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Trump Calls Putin "Crazy" After Days Of Russian Strikes On Ukraine; Economists, Retailers Warn Tariffs Could Hike Prices This Summer; NIH Staff Stage Walkout During Director's Town Hall; Driver Survives Truck Explosion Near Chicago; Phil Robertson Of "Duck Dynasty" Fame Dies At Age 79; U.S. Wins World Hockey Championship For First Time In 90 Years. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired May 26, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

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[15:01:09]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: A barrage of strikes on Ukraine and new frustration with Russia in the White House. President Trump saying that Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, quote, "Has gone absolutely crazy."

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And is this the end of so-called revenge travel? Why agents say the surge in post-pandemic travel has hit a brick wall and what that means for Americans booking their summer vacations?

And it's the spelling bee to end all spelling bees, we're going to speak with a 7th grader from Texas who is hoping to win this week's Scripps National Spelling Bee after a close loss in last year's epic contest.

We're following these stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN News C-E-N-T-R-A-L CENTRAL.

SANCHEZ: Thank you so much for sharing part of your Memorial Day with us. I'm Boris Sanchez alongside Brianna Keilar in the nation's capital.

And today, we're following the latest developments after President Donald Trump not once but twice publicly rebuked Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Over the last three nights, Russia has launched its largest ever drone and missile attacks on Ukraine. Ukrainian officials say that they've claimed at least 29 lives, dozens more injured.

That led to Trump telling reporters that he doesn't, quote, "know what the hell happened to Putin."

KEILAR: Just hours later, President Trump posted on social media that Putin, quote, "has gone absolutely crazy." The Kremlin is now downplaying Trump's critical remarks as, quote, "emotional reactions." CNN's Kristen Holmes joining us now from the White House.

Kristen, why is Trump ramping up his criticism of Putin now?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, first of all, I just can't believe that President Trump likes his reaction being called a, quote, "emotional reaction."

KEILAR: Yes.

HOLMES: But it is clear from this public response that he is growing more frustrated with it. You know, we've talked a lot about how there have been this barrage of attacks over the last several months while Donald Trump has been in office, and yet he still hasn't spoken out against Putin until now. But this is coming after the two leaders talked on the phone for two and a half hours, Donald Trump saying he believed that Putin still wanted peace. Clearly, from what we saw last night, what we've been seeing, Donald Trump, it's hard for him to continue to say that, given this.

So, we've seen this frustration rise. It's been moving from the conversation that Donald Trump has tried to have, which was that he had a good relationship with Putin. Really, instead of focusing on the war in Ukraine, focusing instead on potential partnerships for trade or economic partnerships if Russia were to end the war. But now we're seeing a shift completely in his tone. This is what he told reporters about Putin last night.

(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, okay? 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 most interesting parts about this Q&A that he did with reporters is he was asked if he was going to consider more sanctions on Russia, and he said yes because of what Putin was doing. That seemed almost off the table completely after the two leaders had spoken last week.

Now, the other thing I want to point out here is that Donald Trump continues to try and back away from this issue that he once promised to resolve. He is blaming everyone, saying that this is Zelenskyy's problem, that this is Putin's problem, that this is even Biden's problem, as he inches away from actually trying to negotiate between these two countries.

SANCHEZ: And, Kristen, President Trump took an unusual direction, or at least unusual for most presidents, with his remarks while honoring fallen service members at Arlington National Cemetery today. He took swipes at his political opponents.

HOLMES: That's right, Boris, perhaps it's not that surprising, given what we had heard earlier in the morning, where he said happy Memorial Day to all, including the scum that spent the last four years trying to destroy our country through warped, radical left minds.

[15:05:11]

That was his Memorial Day greeting on Truth Social, something that we've really become almost accustomed to at this point, these kind of aggressive airing of grievances that he does on the holidays. But then he continued that, at least in part, when he was at Arlington Cemetery, taking a veiled jab at his predecessor, Joe Biden. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The valor gave us the freest, greatest, and most noble republic ever to exist on the face of the earth, a republic that I am fixing after a long and hard four years. That was a hard four years we went through.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: He also went on to say, who would let that happen? People pouring in through the borders unchecked, kind of doubling down on all of his immigration rhetoric. As for now, Donald Trump, the President is playing golf at his golf club on this Memorial Day. Boris and Brianna?

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

We're joined now by Major Mike Lyons, retired from the U.S. Army.

