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DOJ Investigating Chicago Mayor; Trump and Putin Call Ends Without Ceasefire; Dr. Dhruv Khullar is Interviewed about Cuts to Research Funding; Nicole DeBorde is Interviewed about Combs' Trial Testimony; Trump Administration Asked for Plane. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired May 20, 2025 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:31:24]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): We're almost there. And I'm very optimistic.

We're almost there. And I'm very optimistic that we will find the -- the right -- right equilibrium point to get this bill delivered.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: The budget battle continues as House Republicans still have not reached a resolution on a few sticking points, but House Speaker Johnson expects it to be done by Memorial Day.

Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. I want to thank you for joining me on CNN THIS MORNING.

It's now half past the hour. And here's what's happening right now.

The president is ready to rally members of his party on Capitol Hill to get behind his agenda. He's expected to meet with them in the coming hours, and to turn up the pressure to get them to pass his legislation.

Also, in just a few hours, Sean "Diddy" Combs' former assistant will be back on the stand to testify against Diddy. He told the court about a conversation with Cassie Ventura, Combs' ex-girlfriend, where she allegedly told him she could not get out of the relationship. Later today, her mother will also take the stand.

And the Justice Department filing charges against Democratic Congresswoman LaMonica McIver of New Jersey. She's accused of assault and interference with law enforcement during a scuffle with Homeland Security officers outside an ICE detention center. MacIver called the charges purely political.

And on to another DOJ investigation. They're actually now looking into the Chicago mayor's hiring process. It comes after Mayor Brandon Johnson made this statement emphasizing the race of the officials in his administration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRANDON JOHNSON, CHICAGO MAYOR: Budget director is a black woman. Senior advisor is a black man. And I'm laying that out because when you -- when you ask, how do we ensure that our people get a chance to grow their business, having people in my administration that will look out for the interest of everyone. And everyone means you have to look out for the interests of black folks, because that hasn't happened. That's how we ensure long term sustainable growth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: An assistant attorney general says, in part, if this is happening at the top level of the mayor's administration, then what's happening at the lower levels?

The group chat is back to talk about this.

This is a very interesting case because this mayor is running for re- election. So, like, sitting at a church is not an unusual place to be. He's also a former labor organizer, and he comes from that background, right, a very left, progressive background. But what does it say that he is the target for the Justice Department?

JERUSALEM DEMSAS, CONTRIBUTING WRITER, "THE ATLANTIC": Yes, I mean, this is a mayor who has struggled to have approval from his city. I mean he's a 6.6 percent approval rating. That's like the bottom. I'm pretty sure it's the most unpopular elected official in America. And I don't think --

CORNISH: So, he's vulnerable already.

DEMSAS: Very vulnerable.

CORNISH: Yes.

DEMSAS: And I think from both the right and the left, from a perspective of, you know, can you actually get priorities done when you are not able to rally people around your cause? And for him, this is another situation where these comments, they can seem very normal within a very left progressive space.

And, you know, I think you can take it both ways. One is, I could understand why someone hearing, oh, our people have to look out for our people would be kind of concerned as to how you're doing your hiring practices. But from other perspective, it's like, you know, he's trying to make a claim that diversifying the Chicago workforce and diversifying the people who get into positions of power is important. And they released the statistics of people who work in the mayor's office, and only roughly 35 percent are African American.

[06:35:04]

So, it doesn't seem --

CORNISH: In a city like Chicago, yes.

DEMSAS: In a city like Chicago, yes.

CORNISH: So, you guys, how do you see this? Because this is not just about Chicago. It's also about this Justice Department and how it approaches the idea of civil rights.

MICHAEL WARREN, SENIOR EDITOR, "THE DISPATCH": Yes, look, I think the mayor shouldn't have -- shouldn't be talking about it sort of -- sort of so casually in this way, no matter who's in charge of the Justice Department. But it --

CORNISH: Do you, though, think that's because of the political atmosphere right now? Like, five -- in 2022 would have been, like, what (INAUDIBLE).

WARREN: Maybe -- maybe -- maybe -- maybe it -- maybe it wouldn't have been remarkable in 2022 or would have been sort of normal, but it -- I think, just as a -- as a normative matter, it's -- it's probably not a good way for the chief executive of the city to be talking about hiring practices in that way.

But regardless of who's in charge at DOJ --

CORNISH: But, why?

WARREN: Well, I think he's going to bring a lot of -- of heat from -- from exactly what we're seeing, like this from -- from DOJ. And what -- but the important point I want to -- I want to make is that, I think this Justice Department is looking for moments like this to jump on to. They're looking for moments that are getting --

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: But this is -- but this is --

WARREN: Going viral online and trying to make --

GARCIA-NAVARRO: On the right.

