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Jose Francisco Arias-Tovar Released from ICE; Cassie Ventura's Gut-Wrenching Testimony; Newark Airport Controller Speaks Out. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired May 16, 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]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: A Georgia father who was held in the same ICE detention facility as his teen daughter is now out on bond. Jose Francisco Arias-Tovar was greeted with hugs and kisses as he was reunited with his family last night. His eldest daughter, however remains in ICE custody. The case of 19-year-old Ximena Arias-Cristobal has drawn nationwide attention after she was arrested during a traffic stop last week and then turned over to ICE. But police later admitted that her initial arrest was actually a mistake.

CNN's Dianne Gallagher traveled to the Georgia community where the family story is fueling debate. Over the Trump administration's deportation policies.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CROWD: We won't look the other way.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): United and divided.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A bunch of Democrats over here.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): In Dalton, Georgia, after a traffic stop on May 5th, 19-year-old Ximena Arias-Cristobal was pulled over for allegedly making an illegal right turn. She was then arrested for driving without a U.S. license.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You ever been to jail?

XIMENA ARIAS-CRISTOBAL, DALTON RESIDENT: No, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, you're going.

ARIAS-CRISTOBAL: I -- sir --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

ARIAS-CRISTOBAL: I cannot go to jail. I have my finals next weekend.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): A week later, Dalton police said they determined that the officer pulled over the wrong truck. Her traffic charges were dropped. But Arias is undocumented. Her parents brought her here from Mexico at age four in 2010.

She was taken to Stewart Detention Center in Georgia, one of the country's largest immigration and customs enforcement facilities, where her father was also detained. He'd been there for weeks after being stopped for speeding last month.

The Dalton State College student's situation has shaken many in this northwest Georgia community, like Hannah Jones, who has raised thousands of dollars to cover the legal fees for her children's longtime babysitter.

HANNAH JONES, ARIAS FAMILY FRIEND: She's a Daltonian through and through. She has so many connections in the community. She's just an American teenager.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): Arias' mother, also undocumented, and her younger daughters, who are American citizens, are devastated and traumatized.

NDAHITHA ARIAS, XIMENA'S SISTER: I'm scared that they could, like, just come to my house and just take my mom away.

MAYELLI MEZA, DALTON RESIDENT: There's fear in our community.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): Now, many in Dalton's Latino community are feeling on edge.

MAYELLI MEZA: I'm afraid, and I'm a citizen.

MANNY MEZA, DALTON RESIDENT: There's some uncertainty in our community, you know, as a concerned father, as a school board of education member, what's going to happen to a lot of our students that drive to school.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): Dubbed the carpet capital of the world, Dalton is a manufacturing town that has long relied on immigrant workers. Today, roughly half the city's population has Hispanic heritage. It's also very Republican.

Marjorie Taylor Greene represents the area in Congress. More than 70 percent of voters in this county picked Trump in November. But some of those supporters say this is not what they were voting for.

KASEY CARPENTER (R), GEORGIA STATE REPRESENTATIVE: Let's focus on the bad people, the people that are here of malicious intent, and not the people that aren't, the people that are just looking for a better life, because that's the American dream, right?

GALLAGHER (voice-over): State Representative Kasey Carpenter wrote a character letter to the judge for Arias. He says during the election, he assured his community that Trump's hardline immigration talk was not about people like her.

GALLAGHER: Do you feel regret? Do you feel guilt?

CARPENTER: I mean, I still think the -- that Trump winning the election was important for the country. But on this particular issue, yes, I have 100 percent regret. I mean, these are people.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): Carpenter acknowledges his position is not shared by all his fellow Republicans here, many of whom agree with Trump's Department of Homeland Security, which says, quote, ""Both father and daughter were in this country illegally, and they have to face the consequences".

Still, many in this ruby red community remain hopeful that she will return.

JONES: This is the only home she's ever known. She wants to lay down roots here. She wants to stay here. She wants to build a life here. She just needs the opportunity to do so.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[14:35:00]

SANCHEZ: Our thanks to Dianne Gallagher for that report. Ximena Arias-Cristobal remains in ICE custody at that Georgia Detention Center. Her attorneys and family say that she has a bond hearing set for May 20th. They are hopeful that she will be released just like her dad. However, the Department of Homeland Security is suggesting that both Ximena and her father self deport.

Next, we go back to New York City where Sean Diddy Combs is on trial. Combs' ex-girlfriend and the prosecution star witness Cassie Ventura back on the stand for likely her last day of testimony after attorneys warned that she could go into labor at any moment.

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[14:40:00]

SANCHEZ: Happening now. Sean Combs' ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura is taking more questions from prosecutors after the defense finished cross-examining her in the sex trafficking and racketeering trial. Moments ago, during Redirect, the prosecution asked Ventura, quote, "were there periods during which Sean was kind and loving?" Ventura said there were. The prosecution then asked, did those periods ever last? Ventura responded with a single word, no.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: All week long the trial has created a media frenzy. One court martial was overheard saying, quote, "This is crazier than when Trump was here." Reporters, fans, podcast hosts, they have all been clamoring for a spot inside of the court.

