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Rep. Eugene Vindman (D-VA) is Interviewed about the Ukraine War; New York Candidates Attack Cuomo; Trump's Sons Deny Crypto Wallet. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired June 05, 2025 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: If I'm saying it correctly, to the United States for people who want to attend Harvard University. (INAUDIBLE), you know, it bans the issuing of the visas all together. How is this action -- and this is something you're involved in -- how likely is this likely to stick?

SHAN WU, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think this one is not so likely to sit well. The court has not yet given the president of United States the authority to oversee all higher education personally. So, I think that's not going to work so well for them. I think it's going to end up looking again like it simply is war. His vendetta against Harvard. And there's not enough to justify that.

They're trying to adjust to the fact that a federal judge has already said you cannot mess with the existing students there. You can't start stripping away their visas. So, this one is trying to end run that by saying, oh, well, new students basically can't come here who don't have visas yet.

So, I don't think that's going to work. I mean their justifications for this on Harvard are issues like Harvard allegedly is not reporting disciplinary issues. That's pretty weak because the schools really are not under an obligation to report all their discipline issues to anyone. I do a lot of student defense. I'm very well aware of what the requirements are.

There are requirements to report crimes. I mean, that's where the argument --

BERMAN: Right.

WU: Become, you know, at loggerheads. But they generally -- there's a law that says you don't reveal student's academic records just willy nilly. So, there's going to be a little bit of fight on that idea.

BERMAN: And very quickly, the idea of launching an investigation into President Biden, use of the autopen, where does this go?

WU: Under a normal DOJ situation, it would go absolutely nowhere. I mean there's just no predicate for opening this type of examination. DOJ itself says an autopen is fine to use. Trump himself has used an autopen. So, it's very hard to understand how this has any basis going forward.

But nonetheless, we'll probably see a bit of publicity around it. But, ultimately, as a crime, a criminal investigation, I just don't see that has any legs to stand on.

BERMAN: All right, Shan Wu, counselor, always great to see you. Thank you very much.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: A gun is pulled during a road rage incident over a turn signal. And we now have new details about how this dispute escalated so quickly.

And in a new episode of CNN original series "Searching for Spain," Eva Longoria visits her ancestral homeland. But first, she sits down with John Berman.

BERMAN: Whoo-hoo.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:37:07]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: We have dramatic new video to show you this morning of the stunning Ukrainian drone operation they named Operation Spiderweb you see there. Ukraine's security service released the video from Sunday's drone strikes. It says the attack on Russia's airfields destroyed 41 Russian aircraft and caused $7 billion in damage.

Following the drone strikes, President Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and relayed his account of the call on social media. Trump said Putin told him that, quote, "he will have to respond to the recent attacks on the airfields."

Joining me now, Democratic Congressman, and retired U.S. Army Colonel, Eugene Vindman of Virginia.

Let's start with this. Donald Trump, in his social media post, describing his call with Putin. He said, we discussed the attack on Russia's docked airplanes by Ukraine and also various other attacks that have been taking place by both sides.

From his post, does it seem to you that Trump is treating Russia and Ukraine as equally in the wrong here?

REP. EUGENE VINDMAN (D-VA): Well, look, first of all, what we saw over the weekend with the Russian -- or with the Ukrainian strike deep into Russian territory, taking out strategic bomber assets, was nothing less than a revolution in -- in -- in warfare. Very much like the machine gun was in trench warfare in World War I, or the aircraft carrier in World War II. And it exposed a massive change in technology. And we're not ready for it.

So, the conversation, as it relates directly to the conversation, it's a war. The Ukrainians take an action. The Russians take an action. It's -- it's nonsensical to say that the Russians will respond. Of course they're going to respond because it's war. There -- there's a constant tit for tat. And what Vladimir Putin is -- is obviously trying to do is he's trying to tap the president along into further negotiations and also recognizing that the president always chickens out, Trump always chickens out, TACO, that he's trying to get the president to -- to back off and put pressure on the Ukrainians.

SIDNER: Nowhere in his social media post after he says he -- he spoke with Putin does he condemn Putin's constant attacks, daily attacks on civilians in Ukraine. I mean does it sound to you that the president is acting as if he has no leverage here and is simply being used by Putin to send a message to Ukraine that they're going to retaliate?

VINDMAN: Well, simply, yes. Like I said, Putin, all of our -- our competitors around the world fully understand that the president, they've got his ticket. They've got his number. They understand that if they -- if they make threats that he will backpedal. There's a -- there's a -- a pattern of this. And the equivalency is -- is non- existent because the -- the Russians are attacking cities with ballistic missiles and drones, and the Ukrainians are attacking obviously military targets.

