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Federal Workers Face Canceled Health Insurance Amid Layoff Chaos; Trump Again Demands A List Of International Students At Harvard; Indy 500 Ends With A Wild Finish, Historic First Win. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired May 26, 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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[07:31:33]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning canceled health insurance and bungled benefits -- that is the new reality facing many federal workers amid the Trump administration's mass layoffs. Some workers who were fired say they actually couldn't get their health coverage back for months even after their jobs were reinstated -- one telling CNN the situation has been devastating.

CNN senior reporter Marshall Cohen broke this story for us. So Marshall, what more are you hearing from these fired employees? What are they facing?

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Erica, good morning.

For these folks their lives have been turned upside down, OK? Most of these federal employees lost their jobs in February when the Trump administration fired thousands of newer probationary employees. They were later reinstated by a judge but that is what created the confusion. Because of this whiplash some federal workers lost their health insurance for weeks or even months.

We spoke to one IRS employee who had to take her son to the E.R. while her insurance was lapsed. She now has a $3,000 hospital bill. A Department of Education employee told us that without insurance her husband couldn't schedule treatments for his cancer, and he suffered complications with his chemo.

The people we spoke to described a bureaucratic nightmare and I want to share with you some of what they told us.

One federal worker said, "I was on the phone every single day for two weeks and I broke down in tears." Another said, "If I get into an accident, that's going to bankrupt me." A third employee told us, "It felt like I had been forgotten." And a fourth told us that there has been "no communication, no kindness, and no compassion."

And Erica, it's not just health benefits. My colleagues Sunlen Serfaty and Tammy Luby also spoke to other federal employees who are struggling to get workers comp approved and to get their pension payments delivered. The common theme here is that when these people called H.R. for help, they found that a lot of the people that usually handle these matters have themselves been fired as part of the Trump administration's mass layoffs.

And one last note there. I do want to make clear that the insurance companies say that this is not a widespread problem. For the people though that have been affected it has been highly disruptive and traumatic.

We reached out to the White House, and they did not comment. But a spokeswoman from the Department of Education did tell us, "While we acknowledge the transitions are difficult, our employees have been fully informed and supported during these changes."

Erica.

HILL: That -- the reaction from one spokesperson at the Department of Education, although, is as you noted, people across the government are certainly having issues and not feeling supported. Really important reporting, Marshall. Thank you -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. New this morning President Trump is once again demanding the personal information of foreign students at Harvard, saying he wants a list so his administration can "find out whether or not they're OK."

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DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, a lot of the foreign students we wouldn't have a problem with. I'm not going to have a problem with foreign students. But it shouldn't be 31 percent. It's too much because we have Americans that want to go there and to other places and they can't go there because you have 31 percent foreign. Now, no foreign government contributes money to Harvard -- we do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: International students actually make up 27 percent of Harvard's enrollment this last year.

Trump tried to revoke the school's ability to enroll foreign students, but a judge has temporarily blocked that ban. That judge will hear arguments later this week.

[07:35:00]

But for now, thousands of international students are in limbo. That includes Harvard student Abdullah Shahid Sial who joins us now. You are also the co-president of the Harvard Undergraduate Association and currently traveling in Japan.

Abdullah, do you, at this very moment, know if you will be able to go back to Harvard next semester?

ABDULLAH SHAHID SIAL, HARVARD STUDENT (via Webex by Cisco): First of all, thank you so much for having me.

And to answer your question, no, not at all. And this isn't the story of just me. This is the story of thousands and thousands of international students at Harvard, again, who happen to be 18, 19, and 20-year-olds who are not sure if they -- they'll be able to continue their education within any university for that matter in the U.S.

SIDNER: Donald Trump -- you just heard him speaking there and he says oh, he just wants the name of all these international students because he wants to ask them if they're doing OK.

Do you believe that's why he wants all of your information?

SIAL: Not at all. I think this -- there is a very important point to make and that is the choice given to us is an illusion. What I mean by that is he will always have the threat of revoking Harvard's SEVP status which allows Harvard to host international students. So that threat will always remain with him.

And his ultimate goal, as we have seen in the past, is bending these higher education -- higher education in America more broadly -- these elite universities according to his own will. So when he always have -- he will always have this threat even if Harvard actually gives him the information he is demanding -- which, by the way, the U.S. government does have a list of every single person who is studying at Harvard, so the names are already there.

