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Trump: "I Think We're Getting Very Close" to Ukraine Peace Deal; Trump on Russian Strikes on Kyiv: "I Didn't Like Last Night"; Trump Doubles Down on Threat to Reimpose Global Tariffs Within Weeks; New Polling Shows Trump Approval Rating Sinking; Polling Shows Americans Not Happy with Trump's Economy, Inflation; Justice Dept Axes Grants for Crime Victims, Opioid Abuse Fight. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired April 24, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

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[15:00:09]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Pressure campaign: President Trump says he is trying to push Ukraine and Russia to end the war and that a deal could come soon, but that may not be soon enough for Ukraine after the deadliest wave of strikes on Kyiv since last summer.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Plus, the latest on the standoff with China. President Trump says there was a meeting this morning aimed at ending the trade war, but Beijing seems to be in no rush to end a fight that it blames the White House for starting. Is there an off-ramp, a way out of this conflict that threatens to destabilize the global economy?

And all of this could be yours. The organizer of the Fyre Festival says the beleaguered brand is for sale - even that weird grilled cheese sandwich. Look at it right there. Yes.

We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

Breaking news from the White House on Ukraine and trade talks. The President and his team moments ago addressing the turmoil surrounding peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. Let's get right to the White House and CNN's Jeff Zeleny on this.

And Jeff, you were in the room. You asked a very good question of the President. Walk us through the biggest takeaways.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, it's clear that the President's frustration is rising with the lack of a progress on a ceasefire deal between Ukraine and Russia. And we saw that social media post earlier today where the President said, Vladimir, stop. That was something that we have not quite yet seen. So we asked the President in the Oval Office a few moments ago about his rising frustrations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: Mr. President, this morning in a Truth Social post, you used the words "Vladimir, stop." That seemed like a slightly different message, a personal message. What is your level of frustration with President Putin?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I didn't like last night. I wasn't happy with it. And we're in the midst of talking peace, and missiles were fired, and I was not happy with it. That's what I meant. And that's, you know (INAUDIBLE) ...

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: ... I assume that's what you mean.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sorry.

TRUMP: Yes, (INAUDIBLE) ...

ZELENY: If bombs keep falling, will you consider additional sanctions for Russia? Or what will you do if President Putin ...

TRUMP: I'd rather answer that question in a week. I want to see if we can have a deal. No reason to answer it now, but I won't be happy. Let me put it that way.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President ...

TRUMP: Things will happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So the President saying things will happen - of course, that could be a variety of things. I mean, one option, of course, the United States walking away. That is one of the concerns that some Ukrainians have. Of course, the President also did not answer if he intends to apply any additional sanctions on Russia.

But the bottom line to all of this is, this clearly has been one of the biggest frustrations of the President's first 100 days in office, which officially is next week. He, of course, vowed to end this war - trying to end this war early on in his return to power here. That has not happened.

But, of course, the deal and the framework that the administration is pushing Ukraine to accept is very - is very favorable to Russia. So the bottom line here is, it's a growing quagmire. The - but the one difference - the President at least voicing aloud frustration toward Vladimir Putin, which he rarely - rarely does. Brianna?

KEILAR: Yes, it was very interesting.

Jeff Zeleny, thank you so much for that. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Joining us now is CNN Senior Military Analyst, retired Admiral James Stavridis. He is a former NATO Supreme Allied Commander and a partner at the Carlyle Group, a global investment firm.

Admiral, always great to see you. I wonder what you make of Russia launching the deadliest wave of attacks against Kyiv that we've seen in nearly a year. What does it tell you about how Putin views these negotiations?

ADM. JAMES STAVRIDIS (RET.), CNN SENIOR MILITARY ANALYST: I hate to say it, but it looks to me like a signal to the White House that you're not calling my shots for me. And it really is - feels like - kind of thumbing your nose at President Trump. And I think that's why President Trump, quite correctly, indicated that he's not happy. He's angry. He's contemplating action.

What I took away from his body language and discussion is that the administration will look at further sanctions, would look at perhaps sending more armaments to Ukraine. I certainly hope that's the case, because at the moment, Vladimir Putin is playing rope-a-dope in this most recent volley of strikes - right in the middle of the Trump team trying to get to a negotiation - looks extremely disrespectful to the President.

[15:05:08]

SANCHEZ: But if the threat from the U.S. is that they would walk away from a deal if there is no progress - I mean, doesn't that stand to mostly harm Ukraine since they are defending against Russian attacks?