CNN Chief Media Analyst Brian Stelter is with us now. Brian, everywhere I go this is what people are talking about. I find myself talking about this because it's also at such an interesting moment I think that we're at in our country and everyone wants to know what's going to happen. What do you make of just how big this has become?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: And because in the fragmented media environment, this is a trial that covers many different topics. It interests many different kinds of audiences. It reaches across those kinds of different fragmentations and lines that we're used to talking about. So, it is both -- this is a cultural story, obviously it is a horrible criminal story.

There are elements -- the people are learning about the law, learning about some of these sex trafficking charges and others as they consume information about it. And I found a real divide, at least among readers of my Reliable Sources newsletter. Half the people I've heard from want to hear every single detail of this trial. Basically, the other half want to hear nothing about it because it is so grotesque to hear some of these allegations, to hear some of these details.

We do live in a media age where people can then choose to opt in and go and find it. And what we're seeing now basically is this emergence of true crime podcasting. We've seen that for five, 10 years at this point. They're now lots to podcasts about this trial. They are among the most popular podcasts on all of Apple podcasts and YouTube's charts. So, there are clearly. A lot of signs of a lot of audience interest coming from a law of different directions for this trial.

SANCHEZ: You mentioned in the Reliable Sources newsletter this morning that this is now another trial by TikTok. I wonder how you think the format, the medium itself, can have an impact on public opinion given the nature of this case.

STELTER: Yes, this phrase became popular during the Amber Heard versus Johnny Depp case a number of years ago. This idea that people consume information about what's happening in a trial through social media, through TikTok, through kind of legal analysts, some of whom are just amateurs who are learning as they go. Others are professionals. And they form opinions as a result. You know, and as much as this is about the courtroom, it's also about the court of public opinion, and this is turning out to be another one of those kind of trial by TikTok experiences.

Look, nothing about this trial is a game, but because federal trials in general are not televised, there are prohibitions against cameras, you know, it turned -- it risk becoming a game of telephone where people are hearing accounts that are one or two or three steps removed from what's actually happening in the courtroom. And I think we have to be on guard against that when people are consuming information about this or when they're scrolling through what they're learning on Instagram and TikTok.

And in general, you know, I was talking to our colleague Elizabeth Wagmeister about this, who's in court right now, has been in court every day. She made the point that the testimony in this trial is so graphic, it's difficult to report at times, given how disturbing it can be. But watering down the allegations can be problematic as well, because then there's a disconnect between what the jury is hearing every day, what the jury is learning versus what the public is hearing.

So, even though some of this information is quite explicit, it's important for it to be related to the public. So, ultimately the jury's decision can make sense in the context of what we've learned. KEILAR: Yes, it is -- that's I think an editorial conversation that so many outlets are having because people are drawing conclusions and you want them to know what they're talking about. Have you ever seen anything like this? I mean, what do you compare this to?

STELTER: Well, I do think the comparison to that Trump trial last year is interesting because that took place, you know, in the same arena and it drew kind of the predictable crowds, you know, a small group of MAGA fans, but for the most part, you know, it kind of knew -- you knew what you were getting.

I do think this one is quite different and, in some ways, much bigger because, like I said, there are audiences coming in that normally don't pay attention to the courts, don't pay attention to trials, but are interested in this particular case. And in many cases have made their minds up about the outcome already. That may be another distinguishing feature about this one.

[14:45:00]

SANCHEZ: Brian Stelter, appreciate the perspective. Thanks for being with us.

A veteran air traffic controller for Newark Airport says he quote, "doesn't want to be responsible for killing 400 people." A chilling comment, part of a revealing new interview to The Wall Street Journal about the persistent blackouts and staffing shortages at the busy airport.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: We do have some brand-new video that is purportedly taken inside of an air traffic control facility during one of those three recent communication blackouts at Newark Airport. The video obtained by CBS News shows the moment that blank screens begin to turn back on after going dark for about 90 second. And that, by the way, is a lifetime when you were trying to help pilots navigate the skies and you have more than a plane landing a minute for sure.

[14:50:00]

The chaos here caused by these persistent tech issues is being compounded by severe staffing shortages. Just this past Monday night, for instance, three controllers were managing all of Newark's arriving and departing flights for over an hour. And now, a veteran Newark air traffic controller is speaking out saying, quote, "I don't want to be responsible for killing 400 people."

