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Trump Unsure If Putin Will Show Up For Ukraine Talks; Trump Arrives In Qatar After Saudi Arabia Visit; Cassie Ventura To Resume Testimony In Sean "Diddy" Combs Sex-Trafficking Trial. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired May 14, 2025 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: That relationship rocky as it's been, I wonder if Putin will be willing to necessarily shun Trump. And this buildup might be last minute negotiations. It's really unclear.

Remember, if Trump, Putin and Zelenskyy are there's a pretty strong chance that Trump and Putin will have their own separate bilateral meeting. That would be something of a win potentially for the Kremlin. Certainly a lot earlier than I think many expected to potentially happen with Trump.

But and then on top of this too, we have the background noise about sanctions if indeed this meeting doesn't go ahead and potentially too if a ceasefire doesn't come from it. Trump just today as well saying that he, you know, continually thinks about secondary sanctions. That would mean sanctioning people who do business with Russia in prohibited ways as well as Russia itself.

And that added sense of potential consequence may into the calculation here as well. But look, bearing no mind, this is a phenomenally high stakes moment of diplomacy in the largest war in Europe since the 1940s. Hard to understate this and also too hard to understate how complex these three men being together would be if indeed that does happen.

Zelenskyy makes no bids to hide his contempt for Putin. Vice versa Zelenskyy and Trump had the blowout in the Oval Office that seems to have been healed, but it's still a rocky relationship and the Trump- Putin relationship. While history books be written about that in the decades to come, it's clear Trump doesn't want to upset Putin. Does Putin feel the same way? We'll find out, Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. And the way especially you're describing with all the context is that this is a very intriguing moment to see what happens now as these talks are set to begin tomorrow. Nick, thank you so much. Nick Paton Walsh in Kyiv for us, a new hour of seeing a News Central starts now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Red cyber trucks, camels and maybe a $400 million luxury jet. The lavish welcome for President Trump as he arrives for key meetings. Republicans now raising concerns about the gift of the jet. And not just over the optics.

The star witness in the federal sex trafficking trial of Sean Combs set to return to the stand shortly. Cassie Ventura revealing stunning details.

And major airlines set to meet with the FAA today to address weeks of delays at Newark Airport. Sara is out. I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan. This is CNN News Central.

BOLDUAN: Happening this morning, President Trump on the ground now in Qatar, the second leg of his overseas trip in the Middle East. Now, Qatar has been a key negotiator on Many fronts. Key mediator in the negotiations between Israel and Hamas to try to bring an end to that war.

Qatar has also hosted Iran nuclear talks. Qatar is also, though, now the country whose royal family is offering a gift to President Trump of a $400 million plane to possibly be used as Air Force One. And potentially beyond. The gift raising all sorts of legal and security concerns. And the president, though, continues to defend it. Here's what he told Fox News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: If I wanted to, I could, you know, hurt Boeing and I don't want to hurt Boeing. But they are very late with the plane and Qatar heard about it and he's a great leader and we were talking and he said, if I can help you, let me do that. And they had a plane. Not a new plane at all, but they had a plane.

My attitude is why wouldn't I accept the gift. We're giving to everybody else? Why wouldn't I accept again? Because it's going to be a couple of years, I think, before the Boeings are finished.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: There also would be some time because that plane would have to be, well, retrofitted and then some given the security concerns. I digress. Also this morning, before leaving Saudi Arabia, President Trump sat down for an historic meeting with Syria's new president. And that is after Trump made a surprise announcement that he is lifting all U.S. sanctions on Syria. CNN's Alayna Treene tracking all of this for us. Let's start with the jet. What's the latest?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, I mean, those comments from the president regarding this gifting, as he puts it, of this Boeing 747 as Air Force One to the United States or specifically the Defense Department, was pretty striking because the one line in there from that Fox interview that I really took away is when he said that essentially the Qataris approached him with this and said, if I could help you with let us. And the president obviously is very amenable to that.

Of course, all of this coming as we're seeing in real time, the Qataris rolling out the red carpet just like the Saudis did for his arrival in Doha today. But a few things that I think are so crucial to note about this plane. One is what you mentioned, Kate, is that this would have to be completely retrofitted to actually serve as Air Force One.

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We know that it would cost probably billions of dollars to do so. There are certain capabilities that Air Force One has that this would need to be modified for, not only security concerns, and we have spoken with the Secret Service, who have called this a security nightmare.

But one example is, of course, midair refueling, something that is necessary for the President of the United States to have with Air Force One. Another is, of course, we have missiles and other defense capabilities that it is equipped with.

