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Interview with Rep. Mark Alford (R-MO): Trump Arrives in Doha Amid Plans to Accept Qatari Luxury Jet; Prosecutors Show Jury Still Images of Freak Offs in Combs Trial; Pete Rose, Other Deceased Players Reinstated by MLB; The Future of Organ Transplants. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired May 14, 2025 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

REP. MARK ALFORD (R-MO): These are surrounded by all sides now from people who don't just want them in the neighborhood. They want them dead. We've got to protect Israel.

I think Donald J. Trump has that first and foremost, but we also have to recognize that things are changing in the Mideast. Once Iran is driven away from the picture and whatever it means that may take to make that happen, Saudi wants to do business.

That's why Donald J. Trump went to Saudi Arabia. We've got to get the Abrahams Accord finished up.

They were so ready to sign it before the October 7th murderous surprise by Hamas. Hezbollah has been taken down pretty much by the IDF. It is still somewhat of a threat, but not nearly what it was six months ago.

We are making progress in the Mideast. Let's work together with the partners we think we can have a little bit of trust with at least to make things happen for the security of Israel. Their security is our security.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: One more question, Congressman, you spoke about the trust that you have in President Trump. I'd love to get you on the record regarding this planned gift from the Qatari government to the president. This luxury jet worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

You laugh. I do wonder whether you think this is ethical.

ALFORD: I'm not laughing. I just --

SANCHEZ: Well, you were chuckling. I wonder if you think it's ethical for President Trump to accept it.

ALFORD: Well, I'm chuckling, I guess, because I think the media is making a much bigger deal out of this than it needs to be. Look, have you been to the Reagan Library in California? There's the old Air Force One sitting there in the Reagan Museum.

That's what's going to happen to this gift, not to President Trump, but the Department of Defense. This will go through the ethical checks and the legal checks to make sure it is everything's in order before it happens. But I know that look, President Trump is frustrated that he's flying around in this 40 year old plane. He has wanted a new Air Force One. He's tried to work with Boeing to make it happen. For whatever reasons, it's not happened.

I mean, my goodness, the president in his first term wanted to change the paint scheme from the dark blue, light blue, white to red, white and blue to make it look more patriotic, and they wouldn't let him do it. He's going to get his way on this. It's going to be painted red, white and blue.

The president of the United States, Donald J. Trump, will be flying on this new plane unless the courts intervene. And I don't think that's going to happen because I think what he's doing is perfectly legal. This is a gift to the Department of Defense. It's not to Donald J. Trump.

SANCHEZ: Would you be saying the same thing if this was a gift, aside from all the national security concerns about having a foreign power put together, arguably one of the most sensitive pieces of equipment that the president uses?

Would you be saying the same thing? This is totally fine if this were a gift from the Qataris or any other government to Joe Biden or Barack Obama or Bill Clinton.

ALFORD: Sure.

SANCHEZ: You would?

ALFORD: I think intellectually honest with you, Boris, I would because it's not going to Joe Biden. It's not going to Barack Obama. It's going to the Department of Defense. These departments are allowed to accept gifts as far as I know. We have trade with other countries.

That's why President Trump was in the Middle East to get these relationships going. I think it was a great gesture on the part of the Qatari government. And we'll see what happens.

But let's meet back here in six months and see what happens.

SANCHEZ: We should. Congressman Mark Alford, appreciate your time and perspective. Thanks for being with us.

ALFORD: Thank you, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Stay with NEWS CENTRAL. We'll be right back.

[14:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Happening now, Cassie Ventura back on the witness stand after a long morning of delivering explicit testimony about the so-called freak-offs, these encounters, these sexual encounters that were orchestrated, allegedly, by Sean Diddy Combs.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: The jury is now viewing still images of some of those sexual encounters, and some jurors are physically reacting to what they're seeing. There's a female juror described as letting out a deep breath and resting her hand on her chest after she saw one of these images. A male juror looked away quickly, another male juror took notes.

