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The Situation Room

Questions Raised Over Biden Cancer Diagnosis; Interview With Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL); Gas Prices Falling; Venezuelan Migrants at Risk of Deportation?. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired May 20, 2025 - 11:30   ET

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

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WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: The U.S. Supreme Court has now cleared the way for the Trump administration to strip temporary deportation protections for potentially, potentially hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants here in the United States, the court ruling that plans can move forward to end the form of humanitarian relief known as temporary protected status.

Joining us now is CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig.

Elie, tell our viewers what's at stake here.

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Wolf, this is a win for the Trump administration.

And it could result in the deportation of around 350,000 Venezuelan migrants. Now, there is a federal law passed back in 1990 that gives the administration the power to grant this temporary protective status if the person's home country is torn by war or famine or natural disaster, if it would be too dangerous to send those people back.

Now, during the Biden administration, this temporary protective status was granted to a large group of Venezuelans. And then, in the final weeks of Biden's administration, it was extended for another 18 months. However, when the Trump administration took over, the DHS secretary, Kristi Noem, revoked that status.

She took it away. And now what the Supreme Court has said is that the Trump administration was within its rights to do that. But the main point here is, the law itself says that determinations about this status, temporary protective status, cannot be reviewed by the courts.

And that was the main argument that the Trump administration made. This is up to the executive branch. It's not up to the courts. The court, Supreme Court, did not give a basis for its ruling, but it seems like that's what drove it.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: So if the law says this is not for judicial review, why was this even a thing in the courts?

HONIG: Yes.

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HONIG: Yes, so here's what -- it's a great question, Pam.

Here's what the -- here's what the challengers said below. The law says that the courts cannot review if the administration either grants TPS status, revokes it, or extends it. The argument they made is, yes, but what happened here was a revocation of an extension.

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And if you're rolling your eyes, I am too. I mean, that is a needle that is not really threadable. And that's how I think we wound up with an 8-1 opinion here...

BROWN: Yes.

HONIG: ... with only Justice Jackson dissenting. Remember, two of the liberal justices, Sotomayor and Kagan, sided with the Trump administration here because I think the law is so clear.

BROWN: That's really important to point out. And, certainly, this is a win. There's been a lot of immigration court -- cases. This one is a win for the Trump administration.

Elie, thank you.

HONIG: Thanks, guys.

BROWN: All right, nearly 40 million Americans are expected to hit the road this holiday weekend, and they will likely have something to smile about at the pump. Memorial Day weekend gas could be the cheapest it has been since 2021.

BLITZER: All right, let's go to CNN business and politics correspondent Vanessa Yurkevich, who's monitoring all of this. She's joining us from New York.

Vanessa, how much can drivers expect to save this year?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, if you're hitting the road this Memorial Day weekend, you're going to save about 50 cents per gallon more this year than you did last year.

So, the average price for a gallon of gas this Memorial Day is going to be about $3.08 a gallon. Look at that compared to last year, when it was $3.58. According to GasBuddy, the average price this whole summer could be around $3.02 a gallon. And then, by the end of summer, if things stay the way they are, gas prices could actually fall below $3 a gallon, two big reasons.

One is because OPEC -- that's the group of oil-producing nations -- has increased production. Also, though, a lot of countries that are producing oil are seeing that consumer sentiment is falling, and people may be pulling back on spending on gas, so oil prices also dropping because of that reason -- Wolf, Pam.

BROWN: And we're also hearing, Vanessa, from some companies today on whether or not they will be raising prices due to tariffs. What do we know there?

YURKEVICH: Yes, we heard from Home Depot this morning, who said that they're going to have to keep prices mainly stable because of tariffs, but they are expecting increases on certain items.

And they're also thinking about getting rid of certain products altogether because of tariffs. This is a company that has really made the effort to try to move their supply chains away from China, but about half of everything they sell is made outside of the United States, so they simply cannot escape the higher prices that they're going to have to charge consumers.

Also worth noting that Home Depot did report sluggish sales in the first quarter, basically a signal that Americans are pulling back on home improvement projects and renovations. And, of course, a weaker housing market means that people simply aren't moving and aren't having to do as much home renovation, so maybe saving money at the pump, guys, but spending a little bit more on home improvement projects.

