Trump's Texas-Sized Test

A Texas-sized test of Trump's power, Senator John Cornyn says he refuses to lose. But what does it mean that Trump has backed his opponent? Today, the voters decide. There's some things on Cornan that I really like, but then there's some things on Paxton that I like. And the U.S. conducts self-defense strikes. As a dispute over language holds up in agreement with Iran, could the contents of the deal be almost as divisive as the war itself?

This chaos outside an immigration facility in New Jersey, a senator tear gassed the questions about the conditions detainees are facing. And a race against time, cave diggers, cave divers searching for seven people trapped underground in a flooded cavern. We have eliminated the threat of a bleve. Thank you. So evacuations reduced a catastrophic blast.

prevented, but a toxic leak still possible in California. And the Knicks sweep the Cavs. For the first time since the 90s, they are returning to the NBA finals. Can they take it all the way? I wanna hear why everybody has a sample I think that like anything with something like this, it's gonna take a couple days uh to settle on even down to the disagreements over a word. Uh

So we'll have to work through that. If there's gonna be a deal, we're gonna have to work through that. But this is uh, you know, it's either gonna be a good deal or there isn't going to be one.

The U.S. conducts self-defense strikes in southern Iran as negotiators fine-tune the framework of a deal with Tehran. Good morning everybody. I'm Audi Cornish and we're gonna start with this fresh round of strikes. The U.S. military targeted Iranian missile launch sites and boats near the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. Central Command saying it was to, quote, protect our troops from Iranian forces. President Trump posted this meme shortly after those strikes.

Obama's Iran policy, he shows piles of cash, Trump's Iran policy, missiles flying. So bringing in now CNN global affairs analyst Kim. Dozier. Thank you so much for being here. Needless to say, these presidents do have very different uh approaches uh to Iran. But I want to start with um this attempt to get to an agreement, this attempt in the talk. Because we are really hearing from a wild mix of politicians who are upset with the White House. I'm going to give you an example.

Here is John Bolton, former National Security Advisor, giving this as usual sort of counter textual take. I hope the negociations break down because every day that goes by is a gift to Iran. I think these negotiations are a mistake. I think we're on the verge of something that ultimately history will decide was a catastrophic loss for the United States. We have we have done significant damage.

to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Uh and right now we're letting them undo the damage. This is what Iran wants. They want more time. Sixty days turns into six months and then it turns into more than that. You and I have talked about Iran wanting more time, but can you help me understand what he's saying uh about this is somehow catastrophic, a loss, the dangers that some people are seeing in the White House approach?

U.S. intelligence has already detected that Iran is using this time to access its nuclear sites, rebuild and re-arm. It has built drones at an amazingly fast pace. So every single day it gets of reprieve from bombing means it's more ready to attack again. Also, Iran has talked about now lifting the ban on the internet. The interesting thing about that is

They don't want to foment dissent, but they're willing to take the risk because the Iranian economy is under such strain and a lot of the economy runs on businesses that use the internet. So that shows that The stress is hitting Iran, but it is getting a relief by these days without it.

It's interesting because we've talked so much about what the president is dealing with here domestically. But in Iran, they have an incentive, right? You have a supreme leader who is relatively new. You have people who have been under this bombardment. Um, is there any incentive for them to move forward or is it as Bolton says, waiting is all that matters if it means claiming victory over the US?

There is incentive to draw out the talks as there always has been. This has been their um MO in previous negotiations. Um and remember what they're being asked to do is a sacrifice of what they see as legitimacy, uh, give up their refined nuclear material and All of it, not just like some enriched parts. It's just like everything goes.

And uh th they will pledge never to make a bomb again, but my question is, will these talks produce what the Obama deal did? Intrusive international nuclear inspection. Intrusive inspections. So what Iran is being asked is Really hard to say yes to, especially when you've got so many hardliners now empowered by the US attack. So look what this shows is that President Trump knows going back to just hammering Iran won't open the Strait of Hormuz. He's feeling the economic pressure. So he wants

some sort of delay uh to open the straits. If he can get that, I think we could see talks returning to the JCPOA sort of um it will take weeks, it will take months. Yeah. And either way I get the sense both sides will be spinning it into a win, even though we're looking at a stalemate. And John Bolton will not be happy, nor will any of the hardline GOPers who wanted to see Iran truly decimated by these.