The judge is not allowing those images that the jury is seeing to be seen by the public nor the media. In fact, there are binders that the counsel has so that people behind them cannot see these pictures.

Back with us now is legal analyst and trial attorney Mercedes Colwin. Mercedes, that jury reaction, what do you think of it?

MERCEDES COLWIN, CO-HOST, M&M IN THE MORNING, PODCAST: Well, that's pretty -- if I were at the defense table, I would be very concerned because the picture speaks a thousand words. This is -- as Cassie was describing it during direct, now you can see it in a picture. I mean, it's still -- it was obviously the compromise because the judge had to rule as to whether or not the videotapes would be ultimately shown to the jury.

That still may come, but these stills are graphic enough to show and really hit home that Cassie was not in a relationship that was -- is a consenting adult. This is coercion, this is force, threats of violence, and those are the pictures showing it. Who would, in their right mind, actually be compliant, a compliant participant in some of the sex acts, which I'm certain are being depicted in those freak-off stills?

SANCHEZ: Cassie, we just -- rather, forgive me. Mercedes, we just got an update from the courtroom that prosecutors were asking Cassie about instances in which she initiated violence against Sean Diddy Combs. I imagine that the defense is going to jump on that.

COLWIN: That's exactly right, Boris.

[14:40:00]

They're going to go into the violent relationship that they had because that was one that Geragos started during her opening. This is an unconventional relationship. This is a relationship that has -- is filled with domestic violence, domestic violence from both of these individuals.

And frankly, it will go back to whether or not the jury actually believes that this young woman, who was very young during the time that she was with Combs, was actually the person with that imbalance of power, the more aggressor, who was the aggressor, the more aggressive one, the one who perpetuated violence in the relationship.

It's going to be hard for the jury to actually believe it, especially when you talk about some of the physical ailments that Cassie did speak about during her direct examination, including the permanent scar that's in her brow because she was hit so violently, she hit the corner of a bed frame, which is why she has a permanent scar and was taken to a plastic surgeon for that surgery.

So for those types of issues, when you talk about that type of physical manifestation of violence, a lot of jurors will believe that it's really the batterer is who has the greater power. The greater power here, no doubt, is Combs.

KEILAR: Yes. And that video will certainly instruct the jury. That is the episode that they saw where she certainly does not strike back.

Mercedes Colwin, thank you so much.

Now, he is one of the best baseball players of all time. He also admitted to betting on every game that he ever managed. Next, inside the MLB's controversial decision to reinstate Pete Rose.

[14:45:00]

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KEILAR: In an historic and highly controversial decision, the late baseball icon Pete Rose has been officially reinstated by the league. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred announced that Rose and a number of other players have now been removed from the permanently ineligible list. This means Rose could be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, despite once admitting to betting on every single Cincinnati Reds game that he managed while with the team.

CNN Sports anchor Coy Wire is with us now. Coy, what's the reaction? What's the baseball world saying?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Hi Brianna. This is a shocking reversal of long-standing policy that has sports fans divided after years of trying to get back into baseball. Pete Rose, who died at the age of 83 last September and who bet on games, as you said, while managing the Reds, as well as Shoeless Joe Jackson and other members of the 1919 White Sox who fixed the World Series, they are eligible now to go into the hall after MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred announced Tuesday that they and any other deceased players have been removed from the permanent ineligible list. A part of his reasoning, Brianna, Commissioner Manfred wrote in a letter to the attorney who petitioned for Rose, quote, Obviously a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game, unquote.

Now, last April, President Trump met with Manfred in the Oval Office and discussed Rose's reinstatement. Earlier this year, President Trump announced he planned to posthumously pardon Rose. The National Baseball Hall of Fame said in a statement that it has always maintained that anyone removed from baseball's permanently ineligible list will become eligible for the Hall of Fame consideration. Major League Baseball's decision to remove deceased individuals from the permanently ineligible list will follow -- will allow, rather, for the Hall of Fame candidacy of such individuals to now be considered.

