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Emmanuel Macron Facing Scrutiny; Federal Workers Struggling to Access Benefits; Trump Backtracks on European Tariffs; Trump Lashes Out at Putin. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired May 26, 2025 - 13:00   ET

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

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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: An onslaught on Ukraine, as Russia launches the biggest aerial attack of the three-year war. President Trump saying Russian leader Vladimir Putin -- quote -- "has gone absolutely crazy."

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Plus: kidnapped and tortured for his Bitcoin. A 37-year-old investor now charged with snatching a man, assaulting him to get access to his cryptocurrency. We have details on what he was plotting.

And if you're tired of high ticket prices for concerts, one band is doing something about it, The All-American Rejects taking their music to house parties, possibly crashing one out of town near you.

We're following these stories and many more, all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KEILAR: President Trump is giving his harshest rebuke yet of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Over the last three nights, Russia has launched its largest-ever drone and missile attacks on Ukraine. They have killed at least 29 people. They have injured dozens more across the country, according to Ukrainian officials.

And that, combined with Putin's refusal to accept a proposed 30-day cease-fire, appeared to prompt Trump to post this on social media -- quote -- "I have always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely crazy."

SANCHEZ: Notably, though, in the same set of posts, Trump criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, writing -- quote -- "Likewise, President Zelenskyy is doing his country no favors by talking the way he does. Everything out of his mouth causes problems. I don't like it, and it better stop."

Today, the Kremlin responded to Trump's critical remarks, downplaying them as -- quote -- "emotional reactions."

Let's take you now live to the White House with CNN's Kristen Holmes.

So, Kristen, what are you learning about Trump's tone shift on the Russian leader?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I have been told for by administration officials that there is an increased frustration within Trump's inner circle, within the administration at Vladimir Putin's actions, particularly with Donald Trump, because these attacks came after that 2.5-hour phone call that Trump and Putin held last week.

And just a reminder, Donald Trump, as he says even in that post, he's continued to tout his -- quote -- "good relationship with Vladimir Putin." And instead of focusing really on the war, publicly, he started focusing on things like economic partnerships and trade deals with Russia should Russia end the war, but, clearly, again, an increased frustration after this most recent aerial assault.

Here is what Donald Trump told reporters yesterday:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

HOLMES: Now, one of the reporters asked if he was continuing -- if he was considering additional sanctions. And Donald Trump said yes, he was because of Putin's behavior.

That seemed almost off the table completely last week after that phone call. One other thing I want to point out here, because we heard this both in that post and as well when Donald Trump was talking to reporters, he continues to try and back away from this conflict that he at one point promised to resolve.

He continues to say that this is everyone's problem but his, including Zelenskyy's, Putin's and even Joe Biden's.

KEILAR: All right, Kristen Holmes, thank you so much for that report live for us from the White House.

Colonel Cedric Leighton, retired U.S. Air Force, is with us now. Try to help us understand what is going on here, because I think what is clear to so many observers, but maybe not the president, is that nothing has really changed about Vladimir Putin. So is this Trump maybe having an epiphany? Is this Trump trying to put

some pressure on Putin? How do you see it?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, Brianna, I mean, there's several possibilities here, but it's definitely true that Putin is not changing.

And so the president's diagnosis that Putin has changed and that he's gone crazy is not a correct diagnosis. Putin has some very clear war aims in mind. Now, the best thing for the Trump administration would actually be to have this epiphany, because the only way they can adequately deal with Putin is to be realistic about Putin, to understand that his aims are to not only prosecute the war in Ukraine as far as they possibly can, but to potentially take over all of Ukraine.

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That war aim has not changed. They might not be successful in it, but that is definitely the goal that they have.

KEILAR: And then you have his top spokesperson saying that this is emotional overload.

LEIGHTON: Yes.

KEILAR: I mean, if anyone wanted to try to trigger anyone, I think that's what you would say about something that they had -- that you perceive to be an insult from them.

What is Russia trying to do with that?

LEIGHTON: So they're trying to get into -- get back into Trump's head at this particular point in time.

So, Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman for the Kremlin, is somebody who is going to be very much focused on not only impacting what Trump is saying, but kind of throwing, in essence, doubt in his direction, casting doubt on his ability to actually run affairs here in the U.S. And he's casting doubt on really this new position that Trump might be developing here vis-a-vis the Ukrainians.

And that is going to, I think, impact the way in which they actually handle this effort. So, if Trump takes this as an insult, that could actually be bad for Russia. And they better be a little careful with this.