Okay, I'm sure we'll have you back because there's a lot more complications around these talks that we didn't get to. Coming up on CNN this morning. For example, President Trump pushing several Muslim countries to ease relations with Israel.

a Cave in Laos and today the battle for the future of Texas and the Texas Republican Party in the Senate runoff between John Cornyn and Ken Paxton. The group chat is going to talk mega and how this race could benefit Democrats. President Trump has called me a friend and a good man. In the end, it's Texans who are going to make that decision. Yeah.

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Podcast. I am your host, Michael Ian Black. We're talking about Trump's stock trades, his IRS lawsuit, his slush fund. Bill Cassidy learns what happens when you cross Donald Trump. Members of Congress cannot corruptly profit from using insider information. Thank you. Never said presidents campaign.

It's For your ears, check us out on Apple, Amazon Music, wherever you get your podcasts, even better you can Watch the I've represented Texans a long time and I know Texans are a pretty independent breed and people will be making their own choice. So I've been asking every voter, whether it's one voter or thousands, what has John accomplished that's good for the state of Texas or the country? And you know what? No one's ever had an answer.

So the first polls open up just minutes from now for primary day in Texas. Senator John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton have made their final pitches to voters. Cornyn is in the fight of his political life. He's trying to hang on to the seat he's held since 2002, and the race has already cost more than a hundred million dollars. Last week, President Trump turned the whole thing on its head by endorsing Paxton. But is he the guy who can beat the Democrat come November?

Would you vote for Paxton in November if he is the Republican nominee or would you consider James Talarrica? Uh no it'd be Paxton then. Die Hard Republic. I think it's a good idea. ready enough that it doesn't matter um whether it was Paxton or Corny, whoever the Republican is is gonna win.

Okay, joining me now in the group chat Isaac Dovere, CNN senior reporter, Chuck Rocha, Democratic strategist, and Brad Todd, CNN political commentator and Republican strategist. Um so I'm excited to talk about this race because it has been vicious. and expensive, basically, and for me unexpected,'cause it's Texas. What is it that Cornyn has done to sort of lose the faith of the president? And then I wanna turn it to you guys to ask Are voters frustrated with incumbents or Corny and personally?

Well like it unlike uh what happened a couple of weeks ago in Louisiana when Bill Cassidy and the senator there lost the uh uh his bid for reelection because Trump endorsed against him. There is not like one thing that clearly stands out against Corny and for Cassidy he voted for impeaching Trump in the second trial after January sixth.

Uh Cornyn has just slowly gotten away from things that Trump wanted, including the the the most prominent is that he didn't back uh undoing the filibuster so that uh uh bill that uh Trump wanted could go through. But this is So there's lots of Republicans who aren't exactly moving the filibuster forward. Yeah. And so look, I think that this sh is another and maybe uh in some ways the the purest uh test of just

Trump wanting complete fealty from uh Republicans still and Republicans uh Republican officials wanting to give that to him. Uh and so far we have seen over and over that Republican primary voters are going with Trump's choices for the most part. So in the meantime that does mean an enormous amount of money spent on something that kinda should be a lock and easy. Um, is John Cornyn a rhino?

No, and if John Cornyn wins tonight, this Texas Senate race is functionally over. Uh he will be the next U.S. Senator from Texas if he wins tonight. And so the question is how pragmatic Texas Republicans are. Polls show that most Republicans actually like both of these guys. Uh and despite the president weighing in at the last minute with what I think I think Isaac's right. I think it's a proxy fight with the Senate Republican conference. It's not really a beef with John Corner.

Which Cornyn has said. He said I think he's really mad at the Senate, not at me, but I mean it's I don't know, it just seems kind of like a political punch in the nose and maybe unearned. I again I'm not Texan. I know somebody who knows a little bit about uh Texas voters. There's other things there, Cornyn for a while was post Uvaldi talking about gun laws. I mean, there's little there's Texas politics here too that we're not noticing.

Look, I'm not one of those Democrats who say all of a sudden Texas is going to be blue. This is our year, but this is probably going to be the closest we ever get to having a year. With many members. Okay, go ahead. for a long time. And you've had over a hundred million, over a hundred and sixty million dollars spent these guys attacking each other. Now, A, that's a dollar that these guys haven't used to beat up us to the side. But in advertising

Brad knows this is that that's been to the general public of them beating each other up. This wasn't just micro-targeted for all you nerds out there to dem to Republican primary voters. It went. But most of it was just lit on fire to throw it on TV, right?

Then that doesn't end once you reach to the general, right? So whichever one of these guys To attack Telarico, there's no doubt about that, and the attacks are coming, but they've spent the first six months attacking each other and the reason why.

