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The Situation Room

New Details on Biden Cancer Diagnosis Released; Interview With Pinterest CEO Bill Ready; Interview With Former U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen; Trump Announces Plan For Missile Shield. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired May 21, 2025 - 11:30   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: We have new details coming in this morning into THE SITUATION ROOM on President Trump's plans for the so-called Golden Dome, Trump vowing that his proposed missile shield will be operational by the end of his term.

[11:30:05]

That timeline, by the way, contradicting, with what several military officials have told CNN. Meanwhile, experts have expressed skepticism about more than just the time frame. Even though a comprehensive missile defense shield has long been talked about, technology gaps and the cost have prevented the U.S. from moving forward with any kind of dramatic plan.

Let's go live right now to CNN senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes. She's over at the White House for us.

What more have you -- have we learned about President Trump's proposal for this so-called Golden Dome that would protect the entire U.S.?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right.

We're learning a lot of new details. And, Wolf, as you said, it's really ambitious, not just in the timeline, but also in the cost that he's laying out. So, yes, let's take a look at what exactly the Golden Dome is intended to do and where this idea came from.

It is a space-based missile defense system, and what it would do is it would defend the U.S. from foreign attacks. This is something Donald Trump has long talked about. It is something that he has said that he has wanted. And, on top of that, he has used and cited development of really very technologically savvy missiles from places like Russia, like China.

And this is inspired by Israel's Iron Dome, but Trump says that this would be much larger. Now, let's go into the details of what exactly this looks like in terms of getting it done, Trump yesterday saying that it would cost $175 billion, $25 billion of which is being allocated in this big, beautiful bill that he is trying to get passed on Capitol Hill right now. And, as you noted, he said he believed this could be done by the end

of his term. Military experts, as well as technology experts, have said they believe that is little too ambitious and that that cost is a little low for what is going to have to go into this in order to actually be able to get something like this done -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Kristen Holmes, thank you very much.

Kristen Holmes reporting for us from the White House.

Joining us right now for some serious analysis on all of this, the former U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen.

Mr. Secretary, thanks so much for joining us.

Is this so-called Golden Dome, which clearly is modeled after Israel's Iron Dome, even viable, given the size of the United States in comparison with Israel? Israel is the size of barely New Jersey. The United States obviously is a huge, huge country.

WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: This has always been the challenge, Wolf, going back to the days of Ronald Reagan, when he talked about the STI, the Strategic Defense Initiative, putting a kind of -- a dome over the United States.

And many of said at that time that's not realistic, given the technology we had. So we tried to develop a limited system against a limited type of attack. But what's happened is, technology has dramatically changed. The threat has dramatically changed. We're now looking at hypervelocity missiles coming at us at speeds we have never seen before. So the threat has changed.

And, therefore, we have to defend ourselves against a different volume of threats, from cyberattacks to these type of missile attacks coming from space. And our mission, the mission of the administration and those who are elected is to defend our homeland against an existential threat. This appears to be one that is evolving.

And I think President Trump is right to say we need a much better system. The question becomes one of cost, complexity, and connectivity, which we can, discuss.

BLITZER: Well, let's discuss that, because President Trump is claiming that this Golden Dome missile defense system could be completed within three years at a cost of $175 billion. Do you think that's realistic?

COHEN: I don't.

In terms of costs, I know that the president has said $175 billion. Congressional Budget Office, I believe, has put it at almost -- over a half-a-trillion, some $550 billion. And so we'd have to allocate roughly $27 billion every year for the next 20 years in order to pay for the system.

For the president to say we can do it in three years, 3.5 years, I think is unrealistic. But technology is also changing our assumptions. A.I., for example, artificial intelligence, would drive this system that he is contemplating.