BLITZER: All right, Vanessa Yurkevich reporting for us.

Vanessa, thank you very, very much.

BROWN: And just ahead, Wolf, will President Trump's trip this morning to Capitol Hill be enough to unite Republicans around his agenda?

Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

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[11:42:27]

BLITZER: New this morning, President Trump goes to Capitol Hill to win support for his sweeping spending bill with tax cuts.

But House Republican hard-liners are threatening to stall his agenda and moderates are making their own demands. Keep in mind, just a tiny handful of GOP no-votes could potentially doom the entire bill.

Joining us now, Republican Congressman Carlos Gimenez of Florida.

Congressman, thanks so much for joining us.

How did the president's message play in the room? You were there. You listened to what he had to say. You got the reaction from your Republican colleagues. What stood out to you from his remarks?

REP. CARLOS GIMENEZ (R-FL): Oh, I thought he -- I thought he was on his A game, very engaging, very funny, and got his point across. We need to unite. This -- the big, beautiful bill is something that has to pass. Failure is not an option. And get it -- get together and get it done. And the message resonated very well. And I think that, look, I have always said that, at the end, failure is not an option. We're going to get this thing done.

BLITZER: Yes, he kept saying -- when he emerged from that meeting, he said it was a meeting of love. He kept saying that, a meeting of love.

Several GOP hard-liners, on the other hand, including House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris and Congressmen Clay Higgins and Thomas Massie, say they were unmoved by the president's comments. Is this bill in jeopardy of not passing? Because you only need, what, three or four Republicans to vote no and it doesn't get over the finish line.

GIMENEZ: We're going to get this done.

Like I said, failure is not an option. If we fail, then the American taxpayer, America will be facing the largest tax increase in its history. And that's not going to happen under our watch and under our governance. And so we're going to get to the finish line. We may have some issues around the edges, but they're just around the edges, that we may have slight disagreements on right now.

But, at the end of the day, we're going to get this done. And the president reiterated again how important it is for the American people that we do get this thing done and we get this bill passed, send it on to the Senate, so that he -- and then they can pass it on to the president. We are going to get it done.

BLITZER: So, what do you think, Congressman, what do you think needs to change in order to assure that it will pass?

GIMENEZ: I think what needs to change is, some people need to understand that they're not going to get everything they want.

Everybody -- there are things in this bill that I may not like, and there's going to be things in the bills that obviously everybody is not going to like. But the vast majority of this bill is good. And it's good for the American people. It cuts -- it makes sure that we don't have a tax increase for the American people, unleashes American energy independence and dominance.

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It's good for the families. It's good for business. And it will -- it's a huge step forward for the American economy. That's the good. It far outweighs any of the negative small items that we may have personally. So, you can't let perfect be the enemy of good. And this bill is very, very good.

BLITZER: Some of your moderate Republicans in states like New York and California, they want to raise the cap on the amount of state and local taxes that people can deduct from their federal returns. Others say more needs to be done to reduce the cost of the bill.

How do President Trump and the speaker, Mike Johnson, find a middle ground here?

GIMENEZ: Well, we will find a middle ground for -- that will satisfy those in the blue states that are asking for the -- an additional state local tax deduction and those that want more spending cuts.

Again, these are issues around the edges. They're not the main part of this bill. And so I am confident that we will find that sweet spot. But Speaker Johnson has a great ability of getting people together. He's well respected by everybody in our conference. And I have complete confidence that he will get the job done.

And I'm -- and I know that the president has confidence in him too. So, like I said, failure is not an option here.

BLITZER: The speaker, Mike Johnson, wants a Thursday floor vote on this legislation before breaking for the Memorial Day weekend. Is that a realistic timeline?

GIMENEZ: Yes, I think it is. I think it's the timeline we must -- we have to meet.

If we try -- start kicking this thing, this can down the road, we don't know what's going to happen. Right now, we're controlling it. We control the agenda. We control the timetable. And I don't think we want to give that up to anybody else. And so, yes, I think that we need to wrap this thing up today, at latest tomorrow, and then vote on it on Thursday, so we can send it on to the Senate.