This is the true reason why Donald Trump is endorsed. It ain't all these things about policy and who he hates and likes is he gave these boys a few weeks, he gave them a few months, and now somebody has put a poll in front of him saying, Cornyn can't win. Get in here now so we can put our fingers on the scale and take credit for this because I they don't think it's a good idea. Or Tel Rico's closer than he should be and closer than It's the first.

Brad knows this, we talked about this in the green room, is like you have a little bitty group of folks voting in a turnout for the p runoff and that's the difference. About two million people who voted in the first primary and typically Texas runoffs are smaller. So this would be less than two million in theory. Well, there are five million Republican voters in Texas. And so who make what the makeup of today's election electorate will probably determine it more than the endorsement.

Which is a big problem come November, frankly. Uh we'll we'll find out, right? Problem, I mean it's owe it's all well and good to appeal to your primary voter. You have to go to a general that is the same thing Democrats are arguing about in many races. That's what you're seeing around the country. As Republicans, in part because Donald Trump is forcing them to, stay very much in Donald Trump's corner, whether that

uh plays in the way they want it to as we get to a general election as the president is in the mid to low thirties and a lot of polls here. If that continues then a general election is the Republicans are completely lassoed to uh to the president. Exactly. Say it's a little Texas from New Yorker. Um but uh as that happens, do Voters who are not Republican primary voters, voters who are not making their decisions based on what uh the president posts about. Uh what what do they feel?

Yeah, and we're gonna talk more about this because we're talking the Senate race right now. Texas famously did a little redistricting, so that's had some consequences down ballot. We're gonna talk about that tonight. All eyes are on this runoff, and you can get the election results all night on the CNN app.

And on CNN. And after the break on CNN this morning, a senator says he was pepper sprayed during a protest outside an ICE detention center in New Jersey. Next why lawmakers say they want the facility investigated. Washington DC, where America 250 celebrations are kicking off with a fight night. So what is that you see behind the White House? Could be a UFC octagon coming soon.

It is now twenty-two minutes past the hour. Here are five things you might have missed. Federal immigration officers, allegedly tear gas, New Jersey, Senator Andy Kim, and other protesters outside an immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey. Kim and Governor Mike Sherrill have questions about the conditions there. Hundreds of detainees have actually started a hunger strike in protest.

Everyone, regardless of your status, should be treated with dignity, making sure that you make your doctor's appointment. that you get your medication. We're having reports that women who are menstruating have to ask every time they need products. That's humiliating.

And that's Governor Mikey Sherrill. In the meantime, the Department of Homeland Security actually defended conditions at the facility, saying in part, there is no hunger strike and there are no subprime condition subprime conditions or abuse. Офіщиал saying a chemical tank in Southern California most likely will not explode. Emergency crews are concerned about a crack in a tank at an aerospace facility near Anaheim. It contains a chemical which could cause a massive explosion if it got too hot.

Safety workers inspected the tank and determined the chance of an explosion is slim, but not none. Officials have significantly scaled back their evacuation orders in the meantime. About 16,000 residents are still displaced. And today, Vice President J.D. Vance expected to host State Attorneys General at the White House for a meeting of his fraud task force. Vance announced the creation of a new position within the Justice Department.

To investigate allegations of fraud back in January, about 15 Republican attorneys generals are expected to attend. And Republican Congressman Thomas Massey of Kentucky announced he has filed to run for Congress in 2028. Massey lost last week's primary to a Trump-backed. Challenger. And Massey said on social media, he hasn't decided if he'll actually run again in two years, but filing the paperwork keeps his options open.

That's gonna be a different kind of fight at the White House. Construction has begun. on the octagon on the South Lawn for the UFC Freedom 250 fight, less than three weeks away. Now this arena is expected to hold around 5,000 spectators and it's believed to be the first professional sporting event ever held. Chuck, you ready? Your airboxer. You have a ticket?

I'm all about fighting and I'm all I've been fighting my whole life. Matter of fact, during the break for use at home, I was showing Audi scars on my face about how good I was at it, which was not that. Somewhere from shaving, I just want this disclosure mentioned.

