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Musk "Disappointed" By Trump's Massive Tax and Spending Bill; Trump Admin Pauses New Student Visa Appointments; Ukraine & Russia Trade Drones Strikes, Moscow Airports Shut; Pacers Push Knicks to Brink with Game 4 Win, 130-121; Trump to Take Mortgage Giants Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac Public After 17 Years of Government Conservatorship; Climate and Weather Specialists Plan 100-Hour Livestream. Aired 7:30- 8a ET

Aired May 28, 2025 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:31:06]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, this morning, is there a growing rift between President Trump and his one-time first friend, Elon Musk? The SpaceX and Tesla CEO expressed his disappointment with the president's sweeping tax and spending bill to pass the House and is currently facing some headwinds in the Senate. This is what Musk told CBS News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELON MUSK, TRUMP DONOR & SPACEX CEO: I was like disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decrease it, and I reminds the work that the DOGE team is doing. I think a bill can be -- can be big or it can be beautiful, but I don't know if it can be both.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right, with us now, Ameshia Cross, a Democratic Strategist, and Marc Short, the former Chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence.

And Marc, this is the president's entire legislative agenda right now, this tax and spending bill. And Musk has been critical of the president's tariff policy, which is basically his entire economic agenda. That's a big part of what President Trump is pushing, that Elon Musk is now very publicly saying, I'm not for.

MARC SHORT, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF TO VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: Sure, John, I do think, look, the sausage-making can look like it's a big, beautiful bill, isn't so beautiful? I think we have to keep in mind that in the House, the margin for Republicans is so small. I think Mike Johnson doesn't get due credit for people who said he wouldn't be able to get the votes to be speaker, he wouldn't be able to avoid a shutdown.

Now, he got this tax bill, too, and when you do that, sometimes you have to give favors to different constituencies to get it. I imagine the Senate will probably whittle it down some, but, you know, there's parts of this, I'm very excited to see the tax bill moving forward. I think the president's trade agenda is indefensible.

BERMAN: I'll say it, as a purely political endeavor, what Mike Johnson did was impressive. Again, objectively, getting that through was an impressive political feat. But to have Musk criticizing it on its substance, and this is not some minor policy that the president is pushing, this is his entire legislative policy.

SHORT: Sure, and I could pick apart pieces of it that I don't like either, John. I think a lot of Republicans could. I think that some of the expansions of the SALT deductions is -- is egregious.

BERMAN: Careful, you're in New York to say that.

SHORT: I know, I know. But at the same time, I think the consequence of a $5 trillion tax increase on the American people is too much for Congress not to get this done.

BERMAN: Ameshia, I want to play some sound, just to stay on Elon Musk for a second, because Musk, it was a couple weeks ago where he said he was going to get out of the political giving business, and he had a soundbite that's been played, but the end of it I want you to pay attention to. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MUSK: In terms of political spending, I'm going to do a lot less in the future.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And why is that?

MUSK: I think I've done enough. Well, if I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it. I do not currently see a reason.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: It was that last line. I do not currently see a reason. Now, I don't have any particular insider sources inside Musk world, but I do have my eyes and ears, and that sounded like he was saying he doesn't like what he is seeing right now in politics, particularly from the White House, which he's been so supportive of.

AMESHIA CROSS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I think there are two things at play here. As we can all recall, when Elon Musk went to Wisconsin a couple months ago, that blew up in his face really badly, that Elon Musk was able to showcase his money. That is his calling card when it comes to primary, creating challengers for Republicans who don't side with him in the Trump administration.

He is making sure that people know that he's still there, that he still has a certain level of influence, but he's also trying to reel in some of the blow that he got, not only from investors at Tesla and some of those who are on the board, but also watching his own approval ratings tank. And I think that for him, that was a big hit.

He doesn't agree with the big, beautiful bill. There are several parts of it that he finds problematic. But I also think that the big, beautiful bill, to Marc's point, is going to be significantly different by the time that it gets through the Senate. For Elon Musk, I think that some of this is personal.

[07:35:02]

He has seen a strained relationship between him and Trump based on some basic disagreements on policy issues, but he's also someone who cares about his bottom line. And he doesn't agree with the moves that Trump specifically has taken when it comes to these tariffs.

BERMAN: So, Ameshia, I want to shift gears now to the president and the administration's repeated attacks on Harvard. That has been going on for a few weeks now. Yesterday, there was an added twist where the State Department suspended or put a pause on scheduling appointments for student visas.