WARREN: Correct.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: And this is part of the problem.

WARREN: I agree.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I mean, part of the problem is that this DOJ is looking for these moments --

WARREN: Yes.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: To make these cause celebs to talk about its main priority, which is DEI.

Let's not forget that a civil rights investigation used to be about empowering minority groups, people that were discriminated against. And now what we're seeing is exactly the opposite. If someone actually says, oh, I've hired black people -- a black mayor saying I've hired black people, 35 percent to, I think its 25 percent is white, it reflects actually the demographics of the city. His -- his -- his administration.

DEMSAS: I think both things can be true, though, Lulu.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: You know, I just -- I just think that we should be worried about that. That is a political --

CORNISH: OK, Jerusalem.

DEMSAS: I think both things can be true. Like, it's clearly the case that this is -- the DOJ is trying to weaponize this because it's a political priority to make this more salient, to make this DEI thing more salient.

But at the same time, when you ask and you poll African Americans even about affirmative action, they don't like this kind of rhetoric. They don't like the idea that what's happening is they're being handed jobs because of their race. Not saying that's exactly what the mayor was implying, but it does kind of --

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I agree, but then punish him politically.

DEMSAS: Yes.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I mean it looks like he's going to be voted out. Why are you opening an investigation from the federal government? That's my point.

DEMSAS: Yes. Agreed.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I mean, at the end of the day, politicians are responsible to their constituents. And if people don't like it, you can vote them out. If he's ham-fisted and is saying things that are offensive to people, then you have an actual -- you know, you can actually just vote them out. Then why is the federal government getting involved? And that, I think, is the more important question, as opposed to whether or not we agree with his comments or how he stacks his administration.

CORNISH: Yes.

WARREN: (INAUDIBLE).

CORNISH: It's also interesting to see where the anti-DEI efforts of the administration rear their heads, more specifically.

You guys, thank you for talking about this. I want you to stick around. We're going to talk about more in a bit.

But first, from hands on to hands off, President Trump seems to be prepared to back away if progress stalls and peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. So, the president spoke to Russia's Vladimir Putin on the phone for almost two hours on Monday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think something's going to happen. It's a very -- we've got very big egos involved. I tell you, big egos involved. But I think something's going to happen. And if it doesn't, I'd just back away and they're going to have to keep going. Again, this was a European situation. It should have remained a European situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: The thing is, that's a bit of a shift from what we heard on the campaign trail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (June 22, 2024): Before I even arrive at the Oval Office, shortly after we win the presidency.

I will have the horrible war between Russia and Ukraine settled.

TRUMP (September 10. 2024): That is a war that's dying to be settled. I will get it settled before I even become president.

TRUMP (September 24, 2024): We're stuck in that war unless I'm president. I'll get it done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: All right, to help us understand the context here, CNN's Nick Paton Walsh joins me live from Kyiv.

So, Nick, no breakthroughs when it comes to yesterday's call between Trump and Putin. What does -- what does that mean on the battlefield? I think the last time we spoke there was an escalation from Russia.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean it's exceptionally bleak for the months ahead here. Certainly, we had a weekend of record drone strikes, nine civilians killed near the Russian border, Ukrainians by a Russian drone strike, and a sense that Russia is amassing forces near the eastern front, potentially for a summer offensive.

The situation we've seen unfold in the past ten days is relatively simple to understand, and it is a -- perhaps a clarification of exactly where the Kremlin sits in all of this.

President Trump wants a peace deal. That's something he sought. It's something Ukraine was reluctant to sign on to unless the peace was durable and permitted it to hold on to the remnants of its territory. A sustained peace. And the Kremlin didn't want to sign up to it because they simply don't like the conditions at this point and potentially feel they can be more victorious in the months ahead.

[06:40:03]

That's what we've seen exposed in the past ten days. Vladimir Putin is not interested in the peace deal that Donald Trump is offering. He is able to continue to talk about peace. He wants Donald Trump to be interested in the idea that he's interested in peace. But, ultimately, he doesn't want to give concessions that actually bring a peace deal to the fore.

And that's what we saw after the long-heralded call between Putin and Trump. Putin essentially emerging with old talking points about the root causes of the war being needed to be fixed. That's a false Russian narrative about NATO expansion being the reason for Russia's unprovoked invasion over three years ago. And they're willing to exchange documents about a potential ceasefire.