But it should also be said is when I see that I'm like, Really? Like nobody can afford a tank of gas and we're gonna use my tax dollars to build an octagon when just down the street, literally five blocks away, is a perfectly good basketball arena that our basketball team Uh certainly is not using we could have had an octagon fight without having to build this monstrosity on the White House. question of whether it comes across as bread and circuses when people are uh literally

That's better. Someone else said idiocracy and now I can't unsee it. But I'm not against UFC, so we're gonna talk about it more on the show at some point. Straight ahead on CNN this morning, the Democratic candidate in Texas facing backlash ahead of today's primary. Why Democrats are accusing Republican operatives of boosting her campaign. Plus, why President Trump is pressuring more nations to join the Abraham Accords.

Comedian Craig Ferguson is going coast to coast to unpack what it really means to be an American today. Could possibly go wrong. Great. Meg Ferguson, American on Purpose. New series premieres May 30th and 9th on CNN and next day on the CNN app.

Good morning everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. I want to thank you for joining me on CNN this morning. It's half past the hour, and here's what's happening right now. President Trump will have his annual medical exam this morning at Walter Reed Medical Center. This is Trump's third Medical exam of his second term. He's going to turn 80 in just a few weeks.

And Secretary of State Marco Rubio wraps up a high-stakes diplomatic tour in India today. Now the Secretary visited India to ease strange relations after Trump imposed steep tariffs on Indian exports. Rubio held critical face-to-face talks on trade. food, defense, and energy security. And they are partying like it's 1999 in New York as the Knicks return to the NBA finals for the first time in 27 years. Monday night, they finished off their four-game sweep of the Cleveland.

Calves with a 37-point victory. They've now won eleven straight games in the playoffs. We'll enjoy this moment tonight and it's okay. It's okay for New York, the fans, us, our families to enjoy this moment and be jubilant about this, but For us as the players, we understand that the the job's not done. That's because the Knicks now have to wait and see whether they'll play the San Antonio Spurs or Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals.

Now to this developing story out of Laos where rescuers are racing to save seven people trapped in a flooded cave. These are images from the scene right now in Central Laos and you can see cave divers squeezing through narrow tunnels. almost filled with water. We've got CNN's Mike Valerio who is covering this from Beijing. Mike, first of all, how did these folks end up under uh ground? Uh what plan is there to get to them?

So, Audi, they were looking for gold of all things underground because we're told that there are gold deposits in the area. And the plan, roughly, is to keep pumping out water and to search down there. And just to give you an idea of what rescuers are dealing with, some of the narrowest passageways. are about twenty-three inches wide. I can't fit through that. Sixty centimeters wide as well, but they are in as best hands as they possibly can be. Two of the tie divers

Helped rescue the Thai soccer team from back in 2018, if you remember that. And a Finnish expert also worked on that case. Let's go back to the video just showing you the challenging. harrowing conditions, just the humanity audio of these people who are rescuing. Part of the rescue efforts comes through when they're dealing with these claustrophobic conditions.

Damp edges of the cavern walls. Just to give you another idea of what they're dealing with. The length of this thing is over a thousand feet long, which is just about the same height. of the Empire State Building at 1,115 feet long. They are thought to have hope, even though tomorrow will mark one week, because they're believed to be inside the cave on an elevated ledge Above water where there is constant airflow, but still an incredibly challenging rescue effort.

able to hear in that video the rescuers saying the water's incredibly cold. Some of the rescuers have that water splashing up against their skin. They take a breath, go under, come back up. Um and one of them says, this is the point where we can expect to see seven of them. The seven people who were looking for gold and they were nowhere to be found. But the wider global part of this is that thousands of people are watching this rescue on Facebook and on YouTube, other live social platforms.

It's really hard though, Audi, to get information out of Lao. It's a communist, authoritarian, one party state where information is very tightly controlled, but we're gonna stay on it. Again, tomorrow marks one week since these seven went looking for gold underground, Audi.

Okay, that's Mike Valeria. Thanks so much. We're gonna follow this throughout the day. And in the meantime, I want to turn to the president's uh demand for Middle Eastern nations to sign the Abraham Accords because It's hitting the wall of diplomatic reality. While Trump claims he mandatorily requested the country's normalized relations with Israel, sources tell CNN he actually raised the issue, quote, in passing during a weekend call, and regional leaders met the comment with

Complete silence. Now, Saudi Arabia is pushing back, insisting they would not sign onto any deal without an irreversible path to a Palestinian state. So we're bringing in former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and author of the briefing book on Substack Joel Rubin into the chat. And Joel, you have a new book, which is called Saving Democratic Foreign Policy. Sh sure to be a a short uh story. Yeah. Right. We're in a great moment, right?