SIDNER: Right.

SIAL: It's just that he wants these confidential records which are -- which are part of the -- which are -- which are part of students' academic records and usually are not revealed to anyone.

SIDNER: Yeah, you were right about that because you all have to get student visas in order to come into the country to go to Harvard generally speaking.

Are you and other students discussing going to other schools outside of America because of the Trump administration's attack on Harvard and because he's asking for all this information -- personal information on you?

SIAL: Um, I think the personal information question directly doesn't affect anyone. Again, I want to reemphasize that this is information which the government already has.

To answer your other question, I think those are conversations that have been in our circles for a while at this point. Because, I mean, after the last letter sent to Harvard there was a very direct threat that OK, you have to transfer if you're international.

And I think more -- very simply, students feel very dehumanized, very demeaned, and very disrespected -- international students, in particular at the moment. And even if Trump fully stops right now, I think the damage to how students like -- the sheer amount of hate and how much unwelcomed they feel in the U.S. at the moment will definitely -- like, push students transfer maybe not even in the U.S. but to universities outside of the U.S. as well.

SIDNER: Yeah, that's saying something. There is a lot of concern about brain drain here as well.

I want to ask you about this because this really all started -- this sort of attack on Harvard all started out over antisemitism at Harvard. And I know students have been asked how they feel about how Harvard has mismanaged all of this and how they're feeling themselves. And there are some numbers out that both students who were Jewish and students who are Muslim both feel uncomfortable on campus.

Do you see this as a problem? Have you seen antisemitism? Have you seen islamophobia on campus?

SIAL: I feel both these issues are prevalent on almost many college campuses, within Harvard, and I've definitely seen that firsthand with my fellow Jewish friends and my fellow Muslim friends as well. So that's definitely a problem.

But I also want to make it very, very clear that his, like, deporting internationals writ large, which include Israeli students, doesn't solve the problem at all. There is -- you can't reach a solution which -- you can't reach a solution to this problem by simply taking everyone out of the campus. Because again, as President Trump just mentioned, international students constitute -- yeah, more particularly, 27 percent of Harvard's population. And it's not likely that just 27 percent are involved in all of this.

It's just a way to frame that everything that's wrong with higher education at Harvard is done by these foreigners who come into our country and fully, fully doesn't recognize the idea that these also happen to be one of the smartest people in their own -- in their own respective countries who heavily, heavily contribute to not just Harvard but more broadly the economy in the United States. And also end up, you know, employing a lot of people when they end up working in America longer.

[07:40:00]

So I think this (INAUDIBLE) stated that we are the problem just makes everyone feel really unwelcome and really demeaned, really dehumanized. And it's as you are being used as poker chips -- as collateral being thrown from the Trump administration between the Harvard -- and the Harvard administration while not recognizing that we also happen to have lives and stories of our own and having to leave everything behind.

Like, I left -- I have no family in the U.S. I came here an 18-19- year-old and now I have to deal with all of this. And that is the deal with literally thousands and thousands of students at the moment.

SIDNER: Abdullah, I'm really sorry that you're going through this. This is a lot to take on, especially when you're trying to study at Harvard, in particular, with the difficulty of the curriculum there.

Abdullah Shadid Sial, good luck to you, and we'll be watching and stay in touch with you. I really appreciate it. Thank you -- Erica.

HILL: It was a history-making finish at the Indy 500. A thrilling end to one of racing's biggest tracks.

CNN's Carolyn Manno here now to break it all down. It was quite the ending and quite the beginning too. A little rough start there --

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

HILL: -- at the beginning.

MANNO: And your beautiful family doing the double in Indy this weekend.

HILL: They did do the double. They had a great time without me.

MANNO: They went to the Indy 500, Pacers-Knicks.

HILL: Yeah.

MANNO: That's a big weekend.

HILL: It was a very big weekend.

MANNO: So the boys were doing boy things this weekend.

All right, let's start on the track because Memorial Day and motorsports have gone hand-in-hand for many years. The 109th edition of the Indy 500 delivered, like Erica said.

For the second-straight year Kyle Larson's attempt at the famed double -- that is finishing both the Indy 500 and NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 -- coming up short. The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champ crashing out of the 500 on lap 91 and was also involved in a crash in Charlotte which ended his day early. So when asked if he would go for the double for a third time next year, he was noncommittal. Said it is really, really tough.

