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The Situation Room

French Open Continues; Inside Ukrainian Deep Strike Unit; Jill Biden Speaks Out; U.S. and Iran Trade Fire. Aired 10:30a-11a ET

Aired May 28, 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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[10:31:27]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: New this morning: Tensions are flaring for a sixth night outside a federal immigration facility in New Jersey. You see the video right here. Detainees are in a days-long hunger strike over what they're calling inhumane conditions.

Demonstrators were met with pepper spray and baton-wielding federal agents. DHS has strongly denied claims of unacceptable conditions at that facility.

And a former senior government official will face a judge tomorrow morning after investigators found $40 million worth of gold bars at his home in Virginia. David Rush is charged with criminal theft of public money. According to "The New York Times," Rush worked for the CIA.

And a possible new search for a missing American in the Bahamas. A U.S. official tells CNN that the Coast Guard has asked Bahamian officials for permission to send divers to new locations in its search for Lynette Hooker after investigators found inconsistencies between her husband's location data and his statements to investigators about where to search for his wife.

Hooker has been missing since April. Her husband, Brian, was arrested and released without being charged. He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in connection with his wife's disappearance -- Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: And there's more breaking news we're following.

The future of a cease-fire in the Middle East is unclear right now, as the U.S. and Iran traded fresh fire overnight. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched an attack targeting an American air base that it says was the source of U.S. strikes against Iran hours before.

A U.S. official says the American attacks were aimed at Iranian drones and a launch site near the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. military's Central Command also confirmed that Iran launched a ballistic missile toward Kuwait overnight, which it said was successfully intercepted. Joining us now to discuss is CNN political and global affairs analyst

Barak Ravid. He's also a general affairs corr -- a global affairs correspondent for Axios.

Barak, I understand you have some new reporting that you just received about the status of the cease-fire and the peace talks. What can you tell us?

BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes, Wolf.

U.S. and Iranian negotiators have reached a deal on a memorandum of understanding that will extend the cease-fire by 60 days and launch negotiations, direct negotiations, on Iran's nuclear program. This, I hear from two U.S. officials and another regional diplomat involved in the mediation efforts.

The U.S. officials told me that President Trump still hasn't gave the final sign-off on this deal. The U.S. officials told me Trump has relayed to the mediators and through the mediators to the Iranians that he wants -- quote -- "a few days to think about it."

But U.S. officials are optimistic that this deal is likely to go through unless some surprising thing happens over the next 24 to 48 hours. This deal will basically include a statement by Iran that it will not pursue nuclear weapons, an affirmative statement.

It will include a commitment by Iran to allow commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz unrestricted, no tolls, no harassment. It will include a U.S. commitment to negotiate over the lifting of sanctions and the unfreezing of Iranian funds abroad.

It will include an Iranian commitment to negotiate on the disposal of the highly enriched uranium Iran has and on the future of its uranium enrichment program. U.S. officials also hope that some other articles in the MOU, like a clause that talks about committing to regional peace, will allow negotiations on Iran's support to proxies around the region.

[10:35:29]

The deal was concluded already on Tuesday night. And the Iranians needed to run this through their system. They did on Wednesday. They told the U.S. that they're ready to sign. That's what the message that the mediators gave the U.S.

And then President Trump told the mediators that he wants a few more days to think about it.

BLITZER: What about the details of this deal, this tentative deal? What are they -- what are the new or different details? Because President Trump said on Saturday the U.S. and Iran had -- quote -- "largely agreed," his words, largely agreed on a deal, but it was subject to finalization.

What is he saying that is different now? Has the haggling over language concluded?

RAVID: Yes.

I think basically the haggling over the language has concluded, has been concluded. Now it's up to President Trump just to give the final sign-off. We have to understand, this deal, what it does immediately is only an extension of the cease-fire, the -- starting the process of reopening the Strait of Hormuz and launching negotiations on Iran's nuclear program.

This is a sort of -- this deal is sort of like a path that allows both sides to go into the room for direct negotiations on the issues that they really care about, which is, on the one hand, Iran's enrichment program and its highly enriched uranium stockpile, and, on the other hand, U.S. sanctions against Iran that the Iranians want to see lifted and Iran's frozen money, which is tens of billions of dollars in bank accounts around the world.

So, I think that this is sort of -- we need to look at this memorandum of understanding as a path for a more comprehensive deal. The negotiations will be 60 days. They will be able -- that both sides, if they agree, they can extend it.

But the practical side of this memorandum of understanding is fairly limited. It's extending the cease-fire and starting to starting to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and launching talks on the nuclear program.

By the way, Wolf, regarding the Strait of Hormuz, according to the memorandum of understanding, within 30 days, Iran needs to remove all the mines that it had deployed in the Strait of Hormuz. The faster the Iranians do that, the faster they take out the mines, the faster that they stop restricting ships from moving, the faster the U.S. removes its own naval blockade that it has imposed on Iranian ports over the last several weeks.

U.S. officials tell me that the more Iran does, the more the U.S. does, the faster Iran does it, the faster the U.S. does it.