Now, when might these deceased players, including Pete Rose with his 4,256 hits, three World Series titles, 17 All-Star appearances, and MVP go into the Hall of Fame? Well, the Classic Era Committee will not vote again, Brianna, on players until December of 2027, so it would be sometime in 2028 before he might be enshrined. Rose would need 12 out of the possible 16 votes, Brianna, to get into the Hall.

KEILAR: All right, we shall see. What an interesting development. Coy, thank you, as always.

And in a new CNN special, Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains how pigs could be the future of organ transplants. He's going to answer any questions you have about the groundbreaking science.

[14:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: For more than two years, CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta has been exploring xenotransplantation. That is the science of transplanting animal organs into humans. And in his new special, "ANIMAL FARM", Dr. Gupta speaks with doctors, geneticists, and ethicists on the cutting edge of this groundbreaking research.

SANCHEZ: Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now with answers to your questions on this fascinating topic.

Sanjay, Paul McIntosh wrote in and asked what type of work was being done in creating those personalized organs you spoke about yesterday. He wrote that over the past two decades, work was happening in the area of using one cell makeup to create an organ in the lab. Is this an approach still being considered?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So this is a really interesting question. What he's specifically talking about, Paul, is something that is known colloquially as these ghost organs.

So we talked about xenotransplants yesterday. That's genetically modifying pigs to provide a source of organs. With ghost organs, you're essentially -- I think we have some video of this -- but you're essentially taking organs and you're stripping them of all of their cells.

You're stripping them of all of their biology. And then essentially taking the recipient, whoever you want to transplant the organ into, taking some of their cells and repopulating that organ, OK? So that organ now is essentially a new organ made up of the recipient's cells.

So that is a personalized organ. When people talk about personalized organ transplants, that's basically what they're talking about. If you were to put that inside a recipient, that should be their own cells. They shouldn't need any anti-rejection medicine.

That is still a ways away, what I've just described. Really interesting science, but probably at least a decade, if not two decades away. And that's why there's so much a focus on xenotransplants, using animal organs for the time being.

KEILAR: Yes, and to that point, Anne in Kansas has a question that I certainly have, and a lot of people do, asking about those medications and if they're also used in xenotransplants.

She says, How many pig kidneys have they transplanted into people? And has anyone lived long-term with these kidneys? Also, is the rejection medicine different for that?

GUPTA: OK, so first question, you know, how many? There have been four people who have received pig kidney transplants in the world. And we've met a few of those patients.

You're going to meet them in the documentary this Sunday.

[14:55:00]

Incredible pioneers. I mean, the very first on the planet to have this done.

The longest survivor at this point with a pig kidney inside of them is 130 days. Now, keep in mind, the people who qualify initially for these sorts of transplants are people who are the sickest patients, really, of all. That's why they're qualifying for something that is brand new like this.

They're not necessarily representative of the patient population as a whole. So we'll see how this sort of translates as you get more and more patients in these clinical trials.

As far as the anti-rejection medicines, it's interesting. It's very similar, Brianna, to human, you know, transplant. Sort of the same anti-rejection medicines. And this sort of surprised me.

I thought, you know, pig kidney, human kidney, if you transplant a pig kidney versus a human kidney, certainly the body's going to reject this more. Not necessarily the case. They get about the same levels of medications.

SANCHEZ: Wow. Sanjay, a lot of folks, like Alia in Kuwait, wanted to know how far we are from this being a solution to the organ crisis. As you noted, 17 people die every day from a lack of organs, right?

GUPTA: I asked everyone this question, Alia, and the answer is right around five years. That's what they say. Clinical trials are now beginning in institutions across the country, pilot studies.

Five years, they say, this could be something that would be mainstream.

SANCHEZ: That is fascinating.

KEILAR: That's amazing.

SANCHEZ: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much for being with us. Don't forget to tune in. Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports "ANIMAL FARM". It airs Sunday at 8 p.m. Eastern, only on CNN. I love that title. Whoever came up with that title should get a raise.

KEILAR: Good job. SANCHEZ: Yes, stay with us. We'll be right back.

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