[08:40:07]

These are bombers that regularly strike the city. The cities in Ukraine.

SIDNER: Yes. I mean, Trump, though, then goes on to say, it seems quite cozy. He said that Putin will participate in discussions with Iran to help keep Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

What do you make of the way he -- he puts this in there, and the coziness, it seems, of this conversation with a state that is considered an adversary to the United States?

VINDMAN: Well, look, again, Vladimir Putin has the president's number. He's trying to tap him along. He's -- he's dangling a carrot of being -- of playing a useful role in negotiations with Iran in order to get pressure on his main effort, which is the war with Ukraine. And so, there is not going to be any real negotiation there for -- for months now. The president has been demanding a ceasefire. The Russians have not made any credible steps to that. The war is supposed to end in 24 hours and -- and it hasn't. And so, this is just empty talk because they understand how to get the president to be cooperative and docile.

SIDNER: Look, I -- I want to move on to -- to something else that has happened, sort of the two big things that have happened internationally. Trump putting another travel ban in place from 12 countries specifically to the United States citing security concerns in the wake of the anti-Semitic attack in Colorado where an Egyptian citizen has been accused. But Egypt is not a part of that ban.

What is going on here in your mind look?

VINDMAN: Look, it's a continuation of what we saw in the first administration. It's -- it's a -- it -- this xenophobic approach to international relations. It's not really based on credible threats or, I mean, obviously, a number of the countries that are targeted are -- are not particularly friendly. They're not democratic regimes. But it's not based on -- on like logic and reason and analysis. I mean, otherwise, you would see some sort of action geared towards -- towards Egypt. It's based on -- on really a handful of folks at the White House and -- and the president's whims. That's it.

SIDNER: Congressman Eugene Vindman, it is a pleasure to have you on this morning. Thank you so much for spending the time with us.

VINDMAN: Thank you.

SIDNER: Kate.

BOLDUAN: Nine candidates faced off in New York's first Democratic primary mayoral debate. Former Governor Andrew Cuomo, he faced some of the toughest questions of the night. As Errol Louis said, things kind of got out of hand around -- going around. His opponents grilling him on everything from his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic to also what he faced when it comes to -- to claims of sexual harassment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NEW YORK CITY MAYORAL CANDIDATE: I am running to be your next mayor, to make this city affordable. And I will pay for this by taxing the 1 percent, the billionaires and the profitable corporations that Mr. Cuomo cares more about than working class New Yorkers.

MICHAEL BLAKE (D), NEW ORK CITY MAYORAL CANDIDATE: The people who don't feel safe are young women, mothers and grandmothers around Andrew Cuomo. That's the greatest threat to public safety in New York City.

MAMDANI: You know, I find it ridiculous to hear Andrew Cuomo talk about how we need to regulate the apps when this is the very mayoral candidate who has a super PAC that received $1 million from DoorDash.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Joining us right now, CNN's Isaac Dovere, who's watched all of it for us.

What is the big takeaway on this? There's, you know, another debate to come. This primary is right around the corner.

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, the primary is June 24th. And what you saw there is what tends to happen in debates when one candidate is pretty far out ahead in the polls, and that's Andrew Cuomo in this.

He has been leading by a wide margin for the whole race so far. These candidates are trying to figure out what to do about it. There's a ranked choice voting system in this primary, which makes things a little trickier. But one of the things you saw happening here is that all the other candidates on stage who don't want Cuomo to be the nominee couldn't agree on much else and were not working on the kinds of coalitions that start to build toward potential victory in a ranked choice voting system.

Of course, that may start to change in these final weeks. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez just this morning announced her endorsement of Zohran Mamdani, who we just heard from. There is one thing, though, that all the candidates could agree on, which is that they really don't like President Trump.

Let's take a listen to some of what they said about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NEW YORK CITY MAYORAL CANDIDATE: I am Donald Trump's worst nightmare as a progressive Muslim immigrant who actually fights for the things that I believe in. And the difference between myself and Andrew Cuomo is that my campaign is not funded by the very billionaires who put Donald Trump in D.C.

ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK CITY MAYORAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump would go through Mr. Mamdani like a hot knife through butter. He's been in government 27 minutes. He passed three bills. That's all he's done. He has no experience with Washington, no experience with New York City. He would be Trump's delight.

[08:45:06]

WHITNEY TILSON (D), NEW YORK CITY MAYORAL CANDIDATE: I am appalled by what Trump is doing to terrorize immigrant communities and demonize immigrants in general. And that's an area I will fight him tooth and nail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOVERE: You see there that this real turn against, obviously, a native son of New York City, Donald Trump. But it's a question both of personality, people trying to put themselves up as the one who could really take Trump on, and (INAUDIBLE) really important policy issues for the city, whether it's about affordability or about what's going on with immigrants in -- in the city.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely.