BLITZER: Interesting.

I want to play what President Trump said about a potential deal with Iran during his Cabinet meeting, which we all watched, yesterday. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They thought they were going to outwait me. We will outwait him. He's got the midterms.

I don't care about the midterms. Look what happened last night. That was the prelude to the midterms. People understand that. They know that, very simple, Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. I'm doing that for the world. I'm not doing it just for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: So does that statement from the president about Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, does it track with all your latest reporting?

RAVID: Well, in the MOU, Iran will say, will commit not to have a nuclear weapon. That doesn't mean much, OK?

The problem is not that Iran says that it doesn't want to get a nuclear weapon. The problem is how to make sure that, in practical means, that it doesn't have the practical means to do it, meaning it doesn't have an enrichment program and it doesn't have a highly enriched uranium stockpile.

And those things will not be solved in this specific memorandum of understanding. But this memorandum of understanding will open negotiations that will allow to maybe reach a deal on those issues. And what I hear from U.S. officials is that they think that, very quickly, when they enter the negotiation room with the Iranians, they will know if the Iranians are serious in addressing the concerns about the nuclear program or not.

And if they're not, those U.S. officials told me, we didn't really lose much, because we didn't give the Iranians anything other than a cease-fire. And, therefore, this thing can always be reversed if we figure out that the Iranians are not serious.

[10:40:13]

BLITZER: All right, Barak Ravid reporting for us.

Excellent reporting, Barak. Thank you very, very much.

RAVID: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Pamela.

BROWN: All right, Wolf, happening now: Former first lady Jill Biden is speaking now about her own reaction to former President Biden's infamous debate performance nearly two years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: What happened?

JILL BIDEN, FORMER FIRST LADY: I don't know what happened. I mean, when -- as I watched it, I thought, oh my God, he's having a stroke. And it scared me to death.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Here's a look back at the former president's performance that night, which raised questions about his age and acumen as he took the stage right alongside Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Making sure that we're able to make every single solitary person eligible for what I have been able to do with the -- with the COVID. Excuse me, with dealing with everything we have to do with -- look, if -- we finally beat Medicare.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Well, Jill Biden's new sit-down interview comes just days before the former first lady's new memoir is set to be released.

"The Atlantic" reports that, in the book, Jill Biden shares a similar story, writing that she was asking herself questions like, is he short-circuiting? Is this a stroke? Has he been drugged? This is all a stark contrast to Jill Biden's public response at the time.

Here's what she said right after the debate:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JILL BIDEN: Joe, you did such a great job. You answered every question. You knew all the facts.

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Let's go live now to CNN's chief national affairs correspondent, Jeff Zeleny.

So, what more are we learning and just how significant is this, Jeff?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pamela, it certainly is interesting to revisit that moment.

And when you look at the expression on President Biden's face when the first lady said, "You answered every question," even he didn't quite seem to agree with that assertion. It was clear he did not answer the question. It was clear he had a very, very troubling and troubled debate.

But, look, why is Jill Biden doing this now? That is what everyone is asking. First and foremost, she has a new book out, as you said. She will be going on a nationwide tour beginning next week. And they're also trying to raise money for their presidential library.

So this is something that she clearly is trying to give a little, perhaps make some news, perhaps draw some attention to -- some sympathetic attention to that troubling moment. But, look, I think what she's also doing here is just revisiting a very troubling time in the Biden campaign and for the Democratic Party.

And it just kind of opens this whole conversation up once again to, why did he run for president? And I think we have to see the full interview on CBS, which is going to air on a Sunday, to see the full context of what she's saying here.

But when you read the excerpts from the book, it really sort of strains credulity when she says that, look, I have never seen him like that since the debate. I mean, the people around Joe Biden acknowledge that he has some -- he struggles to communicate at times. He obviously has some health issues, that he's been battling cancer.

But I'm told that he's actually doing much better. So, look, why raise this now? It is a question that many, many Democrats are asking today, Pamela.

BROWN: All right. Well, we know she has a book coming out. So there you go.

ZELENY: Right.

BROWN: Jeff, thank you so much. We appreciate it. As you said, we will look forward to that full interview with CBS.

ZELENY: Sure.

BROWN: Wolf.

BLITZER: And coming up here in THE SITUATION ROOM, CNN goes inside an undercover Ukrainian deep strike unit launching a wave of 200 attack drones into Russia in just one night.

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[10:48:34]

BROWN: Happening now: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in Sweden, where he says the two countries are working on a defense package for Ukraine.

This comes just days after Russia launched a massive wave of attacks on Kyiv, including using a new hypersonic ballistic missile in the deadly bombardment.

As the war rages on, CNN chief international security correspondent Nick Paton Walsh has an inside look at one of Ukraine's long-range drone units in a SITUATION ROOM special report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump once said Ukraine had no cards, but now they've built themselves a new deck.

We're now with perhaps Russia's most keenly sought target in the war, a deep strike Ukrainian drone unit launching this night a wave of 200 attack drones into Russia.