STAVRIDIS: I haven't heard the administration define what walking away from the deal or the negotiation really means, but I'd put it in three baskets. It could be, as you just said, it means washing our hands of the entire situation and simply walking away and turning the problem over to the Europeans. That would, you are correct, advantage Russia.

On the other hand, walking away from seeking negotiation could mean increasing sanctions on Russia, continuing to arm Ukraine, provide security guarantees, and that would, of course, advantage Ukraine. I just don't think we know yet. We're going to have to see what the President decides next week. If he can't get these parties to the table, I hope he can.

SANCHEZ: When asked what concessions Russia has offered or put up in a negotiation, Trump said, quote, "stopping the war, stopping from taking the whole country," which he called a pretty big concession. I wonder what you make of that, given the harm that the Kremlin has caused here.

STAVRIDIS: Yes, I don't see that as a concession at all. Vladimir Putin started this war. He invaded. His troops have committed multiple war crimes. They continue to do so by attacking civilian populations and attacking critical infrastructure for civilians. So the idea that not conquering Ukraine is a concession makes no sense to me.

Here's what would be concessions for Russia, and what I hope that Team Trump will apply pressure to Russia to get the following: A path for Ukraine, at least to the European Union; troops in Ukraine, as in European troops, as peacekeepers and potentially trainers; a guarantee to Ukraine that they will continue to receive defensive armament.

All those things would be concessions from Putin's current position. I've heard none of that. I'm waiting to hear that. We're not going to hear it until more pressure is put on Putin by Team Trump.

SANCHEZ: And what do you make of the concessions that are apparently being proposed - of Kyiv, in essence, accepting Russia's sovereignty over Crimea and other territories?

STAVRIDIS: Let's wait until the negotiation and see where all of those desires on both sides go. We just walked through what Ukraine might want. What does Putin want? He wants, above all, sanctions relief. He wants to get his economy reengaged globally.

Number two, he wants a guarantee that Ukraine will never join NATO. He wants a guarantee that there will be no troops in Ukraine who could become a tripwire for a further invasion. So he's got a basket of desires. So do the Ukrainians.

Let's start with a ceasefire, get them both to the table, and have a negotiation. One positive thing, Boris, is that Putin said that Russia would be willing to have direct talks with Ukraine. I think if that were to happen, with U.S. as a facilitator, you could start to see the shape of a deal emerging. We're a long way from that. Let's hope we can move in that direction soon.

SANCHEZ: Retired Admiral James Stavridis, always appreciate you sharing your point of view. Thanks for being with us.

STAVRIDIS: Thanks, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Of course. Brianna?

KEILAR: Today, President Trump doubling down on this threat to reimpose tariffs on some countries in as little as two weeks if they don't strike a new trade deal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I can't think of one country that doesn't want to negotiate a deal. And they either negotiate a deal or we set a deal that we think is fair. Because we don't have to go through all of these - it would be physically impossible. We are going to, at some point, just set prices for deals. Some will be tariffed. Some treated as very unfairly - they'll be tariffed higher than others.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Douglas Holtz-Eakin is with us now. He served as chief economist on President George W. Bush's Council of Economic Advisers. And he's also the President of The American Action Forum.

Doug, thanks so much for being with us. I just wonder, you know, why do you think Trump ...

DOUGLAS HOLTZ-EAKIN, CHIEF ECONOMIST, WH COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS UNDER PRESIDENT G. W. BUSH: Certainly.

KEILAR: ... it threatening to reinstate the tariffs?

HOLTZ-EAKIN: Well, certainly he wants to get people to the table and to have some trade deals - put that in quotes if you want.

[15:10:06]

You know, that is his best exit route from the so-called reciprocal tariffs that proved so damaging when he announced them.

I think, looking forward, he recognizes that that's too much for the damage on the U.S. economy - too much for the damage to the global economy. He needs to find a way out. Getting everyone to the table and calling it a day is the best way to do that.

And that leaves you with two big problems. One, the China tariffs at 145 percent are so large as to probably cut off trade entirely with China. If you had rolled the clock back five years ago and said, can we completely decouple from China? I think most people would have said no. These would do that. That's a real threat to global economic growth.

And then there's the 10 percent universal tariff, which it's not easy to imagine an exit ramp from. It's his idea. He's unlikely to say I made a mistake and just take it back. So there's some real issues that remain in the economic outlook that surround these tariffs.

KEILAR: So is your read that when he said 90-day reprieve, he thought that would put some pressure on these countries - the ones who have the so-called reciprocal tariff on them - to kind of really come to the table? We've been hearing from White House officials that the phone's been ringing off the hook. Did it not actually create the pressure that he was looking for?

