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Biden Diagnosed With "Aggressive Form" Of Prostate Cancer; Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) On Trump's Sweeping Bill Clearing Key Hurdle As Holdouts Change Votes; Manhunt For Seven Men Who Escaped New Orleans Jail. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired May 19, 2025 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:30:05]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. New this morning Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is sending out a stark warning to U.S. trade partners. If, as he puts it, a good faith deal isn't made with the United States reciprocal tariffs will come back into effect.

This comes as a brand new survey released by the National Association for Business Economics shows the impact Trump's trade war is having on domestic companies with at least 25 percent of businesses saying they expect to raise their prices.

CNN's Matt Egan has the very latest for us. This survey really gives us a look at the real impacts of these tariffs and what businesses are going to have to do in order to survive.

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Yeah, that's right, Sara. Look, I found this survey to be very telling because right now there's such a debate about how inflationary tariffs are going to be and who is going to pay for the tariffs. This survey finds that one in four U.S. firms -- they plan to raise prices as a result of U.S. tariffs and retaliatory tariffs. Two out of three companies that are in the goods-producing sector say they plan to raise prices.

And what's notable is exactly zero percent of the firms who were surveyed say they plan to cut --

SIDNER: Right.

EGAN: -- even though obviously, that is what President Trump promised to make happen if he was elected, right -- lower prices.

And we do know that a number of companies have already either announced price increases or said that this is something that they plan to do, including Stanley Black & Decker, Barbie maker Mattel, cooler maker Yeti, UPPAbaby. Also, even Walmart, the king of retail --

SIDNER: This is a big one, yeah.

EGAN: -- which is really, really telling. And then over the weekend President Trump responded to Walmart's announcement that they're going to have to raise prices because of tariffs. And Trump said that he thinks that Walmart and China should eat the cost of the tariffs. He also said that he doesn't think they should charge customers anything. And he kind of somewhat ominously added, "I'll be watching and so will your customers."

Take a listen to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent over the weekend speaking to Jake Tapper about the CEO of Walmart.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT BESSENT, TREASURY SECRETARY: I did speak to Doug McMillon, who I have a very good relationship, yesterday just to understand what he had to say. And understand, that came from an earnings call. On an earnings call, because of FCC requirements, they have to give the most Draconian case. So Walmart will be absorbing some of the tariffs. Some may get passed on to consumers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EGAN: So there you heard it. He's saying Walmart's going to eat some of the costs, but also Walmart shoppers are too.

Two other points from this survey that are really notable. The administration has argued the trade war -- that the tariffs are going to cause a boom for hiring and boom in investment. The survey finds the opposite. Just two percent of U.S. firms say they plan to accelerate hiring due to the trade war -- just two percent. Twenty- nine percent say they're going to delay hiring.

A similar story when it comes to investment. Just three percent of U.S. firms say they plan to accelerate investment because of the trade war. And yet, way more -- about one in four say they plan to delay investment.

So again, you put it all together and it suggests that the trade war is going to backfire and end up doing the opposite of what it was intended to do.

SIDNER: It's also politically interesting that these are folks that have always said they want to deregulate. Trump is always about deregulation and now he is telling companies how to operate.

EGAN: Yeah.

SIDNER: It is an interesting twist.

Thank you so much --

EGAN: Thanks, Sara.

SIDNER: -- Matt Egan for all of your great reporting there -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So in a shocking announcement Sunday, President Biden's personal office revealed that he has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has also spread to his bones.

Among the political leaders sending their love to the former president, his former vice president, Kamala Harris, posting that President Biden "...will face this challenge with the same strength, resilience, and optimism that have always defined his life and leadership."

President Donald Trump also sent out a message, posting that he and Melania were saddened by the news and wishing Biden "a fast and successful recovery."

What will this -- what this all could now mean for the former president. Let's discuss.

: Joining us right now is radiation oncologist Dr. Curtiland Deville. He's medical director of Johns Hopkins Proton Therapy Center. It's good to see, Doctor, and have you here to join us.

What is known is again, that he was diagnosed last week. That the cancer has metastasized and spread to his bones.

What could that mean for a man of his age in terms of treatment options now?

DR. CURTILAND DEVILLE, RADIATION ONCOLOGIST, MEDICAL DIRECTOR, JOHNS HOPKINS PROTON THERAPY CENTER, PROFESSOR OF RADIATION ONCOLOGY, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Well, thanks for having me.

