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CNN's The Arena with Kasie Hunt
Trump Signs Qatar-Boeing Deal Worth $200 Billion; Newsom Addresses Whether Recent Policy Proposals Are Part of Expected 2028 Run; Cassie Ventura Testifies Sean "Diddy" Combs Threatened Her After Their Relationship Ended. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired May 14, 2025 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:00]
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: The longest time, the 30 seconds that we have left to fill in this segment. I don't know.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: It's longer than our show.
SANCHEZ: It's longer than our show. It's more than three hours.
KEILAR: That's right. More than three hours. How long do you think?
SANCHEZ: Four hours.
KEILAR: Four hours, five minutes.
SANCHEZ: Four hours?
KEILAR: Yeah. Class of '98. Come on, guys, come on. That looks like fun, though.
SANCHEZ: It kind of looks fun for a little bit. Not for four hours.
KEILAR: Or two even maybe 12 minutes.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
KEILAR: THE ARENA WITH KASIE HUNT starts right now.
KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: It's deals versus distractions.
Let's head into THE ARENA.
Right now, President Trump in the Middle East, juggling Iran, Syria, Ukraine, Russia. Waiting in the wings, that jumbo-sized jumbo jet controversy.
New reaction to the president's plan to accept a Qatari 747 and his not-so-great review of the current Air Force One. We're going to talk with the leading member of the intelligence committee, Congressman Jim Himes.
Also this hour, new moves on the 2028 front. Gavin Newsom's announcement today that's irking the progressive left, what Pete Buttigieg says he disagrees with, and how those new revelations around Joe Biden aren't helping the party at all.
Plus, inside day two of dramatic testimony in the criminal trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs. His ex-girlfriend today detailing violent attacks by the musician, including new details about that now infamous hotel surveillance video.
(MUSIC)
Hi, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. Welcome to THE ARENA. It's wonderful to have you with us on this Wednesday.
At this hour in Doha, President Trump wrapping up, shall we say, quite a day in the Middle East. There was a motorcade led by red Cybertrucks that led to a parade of camels and then a lavish state dinner in a sprawling palace.
But don't let the visuals fool you. There were also major diplomatic moves. Trump extended an olive branch to Iran. He's announced hundreds of billions in trade deals and military agreements, and he's even teased that he might fly next to Turkey to negotiate directly with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin.
And this morning he met with the new leader of Syria. This is a man who until late last year had a $10 million bounty on his head from, you guessed it, the U.S. government for jihadist activity.
All of that, though, has been overshadowed by the president's desire to upgrade his ride.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The plane that you're on right now is almost 40 years old. And when you land and you see Saudi Arabia and you see UAE, and you see Qatar, and you see all these and they have these brand new Boeing 747, mostly, and you see ours next to it, this is like a totally different plane. It's much smaller. It's much less impressive, as impressive as it is.
And you know, we're the United States of America. I believe that we should have the most impressive plane.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: So, the president apparently feels some envy seeing other countries planes that are newer and bigger. So, now, he's insisting on accepting that offer from the Qatari government to give the U.S. government an ultra luxurious jumbo jet.
Trump wrote this on Truth Social, quote: Why should our military and therefore our taxpayers, be forced to pay hundreds of millions of dollars when they can get it for free from a country that wants to reward us for a job well done?
The president went on to claim that accepting the plane from Qatar would result in big savings. However, that may not be true. One of our sources, a person familiar with the details of the potential plan, tells CNN that checking the jet for bugs and then making it capable of serving as Air Force One. Yeah, the price tag $750 million or more. That's according to a White House estimate that the source was briefed on.
How long might it take? Potentially two years, according to a retired senior military official. Still, at this writing, the government is going ahead with the plan. The Department of Justice announced today that Attorney General Pam Bondi signed a memo endorsing the legality of the U.S. accepting the plane.
Perhaps it's worth noting that Bondi used to be a lobbyist on behalf of -- wait for it -- the Qatari government, and now we are seeing something that, let's be honest, has been very rare in the Trump era. Republicans going on the record to maybe sort of, kind of question Donald Trump's judgment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Other nations give us gifts all the time, but I'm going to leave it to the administration. They know much more about the details of that, okay? I'm just -- it's not my lane.
SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD), MAJORITY LEADER: There are lots of -- lots of issues around that that I think will attract very serious questions if and when it happens.
SEN. MIKE ROUNDS (R-SD): It seems to me that the Greeks actually had something like that happen one time a long, long time ago, and somebody happened to have brought a golden horse inside of a community.
[16:05:02]
SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): I trust Qatar like I -- like I trust a rest stop bathroom. If they want to be friendly, I want to be friendly back. But with those guys, you know, trust in God, but tie up your camel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Trust in God, but tie up your camel. John Kennedy continues to deliver.
