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GOP Divided by Major Sticking Points Over Trump's Massive Policy Bill; Sources Say, Trump Admin First Approached Qatar About Luxury Plane; Gas Prices Set for Their Cheapest Memorial Day Since 2021. Aired 7-7:30a ET
Aired May 20, 2025 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[07:00:00]
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Can the president salvage the bill? With his signature tax and spending cut legislation hanging in the balance, we are standing by for President Trump to swoop into Capitol Hill and try and bring Republicans together. One key vote says, I'm not sure there is anything he can say.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And I can't get out. That is what Cassie Ventura told a former assistant to Sean Combs, according to new testimony. And that assistant back on the stand today. And then we could hear from Cassie Ventura's mother.
Also this, a fourth inmate who escaped from a New Orleans jail has been recaptured. But the manhunt continues and has expanded this morning for the six inmates still on the run after a brazen escape.
Sara Sidner is out today. I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman. This is CNN News Central.
BERMAN: So, we are standing by for President Trump to leave for Capitol Hill on something of a rescue mission. His sweeping multi- trillion dollar domestic agenda package has left his party divided. House Speaker Mike Johnson wants to pass it before the Memorial Day recess. That's just days.
But the head of the Conservative House Freedom Caucus says that's too fast. He says, I would make the case that this big, beautiful bill could get more beautiful with a little more work. He added, I think it's pretty obvious they're going to need more time.
Some of the more conservative members want even less spending on Medicaid while Republicans from blue states want higher caps on how much of your state and local taxes you are allowed to deduct. This is part of the argument.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE LAWLER (R-NY): The fact is, we wouldn't even be in this position right now if you didn't have members in seats like mine who won. And so if they think we're going to throw our constituents under the bus to appease them, it's not happening. REP. RALPH NORMAN (R-SC): You can't keep spending like this, like we spent. We're insolvent as it is, without bankruptcy (ph), but that's where it's headed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: All right, such an important moment. We have Lauren Fox live on Capitol Hill this morning. What do we expect, Lauren?
LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a pivotal moment for the president and this is where we see whether or not he's going to be able to muscle this one big, beautiful bill, as they're calling it, through the United States House of Representatives, because right now there are two factions very divided, both asking the speaker to accommodate their needs in two completely diametrically opposed ways.
One of which comes from some of these Republicans who are running for reelection in swing districts say that the issue of increasing this SALT cap, as they call it, that's state and local tax deduction, is crucial for their reelection. They're also arguing that further cuts to Medicaid could endanger their constituents and therefore endanger their own political futures.
That's the case they're making to the speaker. Those SALT members met last night at 10:00 P.M. in the speaker's office, trying to find some kind of consensus. They didn't quite get there. They're going to have further conversations this morning ahead of this meeting with Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, you have some of these conservatives who still say they are not in a place where they can support this legislation. They want to see an increase in how quickly they are moving forward with Medicaid work requirements. They also want to ensure that perhaps there are more in additional cuts to Medicaid, something again that moderates don't support.
So right now, you have two different factions of the Republican Party, both asking for different things, and you have the speaker with this ambitious deadline of wanting to pass this out of the House by the end of the week. It's really unclear if they're going to be able to get there.
Here was the speaker last night as he was leaving.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): We are continuing to work on it. It's not a final resolution yet, but I think we're getting very close.
REPORTER: When's the floor vote?
JOHNSON: When? Before Memorial Day.
(END VIDEO CLIP) FOX: And so many of these issues, John, have been sticking points for not just weeks or days, but months. And so this is crunch time. This is where they have to make those final negotiations. It's just not clear what direction leadership's going to go, and Trump putting his thumb on the scale this morning could have a big impact, but we'll have to see.
BERMAN: Yes, all right, big morning.
[07:05:00]
Lauren Fox, great to have you there live. I appreciate it. Kate?
BOLDUAN: And on this big morning, when President Trump does get to Capitol Hill today, this morning, what is his plan? What is the plan to convince Republicans to get on board and unify? Is he leaning more toward the carrot or the stick approach, a kumbaya or a blunt force negotiation?
CNN's Alayna Treene is at the White House. This could be a very important moment for the president's overall agenda, and it seems to be hitting a pivotal moment of just frustration amongst Republicans along the lines that we've seen again and again. But what's going to happen this time? Who knows? What are you hearing from the White House on the approach today?
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, there's a few things. Obviously, the fact that the president is actually leaving the White House and going to Capitol Hill, something he rarely does, we have not seen him really on Capitol Hill speaking to the entire House Republican Conference en masse like he is today. And so, clearly, the president and his team is showing that this is an important moment.