Yeah, I mean as it turns out, all you have to do to normalize relations with Israel in the Middle East is mandatorily request it. Your finger can't stun. But can I ask I I want to be serious about this because we have not talked enough about the Israel part of the US Israel strikes on Iran and how that plays into the shifting geopolitics.

of the Middle East. Egypt already has a relationship. Turkey already has some kind of relationship. So really his list is kind of down to the Saudis in Qatar. What are the objections there that make this a tough ass? Well, uh first of all, rela related to these countries that have peace with Israel, uh they did it in a negotiated process with the United States as part of the team negotiating

And they got a benefit at the end. They got a tangible benefit. Egypt, for example, got a couple billion dollars a year in aid that they've been getting ever since 79. Jordan as well, a massive aid program. Morocco got land recognized in in Western Sahara.

So for these countries, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, there's not much we can give them. We have bases there already. Uh they're not gonna really need our aid directly. They can buy our weapons. And so they And infrastructure that maybe they don't feel were protected during these strikes. That's right. So I mean the short of it is is what do they get out of it? Well, they are asking for what they've been asking for consistently for decades, which is

A two state solution, peace between Israel and the Palestinians. But really, Adi, this is like a side discussion. This should not be what's on the diplomatic table right now. We're in a diplomatic Isaac, why do you think it is? Making.

Because we're eight weeks into this war and we still don't really know why what the president's objectives were or what the uh plan for resolving it is. I mean and I I think the the complication here is that uh uh of of the uh the president making this mandatory request is it it obviously has been difficult enough over these eight weeks to figure out a deal, even though the President said from the early days that it was done, it was over, to add in

Oh, just solving the Israel-Palestinian process and uh that it's been uh uh eluding Americans for seventy plus years, uh makes it even harder to believe that that that that deal could happen. Here's the review from uh Lindsey Graham uh in a tweet saying President Trump's most recent proposal requiring expansion of the Abraham Accords as part of a negotiated settlement to Iran conflict is

simply brilliant. And would result in the most significant change in the Middle East in thousands of years. Um and he goes on to say I expect our Arab allies to embrace this as well as our friends in Israel focusing on this task. uh as failure is not an option which would be correct analysis. Um I I wanna play for you Netanyahu who is in the midst of a campaign into Lebanon and here is how he's thinking about this moment.

But we are not taking our foot off the gas pedal. On the contrary, I said we need to push the gas pedal even harder. We will strike them. What this now requires from us is to intensify the blows to increase the force. We will strike them decisively. Iran wants to have this conversation about Israel and Lebanon as part of their talks. Now Trump is talking about the Abraham K I mean, there's a lot of complications here.

And it's loaded up. It's way beyond any real rational diplomatic program. Right now we don't even have a framework agreement with Iran on how to deal with our direct issues with Iran. So for Israel Clearly, look, they would benefit from the Abraham Accords, they would benefit from regime change in Iran. But the real issue is the United States and Iran in our war right now, and how are we going to pull back?

And get the Iranians to pull back on a straight-inform moves and get to some agreement on their nuclear program. Everything else is a sideshow. I disagree with that. I think I think that the a key part of this is Iran has to be unable to threaten Israel through its proxy network with Hezbollah and Hamas and unable to threaten its other neighbors like Bahrain and Qatar and and the and Saudi Arabia.

That's why 10-7 happened. That's why the Hamas attack on Israel happened is because Saudi Arabia was considering joining the Abraham Accords and considering at least some form of recognition of Israel. That's Iran's doing. Iran pushed the envelope in Israel. I don't think we're saying that we're like that's a lot on the plate and those plates are spinning.

Of course and that's part of it. And now you add the Abraham Accords to it as another issue. You're now distracting from that negotiation that President Trump should get credit for. He brokered between Israel and Lebanon here in Washington. Let's see that bear fruit.

Okay, I want to bring this to some domestic politics. You you'll still be able to bring up some of these points actually because the politics of the Middle East and Israel are being felt in the most local races unfolding this primary season. Today voters are going to head to the polls in Texas, for example, to decide a Democratic primary between Maureen Galindo and Johnny Garcia. Now this is a race that has been marred by claims of anti-Semitism after this post by Galindo.

She posted this month that she would quote turn in an ICE detention center into a prison for American Zionists and former ICE officers. Now Galindo denies that her remarks are anti-Semitic. According to the New York Times, Democrats claim Galindo is being supported by a new Republican connected pack called Lead Left, which has poured nearly half a million dollars into the race this month.