Our panel is going to be here and weigh in on all of this shortly. But we do want to start with CNN's Jeff Zeleny, who is traveling with the president. He joins us live from Doha in Qatar.
Jeff, just walk us through. I mean, quite a day for the president and a lot of kind of the real meat and potatoes of what's going on over there has been lost in some of this style, shall we say, instead of the substance.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: The camel reference from Senator Kennedy, perhaps, was he was watching the welcome given to the American president here in Doha, where camels were on full display after the president arrived here earlier today in the old Air Force One. That's the plane that he will leave here as well. But of course, along the way there's been much discussion. But I can tell you, Kasie, its being discussed more, at least the ethics of it and the criticism around it back in the United States than it is here. It did not come up here today between the president and the emir.
Not surprisingly, of course, because it's something that Qatar government does not, frankly, want to talk about. The last time they have actually talked about it out loud, they said they're still working out the details and the negotiations. But so that is certainly a subtext to a variety of things we saw today. But just a short time ago, at a state dinner, the president talked about Iran for the second day in a row, extended an olive branch of sorts, but also repeated his vow that Iran will never get a nuclear weapon.
But the president said he wants to take a friendlier course, a nonviolent course with Iran. So, we will see where those nuclear talks go. The president also not ruling out the possibility of extending his trip abroad by possibly attending a meeting in Turkey about the Ukraine, Russia impending, ceasefire challenge. I'm told by officials that it's unlikely, but the president on Air Force One told reporters that he would be willing to do so if it could bring about peace, an open question is if Russian President Vladimir Putin is even going to attend that meeting in Turkey. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he will be there.
So many things happening here, but the deal making that we talked about, that is front and center, but a bit of a correction. The president announced those Boeing planes. He said there were $2 billion worth. A short time after making those comments, the White House issued a fact sheet, Kasie, they said they're actually worth $96 billion. So, certainly, no small change, but it makes it harder to reach that big price tag of $1 trillion of investment, if some of these estimates are slightly inflated, Kasie.
HUNT: Sure does.
All right. Jeff Zeleny, traveling with the president in Doha, Qatar. And of course, we were watching also live pictures of President Trump with the emir of Qatar as Jeff was talking. Jeff, thank you very much.
Our panel joins us now. CNN's senior White House correspondent, Kristen Holmes, CNN special correspondent Jamie Gangel, CNN political commentator Xochitl Hinojosa, and CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings. And we also have a special appearance from CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig.
Thank you all for being here. It's wonderful to have you.
Elie, I want you to kind of set the stage here first and let's talk about what's going on with the plane because of what some of those Republicans had to say in terms of the legality of this. I mean, is it really up to Pam Bondi to just decide what's legal?
ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, it's up to Congress, first of all, Kasie, and I think that may be why you're seeing this hesitation and pushback from congressional Republicans. Now, if we look at the Constitution, they rarely invoked emoluments clause says that no federal official in the United States may accept a gift or present or title of nobility from any foreign --
HUNT: Yeah, remember when Democrats thought he took emoluments in the first term?
HONIG: Right.
HUNT: As compared to this, it's like --
HONIG: Yeah, people were staying in his hotels or something, but now we're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars' worth. But the exception is Congress actually can vote to allow it. And so, I think that may be why you're seeing some unease from members of Congress, because now its fair game to act for you, Kasie, or anyone else to ask these members, hey, if this comes up, are you going to vote yes or no on allowing the president to take this plane from Qatar?
HUNT: Which is why, you know, we didn't see the -- I didn't see the tweet is not really going to work in this scenario.
Scott Jennings, big picture here, as this jet situation is playing out, he's also meeting with a jihadist that had a U.S. bounty on his head. He's opening the door to Iran, long, of course, scorned by especially conservative Republicans.
[16:05:04]
What else? There are several other things that we ticked through that that the president is doing, that if you had previously told me, you know, in pre-Trump era and I feel like a broken record saying this, but I would have told you, you were crazy. Like, what planet were you living on?
How do you feel about the way that the president is embracing the leaders in the Middle East in this way, and the changing posture he has toward people that have been, quite frankly, sworn enemies?
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah. He has thrown a lot of the old orthodoxy out the window because I think he just doesn't feel hemmed in by the politicians of the past. I mean, we did not elect a president here who comes from the normal political channels. He doesn't feel like he has to abide by the old rules. And he, I think, is dealing in realism. He would say, I'm dealing with the people that I have to deal with. You may not like it, but these are the people I have to deal with.
On Qatar, we have $26 billion in active foreign military sales with these people. They're the second largest foreign military sales partner that we have. They just spent $8 billion over the last several years on our huge military base that we have there.