In other words, it's going to be so-called multilayered. It would be space-based, and then integrated with our land, sea, and air systems that we currently have. That connectivity is going to be immensely complicated. And so I think the notion that we can put all those together, so all of these hundreds, if not thousands of sensors in space, plus the satellites we'd have in space, some of them armed with various weapons, the complexity of integrating all of that is certainly going to be a challenge, not only in three years, but certainly in the next 10 years, at least.

[11:35:00]

BLITZER: Mr. Secretary, let me get your thoughts on another very sensitive issue right now. CNN has learned that the U.S. has obtained new intelligence suggesting that Israel is making preparations to actually strike Iranian nuclear facilities.

Officials caution that Israeli leaders have not made a final decision, but this comes, as you well know, as the Trump administration has been pursuing a diplomatic deal with Tehran on this whole issue of nuclear capability.

How do you see this playing out?

COHEN: I would hope that the Israeli prime minister would coordinate this very closely with the Trump administration.

The Israelis have an enormous military capability, and maybe they can carry out this mission without us. I suspect that we would want to be involved or would have to be involved. If that's the case, I don't think Israel should take a step without coordinating with the president of the United States, because the reaction would be asymmetric by the Iranians.

It would place Americans over in that region at risk, as well as our other allies in the region, not to mention globally. So, I think Israel, if they go ahead, they better understand that they need to have at least consultation, if not support from the president of the United States.

They owe us a great deal, and we have helped them with the Iron Dome. We have helped them with the Arrow system. We have helped them defend their small country against those multiple threats. They have an obligation to make sure that they don't take steps that put us at risk in that region or elsewhere.

BLITZER: Well, on that issue, Mr. Secretary, if Israel were to move forward with an actual military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, how do you see the risk of this starting a broader regional conflict in the Middle East actually breaking out?

COHEN: Well, that's always been the risk involved. We have hesitated to go after Iran to prevent them from developing a nuclear weapon. Israel has that goal. That should be our goal as well. So, the

president is trying to pursue it on a diplomatic basis with economic incentives, et cetera. But going to war, you don't know what the consequences are going to be. There may be -- quote -- "collateral damage" that we haven't contemplated yet.

We don't know exactly what that would mean in terms of asymmetric threats to us in the region, to us and our country and to our allies. So this is very serious. I don't think Israel should do this on its own. Yes, they're concerned about Iran getting a nuclear weapon. We are too.

But I think they have an obligation to work very closely. We are their best friend, and they have to be mindful of that as they decide whether they're going to attack or not.

BLITZER: Former Defense Secretary William Cohen, thanks, as usual, for joining us.

COHEN: Thank you, Wolf. Thanks for having me.

BLITZER: And we will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:42:13]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Well, new this morning, retail giant Target says sales dropped last quarter and warns that its troubles won't go away quickly amid concerns President Trump's tariffs are driving up costs.

As for shoppers, an early read of May's consumer confidence report suggests that people are still skeptical about their economic prospects, and that -- they caution that may result in less spending in the months ahead.

Our next guest knows quite a bit about consumer habits and expectations. Bill Ready is the CEO of Pinterest.

Bill, thank you so much for coming on the show.

You have millions of users who can get ideas and even shop from the site, so you really know what's going on Americans' minds right now. What trends are you seeing?

BILL READY, CEO, PINTEREST: Yes, thanks for having me on, Pam.

Yes, as you noted, we're a platform where more than half-a-billion users come to shop. And noteworthy about what they do on our platform is, they're planning ahead. You know, they're thinking about what they're going to buy days, weeks, months ahead of time.

And while consumers have been relatively resilient, we are seeing changes in their patterns. For example, budget-related searches are up more than 200 percent year-on-year for things like travel, makeup, beauty, apparel. And we're seeing that affect things like how they plan day-to-day life like weddings.

The courthouse weddings are up, or road trip honeymoons are up over 200 percent. And so we are seeing these things really start to come into how people are looking forward and planning perhaps in a more cost-conscious way.

BROWN: Where -- when did you start seeing those trends happening?

