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U.S. and Ukraine Sign Mineral Deal; VA No Longer Helping with Mortgages; Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired May 01, 2025 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How can you - because, you know, this issue is now so pervasive in our society. You know, you don't have to be fully down the rabbit hole for this to affect you or your family.

And as the doctor mentioned there, you know, empathy, empathy plays such a big role in this, telling a person they're wrong or telling a person they're stupid is likely to sort of drive them further inward, potentially more down the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories. So, it's all about listening and giving people that space to get out with their dignity.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. And you know this, too. You know both of us have looked at some of this. I've seen it in - from Los Angeles, all the way to, you know, Charlotte, North Carolina. And families are being broken apart. You've done so much great reporting on what is happening with families being broken apart because some of these conspiracy theories. Hopefully this will help people get answers to heal that.

Donie O'Sullivan, is always such a pleasure. "The Account: Persuadable with Donie O'Ssullivan" is now available now wherever you get your podcasts.

Donie, thank you so much.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, the U.S. and Ukraine have a new deal on minerals. Does this signal a new, closer relationship between President Trump and President Zelenskyy? And what does it mean for Vladimir Putin?

President Trump has promised the new trade deals are on the horizon. But it comes as he acknowledges, for the first time, what economists have warned for weeks, prices are about to rise for American consumers on dolls, no less.

And warnings that thousands of veterans and active duty service members could fall into foreclosure as the VA phases out a key program.

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

SIDNER: New this morning, signed, sealed, delivered. Ukraine signing an agreement to give the U.S. access to its rare earth minerals after months of negotiations, stops and starts, and one very tense Oval Office meeting. In exchange, the United States will set up an investment fund for the reconstruction of Ukraine. But the much louder message is one of continued U.S. support for Ukraine in the war Russia started.

And just hours after the deal was announced, Ukrainian officials say Russia launched a new drone attack on the key port city of Odessa. At least two people reportedly killed there, five others wounded.

But back in the United States, President Trump is touting the Ukraine mineral deal as a major victory. But we have new reporting that he's getting impatient with other deals the White House is working on, specifically trade deals, as he acknowledges some of the pain his tariffs are causing. Trump's message to parents worried about rising costs, maybe don't take your kids down the toy aisle for a bit.

CNN's Zach Cohen joining us now.

Are you hearing any new reactions, first of all, to this Ukraine mineral deal?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Sara, both sides holding up this agreement as a positive step forward. And it really underscores how far we've come over the last several months over the course of these negotiations that have been tense at times. You might remember back in February when President Zelenskyy visited the White House. That meeting ultimately devolved into a shouting match as the two sides could not reach a common ground on this minerals deal. But, you know, two months later, we now see that a deal has been signed.

And look, the Ukrainians, for their part, the deal does seem to be more favorable in terms of the terms that they were able to secure before signing it. That includes what they call a, quote, "equal partnership" with Washington going forward.

And I think that's really the key point here is that this agreement really is forward looking and could ultimately signal a shift in what we've heard from the administration as far as its relationship with Ukraine.

Now, Donald Trump, equally as enthusiastic about this agreement, holding it up as a victory for his administration. Take a listen to what he said, though, when he was asked about the minerals deal and why he felt it was important to sign it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We got nothing. And I felt very foolish being the head of the - a country where Europe gets their money back and it's a much smaller amount, and we get nothing. So, I went to them and said, look, we got to get rare earth. They have great rare earth, meaning certain minerals, materials. They have things that a lot of places don't have. It's a big asset that they have. And we made a deal today where we get, you know, much more in theory than the $350 billion. But I wanted to be protected.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: So clearly, Donald Trump has said publicly and expressed his desire to get something back from Ukraine in exchange for the security assistance that the U.S. has been providing and potentially will provide in the future.

I think critically, though, this agreement makes clear that Ukraine is not going to have to reimburse - or this is not reimbursing the U.S. for military aid it's already received.

[09:05:06]

Instead, this does provide an economic partnership and a - you know, a cooperation agreement going forward, and military aid could be part of this investment fund that the deal sets up.

So, ultimately, we're going to have to wait and see how this plays into Donald Trump's push for a peace deal with Russia. We know that he has expressed some frustration about Russia's seemingly unwillingness to come to the table, despite previous assertions that he thinks Putin wants peace.

