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Inside Politics

Trump, Putin Holding Call to Discuss Ukraine Ceasefire; Biden Diagnosed with Prostate Cancer that has Spread to his Bones; Trump Levels Attacks Against Beyonce, Bono, Springsteen This Morning Ahead of Putin Call; Biden on Prostrate Cancer Diagnosis: "Cancer Touches us All". Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired May 19, 2025 - 12:00   ET

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

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DANA BASH, CNN HOST: Today in "Inside Politics", dial up diplomacy. Right now, President Trump is holding crucial phone calls with Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy about a potential path to peace, hours after Russia launched its largest drone attack on Ukraine since the war began.

Plus, a crushing diagnosis, President Biden reveals he has an aggressive form of prostate cancer that's spread to his bones. Well break down his battle with the disease that he's worked for years to eradicate.

And it's crunch time. House Republicans remain deeply divided as they race to pass the president's sweeping agenda. Can House Speaker Mike Johnson pull up a miracle on the Hill?

I'm Dana Bash. Let's go behind the headlines and "Inside Politics". And we start with the breaking news right now. President Trump is on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The call began more than an hour ago, hour ago, rather, and Trump's goal is to forge a path to peace in Ukraine, more than three years after Russia's unprovoked invasion there.

Now, after the Putin call, the president is expected to brief Ukraine's President on their conversation. It will be their second call today. CNN's Jeff Zeleny is at the White House. What are you hearing from sources there about the expectations from these calls, Jeff?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Dana, across the board, there is a lowering of expectations from both here at the White House as well as at the Kremlin, lowering expectations that anything immediate will happen from this call. That does not mean it's any less important here.

This is the first time that Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump have talked in two months. Their last call was March 18th, and we are told the call is still underway by everything we can glean and gather. And the question is, what will come out of it? Last week, the president, the U.S. President was saying again and again, this will only be resolved if he and Putin can meet, can come face to face or have a conversation.

Well, this is the beginning of that. But the reality is, Putin has been moving the goal posts. The bottom line here the outcome, really, the only positive outcome that could come from this call is a ceasefire, and there is no sign that, that is in the offing, giving the extensive bombings overnight. But Vice President J.D. Vance said he believes this whole conflict is at an impasse.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: He has made some concessions, he has taken some serious steps in these conversations, but we feel like, you know, we're at a point where we're at a point where we're hitting an impasse, and that's why the president is talking to him on the phone. I think honestly, that President Putin, he doesn't quite know how to get out of the war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: Well, the question is, if Putin wants to get out of the war, and that really is one of the uncertainties hanging over all of this. But for all the talk of sanctions, which is often the conversation between the U.S. and Russia, the vice president actually told reporters, and he was flying back from Rome, that the president is considering offering economic incentives to Putin to end the fighting.

And that's an entirely different conversation and matter. So, Dana, there are two things that we are looking for. One, will Putin agree to some type of a ceasefire, like a 30-day ceasefire? And two, are they going to agree to meet face to face? We will bring you the answer to both of those if and when we get them, Dana.

BASH: Yeah, and we are definitely all waiting on pins and needles, so obviously, raise your hand if we hear that that phone call has come to an end. Thank you so much, Jeff. Appreciate it. And I'm joined here by a terrific group of reporters, CNN's Manu Raju, Leigh Ann Caldwell of Puck, Jeff Mason of Reuters and CNN's Alex Marquardt.

Alex, first, I want to know what you're hearing from your sources, but I also just it's really kind of amazing to hear the Vice President of the United States say out loud, clearly what the reality is that it seems as though Vladimir Putin doesn't know how to get out of it, not necessarily that he wants to.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Right.

BASH: But even if he wanted to, just to translate. How does he do it with -- without or with saving pace?

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MARQUARDT: Well, I think there are plenty of Ukrainians who have some ideas about how he could get out of it. Just tell his troops to go back across the border. There were a number of interesting things in those comments by Vance, including this -- him repeating that the U.S. isn't going to be in this forever.

He said, you know, this isn't the U.S.'s war. That's something we've heard, and the U.S. doesn't want to just spin its wheels. So, we still haven't gotten a clear answer from the Trump Administration. If today's call doesn't really result in anything, what does President Trump actually do?

Jeff was talking there about financial incentives. They have talked about the potential for historic investment opportunities between the two countries. That's kind of been the carrot approach. There's also been the stick approach. We've heard from President Trump saying that we could see more sanctions being put on Russia.

