Transcript of Straight Talk With Iran & Ebola Spreads As Clinics Burn | 5.26.26 New

President Trump says a peace deal with Iran is coming into focus after a whirlwind weekend of negotiations, but it's not without its critics.

At a minimum, there should not be concessions until Iran hands over their nuclear material and opens up the strait.

I'm Georgia Howe. John is out this morning. It's Tuesday, May 26th, and this is Morning Wire. The deadly Ebola outbreak continues to spread in Central Africa, now with violence breaking out at local hospitals. And all eyes on Texas today as voters decide the next Republican Senate candidate. Will voters go with the establishment pick or the president's?

We haven't elected a Democrat to statewide office since 1994, but all of that's at risk. We can't trust Ken Paxton. This is just a concoction of John Cornyn because he can't win his primary, but it's just a made-up point. It's not true.

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So, Cabot, we have some optimism that the deal is imminent. Bring us up to speed.

Millions of Americans were honoring our fallen service members and kicking off the start of summer this weekend. But other than a visit to Arlington National Cemetery on Monday, Memorial Day, it was all business for the White House team. And it was a roller coaster 3 days with diplomacy followed by the US launching, quote, self-defense strikes on Monday night. So let's just start with a recap. So on Friday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio hinted that progress had been made between the US and Iran, but that there were still, in his words, a number of sticking points. By Saturday, things really picked up though. President Trump called his national security staff together, and Vice President Pence's motorcade was seen racing through D.C. to the White House. So clearly there was some urgency. Within hours, reports started to trickle in that a deal was imminent, and then by Saturday afternoon, President Trump announced that an agreement between the U.S., Iran, and other Arab states had been, quote, largely negotiated. Though he offered little detail beyond that, he did say it would result in the Strait of Hormuz being finally opened and the U.S. naval blockade being lifted. But as the details of that preliminary agreement began to emerge, that is when the political drama really started to ramp up.

All right, so elaborate on that. What kind of drama did we see?

So the initial reporting was that this would be a phase one of a multi-step peace deal, creating a 30 to 60-day ceasefire across the board and giving time for the two sides to agree on financial incentives and then iron out the future of Iran's nuclear program. But many on the right say step one should include the Iranians immediately agreeing to hand over all of their enriched uranium and end their nuclear ambitions once and for all. There were also reports that the current deal would give the regime joint control of the Strait of Hormuz, result in the unfreezing of billions of dollars in funds, and widespread sanctions relief. And that all sparked outrage from the more hawkish branch of the GOP. They compared such an agreement to the Obama-era Iran deal. Senator Ted Cruz, for example, one of President Trump's fiercest defenders in D.C., said he was, quote, deeply concerned.

If the result of all of this is to be an Iranian regime still run by Islamists who chant death to America, now receiving billions of dollars, being able to enrich uranium and develop nuclear weapons, and having effective control over the Strait of Hormuz. That outcome would be a disastrous mistake.

Elsewhere, Senator Lindsey Graham said the reported deal would shift the balance of power in the Middle East towards Iran and create a, quote, nightmare for Israel. And then Senator Roger Wicker from Mississippi said bluntly that the, quote, rumored 60-day ceasefire with the belief that Iran will ever engage in good faith would be a disaster.

Hmm. So a range of criticisms. How's the White House responding to those?

Yeah, they came out swinging. Uh, they accused the media of distorting the deal on the table to try and make President Trump look weak. They basically said that no one actually knew what was in this agreement and that a lot of these folks on the right and left were falling for false reports. They went on to assure the American people that Trump was not backing down. Here's Secretary of State Marco Rubio making that case.

The idea that somehow this president, given everything he's already proven he's willing to do, is going to somehow agree to a deal that ultimately winds up putting Iran in a stronger position when it comes to nuclear ambitions is absurd.

