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Another Outage Disrupts Flights; Opening Statements Expected in Combs Trial; Hamas Announces Release of Hostage. Aired 8:30-9a ET
Aired May 12, 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]
REP. DAN GOLDMAN (D-NY): To insure that there's no question. And so, he could try to explain it away as some deal. Oh, I got such a great deal, it's a gift. I don't have to pay for it. But the United States government is not a real estate company. We are much, much bigger than that. Much more important than that. And many more other considerations, including geopolitical, that Donald Trump just doesn't understand and is really jeopardizing our legitimacy worldwide and is clearly using this office for pure corruption.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Congressman Dan Goldman from New York. Appreciate your time this morning. Thank you.
Kate.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Equipment issues force a new ground stop for inbound flights Sunday at Newark Airport. What the Transportation secretary is now saying.
We'll be right back.
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[08:35:07]
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Newark International Airport getting hit again with technical failures. The FAA issued another ground stop for inbound flights Sunday morning after air traffic controllers faced equipment issues once again. Operations, though, returned to normal after about 45 minutes, but U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is saying this could happen anywhere because equipment is so old.
CNN's Pete Muntean joining us now.
This has a lot of people worried about whether it is actually safe to fly.
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And the big question now that so many have is that and they want to ask me all the time, it seems. It seems like things are relatively safe. No major risk. Although this does show symptoms of the system being very fragile and cracking.
The latest is the FAA just imposed a new delay for flights into Newark until the top of the hour due to the air traffic controller shortages that began two weeks ago. Flights delayed about an average of 20 minutes. So, Newark not really out of the woods yet, especially after yesterday's new air traffic control equipment outage. Critical systems at Newark approach control went barely 48 hours, Sara, without another failure because there was a 92nd long outage of radio and radar early Friday morning. That means at least four failures since November and three in the last two weeks.
You mentioned that yesterday has led the FAA to implement a ground stop for about 45 minutes. The good news, it was pretty early in the day. Only about 8 percent of flights were canceled throughout the day. Meaning that airlines are really adjusting and able to bounce back from these air traffic control outages.
But controllers have told me this is about the most dangerous thing that can happen to them. Remember, they're in a dark radar room with no window, like a control tower, meaning that radar scopes and radios are vital. Pilots and controllers train for losing communication like this, and airlines and the Trump administration insist there's no big safety risk.
I want you to listen now to what Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on "Meet the Press" yesterday.
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SEAN DUFFY, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: When we have issues, there are policies and procedures in place for controllers and for pilots. They know what to do. It is not ideal by any stretch, but they -- they do implement those procedures and they stay away from each other and they -- and we vacate the airspace. And again, we have to fix it though.
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MUNTEAN: Duffy referring to the multibillion dollar air traffic control modernization plan being rolled out by the Trump administration right now. A nationwide replacement of the back-end telecom infrastructure that's been causing problems at Newark. It's one of the big goals. Also, building six new air traffic control centers. Duffy told me in an interview, it could take only three to four years if Congress gives the White House all that money up front.
SIDNER: That seems very fast for all of the old equipment across the United States. We will see.
Pete Muntean, thank you so much for your great reporting.
Kate.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, right now, potential jurors are back in court for the federal sex trafficking trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs. Opening statements set to begin this morning after the 12 jurors and six alternates are selected. It could be happening at any moment.
And we are just about under -- we are just under an hour away from the opening bell on Wall Street and watching stock futures. Oh, yes, watching those this morning as investors are reacting to the latest U.S. trade agreement to continue negotiating with China, and the rollback that we're seeing now.
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[08:42:35]
BOLDUAN: Happening right now, the final phase of jury selection in Sean "Diddy" Combs' federal criminal trial is getting underway. Twelve jurors and six alternates. They are expected to be seated this morning. And then opening statements begin.
We could see also the prosecution's key witness, Combs' former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, testified today. You remember that CNN, last year, published hotel surveillance video from 2016 showing Combs attacking Ventura. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges of racketeering and sex trafficking. If convicted, Sean Combs could spend the rest of his life in prison.
CNN's Leigh Waldman is outside the courthouse.
And this really is all going to really get underway today, but what is expected or could happen today?
LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kate, good to be with you this morning.
So, we're still waiting for that final phase of the jury selection to get underway. It was supposed to start a little more than ten minutes ago. But as we saw last week, more delays in the morning.
We saw at the end of last week two of those potential jurors were dismissed for cause by the judge. Then he put a delay on the whole thing, saying we're going to move those final stages of the jury selection process to this morning. That's what we're hoping to see happen any time now.
And less than 30 minutes ago, Kate, it was a flurry of activity behind us at this courthouse as we saw people make their way inside of the courtroom. One of Diddy's accusers actually in the front of that line, waiting to get inside. We also saw Sean "Diddy" Combs' mother and his children arrive and enter inside of that courtroom. We saw boxes of what appeared to be evidence being wheeled inside as well.
