'This Week' Transcript 5-24-26: Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick & Rep. Tom Suozzi

A rush transcript of "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" airing on Sunday, May 24, 2026 on ABC News is below. This copy may not be in its final form, may be updated and may contain minor transcription errors. For previous show transcripts, visit the "This Week" transcript archive.

JONATHAN KARL, ABC "THIS WEEK" CO-ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, are the U.S. and Iran close to a deal?

"This Week" starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: Some progress has been made, significant progress, although not final progress has been made.

KARL (voice-over): President Trump says a deal is largely negotiated. But will Iran sign on?

We'll have the latest from the region.

Breaking overnight, shots fired near the White House. Our Selina Wang was there.

SELINA WANG, ABC NEWS SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Two sides to remain far apart --

(GUNFIRE)

KARL: Republican revolt on Capitol Hill.

SEN. THOM TILLIS, (R) NORTH CAROLINA: This is just stupid on stilts.

KARL: Senate Republicans lash out over the president's $1.8 billion fund.

SEN. JAMES LANKFORD, (R) OKLAHOMA: We've got a lot of questions about this.

KARL: The acting attorney general's attempt to answer those questions backfires.

SEN. TED CRUZ, (R) TEXAS: The Republican senators were pissed. People were -- the entire meeting, they were screaming at the acting attorney general.

TODD BLANCHE, ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL: Just to be clear, people that hurt police get money all the time.

KARL: This morning, I speak with Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick and Tom Suozzi, the bipartisan duo behind the bill to block the fund.

Texas Showdown. Our John Quinones looks at a critical voting bloc that could determine which party controls Congress next year.

JOHN QUINONES, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Are you worried at all about this apparent swing among Latino voters back to the Democratic Party?

KARL: And the roundtable on what that long-awaited DNC autopsy report left out.

And this Memorial Day weekend, a first look at Martha Raddatz's new book, "The Hero Next Door".

(MUSIC)

ANNOUNCER: From ABC News, it's "This Week."

Here now, Jonathan Karl.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KARL (on camera): Good morning. Welcome to "This Week."

We're tracking two major stories overnight.

First, a possible breakthrough with Iran that could lead to the Strait of Hormuz reopening. There's been a flurry of diplomatic activity on this, but as of this moment, it's not clear whether Iran has signed off on the agreement.

I just spoke with President Trump about this and asked if he has secured an agreement. He told me he couldn't talk about the deal saying, quote, "It's totally up to me", and that if there is news, quote, "It's only going to be good news. I don't make bad deals."

And here in Washington, we witnessed a tense moment at the White House late yesterday. Our Selina Wang was there.

And Selina joins me now from the White House.

And, Selina, you were there as shots rang out, clearly audible. I want to play a little bit of that scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WANG: That President Trump has said a deal is close, only for the two sides to remain far apart --

(GUNFIRE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KARL: I mean, Selina, just horrifying. You hear the sound of that gunfire going on for quite some time. What was going on?

WANG: Yeah, Jon. I mean, this shooting was actually happening just meters from where I'm standing right now. And in that video you played, that is the exact place where I'm here right now. I was preparing to go live for "World News Tonight".

And you notice in the video that I continue talking for the first few seconds of those gunshots because my initial thought was this must be fireworks or something else, then I heard to get down. So the team and I immediately dropped to the ground, ducked and covered.

Then we heard Secret Service yelling for us to move, to sprint to the press briefing room. So that is what we did. We were running as fast as we could. The gunshots sounded so close. We were worried as we were running that the gunshots could actually be getting into the White House grounds.

Then, we were locked down in the press briefing room for more than 30 minutes. We actually went up live for live shots from the briefing room. And then we slowly started to get more information. We're allowed back outside.

The president posting early this morning, thanking law enforcement and Secret Service for their quick response on the scene.

KARL: And we understand that the president was in the Oval Office with some of his aides at the time of that shooting, which took place just a block away. What do we know about the shooter?

WANG: Yeah, the shooter is 21 years old, according to law enforcement, and he actually has a history of incidents involving the White House and was actually arrested in the past for trying to enter a White House checkpoint, Jon.

KARL: All right, before you go, let's get to what you were talking about at the time those shots went out, this possible agreement with Iran. Details are unclear.

What have you heard? I already hear some of the president's allies unhappy with what they're hearing about the emerging possible agreement.

WANG: That's exactly right, Jon. We are hearing some alarm and concern from some top Senate Republicans, including from Republican Senator Ted Cruz. He is saying that he's deeply concerned about what he's heard about is in this deal. He says if the result of this is that the Iranian regime can still enrich uranium, develop nuclear weapons, and have effective control over the strait, he says the outcome would be disastrous.

Now still unclear what is exactly under discussion. We know that a key sticking point has been Iran's enriched uranium, what is going to happen to the future of the nuclear program. The big question hanging is, is this all just going to lead to a longer pause, or will it lead to a permanent end to the conflict?

Now, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, early this morning, he indicated there could be some announcements and breakthroughs made in the next few hours. But he said significant progress has been made, not final progress.

KARL: All right. Well, certainly unclear now whether or not this agreement is there. We also have heard criticism from the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee in the Senate who says it might not be worth the paper it is written on. And even President Trump's former secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, already criticizing a deal that hasn't been announced.

