Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Trump Weighs in on Nikki Haley's Support; 44 Million Americans Hitting the Roads and Skies for Memorial Day; NCAA Makes Deal That Paves Way for Paying Student Athletes. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired May 24, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: -- look at all the attendees as they were walking through, and they announced them. So, we got to see - anybody's favorite of the people that they saw coming through, or any of that -- Wilmer Valderrama stuck out to me cause I just didn't place him at a White House state dinner party, fun to see him there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are we missing here? Because you had a good one on this.

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: I don't know what we're making (INAUDIBLE).

DEAN: You never know who you're going to see at a state dinner.

All right, thank you to all of you for being here. Have a great Memorial Day weekend. We appreciate it. And thank you for joining us this morning. I'm Jessica Dean.

CNN News Central starts right now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: From campaign rivals to running mates, potentially, maybe, who knows, Donald Trump is talking about Nikki Haley in a whole new way today. The nicknames and the attack lines now distant history after she said she would vote for him.

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: It is projected to be the busiest travel weekend in over two decades. What you need to know if you're one of the millions of Americans set to head out for Memorial Day.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Overnight, a monumental shift in college sports, revenue sharing with athletes. In other words, schools will pay them directly to play, the huge range of implications from this major decision.

I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan, Amara Walker is in for Sara, and this is CNN News Central.

BOLDUAN: So, is this what an olive branch looks like in 2024? You be the judge. After their bitter rivalry during the Republican primary, gone are the days of Trump calling Nikki Haley birdbrain, not mocking her name, making fun of her husband who was serving overseas at the time. Now, Donald Trump is talking nice and definitely not shutting down speculation that she could be joining his campaign at some point very soon. Of course, this comes after Nikki Haley made the first move saying just one day before that she would be voting for him in November.

CNN's Steve Contorno has much more on this. So, we heard Donald Trump speaking. What is he saying? What are you learning?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Well, Kate, it's still very early in this kumbaya to know what kind of role Donald Trump envisions for Nikki Haley. Up until a few days ago, there was still a standoff between Trump's camp and Haley's camp over whether these two could ever even get together. But after Nikki Haley said that she would vote for Donald Trump, Trump said this about what he sees her -- how he sees her helping his campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I think she's going to be on our team because we have a lot of the same ideas, the same thoughts. I appreciated what she said. You know, we had a nasty campaign. It was pretty nasty. But she's a very capable person and I'm sure she's going to be on our team in some form, absolutely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: As you mentioned, Kate, that that nasty campaign included calling her birdbrain, insulting her husband. She also shot back that Trump was not fit to lead the country.

However, Trump's campaign has always indicated to us that they believe that they could put that rivalry aside for the betterment of the party. It was just up to her to make the first move, you know, take the knee, as it were. But now that she's done that, she is back in the mix.

And Trump really needs her help, whether that's fundraising or convincing Republicans who still prefer her to get inside of the Trump camp, because she still keeps winning a large chunk in these Republican primary contests that she's no longer even competing in, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Steve Contorno, thank you so much. John?

BERMAN: (INAUDIBLE) with the Game of Thrones reference, bending the knee, it worked well there.

Happening now, millions of people like the most millions in 24 years are set to hit the roads or take to the skies for Memorial Day, 38 million by car, another 3.5 million by plane and nearly 2 million were up for bus train or maybe even a really big boat.

CNN's Pete Muntean, as far as I can tell, is in charge of all of this from Maryland. Pete, what are you seeing so far?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: We're right next to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. John, this is the gateway to the beaches in Ocean City, Maryland, also the Delaware beaches. And Maryland officials here anticipate 330,000 people will travel over the bridge between today and Monday really fits into this theme of what will be a huge Memorial Day travel weekend. We're talking bigger than 2019 before the pandemic, bigger than 2005 after the slump caused by 9/11, the biggest since 2000. Think before the iPhone, even before the iPod, they came a year later in 2001, 38.4 million people anticipated to drive 50 miles or more, according to AAA.

[07:05:00]

And here is what AAA says is driving this gas prices. are about the same as where they were last year, the national average for a gallon of gas $3.61, according to AAA. Those of you with a good memory might think that is high, but remember, people are really splurging now on trips and travel. This revenge travel thing is really baked into the fiber of society now, and people may be cutting back on things like eating out.