READY: I think this is something that's come about over the last few months. But, again, one of the things that we have seen in the past, we went through one of the biggest supply chain disruptions in nearly 100 years during the pandemic.

And one of the things we saw through that is that consumers are resilient. And even if they shift spending patterns, they're still going to find other things to spend on, to shop for. And we're a place where we help users figure that out. And so we're seeing that happen, that users may have some concerns about perhaps their own budgets tightening, but they're also finding really creative ways to go still plan day-to-day life, like the example of courthouse weddings and road trip vacations.

North America travel is up 2400 percent-plus, so maybe they're traveling more domestically. But they're still finding ways to celebrate with their families. And so those are things that are encouraging to see, even though, certainly, consumers are starting to be more wary of perhaps budget-related issues.

BROWN: That's really interesting that you're seeing those searches go up, though, for budget-friendly options.

So that brings us into the discussion about tariffs and the ongoing efforts by the Trump administration to try to ink better trade deals, especially with China. We hear a lot of CEOs and business owners talking about the uncertainty that this is creating.

How is this impacting Pinterest?

READY: Well, first of all, I'd say we, like everybody else in the business community, was -- you know, we have been happy to see some positive progress on those trade discussions, and we all want to see those come to a constructive conclusion.

[11:45:05]

But we noted on our recent earnings call that we have seen some headwind from Asian cross-border sellers, for example. But we're also seeing that those shifts in consumer behavior, advertisers are really trying to figure out how to meet the consumer where they're headed too.

And so we're engaging with advertisers and becoming a really indispensable partner for them, so that they can try to help show up to meet those consumers and help them work through maybe budget- related choices and those types of things.

BROWN: So it hasn't really impacted the advertising that you have been able to get on Pinterest?

READY: Well, I think we're a smaller player in the overall ad market, and we have been a share-taker in that market. So I think our business has been resilient, but we have been growing within the market.

So, I think, even if the market overall sees some pressure, as we have been able to give really great insights to advertisers, I think we have become a more indispensable partner to them. So what we see specifically may be different than the overall market.

And we do see that businesses are definitely being thoughtful about how they try to plan for what is currently a bit less certain future, but one where we can help give them insights to plan for how those consumers are rapidly changing their behaviors.

BROWN: I also want to ask you about artificial intelligence. It is now such a big part of the Pinterest experience, but tucked inside Republicans' tax and spending bill is language that would stop states from regulating A.I.

Lots of organizations, including unions and universities, claim that this hurts users. What do you think? Should there be safeguards when it comes to A.I.?

READY: Yes, well, I have been very outspoken in terms of the needs for safeguards in A.I., safeguards in social media.

So, for example, we're the only social media platform that is private only for users 16 years old, because we just didn't think it was safe for users 16 to be contacted by strangers online. We have also advocated for phone-free schools and done things like tuning A.I. for positivity.

So we do think that it's important to be thoughtful and intentional about A.I. And we want to do that in showing that we can act responsibly as a private enterprise. But we do think there's space for thoughtful regulation.

All else being equal, it'd be better to see that at the federal level than a patchwork of state-by-state regulations, so there's a consistent standard. But we do think that thoughtful regulation can be helpful here to set guardrails and a level playing field for us to all compete on.

BROWN: Just to follow up on that, I know you're also a big proponent on how kids can access the app at schools. We have covered cell phone bans in schools on this show. Tell us why that's so important, quickly, if you would.

READY: Certainly.

Yes, not only have we advocated for phone-free schools. We also -- if a user under 18 opens our phone -- or opens our app on their phone during school hours, we will give them a prompt to actually come back and see us later and to turn off notifications across the device, because we think, as an industry, we need to invest in the overall health of our users, not making short-term optimizations just to maximize attention, but actually invest in the overall health of our users, especially young people.

BROWN: All right, Pinterest CEO Bill Ready, thank you so much.

We will be right back.