Selina, thank you very much.

Our James Longman is in the region with reporting on what Iran is saying about any deal.

Hey, James.

JAMES LONG, ABC NEWS CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Jon. Well, although it's still unclear what is in this deal, this may essentially just be an extension of the ceasefire while moving to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's foreign minister has said there'll be a 30 to 60-day period during which the main issues will be discussed. Iran, of course, has been pushing to end the U.S. blockade of its ports, free up frozen assets and end the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, while the U.S. wants Iran to give up its enriched uranium.

There's been a flurry of diplomatic activity over the weekend, with delegations from Pakistan and Qatar both in Tehran. But there was a feeling here that a return to war was imminent. But sources in Israel, which has been largely shut out of the negotiation process, tell ABC News that the emerging deal appears to be bad as far as the Israeli government is concerned because it signals to the Iranians how effective their closure of the Strait of Hormuz has been.

Israel has been pushing for the U.S. to return to war and retrieve Iran's enriched uranium by force. But it seems the U.S. is convinced that more time for diplomacy is needed -- Jon.

KARL: All right. Thank you, James.

We turn now to Republican defiance. That's a phrase that hasn't been heard much around Washington for a long time, at least not when talking about Donald Trump. But this week in both the House and the Senate, Republicans defied President Trump. In the Senate, for a while, it looked like open revolt. Republicans from the Senate leader on down criticizing Trump's so-called anti-weaponization fund.

The former Republican majority leader, Senator Mitch McConnell, saying, quote, "So the nation's top law enforcement official is asking for a slush fund to pay people who assault cops? Utterly stupid, morally wrong. Take your pick."

When acting Attorney General Todd Blanche went up to explain it to Republican senators, the rebellion only grew. Senator Ted Cruz described it as one of the roughest meetings he's seen in his entire time in the Senate, with Republican senators, quote, "screaming" at Trump's acting attorney general. After that, the Senate canceled plans to vote on Homeland Security funding.

There was defiance in the House, too, on a planned vote to end the Iran war unless Congress authorizes it. That vote was abruptly canceled, and the House sent home for a recess after it became clear that Speaker Mike Johnson just didn't have the votes to defeat it. And the remarkable thing about all of this is where the week started. A week of major political wins for President Trump, including the ousting of his nemesis, Thomas Massie.

Both Houses of Congress are off now on recess, but as our Jay O'Brien reports, the Republican revolt is not over.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAY O'BRIEN, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Accustomed to keeping his party in line with demands of unyielding loyalty, President Donald Trump now struggling to tamp down on an extraordinary Senate Republican uprising.

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): I just want to explain it to us. We don't have any details.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): There were fireworks at an epic level. There were a lot of Republican senators who were just pissed.

O'BRIEN (voice-over): The flashpoint, a $1.776 billion fund to compensate President Trump's political allies designed to pay out claims to anyone alleging they were targeted by what Trump has branded the weaponization of the Justice Department, an unprecedented pot of money created without congressional approval from Trump's settlement with his own IRS over the 2019 leak of his tax returns.

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): I think that there are and will be and continue to be a lot of questions around that, that the administration is going to have to answer.

O'BRIEN (voice-over): Topping the list of Republican concerns -- applications for payments from the fund would likely include some January 6th rioters, including those who attacked and injured more than 140 police officers.

SEN. JOSH HAWLEY, (R) MISSOURI: I wouldn't give it to people who assault the cops, no.

SEN. THOM TILLIS, (R) NORTH CAROLINA: These people don't deserve restitution. Many of them deserve to be in prison. This is just stupid on stilts.

O'BRIEN (voice-over): Some of the same senators Trump branded disloyal and spent months trying to drive out, now hitting back with the harshest criticism, like Louisiana's Bill Cassidy, who lost his primary last week after Trump endorsed a challenger, writing, "People are concerned about paying their mortgage or rent, affording groceries and paying for gas, not about putting together a $1.8 billion fund for the president and his allies."

The White House dispatching Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to quell the dissent.

TODD BLANCHE, ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL: People that hurt police get money all the time.

O'BRIEN (voice-over): But Blanche unable to win over the senators. Sources tell ABC News even some of Trump's most vocal defenders in public were privately irate, warning Blanche the fund could cost them the Senate in November.

One lawmaker telling the acting attorney general, quote, "You created this expletive sandwich, you got to figure it out."

The standoff sending Republican lawmakers rushing home for Memorial Day and scuttling the Republicans' plans to pass a $72 billion budget bill to further finance the president's immigration crackdown.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: On this weaponization fund, was this a blunder, in your opinion?

SEN. JONI ERNST, (R) IOWA: Well, it made it much more complicated.

O'BRIEN (voice-over): It's the latest crack in the president's usually iron grip on Capitol Hill.

Several senators also balking at a proposed $1 billion in security funding for Trump's new ballroom, a request now scrapped because of the chamber's rules and dwindling support.

But the president shrugging off concerns when asked if he's lost control of Republicans in Congress.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't know. I really don't know. I can tell you. I only do what's right.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: And, Jon, in the face of that Republican revolt, President Trump is not backing down, posting just days ago that he, quote, "gave up a lot of money, an absolute fortune," in his words, to create this fund. And he says it's justice for his supporters.