But it is very typical for the Russians to do this kind of thing, to kind of play with the psychology of these moments here.

KEILAR: So, in terms of concrete next steps, though, is it clear to you that Trump has a plan, besides trying to broker a cease-fire?

Because he was asked -- aside from saying that absolutely he would consider sanctions, which is not the same thing as we're going to go with sanctions, he just said, we will see. There's no real explanation of a concrete plan. Do you see one?

LEIGHTON: I don't see one right now, because -- and this is something that both the Biden administration and the Trump administration have been somewhat slow to respond to, how Russia is actually behaving.

A concrete plan could certainly involve sanctions, and I think the Biden administration was a bit clearer in the way they promulgated some of their reactions to what the Russians were doing. But when it comes to President Trump, it seems as if he is getting into a point where he may very well consider sanctions.

Certainly, the Europeans, the NATO countries, want to have sanctions. They want to strengthen sanctions. Other things that they could do would be to do things like cut off of the so-called shadow ships that the Russians have, where they're using the oil piece -- where they move oil from Russia, in some cases legally, out of the Baltics.

And that would be something where not only sanctions would work, but there's real economic pressure. They would also need to do some things beyond sanctions, in my opinion, in order to actually get to next steps to force Russia to the negotiating table.

And that could involve things like the no -- a no-fly zone, could involve things like a partial blockade or something like that. But that's the kind of stuff that they're going to have to do.

KEILAR: And remind us where the war is, because, clearly, Putin is trying to strengthen his position. And if this were to head towards a cease-fire, he's actually putting himself in a better position, horrible airstrikes, drone strikes here recently.

Where do things stand?

LEIGHTON: So, last night, basically, 355 drones forced against the Ukrainian air defense systems. What they're doing is, they're, in essence, softening the ground. It looks like they're moving, trying to move into the Sumy region, which is bordering the Russian region of Kursk, where the Ukrainians were.

They may also try to move into the Kharkiv region. And they're certainly moving, the Russians are certainly moving into the eastern part, where they're trying to get beyond the town of Pokrovsk and some of the other towns that are in that area.

Now, they have taken Pokrovsk, but they haven't been able to prosecute that advantage yet. So, the Russians are bogged down, at least, up to this point, are bogged down. But they have got some troops that are waiting in the wings, and they're going into a phase where we're now approaching summer, and that's the time for a lot of offensives.

So they may try to duplicate what the Ukrainians did kind of in reverse a few years ago, and that is something that we can expect. We can expect an offensive by the Russians this summer, for sure.

KEILAR: All right, we will be looking for that.

Colonel Leighton, always great to have your perspective. Thank you.

LEIGHTON: Thanks, Brianna.

KEILAR: Boris.

SANCHEZ: Now to another pivot from President Donald Trump, this one in his ongoing trade war.

Just over 48 hours after threatening 50 percent tariffs on the European Union, Trump is now giving negotiators more time, the president agreeing to delay those tariffs until July 9 after he had a -- quote -- "very nice call" with the president of the European Commission.

Let's discuss with Rick Newman. He's a senior columnist at Yahoo Finance.

Rick, thanks so much for being with us.

This is yet another cycle where the president threatens tariffs and then delays them. What do you think changed his calculus this time during that phone call?

RICK NEWMAN, SENIOR COLUMNIST, YAHOO FINANCE: It sounds like somebody said something Trump liked on the phone.

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One of the things some of these other countries have been doing is, they have been slow-rolling Trump a little bit. China is doing this as well. So, instead of responding immediately when Trump makes a threat of new tariffs, in some cases, they're just sitting back and watching to see how Trump reacts to the damage the threat of these tariffs are causing in his own economy and his own markets and sort of letting Trump absorb that blow a little bit before they respond.

So, somebody from Europe finally responded. Trump got the attention that he wanted. So, for now, we're not going to get the 50 percent tariff on imports from the E.U. But July 9 is coming fast, and I just remind people, July 9 is just an arbitrary deadline. That's when the so-called pause on the reciprocal tariffs, those fairly high tariffs on a country-by-country basis, that's when that pause expires.

So, in theory, those tariffs could go back into effect, but this is all up to Trump, so he could change it any time he wants to.

SANCHEZ: Do you think, Rick, it's fair to say that these trading partners are seeing this cycle of escalation and then de-escalation as something that's built into dealing with Trump?

And I wonder whether you think that that style of dealmaking can actually reach a better deal for U.S. consumers or manufacturers, despite potentially damaging the credibility of the White House?