And so this would likely take years for them to actually try and turn this into an actual usable plane for the President to use. Now, of course, I think we have to note as well the context of this. The President has been completely fixated on wanting a new Air Force One. This one, of course, from the Qataris, has been described as a hotel in the air, a palace in the air.

But this is something he's actually been pressuring Boeing to help him with. And he noted that in his comments as well, that he worries that Boeing would take a couple more years to get him his new plane, and that is why he is so fixated on this. But again, a lot of Democrats, critics, and even some Trump allies, people like Laura Loomer and others, very concerned about the ethics of this and whether or not this is actually legal.

BOLDUAN: Alayna Treene, thank you so much for the reporting, John.

BERMAN: All right, with us now is Congressman Jared Moskowitz, a Democrat from Florida. He is on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Congressman, thank you so much. A $400 million luxury jet as a gift. Laura Loomer hates it. How do you feel about it?

REP. JARED MOSKOWITZ (D-FL): Well, thanks, John. Thanks for having me this morning. Yes. Look, you know, Air Doha, Don, I mean, I don't know what we're going to call the plane, but obviously it's ridiculous. Can you imagine, just for a second, if Barack Obama had accepted a plane from Qatar? My Republican colleagues would be calling it the Barack Hussein plane. OK?

I mean, this is just the height of ridiculousness at the end of the day, OK? Who gets a plane for $400 million and thinks it's free? OK, first of all, it's going to cost about $750 million to retrofit the plane. That's number one. Number two is we're taking a plane from a foreign country. I mean, Putin's watching this, thinking, what do I get Trump? Do I get him a yacht? Do I give him a piece of Ukraine? Trump Island?

I mean, this is sending all the wrong messages, which is why you're seeing Laura Loomer, Ben Shapiro, Ted Cruz, and a number of my Republican colleagues come out. And the best part of this, the swampiest thing about this entire thing, is the person who issued the memo approving the plane literally is a former lobbyist for Qatar. John, you can't make it up.

BERMAN: Congressman, you were talking about the spending, the $700 million of spending you could take to retrofit it. Spending, of course, is the focus of the so called DOGE Caucus of which you were an early member. How are things going with the DOGE Caucus?

MOSKOWITZ: Yes, the DOGE Caucus is dead. You know, it had two meetings in five months. I was at both of them. You know, they said were going to be included in the process trying to find waste and make government more efficient. And the caucus was never included. Elon and his crew did it all himself.

By the way, they forgot the E part of DOGE. Nothing has been more efficient. Ask the people at Newark or flying these days if they feel that we've made the FAA more efficient. Nothing in government is working more efficient. Elon just came in, he got rid of people. He didn't know what he was doing. And so the DOGE Caucus was never included. It doesn't meet, it's defunct, it's dead, period.

BERMAN: Congressman, what lesson do you take away from that? Sorry, I couldn't hear the end of your answer there, but what's the lesson you take away from that?

MOSKOWITZ: Well, the lesson is Congress power is waning, and that's happening under Speaker Johnson. That's by intent. All of the power is going to the executive branch. And so Congress, who has a constitutional role, the power of the purse for appropriations, right, was not involved. They've not codified any of these things that Elon says he found. Elon said he was going to try to find a trillion dollars. He claims he only found about 160 billion. Even if I use his numbers, which I'm not sure are accurate, that means he failed by 85 percent. He gets an F for what he tried to accomplish.

Look, John, there is waste in government and there is ways to make government more efficient. That's got to run through Congress and it can be a bipartisan basis. That's what they said they were going to do. They didn't do any of it. All they did was come in and fire people. They made government less efficient. OK? And there is no savings to the debt. They did nothing with dealing with our debt. And there's no savings to pay for this $4.5 trillion tax cut that they're also going to add to the debt. And it was a complete failure. And the caucus here is dead.

BERMAN: All right. So Republicans say that Medicaid, that they want to reform Medicaid to make it more efficient and find cost savings there. And there was this tense moment at the energy and commerce markup overnight between Republican Randy Weber and, and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, where he basically accused her of grandstanding on it. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. RANDY WEBER (R-TX): I just want to make the point that we'd like for you to address the Republicans and let's have a dialogue this way and not to a camera. Mr. Chairman, I yield back.

[09:10:08]

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): There are 13.7 million Americans on the other side of that screen right there. Hello. Hello. I'm talking to you because I work for you. And they deserve to see what is happening here because there are plenty of districts, including Republican ones, where 25 percent of your constituents are on Medicaid, 40 percent of your constituents are on Medicaid. And yes, I am --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, the gentle lady yield.

