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Paxton Crushes Sen. Cornyn in Texas GOP Runoff; GOP's Paxton Faces Dem Talarico in Texas Senate Seat; Deadly Plant Explosion at Washington State Paper Mill; Former AG Pam Bondi Recovering from Cancer Treatment; Trump Holds Cabinet Meeting. Aired 11:30-12p ET

Aired May 27, 2026 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: -- actually work together. And when you look at the New York City budget, a lot of the money that was used to balance that came from state funds. And she told me that, one, she has an interest in protecting the financial stability of the economic engine of the state and beyond, as she described New York City. But also, that she says she has no trouble working with him, even on priorities, policy ones like childcare, and that for everyone's sake, she needs him to be successful, and that everyone needs him to be successful, as she told me, Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Omar Jimenez reporting. Excellent work, Omar. Thank you very much. Pamela.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: And just ahead here in The Situation Room, dangerous chemicals are complicating the search for survivors after a tank ruptured at this paper plant. What we know about the effort to find the nine people still missing. We'll be back.

[11:35:00]

BROWN: Happening now, a key figure in the civil rights movement has died. Clarence B. Jones was a speechwriter and confidant of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was deeply involved in pivotal moments like helping write the iconic I Have a Dream speech from the 1963 march in Washington. Jones was 95 years old.

Plus, the Trump administration wants all federal workers to sign non- disclosure agreements. This is the latest effort to stop internal leaks to media organizations. Agencies will get to choose if they want to use the agreements.

And finally, to the moon and beyond, NASA is sharing brand new details and visuals from its plan to build a permanent base on the moon. The agency already has companies building landers, rovers, and drones, and it's all supposed to arrive on the moon before astronauts land there, currently planned for 2028. Wolf.

BLITZER: And new this morning, President Trump claims another casualty in his campaign of revenge. His Texas Republican primary pick, Ken Paxton, easily crushed the re-election hopes of longtime incumbent Senator John Cornyn. Paxton called the Trump endorsement, and I'm quoting him now, "The most powerful force in politics." And this morning on social media, President Trump posted this, and I'm quoting him, "Congratulations to Ken Paxton on such a tremendous win, and to John Cornyn for having run a strong and powerful race," end quote.

CNN Correspondent Arlette Saenz is in Plano, Texas for us. Arlette, you have some new reporting on the Democrats' nominee in this race, James Talarico, and his fundraising that's ongoing. What can you tell us?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf. Democratic nominee James Talarico saw a big boost in his fundraising in the hours after State Attorney General Ken Paxton won the GOP nomination, a campaign source telling me that Talarico brought in $600,000 in the two hours after Paxton's victory, which represented the strongest fundraising hours for, or fundraising two hours for Talarico during his, throughout his campaign.

Now, this general election matchup between Paxton and Talarico is certainly going to become one of the most expensive and bitter battles in this fight for control of the U.S. Senate. And last night, both Paxton and Talarico very quickly began previewing their general election arguments against each other. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEN PAXTON (R), TEXAS SENATE CANDIDATE: My opponent is the most extreme radical the Democrats have ever nominated. James Talarico is going to be nothing more than a Texas-based puppet for Chuck Schumer and the National Democrats.

JAMES TALARICO (D), TEXAS SENATE CANDIDATE: If we, the people, can come together to defeat the most corrupt politician in America, we can defeat this entire corrupt system. We can start unrigging this economy. We can start raising our pay, cutting our taxes, lowering our costs. We can finally get ahead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, throughout this campaign, Paxton's opponent, Senator John Cornyn, had tried to warn that Paxton's long history of personal and political controversies in the state would complicate Republicans' abilities not just to win here in Texas, but also on the national level.

You heard from Talarico he's already beginning to ready some of the similar attacks that Cornyn had lobbed towards Paxton during this campaign, while Paxton is trying to paint Talarico as being too radical for Texas. The big question is how much investment each of the parties will begin to pour into this state. This is already a very expensive state to run in when you think of the size of Texas and how large many of the media markets are here.

But both parties likely will have to spend big here. The question is that that kind of alters the way that they're spending in other Senate races as both parties are fighting for control of the U.S. Senate in these midterm elections.

BLITZER: And, Arlette, there's another Texas race that's getting plenty of attention out there as well. The progressive congressional Democratic candidate Maureen Galindo lost the Democratic runoff against her opponent, Johnny Garcia. Galindo was accused of antisemitism. She publicly said that Zionists, American Jews who support Israel, should be sent to internment or concentration camps, as they were called.

But according to Punchbowl News, the claims were boosted by a Super PAC with Republican ties. How are Democrats reacting right now to her loss?

