washington.

In an unprecedented moment, last month, two now former members of Congress, Democrat Eric Swalwell and Republican Tony Gonzales, announced that they would resign their House seats with an hours of each other. Both face allegations of inappropriate sexual relations with staff, and multiple women accused Swalwell of sexual misconduct, which he denies.

And that has led to a reckoning and even drove House Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to announce a bipartisan partnership to tackle sexual misconduct in the halls of Capitol Hill.

And joining us now are the leaders of that push, Republican Congresswoman Kat Cammack of Florida and Democratic Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernandez of New Mexico. They each chair their party's Women's Caucuses.

Thank you both for coming on.

So, the Ethics Committee recently published this list of 28 sexual misconduct investigations it has pursued into lawmakers over the last 50 years. To both of you, why is this such a pervasive problem in Congress?

First to you, Congresswoman Cammack.

REP. KAT CAMMACK (R-FL): Well, I think you see in Congress an incredible power dynamic that is imbalanced.

And so I know Teresa and I have said, we need to stop these types of folks from getting to Congress in the first place, which can really be done through some additional disclosure requirements. But you see so many people who work in these offices who are always trying to get to a yes for their boss.

And, sometimes, the boss or senior staff, they take that as an invitation for a little bit more. And so we have to really address, how can we protect the people who are working on Capitol Hill in good faith and make sure the accountability doesn't begin and end with expulsion? We have to stop this behavior from happening and then the subsequent retaliation that comes with it.

BROWN: Because, when they leave, as we just saw with Swalwell and Gonzales, then the House Ethics Committee loses its jurisdiction.

CAMMACK: Exactly.

BROWN: I wonder what you think, Congresswoman Leger Fernandez, about why this is such a pervasive problem on Capitol Hill.

REP. TERESA LEGER FERNANDEZ (D-NM): I think Kat laid it out really well. It is about power imbalance.

And we need to remember that there has been a power imbalance between women and men across many agencies, across many industries. One in four women in the United States are sexually assaulted or abused.

But what we need to say is that that cannot happen in Congress, that Congress needs to hold itself up to a higher standard, precisely because the women who come to serve in Congress are -- they are answering their own calling of wanting to be involved in public service.

And they are willing to do so much to make sure that they can serve their constituencies, they can serve their party, whether it's Democrat or Republican. And so it makes it ripe for men, and it is mostly men, to take advantage of that imbalance to say, well, I am everything in this world, and I get to use you as prey.

A predator will take advantage of situations like this. And I believe that both of those former congressmen -- and I am so glad that we were involved in making sure that they are former congressmen -- that they just saw themselves as having a power, and they used that power.

And now one woman is dead because of it, and the other women are facing legal challenges. It is outrageous.

BROWN: I'm curious, Congresswoman Cammack. Since the creation of your partnership, have you heard about more claims of sexual misconduct or inappropriate relations that you're investigating from other members? What has that looked like?

CAMMACK: So it's a couple of big issues that we're tackling, right? It's the reporting, streamlining where people can go to report.

It's also the Ethics Committee, which needs to be resourced appropriately so they can effectively investigate these in a timely manner, because what we see is, these investigations just go on and on and on, and there's really no resolution. And, as you said, the jurisdiction is lost once these individuals are no longer in Congress.

But I will say, since this partnership has been formed, not only have we had more and more staff come out of the woodwork who have said, previously, I was scared to say anything, but this is just -- I have to come forward.

[10:50:06] But I have also had people who are now off the Hill speak about their time working on the Hill. I have had other members. And I have had members of the media, journalists, just last week who were covering this story who told me, hey, I had Eric Swalwell as a source, but he took that to mean that he could text me at all hours of the night and proposition me over and over and over again.

And it has just been absolutely disgusting what we have seen in the aftermath. And we know that there are more that need to be held accountable. I think Teresa is 100 percent right. We have to hold ourselves to a higher standard.

If Congress can't be accountable, why can we even begin to have the conversation about the military, media, corporate America? We have to set the standard, so that others can also begin to say, hey, this is a serious problem. We need to get this under control.

BROWN: So, Congresswoman Leger Fernandez, how many more staffers, for example, have come forward to say, you know what, now I feel more confident to step up and say what happened to me?

Can you give us a sense? And are you seeing more male members of Congress being willing to cooperate on this effort?

LEGER FERNANDEZ: So we are hearing from both staffers, from lobbyists, from journalists.

Many came up to me afterwards. And I didn't know them. And they said, "Thank you," after I had brought the resolution to expel Gonzales and worked to expel Swalwell.

They were just relieved, right? Because you have to have the first examples of, when you conduct yourselves in this manner, there are consequences, because, for too long, there haven't been consequences. So we are receiving feedback from people who feel like there's too much retaliation.

Another big issue, they feel there is nowhere for them to go. It's too confusing. The 2018 reforms put into place resources and the ability to say, this is against our conduct. But it's confusing. So we want to have a single place where it's like a -- I call it a 911 of sexual abuse.

So, somebody can pick up the phone, they know where to go, and they're going to get somebody who's going to work with them. Now, remember, our partnership is about reforming the system. We are not going to be involved in adjudicating whether somebody has or has not.

We are reforming the system. And so we are asking people to come, come to the Republicans Women's Caucus, the Democratic Women's Caucus, share your stories of why you're not coming forward, what's happened, so that we can reform the system, put in place changes that we think we can do quickly before the August break, and then other changes that will be more long-term.

And, yes, as your last question, I have had numerous of my colleagues on the Democratic side and even some of the Republicans say, this is ridiculous that this is allowed to fester. We're going to be with you. We're so glad that you're working together. What can we do to help?

BROWN: All right, Congresswomen Kat Cammack and Teresa Leger Fernandez, thank you so much.

We will be right back.

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[10:58:28]

BLITZER: One win away from a repeat trip to the NBA Finals. The Oklahoma City Thunder take game five against the San Antonio Spurs.

BROWN: Let's go live now to CNN sports anchor Andy Scholes -- Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, Pam and Wolf, we haven't had a repeat champion the NBA since the Warriors did it back in 2018, but the Thunder now a win away from getting that chance, as they took care of business in game five of the Western Conference Finals against the Spurs.

This series has been an absolute battle, but the Thunder getting a big knife from Jared McCain in this one. Here in the third, he gets the shot to go, plus the foul. He scored 20. Moments later, Shai Gilgeous- Alexander, then the step-back three.

And, after that, Wemby, he is going to wave over to his team to come to the bench. He gives him a little motivational speech to try to get them back in this game. The Spurs had cut the Thunder lead to nine, but that was as close as they got in the second half.

Wemby just four for 15 from the field. Thunder would win 127-114. They take a 3-2 lead now in the series. Wemby did not speak with the media after the game. We will see what he has in store for game six tomorrow in San Antonio.

Elsewhere, it was a party in Vegas last night, as the Golden Knights completed the sweep of the Avalanche. Colorado, the best record in the NHL this season, but they were just overwhelmed by Vegas in this series. Golden Knights win 2-1 in game four. They're now on to the Stanley Cup Final for the third time in nine years as a franchise.

And their fans would be happy to see the team did not touch the conference championship trophy after the win. They touched it back in 2018, and then they lost the Stanley Cup final, didn't touch it in 2023, and they won. So, the superstition, we will see if it works this time around.

The World Cup, meanwhile, now just 15 days away, and the U.S. roster officially unveiled under the Brooklyn Bridge yesterday. No big surprises from coach Mauricio Pochettino. Christian Pulisic, Tyler Adams, and Weston McKennie will headline the team.

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