Meantime, Congress isn't back until June and there are no signs this showdown will end when they return -- Jon.

KARL: All right, Jay. I think you're absolutely right about that. This is not one that President Trump is going to back down on anytime soon.

All right. Jay, thank you very much.

I'm joined now by the bipartisan duo who've introduced the first bill to try to block the anti-weaponization fund. They're also the co-chairs of the House Problem Solvers Caucus -- Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, and Democratic Congressman Tom Suozzi of New York.

Congressman Fitzpatrick, let me start with you.

As I understand it, your bill would prevent a single dollar to be paid out from this fund to anybody. Tell me why.

REP. BRIAN FITZPATRICK, (R) PENNSYLVANIA & PROBLEM SOLVERS CAUCUS CO-CHAIR: Yeah, good morning, Jonathan.

There was a statute that was passed back in 1956, Title 31, Section 1304, created the so-called Judgment Fund. Then, in 1961, and then periodically throughout the 1960s, it was watered down.

Basically, what that statute did, Jonathan, was it turned an appropriation that had to affirmatively approve judgments and settlements by the United States government after they were made to basically creating a pre-populated fund that the attorney general has, you know, broad discretion to pay out of.

And that statute continued to get worse throughout the 1960s, delegating authority away from Congress towards the attorney general. And here we are seeing a pretty bad abuse of that discretion.

So, what Tom and I's bill does is it amends that. First of all, it takes that appropriation immediately and says it cannot be used, not a dime, for this fund. And then the next step will be more broadly going after Title 31 to fix that statute, because that's really the root cause of the issue.

KARL: So, you probably, I'm sure you've seen this, but President Trump says that he could have settled this lawsuit. After all, his taxes were illegally leaked by a contractor for the IRS. He says he could have settled that for a fortune to himself, but instead, quote, "I am helping others who were so badly abused by an evil, corrupt, and weaponized Biden administration receive at long last justice."

So how do you respond to that specifically, Congressman Fitzpatrick, from President Trump?

FITZPATRICK: Yeah, the issue here, Jonathan, is the statute that basically bypasses Congress. You know, there are lawsuits -- you know, this -- obviously, the statute came into existence for a reason. You know, there's a lot of medical malpractice, you know, tort violations, things like that, contractual disputes that the government settles all the time.

But that needs to come (AUDIO GAP). Congress appropriates money. The executive branch does not have a dime of money in its own right. Every dollar that goes to the Executive Branch emanates from Article 1, emanates from Congress through the appropriations process, which we are in now, by the way, and are about to consider the brand-new DOJ appropriations.

So, you better believe that this situation now is going to factor into that debate (AUDIO GAP)

KARL: All right, a little technical difficulties there in --

FITZPATRICK: It has to come before Congress.

KARL: All right. Congressman Suozzi, I -- I assume that Speaker of the House Johnson's not going to voluntarily put this on the floor. What's the game plan? How do you get this through?

REP. TOM SUOZZI, (D) NEW YORK & PROBLEM SOLVERS CAUCUS CO-CHAIR: Listen, it's really up to the Republicans to join with the Democrats. Everybody knows this is wrong. As Mitch McConnell said, this is either utterly stupid or morally wrong, and that's the purpose of the checks and balances in government so that one branch of government does something stupid or wrong, the other branch holds them accountable.

And this is clearly the wrong thing to do. Nobody supports this idea, especially in the context of all the problems Americans are facing with the cost of living. They don't want to see a $1.8 billion fund to pay people that beat up cops. So it's wrong, it's stupid, whatever you want to pick, but it's our job in the Congress, in the Senate and the House to hold the executive branch accountable.

Now, people have been clamoring for that for a while. I think the dam is finally starting to break the closer we get to the elections and the more people see that they're going to be held accountable to the voters. The voters don't want this, and so we need to give them what we're supposed to do, which is to hold the executive branch accountable.

KARL: So even if you find a way to get -- the necessary Republicans on board, and I assume you'll do a discharge petition like was done with the Epstein files. I assume that's the game plan. But even if you get it passed the House, you somehow get it passed the Senate, President Trump's not going to sign this thing.

So, what's Plan B? I mean, he's going to veto it, right?

SUOZZI: I think that, yes, this is clearly one of those things that I think there will be overwhelming bipartisan support once we can get the discharge petition done, if necessary. So I think that, you know, if you look at the polls, if you talk to your constituents, everybody's upset about the cost of living, about gas prices, about groceries.

They don't want to see a billion dollars for a ballroom. They don't want to see $1.8 billion for a legal fund that's going to pay off the President's buddies or the insurrectionists from January 6th. They want us to focus on the things that affect their lives, and this is just an abuse.

And again, I go back to the same thing because, you know, it's Mitch McConnell saying it. Utterly stupid, morally wrong, take your pick.

KARL: So, Congressman Fitzpatrick, how many of your Republican colleagues support this?

FITZPATRICK: Well, a lot of them tell me they support it. We'll see how many actually, you know, join us in the effort by putting pen to paper and putting their name on it.

KARL: So -- but - it --

FITZPATRICK: You know, that, that remains to be --

KARL: Yes, but let me ask you about that, because if you -- if you get, if you succeed here the way, well, the way Massie did --

FITZPATRICK: Yes.