NEWMAN: There is a game of chicken going on here. And the game of chicken is, how long will Trump hold out with these tariff threats and with the actual tariffs, given what happens in the U.S. economy? So Trump has backed down in some measure. He clearly back down from the 145 percent tariff on Chinese imports.

And I'm sure that the timing mattered there, because people were probably telling Trump there are no imports coming into United States with this 145 percent tariff on, so if you don't change that soon, we're going to start having shortages right around midsummer, end summer, back-to-school season.

So I think everybody who's negotiating with Trump sees this. It's a it's a -- these are multifaceted negotiations. I mean, there are many variables here. But a very important variable is what happens in the U.S. economy that damages markets here or damages the actual economy. And that is going to continue.

One of the things that I'm sure trading partners are looking for is, when is inflation actually going to start to go up in a perceptible way here in the U.S. economy? Because these taxes on imports are going to make prices higher. And people are going to start to see higher prices within -- it could be weeks at this point, by midsummer, let's say.

So I'm sure all the trading partners want to know, what kind of effect is that going to have on Trump, and is that going to give them any leverage? So, to some extent, these trading partners feel like it might be in their interest just to wait and let things unfold.

SANCHEZ: I also wonder about potential damage to the dollar itself.

You had the head of Europe's Central Bank today questioning the dominance of the global dollar as a currency. Do you think the dollar is losing ground, and what, if anything, could replace it?

NEWMAN: Well, the dollar has been losing value relative to other currencies. That doesn't necessarily mean it's losing this crucial status it has as the reserve currency of the world.

The best thing the dollar has going for it is, there's no obvious alternative. It's not going to be the euro. It certainly is not going to be the Chinese currency or really any other currency. There's just no other currency that has as large a marker, as much circulation.

But the message from markets to Washington is, you guys really need to start getting serious about your fiscal deficit, about political dysfunction. You need to start demonstrating you can show problems.

And if you can't, with this debt crisis that many experts have been worrying about for years, we may be seeing the beginning of it now, and a weaker dollar would be one effect. So would higher interest rates than we would otherwise have, which cost everybody more money, including the U.S. government.

SANCHEZ: Rick Newman, fascinating to get your perspective. Thanks for joining us. NEWMAN: Thanks, guys.

SANCHEZ: Still ahead: canceled health insurance and bungled benefits. Federal workers say their lives have been thrown into -- quote -- "absolute, utter chaos" after they were fired in DOGE cuts. We're going to bring you their stories.

KEILAR: Plus: The Israeli military issues an evacuation order for most of Southern Gaza ahead of what they're calling an unprecedented attack. We are live from the region.

And a crypto investor charged with kidnapping and torturing a man for weeks inside an upscale Manhattan apartment allegedly to get the man's Bitcoin password. We will tell you what authorities are saying about the victim's daring escape coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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SANCHEZ: A new CNN report out today reveals that the mass layoffs by the Trump administration have left some current and former federal employees struggling to get their workplace benefits, including health insurance and pension payments as well.

KEILAR: Yes, CNN has reviewed documents and conducted interviews with some affected workers.

CNN senior reporter Marshall Cohen is with us now with the details on this.

What are you hearing, Marshall?

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, we're hearing that it's a huge mess for the affected federal employees.

Remember, a couple months ago, first few weeks of the administration, they fired tens of thousands of newer probationary employees, and then a few weeks later, they were reinstated, right? Good news. But for some of these employees, it was a little more complicated than that, because the whiplash, the back-and-forth, created all kinds of bureaucratic hiccups for them as they tried to make sure that they had stuff like their health benefits and other things that they are entitled to.

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We spoke to employees that described losing their health care for weeks, perhaps months for some of them. One IRS employee said that, during that lapse, she had to take her son to the E.R. because he was having an allergic reaction. She knew on her way to the hospital that she didn't have insurance. Now she's got a $3,000 bill.

Another employee from the Department of Education described how her husband had to skip some cancer appointments during that time period as well. They said this was like a nightmare. I want to read for you a couple quotes from the people that we

interviewed for this story -- quote -- "I was on the phone every single day for two weeks. I broke down in tears. If I got into an accident, that's going to bankrupt me."

Another employee said: "It felt like I'd been forgotten about."

And the fourth person we spoke to said there's been -- quote -- "no communication, no kindness, no compassion."

We spoke to some other folks from other federal agencies that said it's not just health insurance. Workers comp, that's been really slow in getting that approved, and pension payments as well, some delays there. And when they call to try to get help, a lot of the folks from H.R. have been fired.

