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Trump: Putin Says He Will Respond To Ukraine's Drone Attacks; Musk Keeps Blasting Trump Bill, Tells Congress To Start Over; Trump Urges GOP & Dem Lawmakers To Eliminate Debt Limit: "Do This"; Sources: Trump Admin. Taking Hundreds Of Migrant Children Out Of Their Homes And Into Govt Custody; Family Of Teen In ICE Custody Pleads For His Release; Judge's 72-Hour Hold On ICE Custody Of MA Teen Comes To An End. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired June 04, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: A new threat in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Vladimir Putin telling President Trump over the phone that he will respond to Ukraine's weekend drone attacks. The President also acknowledging in a Truth Social post the conversation would not bring the countries closer to a peace deal.

Plus, new CNN reporting on how ICE is taking hundreds of migrant children out of their homes and into government custody following new so-called welfare checks. Advocates say the new actions will hurt and not help these kids.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR AND NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And, you know the old saying, work smarter, not harder? Well, what about when it comes to artificial intelligence in school? The line between cheating and a little help, well, it's blurring. We're going to dig into that.

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

We begin with the breaking news on Russia's war with Ukraine. President Trump just posted on social media that he spoke with Vladimir Putin for more than an hour today by phone about, quote, "the attack on Russia's docked war planes." The President said that Putin, quote, "did say and very strongly, he will have to respond."

The Truth Social message comes after several days of silence from the President on Sunday's mass drone attack. Ukraine says its Spiderweb operation took out more than a third of Russia's strategic cruise missile carriers that were housed thousands of miles inside of Russia. Ukrainian officials just released these new images of the attack. CNN Senior White House Correspondent, Kristen Holmes joins us now.

So, Kristen, what more did President Trump say in this social media message?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, he made it very clear that there is no imminent peace agreement on the table. I mean, just a reminder, the direct talks between Ukraine and Russia happened, again, this was not Zelenskyy and Putin, but the two countries happened Monday in Istanbul. He - Donald Trump, his team had been watching to see what came out of those talks. They had told me that they were actually happy that this actually happened, saying that Donald Trump was the only reason that there was actual direct talks between the countries. But clearly here, Trump's stating that not only was a peace deal not imminent, but that we should expect retaliation from Putin when it comes to those attacks. So, it's something we're watching closely.

Now, the other thing that was in this post was Donald Trump seemingly saying that Putin had offered to help him create a deal with Iran. This is what he says on this part. He says, "We also discussed Iran and the fact that time is running out on Iran's decision pertaining to nuclear weapons, which must be made quickly. I stated to President Putin that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. And on this, I believe that we are in agreement. President Putin suggested he will participate in the discussions with Iran and that he could perhaps be helpful in getting this brought to a rapid conclusion."

This clearly here - a plot twist, if you will - has nothing to do with what Donald Trump had been working with Putin on, which was trying to bring an end to the Ukrainian-Russian war. Instead, now, he seems to be enlisting Putin's help. One thing to note is that we have witnessed this firsthand that Iran and Russia have grown closer, stronger allies as this Ukrainian-Russian war has progressed. Now, Putin's saying that he actually has something to offer Trump in that respect, that he could help him with a deal that we know Donald Trump has been trying to force through.

SANCHEZ: So, Kristen, what is the Kremlin saying about this call?

HOLMES: Well, surprisingly, Boris, they're not foreshadowing any kind of attacks by Putin on Ukraine. They said that he did tell Trump about those peace talks, that he walked him through it, and that he offered his services to help with Iran. Nothing there, though, on saying that he believed he could be helpful in getting a nuclear deal or that Putin also agrees that Iran shouldn't have a nuclear deal or that Putin is going to retaliate against Ukraine. These are just things that President Trump put out there, but they are at least confirming the call happened and the two things that were the topic of discussion, Ukraine and Iran.

SANCHEZ: Kristen Holmes from the White House. Thank you so much.

HILL: Joining us now to discuss CNN Political and National Security Analyst, David Sanger, who's, of course, also the White House National Correspondent for The New York Times.