Yeah. In terms of the treatment options, it's generally fairly straightforward in the setting that men will receive hormonal therapy or what we technical term androgen deprivation or suppression, which are treatments that reduce and essentially eliminate testosterone levels in the body because prostate cancer is using testosterone as a fuel source to sort of progress and spread. So if we eliminate testosterone from the body we can effectively halt and delay the progression and the spread of the cancer.

[07:35:10]

And those treatments usually come in the form of a pill a patient takes once day or an injection that may last a few months at a time and can generally control the disease well at first.

BOLDUAN: And I was going to ask that in terms of if he would -- if someone of his age would start treatment immediately. In what you're describing in terms of hormone therapies, how quickly is the measure of -- is this successful or do we need to now look at a different route?

DEVILLE: Well, fortunately, we do have the PSA blood test, which is used for screening. We also can use it for monitoring. And while there are some challenges and limitations and controversy in the screening setting, in the setting of actual treatment and monitoring it's actually very effective. I tell patients you have a simple blood test that can give us a barometer of whether the treatments are working or not, and we would expect to see those levels drop. You know, I should say we also rely on multi-disciplinary management and evaluation. And so, his oncology team, be it medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, and all of the diagnostic clinicians in terms of imaging and pathology would be working together to figure out the best treatment plan that would often include hormonal therapy but may include other things like radiation treatments if the patient is responding well or depending on the sites of involvement to treat additional areas including the prostate or potentially areas in the bone that were mentioned.

BOLDUAN: One thing that we -- that we know is early detection of prostate cancer and most other cancers, of course, is critical to your outcomes and to survival.

President Biden's last annual physical was February of 2024. And at that time the president's physician said there was no new concerns that were identified.

Could this or would this or should this have been detectable -- detected earlier? I mean, how quickly can prostate cancer advance to stage four -- what we're looking at?

DEVILLE: Well, our hope and goal is that we detect cancer at its earliest stages in prostate cancer. I think the challenges are that we do stop screening at a certain age. We look at things -- consider things like life expectancy and other medical issues.

And generally for prostate cancer many of the screening guidelines talk about around the age of 69 or 70 that you can stop routine screening and use a -- what we call a shared decision-making approach with the patient and discussing the risks and benefits continued monitoring if they have risk factors like a family history, or they have symptoms, or had an elevated PSA. Those might be reasons that you would continue to check the PSA -- that simple blood test.

But if they -- in the absence of those things, screening may have stopped. And so it's unclear if he was continued -- you know, screening had continued even at that last annual visit.

There are also scenarios where if screening does continue the PSA blood test is being checked but it remains very low, and the cancer is still progressing and therefore not picked up until it's in advanced or metastatic states. So it is possible that screen was occurring in advance, or it had stopped. And unfortunately, we run into this situation where the cancer is progressed.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely.

Well, Doctor, we're thankful for what you do and thank you for taking the time this morning to give us some of your expertise. I really appreciate it -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. With us now is Congressman Josh Gottheimer, a Democratic from New Jersey. Congressman, thanks so much for being with us.

When you heard this news about --

REP. JOSH GOTTHEIMER (D-NJ): Thanks for having me.

BERMAN: -- former President Biden and the aggressive form of prostate cancer, what was your reaction?

GOTTHEIMER: Well, obviously, devastating. It's awful news for those of us who know the former president, but for his family. And I know everybody, as you've been talking about this morning, has been praying for him and for -- and for his family and wishing him a very speedy recovery here.

BERMAN: And there is no doubt that is a universal sentiment.

Separately and respectfully, there are questions right now about former President Biden and his capacity when he was still running for re-election.

So my question to you is what do you think the right level of accountability is for Democrats, like you, running for office on that subject?

GOTTHEIMER: Well, I think if the question is should we make sure that our candidates are up to the job, of course. But right now, listen, when it comes to President Biden, I think we should all focus on his recovery and thinking about him. There's plenty of time always to talk about what should have been. But I know right now we're all thinking about his quick recovery, and that's what I'm focused on.

BERMAN: The House Budget Committee, overnight, by a very slim margin approved of the president's huge tax cut and spending plan.

If this goes through what would that mean for New Jersey voters?

GOTTHEIMER: I mean, it's devastating for New Jersey families on many fronts. And there's a reason why the Republicans are still are fighting with each other. You saw a slim margin last night, but they've got a lot of work to do if they're going to get this through.

