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Trump Envoy, Putin Meet After New Russian Strikes On Ukraine; Rep. Bennie Thompson, (D-MS), Is Interviewed About Russia, Ukraine, Concession; Trump: Russia Not "Taking" All Of Ukraine Is A Concession, Graduate Students Held In Louisiana; Today: Jury To Visit Site Where Officer John O'Keefe's Body Was Found. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired April 25, 2025 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Saying in this interview also this, "I think what caused the war to start was when they started talking about joining NATO." And as our friend and colleague Alex Marquardt put it, this is the most Russian of Russian talking points as it relates to the war.

Joining me right now is Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi. He's the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee.

Congressman, thank you for coming in. A lot of -- all of this coming out today, just as the president's envoy is now in Russia. And this week, Russia has carried out some of its deadliest strikes on Ukraine in almost a year. The president, though, bristling when pressed why he's not applying more pressure to Russia, telling a reporter, you have no idea what pressure I'm putting on Russia. Are you happy to see Steve Witkoff in Moscow meeting with President Putin today?

REP. BENNIE THOMPSON (D-MS): Well, I think whatever the diplomacy the Trump administration is doing is good. I think the concern a lot of us have is one day you say you're with Putin, next day you're with someone else. But clearly there's no path. You've not pulled in other allies around the world who are actually on our side in this effort. But you can't go it alone.

So what the president is doing, I believe, and a lot of Democrats believe is playing to Putin not to make him angry. And for some reason we don't know, he refuses to say that Russia was the aggressor in this effort. It is clear in the minds of a lot of people that Russia started the war, that in order for us to move forward, the president has to be forthcoming with the information and he just has not rallied the troops around the world to help.

BOLDUAN: And I want to play something of what the president also said when asked what concessions that he is pushing Russia to give on. This happened yesterday. Let me play this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What concessions has Russia offered up thus far to get to the point where you're closer to peace?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Stopping the war, stopping taking the whole country, pretty big concession.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Not taking all of Ukraine is not a concession. That was Putin's original goal when he launched the war and he couldn't pull it off. I played that to ask, do you see a scenario where this negotiation ends well for Ukraine here?

THOMPSON: Well, look, why would Russia start the war if it wasn't to take over Ukraine? I don't think the president is being genuine to the public in this instance. I don't believe Putin said that. It's clear in the minds of most of us this war would not be where it is without the aggression that Putin and Russia did on Ukraine. So, I mean, the little small talk that you hear from the president is really not helpful.

Everyone, except obviously the president and a couple other people believe that Putin started the war.

BOLDUAN: You were part of a group of lawmakers that just went this week to Louisiana to meet with the international students that are being held at ICE detention facilities, Mahmoud Khalil and Rumeysa Ozturk. They've been in ICE custody for more than a month now. Neither of them have been charged with a crime, and they're both suing the administration federal court challenging the legality of their detentions. When you -- you were the first lawmakers and members of Congress to meet with them, how do you think this ends?

THOMPSON: Well, went based on our oversight responsibility as members of Congress, but also some of the members, their constituents of them, Jim McGovern, Ayanna Pressley and others were there to talk to their constituents. The problem we have with the whole effort is if these individuals have violated the law, tell them what the violations are, give them their day in court, and why ship them over 1,000 miles away? And they have not been formally charged with anything yet held in custody. It is -- it is -- you're capturing people off the streets. Americans are better than this.

[09:35:00]

So what we wanted to see and hear for ourselves is exactly what transpired. We saw the video in one instance, and we heard from testimony in the other. But it is clear in our conversation with those two individuals that you referenced that they were not treated to the American standard of jurisprudence. You have to face your accuser, you have to see what they are saying, and you have to have an opportunity to present some formal defense. And they've not been afforded that.

And so that's so unfortunate. And so as part of our oversight responsibility, we wanted to go see the circumstances in which they're housed. There were some concerns raised on our visit. We'll follow up with the respective ICE authorities on those. But it's clear that the facilities, obviously, I mean, you don't pick someone up in New York and send them to Los Angeles to be incarcerated, or you don't pick someone up in Massachusetts and send them to Louisiana.

If you really want to do it, give people a fair chase. You should not kidnap people off the streets of this country and do what we've done. We're concerned about the health care of some of the people that we talk to. There are just too many unanswered questions. And this notion that in pursuing immigration and illegal immigrants, we have to do these things in such an egregious way that really goes against the standard of what a lot of us had come to believe as Americans.