David, when we look at this, the language to Donald Trump saying Putin told him, quote, "very strongly we'll have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields," in some ways, not surprising, given what we've seen in the past, but the fact that there was no real mention, right, of Ukraine, no defense, certainly, of Ukraine in that statement, that actually says a lot.

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Erica, it does, and something else is missing from that. Any comment by President Trump to try to restrain the nature of the Russian response here so that he tamps down the violence rather than escalates it, you know, it would be usual in a diplomatic message like this to say, you know, the President urged President Putin to be proportional in his response, to pick only military targets or to pick no targets at all, or that this reemphasized the need for a peace agreement.

[15:05:15]

There was none of that. Instead, there was this interesting foray into having the Russians enter the Iran talks.

Russia, you may recall, was a member, along with China, of the team of Western countries, Europe and the United States, that negotiated with Iran 10 years ago that resulted in the Obama-era deal. But President Trump has kept the Europeans, his allies, out of this. He now seems to be inviting an adversary into it.

SANCHEZ: I wonder how Zelenskyy is viewing all this and how Ukraine may be preparing for what is obviously a signal that there will be retaliation.

SANGER: Well, yes, and, you know, the retaliation's likely to be pretty big because remember that the planes that he had, and we think that he had about 12 or 13 of the most important delivery vehicles that Putin had out on the airfields there, those are what are called dual-capable aircraft, which means that they can carry conventional warheads and bombs, and they can carry nuclear.

And the - President Putin has to be highly aware of the fact that the Ukrainians knew they were going after part of his nuclear delivery system. And I'm sure that's weighing pretty heavily in his mind as he tries to think about the retaliation. And it comes at a moment that the Ukrainians are running short of air defenses, which is a big concern.

HILL: It's also interesting to know Putin sort of alluding to there would be retaliation, not surprising. There was an expectation that that would happen. I mean, in some of the reporting ...

SANGER: Sure.

HILL: ... from our - from Kristen earlier, right, the fact that it was maybe brought up, right, that Ukraine did not give the United States - the fact that Ukraine did not give the United States a head up about this drone attack, but Putin is, that also plays into, in some ways, I think what we often see from President Putin in terms of the way he approaches Donald Trump. Almost, I'm bringing you into my inner circle. I want to let you know, while separately raising questions about, there's a reason Ukraine didn't tell the United States.

SANGER: Well, Erica, yes, they didn't tell the United States. It's probably a good thing for President Trump that they did not, because you wouldn't want President Trump in the position of knowing in advance about an attack on dual-capable, nuclear-capable aircraft in Russia. That said, the lurking question for the past four months as President Trump has entered the Russia-Ukraine war is which side is he leaning toward.

And after the Oval Office confrontation with President Zelenskyy at the end of February, I think we came to the conclusion he's leaning toward Russia, and I think you would sort of take that thought away from the way he characterized the conversation today.

SANCHEZ: What about sanctions, David? There was no mention of them here. We've heard repeatedly from this administration, from the President, that in two weeks, we're going to see what's going to happen. In two weeks, it's been several months.

SANGER: That's right. It's always two weeks away, kind of like the development of a new healthcare plan, right? It's always going to be coming in two weeks. But what the President has basically said about those two weeks is, I may wash my hands of all of this in two weeks' time. And he's often threatened some sanctions against Russia and then backed away from them. And in fact, earlier this week, he said he wasn't considering sanctions right now.

So, I think that President Putin has come to the conclusion he's not likely to get more sanctions from President Trump. Now, that said, there are a lot of US sanctions that are on Russia now. They're left over from the Biden era. They're left over from the 2022 invasion. And President Trump has not lifted those. But I suspect you're not going to see much added to that.

HILL: David Sanger, always good to have you with us. Appreciate it. Thank you.

So, Elon Musk is posting some fresh criticism as President Trump presses Congress to pass his "Big, Beautiful Bill." A short time ago, Musk tweeting, Congress should start over and draft an entirely new spending bill. This, of course, coming just one day after Musk called the current bill a, quote, disgusting abomination for what he sees as overspending.

Well, today, the Congressional Budget Office said the bill would add nearly $2.5 trillion to the national deficit, something Senate Republicans are fuming over.