And the interesting change we've seen, though, came after that phone call. No longer is this Donald Trump who was saying, let me be the personal intermediary between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Instead, he said, maybe these guys should meet in the Vatican. Maybe this is something they sort out amongst themselves alone. And importantly, this is a European problem, and it should stay a European problem. This is a United States no longer saying it will broker the peace, saying it will step back and let someone else take the lead, perhaps forgetting the fact that the Europeans have been very clear they don't think they can do this without U.S. backing. It's a very rocky months ahead, if not years here.

CORNISH: That's Nick Paton Walsh in Kyiv. Thank you.

So, with President Biden's prostate cancer announcement, he's now one of the millions of Americans battling some form of cancer. In a post, he thanked his supporters and said, "cancer touches us all." He had vowed to tackle this issue as president with his cancer moonshot plan, which tried to boost funding for research.

Of course, early in President Trump's second term, we are getting a clearer picture about how sweeping cuts are already impacting programs that include cancer research. An earlier analysis released by Senate Democrats accused the Trump administration of slashing medical research funding at the National Institutes of Health by $2.7 billion over the first three months of just this year. So, this includes a 31 percent cut to cancer research programs, compared to the same time a year ago.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F, Kennedy Jr. rejected the report's findings and defended proposed budget cuts to his department during a recent Senate hearing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: All that money that was supposed to cure those diseases or avert them, none of it worked. What we need is leadership and a new vision, and I'm bringing that to my agency. And I'm realigning my agency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Doctor Dr. Dhruv Khullar wrote in "The New Yorker," quote, "an oncologist told me about the patient with stage four cancer who until recently had three options for experimental trials. She now has none."

Dr. Dhruv Khullar joins us this morning.

Thank you for being here.

When we talk about these cuts to the NIH, it's about research in a bunch of different areas. Do we have a clearer picture now of just how far that is starting to change the community that is offering care?

DR. DHRUV KHULLAR, PHYSICIAN: Well, that's right, Audie. We know that there have been hundreds of grant terminations since this administration took office. By some estimates, there's been $2 billion to $3 billion less in NIH funding that's gone out to researchers this year as compared to prior years. And that is -- includes a cut in cancer funding of about one-third over the past three months.

But it's also not just cancer funding. These grants go to things like people who are studying Alzheimer's disease, cardiovascular disease, infectious threats, mental health. And so, it could mean that we have fewer breakthroughs in the coming years. And not just that we have fewer breakthroughs, but also that fewer young people decide to go into science. People who otherwise might have wanted to go in to help cure cancer, to improve mental health, those things might not happen in the same way that they would otherwise have happened.

And the reason that these cuts are so misguided, I think, is that federal investments in research are some of the best investments that we can make, both in terms of returns to the economy, but also in terms of lives saved. We know that nearly every drug that has been approved by the federal government over the past two decades can trace its roots back to the NIH. And so, the end result of these cuts could be to weaken our ability to respond to disease and to improve the -- the health and the lives of Americans.

CORNISH: I want to play a clip from the former president when he was announcing that cancer moonshot initiative. Here's what he said at that time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT (September 21, 2024): And it's not just because it's personal, this -- it's because it's possible. When I became president, we reignited our cancer moonshot with an ambitious goal, cut the cancer rate by at least 50 percent over the next 25 years.

Our goal is to team up, end cancer around the world, and start -- starting with cervical cancer. I know it may sound unrealistic, but it's not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:45:07]

CORNISH: Can you talk about those goals now? I mean earlier I played that clip of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sort of saying, hey, all that money we put in, they didn't come up with any cures. So, help me square this. Where are we with that? And, again, how that's affected by these cuts.

KHULLAR: Well, we have many, many more treatments today, many options for the millions of Americans who are contending with a cancer diagnosis or have a loved one with a cancer diagnosis that we didn't have years or decades ago. And that is because of the investments that we have made, bipartisan investments by both Republicans and by Democrats over the past few decades to treat things like cancer, but also things like obesity and other chronic diseases that this administration says that it is so concerned about.

I mean, if you think about things like the GLP-1 drugs, like Ozempic, that research can trace its roots back to the NIH. And so, this idea that we haven't gotten anything for the investments that we've made in basic science research and clinical research over the past few decades just doesn't hold up to scrutiny.

CORNISH: If you are a family dealing with a cancer diagnosis, what have you learned from the people in your reporting? Should you be asking about the state of your clinical trial? Should you be asking your doctor and -- and raise these concerns?

