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Trump Arrives In Qatar Amid Questions Over Plan To Accept Jet Gift; Pete Rose, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson Reinstated By Major League Baseball; FAA Meets With Airlines To Discuss Flight Safety, Air Traffic. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired May 14, 2025 - 07:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:45]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. A short time ago President Trump touched down in Qatar, the same country now offering to gift the president a $400 million jet to possibly use as Air Force One, something that has even faced Republicans publicly saying they do not like.

Now, the president has portrayed that jet as free, saying that he'd be stupid to say no to a gift of an expensive plane.

I'm being told by the control room though we are getting tape in of the president speaking while he was aboard Air Force One on the flight over. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You were a little out of control.

REPORTER: How's the trip going so far?

TRUMP: It's going very well.

REPORTER: How was your meeting with the Syrian president?

TRUMP: I think it's very good. Well, great relationships. And now we're meeting with a group that's fantastic. The emir is a great guy, I know. I know them all very well.

How are you?

REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: You're going to be surrounded by eight fighter jet in about seven minutes. And when you say do we need them, and when they say yes, that doesn't make me feel good, right?

REPORTER: Did they tell you what the threat is?

TRUMP: No. There's -- let's assume there's no threat. We have to assume that.

REPORTER: How did you find the Syrian president?

TRUMP: Great, great. I think very good. Young, attractive guy, tough guy. Strong past -- a very strong past -- a fighter. But he's got a -- he's got a real shot at pulling it together.

I spoke with President Erdogan, who I'm friendly with, and he feels he's got a shot. But it's a -- it's a torn up country.

REPORTER: Do you think Syria will join the Abraham Accords?

TRUMP: Yeah, but I think they have to get themselves straight now. I told him I hope you're going to join when it's (INAUDIBLE) and he said yes. But they have a lot of work to do.

REPORTER: What about Lebanon? Do you think there's a path for Lebanon to normalize relations?

TRUMP: You know, a friend of mine is the new ambassador to Lebanon. And I didn't even know -- and I never knew his relationship, but he was born in Lebanon. And he said I'd like to be the ambassador. He's a very successful guy. And I said, you know, that's very dangerous. He said I don't care; I love my country and it's worth it to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, that's President Trump. That was while he was on his way from Saudi Arabia to Doha in Qatar where he has now landed. He'll be deplaning shortly. Obviously, we're following every step of the trip.

You heard him talking there about meetings he had while in Saudi Arabia with the new president of Syria, a man who helped overthrow Bashar al-Assad. A man who until very recently was on the U.S. Most Wanted List.

But this was an historic meeting talking about really restoring U.S.- Syrian relations. The president discussing dropping all sanctions against Syria.

Again, we will follow the president's trip as it continues.

Now, he just arrived in Doha in Qatar, the nation that is apparently gifting him a $400 million plane. Even some of the president's staunchest allies are condemning the possibility of using that jet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN SHAPIRO, CO-FOUNDER, DAILY WIRE: President Trump promised to drain the swamp. This is not, in fact, draining the swamp.

BATYA UNGAR-SARGON, JOURNALIST, AUTHOR, "SECOND CLASS": This is not a gift. This is Qatar, a state sponsor of terror that has Hamas in the palm of its hand, giving a bribe. SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): I mean, we could probably sweep the plane, right? But I think the bigger issue is we can build stuff in the United States.

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I haven't had a chance to even look at that yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right. With us now, Democratic strategist Ameshia Cross, and CNN political commentator and Republican strategist Shermichael Singleton.

Shermichael, the president is going to get asked about this. The Qataris may even make a grand gesture of giving him the jet while there.

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST (via Webex by Cisco): Um-hum.

BERMAN: How do you feel about this? How great of an idea is it to accept this jet?

SINGLETON: I wouldn't trust it. I wouldn't even trust a jet from an ally to be quite honest with you because we know everybody is in the business of trying to get as much information as they possibly can, particularly from the United States.

And so, yeah, I guess I hear Josh Hawley say that maybe you could sweep the plane. But he's right. We can build stuff in the United States of America. Let's do that.

[07:35:00]

Now look, it's a bit appalling, John Berman, that it has taken Boeing so fricking long to build a plane with the proper technology for the president to be safe. I mean, I have no clue why in the hell this is taking so long.

But the idea of taking a plane from the Qataris or anybody else for that matter to me is just really a national security threat. I just would not feel comfortable with the president or any other president for that matter having to rely on a plane gifted by another nation. I would just be too concerned about the national security threat to the president.