As for who got to drink the milk in Indy, it was 28-year-old Alex Palou who overtook Marcus Ericsson. This was quite a move coming into turn one on lap 187 of 200 to win the Indy 500 for the first time. He also made some history in the process. The Barcelona native, the first Spaniard to win the greatest spectacle in racing.

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ALEX PALOU, WINNER, INDIANAPOLIS 500: I mean, best milk I've ever tasted. It tastes so good. I'm going to get a little bit more. But what an amazing feeling. The ring looks awesome, and it feels great to be here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANNO: To then Erica's fam and the rest of the fans turning their attention to the nightcap at Gainbridge Fieldhouse downtown. The new champ Palou front and center there, very cool. The Pacers up two games to none against the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals hoping to put the series out of reach back home. But if you went to sleep early you are waking up to a spectacular comeback this morning.

The Knicks rallying from being down 20 in the game. Jalen Brunson had 23. But Karl-Anthony Towns scored 20 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter in the 106-100 win. So New York feeling some relief with game two set for tomorrow night in Indy.

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KARL-ANTHONY TOWN, CENTER, NEW YORK KNICKS: So down 2-0, finding a way to win tonight to raise our confidence and to raise the morale of the team. This team is special. That locker room is special. I think for us to have the grittiness that we have it's because of the characters, and the personalities, and the sacrifices everyone in that locker room is willing to make.

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MANNO: And in the NHL Playoffs, just to wrap things up, the Dallas Stars already down 1-0 with things getting a little bit sticky. Jason Robertson's stick getting caught in the skate of Oilers' d-man Brett Kulak. So that led to a three on one rush for the Oilers. And Connor McDavid finishing it off to light the lamp for the first time in the series. McDavid would add another later.

Dallas had a few early chances. They could never really settle in in this game.

So Edmonton wins 6-1 with game four tomorrow night in Edmonton.

So is the family back? Everybody's hydrating, resting.

HILL: No, no. They're probably hydrating this morning, but they have another full day of things to do.

MANNO: OK.

HILL: They'll make their way back tomorrow.

MANNO: I love it.

HILL: Yeah.

MANNO: I love it.

HILL: Yeah. Thanks. Good to see you, my friend.

MANNO: You, too.

SIDNER: OK, wait. I just need to jump into this conversation --

HILL: Yeah.

SIDNER: -- because I love that these three girls up here are talking sports and we know what we're talking about.

HILL: Oh, yes.

SIDNER: I wanted to mention that Karl-Anthony Towns -- I thought it was so sweet because they asked him, like, what was, like, behind this amazing game that you had with 20 points. And he said it was Dominican Mother's Day and his --

MANNO: Oh.

SIDNER: And I think his mom was in the stands.

MANNO: Amazing. He had an incredible game. Everybody counted them out.

SIDNER: Yeah.

MANNO: I mean, to watch what happened in the fourth quarter. That game was remarkable, and he had a huge part in it.

HILL: Yeah. And by the way, I did go to sleep. I checked the last time in the third quarter.

SIDNER: You were like we've got to get --

HILL: I was like I'm not going stay -- you know, I tend to ruin games when I'm there. I am bad luck. So I thought me not being there maybe it would help my case for his family. It didn't work, so you're welcome.

MANNO: Thank you.

SIDNER: The Knicks -- the Knicks fan in here are like yeah!

All right, thank you, ladies.

MANNO: You're welcome.

SIDNER: All right. This Memorial Day we pause to remember the brave men and women who gave their lives for our country. Each loss a reminder of the cost of freedom. Their courage lives on etched into the soul of this grateful nation.

[07:45:00]

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"Taps" playing.

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HILL: Just days after a marathon House vote to advance his agenda, President Trump is now acknowledging his self-titled "Big, beautiful bill" could face significant changes in the Senate, noting he may even agree with some of the Senate's changes. [07:50:07]

Mr. Trump remaining optimistic, saying he believes they're going to "get there." Of course one of the biggest hurdles, the deficit.

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SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WI): I think we have enough to stop the process until the president gets serious about the spending reduction and reducing the deficit.

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): I think the cuts currently in the bill are wimpy and anemic, but I still would support the bill even with wimpy and anemic cuts if they weren't going to explode the debt.