And for his part, President Trump reiterated that statement, claiming that his deal would be the, quote, exact opposite of the Obama plan, quote. But nobody has seen it or knows what it is. It isn't even fully negotiated yet. So don't listen to the losers who are critical about something they know nothing about. But it is worth noting the president did seem to slow things down a bit following the criticism of the reported deal over the weekend. By Sunday, for example, he said, quote, I have informed my representatives not to rush into a deal. Both sides must take their time and get it right. There can be no mistakes. He also assured the American people that the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is still in effect and will remain so until favorable terms have been reached. By Monday night, talks had slowed down after that initial rapid movement on Friday and Saturday, as the US reportedly sought upfront commitments regarding nuclear disarmament and the Iranians pushed for guarantees of sanctions relief and the unfreezing of assets. And then late Monday, we saw yet another turn when the US launched what they described as, quote, self-defense strikes on Iranian forces.

US Central Command said the strikes targeted missile launch sites and Iranian boats trying to lay mines, and described their purpose as, quote, to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces. A CENTCOM spokesperson described the action as, quote, using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire. So now the big question becomes how the Iranians will respond. But Yet again, the bigger question is if this is a real deal or another diplomatic mirage that opens the door for renewed fighting. Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I think a lot of people are very cautiously optimistic. Cabot, thanks for reporting.

Absolutely.

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The World Health Organization says the fast-moving Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda is outpacing the response efforts. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says a delay in detecting Ebola cases means responders are now playing catch-up, and the epidemic is likely to get worse before it gets better. Cases have now crossed into surrounding regions with high levels of violence and instability, and traditional burial practices continue to hamper containment efforts. Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham is here now with more. So Megan, a lot of listeners may remember the last major outbreak was about 10 or 12 years ago. It was the largest on record. It caused almost 30,000 infections and about 11,000 deaths over the course of 2 years. So how big is this current outbreak and where is it concentrated?

Yeah, Georgia, so it's centered on the Democratic Republic of Congo, as you said, and World Health Organization officials are calling this the third largest Ebola outbreak in history. So going by the latest figures, there have been over 900 suspected cases there with around 220 suspected deaths from Ebola. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is saying that his top concern is ensuring that Ebola does not make it into the U.S.

World Health Organization has unfortunately not done well around the world. I think they failed miserably during COVID We're now not allowing people to come in. In fact, I think we had a flight last night headed to Detroit that was diverted. Because we have to protect the American people.

So this is a rare strain of Ebola, and we currently don't have a vaccine for it. And then there's growing concern here because this rare Ebola strain has now spread to other provinces and neighboring Uganda, and the World Health Organization is warning that the epidemic is effectively outpacing all of these efforts to contain it.

Right. And one of the more disturbing things I've seen is there are reports that infected patients are actually fleeing the treatment facilities. Why are they doing that?

Yeah, so Eastern Congo is already plagued by armed militias and a lot of political instability. And post-COVID, there's also a very deep distrust of government healthcare workers, particularly those affiliated with international organizations. And that instability is directly interfering with these efforts to contain the virus. So funerals are a particular flashpoint here. In rural areas, people often demand to bury their dead in traditional customs, and that involves a lot of touching of the corpse, even though that's a perfect way to spread this disease. So the kind of safe burials that the Red Cross would carry out in protective gear, that's deeply upsetting to a lot of these locals. Last Thursday, treatment tents in these nearby provinces were attacked and they were set on fire because locals were denied a body for one of those traditional burials. The next night, angry crowds from a town at the center of the Ebola outbreak attacked and burned down another tent, and in the process, 18 patients with suspected Ebola ran from the facility to escape that fire, and they currently remain unaccounted for. Now, no one was hurt in the attack, but this obviously will potentially spread the virus further into the community.

And then a second attack hit that same hospital on Sunday with young men demanding the bodies of their relatives. Police fired shots to disperse the crowds, and at least 7 more patients escaped. One critically ill patient reportedly died while trying to flee. So as you can imagine, Georgia, this does not help those containment efforts.

Ports.

Now, during the last major outbreak, Ebola did actually reach the United States. What's the likelihood that we could see that happen?

Well, we're being told right now that it's not a major risk, but the CDC and Reuters did cite reports that at least 6 Americans were potentially exposed. That includes several categorized as high-risk exposures. Now, one of those Americans is a medical missionary who tested positive for Ebola last week, and he's receiving treatment in Germany. And right now we're being told his outlook is positive. He's not critically ill, and his wife and 4 children have tested negative. There are 2 possible vaccines, but those are apparently a long way out, per WHO officials, and one is likely going to take 6 to 9 months to get doses ready for a clinical trial. And then the second could be available in 2 or 3 months, but that shot has yet to be tested even in animals. To reiterate, the Ebola outbreak is very high risk in Congo and that region. But we are told it's not to us here in the U.S. right now, and the White House is emphasizing that there are no cases in the U.S., and they have put travel restrictions in place to keep it that way.