SANCHEZ: Wow.

Marshall, how is the Trump administration responding?

COHEN: Well, we did ask the White House for comment. They did not give us anything for this story.

We do have a statement from the Department of Education, where some of the affected workers were employed. A spokeswoman there said -- quote -- "Well, we acknowledge transitions are difficult, employees have been fully informed and supported during the changes." And they say that they're having weekly sessions to provide training and resource to make sure that everyone has what they need, although the workers told us a bit of a different story.

And we did check in with some of the insurance companies, and they insist that this is not a widespread issue.

KEILAR: I haven't heard from a single fired federal employee who feels that they have been supported or even currently employed ones, so hearing similar to what you're hearing there.

Marshall, great reporting. Thank you so much, Marshall Cohen.

COHEN: You bet.

KEILAR: Now to some of the other headlines that we're watching this hour.

A manhunt is under way for a former police chief who escaped from a prison in Arkansas yesterday afternoon. Grant Hardin was serving decades long sentences for rape and murder. Corrections officials say he escaped after wearing a makeshift disguise to imitate law enforcement. He's considered extremely dangerous and should not be approached.

SANCHEZ: Also, officials say, an All Nippon Airways flight from Tokyo to Houston had to be diverted to Seattle on Saturday after a passenger allegedly tried to open two of the plane's exit doors mid-flight. The FBI says the crew and passengers were able to restrain him. He was then taken to a hospital for medical evaluation after the plane

landed. The airline says that a second passenger frustrated by the delay was also removed after punching a bathroom door. No one was injured and the flight eventually made its way to Houston.

And North Korean state-run media reports the arrest of four people who the government claims were responsible for the botched launch of the country's newest warship. You see it there in the satellite images showing most of the warship covered in blue tarps. The vessel reportedly slid into the water prematurely last week. Leader Kim Jong- un had described the incident as a criminal act, vowing to punish those responsible.

French President Emmanuel Macron's office is trying to downplay video that apparently shows his wife, Brigitte, shoving his face.

KEILAR: Yes, the video was taken as the two were to -- preparing there to get off a plane in Vietnam, the first stop in Macron's tour of Southeast Asia.

CNN's Saskya Vandoorne has the latest reaction from Paris.

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SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN SENIOR FIELD PRODUCER: This short video of President Macron and his wife, Brigitte, pushing his face as they land in Vietnam is going viral and has caught the attention of Russian trolls.

Later, Macron appears to offer his arm, but France's first lady opts to hold the railing instead. The Elysee Palace initially denied anything unusual had happened, calling it a moment of togetherness and playful teasing in a statement.

Macron later told journalists he was surprised by the attempt to twist the moment.

EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): There is a video now which opens. We're in the middle of bickering and rather joking with my wife. And I'm surprised by how this becomes a kind of geo-planetary catastrophe.

VANDOORNE: French officials say the moment will likely feed the mills of conspiracy theorists and Russian trolls. It's already become a target for pro-Russian accounts and Russian state media, who viewed it as a possible opportunity to spread misinformation.

And this isn't the first time. Earlier this month, prominent Kremlin officials claimed Macron was using cocaine on a train trip to Kyiv with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. French officials say a crumpled tissue was mistaken for a bag of drugs.

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Macron's office debunked the rumor with humor, tweeting: "This is a tissue for blowing your nose."

Officials say these efforts are part of a wider Kremlin campaign to undermine Europe's steadfast support for Ukraine in the war against Russia.

Saskya Vandoorne, CNN, Paris.

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SANCHEZ: Our thanks to Saskya for that report.

A number of theories here.

KEILAR: And? Go on.

SANCHEZ: Did he eat the last glizzy? Did he have a bug on his face and she was simply trying to get the bug out of his face? There's a number of things that could have happened.

KEILAR: Can two things be true? There could be a campaign to try to spread disinformation. There could also be some playful bickering that could have been a little more playful.

SANCHEZ: That got handsy?

KEILAR: That got -- yes, all right.

Coming up: ditching arenas for backyards, the rock band The All- American Rejects putting the spotlight on the soaring cost of concert tickets by performing at house parties across the country. I want that to be my backyard.

SANCHEZ: Yes?

KEILAR: The cops would get called. Nonetheless...

SANCHEZ: The lawn damage, you ready for that? Come on.

KEILAR: Oh, fully, fully ready.

(LAUGHTER)

KEILAR: The front man for the band will join us ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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