OCASIO-CORTEZ: I am talking to them, and I will not yield because it was a terribly disrespectful comment, and I will not yield to disrespectful men.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right. What do you think of that? And again, I will note the Republicans, what they say is they're making Medicaid more efficient.

MOSKOWITZ: Well, number one, good for her. Number two, she doesn't need anyone's help. She's one of the best communicators up here. Number three, she's right on the point. First of all, Donald Trump said he's not cutting Medicaid, OK? And so, you know, that's what he's been saying, OK. And yet Republicans come with almost $800 billion of Medicaid cuts, which is what the Democrats have been talking about for the last five months.

You know, there are members here in the House and the Senate said they're not going to cut Medicaid. And it looks like, John, we're literally on our way to capitulation. And so, you know, this is taking health care away from our most vulnerable to try to offset some of these tax cuts. They're still going to add trillions of dollars of debt. Don't listen to me. Just listen to Chip Roy or Thomas Massie who are saying that. And so this is everything. Go ahead, John.

BERMAN: I just, very quickly, I wanted to get you before I let you go, because your office responded to Business Insider, who did note that you made a bunch of trades or your financial adviser made a bunch of trades after Liberation Day, you had to disclose that you made a bunch of, you know, 300,000, 20 -- between 20 and $300,000 worth of trades for 20 different companies when the market was in turmoil.

I imagine those trades have worked out pretty well. I just wanted to give you a chance to comment on that and how you feel about members trading.

MOSKOWITZ: Yes. So first of all, John, I'm on the bill dealing with prohibit members from trading up here. I've been on that bill now for quite some time, the speaker refuses to bring it to the floor. So until that happens, I'm just going to comply with all rules, regulations and ethics requirements. The reason why you know about those trades is because we're required to disclose them. Obviously, Donald Trump didn't call me and tell me what his plans

were. Right. My financial advisor looks at what's going on in the media. And so, you know, at the end of the day, it's his job to manage my portfolio. And so it was public information that the stock market had gone down into 37. And so he bought the ranges on those forms, which is why it's such a big range.

But for full disclosure was $123,000, not 300,000 that my advisor purchased. I had no conversation with my advisor on what stocks to purchase. He manages the portfolio. And so look, he bought the dip. A lot of Americans did that as well.

The real story is why was there a dip? Donald Trump destroyed the stock market with his tariff policy. And so look, I'll continue to comply with all rules, regulations and ethics requirements in Congress. And if we want to change those, which is why I'm on the bill to do that, I look forward to voting for that if the speaker brings it to the floor.

BERMAN: Got it. Understood. Congressman Jared Moskowitz from Florida, thanks so much for your time this morning. Appreciate it. Kate.

BOLDUAN: Also this hour, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will be on Capitol Hill for the first time since its confirmation. And he will now need to answer four at least did in the mass cuts that he is now putting in place at America's public health agency.

And after an emotional day of testimony, we are moments away from star witness Cassie Ventura's return to the stand in the criminal trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs.

And there is now a possibility that the Menendez brothers could leave prison, could be freed more than 30 years after murdering their parents.

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BERMAN: All right, just moments from now, Cassie Ventura, the former girlfriend of Sean Combs, returns to the witness stand after giving explosive testimony in his racketeering and sex trafficking trial.

The spokeswoman for Combs just spoke outside court and said she is feeling, quote, optimistic and eager to cross examine Cassie. Let's get right to CNN's Leigh Waldman outside the courthouse. We saw a lot yesterday and this too will be a very big daily.

LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John. We had a lot of very graphic and emotional testimony from Cassie Ventura, seen as the star witness in the prosecution's case yesterday. Her testimony with the prosecution expected to last for half a day today and then that cross examination is expected to start. But she gave more insight, more light into what she endured during her more than 10 year relationship with the defendant, Sean "Diddy" Combs, saying it was violent from the start. When she was asked how frequently the violence happened in that relationship, things like hitting, kicking, being dragged, she said too frequently.

She also gave us some more insight into that explosive surveillance video that we've been showing and now been shown to the jury five times throughout the course of this trial from 2016. Inside of that hallway, she gave some insight into what happened before all of that. She said that they were participating in a freak off and that's when things took a violent turn, saying, quote, I'm not sure what happened, but I got hit by Sean and I had a black eye. And at that point all I could think about was getting out of there safely.

And you see her, she runs down the hallway. At that point, Combs is seen kicking, dragging her, trying to bring her back into that hotel room.