Now Talk of Israel also took center stage in the Kentucky Republican primary between Thomas Massey and Al and Ed Galer. Massey eventually lost to his Trump-endorsed opponent. But it was a loss he partially blamed on the influence of pro-Israel lobbyists who dumped money into the race. I would have come out sooner but I had to call my opponent and concede and it took a while to find Ed Galrine in television. Yeah.

All right, the group chat is back. I wanted to talk about this because once you see it surfacing bipartisan, um now you have a a lot of questions. So first I want to get your reaction because in your notes. You you sent me he sends me notes, okay? Uh ahead of time, so I know w what what we're talking about here. Um you've got this thesis that you've got fringe candidates Expressing over-the-top version of thoughts that are already percolating wildly. Can you talk square that?

Yeah, look, uh what Galindo is pushing is deeply anti Semitic and hateful. And what Massey did right there. He might as well have just said, why didn't I call it my opponent at Synagogue and just be very direct about how Jews bought the election against him? Uh this is across the board on both extremes of both parties.

The the idea that Jews should now be attacked politically to gain power for candidates is becoming mainstream. It's deeply troubling as an American and as an American Jew. I find it to be anti-American and anti-Jewish. Uh I think that the Republicans last week they kicked out Massey in that primary. Good. Now Democrats, we have a test of our own with Galindo. Uh this is a core test. Will she get kicked out and lose? Or will she somehow continue to stay in there and allow anti-Semitic Red?

Let me ask my strategist for a moment,'cause one of the things is after October seventh and after the rhetoric that uh many Jewish groups were alarmed by You did see increased spending by political action committees over the issue of Israel. That is just a demonstrable fact. of spending. How do you talk about that spending without doing what Galindo or Massey or some of these other folks are talking about?

I think it's really important to ground this conversation when you're comparing a U.S. congressman to a sex therapist who's not a real candidate. She's crazy. She's a crazy person. I'm running ads right now against her.

for Sheriff Johnny Garcia, a real hero in San Antonio, because that woman is crazy. And when we're talking about her compared to a US congressman, I just don't think it's apples to apples. But I give you credit, I give everybody credit that there's a lot of money Israel pro-Israel, anti-Israel, in all of these promises, more so than I've ever seen before, no matter which side of this thing you're saying.

the only person in our party who's flirting with anti Semitism. Oh for sure. And and it's a real concern. Sure. And I think as Democrats we need to be different from Republicans. We need to be very clear about there being lines against Jew hatred. in our party. I think we've been that historically and we need to hold that line right now.

How do you deal with the money part of it? So for instance, when you have organizations, lobby groups creating shell packs, for example, how does this engender distrust? And how does it feed into um this ongoing debate where now you have candidates who are saying as a point of pride they will not take money from APAC. Is this something you're hearing?

Of course, yeah no, it's something I've reported on and it's and it is uh there's millions of dollars that are coming in on this. But there are some millions of dollars that are uh bat that are with let Latino backed uh packs or Also crypto in AI.

But the association that happens here over this uh uh uh uh o over Jewish money and and how it connects to all this is very clearly coming across. And look, uh Even if you pull out the Jewish relation to that, what Galindo was saying, you have a candidate for Congress who's talking about concentration camps in America, right?

Now that you're talking about Jewish Yes, but like i e i Yes, but even if it were not about that, a a a candidate for Congress talking about concentration camps in America is going to get thousands of votes today. At least maybe she'll win. That she's talking about them related to Zionists, uh that concentration camps for Zionists uh brings us to a different level. Only billionaires on it.

The PAC money we're talking about, by the way, and I've done work with APAC before. The PAC money is from regular American citizens, and there some are Jewish, some are Christian who believe in the U.S. Israel. I think there's some debate when it comes to pack money because we don't always know what is happening with pack money. But I I even brought up Massey earlier because there was also a Republican Jewish coalition that spent money there like

Individuals. They collect their money from individual American citizens. Why shouldn't they, right? Like why shouldn't they oppose candidates who oppose their agenda? Why and and look, I I've never been an APAC backer. I'll say when I've engaged in politics, I've stayed out of that uh that lane. But I I'm very offended as a Jewish American to see APAC attack.

because they are supporting or opposing a candidate. They are American citizens. The people who support them are American citizens and you should call out the positions, but don't attack them because they're Jewish. Massey spent so much money himself, and look, the biggest reason why he lost the primary is because Donald Trump was very clearly against it, right?