So it's not like we're not already in bed with the people in Qatar, like it or not. And I'm not here to defend some of the things they've done. But we already have partnerships with these people.
And so, the idea that this president is not going to deal with them or deal with other players in the region when we are already so entangled, I think is not realistic. And look, this man was put on earth to make deals. He's a deal maker. I think this trip to the Middle East, he's already showing this is what he was put here to do, and he's doing it.
HUNT: So, Laura Loomer called the Qataris jihadists in suits. Is she wrong or right?
JENNINGS: They have engaged in activities that are absolutely against American interests. Theres no question they have also engaged in activities such as investing $8 billion in our military base and engaging in these foreign military sales that are in our interest. It is a mixed bag with these people. But there's no question they have engaged in anti-American, pro-terrorism activities.
HUNT: Would you talk on the phone and say something private on that Qatari jet, and believe that no one was going to find out?
JENNINGS: Well, I don't know whether this is going to happen or not. I, I do find I do find it. I mean, I guess we'll have to take it apart and put it back together. And if Boeing can't deliver the two things we already ordered, how are they going to take it apart, put it back together in a way that we can use it in a timely fashion. And by the way, having been on Air Force One recently --
HUNT: Yeah.
JENNINGS: -- I can tell you, it is an old jet and the presidents not wrong. It would be good if the Boeing, who we hired to build the new Air Force Ones, could actually deliver on the product.
HUNT: Yeah. It seems like they're delivering plenty of planes to our Middle Eastern allies.
JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: But that's on Boeing, right? That part of it. Look, the breaking news here is that even Republicans do not think that this is a good idea, apart from taking it apart, apart from a security checks and putting it back together again, hundreds of millions of dollars is the estimate to retrofit it.
HUNT: Cost, what, 400-ish million dollars?
GANGEL: Right.
HUNT: Taking it apart, putting it back together $750 million-ish?
GANGEL: Correct. But we now have, I believe, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Rusty Johnson, Nikki Haley tweeted this morning. She said regardless of how beautiful the plane may be, I think she was trolling him a little bit. It opens a door and implies the president in the U.S. can be bought. If this were Biden, we would be furious.
XOCHITL HINOJOSA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. That's absolutely right. They would be furious.
Republicans would also be furious if any Democrats family was out there making business deals ahead of the president's foreign trip. And that's one thing that we're missing from this conversation is that you had Eric Trump and Don Jr. out there opening up a new hotel, a golf course. And so, this isn't just about the United States. This is about Trump's personal gain and what his family has to gain.
Now on the plane, what I'll say is it continues to surprise me how Donald Trump, the president, United States, the person very few people get the presidential daily briefing. He is one of them. He is the least concerned about security.
He cares more about luxury than he cares about security. Why isn't Hegseth fired yet? That poses security risk. So, it's action after action. You continue to see the president not care about the country's security. And I think that should alarm people. That's why Republicans are coming out.
HUNT: He does seem to understand that he shouldn't put things in text messages, right, when he should pick up and like, do things on the phone. Kristen Holmes, I mean, he talked about that when this signal stuff unfolded. And I mean, look, you've covered this guy for a really long time now. I mean, we can put up pictures of the way he's redone the oval office, and he was just out just making comments a few minutes ago saying -- well, he was busy the first month I had to redo the oval office. It wasn't up to snuff.
Now, it's covered in gold. This is a guy who cares a lot about what things look like, like, and whether the things around him send a message that he is the most important person there.
[16:15:02]
Is that really what's driving this?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I will tell you that if you've seen his plane, it's nicer than Air Force One. He spent a lot of time trying to make it nicer than Air Force One, and telling everyone around him that it was nicer than Air Force One, because this is something that really has eaten at him, that the plane is just not that nice, that it's older, that he talks about since his last term.
So, yeah, he likes to be around nice things. But I also think there's a larger picture here, which is that Donald Trump. Yes, he does seem in these conversations, the fact that he keeps defending the plane to not even know about why this is a national security risk or not care why this is a national security risk. But I will say in the bigger picture of what Scott was saying about, you know, Qataris being anti- American at times or being, in this case, doing business with them.
For Donald Trump, it's all about business. He doesn't care about the fact of what they've done. He cares about the fact that he gets to come home from this trip and say they're going to invest X amount of billions of dollars in us. I got that done. I'm the one who cares about America because I got these deals done, which is why he went there first.
He's not going to get these kind of deals if he goes to Europe, he's not going to get these kind of deals from any other foreign country. But he is going to go to the richest countries that have and want to curry favor with the United States, and they are going to sign that paperwork that shows that $800 billion or whatever it is, is going into the United States. And that's what he wants to get out of it.