Ultimately, though, the Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, saying that this agreement is a clear signal to Russia about where the U.S. stands in terms of its support for Ukraine.

SIDNER: Zach Cohen, thank you so much for all that reporting for us this morning.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Joining us right now is CNN's senior political commentator Ana Navarro and Democratic strategist Julie Roginsky.

Guys, let us start here, not on the details of the rare earth minerals deal, but on the politics around this whole thing, because I'm wondering, Ana, what you think of this turnaround from Oval Office meltdown to turnaround, sitting knee to knee at the pope's funeral, to now you have, in the announcement from the Treasury Department, words like "Russia's full scale invasion" and "acknowledgment" and the - and also talking about "Russia's war machine." Not terminology we've heard President Trump saying in recent days.

ANA NAVARRO, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Listen, if Pope Francis ever gets nominated to be a saint, this could be counted as his first miracle, right?

I think it's - you know, it's a - it's a big turnaround. And in the meantime what we have seen is endless bombardment, devastating bombardment from Russia into Ukraine. The images have been heartbreaking. And so, any progress is good progress. But we can't forget that at the same time Putin is outright rejecting Donald Trump's timeline for a peace deal and saying, no, go. So, there's still a lot of work to be done, but at least we are past that horrible impasse of Zelenskyy being thrown out of the Oval Office for not wearing a suit. Somebody should tell Elon Musk.

BOLDUAN: He apparently has, you know, he's the exception.

NAVARRO: Dispensation. Papal dispensation.

BOLDUAN: Papal dispensation. There you go. Exactly.

This is one of those rare things where you are hearing, I mean we just had Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley on. Jeff Merkley applauding the president, applauding his change in tone, applauding the change here, saying thank you for, you know - thank you for changing your approach I think is how he said.

It's just worth noting because there are - these things do not exist anymore, which are a lot of bipartisan support around anything.

JULIE ROGINSKY, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: True. And we'll see if this actually holds. I mean this is a president who's not consistent.

BOLDUAN: Well -

ROGINSKY: Look, there's no - there's no doubt that there is a bad cop - bad guy and a good guy here, right? There's no doubt that Russia is the enemy of freedom, of democracy, and that Zelenskyy and Ukraine are fighting, not just for themselves, but for all of us and for the west and for our ideals.

And so, when you have any kind of progress where the president at least acknowledges that maybe his friend, Vladimir Putin, is not the end all, be all, and that maybe Ukraine has a point. I guess that's progress. But, I mean, how far have we fallen if that's what we consider to be progress?

BOLDUAN: Yes.

NAVARRO: We've - we've fallen far.

ROGINSKY: Yes, far, yes.

BOLDUAN: The measuring stick is quite something.

Then there is the economy. And then there is - in - for seemingly for the first time, President Trump acknowledging what economists and everyone else have already been saying, which is, the trade war is going to raise - the trade war is going to raise prices and could very well lead to empty store shelves. The president saying this about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Somebody said, all the shelves are going to be open. Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, you know, and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: How do you feel about that message?

NAVARRO: It's just - it's so disconnected from everyday reality of Americans. It's so tone deaf. It's so Marie Antoinette, let them eat cake. And I think it's - part of the - the problem is that Donald Trump is not only surrounded by a bunch of sycophants who don't push back on him, but they're rich sycophants. A lot of them are also billionaires or have, you know, hundreds of millions of dollars. And then he goes to Mar-a-Lago, where he is again surrounded by a bunch of very wealthy people.

Look, most Americans can't afford 30 dolls for their kids. There's a lot of Americans today who are earning the minimum wage. There's a lot of Americans who can't afford groceries, who are complaining about the price of eggs, which have not gone down. So, for him to so laissez faire, so nonchalantly say, oh, instead of 30 dolls, your kid will get two dolls.

So, let's just think about this, though. Let's just say, though, what he's saying is true, that instead of 30 dolls, they - which I don't know anybody other than maybe Ivanka's kids who get 30 dolls, they'll get two dolls. That means less shipping, less workers in the ports.

[09:10:01]

It means less drivers taking the inventory to the stores. It means less people working in the store to check out those items, to put them on the shelves. The trickle down on the economy is enormous of not having those items come in.

BOLDUAN: Julie, do you think Democrats are harnessing that message correctly?

