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Trump Envoy, Putin Set To Meet After New Russian Strikes On Ukraine; Mourners Pay Final Respects To Pope On Last Day Of Public Viewing; 2025 NFL Draft Features Blockbuster Trade At Top. Aired 7- 7:30a ET

Aired April 25, 2025 - 07:00   ET

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

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Yeah, I was about to say, a lot to drink from there. Thanks to the group chat. Thank you all for waking up with us.

[07:00:08]

I'm Audie Cornish. We've got more news ahead. CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking this morning, the president's social media post did not stop him. Russia launches new attacks on Ukraine. Even as President Trump's envoy arrives to meet with Vladimir Putin, we've got new reporting on how the president is said to be venting behind the scenes.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: And voters are demanding accountability from Republicans and Democrats as lawmakers once again come face to face with some tough questions, frustration, and anger at town halls across America.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And testimony set to resume in the murder retrial of Karen Read. And jurors are leaving court to visit the site where the body of her police officer boyfriend was found.

I'm Kate Bolduan with Sara Sidner and John Berman. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BERMAN: And breaking this morning, a motorcade escorted by police passing the Kremlin, believed to be inside. President Trump's special envoy to Russia, Steve Witkoff, who was due to meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Now, this comes on the heels of Russia's deadliest attack on Kyiv since last summer. The aerial assault of missiles and drones on Thursday left at least 12 people dead. And there were new attacks on Ukraine overnight. It turns out that Truth Social post from President Trump saying, "Vladimir, stop," did not actually get Vladimir to stop.

During the 2024 campaign, Trump repeatedly said he would end the war within 24 hours of taking office. But sources tell CNN more than 90 days into his term, Trump is frustrated and has been venting behind the scenes that reaching a deal has been more difficult than he expected. And new this morning, in an interview with "Time" magazine, the

president blames Ukraine for starting the war, quote, "when they started talking about joining NATO." And in addition to the large swaths of land, one official says Ukraine would have to give up under the president's so-called peace plan. Trump says Crimea, the peninsula Moscow annexed in 2014, will, quote, "stay with Russia." And what would Russia have to give up?

In the Oval Office Thursday, the president said Russia has already made a big concession by not seizing all of Ukraine.

Let's get right to CNN's Alayna Treene at the White House for the expectations on this meeting in Moscow and what the president is now saying behind closed doors. Alayna.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Oh, well, you're exactly right, John. I mean, we are quickly approaching that 100th day of President Donald Trump's second term. And that's really the deadline that he's told his team that he wants a deal between Russia and Ukraine to be struck by.

And as we move closer, it's clear that that is still far from being completed. And what we're learning is that he is increasingly growing frustrated with the pace of these And also privately telling advisers, essentially, that this is more difficult than he had initially anticipated.

Now, one of the sources I spoke with told me that he often behind closed doors brings up the fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hate one another, not an unsurprising fact, but one that the president argues has been further complicating these negotiations.

Now, also, we kind of saw some of this frustration and agitation kind of boil over yesterday, particularly after we saw Russia launch its deadliest attack on Kyiv since last summer. The president said that essentially that was getting in the way of what he believes is him closing in on a potential deal between these two countries. And we kind of heard him for the first time really show that exasperation with Russia publicly.

However, he still argued that Russia would be giving up a lot if they were to come to the table and sign this potential deal.

Listen to how he put it in the Oval Office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: What concessions has Russia offered up thus far to get to the point where you're closer to peace?

DONALD TRUMP (R), U.S. PRESIDENT: Stopping the war. Stopping, taking the whole country. Pretty big concession.

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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So stopping the war, not taking the whole country, he said that would be a pretty big concession for Russia that doesn't necessarily kind of ease some of the concerns that Ukraine and other European allies of the United States have that perhaps Trump is so eager to make a deal that he might be willing to give up too much.

[09:05:09]

But one thing, John, we also heard the president do yesterday was kind of this set this self-imposed timeframe for how long his patience will continue. He said he'll get an answer on that by next week.

And really, that's kind of the crux of why we're seeing Steve Witkoff meet with Putin in Moscow today. The key message that he needs to deliver is that the time is now for a deal. We've heard Secretary of State Marco Rubio say something similar, essentially that they need to know if a deal is possible, otherwise they need to move on.

John.

BERMAN: All right. Big moments at the White House, Alayna Treene. Thank you very much.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right. So far, the art of the deal failing, President Trump.

