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U.S. Cultural Groups Lose Millions of Dollars as Trump Cuts Funding; Trump Calls Putin "Crazy" After Days of Russian Strikes on Ukraine; Trump Again Demands a List of International Students at Harvard; American Charged with a Plot to Attack U.S. Embassy in Israel. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired May 26, 2025 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Vacated such cuts, arguing arts and humanities programs are a waste of taxpayer money.

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

DR. NOELLE TRENT, PRESIDENT AND CEO, MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY: It's a joint investment in our community. Your taxpayer dollars don't always go just to what you can immediately put your hands on, but it also goes into the things that affect your daily lives in sort of very subtle ways.

DR. DERRICK CIESLA, HEAD OF SCHOOL, GODMAN ACADEMY: It would be a tremendous loss for our students because a lot of our students wouldn't experience this in any other way.

SERFATY (voice-over): Including Excel Alabi, who says she learned something about the Civil War she never learned in school.

EXCEL ALABI, 7TH GRADER, CODMAN ACADEMY: Teenagers were going to war just to fight for rights because their families were slaves. Like, that really stuck to me.

SERFATY: So you made a direct connection to teenagers your age.

ALABI: Yes, that was like really amazing. Like high schoolers going to war just to fight for rights.

SERFATY: And there are battles being played out in the courts right now to try to get the funding restored that the administration continues to fight against.

Meantime, as all of this is happening, CNN has also learned that the administration is redirecting some of that money that was pulled in those NEH grants and they're putting it towards the president's proposed National Garden of Americans Heroes Project, a sculpture garden that will cost millions.

(END VIDEOTAPE) SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: New for you this morning, President Trump says Vladimir Putin has, quote, gone absolutely crazy. His comments coming as Russia launching a wave after wave of deadly strikes on Ukraine, the largest drone assault since the war began. The Kremlin now calling Trump's response emotional overload.

Also this morning, President Trump is demanding information on all international students at Harvard as he doubles down on his attack at that university. The students tell us they feel like pawns in an ugly game as the administration tries to halt international enrollment at the school.

And this Memorial Day, we honor the brave men and women who gave everything for America. How Americans are marking the day across the country.

I'm Sara Sidner with Erica Hill. John Berman and Kate Bolduan are off today.

This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, President Trump says Vladimir Putin has gone absolutely crazy. The Kremlin says Trump is having a, quote, emotional overload. The rare abuse between the two countries coming as Ukraine accuses Russia of carrying out the largest air attack since the war began, leaving at least 29 people dead.

Trump posting Putin is needlessly killing a lot of people and warning the Russian president if he tries to conquer all of Ukraine, it will lead to Russia's downfall. Now, this comes after these remarks on Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm not happy with what Putin is doing. He's killing a lot of people. And I don't know what the hell happened to Putin.

I've known him a long time, always gotten along with him, but he's sending rockets into cities and killing people. And I don't like it at all. OK. We're in the middle of talking and he's shooting rockets into Kyiv and other cities. I don't like it at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Well, the president also didn't like what Ukraine's president had to say. Volodymyr Zelenskyy accusing the U.S. of encouraging Putin with his, quote, silence after the weekend's deadly attacks. Trump said, quote, everything out of Zelenskyy's mouth causes problems. I don't like it. And it better stop.

CNN political analyst Jackie Kucinich joining me now.

So some rare criticism, Jackie, from Donald Trump to Vladimir Putin. Of course, then you have the pushback from the Kremlin. I thought it was interesting.

Politico noting either Trump admits he got it all wrong or he decides he was right. But Putin has changed.

I don't see that happening. Not a lot of evidence of Putin changing. So is this the new narrative now?

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It's hard to predict, Erica, honestly. But you're right in that I think anybody who's been paying attention in the last, you know, 20, 30 odd years that Vladimir Putin is not someone that the United States has generally trusted and is not someone who keeps to his word. The fact that the president is now coming to this realization.

I think the real question is, what's next? Does that mean sanctions? The president seemed to hint that that might be on the table. Are they going to arm Ukraine more? Which is something you're hearing from some pro-Ukraine congressman.