HOLTZ-EAKIN: Well, to be realistic, you can't negotiate in 90 days a real trade agreement. Real trade agreements are years-long processes, and they're ratified by the U.S. Senate. So what they're looking for is an agreement quickly - for countries to provide some face-saving changes in their behavior, some tariff barriers to get removed or some tariffs to get lowered. And in exchange, we'll lower the reciprocal tariffs and perhaps even eliminate them.

That's a way to get past what was simply a major policy mistake. I mean, those tariffs were ill-conceived. You know, there's been a lot of discussion of the formula that went into them - it's not grounded in reality. They were layered on top of what are already the largest tariffs in 95 years. They were just going to do too much damage to the United States as well as the global economy.

So finding a way for all parties to get out of that - I think was the key. And he just picked a 90-day pause to figure out a strategy to do that.

KEILAR: So these 145 percent tariffs still in effect on China, as you mentioned - we keep hearing the President say that his administration is talking to China. Then you hear China say, No, that's not true. What's your read on what's really happening here?

HOLTZ-EAKIN: This is two very stubborn individuals facing down. And, you know - President Xi, President Trump - are waiting for the other to make the first move. And I see little progress, quite frankly. And that's not a good situation.

This is the two largest economies on the globe. They are engaged in a very damaging trade dispute. You know, the CEOs of large retailers in the United States went to the President and said, look, you're facing the possibility of empty store shelves and real problems going forward. So the danger is clear, and it's been recognized. But we haven't found a path to real talks. And quite frankly, that's what is needed. They need to actually sit down and start sorting this out.

KEILAR: Yes. China has its economic vulnerabilities, but it also has, of course, a political system ...

HOLTZ-EAKIN: Yes.

KEILAR: ... that is very different. Xi Jinping's hold on power - very different, even than Donald Trump's - even as he tries ...

HOLTZ-EAKIN: Yes.

KEILAR: ... to consolidate the levers of power.

Has Trump miscalculated here? Does he think that - you know, does China have a higher threshold for pain than America?

HOLTZ-EAKIN: It's certainly the case that China has not responded to the tariffs with anything that looks like accommodation or change in their behavior. I don't think that should surprise anyone.

The tariffs that Mr. Trump imposed when he was first president got a thorough review by the Biden administration. They concluded they were entirely unsuccessful in changing China's behavior. So, I don't think it was a very sensible expectation to think that China was somehow going to magically change course in response to this particular tariff.

There needs to be a better strategy for sitting down and having talks about, A, the tariffs, but B, other aspects of how the United States and China will coexist in the face of some real disagreements on all strategic fronts.

KEILAR: Douglas Holtz-Eakin, great to have you. Thanks for being with us.

HOLTZ-EAKIN: Thank you.

KEILAR: And still to come, as Trump marks 100 days in office next week, a new polling shows his approval rating is falling. We'll take a look at the latest numbers.

[15:15:01]

Plus, the Pope's doctor sharing details about his final days as thousands continue to line up to pay respects to the late pontiff.

And then later, we'll speak with the lawyer who is representing the Palestinian college student arrested at his U.S. citizenship interview in Vermont.

We'll have that and much more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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[15:19:42]

SANCHEZ: As we inch closer to the 100-day mark of President Trump's second term in office, new polling is coming out revealing what Americans think of the job he's doing.

KEILAR: We have CNN Senior Political Analyst Mark Preston here to break it down for us.

What do they think, Mark?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I'll tell you what, it's very interesting as we do head into these hundred days, and Donald Trump has certainly tried to make a mark in these 100 days, but the news isn't always so good.

[15:20:07]

Let's look at the Fox News poll that was just released right here.

Look, he's at 44 percent right now. That is his approval rating. What is interesting about this is that in less than a month, he has dropped 5 percentage points. In 30 days, he has dropped 5 percentage points. That is not the direction you want to be going in.

And of all the issues, the only issue that he polled positively on - the only issue was on the border. However, the most important issue, as we all know, is the economy. And this is what folks are saying about tariffs right now, as all this news is coming out about tariffs. Look at that, only 33 percent of folks approve of what Donald Trump is doing with tariffs right now.

And then, you know, we talk about the economy. You can't talk about the economy without inflation. Let's show where we are on inflation right now. Again, so if you look at these numbers, it goes to show you this is the direction you do not want to be heading into the summer - specifically when the summer tends to be a little bit slower when it comes to retail spending and what have you.