Well he voted against tax cuts too. You can't vote I I did some ads against Thomas Massiak. He was against the Second Amendment, he was against tax cuts. Right, so to locate that entirely about it. Yeah. I mean as a reporter I'm looking at some very expensive primary races this year, whether it's crypto, whether it's AI, but this cannot be ignored because it's also the agenda is international related, right? It's not for your sheriff's job.

They did learn from Democrats. For a while, Democrats were sort of helping along every quacking candidate. Yeah, exactly. So this is a time. I'm not gonna vote size, but I'm saying it is a time honored technique. The other thing that's time honored is it backfires. You sometimes just get stuck with a a candidate who is not able to seal the D. Remember that commercial, I'm not a witch? That goes back a long way.

This has been a journey and it's ended on witches. Joel, thank you so much for being here. Always appreciate your insight.

Next on CNN this morning, President Trump says the US is closer to a deal with Iran, but with agreements over sanctions, the Iran nuclear program, are there doubts about this? We're gonna have Congressman Jake Oshensos joining us next. Okay, one way or the other, the White House demanding Iran agree to open the Strait of Hormuz, but will new strikes put negotiations on even rockier ground?

The U.S. military carries out self-defense strikes on a southern Iranian port city near the Strait of Hormuz, targeting missile launchers and boats. Central Command said it was to protect our troops. Then hours later, Iran's supreme leader warned the Middle East will no longer quote serve as shields for U.S. bases, writing on Telegram, the U.S. not only will no longer have a safe haven for its mischief and for establishing military bases in the region, but day by day it is growing more distant.

from its former status. Joining me now Democratic Congressman of Massachusetts, uh Jake Ockincloss. Thank you so much for being here and thank you for your service. uh this day after Memorial Day. Um I I wanna ask you about this comment from the Iranians. specifically implying threat to military bases, where our our soldiers are. Can you talk about what that says about what they believe their position is? They believe they're stronger now than they were before this war began.

And the comments from our Secretary of State, from our president, continue to reveal that America has just lost the plot here. If American violence was an effective way to get things done in the Middle East, The Middle East would be the most successful region in the world. Goodness knows we have tried violence there uh throughout the twenty-first century. Doesn't work. And this president continues to try to press that button of what we'll just bomb more things.

That is not how we are actually going to architect ties of commerce and culture between our allies that stabilizes the region and that marginalizes the Ayatollah. Uh, uh but to follow up on this, at Arlington Cemetery, National Cemetery for Memorial Day, the president actually spoke about the thirteen service members. Who have been killed since the start of US strikes with Iran. I I want you to listen to that and give me your response on the other side.

These incredible men and women gave their lives to ensure that the world's number one state sponsor of terror will never have a nuclear weapon. Oh, and they won't. They will never have a nuclear weapon. What do you make of how he talked about their memory in in the context of this war? I'm glad the president talked about their memory and honored their bravery on Memorial Day. I think Memorial Day should be a day that transpend that transcends politics.

Uh certainly it was for me yesterday with my family. Uh but it's incumbent upon the commander in chief and upon policymakers in Congress to ensure that when we ask individuals to make the ultimate sacrifice, when we ask them to deploy away from their families, that we're doing so with a righteous and well thought through strategy.

Regrettably, that's just not the case here. I think it's important to do a brief chronology of how we wound wound up here. In his first term, the president tore up Obama's nuclear deal with Iran, didn't replace it with anything.

Then he goes back last year and buries their nuclear facility under a mountain of rubble. I think that was a a strong move to establish air dominance. But then this year he has tried to use that air dominance he established to make up for the fact that he has no actual plan to prevent them from getting a nuclear weapon.

I I want to jump in here for one second because I think there's a lot of talk about the timeline going in. What I don't hear from Democrats is what they think should happen going out. The US is now in this. And what is it that you offer the voters as Democrats to say, this is the path forward, this is what a win would look like now that we are in what you all are calling a quagmire?

Well the first thing is to prevent it from becoming a quagmire, which means we need to pass a war powers resolution in Congress, House and Senate, and we are making progress on doing so to take back the steering wheel from this president and his disastrous foreign policy. The first thing to do when you're digging a hole is stop digging. Gotta get the straight of Hormuz open. And then We need to knit together the Abraham Accords to establish air defence

Energy, infrastructure, uh, and technology ties uh to help them defend themselves against Iran. Because what we don't need is for the United States to get drawn into a third forever war in the Middle East or Central Asia, and that's where this man is taking us. Well Congressman, uh it's your mention of the Abraham Accords, it's making me think you need to come back to the show. We were talking about that earlier. Uh hope to talk to you again soon. I'd enjoy it.