And I think the folks are realizing, as they should, that this will gut Medicaid, which directly hurts millions of seniors. And I think 10.3 million Americans will lose coverage under Medicaid under their proposal. That's seniors for nursing homes. That's children who rely on Medicaid for food and for health care. You really -- in New Jersey alone, one-third of all New Jersey children are on Medicaid and rely on that. And this affects their food that they get in schools and at night with their families.

I don't know why you would do this to them, and I think that's exactly why you're seeing huge differences here.

Then you've got other issues. It affects Medicare. It affects everything from electric vehicles, which actually cost more money -- it would -- they'd raise fees on electric vehicles and everything to focus on the future on alternative energy would be gut under this. It affects women's health care and their ability to access health care, which is -- may --

None of this makes any sense because it actually increases the debt. It actually will cost more money, so it doesn't solve that problem.

And I think Jersey their proposals on restoring SALT are paltry, which is why they're all fighting with each other over SALT and increasing that number. On nearly every front this thing is brutal for families in New Jersey, for seniors, for kids. For people who rely on food. It's a disaster.

BERMAN: You said it raises the debt. Moody's, of course -- that is one of the reasons they cited for downgrading its credit rating on the United States over the weekend. So there are no -- now no credit agencies which give the U.S. its highest rating.

I do want to ask you -- because I do believe you're on the House Intelligence Committee -- about some comments the treasury secretary made about this gift of a huge Boeing 747 that Qatar wants to make to the United States. The treasury secretary -- to President Trump and the United States. The treasury secretary defended it like this -- listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Nobody in the Middle East gives things just to -- or anywhere in the world -- just gives a $400 million jet just to be nice.

BESSENT: Well, I don't know, Jake. The French gave us the Statue of Liberty. The British gave us a resolute desk. I'm not sure they asked for anything in advance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So is this plane the Statue of Liberty?

GOTTHEIMER: I mean, what a joke comparing this to the Statue of Liberty.

I mean, this is clearly an attempt to buy influence. A gold-plated plane from a country that we've never been able to really trust. That does business with Hamas, one of our -- the leading proponents of terror in the world. And the idea that we would receive this plane -- which, by the way, as you know, we would have to gut all the way down because the odds are high that it would be full of things like bugs and other technology, which instead of protecting our president could put our country and president at risk.

So this would take years to do anyway. I don't understand why we would ever take a gift like this that, of course, is not even a useful one and would put our national security at risk.

BERMAN: Congressman Gottheimer, I do appreciate you being with us. Just before I let you go, I want you to hear what President Biden actually posted on social media, while we were talking, about his cancer diagnosis. He wrote, "Cancer touches us all. Like so many of you, Jill and I have

learned that we are strongest in the broken places. Thank you for lifting us up with love and support."

So that message from former President Joe Biden just moment ago as we were speaking.

GOTTHEIMER: Well, we're all praying for him.

BERMAN: Congressman Gottheimer, thanks so much for being us. I appreciate it.

GOTTHEIMER: Oh, yeah -- yeah.

BERMAN: Sara.

SIDNER: What a beautiful sentiment -- "We are all stronger in the broken places." Wow.

All right. Coming up, seven inmates still on the run after escaping from a New Orleans jail through a hole in the wall. The latest on the manhunt this morning.

And what the FBI is now examining after the bombing of a Palm Springs fertility clinic. It may give investigators a look inside the mind of the bombing suspect who they believed was railing against pro-life ideals.

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[07:49:45]

SIDNER: Surprise! Scottie Scheffler wins his first PGA championship at the Quail Hollow Club in North Carolina. It was just a year ago the Scheffler was making headlines at this same tournament after being arrested following a traffic stop. I remember that. We were doing that live on the air.

[07:50:08]

The world's best golfer certainly turned things around this year, trading in a mugshot for his third career Major win.

CNN's Carolyn Manno is joining us live and in person. I mean, these are big wins. This is so hard. Good for him.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: It is really hard, and it wasn't an easy final round, but it definitely beats last year heading to a jail cell and getting a mugshot.

SIDNER: Um-hum.

MANNO: That was a miscommunication, as he put it, at the time, ultimately dismissed.

