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Americans' Opinions of Trump Administration?; Interview With Jonathan Capehart; Elon Musk Permanently Tied to Trump?; New York Police Officer Questioned in Cryptocurrency Kidnapping Plot. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired May 30, 2025 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

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[11:31:21]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Happening now, a New York City police detective assigned to Mayor Eric Adams' security detail will be questioned in relation to a rather bizarre cryptocurrency kidnapping and torture plot. And this comes after he allegedly delivered the victim to his tormentors.

I want to go live right now to see in his chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst, John Miller, who's joining us from New York.

John, was this detective on duty when this drop allegedly happened? What more can you tell us? Share the details, whatever you can.

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: So this detective was not on duty. He is assigned to the mayor's protection detail, but he was working off duty for a private security company that was hired by John Woeltz, the lead defendant in this case, the man allegedly behind this torture, who said he wanted armed security and drivers.

So, two detectives went to work for him for a while, and one of them did this pickup from the airport.

BLITZER: What steps has the NYPD taken since learning this information, John? Is the detective still on duty?

MILLER: So he is still on duty, but he's on what they call modified assignment.

Wolf, what that means is, they have taken his badge, they have taken his gun.He's not on the mayor's security detail right now. He's going to be on desk duty, which makes him available to investigators when they can interview him about what did you see? Did you get into the house? Did you notice any of the activities that were going on?

If so, obviously, they weren't reported to the police, but they want to know what these detectives knew, there were two of them, and when they knew it and what they did with that information, if anything. I mean, the flip side of this may be that they waited outside in the car and, outside of dropping the guy off, they may have not been aware, but they really need to find out.

BLITZER: All right, John Miller helping us appreciate this rather bizarre case, indeed.

John, thank you very, very much.

And up next, Pamela.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: President Trump is set to say goodbye to Elon Musk, whose brief time at the administration is over, but will he get a warm send-off after his recent criticism of Trump's big, beautiful bill?

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[11:37:53]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: In just a few hours, President Trump is set to mark Elon Musk's final day as part of the Trump administration in an Oval Office event, this as Musk says he has differences -- I'm quoting him now -- differences of opinion with the Trump administration in a newly released interview.

I want to discuss this and more with "The Washington Post" associate editor and MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart. He's the author of a brand- new book. Here's the cover. You see it right there. It's entitled "Yet Here I Am: Lessons from a Black Man's Search for Home."

Jonathan, thanks so much for joining us.

JONATHAN CAPEHART, AUTHOR, "YET HERE I AM: LESSONS FROM A BLACK MAN'S SEARCH FOR HOME": Well, Wolf, thank you.

BLITZER: First of all, what do you make of Elon Musk now trying to distance himself from Trump?

CAPEHART: Good luck with that. It's not going to work.

He came in with this administration on January 20, maybe even before, with DOGE and his chain saw. I liken it to a wrecking ball that he waved through the federal government, wrecking civil servants, their work and creating chaos in the federal government.

BLITZER: I want to get to the book in a few minutes.

CAPEHART: Sure.

BLITZER: But let's talk about some of the current issues right now. Trump's entire economic agenda, Jonathan, as you know, was thrown into jeopardy earlier this week. His tariffs are now back on, at least for now.

What's the significance here that Trump largely won on several of these economic issues, yet his policies have faced major headwinds both logistically and politically and internationally?

CAPEHART: Right, and, in some cases legally.

Look, it's one thing to run for president and hit those kitchen table issues that the American people really cared about, but then he came in as president and started doing things that upended everything he said he was going to work on, lowering inflation, lowering prices, and, instead, particularly with his tariffs regime, he's doing the exact opposite.

And he's doing it in a way that sort of betrays the fact that he doesn't know what he's doing. And God bless the treasury secretary for the job that he has in trying to reassure the global markets that the United States is not going down a path that it can't reverse.

[11:40:01]

BLITZER: While I have you, Jonathan, I want to turn to another major story we have all been following, the Trump administration's efforts to go after Harvard University's research funding and ability to admit international students.

What do you think is really behind these relentless attacks?

CAPEHART: Other than spite, other than vengeance, other than retribution?

I can't think of any other reason why the president of the United States would put Harvard, the nation's oldest university, in the crosshairs the way that he's doing. And, fine, if you have a vendetta against Harvard, fine, go about it that way.

But then think about the unintended consequences. Going after its research development, foreign students, the talent that comes to Harvard and the talent that stays in this country and then fortifies our country, he's shipping them out.

I don't know if he's thought through these things. And, even if he has, I'm not sure he cares.

BLITZER: Yesterday, I had a chance to speak to the former Obama White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. He says the Democratic Party brand is struggling right now. He's calling it weak and woke and says the party needs to move toward the center.

What is your sense of what Democrats need to do right now to take -- retake the majority in the House and maybe the Senate and the White House, for that matter?