READY: Thank you, Pam.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:52:32]

BLITZER: We're learning more about former President Joe Biden's cancer diagnosis. A spokesperson says his last known test for prostate cancer was more than 10 years ago, when he was 71 years old.

That test is called a PSA test. It checks the blood for a specific protein that may indicate the disease is present, but it's not necessarily recommended for men of all ages, especially men over 70. Biden was diagnosed Friday with an aggressive form of the cancer that has now spread to his bones.

BROWN: Certainly, we have his family and our thoughts and prayers. Such a tough diagnosis to get.

Let's bring in CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who is back to answer some of your questions about prostate cancer.

So, many of you, like Sherry in New York, want to know: "Why is the PSA test not recommended for men over 70?"

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I will I will start off by saying this is -- this is a bit of a controversial point even within medicine.

The Preventative Task Force says not 70. Other organizations say you should continue to screen, especially if someone is otherwise healthy. But the reason they specifically say 70 is really a couple things. One is that most prostate cancers are going to be slow-growing. So the idea is, is this going to be a problem in someone's lifetime or not?

If they don't think it's going to be a problem in someone's remaining life, then the idea to screen and cause unnecessary anxiety and worry, that's one reason they say 70. Another thing, and this is a really important point, is that PSA is not a perfect test by any means.

People who have an elevated PSA often get a biopsy, but only 25 percent of the time then is that shown to be cancer. So I think, for those two reasons, that's where this organization landed, at 70 years old.

BLITZER: We have another question from Noel who wrote in and asked this: "My father had prostate cancer. Does that increase my risk of getting the disease?" GUPTA: The short answer here is yes. There is a genetic component to this. We don't say the same for other cancers, for example, like brain cancer in my area.

But for prostate cancer, yes, father -- having a father with the disease increases your risk. Having a brother increases it even more, so something to pay attention to.

BROWN: And Robert in Seattle asks, who should screen for prostate cancer and when?

GUPTA: Yes. So, the -- I mean, this gets back to that same question.

I mean, so, certainly, they talk about not getting it at 70, but mostly, putting together the various recommendations from the organizations, where we sort of landed on this answer was, 50 years old, you can start getting -- you should start getting screened. And, also, if you have at least 10 years more of life expectancy, you should continue to get screened.

[11:55:10]

It's a little bit nuanced, but I think that's sort of where it landed. Now, certain things increase your risk, again, having a brother, for example, and, in those cases, starting the screenings around 45 is what the recommendation is.

BLITZER: And when they say you should have -- you should get screened if you have early symptoms, what are they talking about?

GUPTA: Usually, it's urinary tract symptoms. The urethra from the bladder goes through the prostate. If the prostate starts to get large, it causes urinary symptoms. So those are the most typical.

Sometimes, people may have pain. We know, with former President Biden, for example, it has spread to the bone. Five percent to 7 percent of the time, when the prostate cancer is first found, it has already spread, and people may have pain as one of those initial symptoms as well.

BLITZER: And we have another question, Sanjay, from Jeff from Niceville, Florida. He sent this question: "Are there any dietary foods that could help reduce the risk of prostate cancer?"

GUPTA: Yes.

I will preface by saying, food studies linked to preventing cancer are really hard to do. People's diets are confusing. They don't always remember what they ate. But I think one thing that the medical community sort of landed on is the value of folate when it comes to prostate cancer. Folate is found in all sorts of foods, beans, spinach, broccoli, making sure you get enough folate in your diet.

One thing really quick, not the same as folic acid. Folic acid is not a good substitute for folate when it comes to preventing prostate cancer. You got to eat the real food. BLITZER: All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you so much for your

expertise.

GUPTA: You got it.

BROWN: Thank you.

And thank you all for joining us this morning. We will see you back here tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. Eastern.

BLITZER: "INSIDE POLITICS WITH DANA BASH" is coming up next right after a short break.