But we're hearing -- we're hoping, rather, to get the jury selected, sat, sworn in, and then to have those opening statements get underway.
Another expectation that we have today, we're hoping to hear from some of the government's witnesses. They said they're hoping to present three witnesses this week, and that includes Cassie Ventura, like you mentioned, longtime former girlfriend of Sean "Diddy" Combs. She is seen as one of the central witnesses to the prosecution's case.
In addition to Ventura, we're also expecting to hear from an escort who is seen as a witness in this case as well. We heard last week from the defense, they're planning on attacking Ventura as well, saying that she was mutual in the domestic violence in this case. Saying that she was violent toward Combs.
[08:45:02]
Combs nodded his head yes whenever that was presented by his legal team in the courtroom yesterday.
So, we're waiting for Combs to arrive. We're waiting for this final stage of this jury selection process to get underway so we can start to hear some of those opening statements and hear from some of those witnesses expected to be called.
Kate.
BOLDUAN: Absolutely. All right, let's see what happens so far yet this morning.
It's good to see you, Leigh. Thank you very much.
John.
BERMAN: All right, happening now, we are standing by for the release of the last known living American hostage in Gaza. Hamas announced it will free Israeli American soldier Edan Alexander imminently. He was taken captive 19 months ago during the October 7th attack by Hamas.
Let's get right to CNN's Kylie Atwood for the latest on this.
Is it clear how this release came to be?
KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, what we know, John, right now is that this was the result of talks directly between U.S. Trump administration officials and Hamas in recent days. And Hamas described those talks as positive. U.S. officials described those talks as positive. And Hamas said that they hope that this is part of an overall effort to drive forth to a ceasefire that would then allow to open the entryways into Gaza and also allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. That has been shut off due to Israeli blockades for the last two months. So, they view this as the beginning of what they call intensive negotiations towards that ceasefire, and then also to end the conflict.
And we should note that President Trump also wrote on Truth Social that he is hopeful that this is the first step towards ending the conflict. Of course, we've heard that time again when there have been these hopeful moments throughout the course of this war, but we'll have to watch and see how that develops.
Now, Alexander was a 21-year-old. He was an American-Israeli soldier when he was captured more than a year ago. And so, this is going to be a day of jubilation for his family.
Special envoy for hostage response Adam Boehler traveled over to Israel with the mother of Alexander, tweeting out a photo from the airport of that visit. We also know that Steve Witkoff, who is President Trump's special envoy for Middle East, will be in Israel today for this expected release. And we should note that this comes as President Trump is embarking on
his first major international trip. He's going to be in the region starting this week, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. So, watch to see how that develops, how his conversations about this release play into this overall trip.
But we should note, of course, that there are still 59 hostages that are being held by Hamas. According to Trump, there are 21 of those just last week who are still alive. So, there are a number of Israeli hostages that are still being held, and that will be a focal point, of course, going forward.
BERMAN: And does this release mean anything for them?
ATWOOD: That's the major question. As far as we know, these conversations between the U.S. and Hamas have really focused in on Alexander, who is that final American Israeli hostage being held. But what we'll watch and see is if this paves the way for any further hostage releases between the two sides. We'll just watch and see. We don't know the answer to that right now.
BERMAN: All right, Kylie Atwood for us. Again, we are standing by for this release. Not clear whether it has taken place yet. Thank you very much.
Sara.
SIDNER: All right, joining me now is CNN global affairs analyst Brett McGurk.
Thank you so much for being here.
I want to talk to you about, you know, everything becomes a bargaining chip when two nations are at war. How does Edan Alexander's imminent release play into the ultimate goal of another potential ceasefire?
BRETT MCGURK, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, first, Sara, it's very rare that I'm on your program talking about international affairs with just great news. This is just terrific news. I worked on the hostage ceasefire for some time. I worked with Steve Witkoff. We got that deal in January. It fell apart a few weeks ago. I know the Alexander family. I spoke with the father last night.
I will say, though, we're dealing with Hamas. And I know these deals. Until Edan is out of Gaza, we just can't rest. We have to hope and pray that happens soon. And we'll have this -- we'll have this tremendous moment.
But you're asking the key question. Look, ultimately, all the hostages have to come out of Gaza. Hamas is under right now tremendous, unprecedented pressure. It lost one of its main allies in Hezbollah in the north. Iran is severely weakened. The conditions are being set here for a deal. And the Trump administration, I think, is starting to put pressure, not just on Hamas, which is appropriate, also on Israel, to try to come to a resolution. There are now back-channel talks are going to happen again in Cairo to talk about this broader deal. There is an offer on the table for half the living hostages to come out in exchange for a 50-day ceasefire, resumption of humanitarian aid at scale. And in that period you would negotiate the final stages to end the war.