Major, thanks so much for being with us here.

I think we can say that even though there are pretty dramatic attacks that we are seeing by Russia in Ukraine, drone attacks, airstrikes, this isn't a departure for Putin. Nothing has significantly changed there, but the rhetoric from Trump about Putin is significantly escalated. How are you seeing it?

MAJOR MIKE LYONS, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Hi, Brianna. No question, the rhetoric has shifted. And who's that message for? Is he obviously saying that to Vladimir Putin, but I think he's saying that to the American public, trying to gauge whether or not it would be popular for him to get more involved and have the country more involved inside Ukraine right now. They are desperately in need of air defense platforms. They could possibly get it from other countries as well. But from our perspective, that's something we should be able to provide them.

And I'd like to think that what he thought was a simple equation back when he first took over, he'd solved this problem in 24 hours. He's seeing now it's a very difficult one to solve. And so, I think that he's trying to see what the temperature is of the American population with regard to helping Ukraine more. Because right now, Russia has all allies, the Chinese, the North Koreans, the Iranians. I mean, they're all in and they have time on their side. So, I think that's part of his strategy here.

KEILAR: So, to you, that's a signal that he might consider doing something to shore up Ukraine. Is that also perhaps a signal to Putin that he is considering doing something to shore up Ukraine as he tries to get Putin to the negotiating table?

LYONS: Yes, I think so. The negotiations have failed so far. They continue to launch attacks inside of Ukraine while they're talking. He says in the past that he wants to carry a big stick. He threatens that with the Iranians, for example, in their nuclear negotiations. I think that this is the opportunity to talk to Russia. This is the only way that Russia will pay attention, I think.

They recognize that they could win a war of attrition. They have time on their side. They believe the West will eventually fail. We don't see anything from the European leaders anymore about Ukraine. This is 100 percent for America to help the Ukrainians solve. I wish he wouldn't both sides it. I know he made that comment about Zelenskyy as well, which was not fair from that perspective. But perhaps this could be the beginning of putting more, not only sanctions on Russia, which really won't do much, but more military hardware in country.

KEILAR: Can you really imagine him doing that with Ukraine? It would be seen as a reversal of his approach dramatically.

LYONS: Yes, it would be a, excuse me, significant reversal. But I think that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs and I think, excuse me, most of the military advisors would say that's really the only option he could do right now. There's not much more he's able to do. The sanctions won't affect in time. And it would be a reversal, which is why I think he's trying to get the American public on his side with this situation.

KEILAR: Yes, I mean, every guest we have on says that really is something that he needs to have in his - the top of his list of considerations he might be looking at.

Major Mike Lyons, thanks so much for being with us. Really appreciate it. Boris.

LYONS: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Pivoting now to President Donald Trump's trade wars. Over the weekend, the President agreed to give the European Union until July 9th to negotiate a new trade deal. This was after he threatened to hike tariffs to 50 percent at the start of June. But with the unofficial kickoff summer now upon us, economists and some retailers have been warning that price hikes could soon be heating up with all this recent tariff whiplash, including on some summer staples like fireworks and beer.

With us now is the CEO of Stew Leonard's Grocery Store, Stew Leonard Jr.

Stew, always great to see you.

[15:10:00]

How are grocery prices looking this Memorial Day, especially leaning into the barbecue range of options?

STEW LEONARD JR., CEO, STEW LEONARD'S GROCERY STORES: I will get to that. But first, I want to thank all our veterans today on Memorial Day. You know, thank you for your service that you've done for our country. I appreciate that.

As far as the store goes, you know what it's all about? Burgers. You know, these are just - you know, this is like hot right now. We have a fillet mignon burger. Customers are gobbling it up. Overall, in the store, we feel a pretty good sense of flow with our customers right now. It looks like prices are the same as last year. You know, there's a couple little ups, a couple little downs, like eggs and butter are down. But overall, you know, most customers are going to pay the same as they did last year.

SANCHEZ: You mentioned eggs. They are slightly down. They actually fell 18 percent last month. Do you think that's going to hold?

LEONARD: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Where do you see egg prices going?

LEONARD: Well, you know what? That was all avian flu. I don't think it had anything to do with Trump or any other thing. That was a supply and demand issue that happened. And now a lot of the flocks have increased their size. So, you're seeing egg prices are half of what they were. And, you know, I would say they'll stabilize right now.