This could be a huge deal for any international student who applied and was admitted to an American university. And, of course, that just happened, and now you're enrolling and paying. If you can't get your visa, you can't come in the fall. And if you can't get an appointment, you may not be able to get your visa. What do you think the implications here are?

CROSS: Well, two things. Trump is basically blowing smoke to what the courts have just told him in terms of the lack of ability to deny access to colleges and universities from immigrant students. But, to your point, without a visa, you kind of can't get here.

So, I think that he's trying to skirt the law and the ruling that just came down just a few days ago. But, with that being said, he is also really trying to stick it to Harvard. Trump has a few things going. He wants to put Democrats on the board with having to defend elite institutions in a country where the working class versus elite schism warfare is very real. But, on the other hand, he is also someone who does not believe in the higher education system writ large. This is a lot bigger than Harvard.

This is an attack on what is seen as a value system for many Americans when it comes to job accessibility, when it comes to workforce. The majority of jobs still require you to have a higher education degree to walk through the door. He is trying to restructure what that looks like for America.

And Harvard, unfortunately, is the main target because Harvard pushed back against him early on. They did not fall for the okey-doke. They did not sign up like what we saw Columbia do. They are somebody who has said that we are going to fight back. And he's trying to see how long that fight can last and working to weaken them every day.

BERMAN: First, on the policy, Marc, and then have at it on the politics. But first, on this policy, what are your thoughts? SHORT: Well, look, I think that ultimately, I think Harvard is going to win in court. But I think on the politics of it, I think the reality, as Ameshia said, that the president has forced Democrats to defend an elitist school that has a $53 billion endowment that is teaching black, queer, feminist negotiation in the law school, and the undergrad school is teaching about the correlation between white supremacy and capitalism. I think the average American is like, why are we giving dollars to this school?

And I think there are plenty of other public institutions that would take the research dollars. So, politically, he knows what he's doing. I think he'll probably lose in court.

On the students, John, I think, look, America is a place that we want to bring in the best and the brightest. It helps America. So, I think it's also probably going to take a pause because there have been a lot of international students that have been part of the antisemitic rallies on campuses.

But I think they have to be careful about this because ultimately, we don't want to lose the ability to continue to attract the brightest and the best students to America.

BERMAN: This is a little bit of a bathwater problem, right?

SHORT: Yeah, yeah.

BERMAN: I mean, you're throwing a lot of bathwater with the babies potentially by pausing this application process.

SHORT: Potentially. I think we have to see how long this plays out.

BERMAN: All right, Marc Short, great to see you.

SHORT: Thanks, John.

BERMAN: Ameshia, thank you very much.

Sara?

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Today, marks 600 days since the Hamas terror attack on Israel, which triggered the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, the grim anniversary marked by protests in Tel Aviv and chaos in Gaza. A warning, what we're about to show you is disturbing.

Palestinian health officials say one person was killed and dozens more injured when gunfire erupted at an aid distribution site in Gaza. Thousands of Palestinians desperate for aid rushed to the site, tearing down fences, climbing over barriers, desperate to finally get their hands on food.

Yesterday was the first day of U.S.-backed aid distribution efforts. After months of an Israeli blockade on humanitarian assistance into Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces says its troops fired warning shots in the area outside the compound to try to bring the situation under control.

And there's a lot more to this story, but you're just seeing those pictures, which are really hard to watch because of the desperation there, the humanitarian crisis, not just the wars, the bombs dropping that have people really, really worried and scared.

Kate?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Also breaking overnight, Ukraine launched a drone attack on Moscow, forcing airports there to shut down. Russia says it downed nearly 300 drones. No casualties reported so far.

Though one person was killed and 37 wounded in Ukraine after it was hit again with drone and missile strikes from Russia. President Trump is now warning Russian President Vladimir Putin that he is, quote, "playing with fire" after several days of intense strikes by Russia.

[07:40:06]

On Sunday, Russia launched its biggest aerial assault on Ukraine since the beginning of the entire war.

Joining us right now is CNN Global Affairs Analyst Brett McGurk. He's a former White House coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa. Your resume is often too long to even put in the title, so thank you so much for being here.

Let's talk about where we stand with this, Brett. It's really good to see you. When President Trump spoke with Vladimir Putin last week, sources say that Putin committed to drafting and sending what he described as a memorandum of peace in the coming days to lay out Russia's requirements for getting peace negotiations underway in a ceasefire.

What would a peace memorandum look like coming from Russia? Is this a place to -- is this a place to start?

BRETT MCGURK, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: I think what we'll likely see -- it's great to be here, Kate -- is back to Russia's maximalist aims, because they do not want a ceasefire.

