When you participate in democracy, sometimes it doesn t turn out the way you want it to. President Trump notching another revenge win as one of the Senate Republicans who voted to convict him in the 2021 impeachment trial loses his primary, a New Jersey Congressman has not been seen publicly in more than two months due to some mysterious illness, allegedly, with no official word on where he is. And Harvey Weinstein s third New York sex crimes trial ends in a mistrial.
00:00:00.000Good morning, everyone. I'm Megan Kelly. It's Monday, May 18th, 2026, and this is your AM
00:00:08.400Update. I wouldn't tell you exactly what our plan is because I don't want them to know what
00:00:11.740our plan is, but our plan for Cuba is a prosperous future. New pressure on Cuba's communist regime
00:00:17.120as U.S. officials, seemingly in partnership with a corporate media outlet, introduce a curious new
00:00:23.660pretext for potential military action. When you participate in democracy, sometimes it doesn't
00:00:30.100turn out the way you want it to. President Trump notching another revenge win as one of the Senate
00:00:35.300Republicans who voted to convict him in the 2021 impeachment trial and a thorn in the side of the
00:00:41.380Maha movement loses his primary. A New Jersey congressman has not been seen publicly in more
00:00:47.980than two months due to some mysterious illness, allegedly, with no official word on where he is.
00:00:55.680And Harvey Weinstein's third New York sex crimes trial ends again in a mistrial.
00:01:01.400All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM update.
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00:02:17.040The Trump administration escalating its pressure campaign against Cuba's communist regime,
00:02:23.180using sanctions, surveillance, legal action, and public warnings to push Havana toward major
00:02:29.000political and economic change. President Trump has been signaling for months that Cuba could
00:02:34.540become a major focus of U.S. action in March, openly floating the possibility of direct
00:02:40.000American involvement. It's a failed nation. They have no money. They have no oil. They have no
00:02:45.880nothing. They have nice land. They have nice landscape. It's a beautiful island. But I think
00:02:53.080Cuba's the end. All my life I've been hearing about the United States and Cuba. When will the
00:02:58.260United States do it. I do believe I'll be the honor of having the honor of taking Cuba.
00:03:06.460That's a big honor. Taking Cuba. Taking Cuba in some form, yeah. Taking Cuba. I mean,
00:03:11.880whether I free it, take it, I think I could do anything I want with it. You want to know the
00:03:17.200truth. They're a very weakened nation right now. They were for a long time. And now Axios out with
00:03:24.440a new report that could signal the convoluted way the U.S. plans to justify taking military action.
00:03:31.040Axios, which has been repeatedly used by the Trump administration to front reporting on,
00:03:35.960for example, the Iran war and its imminent end that turns out not to be true, reportedly viewing
00:03:43.040classified intelligence showing Cuba has acquired more than 300 military drones from Iran and Russia
00:03:50.180and is discussing how they could be used against U.S. targets, including the U.S. base at Guantanamo
00:03:56.660Bay, U.S. military vessels, and possibly Key West, Florida, just 90 miles from Cuba.
00:04:02.960U.S. officials telling Axios they do not believe Cuba is preparing an imminent attack,
00:04:08.960but say the drone buildup, combined with the presence of Iranian military advisors in Havana,
00:04:15.160is changing the way Washington views the threat from the island.
00:04:19.480Axios conceding, quote, the intelligence could become a pretext for U.S. military action.
00:04:26.420U.S. Senator from Arizona Ruben Gallego, a Democrat, reacting to the reporting on social
00:04:31.480media, writing, quote, no country in the current economic and military situation that Cuba is in
00:04:37.920would ever preemptively strike a superpower like the U.S. This is just propaganda to build a case
00:04:44.940for an invasion of Cuba. Last night, Cuba's foreign minister pushing back on the Axios report,
00:04:51.040writing on X, quote, without any legitimate excuse whatsoever, the U.S. government builds,
00:04:56.200day after day, a fraudulent case to justify the ruthless economic war against the Cuban people
00:05:02.140and the eventual military aggression. The Post continuing, quote, specific media outlets play
00:05:07.860along, promoting slanders and leaking insinuations from the U.S. government itself. Cuba neither
00:05:13.820threatens nor desires war. The Axios report coming as the communist government faces one
00:05:20.020of its most serious internal crises since taking power in 1959. U.S. sanctions, the Trump
00:05:26.560administration's oil blockade, and decades of economic mismanagement now coming to a head on
00:05:31.420the island, leaving Cuba dangerously short on fuel and power, leading to widespread blackouts
00:05:37.060and frequent protests from the Cuban people. Last Thursday, CIA Director John Ratcliffe
00:05:43.000traveling to Cuba for an unusually public warning to the regime, reportedly telling Cuban officials
00:05:48.640in a bilateral meeting that the island can no longer be used as an alleged staging ground for
00:05:55.140America's enemies, namely China and Russia. Ratcliffe demanding the regime shut down Chinese
00:06:01.260and Russian intelligence stations on the island, outposts U.S. officials say are used by the
00:06:07.880adversarial nations to capture U.S. communications. Cuban officials saying they used the meeting to
00:06:13.640argue that they pose no threat to the United States as the island faces crippling repercussions
00:06:18.720from the U.S. oil embargo. The pressure campaign also going legal, with the DOJ reportedly
00:06:24.780preparing to indict former Cuban leader Raul Castro, possibly on charges over Cuba's downing
00:06:30.480of planes run by a humanitarian aid group 30 years ago. Castro was serving as Cuba's defense
00:06:37.480minister in 1996, when the Cuban military fired on two small aircraft operated by Brothers to
00:06:44.240the Rescue, a Miami-based group that searched for Cuban refugees stranded at sea. The planes went
00:06:50.620down over the waters between Cuba and Florida, killing all four men on board, three U.S. citizens
00:06:56.240and one legal permanent resident. Havana defended the attack by claiming the aircraft had entered
00:07:01.760Cuban airspace, a claim later rejected by international aviation authorities.