The bottom line here is you have to leave early, especially for those traveling today. Here is AAA's Aixa Diaz, who says today is a work day for a lot of people. So, if you leave in the evening, that is when holiday traffic really meets regular traffic. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AIXA DIAZ, AAA SPOKESPERSON: You're going to have a mix of commuters, just people going to work, and travelers trying to hit the road. So, leave as early as possible. Avoid those rush hour windows.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: Worst times to travel today between noon and 7:00 P.M., best times before 11:00 A.M. or after 8:00 P.M. So, if you can get a start this morning, do it or wait until after the dinner hour.

We're also going to see a huge day for air travel in the U.S., maybe a record, according to TSA, 2.9 million people expected to be screened at airports nationwide today by TSA. The bottom line here is the lines are going to be long. You have to get to the airport an honest two hours early. Do not cut it close.

The good news here is that the weather is looking pretty good, although the FAA anticipating maybe ground stops today in Minneapolis, Atlanta, and Chicago because of thunderstorms in the forecast. John?

BERMAN: Pete, very quickly, what exactly is revenge travel? Because it sounds like something I could get into.

MUNTEAN: It is the idea that people sort of put off travel during the pandemic. And now we're in this post pandemic era, people just really want to get out. And we are seeing it throughout the travel space. It is not just air travel. It is driving, even cruises are seeing a bit of above.

BERMAN: Interesting. Because every time I get on a plane, I yell, avenge me. Pete Muntean in Annapolis, Maryland, thank you very much for being there. Amara?

WALKER: All right. Huge news in the college sports world, a nearly $3 billion legal settlement clears the way for schools to pay their student athletes.

Also breaking overnight, yet another woman coming forward to accuse Sean Diddy Combs of sexual assault, and this new lawsuit alleges that it happened four different times.

Also ahead, CNN talks to two actors who claim an artificial intelligence firm stole their voices. What it means for the future of the industry.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:10:00]

WALKER: Breaking overnight, a historic deal that paves the way for colleges and universities to pay student athletes. The NCAA and five power conferences have settled on terms that also includes $2.7 billion in damages to past and current college athletes.

Andy Scholes is here with more. Andy, this is obviously huge, but it also opens up a huge can of worms and many, many questions. What do we know?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Well, Amara, we know the days of the amateur college athlete are basically over. The NCAA and the power five conferences, you know, hope by reaching this settlement, they can stabilize college athletics after just, you know, years and years of lawsuits. But lots of questions remain with these settlements.

But any athlete who played a division one sport from 2016 to the present, they have a claim for some of that $2.7 billion. Now, how they plan on, you know, paying the star quarterback versus the pole vaulter, that's still not clear. The $2.7 billion is expected to be paid out over a ten-year period.

Now, if athletes opt into these settlements, they have to agree they're not going to sue in any further antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA.

Now, as a part of the settlement, each school, moving forward, it's going to have the ability to spend a maximum of roughly $20 million per year on direct payments to athletes, which is something that's never been done before in NCAA history. And it's going to be up to each school on how much to allocate that money while remaining compliant with title nine laws.

Now, the direct pay to athletes, that could actually start as soon as the fall of 2025. The deal still must be approved by the federal judge that's overseeing this case, but still, you know so much to be determined, like, you know, what is this going to do to roster sizes in particularly football, Amara?

They're likely going to have to have less than 120 players if they're paying everyone. And, you know, what does this mean for Olympic sports that typically don't make any money for this school. If they got to pay the athletes, are they going to continue to have those sports? So, Amara, you know, we have a settlement, but still so many questions.

WALKER: Yes, a lot of the answers are going to be TBD, like you say. Andy Scholes, good to see you. Thanks so much. Kate?

BOLDUAN: All right. Well, today is sentencing day for one of the five Americans arrested in Turks and Caicos for ammunition possession. What we know as he faces a possible 12-year sentence in prison.

And Celine Dion pulling back the veil, behind the scenes of her battle to get back on stage as she fights her debilitating neurological disease, stiff person syndrome.

[07:15:03]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALKER: Breaking overnight, Sean Diddy Combs now faces another sexual assault lawsuit. According to the complaint filed Thursday in New York, April Lampros says Combs accosted her four times from the mid- 90s to the early 2000s.

Now, she included these photos of her and Combs in the lawsuit. She says he began mentoring her after she shared that she wanted to work in the fashion industry, but the relationship quickly turned abusive and coercive. Now, in a statement to CNN, Lampros said, in part, that she's confident justice will prevail, so no other woman will have to endure what she did.

