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White House: "Absolutely has Confidence" in Defense Secretary Hegseth; White House: Trump "Increasingly" Frustrated with Putin & Zelenskyy; Smithsonian: Claims that Objects have been Removed for Reasons Other Than Standard Practice are "False"; Civil Rights Leader: Museum Artifacts Removed After Trump Order; Alleged "Grandpa Gang" Face Trial Over Kardashian Jewelry Heist. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired April 28, 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 BALDWIN, CNN HOST: We are following breaking news out of Europe and learning more about this massive power outages. All rail traffic in Spain has come to a halt after a massive, widespread black outs that have left parts of Spain and Portugal in the dark. Let's get back to CNN's Salma Abdelaziz, bringing in more details on the very latest on this, Salma tell us what the late would -- tell us the latest details you've got coming in.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well as this is unravelling, really, Kate, what we're realizing is that this is a potentially unprecedented event. You're talking about a total power outage across Spain and Portugal, most of the Iberian Peninsula, that has stopped trains, essentially, people underground, stuck on metro services in those countries.

That has brought you can look at that traffic that's at a standstill. That's because traffic lights aren't working. So, you can imagine just crossing the street is dangerous. This happened in the middle of the day. So, think about businesses, banks, schools, restaurants, shops, all without electricity, and that's not all.

Communications have also been cut. We understand that cell phone services are not working, especially in Spain, so people aren't even able to communicate with each other to understand the full extent of what's going on, on the ground. You can see also the chaos when it comes to travel. Of course, passenger stand it -- stranded in airports across those two countries.

And again, very little information on what happens next. We do understand that the head of Spain's power grid has spoken to reporters and said it could potentially take up to 10 hours to fix this. You're talking about people still plunged in darkness for many more hours scrambling to find out what's going on.

Initial indications, again, show that this may be a technical failure, but a lot of questions right now about the scope and scale of a massive power outage that has brought the Iberian Peninsula essentially to a standstill. BALDWIN: Absolutely. All right Salma stay on it. Thank you so much for the update. Goodness, John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: A lot of people wondering what's happening there. All right. In the meantime, breaking news this morning, the White House weighing in on the negotiations to end Russia's war on Ukraine. Aids this morning saying the president is frustrated.

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KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: He thinks that he is increasingly frustrated with leaders of both countries. He wants to see a permanent ceasefire. I understand Vladimir Putin this morning offered a temporary ceasefire. The president has made it clear he wants to see a permanent ceasefire, first, to stop the killing, stop the bloodshed. And while he remains optimistic, he can strike a deal. He's also being realistic as well, and both leaders need to come to the table.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: White House also reiterated that President Trump continues to have confidence in his Defense Secretary, despite saying in this Atlantic interview that just came out that Pete Hegseth is going to get it together, those were his exact words, he's going to get it together. And also weighing in on the signal scandals listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEAVITT: The president has made his position on Secretary Hegseth quite clear. He absolutely has confidence in the Secretary's ability to lead the Pentagon. It's why he nominated him for this position. It's why the Senate voted to confirm him in this position. And look at the success that DOD has had thus far.

Their successful operation against the Houthi terrorists in the Middle East. You look at the recruitment and retention levels for all branches of our armed forces are on the incline, which is exactly what this and president intend to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Right, with us now is Senator Ed Markey, a Democrat from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Senator, thanks so much for being with us this morning. We heard from Karoline Leavitt there, the White House Press Secretary, and that was the first White House response to this Russian offer of a three-day ceasefire in Ukraine that would start on May 8th.

It was interesting. She said that the President is frustrated with Ukraine, which we've known for a long time, but also Russia. And said the president wants a permanent ceasefire, not a temporary one. What do you read into Putin's offer in the White House response?

SEN. ED MARKEY (D-MA): Well, obviously continues to take advantage of the blank check which he has been handing Russia for his first 100 days as President of the United States. He clearly has not been siding with Ukraine. He has not been telling Putin that there has to be a negotiated resolution of this conflict that is respectful of the sovereignty of Ukraine.

[09:35:00]

And so, what would he expect Putin to do? And so even right now, Putin is only offering a three-day ceasefire, which obviously is not anything that's meaningful in terms of trying to get a peaceful resolution of this conflict. And so, this is just a continuation of him rhetorically making strategic answers when he believes that he needs to do so without a strategic plan to deal with the resolution of this conflict.