All right, I want to turn now to you guys. We're uh at the start of the week given the holiday. What's in your group chat, Isaac? I had a story last week that uh forced the DNC to release their autopsy of what happened. Well just a little story people may have heard of. And and I will say that all through the holiday weekend uh still I had a lot of texts from people asking what is the future there and does Ken Martin, the DNC chair, have a future or Are you just telling us about the nice text?

Uh I uh th th they were uh some of them saying he should not have a future. Yeah. It comes back around. Full circle live here. That ain't in my group. No, I'm curious, is that in your group chat? I feel like Democrats had a lot of thoughts about what I'm saying.

This weekend if you're a following my Twitter I was interviewed for the autopsy and I'd given my thoughts and I think there's some good things to come out of it, but I'm not gonna be part of the pylon because I've been in that leadership. Yeah, there's autopsy and then there's live vivisection, which I think is the process we're in now. But in my group chat, let's get back to my group judge, I'll see that pivot, is the California governor's race and that's what's in my group chat.

Lots of text about that. As a head of all Latinos, as we've talked about on this program, uh we are Yeah. We're excited that there could be the first ever Latino governor of the great state of California. Who would have thought that Visery, who was nowhere,

two months ago is leading this thing now, who's been outspent by a progressive billionaire evidently, who spent two hundred and fifty million dollars. Why don't me and you have that media contract? And is only can get above thirteen percent. So I think history could be made in Well, either way, it is a wild race, big state, and I have been shocked at the turns there, like a lot of people. Brad, what about you? What's in your

It's also a California race though, but it's just for mayor of LA. Spencer. Oh yeah. Republicans including people Have you been pratt pilled? Yes. I made that up. I would tell you. Spencer, don't take that. If you're a Republican, your Instagram feed is full of Spencer Pratt, period, anywhere in America. And that's what I keep getting asked about: does he have a chance? Karen Bass deserves me.

You know, I think anyone who has a chance who has a sophisticated use of social media and we have a weird uh like what for Kamala didn't quite work, but for the internet's boyfriend, Mayor Mamdani, it did work. And I need to see another sample before I start calling it a trend. It's not just the medium, it's the message.

It is, it is, but clicks aren't always a thing. There's a lot of pop stars, we're talking about that on the pod, who are finding out that social media doesn't equal ticket sales. Like to Brad's point that whether Bass deserves to be beaten or not, there is a lot of uh dis uh uh feeling uh in Los Angeles about how bad the situation is, not just because of the fires, but because of the five. Post strike, post Yeah, exactly. The city suffered.

Intent is clearly getting channeled into Pratt's candidacy. Whether it'll be enough, we'll see. For a Republican to win a mayor's race in a big city, but when they do, it's with mayors like Karen. I know. Th there's like a Democratic mayor in Miami and then I guess there's gonna be a Republican mayor in Miami. You know.

Something's going on when in Washington DC and I ain't putting my wife's business out there. She knows I'm finna talk about Spencer Pratt'cause she came in and was like, Are you following this Pratt thing in LA? And I was like, What does a thirty five-year-old black woman in D. and I was like, that's Something's happening. Yes. I'm like, ooh, a focus group at the house. Tell me more, Ebony. What's going on with Bencher Pratt?

It is, yeah. I mean listen, we are living in the M T V generation's political moment. Yes. Uh, whether it's a transportation secretary or the race in LA. So shout out to y'all who grew up on the real world and the hills. In the meantime, I'm Audie Cornish and the headlines are next. Hey, I'm Anderson Cooper. On my podcast, All There Is, we explore grief and loss in all its complexities. You have been, and I mean this so sincerely, the soundtrack to my healing.

My guest on this episode is Chanel Jones. In January, she began hosting along with Jenna Bush Hager Today with Jenna and Chanel, the fourth hour of the Today Show. In May 2025, Chanel's husband, Uche Oje, died from glioblastoma. When you hear other people share, it is healing and you don't feel as isolated. You feel less alone. And so I feel like you've created this beautiful quilt. Nurturing our hearts and so I am honored to be Talking grief, building care.

That's what the podcast is all about. This is all there is. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Daniel Day Kim. I'm going to South Korea to figure out how this small nation conquered the world with its culture. Join me and meet the artists and creators behind the phenomenon. K Everything. Now streaming on the CNN app.