BERMAN: Ameisha, what does it tell you that the president seems to want it so badly? I mean, he was up posting on social media at, like, 2:50 a.m. local time.

AMEISHA CROSS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST, FORMER OBAMA CAMPAIGN ADVISER (via Webex by Cisco): Well, Trump likes pomp and circumstance. He likes wealth and riches. When you have something that's multimillions of dollars, he's going to be extremely excited about it.

He's also someone who has been shown to play fast and loose with laws. And we know that this violation -- this very serious violation of the emoluments clause and the specific -- being a specific recipient of a gift of this sort when the overall majority of elected officials can't even accept gifts to baseball games much less something of this size, I think says -- goes to the motives that he has and his understanding of just being flagrant against the laws he knows are on the books.

But moreover, I think that he's absolutely fine and he sees this as well as a showcase of a newly revised partnership with the region and -- which is a grave misunderstanding of how they plan on hoisting this relationship should he accept.

This is essentially a bribe. And I don't think -- I'll give him more credit than was originally spoken. I think that he fundamentally understands that; he's just hoping that the American public does not.

BERMAN: I mean, I want to ask you about the book "Original Sin" by our friend Jake Tapper who is going to come on in a little bit and talk about some of the newer revelations -- Jake and Alex Thompson from Axios.

One of the things we did learn late yesterday was that George Clooney, when he held a fundraiser for President Biden while he was still running -- the president apparently didn't recognize George Clooney. He had to be told this is George Clooney.

And it gets to the physical and some people argue mental decline that they saw in President Biden over time.

My question to you as we sit here this morning is what damage has been done, that you see, to the Republican Party (sic)? And if there is blame who is to blame?

CROSS: Well, I think you probably meant the Democratic Party from this.

BERMAN: Sorry, Democratic Party, yes. Thank you.

CROSS: The damage to the Democratic Party I don't think is summarized --

SINGLETON: So wait a minute here now, John. (Laughing).

BERMAN: Go ahead, Ameshia. I'm sorry.

CROSS: I don't think damage to this party is summarized solely by the effects here. Obviously, Biden -- the loss for Biden as well as Kamala Harris is going to be something that gets relitigated for years.

Unfortunately, we will never know how the election would have turned out had Biden had stayed in the race.

What we do know is that the facts on the ground were that the economy ranked supreme and unfortunately for both sides of that political turmoil, be it whether it was Kamala or Biden, that was not something that they choose as their top breaking issue when it came to the campaign trail. Moreover, I think that these conversations about Biden's mental acuity

when he was someone who ranks as having the highest amount of policy wins of any president when it comes to a one-term president, that runs an affront to his legacy. And I think that history is going to treat Biden very differently than people who are out trying to sell books right now.

BERMAN: Shermichael, that smile -- what does it indicate?

SINGLETON: Oh, you know, I love Ameshia. I've known her a long time. She's like a sister. And some of the points she made I agree with, and I even understand. I'll give her that because she is a dear, dear friend.

But I absolutely disagree with Ameisha. I mean, he's the president. He was the president. The most powerful person in the country. And there is a very serious and legitimate question about whether or not the president had the capacity full-time to actually run the country. And if he had days where he was off then I certainly don't think it's too far to just ask well, if he was off on these days, who was sort of making those final decisions?

I think Jake Tapper's book and Alex Thompson's book really is revelatory in terms of revealing to the American people that many of Joe Biden's closest aides lied to the American people. There were many Democrats who had meetings with the president or saw the president and had concerns but decided to not say anything because they were more worried about electoral wins.

And irony in all of this to me, John, as a Republican, is that the former president is working on the book and the book is going to come out right before midterms. So we will once again be talking about this, which I can guarantee you -- and Ameisha, you correct me if I'm wrong -- many Democrats absolutely don't want to be talking about this weeks or months before very critical pivotal elections when they're trying to gain some seats in the House.

[07:40:00]

So I think this is a disaster. Democrats didn't tell the truth. And we need to understand exactly what the cover-up really was. And so I'm very looking forward to reading the book by Jake and Alex.

BERMAN: Let me put that in the form of a question, Ameshia. How much do you want Democrats to be talking about this prior to the midterms, or how much do you want them talking about, say, Medicaid, which is going to be part of this huge bill that may get before Congress this summer?