So, unless the president stops tweeting about the war between Russia and Ukraine and personally injects himself into this negotiation on the side, by the way, of the sovereignty of Ukraine, then we will not see a conclusion of this conflict.

BERMAN: He did speak with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in St. Peter's at the funeral of Pope Francis. I believe you were actually, are -- you were at that funeral as well. So, there was some personal diplomacy from President Trump on this matter.

MARKEY: Well, obviously a 15-minute meeting at the Vatican is not a diplomatic initiative that is letting Putin know that the United States means business, that we are aligning with our NATO allies, that we are standing up for the democracy of Ukraine, for the sovereignty of Ukraine.

He hasn't done that yet. He continues to pretend that somehow or Putin is a reasonable actor in all of these negotiations. He is not. He is trying to ultimately take back all of Ukraine, and unless and until Trump takes a negotiating posture, putting the might of our country, the diplomatic and economic might of our country, guaranteeing that there will be military support for Ukraine, unless and until its resolution will not see a fair and just conclusion to this conflict.

BERMAN: Senator, there was an op-ed that you wrote with some of your fellow members and members and members of the Massachusetts Delegation. You actually went to visit the Tufts University graduate student who has been detained, apparently over an op-ed she wrote that was seen as Pro-Palestinian in the Tuft's newspaper. What did you learn during this visit?

MARKEY: Well, I learned that Rumeysa Ozturk was just abducted off the streets of Summerville, Massachusetts, which a graduate student at Tufts University that she was moved then to New Hampshire, to Vermont, to Atlanta, and then out to the remotest parts of Louisiana, all the while being denied her ability to talk to her attorney.

All of the while being chained or handcuffed during that journey, and all of the while not even being that you could see for her arrest. So, all of this is a fundamental violation, first of all, of her first amendment rights of free speech and freedom of the press, because she's charged with writing an op-ed in the Tufts University Newspaper. And she's being denied Fifth Amendment rights of due process. So, that she can have a lawyer so that she can know what she's being charged with. Thus far, no crime has been alleged that she has committed. There's no evidence which has been presented to anything that she has done wrong, and it's just a further -- it's a further extension of the unconstitutional, illegal and undemocratic actions which Trump is engaging in.

And she is in a prison with asthma that she has and not getting the full treatment which she needs, the food is inadequate. They don't give the prisoners the blankets which they need when it's too cold at night. And all of this is part of a pattern of fundamental authoritarianism which Trump is trying to engage in and make a part of our country.

Every person, every American, should be afraid. Should be afraid that this president believes that he can just shot circuit constitutional rights whenever he feels.

BERMAN: Senator, Ed Markey from Massachusetts, we appreciate your time this morning. Thank you. Kate?

BALDWIN: Ahead for us, the Civil Rights Leader says artifacts he donated to the Smithsonian's African American History Museum are being returned. Why it's part of a new shake up in Washington?

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[09:40:00]

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SARA SIDNER, CNN HOST: New this morning, a civil rights activist says artifacts are being removed from the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History. How does he know? He himself donated two artifacts to the museum which are being returned to him. This is all happening after President Trump, last month, signed an executive order targeting funding for programs at government funded museums that advance, quote, divisive narratives and improper ideology.

The Smithsonian, though, is responding, saying that the return the loan to artifacts is routine, and that recent claims that objects have been removed for reasons other than adherence to standard loan agreements or museum practices are false. Joining us now is Reverend Amos Brown, thank you so much, Reverend Brown for being here. Let me first ask you, what were the artifacts that you had loaned to the National Museum of African American History and Culture?

[09:45:00]

REV. AMOS BROWN, PRESIDENT, SAN FRANCISCO NAACP: Matter facts were a Bible that I used in the civil rights movement, and the oldest written history of the Negro Race that I got from my father's shelf of books at the age of 13, written by that great preacher, Reverend George Washington Williams.

It was written in 1880 and those two documents have driven me and has fired me in all of my work. The Minister of the gospel.

SIDNER: Those are incredible bits of American history to have in your possession and then to loan to the museum. So, what do you think that Trump is trying to do when his executive order says he intends to remove divisive narratives and improper ideology from national museums?