KARL: -- the way Congressman Massie did in getting that Epstein discharge, forcing a vote on that, are you prepared for Donald Trump's wrath? I mean, look what he did to Massie?

FITZPATRICK: This is about representing our constituents. You know, I represent a very independent-minded district in Bucks and Montgomery Counties, Pennsylvania, and they're going to get independent-minded representation. They don't like this fund. They don't like money going to the ballroom, and their voice is going to be reflected on the floor of the House.

So I don't worry about, you know, any outside criticism. Everybody's got a job to do. Everybody's right free to speak their mind. I don't criticize anybody for offering up their opinions, but, you know, my job is to represent the people that sent me here. So -- and I'm going to do that.

KARL: And what is the --

SUOZZI: I want to just say -- I just want to say that --

KARL: Go ahead.

SUOZZI: I want to just say Jon, that --that Brian has demonstrated this before. He signed other discharge petitions, and other Republicans have joined him on different issues, especially over the past few weeks, whether it comes to Ukraine or whether it comes to some labor issues.

We are willing to stand up, and we need our Republican colleagues like Brian, who's done it before, to stand up and say, this is right, and that is wrong, and we need to work together to make our country a better place and focus on the things that people care about.

KARL: And how hot a political issue is this? I mean, judging by the reaction in the Senate Republicans speaking out in a way we haven't seen them speak out, I get the sense they're concerned about the political impact.

SUOZZI: Yes, I think the closer we get to this election, the more you're going to see -- the closer we get to the election and the more we see this administration not being in touch with what the real issues are.

The real issues, everybody, you know, it's reported every day. We talk to our constituents. You look at polls. The real issues are about the cost of living, and this is not something that is in keeping with that. This is not something that is being in -- in touch with what people are going on. You know, Bill Clinton was famous. They would say, I feel your pain.

Well, this administration needs to feel the pain of the American people and paying off people on January 6th that beat up cops, I mean, there's one story that I like to tell over and over again. There's a cop was being beat up on January 6th, people saying, kill him, kill him. And this guy comes up, Daniel Rodriguez, he sticks a taser in his neck and tases the police officer.

The police officer has a heart attack and now has brain damage from that. This guy went on social media and said, I just tased the you-know-what out of the blue. And I got away with it. He ended up getting 12 years sentence. The president pardoned him. Now they want to give him money? It's crazy.

KARL: All right. Congressman Tom Suozzi, Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, thank you both for joining us. We'll be following your efforts.

Up next, we're just days away from the Republican runoff in the Texas Senate race. But could Latino voters who went for Trump in 2024 flip the states to Democrats in November?

Our report from south Texas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEN PAXTON (R), TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL: I'm so honored to have President Trump's endorsement. His endorsement in my opinion is the most significant endorsement in my lifetime. So when he endorses it has a tremendous impact.

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): Ken Paxton would be an albatross around the neck of the Republican ticket in November. If I didn't believe that I wouldn't literally be running today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KARL: Incumbent Senator John Cornyn and his primary challenger Ken Paxton reacting to President Trump's endorsement of Paxton just days before the runoff election on Tuesday. The move angered some Senate Republicans who fear Paxton is an easier opponent for Democrat James Talarico. That matchup could be decided by a key voting bloc. Latino voters in the Lone Star State who swung sharply towards Trump in 2024. The question now can Democrats win them back.

ABC's John Quinones reports from the Rio Grande Valley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN QUINONES, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Here in South Texas, the sounds of construction are usually a sign of economic progress. But under of the Trump administration, with the president's harsh immigration crackdown and struggle to bring down prices, the construction business has been ground to a near halt.

MARIO GUERRERO, SOUTH TEXAS BUILDERS ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: I like to describe it like a, you're in a boxing ring, and you're getting hit with a right and the left at the same time.

QUINONES (voice-over): Mario Guerrero is the executive director and CEO of the South Texas Builders Association, and a three-time Trump voter.

GUERRERO: I've been a Trump supporter since the beginning.

QUINONES (voice-over): But as Donald Trump has carried out his deportation agenda, Guerrero says his business and workforce have taken a hit.

GUERRERO: We've been dealing with all sorts of different, cases like ICE having to come into the construction and start asking people for documentation. We also had to deal with the fact that, you know, people with proper documentation were being apprehended as well.

QUINONES (voice-over): Here in the Rio Grande Valley, fear and intimidation dominate the immigrant community.

QUINONES: Are your workers here legally?

GUERRERO: Yes, sir. They're here legally. Yes, sir.

QUINONES: And some of them are afraid?

GUERRERO: Well, yes, of course they're afraid because -- I mean, we're brown, right? And when you're brown right now, nowadays, you're being questioned as to what you're doing, where you're at, where you live.

QUINONES (voice-over): Trump's return to the White House was in part driven by historic gains that he and the Republican Party made with Hispanic voters nationwide. Nowhere was that more on display than here in Texas, where Trump won 55 percent of the Latino vote, 14 percent more than he won in 2020, and 21 percent more than in 2016.

Along the southern border with Mexico, Donald Trump turned what was solidly Democratic territory into a near Republican firewall.