Now, I will say from my conversations with White House officials and those who are close to the president, that essentially they are not freaking out yet over this bill. We know they are not whipping votes. The real message now, what he's going to be delivering later this morning when he leaves, is it's time to get voting. It's time to start this process moving. And the reality is, Kate, that essentially, you know, the president's true priorities are the ones he talked about wanting to do and what he vowed to do when he was on the campaign trail, which was no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and the big one, of course, trying to get his tax cuts through and make his 2017 tax cuts more permanent.
And all of those priorities are in this current version of the bill. It does not seem like Republicans are wrangling over those. As you heard Lauren laid out, there's a number of issues that they need to get to. And really, for the President and from this Trump administration's point of view, the fact that he has his priorities in it, that is what they needed. And so now it's really a question of how can we get this process moving forward.
And, again, this is a man that has been through something like this before. They know that it is very difficult to wrangle a bill of this size through not only a House and Senate of course, but that will come later, but also a House Republican majority that is so slim. And so, really, this is his opportunity to try and deliver his message that he wants people to fall in line to get behind this. They recognize that whatever happens with this bill, even if it passes, it's likely to get reworked by the Senate. And so what the real goal from the White House is, what I've been told, is to really try to get this process moving forward and to make progress. And that's going to be the message that he delivers.
Now, again, too, I think, you know, it's important to note, and Lauren kind of laid this out, that this is a $4 trillion bill and there are so many different areas where Republicans are not in line with, particularly when you have many, you know, Republican moderates who are worried about some of the things that the more conservative folks want and vice versa. The goal is to have someone like the president who is really the rare man now in Washington that can get Republicans together. That is really his goal today when he leaves for Capitol Hill.
BOLDUAN: Right. And the fact of the matter is there's a lot in this bill that's still in works that they don't know what is in it. They don't have a full cost estimate. There is a lot that is unknown. What is known though is they are trying to push this at least up to the floor, possibly tomorrow. So, lightning speed doesn't even begin to describe what we're looking at with this one.
Alayna, it's great to see you. Thank you so much. Much more to come this morning. She's going to be watching this with us as we follow the president as he heads to Capitol Hill.
Also ahead for us, President Trump has described the offer of a $400 million luxury jet as a gift from Qatar, the gift that Qatar offered free of charge. There's new CNN reporting and sources telling CNN the Trump administration was actually first to reach out to Qatar to ask about a plane. We have more on that next.
And very soon, the federal sex trafficking racketeering trial of Sean Diddy Combs gets back underway. Jurors saw photos of some of the injuries that prosecutors say Combs inflicted on Cassie Ventura yesterday. Today, they could hear from her mother.
And good news for millions of you who are traveling for Memorial Day weekend, gas prices for this holiday weekend are the lowest they've been in four years.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:10:00]
BERMAN: All right. This morning, new CNN reporting on the giant 747 President Trump wants the U.S. to accept as a gift from Qatar and then use as Air Force 1. This is what the president has said on it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: So I think it's a great gesture from Qatar. I appreciate it very much. I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer. I mean, I could be a stupid person, say, no, we don't want a free, very expensive airplane.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Ah, but it turns out there's nuance here. Sources tell CNN it was the Trump administration that made the initial approach.
CNN's Alex Marquardt has the new reporting.
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump has talked about this potential deal for a Qatari Boeing 747 to act as Air Force 1 as a gesture, a gift from the Qatari Royal family, which the U.S. would receive for free, he said. But sources tell my colleagues and me that it was the Trump administration that first made the outreach to Qatar after Trump came into office, that it is, in fact, the U.S. that made this request of Doha.
[07:15:03]
The administration was told by Boeing, which is making the next generation of Air Force 1 planes, that the two planes would not arrive until 2027. Trump wanted something sooner. So, the Pentagon with the White House's backing reached out to Qatar. Boeing had given the administration a list of possible planes that could work as Air Force 1 in the meantime, and Qatar had one of those planes. The president's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, he also helped facilitate these early meetings.
The Pentagon then offered to buy the plane, and Qatar offered to sell it. Now we're told the lawyers are still hashing out the details, but the White House is still claiming that this is going to be a donation from Qatar or, as Trump wrote on Truth Social recently, a gift free of charge. Trump had said that a Qatari official had told him, if I can help you, let me do that.
Now, publicly, Qatar has not refuted Trump, and in his visit to Doha last week, everything went smoothly. But the real story is certainly more nuanced and different from how Trump and his aides have been telling it. Even if this deal is signed, current and former officials have told CNN that it could take two years and hundreds of millions of dollars, several times the value of the plane, to strip it down and rebuild it with technical and security standards fit for a U.S. presidential aircraft.
Back to you.
BERMAN: All right. Our thanks to Alex Marquardt for that.