CROSS: Look, Democrats are in a quagmire of their -- of their own doing that has absolutely nothing to do with Joe Biden when it comes to messaging. And part of that is also leaning in on, again, the very thing that Donald Trump won on in 2024, and that is going to be the economy. Making sure that people understand.

And we have seen it from town halls across the country. We've seen it from the gatherings on the streets. We have seen it from the crowds that have pushed back against significant cuts to Medicaid, against significant cuts to SNAP food stamp benefits. Against some of the changes that we're seeing with the Department of Education. Against a lot of an economic restructure that does not benefit the middle class -- it actually shrinks it and grows those who are at or below the poverty line.

Those are the things that the Democratic Party needs to focus on.

Relitigating whether or not Biden was with it -- and again, I will argue the -- I will argue in the affirmative of him standing strong and being one of the most successful presidents of all time. His record actually indicates that, whether we're talking about bringing us back from the brink of economic collapse after the pandemic, whether we're talking about the historic infrastructure package, whether we're talking about the deals that he was able to make when it came to environment, or whether it was the protections of women's rights, he was here uplifting civil rights and making sure that many of those things were codified. Those rollbacks that we're seeing right now are quite frankly frustrating.

But the things that Democrats need to focus on are the things that the American public cares about, and that is still those kitchen table and pocketbook issues.

BERMAN: Ameshia Cross, Shermichael Singleton, great to see you both this morning. Thanks so much -- appreciate it -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Also today, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is set to testify before the House and the Senate for the first time since he was confirmed in January. He's expected to face big questions about the deep cuts that he is putting in place across that agency, slashing the workforce by tens of thousands. Even entire agencies getting fold -- getting folded in within the health department.

One area already feeling these cuts is cancer research. And CNN's Jacqueline Howard has new reporting on this, and she is joining us now. And the real impact that these cuts are having on real patients in real time, Jacqueline. What are you learning?

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Kate, I actually spoke with a cancer patient who has been accepted in an NIH trial. And she told me that the staffing cuts that happened at NIH actually impacted the research team behind that trial. And because there are now fewer researchers working on the trial that could potentially expand the amount of time it will take for them to develop an immunotherapy treatment that could be delivered to her and other patients in the trial.

This patient -- her name is Natalie Phelps. She's a 43-year-old mother of two and she was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. And stories like her -- we're hearing more and more of them emerge among patients who are participating in research.

We know here in the United States one in five cancer patients participate in medical research, so studies do play a big role in delivering care for patients.

I did reach out to HHS on the state of cancer research and how it's been impacted by funding cuts and staffing cuts. The administration says it's made staffing cuts to make HHS more efficient. They told me in a statement, "HHS deeply values cancer research and remains committed to advancing lifesaving scientific studies."

But again, Kate, we are hearing more from patients about a concern that's out there.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, and as I mentioned off the top, the HHS secretary will be testifying today. And this is the first time since his confirmation hearings and we've seen so much has been put in place since those confirmation hearings.

What is the expectation of his testimony today?

HOWARD: That's right. He's going to answer senators' questions about the proposed HHS budget for fiscal year 2026.

We know in the past when he's been asked about HHS, especially the restructuring plans for the department, he has said this before. "Over time, bureaucracies like HHS become wasteful and inefficient even when most of their staff are dedicated and competent civil servants. This overhaul will be a win-win for taxpayers and for those that HHS serves."

He's talking about the restructuring plans that he has for the department.

But it will be interesting to see what new comments he may have today, especially when pressed about the staffing cuts and funding cuts that we've already seen happen, Kate.

[07:45:00]

BOLDUAN: Yeah, and as you are learning from your reporting, cancer patients seeing impacts in real time on their --

HOWARD: Exactly, Kate.

BOLDUAN: -- on their care, essentially.

Jacqueline, thank you very much. Those hearings will be beginning this morning -- John.

BERMAN: This morning Indiana is celebrating not just because they can watch favorite child Kate Bolduan on TV this morning and every morning, but the Indiana Pacers are going to the Eastern Conference Finals. They upset the Cleveland Cavaliers.

CNN sports anchor Andy Scholes with the highlights. The Pacers were dominant.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: They -- I mean, they are so impressive, John. They're the first team ever to reach back-to-back conference finals as a four-seed or lower. They lost to your Celtics as a six-seed last year. This year they're a four-seed and they're going to await the winner between the Knicks and Celtics who play in game five tonight.