(on camera): The issue here is the scale, potentially 20 drones being launched just from here and three or four other locations around here also involved in tonight's attack, the sheer number overwhelming, it seems, much of Russia's air defenses and causing persistent embarrassment to the Kremlin.

(voice-over): Working fast, in silence, knowing an error with the fuel or explosives or launch could kill them all.

(on camera): They are a key target for the Russian Shahed drones flying overhead, constantly interrupting their work, which is going to go on all night.

[10:50:03]

(voice-over): Close to here, Russian strikes have just hit Ukrainian civilians. And, in Russian Stavropol, these Ukrainian drones hit, the mayor telling Russians there to stay indoors.

In another field, another technological leap is at work, jet boosters used to get drones to their 120-mile-an-hour speed in just seconds. At their base, one screen is a glimpse of a world order turned on its head, dozens of Ukrainian drones roaming inside Russia, code, coordinates, targets A.I.-powered pulsing on the screen faster than your eyes can read, Russia, often seen as the third largest military power, preyed upon by a series of laptops.

VECTOR, DEEP STRIKE COMMANDER, UKRAINIAN DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE: It's our biggest advantage and why it's so hard for Russia to destroy this program, because we split up. We don't have any common centers, and we use dozens of places. Also, the software gives us a chance to work with thousands of UAVs.

WALSH: The Liutyi drone can take a huge payload over 1,200 miles. There are decoys. And a jet-powered drone, they say, seems to appear like a rocket on Russian radar.

VECTOR: Those are decoys. We send hundreds of them. Some are empty, some with a payload. The payload is small, but it's enough to destroy air defense systems.

WALSH: It is dizzying, the speed of evolution, adaptation, ingenuity. Ukraine two years ago begging for old American missiles to hit just inside Russia's borders, but now it builds itself and launches so many drones, often as deep as Russian Siberia. Even Kremlin loyalists are questioning Putin's endgame.

Now the West wants to learn from what Ukraine had to do to survive when it didn't get the help it needed. Each leap, advantage lasts just months before the other side catches up. Ukraine is ahead for now, but only because it's learned it'll likely be on its own when it's not.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Eastern Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

Forty million dollars of gold bars allegedly at the house of an ex- government official who had a national security clearance. We will speak to the former deputy director of national intelligence. That's coming up.

And new Ebola plan. The CDC is now responding to the Trump administration's proposal to send Americans exposed to the virus in Central Africa to a -- quote -- "state-of-the-art facility" in Kenya.

And, later, legal loophole? New CNN reporting into prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi and how they're regulated.

That's all new. That's coming up in the next hour.

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[10:57:35]

BLITZER: A shocker in Paris. World number one Jannik Sinner is out of the French Open.

BROWN: CNN sports anchor Andy Scholes joins us now.

So what happened here, Andy?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: I mean, Wolf, Pam, and this was an all-time collapse.

So, Sinner was up 5-1 in the third set serving for the match. But then those extreme temperatures in Paris got the better of him. So it's over 90 degrees there at the French Open once again today. Sinner's body just started cramping. And Juan Manuel Cerundolo came back to win that third set 7-5.

Sinner kept trying to play, but his body just could not move out there on the court. He lost 18 straight points at one point. He ended up losing 18 of the last 20 games. Cerundolo comes all the way back to win the match. It's an incredible upset. It ends Sinner's 30-match winning streak.

And now with him and Carlos Alcaraz, who was out of this tournament with that wrist injury, the door is open with both of them out for 39- year-old Novak Djokovic to potentially get one more Grand Slam title.

All right, the Hurricanes, meanwhile, just keep on rolling through the Stanley Cup playoffs. No team from Canada has won the Stanley Cup since the Canadiens did it back in 1993. That drought looks like it's going to continue.

Carolina jumping on Montreal in the first period, Sebastian Aho there scoring on the power play made it 1-0. Carolina then quickly added two more goals. They scored three goals in a span of two minutes and 47 seconds, just completely sucked the air out of the building there in Montreal.

The Canadiens took just 18 shots all game long, as the Hurricanes dominated to win game 4-0. They can close out that series tomorrow night.

And speaking of dominating, Shohei Ohtani just doing it all once again for the Dodgers last night, bottom of the first inning, Ohtani the leadoff home run. That was his ninth of the season. Now, he was also pitching in this game. It was the second start in a row that Ohtani hit a leadoff home run for himself, and then, on the mound, just continued to be unreal.

Ohtani pitched six no-hit innings. He was a little unhappy with walks afterwards, but his era is now 0.82. It's the lowest through nine games in Dodgers history. L.A. beat the Rockies in that one by a final of 4-1.

And every single time Ohtani goes out there, he just finds another way to impress us. He's never won a Cy Young Award, Wolf. I think maybe that's what he's going for this year.

BLITZER: Yes, he should get one pretty soon, I'm sure.

All right, Andy Scholes, thank you.

SCHOLES: All right.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: And the next hour of THE SITUATION ROOM starts right now.

BROWN: And happening now, breaking news: Possible deal?