I spoke with you the morning before that Trump call, and we said we will know after this call, is this all diplomacy, is this all just motion, or is there actually movement towards the goal of a ceasefire? And I think we have the answer. There's movement backwards, because days after that call, Russia launched the largest aerial attacks against Ukraine since the war started, 300 missiles and drones, two nights in a row, mostly Iranian drones also.

Dovetail here with Iranian diplomacy, kind of a wave of the future, no pun intended, these massive drone and missile strikes. Very -- reminds me of the attacks against Israel that the U.S. military helped stop. So, look, bottom line, we all want a ceasefire, OK. I think this diplomacy is hitting a bit of a dead end.

So, President Trump has two choices. He can back off, as he kind of suggested after that call, which I think is exactly what Putin wants, or he can stand up and support Ukraine a little bit. And there's actually an option here, Kate, because --

BOLDUAN: What are they -- is it sanctions, or is it -- what is it?

MCGURK: Well, it's both, but there's -- there's an option here that's interesting. In the Senate right now, there is a bill by Senator Graham and Blumenthal with 82 co-sponsors.

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

MCGURK: When does that ever happen? It's like totally bipartisan.

BOLDUAN: Never, for sure, yeah.

MCGURK: Basically imposing the sanctions that Trump has threatened. So, President Trump can go back to Putin or Steve Witkoff can go back to the Russians and say, look, more out of sorrow than anger, given your actions, no movement towards a ceasefire, these sanctions are coming. So, we really have to get something moving here.

The second thing, though, Kate, is the military supplies for Ukraine. They're starting to run out this summer. Trump has not authorized any more military. This is basically ammunition, the stuff Ukraine needs to defend itself. And I think that should also be turned back on, so long as Putin is showing no indications of getting to a ceasefire.

BOLDUAN: Yeah. On -- on the question of sanctions, as you have the Graham-Blumenthal bill kind of work, getting gaming support, and Trump has said maybe we'll have to do sanctions. I mean, he's kind of doing it as a thought exercise at the moment. There is also this reporting that I've seen that Trump has said privately he's concerned new sanctions could push Russia away from peace talks. Do you think that's a thing? Do you think that's a possibility?

MCGURK: There's something to it. When you're negotiating, even with a counterparty who is an adversary, you have to have a bit of a rapport and relationship. I think that's something Trump says. It's something I think Steve Witkoff understands. But you also have to have some leverage. Diplomacy is not all just arguments at the table. It is actually interest and leverage. And that's where the Senate bill is really interesting. And I think if the White House was seen to be working with the Senate towards imposing those sanctions, it might -- it might mix things up a little bit here.

BOLDUAN: Just real quick, your thought. Sara was doing a report just before marking the 600 days since the October 7 terror attack by Hamas on Israel. Speaking of Witkoff, Witkoff said just this week that he was just really disappointed Hamas has not made any motion to accept the proposal that he's put out for a ceasefire. Where do you see this being today?

MCGURK: Steve's dealing with the same stuff that we do.

BOLDUAN: Right. MCGURK: Look, this is horrific, OK. We want this war to end. There's a proposal on the table right now, 50-day ceasefire, half the hostages, leading to a permanent end of the war. Hamas so far has not taken that deal. I understand these talks are ongoing. I think there's a chance they could actually reach a resolution because one of the main holdouts, Mohammed Sinwar in Gaza, it seems the Israelis did a successful strike against him about a week ago. I am hopeful here we get back to a ceasefire because this war has to come to a close.

BOLDUAN: For everyone. It's really great to see you. Thank you so much for being here, Brett.

John.

BERMAN: It's the most important music in television. Overnight, a performance for the ages. By some metrics, Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Halliburton had one of the best playoff games ever in history as he pushed the Knicks to the brink of elimination.

CNN's Andy Scholes is here. Now, the first quarter, which I was able to stay awake for because these games start so freaking late, I did see the first quarter. It was honestly one of the best quarters of basketball I've ever seen from a player ever.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yeah, sometimes it's just beautiful to watch Tyrese Haliburton out there on the court, but you know, Berman, it's not looking good for your Knicks. Only 13 teams have ever come back from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA and the Knicks, well, they've never done it.

[07:45:03]

So, it certainly seems like we're heading towards a Pacers-Thunder NBA Finals, but there were a lot of Knicks fans there last night, including Ben Stiller and Timothee Chalamet, making the trip to Indy to try to cheer their team to a win, but instead, they got to just see a masterpiece by Tyrese Haliburton.