Yeah, and just a reminder to listeners, Ebola is not COVID. It is a highly lethal disease, and it leads to an extremely disturbing and bloody death, so not something we want our emergency workers dealing with. Megan, thanks for reporting.

Yeah, my pleasure, Georgia.

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The runoff election for the Republican Senate primary is underway in Texas. Longtime incumbent Senator John Cornyn faces off against State Attorney General Ken Paxton, who President Trump endorsed last week. Joining us now to discuss the election and its implications is Brent Buchanan, founder and CEO of Signal Polling Group. Brent, thanks for coming on.

My pleasure.

So, Brent, we've had our eyes on Texas for a while now, and today is the day. Where do things stand now?

Well, coming out of the initial primary, John Cornyn overperformed expectations in the first round back at the beginning of March. But ever since then, the polling has consistently showed Attorney General Ken Paxton ahead. He was already doing incredibly well. And the second he gets Trump endorsements, because this is Trump's party and we're all living in it, uh, that really sealed the deal. There was about 850,000 early votes, which should put it around 1.5 million or so turnout. And that's going to be enough to give Kim Paxton the edge in the U.S. Senate primary runoff.

Now, if Paxton wins, which is what we're anticipating, what do you think his chances are against James Talarico? I mean, it is a red state, but do you think Talarico has a chance?

Uh, the Talarico of today might have a chance, but the Talarico that the voters of Texas are going to get to know over the next, uh, 5 months or so is not going to be able to win against anybody on the Republican side. He is a radical woke progressive. And you don't have to say this about him. All you have to do is play video clips of his own words, like saying there are, you know, 7 genders and that God is non-binary. That is not going to play in Texas.

Now, one thing that jumps out recently is the RNC has record amounts of cash on hand. But we also see there are some individual races like in Texas and Alaska where Democrat candidates are actually raising huge amounts of money. How do you interpret that split where you're seeing Democrats very strong in specific races, but Republicans strong overall with cash?

Midterm elections have lower turnout in general, and Republicans are now the party of the, uh, lower educational class. Um, and doesn't have anything to do with intellect, it's just they don't have college degrees compared to Democrats who do. The people paying attention to elections right now that are hyperfixated on something 5 months away are the people whose nobody's mind is going to change. The folks who are going to decide this election are going to, once their kids go back to school and once Labor Day turns the corner, they're going to start paying attention. And that's, I think, when you're going to start to see the massive amounts of Republican cash. Because it's not just the RNC, it's MAGA Inc. that's controlled by the president and multiple other entities associated with President Trump. They have immense amounts of cash, and that's going to be used not for persuasion as much as turnout efforts. And those things you don't see on television. Nobody is showing up on television saying to turn out. That's done at the door. It's done digitally. It's done in mailboxes. The only people who see it are the people who need to see it.

And so just because the Democrats in some of these races have a lot of cash right now, they're going to dump it in television. They did this in the '24 cycle too. They outspent pretty much every Republican in '24, and we had a better night than them on, on the Senate races. You know, a Tallarico Money magnifies. That's one thing that's really important in politics. And if somebody is an unlikable or a ridiculously far left or right individual and you put money behind it, that only magnifies the problem. And so I, I don't think that's actually going to help Tallarico.

Historically, Democrats have been better about the get-out-the-vote program and using their money towards that. Do you think that that's changing?

I do, because they're now the party of the coastal elites, and these coastal elites, you don't have to go convince them to vote. You know, when I got started in Republican politics 20 years ago, our voters were the country club set, you know, the college-educated set. And we never had to spend any money telling them to go vote because they knew when every minor election on earth was, and they showed up to vote in them. Those people are now Democrats. And so the turnout mechanism is really more important for Republicans than it is Democrats in the modern environment.

All right.

Well, a lot to keep our eye on. Brent, thank you so much for coming on.

My pleasure.

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