So, all of these other things, as Scott said, you know, he doesn't really care about the political implications of it, because at the end of the day, he gets to come out and say, well, I got all this money from them.
HUNT: He gets to fly in a nice plane. And he does say he can't run for president a third time.
Elie Honig briefly, Chuck Schumer said he's going to hold up DOJ nominees because of this plane situation. Is there anything Democrats can do in terms of -- not necessarily Congress, but using the courts in their attempts to push back on some of this?
HONIG: Well, so, that's part of the problem. The Emoluments Clause sort of stands alone in the Constitution, but violating it is not a crime. It doesn't even necessarily give rise to a cause of action, to a basis to go into court and file a lawsuit.
So, this is one of those clauses that's put in the impeachment that I think the Founders just expected people would respect. The real solution is impeachment. But we know that's not happening here.
So, a lot of times we just end up relying on the good faith of the actors and political pressure. We'll see if that's enough to push Donald Trump one way or another here.
HUNT: Indeed, we will.
All right, Elie, you're going to stand by for the next couple of blocks. We'll be back to talk about the Diddy trial in just a couple of moments.
But coming up here, more on the presidents Middle East trip. Weve got new reporting on an expected overhaul of the National Security Council. The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Congressman Jim Himes, standing by to join us here in THE ARENA.
But first, what is Gavin Newsom playing at? Unveiling new proposals? More in line in some ways with the right than the left. And he was asked just moments ago if it's all a big move to the center ahead of a 2028 White House run.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:22:15]
HUNT: So, it might be three -- count them, three years until the 2028 Democratic caucuses and our next presidential election. But in some ways, that invisible primary is already underway, because Democrats who are thinking of running in it, already making moves to try to appeal to voters in specific and distinct ways. Just a few moments ago, California Governor Gavin Newsom unveiled his state budget proposal. And get this it includes a plan to pause expanding health care to undocumented immigrants.
And earlier this week, he also backed a ban on homeless encampments. A friend of the show, Molly Ball, was there, and she asked the governor if these shifts in policy reflected his presidential ambitions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOLLY BALL, WALL STREET JOURNAL: You are making headlines for sweeping homeless encampments, rolling back some benefits for the undocumented, not to mention some of the things you've said recently on your podcast.
Does this represent you moving to the center because you're going to run for president?
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D), CALIFORNIA: I've been always a hard-headed pragmatist. I'm not an ideologue. We're just driving much more accountability. And that's really, I think the tonal change more than anything else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: We should note that was not a no from the governor on whether this was all part of a plan to run for president.
Meanwhile, at an event for veterans in Iowa, Pete Buttigieg, who says he's just campaigning for values, end quote, weighed in on the Democrats' current strategy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETE BUTTIGIEG, FORMER TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: There's this theory out there that if we just kind of hang back, don't do much, then, the people in charge today will screw it up, and then they'll get blamed for it, and then well win. I disagree.
(APPLAUSE)
BUTTIGIEG: First of all, while I agree that they will screw it up, I disagree that we should let them. And I also disagree that they will be blamed for it. They may not be good at governing, but they are really good at allocating blame.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: All right. Our panel is back.
Xochitl, you know, the beard thing seems to be a trend, by the way.
(LAUGHTER) JENNINGS: By the way, I refuse to believe -- that's Jimmy Kimmel. He looks -- you look at that video and tell me that doesn't look like Jimmy Kimmel. He's turned -- he's transformed himself into the most outrageous radical.
HUNT: See, here's another one.
JENNINGS: Look at it.
HUNT: There's the -- there's a head on of Pete Buttigieg with the beard. And Chris Murphy, also on the trend.
HINOJOSA: If Scott runs for office, I need a beard.
HUNT: I mean --
HINOJOSA: I need a beard, Scott, if you're going to run for office, okay?
JENNINGS: I'm like a chihuahua of pundits. I don't grow a lot of facial hair.
HUNT: Chihuahua, you heard it here first. Scott Jennings --
[16:25:01]
JENNINGS: Not a lot of facial hair. Sorry.
HUNT: Xochitl, what Newsom is doing, you know, he -- I still, you know, he does still have to run in a Democratic primary. So, part of me questions the strategy because usually it's, you know, run to the left, then you do this afterward.
Clearly, he thinks he needs to try to carve out a lane or at least be provocative enough that he's getting attention for this kind of thing.
HINOJOSA: Yeah, he's running for president, whether he wants to say it or not, that's happening. So is Pete Buttigieg.
I think that what these Democrats forget, and I actually thought Pete's message about how, as a Democratic Party, what we should be doing is probably the right message about now, really trying to go out and say what Democrats should and should not be doing, I think is overall fair.
