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.