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Veterans Protest VA Cuts; Americans' Opinions on Trump Administration?. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired June 06, 2025 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

IAN BREMMER, PRESIDENT, EURASIA GROUP: The Israelis have been unwilling to send food into Gaza because they believe that they can't ensure that Hamas won't take all of it.

So, I mean, the notion that the Israeli prime minister feels confident that weapons will stay out of Hamas' hands, when even basic humanitarian supplies, the Israelis can't guarantee that, seems on its face kind of farcical.

Having said that, it's not like the Israelis are all too concerned about the level of violence on the ground inside Gaza right now or the human damage that occurs as a consequence. They're focused on just securing their own borders and their own national security.

Netanyahu, of course, is also very concerned that there's about to be an election because he's lost his two far right parties as part of his coalition. He's a lot more concerned about going to jail if he loses the premiership than I think he is about the fate of Palestinians on the ground in Gaza.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Ian Bremmer, as usual, thanks so much for joining us. We really appreciate it.

BREMMER: Good to talk to you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Pamela.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: All right, and just ahead, our weekly series "Your Voice."

We're going to ask a pair of radio hosts from opposite sides of the country what their listeners are saying about the very public feud between two of the world's most powerful men.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:35:28]

BROWN: And now to our weekly series "Your Voice."

Every Friday, we check in with talk radio and podcast hosts across the country to find out what their listeners are thinking and saying about what's going on here in Washington.

And, today, we have conservative Michael Medved in Seattle, and, in New York, we have journalist Clay Cane, whose show is on SiriusXM Urban View.

Gentlemen, great to have you here on the show.

All right, so the obvious place to begin is this very public and very personal feud between President Trump and Elon Musk.

Clay, first of all, to you on that. Tell us about your listeners and what they're saying because you were able to discuss it with them, right?

CLAY CANE, HOST, "THE CLAY CANE SHOW": Absolutely.

What I have heard is disgust. One of my listeners described it as, I want to get this right, a crossover episode of "The Apprentice" meets "The Real Housewives of D.C.," outrage. And although that's a joke, and that's funny, but from what I'm hearing and what we're all feeling is, there are real things going on.

I have listeners who've called in afraid when it comes to Medicaid, afraid when it comes to flying, the tariffs and trade war, so to see this bickering between two rich guys, just repulsion.

BROWN: What are you hearing, Michael?

MICHAEL MEDVED, HOST, "THE MICHAEL MEDVED SHOW": Well, I do think that there is a lot of sympathy on the Trump side of things.

And the idea with Elon Musk, he -- I'm not sure what his base is exactly. And the fact that Trump is being attacked by somebody that he was relying on, I think what Clay is saying is correct, is people have been concerned about what's happening with the economy. And it's ironic that these are two guys whose entire stock and trade is supposed to be, they know business.

But the truth of the matter is that, right now, if it's going to be a duel between Donald Trump and Elon Musk, it won't matter that Elon Musk is so much richer. The one area where he could hurt Donald Trump conceivably is, he talked about a third party, America needs a third party.

Can you imagine a third party headed by Elon Musk?

BROWN: Yes.

MEDVED: That would be very entertaining.

BROWN: Is that enticing to any of your listeners? What have they said about that? Actually, I will go back -- go ahead.

(CROSSTALK)

MEDVED: I don't think so. Look, as I say, what I hear from people is basically amusement at Elon

Musk and also a frightening concern about his influence over Trump. Well, that's done. And now people will have something else to worry about.

BROWN: And what do you think, Clay? Because so much of this split open because of the spending bill, right, what Trump deems the big, beautiful bill.

How is that landing with your listeners? I know you mentioned Medicaid. What are they saying about that?

CANE: You know, I think what I'm hearing a lot is the hypocrisy of it all.