Isaac, it's good to see you. Let's see where this goes.

John.

BERMAN: Nothing like an eight person New York City debate.

All right, this morning, more than 20,000 people forced to evacuate their homes after local officials discovered three unexploded World War II bombs there, creating, quote, "a danger zone,"

And a wine pairing with nearly every question I asked. This is journalistic heaven. Eva Longoria's next stop in her CNN original series "Searching for Spain." (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:50:35]

BOLDUAN: A public feud over President Trump's meme coin. The president's son, Donald Trump Jr., says that he and his brothers, quote, "know nothing about" a newly launched official Trump crypto wallet. For the uninitiated, a crypto wallet is a kind of personal online vault of sorts for storing digital assets. The branded wallet is meant to encourage people to buy and trade the Trump meme coin. The wallet was developed by two Trump family run entities behind the meme coin in participation -- in partnership, rather, with a crypto trading platform called Magic Eden.

But, pushing back, Donald Trump Jr. says one of their other crypto ventures would be launching an official wallet, quote/unquote, soon. What is going on here?

CNN media analyst and -- and "Axios" media correspondent Sara Fischer joining us now.

Given how closely, Sara, intertwined the Trump family is with the players behind the Trump meme coin, I'm confused what the confusion is. Break this down for us.

SARA FISCHER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: Yes, Kate.

So, just so that the audience understands here, the Trump family has a digital affiliate within the Trump Organization called CIC Digital. That organization owns the majority of the Trump meme coin. So, when you hear an announcement coming out that a wallet is being developed by a third party that has connections to various aspects and people within the Trump Organization but it's not being endorsed by the Trump sons, Eric and Don Jr., it is very confusing. If I had to put my best guess towards what's happening, the Trump sons are likely either, a, preparing to launch their own wallet and don't want to be conflated with a competing venture, or, b, there are concerns about regulatory problems with that type of overlap and ownership. But either way, Kate, it is a very confusing message to be sending to people who you want to buy into an eventual wallet. This is not the way you want to launch a product.

BOLDUAN: Definitely not. Confusion is not the right, you know, launch concept.

Let play -- on this, let me play what Donald Trump Jr. said on CNBC earlier this week. This is before this kind of feud came to light.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That just seems like a way that greases the skids for influence.

DONALD TRUMP JR., DONALD TRUMP'S SON: I think -- well, I think the meme coin -- you don't know who's actually doing any of these things, right? So, you know, I mean they were done before -- (CROSS TALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that -- but that's one of the things that has people on edge.

TRUMP: Because it's hard to influence if you don't actually know where the stuff's coming from, right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And what do you make of him -- he seems to be trying to distance himself from the meme coin entirely.

FISCHER: Yes. So the criticism, Kate, has always been that Donald Trump, by getting involved with his own meme coin, is conflating his role as somebody who's supposed to be managing the regulation of this industry.

Now, people in the crypto industry are thrilled that Donald Trump has been embracing it. But a lot of folks behind closed doors are saying, I'm actually a little bit concerned because by him sort of conflating the role that he plays, it actually could bring skepticism that this industry is a little bit more finicky and not as transparent as people think.

Donald Trump Jr. now is a private investor in a company called 1789 Capital. So, he has a lot to gain from getting involved in commercial ventures. But I think what you're seeing here is he understands that there's a very fine line reputationally when it comes to cryptocurrency in particular around conflating the role of profiting and regulating this industry.

BOLDUAN: Why does any of this matter, other than its not inspiring confidence?

FISCHER: I mean, let's zoom way out, Kate. Everything's going digital, right? And so we all know that eventually money and finances are going to go that way, too. And the role of the president in endorsing this, in endorsing cryptocurrency and bitcoin, is very notable for this industry. It's actually especially given all the regulatory scrutiny during the Biden industry, it should be very optimistic for them. But when you get into situations where there could be an allegation of conflict of interest, that could slow down the momentum of the industry. And so that's why it matters to the everyday American. If you're somebody who has a crypto wallet or is interested in watching this industry grow, what Donald Trump does and how he gets involved could shape its future.

BOLDUAN: It's good to see you, Sara. Thanks for walking us through it all.

FISCHER: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Sara.

SIDNER: And on our radar for you this morning, federal authorities now say they have arrested a second man in that California fertility clinic bombing last month. A 32-year-old man from Washington state is accused of providing chemicals to make explosives used to bomb that clinic.

