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Trump Heads Back to U.S. After Major Trip to Middle East; N.J. Transit Halted as Engineers Go on Strike; Soon, Ventura Returns to Stand for Day 2 of Cross-Examination. Aired 7-7:30a ET
Aired May 16, 2025 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, President Trump acknowledging he cannot actually negotiate with 150 countries at once now talking about simply sending letters telling countries, quote, what they'll be paying to do business in the United States.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A commuting nightmare, New Jersey transit trains empty and idle as engineers walk off the job. Hundreds of thousands told to try and work from home, but how long the strike will last is anyone's guess.
And then drugs, jealousy, and explosive arguments with Sean Combs, Cassie Ventura set to return to the stand for a new day of tough questions, what may be her final day of testimony.
Sara is out today. I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan, and this is CNN News Central.
BOLDUAN: All right, a lot of moving parts this morning. Just moments ago, President Trump boarding Air Force one to head back to the United States after his four day trip to the Middle East. His last stop is the UAE, where he was welcomed at the presidential palace in Abu Dhabi and attended a round table with business leaders.
During the trip, the president throughout this trip announced a number of deals, including a $600 billion commitment for the U.S. to invest in Saudi Arabia, $96 billion Qatari agreement to buy Boeing planes, $200 billion in deals with the UAE, including a partnership to build massive A.I. data -- massive A.I. data center complex.
And as President Trump travels back to the United States, Russia and Ukraine are meeting in Turkey for their first direct peace talks in three years. The talks were delayed by chaos and confusion on Thursday after the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, rejected an offer from Ukraine's president to meet face-to-face.
The United States is setting low expectations for these talks. But this morning, Ukraine is also accusing Russia of launching overnight attacks just as these talks are about to begin.
CNN's Jeff Zeleny joining us now from a Abu Dhabi. All right, a lot has happened and the president's on his way home and also still talking. Tell us what's the latest, Jeff.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kate. The deal making and diplomatic mission is now over, and President Trump, as you said, is on his way back to Washington boarding Air Force 1 in the last hour and talking to reporters a bit before the plane flew back to Washington and he is focused on a potential of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
Of course, they have not evolved as the White House or Ukraine certainly would've liked for a while. President Trump was suggesting he may go and personally mediate. Of course, he backed away from that after it was clear that Vladimir Putin was not going. But the President said he still holds out hope that he will have a direct conversation with Putin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I think it's time for us to just do it. I said -- you know, they all said Putin was going and Zelenskyy was going. And I said, if I don't go, I guarantee Putin's not going, and he didn't go. And I understand that. But we're going to get it done. So --
REPORTER: when do you think you'll meet the president?
TRUMP: As soon as we can set it up. I would actually leave here and go. I do want to see my beautiful grandson.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: So -- on the agenda, when will the American and the Russian president speak on this, or will they? The White House clearly has been worried about being played by Vladimir Putin on this and other matters. So, with the Middle Eastern trip in the rearview mirror, that becomes the next sitting challenger for this president, never mind all the domestic challenges awaiting him back in Washington. Kate?
BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Jeff, thank you so much, great reporting throughout this trip. John?
BERMAN: All right. Breaking overnight, commute in crisis. The nation's third largest commuter rail service halted.
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Train engineers at New Jersey Transit walked off the job at midnight in the state's first transit strike in more than 40 years. The union says its members have not had a race since 2019. Hundreds of thousands of daily commuters and businesses across the New York Metro area could be affected by this, not to mention the extra car traffic, snarling roads.
Let's get right to CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich at New York's Penn Station this morning. Wow, empty behind you, Vanessa.
VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: It is, and that's exactly why I wanted to show you this, John. Normally, you'd have thousands of commuters coming off of New Jersey Transit trains coming from New Jersey into Penn Station, about 350 trains every single day normally in and out of this station here. But as you said, you have now 450 engineers, these are people who drive the trains, they are on strike this morning.
They're spread out across the state. We have a small group here behind me. These members have been out here since early this morning, and this is after their union and New Jersey Transit failed to reach an agreement over their contract. This is really about pay. Engineers saying that they want to be paid the same amount as their colleagues at other metro lines here in the area, but the New Jersey transit saying they simply can't afford to pay them what they want, 20 percent increase, because that would mean over a hundred million dollars in money towards wages, because if they paid these union members more money, they would have to pay other union members more money as well.
Take a listen to the head of New Jersey Transit last night, who said he still believes that there is a deal to be made. Listen.