Can you imagine if President Joe Biden and, I don't know, Bill Gates were going back and forth on social media? I know my callers, my listeners, they are outraged how the bar appears to be so low for the current president. I mean, use the word sympathy here. There's no sympathy what I'm seeing on this side, that it's just stone-cold hypocrisy.

And I want to read you a quote from a former Trump supporter who called into my show. And I'm getting more of this. This is kind of strange. I haven't gotten this before, to be honest with you.

A former Trump supporter who called into my show from Georgia said: "I am so disgusted with the Republican Party." He called Trump a con and a grift. And he said it's like beating his head against the wall trying to talk to his friends and his family who are still Trump supporters.

I mean, this guy's doing a con in plain sight. I was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey. And if you know how Trump ruined Atlantic City, he's doing again for a second time to the country. So it's just disturbing, from what I'm hearing from callers and listeners and on social media.

MEDVED: Those casinos, of course, in Atlantic City went bankrupt. Let's hope that doesn't happen to the United States of America.

CANE: Let's hope.

MEDVED: The big advantage Trump has right now is the idea that, unless they pass something like the big, beautiful bill, taxes are going to go up for people. There's going to be a very big tax increase. And I think that, with that going on and focusing on that idea of, yes, actually, people do like the idea of tax cuts.

[11:40:04]

And the one big wild card where I think that there's a lot of agreement on the right, a surprising amount of agreement, is the tariff fixation and the unpredictability of it, and is -- are we going to make a deal with China? Are we going to make a deal with the European Union? And then it's also the isolation of the United States. I don't think

Trump is helping himself with that, and the idea that viewing the E.U., saying the whole E.U., the European Union, was set up to screw the United States, I don't think that the majority of Americans, or even the majority of conservative Americans, are paranoid and want to see the U.S. isolated.

BROWN: I just want to follow up with you on that, Michael, because I know you're on the more conservative end of the spectrum. You often have conservative listeners.

President Trump and his administration have been pushing this idea that we are now entering the golden age of America. I mean, they say that repeatedly. Do your listeners share that same glowing optimism? And do they feel like this is all the tariffs and the back-and-forth, it's all going to usher in this golden age?

MEDVED: I think people are divided on it, which is what the polling shows. People ardently want it to usher in a golden age, but they're going to check their 401(k)s. And they're going to check the way that things are going.

And, today, of course, "Wall Street Journal" has a front page about how the trade imbalance is actually less than it has been in the past. So I guess Trump can claim that is some huge success. But there have been a lot of conservative commentators, including people who used to be conservative heroes, like Phil Gramm, former senator from Texas, writing about the political stupidity of pushing tariffs higher and higher and higher, because a tariff is a tax.

And Republicans are going to be very uncomfortable with the idea that we get identified or tagged as a party of tax increases, which is why I think President Trump is going to be talking less about tariffs and focusing more on the big, beautiful bill.

BROWN: And he talked to our Dana Bash this morning.

CANE: But, Michael, if I could just...

BROWN: Oh, go ahead.

CANE: I'm sorry.

If I could just add here, I think what's shocking for me and what I hear from my callers is that he said he was going to do this. And Kamala Harris and plenty of economists and Tim Walz, they predicted the disaster that's happening right now. So I know, for me, on this side, we're kind of surprised that anybody is surprised at what he's doing.

I mean, this is Trump 2.0. He is unhinged. He doesn't even have the same kind of people, I wasn't a fan of them in the first term, who are with him now, that the reins are off. And so where's the shocker here? He said he was going to do it, and economists predicted that it would end up being a disaster.

BROWN: All right, Clay Cane...

MEDVED: Well...

BROWN: Oh, go ahead, quickly. We have to run, but, Michael, I will let you say something.

MEDVED: No...

(CROSSTALK)

MEDVED: ... believed that he was actually going to be doing 145 percent tariffs and 50 percent tariffs, and then changing it, changing it every week, it would seem. And that, it seems to me, is what's very damaging and worrisome about the economy is the unpredictability of it.

BROWN: All right.