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She also said throughout the course of these freak offs when they would hire these male escorts to have these sexual encounters that she took drugs just to get through it, saying for me it was disassociative and numbing. I couldn't imagine myself doing it, any of that without having some sort of buffer or just way not to feel it for what it really was. Saying that the whole experience for her was disgusting and humiliating.

That's when she got emotional on the stand talking about how these encounters made her feel. She said she saw no way to get out of them, also saying that was the only way she could feel close to Combs. John.

BERMAN: All right, as we said, will be riveting testimony today too, I imagine. Leigh Waldman, thank you very much, Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right. Joining us right now is attorney Areva Martin and Also former assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Sarah Krissoff to talk much more about this. And we have this statement, Sarah, I want to read more of it from a spokeswoman for Sean "Diddy" Combs as talking to Elizabeth Wagmeister going in to -- going outside the courthouse, she says this, I believe this was about Cassie Ventura's testimony. I believe this was a long time coming. And being able to lay out the foundation of the defense and present an accurate timeline of what has occurred, your good and the bad is what everyone on the team has been anticipating.

We can't ignore the domestic violence, the toxic relationship, the jealous and the potential infidelity that occurred throughout the duration of the relationship. However, when you look at the charges, it appears that the intimacy that occurred within their bedroom is kindly, not criminal.

That seems to be the basis of what -- they will they must try to present. How do you see that -- how do you see that playing out when the defense then cross examines Cassie Ventura?

SARAH KRISSOFF, FORMER ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: I think the defense so far has done a really good job of advancing that theory. I mean, their opening statement I thought was really powerful and masterful. They basically said all of these things happened you don't have to like Sean Combs. You're definitely not going to like him.

BOLDUAN: Right.

KRISSOFF: And we're not denying that these things happen. They're just not the crimes that the government says they are. They may be state crimes and maybe other crimes. They are not sex trafficking. They are not racketeering. And I think that's fairly effective.

And so they've set that stuff stage for the cross examination of Cassie Ventura here. And they're going to really poke holes in the government's legal theory. And I think they won't go after really the. The core facts of what happened here. They're going to get admissions from her that are going to undercut the government's legal theory.

BOLDUAN: And Areva, Cassie is seen as a crucial witness for the prosecution's case. And it was very emotional yesterday. That will continue today. You believe that her testimony on other actually could play an even bigger role for prosecutors? Why?

AREVA MARTIN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Yes, let me just say I totally disagree with that assessment that the defense has done a good job of laying out, you know, any kind of case that would rebut the prosecution's case. And this word that they used in that statement, intimacy. There was nothing intimate about what Cassie Ventura described on that witness stand. That was not intimacy. That was force. That was violence.

All the prosecution has to establish is that force, fraud or coercion was used to compel participation in commercial sex. And that's what Cassie Ventura testified to yesterday. And we know that courts interpret coercion very broadly, including physical threats, including psychological manipulation. And again, that's what we heard Cassie Ventura testify to yesterday. And I suspect she will continue to testify in that vein today.

I think she's done a phenomenal job of laying out the elements for the sex trafficking charge, including even laying out elements for the RICO charge.

BOLDUAN: Looking at what we've heard from Cassie Ventura so far, what's likely, you know, obviously there's much more to come here. How tough is the bar for prosecutors here? And from -- I mean you have vast experience in trying cases. How high is the bar for them to meet on these charges?

KRISSOFF: You know, at the end of the day, there are very complicated jury instructions that the court is going to give to the jury and explain sort of all of the legal elements that the government has to meet. But, you know, sometimes juries make a sort of -- they're not necessarily going through all of those elements.

BOLDUAN: Right.

KRISSOFF: They are supposed to. That is their charge. But, you know, if they have an overwhelmingly strong sense that Diddy did something wrong here, that may lead to a conviction. And listen, the government has a playbook for these cases. They do them masterfully.

[09:25:00]

This is not the first one they have done and they are doing that exactly how they are supposed to do it. And they have clearly prepared Ms. Ventura extra for -- extraordinary amounts of time. And it's a really sort of -- it is certainly compelling testimony that she's giving.

BOLDUAN: Yes. And so this is going to be getting away -- getting underway shortly. Both of you could stick around for us because we will have much more to come on this as the testimony does continue of Cassie Ventura today before she will face cross examination by the defense.

Also we're watching that.

And also ahead for us as well, U.S. ports are facing a major slowdown in cargo shipments amid President Trump's trade war. Why that could all change in a matter of weeks. Be right back.

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