But this was a very different story on Sunday afternoon. The world number one winning his first PGA championship, finishing Sunday's final round at 11 under par. He actually gave away his lead early on with three bogies on the front nine, but John faltered late and that opened the door again for Scheffler who birdied 14 and 15 and never looked back.

He now joins Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus as the only players to win three career Majors and 15 PGA Tour titles before the age of 29.

The 28-year-old finding his wife Meredith and his son in the crowd shortly after celebrating there. And he was asked by our Patrick Snell to try to encapsulate what the last few years have meant.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER, WINNER OF 2025 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP: It's really hard to put into words. Meredith and I were talking this morning, and we still feel like we're in high school. I felt like we were in high school yesterday. Like, we just -- we just started dating and all of a sudden life out here is pretty cool right now. This is a lot of fun.

But at the end of the day life at home for us is pretty much the same. We have a good little life, and we have great friends at home, and I'm looking forward to getting home and celebrating with them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MANNO: And despite some early nerves, the Thunder are heading to the Western Conference Finals after what was ultimately a dominant 125-93 win over Denver. OKC trailing by 11 late in the first quarter but they forced eight second-quarter turnovers. They held Denver to six of 20 shooting in that frame to turn things around.

A lot of the win had to do with the job that Alex Caruso did on Denver's star Nikola Jokic. He only stands at six foot-five, but he was a defensive pest all night long. And his superstar teammate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as reliable as ever. He scored a game-high 35 points in the win that sends the Thunder to its first conference finals appearance since 2016.

And a tough stretch of game seven defeats continuing for Toronto last night, Sara. The Leafs dropping their seventh-straight must-win game thanks to three second period goals from the Florida Panthers in about a 6 1/2-minute span.

So Florida ended up winning 6-1 and it was a rout. That means the defending champs heading to their third consecutive Eastern Conference Final. They're going to face the Carolina Hurricanes with a spot in the Stanley Cup Final up for grabs.

But you mentioned remembering what happened to Scottie Scheffler, and we were here together --

SIDNER: Yeah.

MANNO: -- on that morning. And so many people saying wait, what happened? SIDNER: What happened? He got arrested, huh?

MANNO: Yeah, and it's amazing what he's done a year later. He said there were some jokes that he could probably tell about that morning but he's not going to do it, and that he's just happy to have the trophy this time around.

SIDNER: OK. I just want Kate to know this because I think she's in the studio. So we -- she's a gate lice. She shows up and goes before people.

BOLDUAN: Can you not --

SIDNER: I just -- I just want to tell everyone because it is a real thing. You just came up with a nickname for me and I'm super happy that I'm sure Kate is going to use it -- "defensive pest."

MANNO: Is that what you are?

SIDNER: It was so good. I'm a --

MANNO: No.

SIDNER: I think I am. I think that she's a gate lice --

MANNO: Feisty.

SIDNER: -- and I'm a defensive pest.

MANNO: Feisty.

SIDNER: I think this is a great relationship.

BOLDUAN: I can't wait for what we come up for Berman -- come up with for Berman.

SIDNER: Thank you, Carolyn.

MANNO: You're welcome.

BOLDUAN: I was like how did gate lice fit into this one, and now I know.

SIDNER: Now you know.

BOLDUAN: The more you know.

All right, let's turn to this. Seven dangerous inmates are still on the run this morning. This is days after they escaped from a New Orleans jail. Ten inmates escaped in all early Friday morning. They did so through a tiny hold behind a toilet in one of the cells. You see it right there. Three of those escapees -- they have since been caught. The local sheriff now says they may have had help from the inside.

CNN's Rafael Romo is tracking this one for us and he joins us now. What is the latest with this manhunt now?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kate, good morning.

Louisiana officials say they have received some leads about the escaped inmates' whereabouts from other states, but those leads did not pan out. Louisiana State Police superintendent Robert Hodges said they have what he called "actionable intelligence" on all seven of those fugitives. Hodges also said the escapees were constantly changing locations and had help from friends and family. He added they hope that in the coming days, if not the coming hours, law enforcement will be able to apprehend all of them but once again asked for the public's help.

In that respect, Kate, the reward money for information leading to the arrest of any of the escaped inmates has increased to $20,000 when you add all the money from the FBI, the ATF, and Crimestoppers.

Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said that the massive jailbreak may very well be the largest in the history of the state and something that should have never happened. Landry also said he has ordered an investigation into how it was possible for 10 inmates to break free from what is supposed to be a secure facility.