There are others who would like to see more military aid for Ukraine. The expectations for today's call are very high, not just because you have these two world leaders who are talking to each other directly, but because he's got these other calls to brief Zelenskyy. He's going to have to brief the NATO leaders.

He's going to have to brief the press and the American people about what he was able to accomplish or what he wasn't able to accomplish. And there's a very good chance that Trump walks away from this call with no promise of a ceasefire from Vladimir Putin. So, what's next is it a sit down with Putin, which Trump has talked about, but there are a lot of people who think that that would be a reward for this bad behavior.

BASH: Well and on that note, Jeff, I'd like to remind viewers, when we talk about this topic, and we have you as a guest here, that you were one of the reporters during that unforgettable meeting that President Trump had in the first term with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, you were one of the reporters who asked a very good question.

And just to sort of remind everybody about the relationship that these two men had, going back to then, and likely prior to the fact the time that the president was even in office.

JEFF MASON, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT OF REUTERS: 100 percent I mean, and I think that relationship is really important to underscore. This is a relationship that President Trump values. He thinks pretty highly of Vladimir Putin. And I think what is interesting, or what could be interesting, in terms of what may come out of this call.

And we're seeing a little bit of a hint of it from the vice president's comments, is if President Trump starts growing more frustrated with Putin, and we have seen that he has, the question is whether that frustration translates into any different kind of action. You will often hear the president say things like, oh, I think they both want peace.

I think both sides want this. We're making progress when there's actually very little progress at all. And Vice President Vance sort of said the quiet part out loud with his comments there. Let's see if Trump does the same.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: -- Putin wants total capitulation from Ukraine. I mean, the question for me is that if Trump stands behind Ukraine in this phone call, or will he agree to push Ukraine to accept some of the concessions that Russia wants them to make.

We've already seen the administration take note of NATO membership off the table. What else could trump take off the table in order to entice Vladimir Putin and get in order to secure a victory here, economic incentives may go away to get Putin on board, but undoubtedly, that would anger a lot of the American allies, who don't believe they should reward bad behavior.

BASH: And as we are waiting to find out or read out from this conversation again, which we believe is going on as we speak, there was a moment in an interview that the president had with Bret Baier on Fox on Friday, that might give us a real window into the president's head space.

The question that, Bret, asked was about Trump's perception of Vladimir Putin. His answer was not about Putin, listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS HOST: Is Putin now the obstacle to peace in your mind?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Look, I had a real rough session with Zelenskyy because I didn't like what he said, and he was not making it easy. And I always said he doesn't have the cards.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Yeah.

LEIGH ANN CALDWELL, CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT OF PUCK: So, the dynamic between Trump and Zelenskyy and Trump and Putin is critical to all of these negotiations, as you implied, Jeff, Trump has always been more partial to Putin and always much more critical of Zelenskyy and to Zelenskyy's face.

And what seems to happen but that relationship with Zelenskyy seems to have been repaired a little bit over the past few weeks, and what seems to happen is Trump tends to side a bit more with the last person that he has spoken with in these negotiations. So, Putin has been very effective, if history is to tell us anything, at getting Trump to completely agree with his position in this war.

And so, what like you said, is going to happen? What his response is going to be after this phone call is going to be quite instructive, and it could just revert into previous patterns as well.

MARQUARDT: And that's why the Europeans, Ukrainians, have been all over Trump and President Zelenskyy. We saw Zelenskyy meeting with Rubio and Vance yesterday in Rome. We've had a number of these phone calls where they had Trump on speaker phone with European leaders and Zelenskyy. BASH: Yes.

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MARQUARDT: They want to stay on top of Trump to make sure that he doesn't stray and go back to those pro Putin, pro Russia talking points. And that's why it's also so important that he's briefing these other leaders today, because they want to make sure that he stays on side.

BASH: -- let's --

MASON: I will -- add briefly to that that if they do walk away, if the United States walks away in the way that Vice President Vance is threatening, it raises the question of what next, in terms of U.S. support, financial support for Ukraine. The president likes very much to say, this is not my war, this is Biden's war. But it's his tenure now, and he'll have to make those decisions.

BASH: I mean, yes. J.D. Vance, when he was a senator, even when he was running for Senate, he was very much, let's we don't belong there. Let's stay away from Ukraine and help for Ukraine. Let's focus at home. But don't you think now that he's vice president, that was a negotiating tactic?