[07:20:00]

This is the eighth lawsuit against Combs since November, and comes just two days after former model Crystal McKinney came forward. John?

BERMAN: This morning, one of the five Americans arrested in Turks and Caicos learns his fate after he says he mistakenly brought ammunition there while on vacation. Bryan Hagerich faces up to 12 years behind bars for violating that country's firearms laws. He has pleaded guilty to those charges.

Now, Kate had a chance to speak with one of the other detainees about his situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN WATSON, DETAINED IN TURKS AND CAICOS: Bryan Hagerich from Pennsylvania, is the one that's living with us as well as Sharitta Grier from Florida. We moved her in this past weekend as well.

So, we're all in this together. You know, we are the most uniquely woven quilt to exist, I believe, at this point. But we are here to support one another. And there are nuances to each and every case. However, there are so many similarities through these five cases that we're all watching very closely each other's cases. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: CNN's Carlos Suarez has the latest for us this morning. So, Carlos, what are the range of possibilities here?

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we'll know around the 10:00 hour whether just how all of this is really going to play out, whether some of these people that have been accused are going to be sentenced for time served or whether they're going to be given a longer sentence.

We know that today's sentencing, though, is taking place as this back and forth between officials in the Turks and Caicos Islands and the U.S. has picked up. Yesterday, the country's premier went after comments that were made by some U.S. lawmakers accusing officials of targeting Americans.

Now, according to the premier in the past six years of the 195 people convicted for firearm offenses in the country, only seven of them, seven of them were U.S. citizen.

Now, Hageric, who is from Pennsylvania, is one of these five Americans that were arrested in recent months for having ammunition in the Caribbean country. Now, in each case, American officials said that the accused did not know that they were traveling with ammunition and officials in Turks and Caicos, well, they've pushed back on this argument that the government should get involved in their cases, saying that the judicial process there really has to play out.

And they noted that judges there have the discretion in handing down these sentences. According to the premier, no American has ever received the mandatory minimum sentence of 12-years in prison. Hagerich, who was arrested in February, said that he forgot his hunting ammunition in his bag.

Now, in an interview with the CNN affiliate, he lamented missing several family events saying in part to, quote, the events that I've missed that I haven't been able to show up for my family, I've watched both of my children celebrate their birthdays on FaceTime, I've watched my daughter graduate kindergarten on FaceTime, I've watched countless of baseball games on FaceTime.

Now, officials again in the Turks and Caicos Islands have said, look, let's let this play out. Let's see where this goes. Again, judges have the discretion here. Hagerich is scheduled to be sentenced at 10:00 in the morning.

Now, some U.S. lawmakers said that depending on how these cases play out, they could, they could push for a do not travel advisory, which would no doubt impact tourism on the island. There's another American who will learn his fate next week. And then the remaining group, they're going to be in court in June and July. John?

BERMAN: Yes. Congressman Bob Good made that threat right here on CNN News Central. We will know a lot more at this sentencing hearing at 10:00. Carlos Suarez, keep us posted. Thank you very much. Kate?

BOLDUAN: So, there was a surprise guest at the state dinner at the White House. I'm just going to keep going. There was a surprise guest at the state dinner at the White House last night. Hint, he's been to a few state dinners in the past. Does this and his presence offer hints now into the focus for Joe Biden's re-election bid? We'll have more on that.

And it is not just Scarlett Johansson. More actors are suing over A.I. and their likeness. What they are saying now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:00]

WALKER: Brand new CNN reporting this morning. We are getting a look behind the scenes as President Biden and former President Trump prepare for their very first presidential debate of the 2024 campaign right here on CNN.

The candidates are gearing up for the showdown in very different ways. One is prepping extensively, the other not so much. But both see the June 27th debate as a crucial opportunity to win over undecided voters, including those that support Nikki Haley.

CNN's Isaac Dovere joining us now with more. So, what are you learning, Isaac, about their prep styles?

DOVERE: Hey, good morning. Look, we see from Joe Biden the preparations that are similar to what he's done in the past. They are expecting it to be a lot of time around a table, not really doing mock debates as much as just going deep in on policy, sometimes too deep, too far off on tangents. Aides that have worked with him in the past tell me that part of this process with him is getting him focused, getting him to keep the answers short.

Whereas with Donald Trump, aides have told us that they, so far, do not expect any formal prep to be part of things, and if it is, that it'll probably be more meetings and conversations than, again, standing at a podium and the sorts of things that we think of from T.V. shows and the movies.

[07:30:07]

So, two very --