[07:55:08]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are violent criminals, and they escaped -- and they have consequences for their actions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: In addition to an investigation by the attorney general, Landry also said that he has ordered an audit of the Orleans Parish Correctional Facility. He's also ordered the removal of all the OC inmates held at that facility.

Kate, back to you.

BOLDUAN: All right, Rafael. Thank you so much. It will be an important day today trying to find those men -- John.

BERMAN: All right. This morning investigators are combing through evidence connected to the explosion at a Palm Springs fertility clinic, I should say. That evidence includes a manifesto and a rambling audio recording posted online. The FBI calls it one of the largest bombing investigations ever in Southern California.

The suspect was the only person killed in the blast.

Let's get to CNN's Josh Campbell in Los Angeles for the latest on this. Josh, what are you learning?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, we're learning a lot from authorities and sources about the suspect. We're learning this was 25-year-old Guy Bartkus, a resident of nearby -- excuse me, nearby Palm Springs, who authorities believe was responsible for this blast. You see his picture there. The FBI put this out. They want people to provide any information they may have about that individual.

Now, a law enforcement source tells me that they're aware of an audio recording out there. It's very rambling. The person is discussing how he's against in vitro fertilization and other different grievances. And so authorities continue to dig into him, but they also have a massive crime scene that they are still processing at this hour.

Take a listen here to the head FBI agent here in Los Angeles talking about this massive explosion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AKIL DAVIS, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, FBI LOS ANGELES FIELD OFFICE: This is probably the largest bombing scene that we've had in Southern California. This does eclipse the bombing matter in Aliso Viejo. It's that big. And just for reference, to throw pieces of vehicle hundreds of feet in the air and then several blocks away, you can use your -- imagine how big that bomb device was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: Now I want to end with this because we often don't get to talk about good news in these types of situations. But last night Palm Springs Police Chief Andy Mills took to social media to basically honor the first responders who went into that fertility clinic. I believe we might have two pictures of two of the first responders. He particularly called out FBI agent Chris Meltzer, as well as Assistant Fire Chief Greg Lyle.

What he said was that as this building was still smoldering these two men went in there realizing that embryos were inside. They quickly worked to get the electricity back up in order to save those embryos. They also went into a collapsed part of the building to try to retrieve medical records so families that are receiving treatment there could continue that treatment.

Fortunately, we are learning that all of those embryos were saved, guys.

BERMAN: That is an amazing coda to this and good news, as you say.

Josh Campbell -- some of this aerial footage just remarkable the devastation that was caused there -- thank you so much for your reporting -- Sara.

SIDNER: On our radar this morning a 5-year-old is missing after a train hit a family who had been walking on a railroad bridge near Toledo, Ohio. A mother and her adult daughter died, and a 1-year-old has been injured. Dive teams are now searching for the missing child -- their focus on the Sandusky River below where that railroad bridge was.

All right, good news for New Jersey commuters. Finally, the engineers' union and New Jersey Transit reached a tentative deal that could end the stroke which had shut down service over the weekend. This is the nation's third-largest transit system. Engineers are expected back at work today, but the New Jersey Transit CEO says they need a day to get things back to normal.

All right. Massive flooding forcing nearly 3,000 people to evacuate near Buenos Aires, Argentina. They had a lot of rain and that's caused rivers to overflow into neighborhoods and onto farmlands. Authorities say at least one person died in all that. Two more are missing -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yeah. There's also some nasty weather coming -- in the United States as well.

Today, millions of Americans in the Midwest and the Mississippi Valley are facing the threat of severe storms. Deadly storms that sparked multiple tornadoes already have torn through Missouri, Kentucky, and other states over the weekend. At least 25 people were killed.

St. Louis, Missouri is one of the places hardest hit. A confirmed EF3 tornado touched down in the city.

CNN's Julia Vargas Jones is there live for us this morning, and what does it look like right now?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kate, the curfew is just lifting here and the feeling on the ground is of heartbreak and exhaustion. It hasn't even been 72 hours since the storm hit, which the mayor called it one of the worst in its history. Entire neighborhoods were leveled. Homes completely destroyed. Massive trees uprooted in the middle of the streets. Residents have been digging through that debris to salvage what they can.

But in this chaos some people have stepped up in extraordinary ways. One of them is Omar Sykes, a Navy veteran who helped evacuate dozens of people from his neighborhood of Fountain Park.