Gavin Newsom, I think, he doesn't understand that, yes, he is going to get it from the left. And not only that, but there will likely be, I was at the DNC when we did the CNN debate, the NBC debate, all of those debates. You know, what we're dealing with? Immigration protesters. At every single one of those debates.
And he is going -- if he's not careful, then there will be people from the left trying to challenge him. And so, it's interesting to see what he is doing. With that said, I'd like to see a little bit more about what his plan is all about. What is his solution if that is not the case, immigration tends to be a big sticking point for Democrats. More broadly, they have to deal with the left.
At the same time, we have an immigration crisis in our country, and what Donald Trump is doing is not right. So, what is their solution? And right now from Gavin Newsom, I haven't seen that solution.
HUNT: Well, I was going to say that what you're talking about, that dynamic, led to that moment during one of those debates where people were asked to put up their hands about decriminalizing border, crossing the border without documentation, and that really got a lot of people in trouble.
HINOJOSA: It did get a lot, lot of people in trouble. And there were people like Julian Castro and others trying to make a moment of it, right? And so, I -- I wouldn't be surprised if there are people on the left that end up running, probably double digits here for the Democrats that will end up going after Newsom. And does he really want to have this argument about immigration, or does he want to start talking about the economy?
JENNINGS: Not only do they put their hand up for decriminalizing border crossings, they put their hand up for giving free health care to illegals coming across.
HUNT: That's what Newsom is rolling back, that's why today.
JENNINGS: And so -- and so this idea that you're going to be able to escape the core DNA of the Democratic Party, which is to do more for illegal aliens than American citizens, is folly. It's not going to work because the energy -- look, at the energy being --
HINOJOSA: I love how you slid that in there, Scott. Come on.
JENNINGS: The energy being expended to try to bring illegal aliens back into this country versus any energy being expended on behalf of anything the American people want to do, is crazy.
HINOJOSA: Scott, the position of the Democratic Party is to have a humane system and have --
JENNINGS: Was it humane? What happened over the last 20 million --
HINOJOSA: It is not humane what is happening in the country.
JENNINGS: People dying trying to cross.
HINOJOSA: And so -- and so -- and I don't -- I don't think that Biden tackled it very well either. We were obviously in a crisis and he did not address it, which is one of the reasons why we lost the election.
And so, I do think that Democrats can't run from immigration, but they have to have a concrete plan and a whole plan, not just like policies here and there.
HOLMES: But don't we think that Gavin Newsom is just a calculated politician who has been seeing the polls, that everybody else has been saying, which is that immigration is arguably -- even if you're talking about the far left, the far right. But arguably, people believe there's an immigration issue in this country and that it should be solved. And so Gavin Newsom, who was on the left of the issue, is coming back to center like we've seen so many Democrats start to do because of that, polling has nothing to do with the ideals of either party, I don't think. I think it has to do with the fact that if you're going to run for president, you probably want to be where all the people want to be, which is closer to the middle.
JENNINGS: Because in the primary where those people are.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: Well, that's a good point. That's a good point.
JENNINGS: He said they want a hard-headed pragmatist. They want a hard-headed socialist.
HUNT: Except, hold on, the -- and, Jamie, you take this the bedrock of the Democratic primary voters actually are African American women in states like South Carolina, right? Like those are the people that have been picking candidates, and they are not on the left on this.
GANGEL: They are not on the left, but a primary comes before a general election. Your base is going to be there. It's not just the voters in those states. This is not going to play well in a Democratic primary.
Also, you have to look at it in the context of people being sent to El Salvador on planes, the current policy.
So yes, it's a problem. It needs to be solved. I don't think this plays well with the Democratic base.
HUNT: Well, and I think one of the big picture questions, too, I mean, Kristen, you touched on this in terms of talking about Gavin Newsom, how he operates, whether its authentic or not. I mean, one of the things that people are demanding from politicians, right? Because we're all getting to know them right here in this very personal way, is it doesn't feel like they're telling us what we think we want to hear, but rather they're telling us something about themselves and who they are.
And one of the biggest challenges, and were seeing this play out in the news is for Democrats, of course, reckoning with the fact that a lot of voters out there, independents, certainly a lot of Democrats, if you look at the polling, they were telling us this in 2024 that they don't trust a lot of Democratic leaders because of how they handled what happened with President Biden in the White House and how he ran again, denied Democratic voters a primary.
Let's watch a little bit of how some of these leaders, Hakeem Jeffries, Congressman Clyburn, Senator Schumer, are answering questions about what happened then today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Step down after the debate performance last night? Should he step aside?
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): No.
REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC): I do not believe that Joe Biden has a problem leading for the next four years.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): As I've said before, I'm with Joe.
JEFFRIES: We're not looking back. We're going to continue to look forward, because at this moment, we've got real problems that need to be addressed.