MASON: Well, I think a lot of what they say is negotiating tactics for sure.

BASH: Yeah.

MASON: And I think it's just a question of whether or not those tactics are going to be effective. His words on the plane today. That's not the first time.

BASH: Yeah.

MASON: He's threatened to pull the United States out of these talks, and it hasn't led to any specific change in strategy.

BASH: Let's go back to what's happening right now, this phone call, and you mentioned the president's top diplomats, Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, slash National Security Adviser, and Steve Witkoff, the negotiator too everything and everybody in the world. Let's listen to what they said over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: They're tapping us along. Well, that's what we're trying to find out. We'll find out pretty soon. Ultimately, one of the things that could help break this long jam, perhaps the only thing that can is a direct conversation between President Trump and Vladimir Putin.

STEVE WITKOFF, SPECIAL ENVOY TO THE MIDDLE EAST: The president has a force of personality that is unmatched. If he can't do it, then nobody can. So, I leave it to the two leaders to have that call. (END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: I think to some extent their bark is worse than their bite, because we've heard about this in patients for quite some time. I was with Rubio in Brussels at NATO a month and a half ago when he said we don't want to just have conversations about conversations, and then a couple weeks later, he said, we're ready to move on.

But we still have not reached that breaking point. And for all of Russia's intransigence over the past few weeks, I mean, they haven't moved at all, and we have not gotten to the point yet where the Trump Administration has said we're going to punish you for that.

BASH: I just want to put on record something that's related to this, which is where the president's head space is as he's going into this call, maybe he is the best multitasker on planet Earth, but he was this morning and in the middle of the night, putting on his social media posts about Beyonce and then also about Bruce Springsteen, which I'm not going to go into it, because there's some things that are just not factually -- or factually questionable, to say the least. But this is what he was doing, going into --

RAJU: Yes -- not a surprise --

BASH: -- crucial phone call.

RAJU: But it's also is notable. You know, Jeff Zeleny said at the beginning of the segment that the White House is lowering expectations ahead of this call, and then you heard the president's advisor say over the weekend, if anyone can do it, Trump can do it -- so the expectations are sky high for this, despite what he might be tweeting.

BASH: All right, up next, the latest on Former President Joe Biden's battle with prostate cancer and his new message this morning to Americans.

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BASH: Nearly 10 years after losing his son Beau, to brain cancer. Joe Biden announced his own cancer battle. The former president was diagnosed with what his office described as an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones. Today, he posted this picture with the message, cancer touches us all. Like so many of you, Jill and I, have learned that we are strongest in the broken places. Thank you for lifting us up with love and support.

CNN's Arlette Saenz joins me now. Arlette, you have covered the former president for many, many years. You know him and the people around him very well.

What are you hearing from your sources about this diagnosis and the sort of head space of the former president.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Dana, former President Joe Biden is at his home in Wilmington, Delaware today as he and his family are currently trying to work through what the next steps for treatment will look like. That is a conversation that they are having with the physicians they've been consulting since he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones.

To provide some timeline, last Monday, a spokesperson for Biden had told me he was being evaluated after a small nodule was found in his prostate. The statement that was released yesterday by his personal office said that the former president was experiencing increasing urinary symptoms, and then it was on Friday when doctors delivered the news of the diagnosis.

Now we don't know exactly what treatment options they have presented to Biden right now, but medical experts have said this type of cancer could be treated with things like hormone therapy, chemotherapy or radiation. But certainly, this is a very difficult time for the Biden family.

Of course, they went through a cancer diagnosis when his son Beau Biden was fighting brain cancer and ultimately passed away back in 2015.

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One thing in the messages and support coming from many of his allies, they keep pointing to a word, one word to describe Biden, and that is fighter, and that is something he and his family plan to do as they are facing this cancer diagnosis head on at this time.

BASH: Yeah, and you know, after the report came out and the statement came out yesterday afternoon, one of his longtime allies said to me in attacks that this was already going to be a tough week, and now it's even tougher. Can you talk about that this tricky political moment for the former president?

SAENZ: Yeah, I -- it is really a very complicated time. As this news of the diagnosis is coming up, Biden has aides around him have started to face renewed scrutiny about his state while he was in office, relating to his physical and mental capabilities. Our colleague Jake Tapper and Axios Reporter Alex Thompson are set to roll out a new book tomorrow that details some of the signs of decline.