[15:10:06]

SANCHEZ: And Trump this afternoon repeated a request to lawmakers to scrap the debt limit to prevent what he calls an economic catastrophe. He's telling both Republicans and Democrats to, quote, "do this." CNN's Lauren Fox is live for us on Capitol Hill.

Lauren, what are you hearing from lawmakers?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, a couple of things. I mean, the debt ceiling obviously was included, or an increase to the debt ceiling was included in that House-passed bill. That doesn't obviously stop lawmakers from passing separate legislation down the road to get rid of the debt ceiling altogether, but that was part of the impetus and part of the motivation for trying to get this bill through Congress in a timely manner because they do expect that that date in which the United States could hit the debt ceiling and it would exceed the extraordinary measures that Treasury could take to happen sometime potentially in August, that means that lawmakers really need to get their negotiations underway to get this bill passed out of the Senate, back to the House, and then signed by the President sometime in July.

One of the challenges right now is the fact that Elon Musk has obviously injected some uncertainty into these negotiations. He's really adding fuel to the fire for those conservatives who believe that the House bill did not cut enough spending to begin with, but ultimately, the impact that his tweets may have on members of the United States Senate could be relatively nil. Here's one of those conservatives, John Kennedy, who says, on the one hand, he agrees with Musk, on the other hand, he still wants to work on the House passed bill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): He's frustrated. I think he believes, in my judgment correctly, that we're quickly becoming debt slaves, that Congress needs to re-earn the magical healing power of no, and I agree with him. Having said that, I'm not ready to throw in the towel on this bill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOX: Now, House Republicans are currently meeting behind closed doors. They've been meeting for more than an hour at this point to try to discuss a path forward on Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill" in the United States Senate. Then, members of the Senate Finance Committee, Republicans are going to be headed to the White House to have a further conversation about what exactly the path ahead looks like.

It just gets to the point that work is still continuing here in the Senate as lawmakers are trying to find some way to move Trump's agenda, even and despite the fact that Elon Musk doesn't like what the House passed.

SANCHEZ: We'll see what comes of that meeting later between the President and these Republicans.

Lauren Fox on Capitol Hill, thank you so much.

Still to come, migrant advocates are sounding the alarm about the Trump administration's move to take hundreds of migrant children out of their homes and into custody.

HILL: Plus, explosive new testimony in the criminal sex trafficking trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs as another accuser takes the stand. That and much more coming up right here on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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[15:17:30]

HILL: Multiple sources tell CNN hundreds of migrant children have been taken from their homes and placed into government custody. President Trump and his top aides see an influx of children arriving at the southern border without a parent or guardian during the Biden administration and they're unaccounted for.

SANCHEZ: CNN's Priscilla Alvarez has this story.

So, Priscilla, walk us through. What are you learning?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is part of an aggressive push by the Trump administration to locate children who crossed the US-Mexico border alone in recent years, went into government custody, and then were released to so-called sponsors. And the majority of them are family, including parents. But senior Trump officials have said that hundreds of thousands of these kids have gone missing and could be potentially in dangerous situations.

Now, former Health and Human Services officials, experts, advocates say that's not the case. They refute the claim that there are hundreds of thousands of people that are missing, but that has been the premise that the administration has used to set up what they're calling welfare checks. Those are conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and in some cases, also the FBI, as they go door-to-door to find some of these children.

Now, according to sources, around 500 children have gone into government custody as a result of these welfare checks because, for example, ICE may have deemed the situation unsafe. But the concern that is coming, or that advocates are saying here, is that families are also being separated in the process because so many of these kids go and live with those families when they are released from custody.

Now, the Department of Homeland Security, in a statement, said that they conduct these welfare checks to, quote, ensure they are safe and not being exploited, they being the children. They go on to say that these welfare checks have resulted in arrests of some sponsors of these unaccompanied minors, and as a result, the children have been placed in the Office of Refugee Resettlement and Custody.

That is the agency that is charged with the care of unaccompanied migrant children, which is why that's where they're going when they are placed back into government custody. What I've also learned over the course of this reporting is that at the Health and Human Services Department, they have also set up a makeshift war room, you know, a conference room, where they are trying to track children, set up these lists, pour over sensitive data. Data, by the way, that immigration enforcement authorities typically don't have access to.