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Straight with the public about his condition.
CLYBURN: Well, yeah.
RAJU: Was he capable to run again?
CLYBURN : I have no idea.
RAJU: Okay.
CLYBURN: I don't have a medical degree.
SCHUMER: We're looking forward?
HUNT: That's it.
SCHUMER: That's it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: I mean --
JENNINGS: I mean, look, let's just -- they lied. They knew he wasn't capable of running again, but which also, by the way, means he wasn't capable of holding the office at the time. And now, they're trying to get everybody to move on.
There are legitimate questions about what these Democrats knew when they knew it. And did they put the country through the biggest cover- up and scandal in modern American political history? It's pretty obvious from this book that's coming out and other accounts that maybe they did. and I --
HUNT: I'm kind of surprised to hear you're mad about it.
JENNINGS: I'm not. Yeah, I am mad because I vote in this country. And here's what id like to know. Was the elected president of the United States so impaired that he wasn't making the decisions on behalf of the government? Thats the question of the day/
HUNT: Jamie?
GANGEL: First of all, the Democrats hate this story, and I can't wait to read Jake Tapper's new book. But the reality is, if you had eyes and ears, you knew that it was not a secret that Joe Biden was old, and it was not a secret that he was having good days and bad days.
The truth of the matter is, these Democrats did not want Biden to run again, and they thought he was going to be a transitional president. And then Joe Biden, people close to him, family aides, he decided he was going to run again. And as Scott says, Democrats look, they don't want to look backwards on this. They're looking for a bigger desk to hide under until the story goes away.
HINOJOSA: Yeah, I agree with you. He was supposed to be the bridge president, and he was supposed to embrace Vice President Harris to run and potentially, you know, lift her up as much as possible. I don't believe that the administration did that.
Those same people that you just showed were also the same people that when the Justice Department released Hur report, which called him a well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory, years from now, if he were to be in front of a jury, all of those same people were saying that it was gratuitous what Robert Hur said, and that was because the White House was telling them to say that.
These people were asking questions of the White House. The White House was clearly lying to them. And there were three top people in the White House that continued to do that. And I heard it with the Justice Department, Hur case, and now were seeing it in Jake Tapper's book.
HUNT: Very -- very clear right there.
All right. Coming up next. Oh -- and actually, I should mention, speaking of Jake Tapper's new book, he is going to have a new excerpt that they're going to be releasing here just in a few minutes at the top of 5:00. So, stick around. Don't miss that. We're going to learn some new things there.
But coming up next here in THE ARENA, news just coming in on talks between Russia and Ukraine expected tomorrow. The top Democrat on the intelligence committee, Jim Himes, is here live.
Plus, Cassie Ventura testifying against her former boyfriend, Sean "Diddy" combs. What she's saying about how the musician abused not just her, but others also.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:38:22]
HUNT: All right. Were back now with some breaking news on those crucial talks between Russia and Ukraine that are expected to begin tomorrow in Turkey. The Kremlin just put out a list of Russians who will attend those discussions, not named Vladimir Putin.
Joining us now to discuss this and more is Congressman Jim Himes. He is the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.
Congressman, thanks very much for being in THE ARENA today. I really appreciate it.
I do want to start here, considering the Russians are saying that the president, Vladimir Putin, will not be attending these talks. It had been an open question about whether President Trump might go, should he?
REP. JIM HIMES (D-CT): Well, look, first of all, I'll get to the answer to your question. But let's make no mistake here. Vladimir Putin is not at all interested in peace right now. We know that. We know that.
He's been shown a number of deals. He said no. He responds to talk about an additional peace meeting with brutal attacks on civilian targets in Kyiv. So he's not interested in it.
What he's doing is he's playing for time. So, my advice would be to President Trump. No. And I don't think I need to give him that advice, because I don't think there's a snowballs chance in hell that Donald Trump is showing up at a meeting that doesn't involve another president.
Neither should President Zelenskyy show up. And look, I again, I think everybody understands that Putin is not interested in real peace negotiations. So, the real question, of course, is what does the president of the United States do to -- now that he's sort of realized that buttering up the kremlin, buttering up Vladimir Putin has not really worked? What does he do now?
And my hope, of course, is that he makes it very clear to Russia that we are in for the long run and that we will keep supplying weapons until Vladimir Putin gets serious about peace.
[16:40:05]
HUNT: What does it say to you, and can you -- how do you understand this dynamic that essentially Trump is waiting on Putin to make a move to decide what he was going to do?
HIMES: Yeah. I don't know. I can't tell you sort of what Trump's internal strategy is here. I can tell you that even though I'm in the opposition and have my criticisms of Donald Trump, I'm glad to hear that in the last couple of weeks, he's sort of adjusted his rhetoric, responding, of course, to Vladimir Putin's attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine. I think it helps when Putin doesn't believe, as he might have believed two months ago, that Donald Trump is on his side.