ROGINSKY: No, I don't. I don't think Democrats are doing what Ana just did and what some of us do every day, which is go out there and say plainly what is happening. I mean, you know -

BOLDUAN: This, of all things, I mean, economists say the same -

ROGINSKY: Right.

BOLDUAN: Polling is showing that Americans are afraid, and they are hurting, and they are pointing to President Trump, even if he wants to blame Biden, we can get to that in a second, for the economic conditions. Why aren't Democrats doing a better job at it?

ROGINSKY: Maybe - maybe Chuck Schumer can write a sternly worded letter to President Trump about the dolls, because that's basically what we've seen out of leadership.

Look, the days for these kinds of, like, 1990s, 1980s letter writing campaigns are over. You have to go out there and say exactly what Ana just did, which is the fact that the teamsters, who failed to endorse last year in the Democrat - in the presidential election, now are losing jobs because of the fact that truckers will no longer be able to haul stuff from the ports, like those dolls that are coming in from China.

The ILA, which put out an incredible press release praising to the stars Donald Trump for being the hero of working class Americans then put out a press release last week saying, this isn't making America great because their dock workers are about to lose jobs because those shipments that Ana pointed out are not coming in. That's what we have to do. Those are the people we have to go to and say, look, the bottom line is that those dolls that you're not getting, that your kids are not getting are also, as Ana pointed out, impacting you, impacting your jobs.

BOLDUAN: I don't know why -

ROGINSKY: And they're not doing it. I don't understand why not.

BOLDUAN: I - that's my question is, do you understand why they are not?

ROGINSKY: It's not -

BOLDUAN: Because you - just throwing additional element to this is, you had Kamala Harris making a big speech last night, which, of course, raises questions of what role should she have? She's thinking about running for governor. Word is she's also thinking about doing another presidential race - a presidential run. Is that the right messenger?

ROGINSKY: Listen, if I were Democrats, I would stop with the letter writing campaigns. I would stop with the sit-ins on the steps of the Capitol. I would get my butt to the Port of Los Angeles right now, which is seeing ships come in with virtually nothing on them because of these tariffs. And I would point to the fact that this is the impact, the real-life impact for jobs, for consumers, for Americans, about what is happening right now. Get out of D.C. I don't know where Kamala Harris is giving that speech. I would go to Los -

BOLDUAN: San Francisco.

ROGINSKY: Great. Then -

BOLDUAN: She gave it last night.

ROGINSKY: She gave it last night. Then great. Then go to the port in Seattle, go to the port in Los Angeles and do it.

NAVARRO: I think we - folks need to stop looking at elected officials and to elected officials. And I think that people need to be the ones that are the bearer of the message. You know, we all have one of these. We all have Twitter accounts. We all have Instagram accounts. If you are a person who is afraid right now and who doesn't know how you're going to buy the Christmas ornaments or the Christmas toys for your kids, then you give the message. You talk about it. Let's us take charge of the message of America and not just depend on Washington or whoever it might be in our, you know, governor's office.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

NAVARRO: It's up to the people. We can't just shirk that duty and that responsibility away. This is our country to defend.

ROGINSKY: Agree.

BOLDUAN: Good to see you guys. Thank you so much.

ROGINSKY: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: J.B.

BERMAN: All right, this morning, thousands of veterans could now lose their homes as a key housing program is being phased out.

And a live look at market futures this morning. You see futures up - in some cases up fairly substantially this morning. This comes as President Trump acknowledges his tariff policies could raise prices - you just heard it - for American consumers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:18:18]

BERMAN: Beginning today, the Department of Veterans Affairs will no longer accept veterans into a program that helps them if they are in trouble with their mortgages. Now, housing advocates say they are, quote, "very worried" that veterans could face more foreclosures.

Let's get right to CNN's Brian Todd, who's been doing reporting on this.

Brian, what are you learning here?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, this is a program called the Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase Program. It's also known as VASP. What it does is it purchases the loans from financially strapped veterans who are having trouble paying their mortgages. It purchases those loans from outside mortgage companies, and then it modifies those loans, including reducing the interest rates so that veterans can avoid foreclosure and eviction.