The Pacers star score in 32 points, go along with 15 assists, 12 rebounds, and zero turnovers. Haliburton was the first player in playoff history to have a 30-15-10 triple-double without a turnover, and just every time the Knicks tried to claw their way back and get within a bucket in this game, the Pacers, they always had an answer. Final score was 130-121. The Pacers now a commanding 3-1 lead in the series.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TYRESE HALIBURTON, INDIANA PACERS GUARD: For me, it's just about winning. You know, I think, I just want to be able to prove that I can respond when my back's against the wall, when our team's back is against the wall, and, you know, this is a big win for us because, you know, if we go back down there 2-2, you know, it's probably a little different momentum-wise.

JALEN BRUNSON, NEW YORK KNICKS GUARD: We weren't disciplined tonight. I wasn't disciplined tonight. We just got to be smarter. I got to be smarter. It's really that black and white.

KARI-ANTHONY TOWNS, NEW YORK KNICKS CENTER: We all got to be better. You know, we all got to be better for him, with him. You know, we got to be better as a team.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: All right, Stanley Cup playoffs, meanwhile, the Oilers also grabbing a 3-1 lead in their series with the Stars. It was 40-year-old Corey Perry here with the go-ahead goal in the second period. This is his 20th season, still going strong. He's now got six goals this postseason. Edmonton also got two empty netters to win 4-1. They're now a win away from their second straight trip to the Stanley Cup final.

And finally, Coco Gauff's opening round match at the French Open had a bit of a delay because, well, she forgot all her rackets. Coco got all the way to the court, and she opened her bag, and then she realized it.

A ball boy then ran to the back to get them. A couple minutes later, Coco jokingly blaming her coach for not putting them in her bag. And then she later posted this to Instagram. It was a napkin with a pre- match to-do list. Tie shoes, check. Pack clothes, check. Arrange fruit salad, check. Put tennis rackets in bag, didn't check that one off.

What's the equivalent for you, Berman? Would that be just like not wearing pants to work?

BERMAN: Yes, I was going to say pants. I have pants. That's the last one because it's really bad when you show up to work. You're like, oops. All right. Andy Scholes.

SCHOLES: I've never seen that before. No rackets. No, no.

BERMAN: It's like, are they necessary? Is that a thing for a tennis match? All right. Appreciate it.

SIDNER: Mine's shoes, as you well know, sometimes I forget them.

BERMAN: Well, people don't see that sometimes at the end of the show, maybe today, we're standing at the table, you're barefoot.

SIDNER: Yeah. I don't really like shoes, so that's part of the problem. But there was a time when a certain person named Randy had to go find my shoes because I couldn't find them.

BERMAN: Well, I'm a no-shoe ally. If you ever want to not wear shoes on the show, I'm there.

SIDNER: No pants, no shoes. This would be an awesome show. Ratings through the roof.

Still ahead, a major shakeup for home loans. President Trump promises big changes for Fannie and Freddie Mac, what it could mean for home buyers and homeowners. Plus, this is a fishtail with proof an Iowa teen landing the catch of

a lifetime. Those stories and more ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:52:41]

BOLDUAN: So, this morning, President Trump says he plans to privatize mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac after 17 years of control by the federal government, though the president also said that the government would still provide a bailout in times of crisis. So, what is happening here? CNN's Matt Egan is looking into this for all of us. What is going on here, Matt?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Kate, this would be a really big deal because Fannie and Freddie are major, major players in the mortgage market. And if they don't get this just right, they could end up making it even more expensive to own a home by lifting mortgage rates.

Now, President Trump, though, is signaling he's going ahead with this plan. On True Social last night, he praised Fannie and Freddie as providing a vital service to our nation by helping hardworking Americans reach the American dream. And he went on to say, I am working on taking these amazing companies public, but I want to be clear, the U.S. government will keep its implicit guarantees.

Now, that last part is key, right? It's kind of odd to hear the president explicitly announce something that is implied, but what he's talking about is the fact that for the longest time, Fannie and Freddie, they operated under the assumption that if they ran into trouble, the government would come to the rescue. And that's exactly what happened in 2008 when they imploded during the subprime mortgage crisis and the government ended up taking control.

So, now Trump is explicitly saying that safety net still exists here. And the Wall Street Journal has reported that the Trump team has estimated that the combined value of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, if they were private, is above $300 billion and that the U.S. government's stake alone would be worth more than $250 billion. But pulling off a deal like this would not be easy, right?