But, you know, customers, I think, overall, our meat prices may be up a little bit, but that's all U.S. domestic beef right now that we sell. So, we shouldn't expect any problem with tariffs on our beef. You know, one of the things, you'll like this, Boris, but, you know, one of the things that's - one of our best sellers is salmon. So, check this baby out right here, okay? How do you like this guy?

SANCHEZ: Very nice.

LEONARD: That's a beautiful. That's one of our best things. Now, you know what? That's a dollar a pound less right now. And because of NAFTA, we're not tariffed on salmon. And the other thing that's a biggie from Mexico is these avocados. We're not tariffed on that either. So, these prices are remaining pretty constant right there.

The problem we're worried about is this right here, which everybody loves. It's tequila. You know, it's a hot, it's a growing trend. More and more people are drinking it. And that a lot of our suppliers have brought in stateside free tariff. So, we don't expect any problems from the wines from Europe as far as tequila, even as far as tariffs goes until next month. You know, like all retailers, we have our fingers crossed that this tariff thing will be worked out.

SANCHEZ: Yes, that'd be huge because then you could, you know, grill that salmon, put some guac on top of it, maybe some feta, red onion, top it off with a margarita. That all sounds amazing.

I know, Stew, that you sell products from over a hundred local farms. I wonder how the smaller suppliers are doing, if they were able to stock up ahead of time and not have to deal with some of these tariffs.

LEONARD: Well, you know, one of the things that we relied on during COVID was our suppliers, they bent over backwards to help Stew Leonard's out. We now are going to bend over backwards to help them out because there are a lot of smaller ones that are getting tariffed.

What I'm doing mostly with the smaller ones, because we don't want them to go out of business, we're eating a lot of the tariffs that might go their way. I'm trying to work a deal out where it's 50-50. I'll split half of it. You split half of it. But if they're small and they don't really have too much gunpowder in their company, you know what? We'll keep buying from them and eat the tariffs here at Stew Leonard.

SANCHEZ: Wow.

LEONARD: It's not great for margins. You know, we're on a thin margin here in food retail, but we're in it for the long-term. We're a family business. You know, we can do what we want as far as pricing goes at Stew Leonard.

SANCHEZ: So, I am curious also about the potential for shrinkflation. Over the last few years, especially since the pandemic, we've heard customers complain that they're paying more for certain products while getting less for them, like the potato chips in the potato chip bag. There are just fewer of them. There's more air in them, things like that. I wonder if you're experiencing that.

LEONARD: Well, you know, we are. We see it happening. You know, the big consumer packaged goods companies seem to have done shrinkflation the most, like you mentioned with chips and so forth. But you know what? You know, customers figure it out, I think, after it's all done, you know. And I know a couple of the big companies went to smaller packages and their sales went down. You know, the package looks smaller on the shelf, too.

So, you know, I don't think it's a good strategy. We haven't done it here at Stew Leonard's. And, you know, it's a way of fooling the customer a little bit by taking two ounces.

[15:15:05]

Like the marinara sauce we get from Italy right now, it's a 32-ounce bottle. A lot of marinara sauce producers have gone to 28 ounces. We're sticking with the 32, you know. So, I think customers will figure it out. Hey, we're in the business for the long term, not the short term.

SANCHEZ: Stew Leonard Jr., always great to talk to you. Enjoy that salmon. That looked good, man.

LEONARD: Hey, Boris, one thing. I heard you like steaks, right? So, look what I got for you right here. How's that?

SANCHEZ: Very nice.

LEONARD: Okay. It's waiting for you. It's waiting for you.

SANCHEZ: I'm going to find my way up to Connecticut and collect. I'll be knocking on your door, Stew.

LEONARD: Hey, it sounds like you're a pretty good cook, too, with that list of ingredients you just rattled off a little while ago.

SANCHEZ: I take credit for things I don't make.

LEONARD: Hey, one thing I just want to mention ...

SANCHEZ: Yes.

LEONARD: Hey, one other thing I just want to mention to all the parents out there. Please make sure you're watching your kids around the water right now. You know, drownings are going to increase dramatically between now, at least in the Northeast here and the fall. And I'm going to get - I already got one phone call, it was a TikTok, three million viewer TikTok influencer. She just had her three-year- old drowned in a pool. That's only one. I'm going to get six phone calls because, you know, my wife and I had a little two-year-old boy that drowned 30 years ago.

So, it's just so important right now. Please, everybody out there, watch your kids. It's like a designated driver for drinking. You need a designated watcher for swimming.