That is the real question as to what will happen next, because honestly, the president hasn't really he's been showing less willingness to be involved in this conflict between Russia and Ukraine over the last couple of weeks.

HILL: Yes, absolutely. We've heard the same from J.D. Vance, obviously from Secretary Rubio. I was also struck by the comments from Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the weekend calling out the U.S. silence there. And then you have Trump coming back, clearly unhappy.

[08:05:00]

But it was striking because Zelenskyy has been so measured in the months since that Oval Office incident back in February. The fact that he was speaking out also has some people wondering about what it could mean for talks moving forward.

KUCINICH: It really, truly, because as you mentioned, Trump and Zelenskyy have had a very, we'll just call it a fraught relationship, particularly over since Trump came back to office. But, you know, stretching back to his first term in office, whether or not that Zelenskyy keeps up that drumbeat remains to be seen. But really, just a lot of questions as to what happens next, particularly if Russia keeps up the pressure, keeps up their bombing campaign in Ukraine.

HILL: Yes, absolutely. Jackie, always good to see you. Appreciate it. Thanks -- Sara

SIDNER: Joining me now is CNN senior military analyst, retired Admiral James Stavridis. Sorry, I am Stavridis. I just completely -- my eyes just crossed. He is the former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO and partner of the Carlyle Group, an international investment firm. On all days to do this to you, Memorial Day.

First of all, thank you so much for your service. I swear I will get it right. I want to ask you about what we're seeing here. It seems that Putin at this point is just thumbing his nose at the peace talks, at Trump, at Zelenskyy. And basically, I mean, would you say he's showing them he's going to do what he wants no matter what is said?

ADM. JAMES STAVRIDIS (RET.), CNN SENIOR MILITARY ANALYST: I think that's right, Sara. Another way to put it is that Putin continues to kind of bob and weave in the boxing ring. He is not coming to grips with the fact that President Trump is, in fact, losing patience with him.

And you know what? When President Trump says that Vladimir Putin is absolutely crazy, I can give you my reaction to that in two words. Hallelujah. Amen. Welcome to Team West, Team Democracy. It's really time we did more than just call out Vladimir Putin.

And as you just heard Jackie talking about a moment ago, I think the three levers that President Trump has over Putin are, number one, $300 billion in Russian assets that are frozen in Western banks under the control of Brussels.

Number two, let's give the Ukrainians more long range weapons so they can reach further into Russia itself and hold Russian infrastructure and military targets at risk.

And I think number three and probably most obvious and could be done tonight would be sanctions, secondary sanctions. Anybody who does business with Russia cannot do business with the United States.

So bottom line, Sara, we have leverage. President Trump sounds to me like he's ready to use it. Let's hope they go forward in that spirit on this Memorial Day.

SIDNER: Look, at the same time, though, we're while we're hearing him for the first time, really going after Putin, calling him absolutely crazy, as you mentioned. We're also hearing him go after Zelenskyy again. Zelenskyy felt like the United States was silent after this, the worst drone attack that they've seen since the war began.

And I'm curious if this sort of unfortunately levels the playing field in Trump's mind, because he's also said to Zelenskyy, you know, to basically knock it off, that he doesn't like to hear what he has to say on this. What do you think of the relationships and how that all plays into this?

STAVRIDIS: Life is so often compared to what and compared to a couple of months ago when Zelenskyy was literally kicked out of the Oval Office. And there were, I think, quite serious threats to simply cut off intelligence permanently. We had done so on a temporary basis.

That was really rock bottom. So compared to then, I think we're in a much better place. Here would be my advice to President Zelenskyy.

Manage your Trump account carefully right now. This is not the time to be critical, to say, you know, why haven't we heard more from the United States? And frankly, hearing Donald Trump call Putin absolutely crazy is a great moment for Ukraine.

What I would be telling President Zelenskyy is stand up and applaud when you finally get the president of the United States to say what you need him to say and to be the leader of the band of the West. So I think it's a moment for Zelenskyy to manage the Trump account. And it is, I hope, a moment where President Trump will, in fact, use leverage and not become impatient and just walk away from this situation.

SIDNER: I'm curious. There's still money set aside that the Trump administration has not unleashed, has not using to give to Ukraine.