Last summer, with Republicans looking ahead to the 2026 midterm elections, they sought to shore up their narrow majority in the U.S. House by announcing new proposed congressional maps in Texas.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's a very simple redrawing. We pick up five seats.

QUINONES (voice-over): Those new maps were signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott despite backlash from the state's Democrats. The maps took five Democratic and tip them in the Republicans' favor.

GOV. GREG ABBOTT, (R) TEXAS: Texas is now more red than the United States Congress.

QUINONES (voice-over): Four of those five districts are majority Latino and were drawn under the assumption that Republicans would maintain their gains with Latino voters in future elections.

But Latinos are not a reliably Republican or Democratic voting bloc. And with Trump's approval numbers on immigration and the economy below 50 percent in most polls, Republicans in Texas are worried that a sharp Latino turn back to Democrats might be on the horizon.

MAYOR JAVIER VILLALOBOS, (R) MCALLEN, TEXAS: At a certain point, there's going to be a pushback.

QUINONES (voice-over): Republican Javier Villalobos is in his fifth year as mayor of McAllen, a border town with a population of about 150,000. He praises the GOP for using the issue of immigration to their advantage. But now, fears they've overplayed their hand.

VILLALOBOS: When people that are good and productive that have been part of our local fabric are being removed, that made it a little more difficult.

QUINONES (voice-over): As mayor of a town that's 90 percent Hispanic, Villalobos has seen how Trump's standing with Latinos has changed. And those five districts that Republicans are counting on in Texas to keep their majority in the House, Villalobos says all five could now be at risk.

VILLALOBOS: They were changed so that to give a Republican a chance, but I'm not sure it's going to happen.

QUINONES (voice-over): For their part, Democrats are targeting candidates they think can help claw back the support they used to have with Latinos.

BOBBY PULIDO, (D) TEXAS CONGRESSIONAL NOMINEE: This was a district that I guess they assumed would never be able to flip back.

QUINONES (voice-over): Bobby Pulido is a five-time Latin Grammy nominee and the son of a migrant farm worker. He believes his campaign for a competitive House seat is built to flip the script for Democrats.

QUINONES: What do you see happening with the Hispanic vote come November?

PULIDO: Oh, it's going to be a big change, a huge change. I know, you know, the analysts and stuff say, "Oh, it's a plus-18 Trump district. Nobody's going to ever be able to win it. It's impossible." Well, you should see in November how we'll do.

QUINONES (voice-over): Pulido's opponent is Congresswoman Monica de la Cruz. She says her focus on the community, not national storylines, is what matters.

QUINONES: Are you worried at all about this apparent swing among Latino voters back to the Democratic Party?

REP. MONICA DE LA CRUZ, (R) TEXAS: Well, I'm worried about making life affordable for the people of South Texas, making sure that I don't look at what's happening in the nation or what may be perceived to be happening in the nation, but that I focus on fighting for the people of South Texas.

QUINONES (voice-over): As for the Democrats, they will need that swing among Latinos to have any chance of winning the state Senate seat up for grabs in November.

JAMES TALARICO, (D) TEXAS SENATE NOMINEE: This election is our chance to take power back for ourselves and our communities.

QUINONES (voice-over): James Talarico used strong Latino backing to capture the party's nomination in March and has given Democrats hope that they could win a statewide race in Texas for the first time since 1994.

TALARICO: You know, I traveled down to South Texas, I came here to San Antonio, showed up in Latino neighborhoods in Houston and in Dallas, and I listened. I heard about how this cost-of-living crisis is crushing Hispanic families all over the state.

QUINONES (voice-over): He is keenly aware of how he says Democrats have failed Latinos.

TALARICO: They took Latino voters for granted in this state. I think about South Texas, the Rio Grande Valley. The Democratic Party nationally just assumed that those voters were always going to vote for Democrats. And there's nothing worse in a democracy than taking a voter for granted or taking a community for granted.

QUINONES (voice-over): The huge prize at stake is a Latino vote that splintered but not shifted, and that makes it one of the most powerful and unpredictable forces for November's midterms.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KARL: Our thanks to John Quinones.

Up next, the long-awaited Democratic autopsy of their disastrous 2024 election, and the two big things the report doesn't mention.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY): Listen, if you always vote with the President, if the -- if the legislative branch always votes with the President, we do have a king.

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R) SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: President has the strongest endorsement in the history of politics, as I mentioned. But -- but we don't -- we don't demand loyalty to the President.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KARL: No, no demand of loyalty to the President. What's the fallout after the primary setbacks from Massie and others critical of Donald Trump?

And what was missing from the DNC autopsy?

We're joined by our Roundtable, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KARL: Let's bring in the roundtable. Former DNC chair Donna Brazile, NOTUS political columnist Dana Milbank, SCOTUSblog editor Sarah Isgur, and "National Review" editor Ramesh Ponnuru.

So, Sarah, what was it that really actually sparked that revolt that we saw in the Senate?

SARAH ISGUR, ABC NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: It has been thing after thing of the president taking power from Congress in terms of their legislative power. And now he's taking their appropriations power. And at the same time undermining all of the, you know, John Cornyn, a very popular member in the U.S. Senate in favor of Ken Paxton. Nobody in the U.S. Senate wants to serve with Ken Paxton.