Joining me now, CNN's Fred Pleitgen, who is in Moscow. What are you hearing from Russia's top diplomat about how these talks are actually going, knowing what we're seeing happen in Ukraine?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Sara. Well, we're actually right outside the Kremlin walls where we believe that that meeting is going to take place between Steve Witkoff and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. And you guys were already talking about the fact that a convoy was seen speeding here through Moscow that the Russians certainly believe Steve Witkoff is in.

But we also saw Vladimir Putin's convoy this morning speeding towards the Kremlin as well, obviously, also getting ready for that meeting. We don't believe that that meeting is underway just yet. We don't even believe that Steve Witkoff is inside the Kremlin yet. But we do believe that that is going to start very soon.

And of course, one of the things that we know from the U.S. and the Trump administration is that they believe that this might not be a make it or break it moment in this whole process, but it certainly is a very key time and comes at a key time.

Now, the Russians, this does come in the form of the foreign minister, as you say, are saying that they believe that the process, that the talks are on the right track, but that there are still very important issues that need to be sorted out.

I want to listen in to what the foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: The president of the United States believes, and I think rightly so, that we are moving in the right direction. The statement by the president mentions a deal and we are ready to reach a deal. But there are still some specific points, elements of this deal which need to be fine-tuned.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: So still some elements that need to be fine-tuned, as the Russian Foreign Minister there put it. But the Russians are really not offering much in the way of details of what exactly those elements might be. But there are two complexes that they do keep talking about.

One of them, of course, is territories, with the Russians wanting to keep almost all, if not all, of the territories that they've taken inside of Ukraine. And then, of course, there is that question of any sort of future membership in NATO of Ukraine, which the Russians say that absolutely to them that would be a red line.

But one of the things, Sara, that we also have to keep in mind as Steve Witkoff gets ready to meet with Vladimir Putin today, is that for the Russians, the whole question of Ukraine is only one of the complexes they want to deal with.

Ultimately, the big thing for them would be a normalization of relations with the United States and, of course, sanctions relief on a massive scale as well.

Sara.

SIDNER: Lot to discuss and nowhere near close at this point in time, it seems like. Fred Pleitgen, thank you so much for your reporting there outside the walls of the Kremlin.

Kate?

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us this morning, President Trump weighing in on his first 100 days in office in an exclusive interview with "Time" magazine. The president talks about a lot, everything from his presidential power to the new paintings of himself in the White House.

Berman mentioned his stance on Ukraine and Russia. Much more on this, ahead.

And also, hours from now, Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing the CEO of UnitedHealth Care, Brian Thompson, Mangione is headed to court once again, what he's -- what's expected to happen there today.

And a terrifying close call all caught on police dash cam.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:13:43]

BOLDUAN: Tens of thousands of people are making their way to St. Peter's Basilica today to pay respects to Pope Francis. And today is the third and final day of the public viewing as the Pope's body continues to lie in state. Before his funeral tomorrow, as of this morning, the Vatican says nearly 130,000 people have already filed through.

The lines so long that the Vatican extended viewing hours the first evening, only shutting the doors of the Basilica for an hour to basically clean things up before reopening once again for day two.

This morning, we're learning more about the Pope's funeral and the final procession before he's buried. The Vatican also released this image of Pope Francis' tomb. It is simple, just as he had wished in his final requests, inscribed with just one word, Franciscus.

CNN's Ben Wedeman is in Rome back with us right now. Ben, tell us more about what we're learning about the funeral and the procession, and also just the sense you're getting now as you've been there each day, the third day of this public viewing.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kate, I think we have more people here around the Vatican and St. Peter's Square and the roads leading up to it than we've seen before. Keeping in mind, of course, today is a national holiday in Italy. It's Liberation Day, so many people who might otherwise be working have come to the Vatican to pay their respects to Pope Francis.

[07:15:07]

Now, the doors to the Basilica will be closed at 6 p.m. local time to the public in preparation for tomorrow's funeral. It will take place at 10 o'clock in the morning local time.

Now, this is -- tomorrow's going to be an incredible day, Kate, because Pope Francis is not being buried in St. Peter's Basilica itself, as has been the case with Pope Benedict XVI and John Paul II. He is going to be buried in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, which is 3.75 miles from here. And his procession will be going through the streets of Imperial Rome.

So it will go through Piazza Venezia, by the Roman Forum, by the Colosseum, before it goes up to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. So that's going to be an incredible scene, the likes of which we haven't seen in my lifetime in Rome. So that's going to be something worth watching.

Now, we understand that tomorrow, for the funeral, there will be 130 delegations from around the world attending with 50 heads of state and 10 reigning monarchs. And in addition to that, of course, because of all of those VIPs coming and the tens of thousands of people expected to be in St. Peter's Square as well as along the procession route, the Italian authorities have mobilized 2,000 police officers, 400 traffic policemen. There are anti-terror squads undercover operating.