SANCHEZ: Hey, Stew, I'm so sorry that your family had to deal with that, but we're grateful for you sharing that story and that warning for other parents. Thanks so much.

LEONARD: Okay, you guys have a great Memorial Day. Thank you. It was a pleasure being with you today.

SANCHEZ: Always, Stew. Thanks so much.

Still to come on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, Israel has issued a major evacuation order for southern and eastern Gaza with a warning of, quote, "an unprecedented attack." Their goal is to occupy 75 percent of Gaza within two months.

KEILAR: Plus, NIH staff stages a walkout during the director's town hall. It says the White House is looking to slash the agency's budget by 40 percent.

And breaking news, U.K. police say a man has been arrested now after a car struck several pedestrians at a parade in Liverpool.

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[15:21:59]

KEILAR: We're following new details after that big walkout at a National Institutes of Health town hall. Video obtained by CNN showing dozens of staffers leaving in the middle of a speech by the agency's director last week.

SANCHEZ: CNN's Meg Tirrell joins us now.

Meg, you have some new reporting about this. What are you learning?

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, guys, we've been talking with some of the folks who are involved in that walkout. And as you can see in this video that we obtained, they started to leave just as director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya started talking about the origins of the COVID pandemic and his belief that the NIH may have funded research that helped lead to it. Here's the whole thing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY BHATTACHARYA, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: If that's true, it's nice to have free speech. Welcome, you guys. If that's - so, if it's true that we sponsored research, if it's true ...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TIRRELL: Now, we should note that a lot of scientists believe that, in fact, COVID was a result of a natural spillover from animals. But Dr. Bhattacharya there is saying that the NIH should be careful and not to do that kind of, as he put it, risky research.

But as I talked with folks who were involved in this walkout, many of them union members representing a union of early career scientists at the NIH. They said they had actually pre-planned this walkout as a protest over working conditions at the NIH since the second Trump administration started. Inability to buy research materials, for example, the firings and rehirings of scientist colleagues, general chaos, they said, and the fear of a 40 percent proposed cut to NIH's budget in fiscal year 2026.

Now, we reached out to the Department of Health and Human Services about all of this, and they said that the individuals who walked out had the opportunity to engage directly and voice their concerns constructively. Instead, they say they chose to walk out seemingly driven more by political motives because of their dissent with this administration. But guys, these union members told me that they had been requesting a meeting with Dr. Jay Bhattacharya since he came into the role April 1st. They still haven't heard back since that walkout. And they say that protecting their research in diseases like cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer's, quote, "deserves more than a short question and answer session." Guys?

SANCHEZ: Meg Tirrell, thanks so much for the update.

Now to some of the other headlines we're tracking this hour. A home security camera captured an incredible moment of survival in a Chicago suburb. Watch this.

What was that? The driver of the truck amazingly walked away from this explosion with just minor injuries. Investigators think a leaking propane tank may have caused this blast on Saturday morning. The truck apparently had been rented from Penske. The company, quote - said, quote, "explosive, flammable or otherwise hazardous materials should not be transported in a consumer rental moving truck." That driver's looking to be okay.

KEILAR: Yes, certainly is. And sad news from the world of reality TV. One of the stars of "Duck Dynasty," Phil Robertson, has died at the age of 79.

[15:25:05]

The family posted a statement saying details of a public celebration of his life will be coming soon. Robertson, the family patriarch, founded Duck Commander, a business making duck calls and other hunting supplies, and was a focus of the hit series. The family did not reveal a cause of death, but in their podcast last year, one of his sons said Robertson was in the early stages of Alzheimer's.

And finally, for the first time since 1933, the U.S. men's hockey team reigned on the rink at the World Championship.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thompson with Logan Cooley. Thompson in, shoots, scores. Tage Thompson golden goal. And the United States ...

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KEILAR: Even the announcer sounded maybe a little surprised there. Team USA winning the International Ice Hockey Federation's World Championship Sunday in overtime, beating Switzerland one to nothing. The goalie from the Boston Bruins blocked 25 shots to shut out the Swiss team. Congratulations.

And still ahead, the Israeli military has issued a major evacuation order for most of southern Gaza. This is ahead of what they're calling an unprecedented attack. We're live from the region.

Plus, breaking news. Police in England say a man is now detained after a car plows into pedestrians during Liverpool Football Club's victory parade.

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