Trump actually tried and failed during his first term to privatize Fannie and Freddie. It's just very complicated. There's a lot of moving pieces. And some critics warn that if they don't get this right, they can end up spooking the market and kind of rattling investors, and that could actually make it even more expensive to get a mortgage.

And mortgage rates are already high, right? The average 30-year fixed rate mortgage is almost 6.9%. That's roughly double where mortgage rates were during Trump's first term. This is one of the problems here when you think about homeownership and the affordability crisis here.

So, it'll be really, really interesting to see how this plays out and just absolutely crucial that they get this right, because if they don't, they could end up pushing the American dream even further out of reach.

[07:55:12]

BOLDUAN: Which is something you have been continuing to report on. It's already unattainable for so many.

EGAN: It is.

BOLDUAN: It's good to see you. Thank you so much.

John?

BERMAN: All right, this morning, U.S. Olympic legend Mary Lou Retton is facing a misdemeanor DUI charge after an arrest in West Virginia. The 57-year-old refused a roadside breath test and a blood test. She was released from custody after paying a $1,500 bond. In 1984, many of us remember, Retton became the first American female gymnast to win the all-around gold in the Los Angeles Games. She was just 16 years old.

This morning, police are searching the Ozarks for a former Arkansas police chief who escaped from a high-security state prison on Sunday. Grant Harden was convicted of killing a man in 2017. Then, his DNA was entered into a database, and authorities say they got a match on an older case involving sexual assault of a teacher.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NATHAN SMITH, FORMER BENTON COUNTY PROSECUTOR: Grant Hardin is -- as they've said, is a very dangerous man. You're looking at a person who, in my opinion, never really expressed remorse. And the reasons for him doing what he did were never clear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The Arkansas Department of Corrections says when he escaped, Grant Hardin was wearing a makeshift outfit trying to look like law enforcement.

All right, this morning, 68 pounds of joy. Eighth grader Benjamin Strong caught a huge flathead catfish on his way to school. The 14- year-old says his sister is about the same size as the fish. Strong says he did let the fish go so someone else can experience catching it. Also, because the fish probably threatened it.

SIDNER: All right, thank you, John.

All right, what do you do if your work is facing historically low funding levels, failing and falling public confidence, and the threat that it could all continue to get much worse? Well, if you're a scientist, you show your work, or at least show it off, in a 100-hour- long live stream. And starting today, that's exactly what climate and weather specialists will be doing.

Joining us now is Marc Alessi. He is part of the environmental group Union of Concerned Scientists. Can you just, first of all, before we talk about this live stream that you're doing, what are the impacts of the cuts to these federal agencies by the Trump administration, like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NASA, and the Department of Energy, the cuts to research funding, to academia as well?

MARC ALESSI, CLIMATE & ENERGY PROGRAM, UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS: Yeah, so -- and honestly, these funding cuts are kind of what inspired the live stream. But, of course, these funding cuts are affecting NOAA. They're affecting research laboratories. They're affecting cooperative research institutes. They're affecting graduate students or early-career scientists' ability to do the weather and climate research that this country so desperately needs, especially if we want to improve, continue improving our weather forecasts and have some sort of idea of what climate change will look like on a regional scale.

SIDNER: Donald Trump -- President Trump, has called, at times, climate change a hoax or has downplayed it. He's also promised to rev up production of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas. But you say that those speaking on this marathon live stream will be nonpartisan. How?

ALESSI: Yeah, that's -- that's a really good question. So, we -- we do want to stress that this live stream is not an anti-Trump protest. It's more of a pro-science live stream, right? It is an opportunity to kind of remind the American public of what weather and climate scientists are doing behind the scenes. It's an opportunity to spread awareness that our research, what we are doing is for the benefit of American lives and livelihoods. It's not -- it's not really a cost, right? It pays off the National Weather Service issues these life- saving forecasts. The National Hurricane Center issues incredible forecasts for where a hurricane may go and if it will affect the Atlantic coast.

And, of course, we have our climate change researchers who are running climate models behind the scenes to, you know, understand climate change. And, you know, while -- while, you know, the administration is doing something and it is affecting our research, we believe that every American, no matter if you're a Republican, Democrat, Independent, not a voter, everyone is affected by the weather over the next few days. Everyone will be impacted by climate change over the next years to decades.

And so this is really just an opportunity for the American public to tune in and be like, OK, what are these scientists actually doing? We'll give them an opportunity to peer under the hood into our research. There will be an opportunity to ask questions, engage with each researcher in a moderated question and answer session.

[08:00:07]

And really just, we think it's -- it's an exciting.