SAENZ: Well, Democrats are breathing a sigh of relief as the preferred candidate for many Democrats, Sheriff Johnny Garcia, has moved forward to secure the Democratic nomination.

[11:40:00]

The Democratic apparatus had really been quite surprised after Maureen Galindo and Johnny Garcia were heading towards a runoff. There had been a lot of frustration with some of her antisemitic comments in the past. And so, for Democrats, they feel that this decision by voters in that proposed 35th or the new 35th congressional district to side with Garcia is a big boost to them, as they are hoping that they will be able to put up a significant challenge -- formidable challenge against the GOP opponent in that district.

BLITZER: All right. Arlette Saenz reporting for us. Arlette, thank you very, very much. Pamela.

BROWN: All right. Wolf happening now. The San Diego crews are set to resume the search for nine people still missing after a large chemical tank ruptured yesterday at a paper plant in Washington State. At least one worker was killed and several others were injured. Officials say the tank contained a chemical mixture used in the paper making process. They say recovery efforts are extremely complex due to the ongoing safety hazards, but that there is no larger threat to the community there.

CNN National Correspondent Nick Watt is covering the story. So, Nick, what are officials telling you this morning?

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pamela, we're going to get an update within about 90 minutes. But when the sun rose, the work began to try to stabilize that huge tank there so it wouldn't fall on any rescue workers. And they are also trying to deal with a lot of very dangerous liquid now, about half a million gallons of what's called white liquor seeped, flowed out of that tank. This is a very caustic, strong alkaline that basically is so strong it breaks down wood chips into pulp. That's what it's used for at this plant.

Now, there was another complicating factor. A fire hydrant was also blown. So, you had a lot of water plus this caustic liquid flowing around. That has been a huge problem for first responders trying to get in, trying to get this situation under control. Ten people were taken to the hospital, nine employees, one firefighter. One person has died. That firefighter was treated for chemical burns and released. Nine people, Pamela, unaccounted for.

Now, what is happening today, it's unclear if that is rescue or recovery. There's a big difference. Rescue is looking for the living, for survivors. Recovery is looking for the remains of the dead. And what we heard last night from officials was this. They said, at the moment, we are not aware of any rescues that are yet to be made that are being hampered by the situation at hand. Not aware of any rescues to be made. That would suggest recovery.

Now, on the scene, we have hazmat teams, fire department, police department, even the National Guard. This is a small town on the banks of the Columbia River, just across the border from Oregon in Washington State. This plant's been around since the 1950s, 500 people work there in this small town of fewer than 40,000. So, obviously, huge anxiety there today. If you read some of the messages on Facebook from people who have relatives and friends missing, they are basically saying, we're praying for a miracle at this point.

So, yesterday, we saw fire department, hazmat teams, even drones going in to try and assess the situation. They then closed that operation down overnight to try to keep first responders safe. First light, that resumed. They're trying to stabilize. Then they're trying to get in and trying to find those nine people still unaccounted for. Back to you.

BROWN: All right. Nick Watt, thank you for bringing us the latest there. Wolf.

BLITZER: And we're still waiting for President Trump to hold his cabinet meeting. They're running, obviously, a little bit late. We're going to bring it to you live once it begins. We're going to squeeze in a quick break right now. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:45:00]

BROWN: Breaking news, former Attorney General Pam Bondi tells CNN she is getting treatment for thyroid cancer, including surgery a few weeks ago. Bondi says she was diagnosed after leaving the Justice Department back in April.

And last hour, I spoke with senior fellow at the Harvard Belfer Center, Dr. Ashish Jha, about the diagnosis and the possible treatment ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

Bondi told CNN she's recovering from the surgery, that she's doing well. Tell us more about thyroid cancer and what the surgery for this diagnosis typically entails.

DR. ASHISH JHA, SENIOR FELLOW, HARVARD BELFER CENTER AND CO-FOUNDER, CEO, BIORADAR AND FORMER WHITE HOUSE COVID RESPONSE COORDINATOR: Yes. So, first of all, Pamela, thanks for having me back. This is one of the most common types of cancer. And if you're going to get cancer, it's one of the good ones. You get 98 plus percent survival at five years. Most of the times the cancers are caught early.

The most common demographic is what Pam Bondi is. It's a woman in her 50s, sometimes early 60s, who -- and most of the times it's kind of caught incidentally, maybe on a scan or if somebody feels a lump. So, it's a pretty straightforward cancer to deal with.

BROWN: Why does it impact women more than men? Because from what I understand, women are about three times as likely to be diagnosed overall.

DR. JHA: Yes, we don't actually know. There is not very good data on like what exactly is driving it. Is it something about is it hormonal? Is it -- is there is -- some people have speculated that we just do a better job of catching it in women. The bottom line is we don't know why women get it more often. But thankfully, with a relatively straightforward surgery, it's curable, as I said, more than 95 percent of the times.