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HILL: If -- there is the "if."

With me now former Biden White House director of message planning and Democratic strategist Meghan Hays. And Neil Chatterjee, former FERC chairman and a Republican strategist. It's good to have both of you here.

So Neil, when we look at this, right, we always knew it was going to be a big of an uphill battle it the Senate.

How much of this big, beautiful bill survives?

NEIL CHATTERJEE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST, FORMER FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION (FERC) CHAIRMAN, FORMER POLICY ADVISER TO SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL: Look, I think the Senate is going to make changes. I served as a longtime leadership aide in the United States Senate. I consider myself a little bit of a Senate snob if you will, and there are some significant changes that need to be made.

To be honest, the House -- and I give Speaker Johnson a lot of credit. He worked hard to keep his coalition together and surprised a little people by -- a lot of people by being able to pass this.

But they made changes between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. that really altered the bill in a negative way. I want to specifically highlight there has been a lot of focus on Medicaid cuts and some of the other policy. They made significant changes to gut clean energy tax incentives. They did it between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. at a moment in time where we're trying to win the AI race against China and we need every available electron.

This was not the time to make significant changes to energy policy. United States Senators aren't going to stand for that. They're going to make changes and send this thing back to the House. And I think the House is going to have to accept that. The Senate's going to Senate.

HILL: The Senate is going to Senate. We'll see what happens back in the House. When we look at all this, Meghan, Axios noting the one thing Republicans and Democrats can agree on when it comes to this bill is that this is really going to be the key to the 2026 midterms.

Does this mean that the bill is perhaps finally the thing that gets Democrats united on their messaging moving forward?

MEGHAN HAYS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST, FORMER WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF MESSAGE PLANNING, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION CONSULTANT: Yeah. I mean, you saw that a lot last week. They were -- they all voted against it in the House. They've all been uniting on their messaging in their districts and on -- when they do cable hits, and when they're out there talking to folks. And it's really been interesting to see how they coalesce behind the same message on this.

And it's all about they don't want 14 million people to lose their health insurance. They don't want 18 million kids to lose access to food assistance programs. It's -- there are some real fundamentals to the Democratic Party and the core of who they are that are being cut in this bill. And it's all giving the one percent or the top one to five percent tax cuts, and I think that's where the Democrats have really aligned.

And they are really going to make these frontline Republicans -- they are going to pay for this in their ads when they go up for -- when they're up for re-election. And this is one of those things where it really could decide the '26 election.

HILL: As we watch all that, a number of other things playing out as well.

And Neil, I want to get your take on this. On Friday, the Pentagon released a memo making some changes to press access saying that it's about making the Pentagon more secure.

Does it actually make the Pentagon more secure when fewer reporters have access to officials and when officials aren't answering questions?

CHATTERJEE: I mean, look, this administration has taken steps to kind of recalibrate press access to the administration, but they're pretty open and they're pretty transparent. I mean, I think if you look at the president, in particular, he answers every question, and the White House press briefings are pretty interactive.

Look, I'm an energy guy. I can't necessarily speak to the specifics of what the implications would be for covering the Defense Department. But I will say despite some of these changes, at least as a citizen observing this and not an expert by any means, it seems like they still engage pretty frequently with the press.

HILL: So it seems that it doesn't seem to bother you.

I was also struck in a new interview with Seth Moulton out this morning in Politico. He's talking about the lack of transparency from Sec. Hegseth, specifically, noting "Every other Secretary of Defense in history, as far as I know, has answered questions..." In this case, from Congress.

You know, he and Don Bacon have put out a bipartisan letter asking specifically about decisions that have been made. Seth Moulton, by the way, agrees that the military is a little top heavy.

If a bipartisan letter, Meghan, from Congress cannot get answers from the Secretary of Defense, what can?

HAYS: Look, I think that the Secretary of Defense feels like he reports to one person and that's the president, and that's Donald Trump. I don't think he feels like he is serving for the American people. He serves Donald Trump. And that's the difference here, right?

So I think that all -- and -- but the press access piece, this is something I'm keenly aware of because I used to do this in the White House. Fighting for press access not only for the press domestically but internationally is a huge part of who we are and it's very, very important.