But Tyrese Haliburton -- he was great again for Indiana. In the fourth quarter, look at this -- doing it on both ends. He gets the block and then he goes coast-to-coast and gets the and one. And that puts the Pacers up by seven.

Now, Donovan Mitchell was trying his best to try to keep the Cavs in this one. He made back-to-back threes and cut the lead to three. But Andrew Nembhard is going to get a big and one here with a little over a minute to go and that put the game away. The Pacers would win 114- 105 to take the series in five.

The Cavs are the fourth team in NBA history to win at least 64 games in a regular season and then not advance past the second round.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONOVAN MITCHELL, GUARD, CLEVELAND CAVALIERS: We didn't do the things necessary. I love playing in that (bleep) arena, man. Like, that energy, that crowd. We're 0-3 at home, you know. We let the city down.

TYRESE HALIBURTON, GUARD, INDIANA PACERS: I don't take this for granted and it's a lot of fun, and winning is fun. So, you know, we just want to continue to do what we're doing and just take this a day at a time. Enjoy this one tonight but, you know, be ready for whatever is next.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: All right. And after years of trying to get back into baseball, Pete Rose is now finally eligible to go into the Hall of Fame. In a historic decision, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred announcing yesterday that Rose, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, and any other deceased players have now been removed from the permanent ineligible list. Rose died back in September at the age of 83.

Now, last April, President Trump met with Manfred in the Oval Office and discussed Rose's reinstatement. And earlier this year President Trump also announced he planned to posthumously pardon Rose.

When will Rose go into the Hall of Fame? Well, the Classic Era Committee will not vote again on players until December of 2027. Rose would need to get 12 out of the possible 16 votes. So that means, John, he could potentially go into the Hall of Fame and get enshrined in the summer of 2028.

But I know you're a big baseball fan. What do you think about this finally happening now?

BERMAN: Rule 21, Andy Scholes -- rule 21 is the rule that's posted in every dugout in baseball and has been for decades. The only rule posted on every -- in every dugout for decades which says if you bet on baseball you're banned from the game forever. It's a really important rule.

I get it -- Pete Rose -- the stats he put up are better than almost anyone's as an offensive player, but it's just something to consider when they -- when the committee votes later this year. Yes?

SCHOLES: Yeah, we'll see what they have to say. Again, he needs 12 out of the 16 voters to say yes for him. And you know, this has been one of the biggest debates in baseball, what, going on decades now.

BERMAN: Yeah.

SCHOLES: So we shall see.

BERMAN: Four thousand hits an awful lot though.

Andy Scholes, thank you very much.

SCHOLES: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: I mean, as the -- as the uninformed bystander in this conversation I'm just going to be contrarian. Let the man join the Hall of Fame.

BERMAN: I actually think you're not the contrarian now. I think -- I think most people have come over to where you are on this because people bet on everything from their phones multiple times -- multiple times a day.

BOLDUAN: I mean, it's changed to much, right?

BERMAN: But the idea of betting on a game that you are playing in --

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

BERMAN: -- it becomes professional wrestling at a certain point if that can happen. So --

BOLDUAN: I'm not going to fight him on this one.

BERMAN: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: I fight him on everything, but I'm a little scared to on this one. Go on now.

BERMAN: All right, I'm out.

BOLDUAN: OK.

Coming up for us, flash flooding forces water rescues at an elementary school in Maryland. You have to hear how fast the water rose in such little time. And more rain is expected today.

And former vice presidential nominee and current Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz weighs in on rumors that President Trump will pardon Derek Chauvin, saying, "It behooves us to be prepared."

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:53:35]

BOLDUAN: This morning more rain is expected in western Maryland one day after dangerous flash flooding swept through the area. The waters rising so fast and so high it reached the second floor of an elementary school. One hundred fifty students and 50 adults that were with them had to be rescued. First responders used 15 rescue boats to pull everyone to safety. They did get to safety, which is important.

CNN's Derek Van Dam joining us now for a look at this. But it shows -- I think the numbers I saw were so crazy on how high the water rose and how fast.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yeah. In fact, the Georges Creek, which is a tributary of the Potomac, runs right through Westernport, Maryland -- the area that flooded the worst. It rose seven feet in six hours and there were accounts from parents going to this elementary schools -- Westernport Elementary School -- and watching their children actually be rescued by these boats.