[08:55:04]

Daniel Jongyon Park was arrested Tuesday at JFK Airport in New York after returning from Poland. Authorities say Park shipped 180 pounds of ammonium nitrate to Guy Bartkus, who was believed to have bombed the American Reproductive Centers in Palm Springs. Park is now charged with providing and attempting to provide material support to a terrorist.

A road rage incident in Florida over a turn signal led to a crash and a shooting. Police say the driver and a 16-year-old passenger got into a confrontation when one driver did not use his turn signal as he entered a parking lot. One of the drivers then gets out of the car and allegedly pulls out a gun. Investigators say the man still inside his car, who was trying to park, started to drive away, kept stopping to argue, and at some point police say the driver sped up towards the other guy, hit a stop sign, a tree, and then grazes the -- the man that's standing out there. Police say the 16-year-old passenger then gets a gun and fires towards the car. All three have been detained.

Hooters suddenly shutting down dozens of restaurants across the United States. It's just a few months after the chain filed for bankruptcy. The 42-year-old chain is best known for its wings. A specific list of closures wasn't released, but local reports reveal about 30 locations in Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas will be closed.

All right, in Cologne, Germany, more than 20,000 people had to be evacuated while experts defused three unexploded bombs from World War II. The American-made bombs were discovered in a shipyard. This was the largest evacuation of the city since the war. Everyone was allowed, though, to return to their homes and businesses last night once the bombs were rendered harmless.

John.

BERMAN: So, in this week's episode of "Searching for Spain," Eva Longoria takes viewers to Asturias, a rugged, mountainous region on the northwest coast of the country. We sat down to talk about what it was like to visit her ancestral homeland, and also to drink.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EVA LONGORIA, HOST, "SEARCHING FOR SPAIN": So, one thing I got to do was go back to Asturias, which is where the Longorias are from.

BERMAN: Tell me about that.

LONGORIA: Yes. I got to go back to my ancestral home that is centuries years old and share -- BERMAN: Like 11 generations or something.

LONGORIA: Yes, 13, 1603 was when the Longoria left Asturias and went to the new world. There's a town called Longoria that --

BERMAN: Oh, really?

LONGORIA: Yes, that we got to visit. I got to eat in our family home, in our ancestral family home. The family crest of Longoria is above the door. It's a really beautiful country, rural area. But it's hard living. It's mountainous. It's cold. It's hard land to work. They're known for their dairy, their milk, their cheeses. They make cheeses that could rival the best of France.

And my favorite dish in Spain is fabada, which is this bean stew. It's very hearty. Made with fabada beans. These big white beans that only grow in Asturias. And they cook it in a broth of four different cuts of pork fat, which makes this wonderful broth.

BERMAN: Yes.

LONGORIA: And it's my favorite meal. And its only in Asturias.

And, you know what, in ancient Asturian language, there's no word for fork because they ate so many stews and -- and caldos and soups. It's because it's a cold region. And so fabada is one of them.

So, this is -- this is very typical of Asturias.

BERMAN: OK.

LONGORIA: This is cidre, which is cider. And it's made from the apples in Asturias' (INAUDIBLE).

BERMAN: Grown up cider.

LONGORIA: Grown up cider. It is a bit alcoholic. It's very fermented. But you have to tilt your glass like -- I'm going to make a mess. And you pour it because you want to oxygenate --

BERMAN: You're getting some of it in the -- in the -- in the glass.

LONGORIA: That's all you do. And you drink it, not like a shot, but like a shot. That whole thing. You know, yes. How is it?

BERMAN: It's really good.

LONGORIA: But, look, I made it mostly in the cup.

BERMAN: You made it mostly in the cup.

LONGORIA: Look, I'm going to try it.

BERMAN: But I made it mostly into my belly.

LONGORIA: I'm going to try this one. Because you want the oxygen to make it fuzzy. Am I getting you wet?

BERMAN: No, it's OK. It's worth it.

LONGORIA: That's what you want it to look like. Like the fizziness. That is Asturias.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right, that is Asturias. The new episode of "Eva Longoria: Searching for Spain" airs Sunday night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, right here on CNN.

I will tell you, and I don't -- a spoiler alert, eventually she does find it.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

SIDNER: Big news out of the White House that we're following this morning. President Trump has resurrected a sweeping travel ban. Plus, he's ordered the Justice Department to launch a new investigation into what he is calling a cover up during Joe Biden's presidency.

All right, he is an honor student and a volleyball player. And right now that high school junior is sitting in ICE detention. His family and community's desperate plea for his return.

[09:00:03]

And hot exchanges on The Hill. The tough question President Trump's nominee for Veterans Affairs inspector general faced from