And more importantly, they feel that having Ken Paxton as the nominee in Texas could cost them the seat in Texas. Maybe even more importantly than that, the $100 million, $200 million they'll have to spend in Texas defending that seat will cost them the seat in Maine, in North Carolina. So they see this hanging in the balance and that Donald Trump, supposedly the leader of their party, does not care whether their party maintains control, is popular with voters, is doing the things they came into office to say. They're having a revolt against his leadership.

KARL: And Ramesh, you have the list of Republicans in Congress who have been targeted by Trump is growing. I mean, this has to come back to haunt you. I mean, you know, it was Bill Cassidy who was defeated. I mean, an embarrassing defeat after Trump endorsed his opponent. John Cornyn, Tillis, who decided not to run after Trump made it clear he was going to oppose him.

I mean, Rand Paul is probably up -- I mean, he's got to be upset over the way Thomas Massie, his ally in Kentucky, was -- I mean, there are a lot of Republicans that are unhappy with their leader.

RAMESH PONNURU, ABC NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: They're caught in a very bad dynamic. Now, if you think about all of Donald Trump's recent political successes, they're all triumphs within the Republican Party.

KARL: Yes.

PONNURU: His standing with the general electorate is bad, and it's been getting worse. And these Republicans in Congress are aware of the fact that they've got to face the general electorate in November, and they see things like this so-called anti-weaponization fund, and they see, A, it looks weird, and it's unpopular, but B, it's also not in keeping with the public's priorities. So the kind of argument that you're seeing from Senator Cassidy, the outgoing Republican and Congressman Suozzi earlier on this show, which is voters are concerned about their gas prices. And this guy is talking about sending money to his fringiest political allies. That is a very bad message going into the election.

KARL: And Dana, what is it with this trend that we've seen with Republicans forced out either by losing a primary or not running, suddenly showing this courage to stand up to Donald Trump. I was thinking we need a new term. We used to call these lame ducks. These are brave ducks or -- you got a way with words. What do we call them?

DANA MILBANK, NOTUS POLITICAL COLUMNIST: Yes, they're not exactly profiles in courage. And, I mean, we've seen this happen repeatedly, right? A guy loses and loses his primary, and suddenly, he's a changed man. And you do get the sense if you could give the Republicans on the Hill truth serum, they would behave in a very different way.

There is a chance that it does change after the primary season is over, when Donald Trump can't hurt them anymore. And I do think that this rebellion, I don't want to get too excited because we've seen these rebellions happen before and fizzle out. But it's not about like we're standing up for our Article One prerogatives.

But it's not about like we're standing up for our Article I prerogatives. It's -- as Ramesh was saying, it's because they're worried that their hanging is coming in November and the president has come -- you know, he says, you know, I'm not concerned about the financial situation of Americans.

But it turns out he is. He's concerned about Mike Lindell's financial situation and Enrique Tarrio. And he's -- you know?

So, at the same time people are worried about groceries and gas and health care and housing, he's now got this slush fund going to his followers on top of the $4 billion he's made for himself and his family --

DONNA BRAZILE, FORMER DNC CHAIR & ABC NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Inside trading.

MILBANK: -- through crypto, through 3,000 stock trades. And now, his sons are apparently selling drones to the Air Force.

So it's that message that -- bringing in money for himself and his cronies while the rest of the country is really struggling, that's why Republicans in Congress --

BRAZILE: And I noticed you didn't mention Marjorie Taylor Greene.

JONATHAN KARL, ABC "THIS WEEK" CO-ANCHOR: Yeah.

BRAZILE: And perhaps many other Republicans who've decided to get out of town or retire versus have to -- day in and day out, have to pledge their loyalty to one man and not the Constitution.

Look, Sarah, last week you said something, and I went back and looked at the settlement suit that -- that came about in the Obama administration. This stinks. It's a brazen theft of taxpayers' money This is a settlement that was created in the back room.

The president was dealing with himself, dealing with his administration. And now, we're being told that Congress will not be able to overturn this. But Congress may be able to get one of the five people that will be able to dispense the funds --

KARL: Consulting. Still appointed by the attorney general, but they will be able to consult.

BRAZILE: Many of the men and women who were assaulted that day at the Capitol, I knew -- not only as a former congressional staffer -- I knew because they are men and women of valor, and this is very disrespectful to them.

But, look, Donald Trump knows how to wield power and if you don't follow him, and if you don't suck up to him, and if you don't agree with everything, he says, guess what? He's coming for you.

So, the note to Democrats -- guess what? He will treat Republicans the same way he's treating us.

KARL: Well, the acting attorney general, if he does actually get nominated, may have a slightly tougher time getting confirmed in that Senate after the appearance up there.

But I have to ask you, Sarah, because you worked at the Justice Department. You were a senior official in the Trump Justice Department. We are seeing something play out right now where they are actually erasing the records of these cases against these people who are convicted of violent attacks on police officer.

I think we have the website here. This was a -- this had been on the DOJ website. This is about one of the persons -- one of the people convicted who used a bear spray against Capitol police officers and now if you go to the website, you get an error page. It's been erased.

And when this was pointed out, the Justice Department basically said, damn right. We're taking down the propaganda.

They're erasing the memory and the record of what happened on January 6th.