KHULLAR: Well, we know that these cuts have been variable across the country. They have affected people in all sorts of states, both Republican states and Democratic-led states. But if you are concerned that your clinical trial could be at risk, that is something to talk to about your -- with your doctor, as well as the clinical trial leader at the hospital at which you're getting that clinical trial. Hopefully we won't see further clinical trial terminations, that people will still be able to get the experimental treatments that we need. But this is all hampered, not only by grant terminations, but also by mass firings across the Department of Health and Human Services. So, people at the NIH, who review and administer grants, many of those people have been fired. Employees at the FDA have been fired. Those are people that often help gain patients access to experimental treatments. And then workers at the CDC have been fired. And those are people that are often trying to mitigate the health risks. Things like environmental pollutants, things like exposure to lead and other toxins that may actually contribute to your risk of both cancer, but also other health diseases.

And so, there has been this widespread kind of purging of expertise in the Department of Health and Human Services that we need to respond to some of the threats that Americans face.

CORNISH: That's Dr. Dhruv Khullar. Thanks for being here this morning.

KHULLAR: Thank you for having me.

CORNISH: Next on CNN THIS MORNING, is it a gift if you ask for it? Turns out the White House may have been the one to approach Qatar about that luxury jet, not the other way around.

Plus, more from the group chat after this.

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[06:52:22]

CORNISH: OK, the trial resumes in the case of Sean "Diddy" Combs. Monday, his former assistant testified that he didn't think Cassie Ventura, Diddy's ex-girlfriend, could easily leave him. She's being -- she's been at the center of the case, even though she's already wrapped up her testimony.

Now, former Danity Kane band member Dawn Richard testified that she witnessed Combs hit Ventura several times. She alleges that Combs told her to keep quiet because, quote, "where he comes from, people go missing if they talk."

Joining me now is criminal defense attorney Nicole Deborde from Houston, Texas.

Nicole, good morning. Thank you for being with us.

I want to ask you about the testimony from these assistants. How significant is it, this idea that she could not leave? What was it that they were trying to elicit from this testimony?

NICOLE DEBORDE, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think what the testimony shows is that there was a pattern of abuse that several people observed, made it impossible for Ventura to leave. And that is what the prosecution is really trying to show, that this was a situation where she was not there by choice, but was instead compelled to be there and to participate in the acts that she participated in.

CORNISH: And also I think several people noted that security for Combs did not intervene. There seems to be some question there about the support network around him.

DEBORDE: That's right. And some of the testimony even made it sound like perhaps some of the security around Combs made it even harder for Ventura to leave because they were armed, and some of the witnesses noted that they observed this on multiple occasions.

CORNISH: All right, before I let you go, what do you think the defense -- what kind of steps they'll take to combat these allegations in this area?

DEBORDE: Well, the defense has already done an excellent job through cross-examination of pointing out evolving stories, information that has never been discussed before, even though these witnesses have all talked to the prosecution on multiple occasions, and that some of these witnesses may have a motivation, including financial motivation, to say the things that they're saying on the stand.

So, it's really going to be a tough one, I think, for the jury. They have a lot of difficult testimony to hear and then ultimately have to decide whether or not the witnesses who are testifying about really what are some horrific events have a motivation to be saying the things they're saying.

CORNISH: That's Nicole Deborde, criminal defense attorney. Thank you for checking in with us.

DEBORDE: Thanks for having me.

CORNISH: OK, one more thing. Remember that plane from Qatar that the Trump administration said was a gift? Sources tell CNN that it actually was the Trump administration which approached the country about a new Boeing 747 that could be used as Air Force One.

[06:55:07]

So, those sources say immediately after President Trump took office in January, the Pentagon contacted Boeing and was told it wouldn't be able to produce a new presidential jet for at least another two years. A senior White House official says that's when President Trump asked Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff to put together a list of viable planes.

The group chat is back.

What happened next is eventually, are you into this?

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I am so glad of the priorities of this administration.

CORNISH: Yes.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: They came in and were like, we got to have Air Force One planes, you know, back on the tarmac and the ones that we had ordered in the first administration. I mean, you know, this plane thing, honestly, is just insane.

CORNISH: Why are we still talking about the plane thing? I know it's my fault because I read the introduction --

DEMSAS: You did this.

CORNISH: But it feels -- I did this to us. But it feels like it's not going away. And this reporting is sort of showing the path from, hey, do you think we can get a plane fast?

GARCIA-NAVARRO: If they'd bought it, it would be OK.

CORNISH: Yes.

DEMSAS: Yes, I mean, I think that the reason we're talking about this is because corruption is such a hit that Republicans have made on Democrats for a really long time, whether it's Nancy Pelosi's stock trades or also the defenses of -- of Trump's taking this plane, of -- of -- talked about Qatar's general influence in a lot of the Democratic policies making spaces.