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KRIS KOLLURI, CEO, NJ TRANSIT: This is not a lost cause. This is an imminently achievable deal. In fact, when I left them I said, I hope we continue talking about this. And the National Mediation Board has reached out to us already and because I had invited them to be part of the negotiations these last three days. They've already said, let's meet on Sunday morning and to see if we can pick up where we left off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YURKEVICH: So, the two sides scheduled to meet on Sunday morning to try to pick up negotiations again. But in the meantime, this is impacting about a hundred thousand commuters. New Jersey Transit says that they're providing some bus lines to try to make up for the for the shutdown of the commuter rail line, but it's not enough to meet all of demands from commuters. New Jersey Transit also telling people to work from home if they can.
And this is going to impact the Shakira concert this weekend at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. And if this drags on another week, this will impact the Beyonce concert that's happening in New Jersey. But engineers here today said that they are willing to stick it out for the higher wages that they're looking for. John?
BERMAN: Yes. I got to say, when this type of thing happens in the city, it has these ripple effects that everyone feels.
Vanessa Yurkevich, thanks for being there. I appreciate it. Kate?
BOLDUAN: Yes. Coming up for us, Cassie Ventura will take the stand this morning for her final day of cross-examination in the federal sex trafficking trial against Sean Diddy Combs. How she says Combs overdosed on painkillers at one point after one of his so-called freak-offs.
And also this.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, it's an adrenaline rush and you have to -- you play God because you cannot fail. You cannot make a mistake.
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BOLDUAN: That, a veteran air traffic controller speaking out for the first time. What he says happened the day his control tower that, this is all related to Newark Airport, lost contact with planes.
And legendary R&B artist Smokey Robinson now under active criminal investigation, we're told, after multiple allegations of sexual assault.
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BERMAN: This morning, we are standing by for a new round of cross- examination of Cassie Ventura by the defense in the federal sex trafficking trial of Sean Combs. His lawyers have confronted her with text messages she sent to Combs to try to suggest she was a willing participant in the drug-fueled sex parties with prostitutes that Combs called freak-offs. In one 2008 text messages, Ventura wrote, quote, I am a very lucky woman. I miss you so much. I fly wherever you need me whenever. I love you.
CNN Legal Analyst and Criminal Defense Attorney Joey Jackson is here. So, what did the defense get out there yesterday and why?
JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: All right. Big picture. Remember the charges we're talking about? Let's hone in on the sex trafficking issue, right, and let's hone in on the video tape. It's been showed over and over. What does it show? He's a monster, right? He did these horrible things and that's been in the jury's mind. So, let's talk about humanizing our client. Let's talk about the fact that he was charming. Is that right? He was engaging. Is that right? He was loving to you. Is that correct? And, by the way, it was when he was on these drugs that he turned into this person. Big point, because it shows he's a human being and he has some redeeming qualities.
Pivoting to the issue of her being under his control, right, that relates to the whole issue of, you know, was it coercion? Was it not? Why is coercion significant, John? That goes to the trafficking issue. If you are being coerced to fly around the place sexually, for sexual desires, that's problematic. Were you a willing participant? You showed the text messages right there. So, if you get to the issue of not only did you participate but you help orchestrate, that defeats the issue of coercion, that defeats the sex trafficking.
[07:15:07]
That's important. And then final issue, this -- not really a final issue, but the reality is you could have stood on your own two feet. The defense suggests you are a very talented woman. You are a singer, you are a model, you are an actress. You could do so many things. You're a rising star. You didn't need Diddy for that, did you? And so I think if you get to those issues to show that she could have at any point backed up and moved on. Then you defeat also the sex trafficking.
And then the issue, last point, John, and that's this, the RICO thing is major, right? But in RICO and in criminal enterprise, what do you have? You got guns, you got drugs, you have sex trafficking, you have all this bad behavior. So, the defense has to really attack that issue concerning her consent, her participation, and the fact that hey, at the end of the day you could have left.
BERMAN: Okay. So these text messages, again, were early on in their relationship, she is talking about the freak-offs in a way, which seems as if she is a willing participant, is what the defense is arguing there. So, what do they show and what do they not show, which is to ask where do you think the prosecution may focus when they, and if they redirect?
JACKSON: So, what happens, John, is it's hard to split hairs, right? Cross-examination is about setting up your final argument. So, are you going to say if your prosecutor as well? She consented, then she did now, but then she reconsent at a later point, but then she changed her mind.