So we saw it with our own eyes. You hear some more testimony lately. But the clear import of our visit, we had a chance to talk to both the individuals. And, you know, Mr. Khalif White (ph) had a baby the day before we visited. He was not afforded an opportunity to see the birth of his son.

That's so unfortunate. We don't have to be mean. We can be American and still do our job. I think this administration is failing the test on that part.

BOLDUAN: Let's see what Congress does about it. Congressman, thank you very much. I appreciate your time.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, suspected CEO killer Luigi Mangione is set to appear in federal court. How will he plead? On charges of stalking and murder. And as 150,000 mourners arrive to pay their respects to Pope Francis, the Vatican forced to remind visitors to not take selfies with the Pope as he lies in state.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:42:32]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHO: This hour court is resuming in the murder retrial of Karen Read, the woman accused of killing her police officer boyfriend. But today the jury is going to leave court to go visit the scene where John O'Keefe's body was found three years ago. CNN Correspondent Jean Casarez has been following all of the developments for us. She is with me here now.

There is so much happening in this case right now.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And you know, people are calling it a field trip, but technically it's a jury view.

SIDNER: Right.

CASAREZ: And both sides were for this. And they'll be taken out to the scene where the home is. Prosecutors call it the murder scene. They call because this is where John O'Keeffe's body was found. And that's in the middle of the night right there when they were finding his body at that home. But the -- it's -- there's going to be silence. No one can talk. The attorneys will be there, the judge will be there. Karen Read is going to be there. But they will have to stand at a distance.

The jurors will be able to assess the street, the curb, the flag pole where his body was, how far that is from the street. And then when they go back in the courtroom and they start -- continue to hear testimony, they will have been there. So it is an important thing.

SIDNER: Yes.

CASAREZ: Now, yesterday in trial, they focused on text messages. Prosecution building their case of the anger that was boiling between Karen Read, at least Karen Read is the focal point. Want to show you some of those texts. Last night, this is Karen, she said, and this went on for a couple hours, last night, you're basically like, yes, what about when we talk about the future? So why don't you just admit you're not into this so much.

Can you please admit your head is out of the game with us? John says, I am sick of always arguing and fighting. It has been weekly for several months now. So yes, I'm not as quick to jump back into the being lovie dovie as you apparently. And one of the final texts that John O'Keefe sent out, well, there's a blizzard coming so we'll be inside all weekend.

And his body was found in the snow during a blizzard. And he brought it up to them.

SIDNER: Wow. There's so many details in this coming back up in this retrial, but new ones as well. Thank you Jean Casarez for watching every single moment of this case.

John.

BERMAN: Right this morning, a leaked budget proposal suggests that the Trump administration is considering making a major change to the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline. The document mentions eliminating the LGBTQ service option. Let's get right to CNN health reporter Jacqueline Howard for the latest on this. What are you learning?

[09:45:05]

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Well, John, this document, like you said it was leaked last week. It's a preliminary memo dated April 10th. We don't know whether any decisions have been made based on this document, but it may give insight into the discussions that are happening within the Trump administration. And the document does mention when it comes to the 2026 budget, it mentions eliminating funding for 988 specialized LGBTQ plus youth services. And what I mean by specialized services, when you dial the 988 number, it gives you the option to press one to reach the Veterans Crisis Line, press two to reach a Spanish speaking counselor or press three to reach a counselor trained in LGBTQ plus specialized services.

And that press three is what may be up for consideration for a funding cut or complete elimination. Again, these seem to just be conversations that are happening. But when it comes to the 988 suicide crisis lifeline, since it launched in the year 2022, more than about 14.5 million people have either called, texted or sent messages to the lifeline. And among that number, about nearly 1.3 million were routed to the LGBTQ plus specialized services. That goes to show how many people have reached out to access these services, John.

BERMAN: More than a million contacts. Jacqueline Howard, thank you so much for reporting on this. Appreciate it.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right ahead, I spoke with Tina Knowles and she talked to me about her breast cancer diagnosis and what happened before the diagnosis that she wished she could change and how her new book is shedding light on her diagnosis, her family and life before fame. Our conversation after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:51:23]

SIDNER: This week's game changer, Tina Knowles revealing her breast cancer diagnosis. She is warning women not to skip their mammograms. Not even once. She told me she accidentally skipped one and lo and behold, was diagnosed with stage one breast cancer, which she has now been treated for. But she's also chronicling the story of being a matriarch in a family that began its lineage in the United States in Galveston, Texas, as slaves.