You know, when we're voting with Russia and along with a couple of other rogue states like North Korea in the United Nations against Ukraine, I didn't write "The Art of the Deal", but I can't begin to understand how that somehow strengthens the negotiating position against Russia.
HUNT: Interesting. Congressman, one of the other things that we've been watching unfold in the last 24 hours or so is the removal of two top aides at the National Security Council. Of course. Secretary Rubio is planning on over -- excuse me, planning on overhauling it. And the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, removed two top career officials at the National Intelligence Council. Of course, a distinct body from the NSC.
Can you explain who these people are and why those removals are happening or could be problematic?
HIMES: Sure. And I mean, let me give you the ticktock as they say, right? So, in early April, the National Intelligence Council, which is a council comprised of intelligence professionals, these are intelligence officers who have expertise in things like Russia and terrorism and whatnot. And when there is a big strategic question, the National Intelligence Committee will -- Council, sorry -- will write a report.
And on -- in early April, they released a report which is subsequently made, been made public, which so people can actually look it up. Now that says that it is the consensus of the intelligence community that the Venezuelan regime does not direct Tren de Aragua.
Why is that important and a problem for the administration? Because of course, the administration is claiming the power to deport people without due process under the alien enemies act, which requires that you have either a state of war or that you have an incursion.
And so that requires the administration to say something which isn't true, which is that Venezuela is directing this gang Tren de Aragua this Venezuelan gang, and, you know, Tulsi Gabbard was out there. You can look up her tweet saying the office of the director of national intelligence believes that Venezuela is driving this gang. That's not what the organization that she sits atop is saying. And again, you can go back and go read the report.
And when it was declassified, it was shown that she was not honestly characterizing what the NIC was saying.
And so, this is the conclusion of this tawdry tale, we learned through Fox News, not from the director of national intelligence, that she has fired two of the top people associated with that. Shortly after the report was made public, that showed that she had not been honest with the American public about this really important item.
So, now, here's the other problem, Kasie, as ranking member of the intelligence committee, I have an interest in making sure that we get informed of these things. I now have 4 or 5 outstanding letters to the director of national intelligence, with whom I used to work in this building, asking these questions. Not a single one of them has been replied to.
So, you know, we're sort of left to wonder whether it's just coincidence that these people were fired shortly after that report was released, or whether there's something different going on. But I'll tell you from an oversight standpoint, it's a real problem.
HUNT: For sure. So, before I let you go, sir, this plane from Qatar, is there any insight you can give us into the reaction of the intelligence community to this? And I mean, would you yourself have a private conversation on this plane?
HIMES: Yeah, yeah. I mean, I can give you a crisper answer on this one, Kasie. I'll leave the sort of emoluments and the constitutional questions to my friend Jamie Raskin and others.
What I can tell you is that, you know, every once in a while, I'll be traveling somewhere and I'll be given a gift. I'll give you an example. I was in Pakistan and I met with the Pakistani service, and they gave me a nice flower vase, not very big about this big, not very big.
It's been about six months under scrutiny by security experts to make sure it didn't have listening devices or other dangerous things.
If the president ultimately accepts from a foreign country a plane, which is where he does his most serious stuff, when the country is in crisis, we'll have to take every screw out of that plane. We'll have to remove every panel, every seat cushion, every piece of software. I mean, it's almost like building a plane from scratch.
Or you have a massive counterintelligence risk that the plane could be bugged, that it could have faulty software, that it's, you know, capabilities aren't what we would hope the president of the United States would have access to.
[16:45:09]
So, you know, short version -- bad idea.
HUNT: Those fancy leather seats might have to get torn up before he even has a chance to sit on them, is what you're saying.
I hope the vase wasn't actually bugged. Sir, thank you very much for your time today. I really appreciate it. I hope you'll come back soon.
HIMES: Thank you, Kasie.
HUNT: All right. Coming up next here, inside the courtroom where Cassie Ventura gave more graphic testimony in Sean "Diddy" Combs' federal sex trafficking trial.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HUNT: All right. A live look at that federal courthouse in New York City.
[16:50:00]
We have been seeing a lot of it. Day three of the Sean "Diddy" Combs sex trafficking trial just wrapped Combs's ex-girlfriend and accuser, Cassie Ventura, took the stand for a second day.
CNN anchor and chief legal analyst Laura Coates is live outside the courthouse. We're also joined by CNN legal analyst Elie Honig and Joey Jackson.
Laura, let me start with you.
You were able to watch the proceedings from inside the overflow room in the courthouse at what? What could you make out about Diddy's demeanor as Cassie? I mean, these details were just so incredibly graphic, and it wasn't even just about what happened to her.