[08:10:02]

Is there a real possibility that the United States and the Trump administration itself just bows out and lets things go in whichever way it happens to go?

STAVRIDIS: I certainly hope not. And of course, my successor is Supreme Allied Commander of NATO is sitting right on top of all that equipment, all that additional weapons systems that could be flowed into that combat scene. And I think help the Ukrainians quite a bit.

So this is the moment, in my view, for all who support Ukraine and their fight for freedom again on this Memorial Day. Now's a good time to get behind Ukraine, encourage the administration to move those weapons systems forward.

And last thought, Sara, the Europeans are coalescing in this moment. You're seeing Berlin and London, Warsaw. You're seeing Paris truly come together to say we stand with Ukraine. I think it's a pretty good moment for the United States to say the same.

Together, the U.S. and Europe are an unstoppable force. Putin cannot succeed against that Team West.

SIDNER: Yes, and you're extremely, extremely concerned that Ukraine is just the first of potentially many that Russia could invade. Admiral James Stavridis, thank you so much. And happy Memorial Day. I hope you are able to commemorate this day with your family -- Erica.

HILL: Well still come here. What President Trump is now demanding from Harvard University amid this heated battle over international students.

Plus, authorities still searching this morning for five of the 10 inmates who staged that brazen jailbreak in New Orleans, as investigators revealed they used hair clippers to break through a wall.

And some local independent pharmacies warn President Trump's proposed tariffs on imported drugs could be the final blow for them.

[08:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HILL: This morning, thousands of international students at Harvard remain in limbo as the Trump administration tries to ban the school from enrolling international students. A federal judge has temporarily blocked the move, but the legal battle is far from over. There's a hearing set for Thursday.

Meantime, at least one Harvard student saying they feel dehumanized while acknowledging both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia issues on campus. He told us last hour the president's legal maneuvers are not the solution.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABDULLAH SHAHID SIAL, CO-PRESIDENT, HARVARD UNDERGRADUATE ASSOCIATION: I also want to make it very, very clear that this deporting international students at large, which include Israeli students, doesn't solve the problem at all. You can't reach a solution to this problem by simply kicking everyone out of the campus.

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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Yesterday, President Trump again demanded a list of Harvard's foreign students citing concerns about anti-Semitism and suggesting international students are taking up the spots of deserving American students.

Joining us now, the executive director of the National Immigration Project, Sirine Shebaya. It's good to have you with us.

So just to establish sort of on a factual basis here, as we look at all of this ahead of this hearing coming on Thursday, it is ultimately the federal government who gets to decide whether or not a person gets a visa. What legal recourse does Harvard have here?

SIRINE SHEBAYA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL IMMIGRATION PROJECT: Well, in this case, Erica, the past few months have seen a number of very focused targeted attacks against international students, all of which have really swiftly been denounced by courts across the country as being quite unlawful and arbitrary. When you think about the landscape of student visas and student records, this is a highly organized and legislated space because if you don't have an orderly way of running these programs and predictability about the circumstances where someone could lose their certification or their visas, what you get is utter chaos.

And I think over the past few weeks and months, we've seen a number of targeted attacks against international students in a way that is quite unprecedented.

We've seen mass revocations of visas, terminations of student records, high profile retaliation against student activists, and now this latest round of volleys in the context of a campaign against Harvard and other academic institutions. And the destabilizing effect on international students has been profound.

And while there is legal recourse to go to court and claim your rights and try to get redress, for some people, it may end up being a little bit too late because some people get these notices and leave or are sort of uncertain about their status in ways that can be kind of damaging beyond the immediate moment or the ability to even litigate your case all the way through to the end.

HILL: So this started, you know, with DHS asking for specific information about all of the international students that Harvard has, and including wanting to know, according to the letter, any examples of, and I'm quoting here, known deprivation of rights of other classmates or university personnel by visa holders, and also whether any had left Harvard due to, quote, dangerous or violent activity.

So they want to know about threats, illegal activity made by students, and whether foreign students may have somehow obstructed the school's learning environment or how a, quote, dangerous or violent activity. So they want to know about threats, illegal activity made by students, and whether foreign students may have somehow obstructed the school's learning environment or how a person felt.