The issue is, from the defense perspective, was this a lifestyle choice? Was it a choice that you may had some hesitancy to. But then there's a distinction between being hesitant and being unwilling and saying no. And so prosecutors, when they do redirect, that is after the cross examination, they get up and they get a chance to say, hey, they're going to make clear that he beat you, he was a bad guy, that you didn't have control, he controlled your career, what you did, how you did it, he sent his henchman out to make sure that you were under his thumb. And, by the way, he abused you significantly and he sex trafficked you because you did not consent. That's where they'll focus. What the jury decides, John, is purely on them.
BERMAN: They're going to say in abusive relationships. People are sometimes forced, or they're in a situation where they feel like they have to consent and talk like that. They're going to say, because you write that in 2008, doesn't mean you feel that way in 2016 when this video, by the way, shows you getting beaten up. You know, things change over time.
JACKSON: That is a thousand percent correct. That's exactly where they're going. The defense has a different narrative. And remember, these cases, John, are about the battle of the narratives and what we think could be significantly different from what jurors think. We'll see.
BERMAN: All right. Joey Jackson, thank you for explaining it so well. We'll talk to you again, I'm sure. This morning the judge in the murder trial of a man accused of killing four Idaho college students is demanding an investigation after key details in the case were leaked and made public in an episode of Dateline.
And a college student is now facing deportation after being mistakenly pulled over during a traffic stop.
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BOLDUAN: I always feel like there has to be some huge reveal after that intro, and then you get me. They're not out of it yet. Last night, the Denver for Nuggets forced the Oklahoma Thunder to a game seven, and they did it with some major help from the bench.
CNN's Andy Scholes never sitting on the bench, Andy Scholes, he's always in the starting lineup. What do you got?
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: We always need some sort of big, you know, animation intro for you, Kate.
BOLDUAN: I feel like I should do something more other than like, and sports, like --
SCHOLES: Anyways, Nuggets, big win last night and they left it all out there on the court, even a tooth. And luckily for Nuggets' Julian Strawther, it was a fake tooth. A ball boy picked it up and he was able to get it back in his mouth by the end of the game.
But Nuggets now heading to a third straight game seven dating back the last season. Nikola Jokic his normal dominant self in this one. He finished with 29 points, 14 rebounds. He'd be making all the big plays down the stretch.
And Strawther coming up big time off the bench, he made three threes, scored a career playoff high 15 points, all of them coming in the second half. Nuggets won 119-107, of course, a winner-take-all game seven in OKC on Sunday.
All right, the Stanley Cup playoffs meanwhile, the Carolina Hurricanes eliminating the Capitals. Alex Svechnikov breaking the 1-1 tie in the third here, that would be your game winner, Alex Ovechkin, amazing season. It comes to an end as the Hurricanes take that series four games to one.
The Jets and Star series meanwhile, it's getting heated, a ref holding back the Jets' Mark Scheifele when stars Jamie Benn just decks him. Benn got a misconduct penalty and now could be suspended for game six on Saturday. The Jets won that one 4-0 to keep their season alive.
Golf's second major of the year, the PGA championship, meanwhile underway in Charlotte, Quail Hollow. Funny moment for Justin Thomas on 18. So, his ball was between a boulder and a creek, so he took off one shoe and sock actually then made a great shot, J.T. two over in round one.
Now, the power group of Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele all had a pretty rough day. All three of them double bogeyed 16, Scheffler the only one of them to shoot under par from the group. He went two under. Jhonattan Vegas, your leader at seven under, his round two is now underway.
And, finally, Shohei Ohtani launching two home runs last night. He's now tied for the Major League lead with 15, with the Dodgers up 16-2. The A's put in catcher Jhonny Pereda on the mound, and get this, he was able to strike out Ohtani. Pereda then threw the ball to the dugout because he wanted to keep that one.
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So, Kate, you know, all these pitchers in baseball, you know, doing their best to try to strike out Ohtani, and then position player Pereda in, gets him on an 89-mile-per-hour fastball, certainly a moment he's not going to forget.
BOLDUAN: But I do love it. Like just showing how great Ohtani is like even the guy that is, you know, equivalently a professional baseball player is like, I'm keeping this one because I can't believe I actually pulled it off.
SCHOLES: Right. I can't believe this just happened.
BOLDUAN: Exactly. Great to see you, Andy. Thank you.
SCHOLES: All right.
BOLDUAN: Still ahead for us, Russia and Ukraine hold their first direct talk since the start of the war there, but hopes of the two countries' leaders meeting dashed. So, what is the next move then?
And from Texas to New York, 135 million people are facing severe storm risks right now. What parts of the country need to be on alert for tornadoes and for hail and for major winds?
We'll be right back.
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