CAPEHART: I think the Democratic Party needs to, in one sense, keep doing what it's doing. It's not like President Biden and then after him Vice President Harris didn't have an economic message, had plans and programs that they wanted to put in place to help the American people.

They did. The Democrats still do. They just have to figure out the language in the way to talk about it. Get away from poll-tested, consultant-tested language and just speak in plain-folks English.

Nathan Sage is running for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Iowa. He is one of those people who is doing exactly what I just said.

BLITZER: Interesting. Good advice from you.

This new book -- and it's really an excellent new book, very personal...

CAPEHART: Thanks.

BLITZER: ... on your part, "Yet Here I Am: Lessons from a Black Man's Search for Home," tell us about the title, "Yet Here I Am." How did that -- how did you originate with that?

CAPEHART: So, I am an only child of a widow. It was just us until my mom remarried when I was 16.

I was a nerdy kid who had a dream of doing what we're doing right now. But I'm the only person in my family still who is a journalist, a writer of any kind, first -- only person in my family in television. So I had these big dreams, but no road map.

And so, if you just look at the way -- the story I just told you, but also in the ways that people look at black men, young black men, I shouldn't be here, if the myths and the stereotypes were to hold. And so the title speaks to that, given all those things I just mentioned. Yet here I am doing -- living the dream.

BLITZER: And your family should be so proud of what you have accomplished.

And it really is a very personal, very powerful book. And I have gone through it. And I want to thank you and congratulate you for writing. It's worth a read for everyone.

CAPEHART: Thank you so much, Wolf.

BLITZER: Thanks, Jonathan Capehart, joining us.

And we will be right back.

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[11:47:44]

BROWN: Now to our weekly series "Your Voice."

Every Friday, we check in with talk radio hosts across the country to hear what their listeners are thinking and saying about what's going on in Washington.

And, today, we have got progressive host Thom Hartmann in Portland, Oregon, and from Elk Grove, Illinois, conservative talk show host John Anthony. Thank you both for being here on the show.

So, Thom, I want to start with you. First of all, tell us a little bit about your listeners. And I want to get this response and what they're saying about this. We have this new report that shows that Americans reined in their spending an April amid President Trump's tariff rollout.

And I'm wondering, are your listeners changing their buying habits out of concern for what could happen or actually the prices that are rising right now, Thom?

THOM HARTMANN, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Oh, it goes way beyond that, Pamela.

It's that people are terrified that they're going to be losing their health care, that these cuts to not just Medicaid, but also, according to the Congressional Budget Office, Medicare cuts are coming out of this budget. They're concerned that, after Elon Musk fired thousands of workers at Social Security, I'm constantly getting calls from people who can't get through, are having problems signing up.

These programs, these social safety net programs have been kneecapped. A couple of other big concerns from my callers are that Trump seems to be taking bribes in Bitcoin and selling access to the White House, which is some just extraordinary level of just naked corruption, this airplane from Qatar that it turns out now Trump asked them for, according to Qatar anyway.

Calling half the country scum this week. I mean, this is just so unbecoming of a president. This is stuff we have never seen before in America.

BROWN: So, John, again, we really want to focus on what the listeners are saying. And I'm wondering who your listeners are typically, and what are they saying about their spending right now about the tariffs and whether they have concern or whether they don't think it's a big deal and they're just -- it's just business as usual for them?

JOHN ANTHONY, HOST, "DETROIT'S MORNING ANSWER": Yes, thank -- first of all, thanks for having me.

Well, my listeners, I have a very collected crowd that I listen -- that listen to not only my "Detroit's Morning Answer" show, but my cultural show called "Black and Right" that I do every Saturday. And these are not the concerns of theirs.

[11:50:03]

I mean, when you look at places like Chicago and Detroit, you have Chicago Flips Red. You have Chicago Red. These groups are more -- they're still concerned about the immigration issue, the immigration problem that's been affected by -- they're looking at President Trump as a hero, because he's looking to, first of all, bring America back.

I mean, we give -- you can't deny what has been happening in our country over the last four years, and not only President Trump, but even with the DOGE and what they have been able to do. This is -- I mean, both Trump and Elon are looked that as heroes, not so much the villains that...

BROWN: By your listeners? I just want to be clear, by your....

ANTHONY: By my listeners, yes.

BROWN: Yes. Yes. Yes. OK.

ANTHONY: By my listeners, the people in both markets, in both the Michigan and Illinois market.

BROWN: So, just to follow up on that, because I just had Stephen Miller on. And I know you also want to weigh in, Thom.

But is there any concern about how the administration is handling the immigration front, whether they have gone too far? Or are your listeners, in large part -- I know it's just -- it's not a monolith, but are they applauding how they're handling it?

Oh.

ANTHONY: Oh, that's true. I mean, that's nothing but applause for what this Trump administration, Tom Homan and what they're doing, Pam Bondi, what they're doing, and Kristi Noem.