[07:55:00]

And cutting access and getting rid of the wires out of the press pool is extremely detrimental. And not having people answering questions, like Hegseth, or not having access at the Pentagon is extremely detrimental to our transparency.

The American people need to know what our military is up to, and they also need to know what the president is up to. And just because you answer questions and you're not truthful does not mean you're answering questions. That's not being transparent.

HILL: Meghan Hays, Neil Chatterjee, appreciate you both joining us today. Thank you.

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Truck explosion.

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SIDNER: You are not going to believe that no one was actually badly hurt in that explosion. A home security camera near Chicago captured the stunning moment a truck exploding with the driver inside it. It sent debris flying through the air -- you saw there. Police say the driver walked away with just minor injuries. Investigators think a leaking propane tank may have caused that explosion.

Passengers dealing with frightening moments on a flight from Tokyo to Houston. The FBI says that a Nippon Airways flight was diverted to Seattle and had to make an emergency landing Saturday after an unruly passenger tried to open two of the plane's exit doors in mid-air. The crew and passengers were able to restrain him and he was taken to the hospital for a medical evaluation after the plane landed.

The airline says a second passenger, frustrated by the delay, was also removed after punching a bathroom door. No one was injured and the flight eventually did make its way to

Houston.

This morning a manhunt underway for a convicted former police chief who escaped from an Arkansas prison on Sunday. Grant Hardin is serving decades long sentences for murder and rape. Corrections officials saying he was able to escape the prison in Calico Rock by disguising himself wearing a makeshift outfit that looks like law enforcement attire. Authorities are urging anyone with pertinent information to contact authorities immediately -- Erica.

HILL: Well, among the latest victims of the president's funding cuts is Boston's Museum of African American History, which was told in a letter that its federal grant to boost school trips and educational programs was "no longer serves the interests of the United States."

CNN's Sunlen Serfaty visited the museum to learn more about this place that was also a home for the abolitionist's movement -- a spot that educates visitors about the history of the Black community in Boston and beyond.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning.

ALL: Good morning.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): For more than six decades, Boston's Museum of African-American History has been a connection to the past, inspiring students like 7th grader Excel Alabi.

EXCEL ALABI, 7TH GRADER, CODMAN ACADEMY: I realize that like so many people have fought for us, fought for our freedom.

SERFATY (voiceover): The museum is a 200-year-old African meeting house where former slaves and abolitionists like Frederick Douglass once spoke.

MICHAELAH MARSHALL, 7TH GRADER, CODMAN ACADEMY: I feel it. Seeing it, like, in person better than seeing it on screen or on a paper.

DR. NOELLE TRENT, PRESIDENT & CEO, MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY: You get to touch history and engage with history.

SERFATY (voiceover): But school programs like this one may themselves soon be history after the Trump administration sent the museum's CEO a letter saying its grants "no longer serves the interests of the United States."

TRENT: I will forever remember that line. How is the fight against slavery a conflict that literally affected everything from the writing of the declaration to the Constitution through the Civil War that literally divided the country and us not offering a perspective on that story, not in the interest of the United States? SERFATY (voiceover): In April, the museum's $500,000 grant from the federal government was abruptly canceled -- money which was supposed to be used for school field trips and educational programs. And it didn't end there. Corporate support started drying up after Trump took office, which the museum blames on anti-DEI sentiment.

SERFATY: When you received that letter, what was your reaction?

TRENT: I was really shocked.

SERFATY (voiceover): This museum is not alone. The administration has proposed eliminating the agencies that dole out the grants, the National Endowments of the Arts and Humanities. And in the last two months, the White House has pulled tens of millions of dollars in funding from cultural groups across the country, affecting a music program for young children in Nebraska, a young readers program in South Dakota, and the National History Day competition -- valuable programs for kids now wrestling with cutbacks or even closure.

JAMES GROSSMAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION: The Department of Government Efficiency canceled these grants, not the NEH staff. Nobody was involved who actually knew what they were talking about.

SERFATY (voiceover): These changes are an effort by Trump to exert more control over the nation's cultural fabric --

TRUMP: We will teach our children to love our country, to honor our history.

SERFATY (voiceover): -- and drastically shrink the size of the federal government. Many conservatives have long advocated such cuts, arguing arts and humanities programs are a waste of taxpayer money.

SERFATY: Why should taxpayers still be on the hook for this?