00:07:07.440The looming indictment is not particularly subtle in its warning for Cuban officials.
00:07:12.720Earlier this year, the Trump administration using a federal indictment against former Venezuelan
00:07:17.260leader Nicolas Maduro as the legal justification for the January raid that removed him from power.
00:07:23.940However, the impending Castro indictment dates back to an event more than 30 years ago,
00:07:28.700as opposed to the Maduro indictment, which was handed down in 2020 and outlined decades of
00:07:34.800drug-related crimes. Castro also left power in 2021. Last Thursday, NBC questioning Secretary
00:07:43.020of State Marco Rubio on whether the administration has a plan for what comes next in Cuba.
00:07:49.040But is there still a plan for changing Cuba?
00:07:51.040Sure. I mean, look, the change in Cuba is their economy doesn't function. It's not a functional
00:07:54.820economy. No, I get that, but what is the U.S. plan? Well, I wouldn't tell you exactly what our
00:07:59.480plan is because I don't want them to know what our plan is, but our plan for Cuba is a prosperous
00:08:02.820future. That's what we want. It's in our national interest. And to have a prosperous Cuba, not to
00:08:07.620have a failed state 90 miles from our shores. U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy's vote to convict
00:08:14.340President Trump five years ago on impeachment charges, now one of the things leading to his
00:08:19.660primary defeat Saturday night. The two-term Louisiana Republican losing the GOP primary
00:08:25.840after the president personally targeted him for defeat. Trump endorsed Congresswoman Julia Letlow
00:08:32.520finishing first in the race, Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming in second, Cassidy coming in third.
00:08:39.820Letlow taking in about 45 percent of the vote, Fleming capturing about 28, Cassidy 25. With no
00:08:46.440candidates surpassing 50%, the top two will advance now to a runoff next month, the loss
00:08:52.280making Senator Cassidy the first GOP senator to lose renomination since 2012. Mr. Cassidy,
00:08:59.560one of just seven Senate Republicans, to vote to convict President Trump after January 6,
00:09:05.1802021, putting him in President Trump's crosshairs. Since Mr. Trump returned to office,
00:09:11.420Senator Cassidy largely backing his agenda, voting to confirm several of his nominees,
00:09:16.840including HHS Secretary RFKJ, despite significant reservations. But more recently,
00:09:22.800the senator drawing anger from the Maha wing of the party. Cassidy, a medical doctor and chairman
00:09:28.660of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, coming under fire from
00:09:33.300Kennedy allies who blame him for blocking a committee vote on Dr. Casey Means' nomination
00:09:38.760for Surgeon General. The senator also remaining publicly skeptical of Secretary Kennedy's push
00:09:44.620to revamp the federal vaccine recommendations. President Trump slamming Senator Cassidy on the
00:09:50.420morning of the primary, writing on Truth Social, quote, Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana is a
00:09:55.840disloyal disaster. Bill Cassidy is a sleazebag, a terrible guy, who is bad for Louisiana. And the0.91
00:10:03.100president following up after the results were in, quote, his disloyalty to the man who got him
00:10:08.180elected is now a part of legend. And it's nice to see that his political career is over. Senator
00:10:14.800Cassidy taking a thinly veiled swipe at the president in his concession speech. I've had
00:10:20.540the privilege of representing the state of Louisiana for 12 years. I've been able to
00:10:25.160participate in democracy. And when you participate in democracy, sometimes it doesn't turn out the
00:10:31.960way you want it to. But you don't pout. You don't whine. You don't claim the election was stolen.
00:10:38.900You don't manufacture some excuse. You thank the voters for the privilege of representing
00:10:44.420the state or the country for as long as you've had that privilege. And that's what I'm doing
00:10:49.300right now. Congresswoman Letlow addressing her supporters after Saturday's win. I am so excited
00:10:55.800And most importantly, I want to say thank you to a very special man who you all know the best president this country has ever had, President Donald Trump.
00:11:08.260When he endorsed me in January, I knew this was going to be a tough race.
00:11:13.540But tonight, Louisiana sent a clear message that they want a candidate to represent them in the Senate who will always put America first
00:11:22.880and never turn her back on Louisiana voters.