[08:50:02]
And to end the war, Sara, Hamas has to agree to relinquish its military control of Gaza. Otherwise, there's just no hope here. No hope for Palestinians in Gaza. No hope for peace. And that is how the deal that we put together last year was designed, phase two to end the war, you have to meet conditions. Those conditions are an arrangement by which Hamas is no longer in control of Gaza.
So, bottom line, this is great. We hope it's a catalyst for an ultimate resolution. Get the hostages out, get a resolution to the end of the war. And I think the administration did a great job here leveraging President Trump's visit to the region and to Qatar to put massive pressure on Hamas to get this done. I give great credit to Steve Witkoff. The guy never gives up. But this has to be now a first step to get the rest of the hostages out and a resolution to the conflict.
SIDNER: I mean, look, the hostages, obviously the families are desperate to try to see their loved ones. But there are also tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza who are living with next to nothing and completely destroyed areas. There -- 90 percent of buildings have been destroyed, and people are desperate for things like food and water and medical aid.
I do want to ask you about the timing of all this, because it is notable. Donald Trump is heading, as you mentioned, to the Middle East tomorrow. What do you make of the fact that he is not going to be stopping in Israel?
MCGURK: I think ultimately this visit is about U.S. relations in the Gulf, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar, three very important countries. This is a totally different Middle East than the one President Trump visited in 2017. At that time we had a major war going on against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. You had tremendous tensions within the Gulf. We all really saw a boycott of Qatar between Saudi -- by Saudi Arabia and UAE. You had escalating tensions with Iran. These countries at the time wanted Trump to get out of the Iran nuclear deal. Now, what he will hear is they want an agreement with Iran.
There is focus on investment in their people, economic growth, artificial intelligence and data centers. That's really the theme of this visit. So, it's really not tied to Israel.
But, however, you want to use a visit to try to leverage as much as you can. And there's a lot going on here, Sara. You have this extraordinary development in Gaza. Today, the PKK, the Kurdish separatist group, announced that they are laying down arms, possibly ending a 40 year civil conflict in Turkey. An extraordinary development. So, there's a lot happening.
But on your point in Gaza, you're absolutely right. Look, this war has to end. It is absolutely horrific. Edan Alexander has been held in a tunnel for 583 days. If Hamas agrees to release hostages, you're immediately back in a ceasefire. You see humanitarian aid at scale. But ultimately, the resolution, Hamas has to agree to relinquish its military control of Gaza.
The people in Gaza are also rising up, demanding that. So, it is really in the hands of Hamas. I think we all have to push for this deal. We have to keep pressure on Israel. This has to come to an end. And then you can talk about a political horizon for peace.
And there is also a deal on the table. Ultimately, if you can resolve the Gaza conflict for normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, that is probably not going to happen anytime soon but is very much on the agenda for the future, something Saudi Arabia ultimately, I think, desires. And that is where we want to get to. But we have to end this conflict in Gaza. The news today is very good. There will be new negotiations happening soon in Cairo. And we have to remain hopeful and just, I think, the administration has to keep pushing. You just never give up.
SIDNER: Right. I just want to quickly turn to Ukraine. Zelenskyy saying he's ready for direct talks with Putin. And Europe, you know, is looking at this and hoping that this can turn into something. But right now it seems that -- that Putin is being very stubborn about what his plans are for Ukraine. How is the U.S. trying to handle that conflict, and is there any movement there?
MCGURK: Yes, Sara, it's a little bit like "Groundhog Day" here because on March 5th there was an agreement with Ukraine for a 30-day ceasefire. And Secretary Rubio and Mike Waltz at the time issued a statement saying it's now Russian reciprocity is the key to peace. And what we've seen in the two months since then is Russian escalation of the war.
And there have been a lot of negotiations. The Europeans, the Germans, French, Brits and Poland was in Kyiv this weekend putting this new 30- day ultimatum on the table. They dialed into President Trump. That was a united front. And what did Putin do? He didn't say he accepts a ceasefire. He said, let's talk. And Zelenskyy has now called his bluff and said, fine, let's meet in Turkey on Thursday. I doubt Putin will show up to those talks. I think it's good to call his bluff.
But ultimately, if this ceasefire cannot get going, you're going to have to put more pressure on Russia. President Trump has talked about secondary sanctions, sanctioning the purchasers of Russian oil. That would really bite.
[08:55:00]
And it might be time for those measures to be put in place, because the Russians will try to rope a dope this. I've negotiated with the Russians on various issues over the years. They love to talk as they're doing outrageous things. And you really have to draw a deadline and then stick to it.
SIDNER: Yes, they've broken a lot of promises that they made in all this.
Brett McGurk, thank you so much for your analysis this morning.
Kate.
BOLDUAN: Another wild twist in the president's trade war. It came overnight. The announcement of a 90-day de-escalation between the U.S. and China in this trade war. U.S. markets are going to be opening up next hour as the world reacts to the breakthrough.
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[09:00:06]
BERMAN: The U.S. pulls back in its trade war on China.