40 million Americans are set to hit the road this holiday weekend. New reports the gas prices could be the lowest we have seen in years.
And this morning, new warnings about a potential earthquake so powerful, it could decimate entire cities in the United States, as the scientists tracking the threat have been let go by the Trump administration.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [07:20:00]
BOLDUAN: New this morning, some good news. We should just stop right there. Some good news for the nearly 40 million people expected to hit the roads for the unofficial start of the summer season. Gas prices are projected to be at their lowest in four years this Memorial Day weekend.
CNN's Matt Egan joining us now. Matt, what are you seeing here?
MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, okay, look, the roads might be packed, but at least it's going to be cheaper to get around. Gas Buddy projecting $3.08 a gallon will be the national average on Memorial Day. That is down exactly $0.50 cents from last Memorial Day. And this underscores the point that really gas prices have emerged as one of the biggest bright spots in this economy.
Yes, the trade war continues to go on doing untold damage to the economy, but we are miles away from those really high gas prices of a few years ago, consider that in 2022, the gas price on Memorial Day was $4.60 a gallon nationally. Look how much lower we are than that. In fact, this would be the lowest gas price on Memorial Day since 2021. And it's not because of low demand, right? AAA is forecasting that just over 39 million people are going to be hitting the roads this holiday weekend. That's up 3 percent from last year.
And a lot of states have seen even bigger drops in the price of gas from a year ago. We've seen a $0.50 cent or more drop in a number of states.
BOLDUAN: This compared to a year. Okay. This compared to a year ago.
EGAN: compared to a year ago in Arizona, in Ohio, Illinois, Maine, Connecticut, New York, and my home state of New Jersey.
Now, this trend is being driven by cheaper oil prices, right? Oil is about 20 percent lower than it was a year ago. I'm sorry, 20 percent cheaper than when the president took office. Some of that's happening for good reasons, right? OPEC is pumping more oil after some pressure from the White House. Some of it though, Kate, is because of concern about the economy and the president's trade war.
BOLDUAN: Right. There's a lot going on into that.
At the same time, speaking of the trade war, Home Depot just reported quarterly earnings and it's saying something -- it's kind of interesting because it seems to be a different statement of the state of play than what we heard from, let's say, Walmart.
EGAN: It is, two big differences. One thing is that Home Depot says that they're standing by their 2025 guidance.
BOLDUAN: They're not pulling back?
EGAN: They're not pulling back. A lot of companies have said, there's so much uncertainty right now. We don't know what's going to happen. We are not going to tell you what our outlook is.
The other really key difference is what you're referencing, which is from Walmart. Walmart said they're going to raise prices because of tariffs. Home Depot is saying the opposite, right? They're telling CNBC that they're going to generally maintain price levels despite tariffs. And they --
BOLDUAN: It's generally doing a lot of work there. Like --
EGAN: We're going to find out. We're going to find out. But for now, they're saying, generally going to maintain it. They're saying one reason is because they have this massive scale. Of course, Walmart has massive scale too.
BOLDUAN: Yes.
EGAN: The other reason is they say because they've been able to reduce their reliance on imports from China. No matter the reason though, the market is liking the fact that Home Depot is standing by their guidance and they're not talking about price hikes. We're seeing Home Depot shares move about 3 percent higher pre-market trading.
But to your point, this is a pretty big difference from what Walmart said just a few days ago. And, by the way, what Walmart said invited some pretty significant attacks from President Trump.
BOLDUAN: Hence, my question, is generally doing a lot of work there.
EGAN: We're going to find out, Kate.
BOLDUAN: We'll find out, as I was saying. Thank you, Matt.
EGAN: Thanks.
BOLDUAN: Matt will bring it to us.
EGAN: Yes.
BOLDUAN: He will or I'll make him eat tariffs.
Coming up for us, we are standing by at the White House and on Capitol Hill where, very soon, the president will be leaving the White House, head across town to meet with House Republicans to try to twist some arms and get his party unified around his, what he calls his big, beautiful bill, his tax and spending bill. We'll see what comes from this meeting this morning.
Also, a New Jersey congresswoman now facing a federal assault charge over an incident at a Newark ICE facility.
[07:25:01]
Why she says this is all purely political.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BERMAN: All right. We're standing by for President Trump to leave the White House hoping to convince key Republicans on Capitol Hill to back his multi-trillion dollar tax and spending cut package. Now, House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris of Maryland had this to say to Punch Bull quote, I always welcome the president, but I'm not sure there's anything he can say that's going to change the minds of people who do believe that this bill needs more work.
[07:30:02]
With us now is Congressman Warren Davidson, a Republican from Ohio. Congressman, great to see you this morning. What do you think in this bill?