That would seem to that it's a very subjective piece of information that they are asking for. How does that strike you that that is part of a list of information that the government is asking for.

SHEBAYA: I mean when you put it against the context of these quite high profile targeted attacks against international students who have engaged in political activity that the administration doesn't approve of. It can be quite terrifying for international students to understand that, you know, there might be a list of names and a list of details that are not necessarily based in reality.

When you think about deprivation of rights that's something that governments do usually not like an international student who's here without a lot of networks who is trying to pursue a course of study. And it just seems like very inflammatory language that is designed to put people on edge and make them feel insecure which has a huge impact not just on students at Harvard but also more generally on the willingness of international students to come here and to really pursue both their courses of study. But also the massive contributions that they have traditionally made to the U.S. economy and business and technology and scientific research. All of that.

HILL: Yes those are those are massive as you point out and very important contributions. Sirine, really appreciate it. Thank you -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. An American man is facing charges of plotting to attack the U.S. Embassy branch office in Tel Aviv. Investigators found Molotov cocktails at the scene. We're getting new details on that investigation.

And last week brought explosive testimony especially from that of a famous rapper Kid Cudi in the trial of music mogul Sean Combs. What we can expect when testimony resumes this week. Those stories and more ahead.

[08:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: A developing story this morning. An American man is in custody in New York facing federal charges after allegedly plotting to firebomb a branch office of the U.S. Embassy in Israel.

The Department of Justice says Joseph Neumeier spat on an embassy guard in Tel Aviv last week. When the guard tried to restrain him, he fled but left behind his backpack, which allegedly contained three Molotov cocktails.

CNN Senior National Security Analyst and former DHS Assistant Secretary Juliette Kayyem joining me now. Juliette, always good to have you to help me put this in perspective.

I'm sort of struck by some of the details here. First of all, the U.S. Embassy in Israel, kind of a tough building to get to, highly fortified, highly guarded. And also to travel to Israel to target the U.S. Embassy there. Those just seem odd to me.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes, I mean, it shows a certain amount of premeditation. What we do know is he's a Chicago resident. He's now been extradited to New York.

He travels to Israel with some amount of time before this attack. He starts posting online his desire to attack the embassy. So we'll find out whether anyone notified officials about that, had it been monitored before. It sounds like not. And then he goes after the fortress embassy in Tel Aviv.

People will remember that there is a sort of consular presence in Tel Aviv as the U.S. Embassy was moving to Jerusalem. But when people say the embassy in Israel, they tend to mean Tel Aviv. And that is where he encountered the guard.

And then I don't know if he panicked. I don't know if he felt like he was caught. But he leaves the backpack behind. All of that suggests someone who is enraged with political and anti-Semitic animus, but also someone who may not have been sophisticated to carry out the attack.

HILL: You know, as you're laying out the questions that a lot of us have, I'm curious from your point of view, what are the main questions that you would like answered this morning about this and specifically about, not just about him, but also about the investigation?

KAYYEM: Yes, I mean, look, he's also a German citizen. He holds joint citizenship. His name does not disclose -- it's a German surname. So where are his politics coming from? How does he get radicalized in his postings?

While this is an attack in Israel, it's very anti-United States. It's not really aligned with what we've seen. And unfortunately, most recently, the sort of focus on Gaza.

So and then he decides to travel. How does he get the sort of -- we don't know the details of what constituted the Molotov cocktail? And who else may have known? That's where the investigation is going to go.

This was kept pretty quiet until he arrives in New York. So some investigation was clearly going on in Israel.

He arrives in New York and we can't get the exact timing, but it was happening relatively within the same timeframe as the horrible attack here in the United States against the two Israeli diplomats last week.

HILL: Yes, it is tough to ignore that timing there, Juliet. Always good to talk to you. Thank you.

KAYYEM: Thank you.

HILL: The Pentagon is putting new restrictions on reporters who cover the U.S. military. Just ahead, those new rules clamping down on press freedoms and why the Pentagon says they're needed.

Plus, Memorial Day is, of course, the unofficial start to summer. So how are Americans marking the day? There's your clue.