Look at the Potomac Fire Department sending in this video. Look at the roads turned into rivers. But this is most fascinating too. This is not what you want to see when the actual fire department -- the rescue personnel and their equipment taking on water as well at the fire department.

So the rain has largely come to an end, but it's not just done yet. We do still have flood alerts in and around the area as this large swirling upper-level low continues to rotate across the region. A slight risk of excessive rainfall today. We'll look out for the potential of any additional flash flooding across the region although it is minimized compared to yesterday. Really, only a tenth to a quarter of an inch of additional rainfall.

[07:55:15]

But remember, the ground very saturated from what was an atmospheric river with a direct connection to the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. It's being kicked out by that storm system over the Pacific Northwest and that is going to set off a multiday severe weather threat across the nation's Heartland and the Great Lakes tomorrow.

And then Kate we're also watching for the first time ever the National Weather Service issuing extreme heat warnings for over five million people where you see this shading of pink, including Austin, San Antonio, as well as the Del Rio.

Back to you.

BOLDUAN: I mean, it has -- there has been only like a couple of days of a break between storms for most of the country. It has been a wild start to this season. I mean, buckle up.

VAN DAM: It keeps coming. That's right. Lots of problems (PH).

BOLDUAN: It does.

Derek, thank you so much. Derek is keeping an eye out for us -- John.

BERMAN: All right. New overnight Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least 56 people including children. This comes after Israel claimed it targeted Hamas leader Muhammad Sinwar in a hospital strike. The strikes also come after Hamas released an Israeli-American hostage in a deal brokered by the United States.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there was no way Israel will halt its war in Gaza even if a deal is reached to release more hostages.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is addressing speculation that President Trump could pardon former police office Derek Chauvin, the man found guilty of murdering George Floyd in 2020.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN): No indication whether they're going to do it or not, but I think it behooves us to be prepared for it with this presidency. It seems like that might be something they would do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right. Of course, the president can only pardon Chauvin of his federal convictions. He was also convicted on state charges.

Governor Walz went on to say that if the president does pardon Chauvin he would "strongly disagree" and would transfer Chauvin to serve out his 22 1/2-year sentence on the state charges in a state prison in Minnesota -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Happening today the FAA is set to meet with airlines to address the weeks of delays and cancellations that everyone has been experiencing at Newark airport. One of the country's busiest airports has been really struggling with a number of issues, including inconsistent funding, outdated technology, short-staffed facilities, and the renovation project to add in a boot of one runway.

Just Monday the FAA has confirmed to CNN that there were "at least three air traffic controllers" working in the Newark approach control center. At the busiest times of the day the number of controllers staffed there could be as high as 14. But the FAA spokesperson stressed that they haven't had that level of staffing in years.

Getting to one of the big issues, which is the yearslong issue of short-staffing -- a shortage of air traffic controllers to add into the mix of all of this.

Joining us right now to talk about the Newark situation is Michael McCormick. He's a former New York City air traffic control head and former VP of the FAA's Air Traffic Organization. Thank you so much for being here.

The airlines' meeting today with the FAA -- it seems like an important moment in which what seems to be a long time coming to address the weeks of delays at Newark.

What could be the short fix and the result coming out of this meeting, do you think?

MICHAEL MCCORMICK, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AND PROGRAM COORDINATOR, EMBRY- RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT, NEW YORK CITY AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT (via Webex by Cisco): Absolutely, Sara (sic).

This is a very important meeting and it's a meeting that typically would be prohibited as an anti-competitive practice within the airline industry. But because Newark Liberty International Airport is what's known as a level two slot-controller airport the airlines can come together with the facilitation of the Federal Aviation Administration to establish what will be an optimal number of aircraft to land and depart at Newark and be able to do it safely and efficiently.

So this meeting is definitely important and, as you stated, a long time coming.

BOLDUAN: A long time coming.

So as that's happening, I also want to get your perspective on some of what we've heard being said over the past weeks that seemed to just the average flyer -- I'll call myself one -- I'll call myself that. The statements seem to be in conflict.

You have air traffic controllers telling CNN that the recent outages at Newark put airline workers and passengers at risk. One describing the situation to CNN -- describing the loss of communications alone to CNN as "the most dangerous situation you could have." Saying, "We're playing Russian roulette."

Yet, you have had the FAA -- head of the FAA and the head of United Airlines just this week both saying flying is safe and flying into Newark is safe.

Can it be both things?

MCCORMICK: Yes, it can actually be both things, Sara (sic).

[08:00:00]