MEDVED: Let's get to this golden age, but gold doesn't bend or shift just sporadically.

BROWN: We shall see about this golden age.

All right, Michael, Clay Cane, thank you both. I want to mention that the documentary adaptation of your bestselling book "The American Miracle" opens in theaters nationwide beginning Monday.

MEDVED: Thank you.

BROWN: Best of luck to you both. Thanks for joining us today -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And coming up,: how thousands of veterans gathering right here in the nation's capital today are using the D-Day anniversary to protest planned cuts at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:47:53]

BLITZER: Coming up this Saturday, CNN will present a live broadcast of "Good Night, and Good Luck," the five-time Tony Award-nominated play by George Clooney and Grant Heslov.

It's a historic Broadway first, that never before has a live play in broadcast and televised.

BROWN: And I'm fortunate to be a part of CNN's coverage.

I also spoke with Glenn Fleshler, who plays Fred Friendly, about the very famous people who have come to the show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And you have had some other high-profile visitors as well, right? GLENN FLESHLER, ACTOR: We have had a few. We had some people named

Obama last week and Clinton, and a certain Sir Paul McCartney came on Sunday and Bono and Sting and Nancy Pelosi,.

BROWN: No big deal.

FLESHLER: Sonia Sotomayor came. So we -- and a lot of the -- Kamala Harris came. A lot of people came backstage and took photos with us and got to talk about history repeating itself and democracy and the importance of the message of the play.

And so -- and people seem to be very moved by it, which is gratifying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And be sure to tune in. "Good Night, and Good Luck" airs Saturday. I will be kicking off the special coverage beginning at 6:20 p.m. Eastern time on CNN, and it's also going to stream on CNN.com and CNN Max.

Busy weekend.

BLITZER: And very famous people, including the Blitzers, went to see it as well.

BROWN: You did.

BLITZER: And we loved it. It was great.

BROWN: I went as well. I'm not famous, but I went as well.

BLITZER: You're very famous.

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: All right, happening today also, veteran-led protests across the country denouncing the Trump administration's cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Thousands of people are expected to join the Unite for Veterans rally later today here in Washington -- Pamela.

BROWN: The department has already slashed 2,400 jobs earlier this year. VA Secretary Doug Collins said the goal is 80,000 layoffs.

We're joined now by CNN senior political commentator and former Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger.

So you were speaking at today's rally. Why is it so important for you to be a part of this event, both as an Air Force veteran and former lawmaker too?

ADAM KINZINGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. And this is like the first time I have ever spoken at a rally like this. This isn't something I usually do, but the veterans issue is so important.

[11:50:06]

We went from kind of the post-9/11 generation assuming that America appreciated the veterans. And what we have seen in this administration is moving away from that. We see real danger in cuts to VA benefits, particularly disability, obviously, veterans being laid off without any preference across government, in fact, some cases targeted, and, of course, a reduction in the VA?

And we just have gotten the VA to where it's serving veterans well, and then to turn this around. This administration, unfortunately-, has gone from an administration in the priors that have respected veterans to one that's more about oligarchs and techs.

And I think that needs to change.

BLITZER: What's the morale like among the veterans that you know with all these cuts, potential cuts, especially over at the VA Department?

KINZINGER: I mean, it's real concern. Nobody's felt it quite yet because this takes a while to settle in.

And I think, among veterans, there's -- veterans are divided like Americans are, right? There are some that are kind of pro-Trump, anti- Trump, whatever, some in the middle. But there is real concern. And I don't think there's anybody that thinks cutting staff, targeting veterans, going after disability benefits is going to be good for that.

And it's certainly not good, not just for veterans, but how do you recruit people into the military in the future? We want to have an all-volunteer force. We don't want to have a draft. We have to show that we can take care of America's warriors.

BROWN: What would you say to the administration when they argue, well, actually military recruitment is up? And Secretary Collins has said that these cuts will make it a more lean machine, if you will. What do you say to that?