ISGUR: Yeah, I mean, he who controls the history controls the future. This is a problem for the Department of Justice and hopefully, Congress will actually fix it.

I mean, as you heard from those two members in the Problem Solvers Caucus, this is up to Congress. They created this permanent and indefinite judgment fund. I talked last week about how Barack Obama had abused that at the time.

In the first Trump Justice Department, we banned sue-and-settle and third-party settlements -- this idea of sort of self-dealing with your friends to give money to your political allies or to go around the legislative a regulatory process to create new rules because of a settlement. That's obviously been ditched, and now turned up to like not even 11, like a 20 on the amp.

This is unlawful in so many different ways. It's hard to do them all in a Sunday show. But the two big things are --

KARL: So --

ISGUR: -- one, Trump was dealing with himself. Therefore, it wasn't a settlement.

And two, these people who have not filed lawsuits at all because they are time-barred. They had a two-year statute of limitations and Biden's been out of office for 18 months. So, how can you draw from the settlement fund, the judgment fund, for something that is not a settlement and is not judgment?

BRAZILE: And let's not forget -- Charles Edwards Littlejohn, I had to write it down, Littlejohn, in 2024, pleaded guilty and he's serving five years in prison for releasing Donald Trump taxes.

KARL: Yeah.

BRAZILE: But now, Donald Trump and his family, his business and whoever will be exempted from being audited for the rest of their life.

KARL: Right. That's a whole another --

(CROSSTALK)

BRAZILE: That is why this is brazen and wrong.

KARL: Do you mind, Donna, if we turn to the Democrat, the DNC autopsy about what went wrong in 2024? I mean, just to get a subject near and dear to your heart.

BRAZILE: You know, I would -- I would much rather talk about phase one of these so-called Iran settlement. Of course, there are so many other things I would -- I would even like to talk about --

KARL: So, what --

BRAZILE: -- the NBA playoff. Look, it is -- it's a cold case, right? It's a cold case. Somebody want to re-examine the body. And you, you get this forensic examination with no summary, no conclusion, no footnotes.

Ken Martin, the chair of the Democratic Party, was absolutely right to distance himself from it. In fact, it should be -- it should've been redacted, like the -- most of the Epstein's files. It should be put in, in a time capsule -- capsule.

KARL: Redact like the Epstein files.

BRAZILE: I would never give it a bottle of wine. It is just utterly embarrassing. But here's what Democrats want. Democrats want a party that fights, a party that can rebuild and regain the trust of the American people, that can focus on the issues that the American people care about.

This is an inside the Beltway, kind of like who did this, and I'm not going to become part of the circle fighting squad.

KARL: But wait a minute, though. I mean, Dana, don't you need to learn the lessons of the previous failures, not to repeat them? Is that not a --

BRAZILE: There's no body to look at.

MILBANK: I -- maybe you -- maybe you want to learn from them, but I don't think this achieved that. Now, we can stipulate that this would not have happened --

KARL: Was the blank conclusion the first hint?

MILBANK: This -- this would never have happened in Donna Brazile's DNC. I mean, what are the finances there so bad that they couldn't actually hire a proper medical examiner to do this autopsy? It's like they got this butcher to come in and do this half-baked report.

I -- so I -- I don't understand the whole concept. I don't understand why it was released. It's also like why did Democrats lose? Well it --it's like Captain Obvious, right? Why did incumbent parties all around the world lose at that time?

BRAZILE: Thank you.

MILBANK: It was high inflation, and that was coupled with the problems of, you know, Biden staying in the race too long, and the backlash against a Black woman being the Democratic nominee.

There you have it. Pretty simple right there.

KARL: But wait a minute. As I understand it, the report does not address Biden's age and that decision.

And Ramesh, you pointed out it uses the word inflation, but it doesn't actually talk about inflation.

RAMESH PONNURU, ABC NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: That's right. It -- it -- it uses the word inflation only when it's talking about campaign spending. So, once you hear it which is -- which is --

KARL: Which -- which is what Americans care about.

PONNURU: Right, exactly. Donna's absolutely right. It's inside the Beltway. It's like the consultants talking about what consultants did and how they spent the money.

KARL: Yes.

PONNURU: And not about any of the issues that kept a majority of Americans from voting with the Democrats.

And I -- and I do disagree because I don't think it's totally obvious. I think that Democrats do need to grapple with, in particular, the way they mishandled immigration during the Biden administration and the way the public reacted to that. And the pendulum swung again, and the public's unhappy with the way Trump is approaching this, but I think there's an underlying vulnerability there that the Democrats need to address before 2028.

KARL: And -- and, and Sarah, just to be fair, you were at the RNC. When you did the autopsy of the 2012 loss, which didn't exactly set the course for the future of the Republican Party.

ISGUR: No, it did not, and maybe that will be a lesson for Democrats. I mean, look, everything is heading their way for this midterm election in terms of fundamentals, of the economy, of the unpopularity of the person in the Oval Office.

And yet, Republicans don't have to outrun the bear, they just have to outrun the actual Democrats on the ticket who have proven over and over again that they will snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

BRAZILE: Take a look at what happened in Georgia.

KARL: All right. You got --

BRAZILE: And take a look at what's going to happen in Texas. Democrats have a chance.

KARL: We'll see.