CNN's Pete Muntean is with us now. That really puts it into perspective.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: It so does, and the FAA has now confirmed that this controller, Jonathan Stewart, who spoke to The Wall Street Journal, is the latest to take trauma leave. And the FAA is also investigating the case that Stewart says, prompted him to take leave. Stewart told The Journal that the Newark Approach control facility, which is actually in Philadelphia, is unsafe and the stress is insurmountable.

He now joins five of his co-workers who took trauma leave after the April 28th Newark Approach Control meltdown. That was the watershed moment that really brought all these issues to light. Controllers, lost radar and radio contact for about 90 seconds. Something, one newer controller told me is the worst thing that can happen on the job.

Stewart told The Journal that he took the 45-day leave after he says two planes nearly collided head on his watch on May 4th. And here is what Stewart said about the decision to take trauma leave, something United Airline CEO, Scott Kirby, initially categorized as controllers walking off the job. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN STEWART, NEWARK AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: To say that someone would basically game the system and take trauma leave when they were not traumatized is insulting at best. And just quite frankly, misinformed. No way, shape, or form, was that what happened? Nobody walked off the job of their road free will.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: In addition to that April 28th failure, two more failures occurred on May 9th and May 11th. Though the Trump administration insists in the latest case that a software patch and a backup telecom system kicked in. One more interesting detail here, Stewart said he lost faith in his radar scope because of all of those system failures. So, he started to resort writing down flight numbers in a notebook as a backup. That's how bad things got there.

KEILAR: Oh, my goodness. OK. So, there's this issue of the FAA and if it's doing enough, but also just talk about this new detail we have of a head-on collision nearly happening?

MUNTEAN: Yes. This is something the FAA is investigating now, and this is just coming to light because of The Journal reporting. The FAA put out a statement today saying they're investigating this incident back on May 4th involving essentially two private jets. This is the incident that Stewart is referring to. We know that's something they're going to dig into big time.

One other interesting thing here is that he said he was pleased that the FAA is now throwing money at the problem, and the Trump administration has said and pledged a brand-new air traffic control system, something I asked Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy about. He says that they could complete this in about three to four years, conveniently at the time of the administration if Congress gives the FAA all of the money upfront, and some of the estimates really vacillate here. It could be 12 billion, could be 15 billion, could be 30 billion. But the time is really the key. And the help can't come soon enough for these controllers.

KEILAR: But maybe now that it's brought to light in that timeframe of three to four years, they can at least mitigate -- MUNTEAN: Yes, we'll see.

KEILAR: -- the risk factors.

MUNTEAN: Yes.

KEILAR: Let's hope. Pete, thank you so much --

MUNTEAN: Anytime.

KEILAR: For that. We do appreciate it. Boris.

SANCHEZ: Now, to some of the other headlines we're watching this hour. A judge overseeing the pretrial hearings in the Idaho student murders case is demanding attorneys hold onto records after an apparent leak to "Dateline" NBC. Their special last week featured extensive records from defendant Bryan Kohberger's phone, including internet and Amazon searches, Instagram photos, and cell phone tower data. The judge says the leak is going to add additional costs and time to select a jury and could make it tougher to ensure that there's a fair trial.

Also, this bronze statue of Melania Trump in Slovenia has disappeared five years after a wooden inversion featuring the first lady was burned by vandals. Local media there, say the newer version was sawed off, leaving only the feet and ankles attached to the tree trunk that you see there it stands upon. The statue sits near a river about 56 miles east of Slovenia's capital.

And Rite Aid is selling most of its pharmacy assets to its rivals. The bankrupt company announced Thursday that CVS, Walgreens, Albertsons, and Kroger are going to take over pharmacy services at more than a thousand locations. Rite Aid CEO says that the move will save jobs and ensure that its customers receive services without interruption.

And there are some new dietary guidelines that are shaking up the protein food group suggesting it's time to put the humble bean at the top of the list, replacing meat. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta has more in today's Chasing Life.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta, host of CNN's Chasing Life podcast.

[14:55:00]

There is a new king of the plate when it comes to proteins. The U.S. Dietary Advisory Committee released new guidelines saying beans and plant-based options like peas and lentils should be your go-to choices. Unlike meat, vegetables contain fiber, which aid in digestion and gut health. Now, if beans aren't your thing, there are plenty of other options in the legume family that can provide a punch of protein and other nutrients as well. We're talking about things like chickpeas and black-eyed peas and edamame and peanuts. Each bean provides different nutrients, so best bet, eat a variety. Try using them in place of meat in some of your meals. And if you need some recipe inspiration, take a look at the Mediterranean diet. Legumes like lentils and beans are key ingredients in many of those dishes.

Finally, these plant-based options are also less expensive than most meats. So, it's a great way to eat healthier, feel better, and maybe save a little money.

And you can hear more about how to optimize your health and chase life wherever you get your podcasts.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Beans, beans, the more you eat, the healthier you are, I guess. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you so much. Next, we head back to New York and the trial of Sean Diddy Combs. Stay with CNN News Central.

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