KINZINGER: Look, it's one thing to say we want to go through and get efficiencies. And we're for that. DOGE didn't do that the right way, this fake agency DOGE. They just basically went in with a sledgehammer. And we're seeing that now.

They're having to hire people back. You have to take basically an approach to look at it, see where there's efficiencies. We're all for that. But what they're doing right now is just cutting the VA for the purpose of going back to the president and saying they have done it. And I think the American people don't want that, particularly when we talk about the danger of veteran suicides that still remains a huge issue.

And let's just do this responsibly.

BLITZER: So what are you hoping, Adam, that these veteran-led rallies that are about to take place today, for example, will achieve? KINZINGER: Well, I hope it's a message to the administration that

people are paying attention to the American people, that veterans still matter.

It's not too late for this administration to reverse those cuts, to put incentives in place. What about how about you go to school for five years free if you go -- promise to give your time to the VA? These are kinds of programs that the government can put up, but instead they're not. They're more focused on, unfortunately, people like Elon Musk, up until yesterday, I guess.

BLITZER: President Trump's huge military parade will be held next weekend, as you know, on Trump's birthday, with a cost estimated to be as much as $45 million. It's a lot of money in the midst of all these federal cuts that have been going on. What do you make of this?

KINZINGER: It's an insult. I mean, it's an absolute insult. There's not many military members, I'm not going to say none, that would say this is an appropriate use of resources, $45 million, when you have right now in the military issues with housing, issues with people being able to move locations, duty locations.

This is nuts. I think the last time we had a big parade was at the end of Desert Storm, when we had a massive military victory. What are we doing a parade about, if not for Donald Trump's birthday? And, by the way, the Army turned 250. That's fantastic. It turned 249 last year. It turned 200 50 years ago. I'm not sure if that's worth a $47 million parade.

BROWN: I'm curious while we have you what your reaction is to some of the moves that the secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, has made. He just recently renamed the USS Harvey Milk, who's a gay pioneer, as we know. What do you think about that?

KINZINGER: It's insane.

It's one thing for the secretary to say, herein and here forward, we're going to name ships after fallen American military heroes, for instance. I think people would be like, OK, that makes sense.

To now take your effort and simply play this game so that Twitter reflects well, so that the base gets fired up, when you have a potential of a conflict with China, you have a real war in Ukraine, where Russia is bombing citizen -- cities, and obviously Israel, Gaza, and everything else, this is a -- this is what happens when you put an entertainer as secretary of defense and not a real policy person.

BLITZER: And what do you make of this battle that's going on between President Trump and Elon Musk?

KINZINGER: Look, in a way, it's entertaining, but there's -- like, I woke up this morning and I was just thinking, we're the United States of America. Like, we are still the leader of the free world and we are obsessed with -- we have two basically, I'm sorry, people with low emotional intelligence that are battling back and forth and can't control themselves. If the president's de-escalating, that's good. I personally think this

needs to go away because we have much bigger challenges. But, obviously, the divorce is complete. This is bad for the GOP, probably good for the American people.

BLITZER: Good to have you back in THE SITUATION ROOM, Adam.

KINZINGER: Yes.

BLITZER: Thanks very much.

BROWN: Thank you.

BLITZER: And thanks for your service as well. We appreciate it very much.

BROWN: Absolutely. Thank you.

[11:55:02]

BLITZER: And, to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us this morning. You can always keep up with us on social media @WolfBlitzer and @PamelaBrownCNN.

We will see you back here Monday, every weekday morning, 10:00 a.m. Eastern.

BROWN: "INSIDE POLITICS" with our Dana Bash, who just spoke to President Trump today, is up next after a short break.

And, before we go, we honor the fight for freedom, as today marks 81 years since D-Day.

BLITZER: Approximately 10,000 Allied troops were killed, including more than 6,000 Americans who gave the ultimate sacrifice.