BLITZER: While I have you, Congressman, I want to get your reaction to new CNN reporting revealing that the Trump administration actually initiated asking Qatar for a plane to use as Air Force One.

That's contrary to the president's own narrative. What's your reaction to that?

GIMENEZ: No, I think that the president wanted to buy -- was willing to buy a plane from Qatar, because it's actually needed. And I think that what came back was that, no, that they would donate it to the United States Air Force.

And so thank you to Qatar for donating a 747 to the United States Air Force, and I'm sure we will accept it. And then the Air Force will do what it needs to do in order to make it appropriate to be an Air Force One while we still await the delivery of the new airplanes from the Boeing company.

BLITZER: All right, Congressman Carlos Gimenez of Florida, thanks so much for joining us.

GIMENEZ: It's my pleasure.

BLITZER: And we will be right back.

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[11:52:33] BROWN: President Biden's prostate cancer diagnosis has many Americans talking about their own health and asking about early detection.

BLITZER: CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is joining us right now to weigh in.

Sanjay, how did doctors initially discover President Biden's cancer?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we have been told, Wolf, is that he was having some difficulties, urinary symptoms specifically, which can be a flag, concern for issues with the prostate.

He had had problems in the past with this as well, but, this time, when they examined him, did a physical exam, there was something that was suspicious for prostate cancer. Subsequently, you get a biopsy, where you're actually looking at the cells under a microscope. And that's when they realized that this was cancer.

And that is the Gleason score of 9 that people have talked about. That is really reflecting the prostate cancer and what it looks like under a microscope. They subsequently got imaging studies. Now you're trying to answer the question, OK, there's cancer there. How big is it? How much has it potentially spread? And that's when they found it had spread to his bones as well.

So, one thing I will point out quickly is that 300,000 or so people are diagnosed every year with prostate cancer. This is in the United States. Around 5 to 7 percent of them are people who are going to be advanced -- at an advanced stage like this, so they really had no indication before, and the first time they have an indication there's a problem is when it's already aggressive and advanced, meaning typically that it's Stage 4, it has spread outside the prostate.

And that's the situation with the former president.

BROWN: Yes, do you find that surprising, Sanjay, then, in light of what you said, that they found it at such an aggressive stage or not?

GUPTA: Well, I think there's two ways of looking at it.

One is that they just missed it and that people don't develop symptoms until it is quite advanced. That can happen sometimes. They either missed or it wasn't disclosed. The second thing is -- and this is a little counterintuitive -- when you have aggressive cancers, they grow quickly typically.

So, is it possible that, a year ago, on a previous screening, there wasn't enough of an indication? Yes, it's possible that there wasn't enough clues a year ago, but then it grows quickly within the past year or the past few months even to get to the stage that it is now. Just don't know.

I look back through four years of his medical records, though, Pamela, and there was no indication of this, PSA, this biomarker, even being checked, which is not uncommon when people get over 70 years old. Oftentimes, you just stop checking that.

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BLITZER: Is that is that a good idea or a bad idea to stop checking PSA for men 70 and older?

GUPTA: I...

BROWN: Especially for a president.

GUPTA: Oh, well, I think, if you add in the president, I think that the idea that you really want to be clear that you're following this sort of biomarker even as you get older might be more important if you're president, because the four years, you really want to say, look, are we seeing any trends here?

But, for the average person, once you get over the age of 70, you may say, look, even if we find something, these are typically slow-growing tumors. We're not going to do anything about it. Maybe we're collecting information we don't need.

It's contentious, I will tell you, even within the world of medicine.

BLITZER: Sanjay, as usual, thank you so, so much.

And to our viewers, scan the Q.R. code, check it out on your screen, and head to CNN.com to submit questions about prostate cancer. Dr. Gupta will be back tomorrow to join us, and he will answer your questions.

And, to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us this morning. We will see you back here tomorrow 10:00 a.m. Eastern.

BROWN: "INSIDE POLITICS" with our friend Dana Bash is next after a short break.