And now the family is living a life their ancestors could not even conceive of. Knowles says it was something handed down by her mother and her grandmother that helped lift the family's sense of self during segregation. And to this day, having a useful skill is helping the family.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER (voice-over): She says her mother lived in a state of fear for her children, but focused on her master craft, sewing to make sure that her children never looked poor. That craft was handed down to her children.

SIDNER: How many of Destiny's Child clothes and Beyonce's clothes did you end up sewing or having being involved with?

TINA KNOWLES, AUTHOR, BEYONCE'S MOTHER, FASHION DESIGNER: Oh, I started styling them maybe, maybe six months into their singing career. And I did both. I sewed and I styled them.

SIDNER: I have to ask you about one of the particular outfits that is iconic.

KNOWLES: OK.

SIDNER: And that is the "Survivor" outfit. KNOWLES: Oh, yes.

SIDNER: That everybody talks about.

KNOWLES: That was so much fun.

(SINGING)

SIDNER: Where did that idea come from?

KNOWLES: Well, actually, Beyonce saw something B.C. with Raquel Welch.

SIDNER: Oh, yes?

KNOWLES: And she had this fur bathing, you know --

SIDNER: Yes, it's a little tiny furs.

KNOWLES: Yes. Yes. It was a lot tinier than theirs. I made theirs more. But she saw that and she was like, oh, that would be great for "Survivor." And so this guy Jaime (ph), who was incredibly talented, he and I made those together.

SIDNER (voice-over): She also worked to ensure that her daughter's relationship with one another was as tight as one of her sewing stitches.

SIDNER: Tell me about how you forge those relationships, because you have one daughter who is the most famous female recording artist in the world. Like there is no other like her. And then Solange also has a talent. But how do you, as a mother, make them both feel that they are special?

KNOWLES: Well, I think one of the things is that you look at them as individuals because they were very, very different. She's very, very different. And I think how I forged that relationship with them is I was terrified when Beyonce turned around 10. She might have been 10 or 11, and she was in the singing group. And the kids would say to Solange every day, be quiet, Solange.

Because she would try to choreograph, and, you know --

SIDNER: She's bossy.

KNOWLES: -- she wanted to be involved. She bossy, too. But she -- and they didn't want her involved. And then I started noticing that Beyonce would allow them to talk to her like that, or she would say, OK, mom, can you get Solange out of here because she's doing -- and I'm like, wait a minute, this is her house, and you got to be nice to her. And I told her all the things, you know, how important it was for her.

But finally I realized that they weren't listening, and I saw a wall between them coming. And so I got them in therapy. And --

SIDNER: (Inaudible). KNOWLES: Yes. And it was really early because my family was like, you going to make those girls crazy? Cause, you know, in --

SIDNER: Yes.

[09:55:00]

KNOWLES: -- especially in the black community back then --

SIDNER: You didn't do therapy?

KNOWLES: No, you didn't.

SIDNER: People don't do it now.

KNOWLES: Right. But that -- back then --

SIDNER: Wow.

KNOWLES: -- it was really taboo.

SIDNER: Yes.

KNOWLES: And even my husband, he was like, I just don't know if they're too young for you to do that. And I'm like, I'm not asking. I'm going to find somebody. And I found this wonderful therapist, child therapist. And it's funny because he told Beyonce all the things I had told her, but she listened from him.

SIDNER: Right.

KNOWLES: Even though she hated therapy, she hated going. Solange loved therapy. She loved talking and, you know, expressing herself. And the outcome was great. It was really great because they have been super tight since.

SIDNER: I had no idea.

KNOWLES: Yes.

SIDNER: And it's such a beautiful gift that you gave to them.

KNOWLES: Yes.

SIDNER: Because they are clearly tight.

KNOWLES: Yes, they are very tight.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: And she wanted to make sure of that. And to this day, those girls, including Kelly Rowland, who she considers a daughter, even though --

BOLDUAN: Oh, yes. SIDNER: -- she wasn't born to her, biologically, she considers her daughter. And it's just a testimony to the women in that family. Pretty incredible life that she has had. She is only two generations removed from slavery. Her great grandmother was a slave, born a slave.

BERMAN: Was (inaudible).

BOLDUAN: Daughters have amazing stories. She has an amazing story.

SIDNER: Yes. It's true. It's true.

BERMAN: Excellent.

SIDNER: Thank you, John Berman.

BERMAN: All right, thank you all for joining us. Have a fantastic weekend. This has been CNN News Central. "Situation Room" up next.

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