They're excited about it, because Chicago and Michigan, specifically Chicago, we have encampments of illegal immigrants that have caused so much damage, so much -- I mean, just insane the amount of money that's been spent on the illegal immigration throughout the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois, Cook County.

So they're applauding us, people like -- like I said, Chicago Red, Flip Chicago Red. They're excited about what's happening. And that's -- you're seeing the birth of this, of these type of groups throughout the country.

BROWN: OK.

ANTHONY: And then that's -- those are the people that are calling into my show.

BROWN: So, tell me a little bit more, Thom, now that we have you back, what your listeners are saying about President Trump's immigration efforts.

HARTMANN: Well, they're generally -- I mean, nobody opposes removing people from the country who have committed crimes. And I think the vast majority of my listeners are all in favor of the country having solid borders and enforcing our immigration laws.

But throwing 4-year-old cancer victims out of the country in the middle of their treatment, busting people who have legal permission to be here in the United States as they show up for their regular monthly meetings at ICE, it's -- and just revoking that on the spot and then throwing them in foreign concentration camps, it's bizarre.

BROWN: And...

HARTMANN: And I think people are generally relatively horrified by it.

BROWN: You're talking about the prisons where they're going, like in El Salvador, I believe, not -- and also, on that example...

HARTMANN: Yes.

BROWN: ... I know a lot of people -- there were people who watched that with the child getting chemo treatment who was a U.S. citizen and was very concerned.

But the administration said the mother who was here illegally did accept that -- did want the child to go with her. Now, that's a broader issue of whether that mother should have been targeted. And that's a conversation for another day, because I do want to ask you about Elon Musk.

I know, John, that you brought up DOGE and your listeners are really happy about the work that has happened from DOGE. So, what is the reaction to the fact that Elon Musk is officially exiting the Trump administration?

ANTHONY: Well, I mean, some people are sad Elon Musk is leaving.

I know I'm one of the people, because, when you look, I formerly served in the Illinois House. And when you look at government, I have been calling for forensic audits in our state government for years. And to have this extrapolated out to the federal government, it's high time that something like this has happened.

And the American people are here for it. And at least the people that call into both my "Detroit's Morning Answer" and my "Black and Right" radio show, they are ecstatic of the work that Elon Musk and his team has done. And so am I.

BROWN: So -- so, Thom, have you heard from your listeners who have been impacted by the massive government cuts by DOGE? What are they saying about Elon leaving?

HARTMANN: Yes, certainly, we have had government employees call.

And, by the way, I refer to the prison in El Salvador as a concentration camp, because the distinction is that concentration camps don't have due process. You can't appeal your being there, which is the case with the ones that were clearly set up.

But, in any case, yes, in answer your question...

BROWN: Your -- I mean, yes, that's true, what you said. Go ahead.

HARTMANN: ... I think there's a big concern, yes. Yes, I think there's generally a very big concern about this. And part

of it, of course, you get calls from people who just got laid off, and their lives are shattered. But the bigger concern is, I mean, you're seeing like the National Institutes of Health being gutted. They just canceled the -- $700 million to Moderna to make a vaccine for bird flu.

It's like we're on the edge of a possible pandemic, and they're saying, oh, yes, we're going to cover our eyes. We're not going to pay attention to this.

This sounds like the screw-up that Trump did in 2020 that led to, according to "The Lancet," the British medical journal, an unnecessary 400,000 to 500,000 American deaths because of how badly he handled the last pandemic.

[11:55:09]

I mean, people are really concerned that this gutting of the government is not cutting fat, that it's cutting muscle and bone.

BROWN: Do your -- I know that your listeners, again, not a monolith, John, but do they have any concerns about some of the cuts that you just heard from Thom?

ANTHONY: Well, I think my listeners, like, they call in and say, well, what happened when Barack Obama cut these positions? What happened when Hillary -- I mean, Bill Clinton cut these positions? What happened to the people when Joe Biden cut these positions?

What happened to when people lost their jobs for COVID, doctors, nurses, teachers? I mean, where was the outcry then? And now we want to cry because Trump is trying to fix what is -- this is decades-old issues in our federal government.

And I'm -- and I support every aspect of what President Trump is trying to do to fix this country and make it great again.

BROWN: Right.

And, of course, I'm going to channel you, Thom, because we have to go, but I'm sure your listeners would say, well, every administration certainly has cut, but this is at a whole new level. But some applaud, some don't, as you all just laid out from all of your listeners across the country, which is why we had you on.

Thom Hartmann, John Anthony, thank you both.

ANTHONY: Thank you.

HARTMANN: Thank you, Pamela.

BLITZER: And, to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us this morning. You can always keep up with us on social media @WolfBlitzer, @PamelaBrownCNN.

We will see you back here Monday and every weekday 10:00 a.m. Eastern.

BROWN: "INSIDE POLITICS WITH DANA BASH" is next after a short break.