There are anti-drone units as well operating in this area. So this is going to be a massive occasion tomorrow. And just looking at the number of people out here, the numbers are going to be just incredible.

Kate?

BOLDUAN: And Ben, I don't know if we have the opportunity to put that map back up. I had not appreciated until you just said it the distance that the procession is going to be traveling from the funeral to his burial. That is going to be such a remarkable thing to see.

I did not appreciate that distance, as you just pointed out. That's going to be a really beautiful, beautiful and long procession to follow. Ben, it's great that you're there, as always. Thank you so much.

John?

BERMAN: All right. The text sent to Karen Read from her police officer boyfriend just hours before he died. Her murder retrial is set to resume shortly. And we have new details on what the jurors expect to see today.

And at one point, Fox folks thought he might go in the draft number two. But after one full day of picks, how low will he go now? The huge surprises heading into the second day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:22:16]

BERMAN: All right, this morning, I'm old enough to remember when Shedeur Sanders was going to be the second pick in the NFL draft. Now, he's not going to go until the second round. At best, just one of the big surprises in round one, as we are now geared up for round two.

Let's go to CNN's Andy Scholes for all the details. You know, even for a draft with kind of mid-level talent, this was super exciting, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yeah, and John, so last night, it was the first time since 1967 that every team entered the first round with their pick. But that did not last long, because we saw some big trades go down in the scenes from outside Lambeau Field. And they were just incredible.

An estimated quarter of a million fans were on hand to watch. And, well, like they do every year, the fans booing Commissioner Roger Goodell, who came out on a bicycle. And he rode the bike because it's a Packers tradition for the Packers players to ride young fans' bikes to practice during training camp.

Now, the Titans were up first, and no surprise there. They took Miami quarterback Cam Ward with the first overall pick. But it was a big night for the New York Giants. They got Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter with the third pick. They then traded the 34th pick, 99th pick, and third-round pick next year to the Texans for the 25th pick. And they took Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart.

Last time the Giants won a Super Bowl, Eli Manning was their quarterback. Eli played at Ole Miss, so, well, Rebels quarterbacks, well, do well in the Big Apple.

Now, the biggest trade of the night, though, it belonged to the Jaguars. They moved up from the fifth pick to the second pick, sending the Browns a package that included a second-round pick and next year's first. They did it in order to draft Travis Hunter. The Heisman Trophy winner plans to play both cornerback and wide receiver in the NFL. As you can see, he danced his way across the stage to celebrate his selection with that nice pink suit he had on.

Now, the Texas offense of lineman Kelvin Banks, he was taken by the Saints with the ninth pick. And he was just overcome with emotion while watching with his family in Houston. That right there is what the draft is all about. But a long night for quarterback Shedeur Sanders.

He was hoping to hear his name called, but after all 32 picks, he was still on the board. And he addressed his draft party in Texas after the first round.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHEDEUR SANDERS, FORMER COLORADO QUARTERBACK: All this is -- is, of course, fuel to the fire. And under no circumstance, we all know this shouldn't have happened. But we understand we're on to bigger and better things. Tomorrow's the day. We're going to be happy regardless.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Yes, we got the second and third rounds tonight starting at 7 Eastern. And John, now the question is, you know, where does Shedeur get drafted? The Browns, they have two of the top four picks in that second round. Will they take him? Then you got the Raiders with the fifth pick in the second round. Maybe the Saints with the eighth pick. But now we all wait to see when Shedeur ends up getting drafted.

[07:25:11]

BERMAN: Yeah, that was a prize. I got to say that pick the trade the Browns made. They backed up the truck. They got a haul for that second pick. They need everything, though. It's a good deal for them.

SCHOLES: Yeah.

BERMAN: All right, Andy Scholes, thank you very much.

SIDNER: Hey, Andy, check this out. John, do you see who that is?

BERMAN: I can't, my eyes --

SIDNER: It's Jalen Hurts. I met him last night, but do you see my face because I said you hurt our feelings. You hurt our feelings because you beat our Rams and I'm still mad at you, but congratulations on winning the Super Bowl. So I was very gracious as you well know.

BERMAN: You're always great.

SIDNER: Yes.

All right, we are just ahead going to take you to some town halls and went on a crazy, quote, "throw her out" furious constituents facing both Republican and Democrat Lawmakers at multiple town halls last night.

Also, President Trump's Special Envoy is in Russia now for a meeting with Vladimir Putin. And right now, we are going to sort of get the latest on the negotiations that are supposed to be towards ending the war in Ukraine. Those stories and more, ahead.

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