BROWN: I'm very saddened to hear that language. We brag about this nation being a purpose union, one out of many, no one is the same, and it is not a crime. It's not a sin to have diversity, even our thumb prints are not the same, but we can as human kind, as an expression of civility, respect each other, collaborate with each other, be creative together and not confrontational.

There's just too much division in this nation. And we have the mantra, one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Don't you think it's about time that we would include everybody in the all and stop marginalizing certain people because of their gender, their race, their religion, of their sexual orientation?

We are to be a human family working together. That's why my teacher, Dr. King said we must learn to live together as brothers and sisters, or else we will all perish as fools.

SIDNER: Reverend Brown, you're taking us to church this morning. I want to try to get to the bottom of why your items were returned. The Smithsonian is saying, hey, this is routine. And sent a statement to us saying that the Bible and books that belong to Reverend Brown of San Francisco generously loaned them to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American -- African American history.

And they say the loan agreement expires in May, and the items are being returned to the owner, which is standard practice. Now you have this email that was sent to you, which says, we're grateful for the loan of these important objects and the ability to share them with the public in order to preserve them and not display them for too long, we are now returning them to you.

Those seem to be two different reasons. Did they mention the loan agreement to you? And do you think that is exactly why they have given these back? Did you ask for them back.

BROWN: No, I did not. In fact, before this order was issued from -- so to speak, I always received the courtesy of their contact with me at the museum, and I had the option, but I got this email that was dropped on me, cold without any communication, we are returning your Bible and Book, and this matter about preserving them.

They are Museum. They know how to preserve art facts. That's a joke. What it is, there is a spirit as a negative movement in this country that says we're going to get rid of diversity, inclusion and equity, other communities have their celebration of their history and heritage, even the president of this nation has the picture of his mother on his desk in his office.

[09:50:00] So, to say to a human being that you cannot show ethnic cultural identity is ludicrous.

SIDNER: Reverend Amos Brown, thank you so much for coming on and talking us through all of that. John?

BERMAN: All right this morning, nearly nine years after robbers held Kim Kardashian at gun point and took off with some $10 million worth of jewels, the suspects this morning are on trial.

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BERMAN: Right. Happening now the long-awaited trial is underway for the suspects in the 2016 Jewelry heist where Kim Kardashian said she was tied up and robbed in a Paris Hotel. Police say about ten million worth of jewelry was taken. So, let's get right to CNN's Melissa Bell in Paris for the latest on this. Good morning. Melissa.

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. It is a trial that's expected, as you'd imagine, to attract a lot of attention over the course of next month. It's now under way in that building behind me on trial are nine women, nine men and one woman, who are accused of having taken part in that robbery.

Now, just to take you back to 2016 it was a long time ago Kim Kardashian had been here in Paris for Paris Fashion Week. What the prosecution alleges is that many of these suspects who had previous criminal records planned this attack by following a bunch of her social media, managed to make their way into the hotel she was staying at overpowered the -- made their way into her bedroom where she was on her own at the time.

Tied her up with duct tape before making off with that $10 million worth of jewels, including a $4 million engagement ring given to her by then Husband Kanye West.

[09:55:00]

Most of those jewels, by the way, have never been recovered. Still, police managed to get their hands on these suspects. The prosecution is laying out its case. Kim Kardashian herself will be coming to Paris later in May to stand trial that will attract a great deal of attention.

We understand from her lawyer that she trusts the French judiciary to take care of this very serious case as soberly and as importantly as it can. We expect a verdict now at the end of the month, and some of these suspects are facing up to 30 years in jail. So, this was a robbery back in 2016 a lot of people had paid a great deal of attention to a lot of attention paid also to the fact that so many of the jewels had been on display on her social media.

Then, of course, when we heard more about her or deal and exactly what she gone through, a lot of sympathy for Kim Kardashian, what she went through. We'll be following this case closely now, John, over the course of the next month. BERMAN: Yeah, I'm sure her account of it's a terrifying ordeal, and she is again expected to take the stand. Melissa Bell, thank you very much for that.

BALDWIN: And thank you all so much for joining us. This is CNN New Central. "The Situation Room" is up next.