Up next, my conversation with Martha Raddatz on her remarkable new book profiling the heroes of the September 11th generation.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KARL: As we mark Memorial Day, my co-anchor, Martha Raddatz, is out with a new book, "The Hero Next Door: Stories of Patriotism and Purpose." I sat down with Martha to discuss some of the remarkable stories in this book, and why she chose to focus on the 9/11 generation of heroes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTHA RADDATZ, CO-ANCHOR, ABC NEWS THIS WEEK: I have stayed in touch with so many of the people I cover over the years, and you suddenly realize who they are and what they've done since, and how long you've known them, and how extraordinary their stories are.

KARL: The thesis of your book, as I see it, is that you just don't know who the heroes are.

RADDATZ: You don't know who the heroes are. And this 9/11 generation, there are a lot of heroes. Whatever you think about politics, whatever you think about the wars, it's the people who fought them, the people who did the best they could do. Many were injured. They were lost. Their families in here who lost loved ones. There were people who were caring for a son who was badly injured in the war.

This generation is no less great than the greatest generation, and I just feel people should read about it and read about these people and the resilience they still have today.

KARL: And you touch on the humility of these heroes. There's a passage right in the beginning of your book that really struck me. "The one sure way to spot a hero may be to look for the ones who insist they aren't."

RADDATZ: Exactly right. I mean, I think people think, oh, there's our superhero.

KARL: Yes.

RADDATZ: They're going to be this big brawling Marine or, you know, the guy, cocky guy moving down the street. It is rarely those people. It really is. And the ones I have met are really these quiet heroes who want to say, no, no, no, he did the -- he did most of the work or it was the teamwork or all of us together. And that's true. That always is. But there's always somebody who's leading the way. And that's what has happened with these people.

KARL: And you talk about a Sergeant Little who you saw in Iraq, who was terribly injured, lost both of his legs, and you end up at his bedside in the hospital. And at one point, you turned to him, and you say, what -- when did you realize you were so badly injured? And his line, I mean, I almost teared up reading it, "Ma'am, they aren't bad," he said with a smile. "I'm alive."

RADDATZ: Exactly. What would be anybody's worst day of their life was Mark Little's best day, he said, because he lived. And that is how he has lived ever since he got blown up by an IED. I was actually there when he arrived in the medevac helicopter to the combat support hospital. It was gruesome, it was gruesome, and yet he was saying, you know, man, my mom is going to kill me. She didn't know I was in danger.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My mom was going to kick my ass.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your mom is going to kick your ass.

RADDATZ: He continued on in the Army, believe it or not. And not out there patrolling the streets of Baghdad but he served. He continued to serve. And when he got out, he started something called Warrior 360, which helped veterans get money immediately. He walks on prosthetics now. He's married. He's -- he is the happiest guy you will ever meet.

KARL: Incredible. There's something that comes through in this book, and that is you have a reporter's eye for detail, and you write about going to the 20th anniversary ceremony of 9/11 at the Pentagon. And you notice these two guys in the audience, and you take a picture of them. Tell me about that.

RADDATZ: I didn't know anything about them, but I wanted to share that picture with them because it was clearly an emotional day for them. And I got their information, Kevin Shaffer, Steve Workman, didn't ask them what had happened. I vaguely said, you know, he was in the Pentagon, and he survived, but I didn't want to intrude on their moment. And then I got a call from the CIA saying that Kevin Shaffer, because of that photo, because of that moment, because I didn't intrude, I think, wanted to share his story with me, and the remarkable story about what he had done since that day.

Kevin was horribly burned in the Pentagon. He barely survived, and he was the only survivor in his group in the Navy Command Center that day.

JONATHAN KARL, ABC "THIS WEEK" CO-ANCHOR: There were 42 people that were killed in his unit?

RADDATZ: Yes.

KARL: He was the sole survivor.

RADDATZ: He was the sole survivor around that area, absolutely. Barely found his way out.

And Steve Workman is that guy who ran towards the fire and the smoke to see if there was anybody alive, and found Kevin Shaeffer, skin falling off his arms, his chest, his uniform melted to his chest, and pulled him out of there, and did everything he could to keep Kevin alive. And Workman visited him every single day until he got out of Walter Reed.

KARL: And what's amazing about this story is, first of all, Steve Workman had never told that story until you were working on this book.

RADDATZ: I found him.

KARL: But the other part is that Shaeffer played a critical role in the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

RADDATZ: So, it's the reason the CIA called, because Kevin, unbeknownst to me, certainly, and almost everybody else, had gone to work years later for the CIA, and he ended up on the high-value target team looking for bin Laden.

So Kevin Shaeffer, who bin Laden almost killed, watched bin Laden take his last breath as he watched in real time that raid by the SEALs while sitting at the CIA.

One of the first people he called? Steve Workman.

KARL: Steve Workman.

RADDATZ: "We got him, man. I might not be able to tell you this right now, but we got him. Go turn on your TV."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KARL: Incredible.

And Martha has many more compelling stories in her book, including the military families who have sacrificed so much. "The Hero Next Door" is out on Tuesday.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KARL: That's all for today. Thank you for sharing part of your Memorial Day weekend with us. I hope it is a meaningful one.

Check out "World News Tonight," and have a great day.