LAURA COATES, CNN CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: No, we had a front row seat having her in front of us on this feed, able to see every single emotion. Also to see the reaction of Sean "Diddy" Combs, a man that she says violently abused her and exploited her over a period of a decade.
And prosecutors say he was a sex trafficker, of course, a racketeer, and also somebody involved in prostitution.
What we saw today, if I could describe it in a phrase, this woman was under a constant threat, a constant feeling of anxiety that her deepest, darkest secrets or Sean "Diddy" Combs described it, an iPad full of skeletons would be revealed. These so-called freak offs days long, drug fueled sexual encounters with escorts for money that she says she never wanted to participate in.
She talked about the violence not only to hurt herself, but also to other people, describing one of her friends being dangled off of a balcony, another friend being hit in the head with a wooden hanger, a man that she was dating. A man we know by the name of Kid Cudi, who is a hip-hop artist as well, who was threatened and she broke off relationships with him out of fear for her and their safety.
We also heard about her desire to go to her mother, that she wanted, after a severe beating, to go home to her mother. Instead, security guards and assistants brought her ice cream.
And then there was a very emotional moment, as she described her opioid addiction, for which she later received rehab and trauma therapy, that she one day came home from filming a video shoot had become triggering experience, turned her husband in the home with their children and said, you don't need me. I don't want to be here anymore. Youve got this without me and tries to walk out into the street and ring incoming traffic to commit suicide. Her husband wouldn't let her.
They then talked about that all important civil settlement for $20 million following her desire for Sean "Diddy" Combs to just read chapters of a book that she drafted about her experience. Kasie, why? Because she said after all that time, she just wanted him to know how he made her feel.
HUNT: Really, I mean, it's honestly difficult for me to listen to you lay it all out there.
Joey Jackson, the attorney for Sean Combs, says that the defense has to adjust the strategy because this testimony from Cassie is going differently than they expected. What do you take away from that?
JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, I take away from that, Cassie, is that they have a lot of work to do. And certainly, this is a relationship that was extraordinarily complicated. It appears that he was abusive. He was broken. He was shameful. This should be humiliating to him.
And it appears that crimes were absolutely committed as it relates to his conduct. You know, with Cassie -- assault, aggravated assault, menacing, threatening all of these things. The issue, I think, is that in their cross-examination is you're going to have to hone in whether or not they were federal crimes. And if they're federal crimes, it's one thing. If it's state crimes, then it's quite another.
HUNT: Yeah.
Elie, as a former federal prosecutor, do you think they -- the prosecution got the most out of this testimony?
HONIG: Oh, for sure, I think Cassie Ventura came through as the perfect witness, given that -- especially that she's the star witness. I mean, based on Laura's description and what others who are inside the courtroom have said, she gave testimony that was credible. That was believable.
She painted a sympathetic figure. It doesn't hurt, by the way, that she's extremely pregnant. And also, importantly, her testimony was backed up, was corroborated by video, by text, by emails. That's exactly what you want in your star witness as a prosecutor.
HUNT: Really, really tough stuff.
Laura Coates, Elie Honig, Joey Jackson, thank you all very much for being with us on this.
And do be sure to watch the special edition of "LAURA COATES LIVE": Diddy on Trial. That's going to be tonight at 11:00 p.m. Eastern.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:59:09]
HUNT: All right, so if you have an iPhone and you've ever had Siri go off on an intentionally, Apple might owe you some cash. I'm sorry. What?
Apple has agreed to a $95 million class action settlement that claims that Siri has been eavesdropping on private conversations. If you've bought or owned a Siri-enabled device between September 2014 and December 2024, and you've had Siri activate when you were not talking to Siri, you are eligible to file a claim.
However, the payout is capped at $20 per device. Siri doesn't actually have that that much extra money.
Apple, if you're listening, like apparently Siri is. This wasn't a private conversation, it was on TV. But I do have a claim at this moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: At this moment, how close are we to a potentially hot conflict there?
SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): Well, the risk is high if we don't deliver.
SIRI: How high do you believe the risk of escalation?
HUNT: My apologies, sir. That was Siri interrupting us.
(LAUGHTER)
COONS: Always listening. Always on, your friend Siri.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Jake Tapper standing by for THE LEAD. Do you have a claim, Jake?
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST, THE LEAD: I do. But can you imagine? I'm sure there are some really awful ones that took place.
HUNT: I'm sure there are.
TAPPER: I mean, that was fine, you know? Whatever. But, like, I can't even imagine. Some -- somebody out in Hollywood needs to get on that. But thank you so much, Kasie. We'll see you back in THE ARENA tomorrow.
HUNT: Have a great show.