[11:50:00]

BROWN: And what are the symptoms? Because you said sometimes it's just caught when during a routine scan.

DR. JHA: Yes, actually, almost I'd say most people are found -- for them, the cancer is not incidentally. Sometimes either they're getting a CAT scan for some other reason and it shows up. Other times they see a little lump in front of their neck and that turns out to be a nodule.

You know, in more advanced cases, those rare cases, people can have hoarseness. They can have other they can have large lymph nodes. But that's -- those are very rare and that's usually those few instances where it has spread.

BROWN: And just out of curiosity, I know Hashimoto's is pretty prevalent among women in terms of having a thyroid condition, which causes hypothyroidism. Does that make a woman more vulnerable to get thyroid cancer?

DR. JHA: That's a very good question. There is some evidence that anything that causes inflammation of the thyroid can increase the risk. Hashimoto's is an autoimmune disease where your antibodies actually attack your thyroid. So, I think there is some evidence that that can cause a link, but they're generally pretty separate diseases. And most people with Hashimoto's don't go on to develop thyroid cancer.

BROWN: So, after surgery, what are the next steps?

DR. JHA: It should be -- look, these surgeries are one to two days in the hospital. Some people are trying to move it to an outpatient. It just depends on the surgery and how serious it is or how big it is. But a couple of days in the hospital. Within a week to 10 days, people are back to their regular activities. Obviously, depending on the surgery, if you had to have your whole thyroid taken out, then you have to be on thyroid replacement treatment for the rest of your life. But that's a pretty straightforward, well-tolerated pill.

We don't have a lot of details for the former attorney general and what kind of cancer, what kind of surgery she got. But I expect based on what we know in general that she's going to make a full recovery. And she says she's doing well, which is really good news.

BROWN: Dr. Ashish Jha, thank you so much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And take a closer look at this live look right now at the White House where President Trump is set to hold a very important cabinet meeting. We're going to have live coverage of that coming up. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:55:00]

BLITZER: It's almost an hour late, but the president is now starting his cabinet meeting. Let's listen in.

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: It's an honor to have you. This team has achieved more than most other administrations achieve in eight years. We took the most dangerous, unsafe, violent, and open border in the world. Anywhere in the world, there's no border like the border we had. And created the most secure border in the history of our country.

We had no people -- 12 months now, no people reported in the last 12 months came in illegally. Zero illegal aliens admitted to the United States in the last 12 months. And that's -- those charts are made by, you would say, politically unfriendly people. And the reason they don't come in is because nobody comes up, because they know that they're going to be turned away. And if they get in, they're going to be moved out right away. So, it's been zero. You're the one that do -- you do the reports. I'm actually surprised by the number, because I don't know how it can be zero. But they say it's zero for the last 12 months.

In 2025, we achieved the largest drop in the murder rate ever recorded. So, the murder rate was quite high. And we achieved the largest drop in the murder rate ever recorded, to the lowest level in 125 years. That's the year 1900. And that's despite the fact that many people came in from prisons and from very rough countries and from mental institutions and from lots of other places, drug dealers and others.

They came in illegally during the Biden administration. We've gotten many of them out. But we still have some that we're looking for, quite a few that we're still looking for. But we've gotten over 11,888 murders were allowed into our country. We've gotten a lot of them out. We've gotten some. We put them in jail. We don't even trust the country to send them, because they'll come back in maybe. We put them in jail.

11,888 murders, more than half of which have committed more than one murder. That's what they allowed in. They can never be forgotten for the horrible things they've done to this country.

Fentanyl coming across our border is now down by 61 percent. 61 percent. And coming in by water, by sea, by ocean is down 97 percent. Can you imagine? Thanks to our Republican majorities in Congress, we passed the largest tax cuts in American history. All Democrats voted against the tax cuts, putting more money in Americans' pockets. This year, the typical family got tax refunds of nearly almost close to $5,000.

The stock market has set 68 all-time record highs since the election. So, 68 days, we hit all-time highs. We're right there now. And the average 401(k), and that's despite the conflict. I don't call it a war. I call it a conflict. Despite the conflict with Venezuela, who no longer has a Navy, no longer has an Air Force, no longer has a lot of people that were leading the country into very bad places. Their leadership is gone. Their second-rung leadership is gone. And we're dealing with their third, half of their third, because half of their third is gone, too.

The average 401(k) is up almost $30,000 since I took office. So, the Americans are benefiting working today. We have the most working, and we have 401(k)s at their all-time high. Highest they've ever been. And that goes along with the stock market, which is the highest it's ever been. Under my most favorite nation agreements, this is --

[12:00:00]