So, this, in some ways, has sort of created this chilling effect among many who are observing this because of concern that there could be a pretext for immigration enforcement that isn't just, or perhaps solely based on whether these children and their well-being is okay.

HILL: And then once these children, so once they're removed, and then they're then put in government custody, what happens?

[15:20:04] ALVAREZ: When they're in government custody, two things can happen, and they can also happen at once. There could be efforts to try to release them to someone else in the United States that they have a connection with. That part of the equation, though, is becoming so difficult because of new policy guidelines that have been released by the administration that includes now income requirements, DNA testing, as well as document requirements, and know that there are many of these families that are undocumented when they're collecting their children.

The other part of this is they can be put in deportation proceedings, so they also run the risk of being deported when they are in custody. When you look at the numbers, there, a few months ago, it was about 67 days, which was the average length of care for these children. That is now up to 170 days, and I'm told that internally officials have acknowledged that as these kids languish in facilities, they also need to check on their well-being because some kids are now reporting that they are depressed.

SANCHEZ: Priscilla Alvarez, thank you so much for the reporting.

Just in to CNN, the family of a high school student from Massachusetts is pleading for his release after immigration officials took him into custody over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOAO PAULO, MARCELO GOMES' FATHER: Hello, ICE. My name is Joao Paulo, Marcelo's father. I miss my son. I love my son. We need Marcelo back home. It's no family without him. We love America. Please, bring my son back.

MIGUEL: My name is Miguel, and I really miss sleeping with my brother saying goodnight. I just really miss having him with me. I just want to give him a hug back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Federal agents arrested 18-year-old Marcelo Gomes da Silva during a traffic stop. He was on his way to volleyball practice with his teammates. Officials say the high school junior, who's originally from Brazil, is in the United States illegally. A federal judge ordered a hold on the teen's case, preventing immigration officials from transferring Gomes da Silva to the U.S. The judge ordered a hold on the teen's case, preventing immigration officials from transferring Gomes da Silva out of state for 72 hours, a deadline that has now passed.

Let's discuss with the attorney for Marcelo Gomes da Silva, Robin Nice.

Thank you so much for joining us, Robin.

Have you heard from your client at this time? How's he doing?

ROBIN NICE, IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY FOR MARCELO GOMES DA SILVA: Yes, I was able to speak with him for the first time yesterday, after multiple attempts to get in touch with him sooner, so it's been rather frustrating. And frankly not doing great. He's not at a detention center, he's at an ICE, essentially a holding unit, that is not really designed to be holding folks for more than a few hours, certainly not overnight. He's sleeping with about 40 men, twice his age, on a concrete floor. There aren't beds, there aren't cots. There's, you know, restroom, that's a generous word for it, with no walls. It's not great, and he's not feeling well. There's no medication available or medical care available.

SANCHEZ: What happens now that the 72-hour hold has ended? What's the status of how this moves forward?

NICE: Well, we're still - we're - the next main step, the real milestone in this case, is tomorrow at one o'clock, or sometime in the afternoon, he's going to have a bond hearing. And we are certainly hopeful and optimistic that the court will grant bond, and that he could get out tomorrow afternoon if that happens.

But to do that, we have to convince the judge that he's not a danger to the community, which obviously he's not. He's an 18-year-old kid, no criminal history, active in his community, his church, his school, and also show that he's not a flight risk, which again, he's not. We have - we've seen a huge outpouring of support from his community to show just how deeply tied to his town he is. But that's really the next step that we're looking forward to at this point.

SANCHEZ: And stepping back quickly, you'd mentioned that there's no access to medicine or medical attention. Does he need it, that you're aware of?

NICE: He's - I - and I don't want to be dramatic or alarmist, but he does have effectively, it sounds like, a bad cold. He says he feels like he has a fever. I - when I spoke to him, he's audibly very congested. And he said his throat really hurt. So, I think he was asking for TYLENOL or some basic sort of pain relief, and was told, we don't have any medicine like that for you here, if you want a sweater, which he does not want because it's really, really hot in this room, which again, is not designed to hold, I think, this many people. And certainly, for this sort of period of time. So yes, we want to get him out and checked out by a doctor, certainly.