This program has been around for less than a year. And according to the VA's own numbers, John, in less than a year, the VA has purchased more than 17,000 loans worth more than $5.48 billion from financially strapped veterans. But starting today, the VA is no longer accepting enrollees to the VASP program. That is drawing some concern from mortgage advocates and fair housing advocates. We have a quote from a gentleman named Justin Wiseman. He's the vice president for residential policy at the Mortgage Bankers Association, which advocates for mortgage companies, but also advocates for fair housing. This is a quote from him to CNN. Quote, "we are very worried. We don't like to foreclose on anyone and especially not on veterans. We're very worried that without a replacement program for VASP, there will be more foreclosures." And so far we have to say there is no replacement program lined up when this program phases out.

Now, the VA, from its perspective, it stresses that the people who are already in the VASP program are not going to be affected by this phaseout. And the people who applied to be in it before today also will not be affected. So, they'll be OK.

[09:20:05]

Here is a statement from the VA secretary, Peter Kasperowicz, to CNN. Quote, "this change is necessary because VA is not set up or intended to be a mortgage loan restructuring service. VA continues to offer an array of housing assistance options designed to help veterans, service members and their surviving spouses." And he referred us to other loan programs. But I have to stress, John, those are just basic programs to help veterans get their first home loan. That - what he's talking about is not a mortgage rescue program. This rescue program has been around for less than a year and is said - and as I said, it has purchased the loans of some 17,000 people to help them pay their mortgages. And that program is now being phased out. So, that is drawing some concern.

BERMAN: Just to reiterate, very quickly, you say no replacement. Any alternatives?

TODD: Well, the Republicans, which - who are applauding this move, by the way, the Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill, they say this VASP program was too costly for taxpayers. What the Republicans are doing, they are proposing what they call a partial claims program to replace this VASP program. That would offer struggling veterans an interest free loan to cover the unpaid mortgage payments before adding that amount to the end of their mortgage.

So, there is an alternative being offered. It is a partial fix. It's not a complete fix. It's not a complete rescue program like the VASP has been. So that is really what's drawing some concern from housing advocates that a lot of veterans might fall through the cracks here.

BERMAN: All right, important distinctions. A lot going on here.

Brian Todd, as always, thank you so much for your reporting.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right, so the economy just shrank for the first time in three years. Is this a bump or the start of a real recession?

We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:26:20]

BOLDUAN: From the headlines we're watching this hour, Chris Krebs, a cybersecurity official from the first Trump administration, now says he has been, quote/unquote, "kicked off" the CBP's global entry list. That's a program that gives travelers expedited clearance through customs and passport control when arriving back in the United States from abroad. The move is being viewed as another round of retaliation against Krebs. President Trump, earlier this month, stripped Krebs of any existing security clearance that he may still hold since leaving office, and ordered the Justice Department to investigate the former official. Now, Krebs became a target of Trump's only because he was outspoken about the 2020 election, repeatedly attesting to the security of the election. When asked about Kreb's in a recent interview with "Time" magazine, President Trump called him a disgrace and said he, quote/unquote, doesn't know him.

There's also a terrifying fall left a baseball fan hospitalized and in critical condition at PNC Park in Pittsburgh last night. The players, you can see from the video, they immediately called for medical attention. And also you can see how scared they are on their faces - the looks on their faces. This - a man fell from the 21 foot right field wall onto the field. It happened during the seventh inning in - of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs game. Police are investigating the incident.

Now, every parent knows many things, but especially two things, how tough it can be to get your kids to eat, and that puppets are an awesome distraction. Enter the zookeepers at the Bronx Zoo taking that to an entirely new level. This is a king vulture chick. That is not a king vulture parent. That is a strange sock puppet-esque replica of an adult king vulture standing in for said parents. Why? Because it's fun. No. Apparently, king vultures can neglect their chicks, so hand feeding can be necessary to ensure the babies survive. It's also important that the baby bird does not identify too closely with its human handlers. So, they bring in the costume department, and they've been quite successful. The zoo actually helped develop this technique more than 40 years ago when workers used it to raise three Andean condor chicks. I'm very familiar with them. This is the first king vulture to be hatched in the zoo since the 1990s.

I mean, loving this. Thank you. Also would like if someone would just deliver me breakfast. I don't need - I don't even need to be hand fed. Just some coffee, people.

Where am I going next, guys? Am I going - oh, we're going to check the Dow. Where - did you hear that? Yes, Sara, stand by to stand by. We're going to standby for this. Dow futures, all the futures, up right now. We're going to - let's see, where are we. We're about to see also the opening bell. We will be right back.

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