I believe Ilhan Omar was paid for by Qatar at some point to take a trip to the Middle East. And so, they keep trotting out these -- these arguments.

CORNISH: Yes. But it's also the single most kind of ineffective hit against Trump. DEMSAS: Yes.

CORNISH: Like, I've just never seen that land a political blow.

DEMSAS: Because people believe that everyone is corrupt in D.C. And if everyone's corrupt, at least with Trump, it's out in the open. It's -- it's nakedly available for you to see. I don't really buy this argument, but I think a lot of voters do feel that because Washington is such a swamp, they've bought that argument from Trump. Why would they hit him now?

GARCIA-NAVARRO: But conservatives, I think, are actually uncomfortable with this. I mean he's been taking a lot of hit from conservatives over this because it is Qatar, because Qatar has a relationship, for example, with Hamas. It has been involved -- it has a close relationship with Iran. You know, the actual sort of enemies of the United States, you know, this -- this small emirate has a relationship with them. And so, to take a plane from them, it -- it does have this question, what are you going to get in return? And nobody gets anything for nothing.

CORNISH: Michael, let me let you jump in here because Lulu's right, you have heard some prominent voices on the right say, what are you doing? Why are you doing it? This feels like an unforced error. I mean what do you think of how the administration is -- is trying to defend it?

WARREN: I mean they're -- they're not really trying to defend it other than to say, hey, look, like we're -- like, this is just -- this is just a gift.

CORNISH: Yes.

WARREN: I think the -- the gift story --

CORNISH: Or it would be dumb not to take a free plane. That's (INAUDIBLE) the Trump line.

WARREN: Hey -- hey, why wouldn't you -- why wouldn't you take it?

CORNISH: Yes.

WARREN: I mean the gift story line seems to be a classic of the Trump pattern, which is, tell a good story. Try to, you know, make it entertaining. Hey, they're just giving me this gift here.

I think it's not going away for all the reasons everybody's mentioned here. It bothers kind of everybody across the political spectrum. It -- it just reeks of -- of -- of -- of favor trading. And even if there's no favor that was offered from Qatar with this plane, it's going to come. And I think people have an intuitive understanding that this doesn't feel right.

CORNISH: Yes.

WARREN: I do think that's a problem for Trump. CORNISH: Like, it's not a stack of cash, but it's like a flying --

DEMSAS: I don't know. I mean this is true for people in D.C. Like, I am personally bothered by this. But at the same time, I don't think it's true that regular people watching this news story are just upset about this kind of corruption because we hear stories about corruption in D.C. all the time. They kind of all blur together.

WARREN: Yes.

CORNISH: I know, but just --

DEMSAS: It's hard to --

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yes, but I think this is --

WARREN: This sticks in the mind. This sticks in the mind. So --

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I think -- I think -- I think one of the other problems with this is a -- is about the United States and the way that it's seen in the world. And so, when you have the plane of the American president being sort of like a branded gift, as if you're a soccer team, you know, you know, with the Qatar emblazoned over your jersey. I mean, there is something about that that, you know, we're supposed to be the most powerful country in the world, and yet we're getting a plane from a tiny emirate. I mean this is slightly problematic for that reason.

DEMSAS: That's we can't even build a plane. Like, Boeing can't build the plane. It's absurd.

WARREN: It's true.

CORNISH: Is -- is this just pressure on Boeing or -- although -- that was my theory at first and now it seems like, no, they really just want the plane.

WARREN: No, and I think Trump -- I -- Trump is obsessed with the plane.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yes, he loved it, right? He loved it.

WARREN: I mean I think it's like the actual plane. He -- he loved it. He loved the present. I would say this, to the point about sort of Qatar being aligned with America's enemies. If I -- if I were a journalist on Air Force -- on this new Air Force One, I'd watch what I'd say. Like, what -- what -- what -- what sort of -- what sort of things are going on --

CORNISH: Yes, although it's supposed to be a defense to Defense Department thing. And people have talked about the cost of trying to fit it to be secure.

WARREN: I guess. That worries me.

CORNISH: And that that cost in of itself is something that would make things problematic.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Can I -- can I just say one more thing about the plane?

CORNISH: Yes.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Which is, they just, in "The Times," showed the sort of brochure -- because they've been trying to sell it for a while. It's really nice. I just want to say that. It's a really nice plane. So --

DEMSAS: So, you want to get on Air Force One.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I mean, I just want to say, I get it.

WARREN: (INAUDIBLE).

[07:00:01]

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I get it. It's a nice plane.

CORNISH: Lulu's chyron should just say, shout out to luxury.

Thanks to the group chat. Thank you for waking up with us. I'm Audie Cornish. And "CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.