SANCHEZ: Sure. I do want to walk through these claims from DHS because they said that he was found to be in the United States illegally and subject to removal proceedings. You've said that he entered the country lawfully in 2013 on a B-2 visa and eventually received a student visa, which has since lapsed. When did it lapse? When did his student visa expire?

NICE: We're still honestly getting that information. And that goes back to the challenge of not being able to talk to our client for several - for a couple of days. It looks like it would have been some point probably in the last few years at least, because typically when you need to renew an international student visa, at some point you have to leave the country to come back in. And we know he's been here consistently since he was seven years old. [15:25:06]

But again, he entered lawfully, no criminal record. This is really not - it's incongruous with what the government has been saying, what they're allegedly targeting in terms of criminals or people who entered illegally. But yes, I think even if, you know, no one's debating the fact that he's properly in removal proceedings. The issue is why on earth is he detained?

SANCHEZ: You told CNN that he intends to apply for asylum. I wonder what his claim would be.

NICE: We're still fleshing that out a little bit. Obviously my number one goal when I spoke with him yesterday was just to see how he's doing, let him know what's going on, on the outside and let him know that there's a huge outpouring of support for him. So, we've had - I am going to be meeting with him later today. We're going to be fleshing that out some more, but from conversations with his parents that we've had so far, it sounds like he'd have a political asylum claim based on problems that his extended family has had in Brazil and concerns about how that could impact his safety if he were to go back. So, we're looking forward to diving into that more deeply once we're able to talk with him and he's feeling better.

SANCHEZ: So, given that, and you may not be aware because as you said, you're still gathering information, do you know why he hadn't pursued that asylum claim sooner?

NICE: I don't know yet. And that's certainly one of the questions we're going to ask.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

NICE: I can say under asylum law, while generally someone is expected to apply within a year of arrival or within a year after a visa status expiring, there are clear exceptions, including for minors and including when you have other conditions going on in your life. So, there's a non-exhaustive list of reasons why they can be forgiven basically for not applying sooner. But I think to really focus on - I think if it's helpful to remember, like, if, you know, as an 18-year- old kid and you're just trying to get through high school ...

SANCHEZ: Right.

NICE: ... I don't even frankly know, like, if he's aware of the full ramifications of what his immigration status is or isn't. So, we really need to dive into that. But I think at the end of the day, he's a kid. And so, you know, he didn't come here, it wasn't his choice to come here. He came with mom and dad. He built his life here and, you know, you kind of deal with the cards that you get.

SANCHEZ: To that point, I've spoken to a number of elected officials and folks that are invested in the view that this administration holds when it comes to the immigration crackdown. And their view is that whether it's entering the country illegally or whether it's allowing a visa to lapse, not being documented is grounds for removal. And I wonder what you say in response to those folks who say that being here without documents is in itself an illegal act, a criminal act.

NICE: Yes. I mean, number one, we have a criminal justice system for a reason. If you want to prosecute someone for a criminal offense, then go for it. But that's not what we're talking about here. We're talking about civil detention for someone who overstayed. And we're not arguing frankly, we're not even saying that he shouldn't be in removal proceedings or that that's not legally appropriate rather. It is legally appropriate. Whether or not the government should choose their - in their discretion to prosecute effectively an 18-year-old with no criminal record who's been here since age seven is another question.

But at the end of the day, again, you know, I think it's really easy to conflate being detained and having removal proceedings. ICE could have realized, could have intercepted him and said, hey, we realize you're here without status. Sorry, kid, we're going to send you to see an immigration court judge and hear out your story. Instead, they chose to do that, but then also detain him.

Nothing is gained by detaining an 18-year-old junior kid. Like nothing is - there's no reason for doing that. It is a - slows down frankly our justice system for the rest of the individuals facing it. It's expensive to detain folks. And here he is in these really awful conditions with again, like 40 men twice his age. It's just absolutely unnecessary.

SANCHEZ: Robin Nice, thank you so much for sharing your view ...

NICE: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: ... and Marcelo's story with us. Please keep us updated on what comes next.

NICE: Will do, thank you so much.

SANCHEZ: Of course. Ahead, a weak jobs report has the President trying to pin the blame on Fed chief, Jerome Powell. The latest on what the President said and what he wants done, next.

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