Donald Trump is going back and forth on these issues just to try to make some headway, but he is not doing so.

SANCHEZ: Is that how you see the White House handling this coming out and sort of walking back some of the rhetoric on China, on these tariffs and then the next day threatening to rescind the 90-day pause?

PRESTON: And then coming back the next day and saying, well, things are going to work out. The markets are incredibly upset by this. We know Wall Street just wants normalcy. But what Donald Trump is doing is what Donald Trump does all the time. He tries to put a shiny little object here to try to get people's attention. Today's shiny object is his campaign has put out a hat that says "Trump 2028." Now, I'm no constitutional scholar, but there's no way that Donald Trump legally could run for president in 2028.

KEILAR: It is really interesting, though, because we also heard him today in the Oval Office. He's saying groceries are down. He's been saying this a lot lately. They're not. I think there's a big bump in them, right?

So they're looking at the consumer price index numbers. If they actually look at the numbers that federal data has out there, it is tough for people who are out there just buying their regular, everyday products so that they can feed their kids, you know?

PRESTON: I've got to tell you, even when you go to the grocery store - and look, I go to the grocery store all the time. I enjoy shopping. And I just go in there and I see the ...

KEILAR: I rarely do, too. Yes.

PRESTON: ... I didn't see - I don't know why, because maybe there's a beginning and an end. But regardless, you go in there and you're like, wow, like, I can't believe cereal is $7 or some crazy number. And you just got to wonder when do these prices are going to come down, and they may never come down.

KEILAR: Yes.

SANCHEZ: There's still plenty of time, though - about a year and a half before the midterms. So is there some kind of turnaround? Is the political fallout inevitable?

PRESTON: Oh, my God, right now it is, sure. But here's what Republicans have going in their favor right now. You have a Democratic Party that is in turmoil right now. We saw earlier today that there's going to be a fight between party officials about primary incumbents. So Democrats have their own problems.

Republicans, when you look at the map in the midterm elections - not great for the House candidates - but in the United States Senate, a lot of those Republicans are in really safe districts. So we'll see what the political fallout is in the United States Senate. But Donald Trump right now is doing no favors for his Republicans in Congress.

KEILAR: Yes, it's going - potentially going to be very tough.

Mark Preston, thank you so much for taking us through that. We appreciate it.

And this just in - the Justice Department canceling hundreds of grants that help crime victims and fight both gun violence and opioid abuse. I hope I had that right there.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Yes. CNN Senior Justice Correspondent Evan Perez is here with the details.

So Evan, walk us through exactly what's being cut and why.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, the unusual part of this is that, you know, we know administrations come in and they have different priorities. They change what they want to focus on. And so you do see, from time to time, grant programs that were popular in one administration suddenly become less popular and are different.

What's different this time under this Trump administration is that they're cutting grants that have already been approved by Congress - that have been funded by Congress - and that already, for instance, people have already hired people to work on some of these programs.

And they go - they run the gamut. They are both things like, as you mentioned, opioid abuse programs. There's programs that help crime victims. There are hotlines that are across the country that help people who have been victims of gun crime. Again, also people who are struggling with drug abuse and other ways in which to try to divert from crime.

And so that's one of the things that is very striking about these 300 or so programs that the Justice Department has notified these organizations that they are essentially saying that they have different priorities now that are being followed by the Justice Department.

[15:25:11]

I'll read you just part of a statement that the Justice Department issued to us as part of the story. They said, "The Justice Department is focused on prosecuting criminals, getting illegal drugs off the streets, and protecting American institutions from toxic DEI and sanctuary city policies. Discretionary funds that are no longer aligned with the administration's priorities are subject to review and reallocation.

You know, one of the important parts of this too, Boris and Brianna, is that, you know, President Trump in his first administration got a lot of bipartisan support for what's known as the First Step Act. And one of the things - one of the key parts of that - is to try to divert people from going into the criminal justice system and to go into treatment programs.

A lot of conservatives got on board. Of course, a lot of people on the left have been behind programs like that for many, many years. And so a lot of the programs that are being cut are ones that essentially were benefiting from Trump season one, essentially, and the priorities of President Trump during his first administration. And they - obviously now with DOGE and the focus on cutting back programs that they are calling DEI and so on, now you're seeing a lot of these programs getting cut.

Boris, Brianna?

KEILAR: All right. Evan, thank you so much for that. As thousands of mourners gather at St. Peter's Basilica to pay respects to Pope Francis, his doctor is recounting the pontiff's final moments. We'll have details ahead.

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