So, it's really raised a lot of questions, potentially casting a shadow on Biden's legacy, but raising questions, not just for the former president and his aides around him, but we've already seen prominent 2028 potential contenders in the Democratic Party face questions about their handling of the 2024 election, whether Biden should have remained in the race, or if they've seen any signs of decline while he was in office.

BASH: Arlette, thank you so much for that reporting. Appreciate it. And Vice President J.D. Vance weighed in on President Biden's diagnosis today while on Air Force Two headed home from Rome.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VANCE: First of all, for us, we wish the best for the former

president's health. And you know, it sounds pretty serious, but hopefully he makes the right recovery. Look, I will say whether the right time to have this conversation is now or at some point in the future. We really do need to be honest about whether the former president was capable of doing the job, whether it was doctors, or whether there were staffers around the former president, I don't think he was able to do a good job for the American people.

And that's not politics. That's not because I disagreed with him on policy. That's because I don't think that he was in good enough health. In some ways I blame him less than I blame the people around him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And my panel is back, Leigh Ann.

CALDWELL: Well, J.D. Vance also won the election, you know, with Donald Trump and so, yes, there are questions about President Biden's mental and physical capability when he was in office. But what this cancer diagnosis is also done on the right is it has renewed new conspiracy theories about what was going on in the Biden, White House as well.

You know, I talked to some Democrats today, and they I asked them how they are, some Democrats on the Hill, about how they are addressing this and thinking about this, and they tell me that they're actually not really talking about Biden at this point, that you know, that the fact that they are really trying to look ahead and look forward and not about the Biden candidate.

BASH: Yeah.

CALDWELL: You know, his decision to run for president is not top of mind.

BASH: So, we just played J.D. Vance, the president, President Trump, put out the following statement yesterday. Melania and I are saddened to hear about Joe Biden's recent medical diagnosis. We extend our warmest and best wishes to Jill and the family, and we wish Joe a fast and successful recovery.

MASON: Couple of things, first of all, like my heart, our hearts go out to President Biden. This got it. It's just an awful diagnosis to get just a few months after you've left office, when you're going to retirement. So that, you know, that's really hard the politics of this. Arlette mentioned that it could cast a shadow on his legacy. I would argue that the shadow is already cast.

His decision to run for reelection, and the new reporting that's coming out, as well as a lot of the reporting that we've done already, is just going to be a big part of his legacy. And in some ways, it might be a way to kind of draw a line between those two things now, because I suspect Democrats are going to focus on trying to lift up and support Joe Biden and not necessarily cast shadows, not to use that word a second time, but throw dirt on something that they're already pretty upset about, but maybe is not the most important thing right now.

BASH: Look, I mean, like most people who have been in public life. I mean, few have been in public life as long as he, you know, 50 plus years. Legacies are complicated.

RAJU: For sure.

BASH: The good, the bad and the ugly. He also part of his legacy was and is the cancer moonshot.

RAJU: Yeah.

BASH: Trying to eradicate cancer. Worked on it when he was vice president after his son died, and continued it when he became president.

RAJU: Yeah, and cancer research, trying to eradicate at least significantly reduce cancer diagnoses in this country, was a big push of his. He named it after his son, Beau, of course, passed away from brain cancer and lay in tragedies also part of Joe Biden's legacy having lost a wife and his daughter in that tragic car accident during as a first term senator.

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So, he is not someone who is not used to tragedy. On the cancer research side, one of the big questions is going to be, will this funding survive this era of DOGE cuts? We've already seen some concerns that there's pullback, particularly the National Institutes of the Health and the like how much does that actually survive going forward? That's going to be a big question as well.

BASH: Yeah. Well, you know, we talked about this a little bit yesterday when the diagnosis came, he's always been one of the first people on the phone with either a staffer or a colleague when they get bad or tough news, or even the family member of or the staffer of that person he doesn't even know.

RAJU: Yes.

BASH: And so, I'm sure that that is coming back at him in a very positive way -- The universe is probably smiling on him in that small way right now. Up next, can House Speaker Mike Johnson get President Trump's legislative agenda through the House, his conference is very divided.

Even after coming back and passing a really key milestone last night, we're going to have some fresh reporting from inside the debate that is roiling the House GOP, when we come back.

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