Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

State Attorneys General Taking Luxury Trips Paid By Companies They Regulate; Cassie Ventura Finishes Testimony; New Orleans Police Department Releases Photos Of Escaped Inmates. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired May 16, 2025 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Exclusive trips to luxurious cities around the world all paid stays in five-star hotels. Those are just some of the perks that attorneys general around the country from both political parties are enjoying and that are paid for in part by the same companies they're sometimes investigating. CNN's Kyung Lah is looking at how lobbyists may be influencing your state officials.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Among the thousands of international tourists flocking to Rome, Italy CNN spotted American politicians. This looks like a vacation, but this is a snapshot of how lobbyists and lawyers pay for access to your top state leaders. Stepping off the tour bus, Attorney General Liz Murrill. She's from Louisiana.

Next, Treg Taylor the attorney general from Alaska, and a few people behind them, the attorney general from Idaho Raul Labrador, taking in the sights of the Vatican with representatives from some of the very corporations their states regulate. Some of those companies are currently being sued by state AGs.

It's no coincidence that this group of state AGs and competing corporate interests ended up together, standing in line for the Vatican. This is an exclusive Italian getaway, a week-long conference arranged by a group called the Attorney General Alliance or AGA.

The group picked up the tab for the AGs to travel, business class to the luxurious five-star Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Rome. Documents show corporations and lobbyists donate large amounts of money to the AGA, paying to get special access to state attorneys general at foreign trips like this. Join us for an unforgettable experience wrote the AGA in an email invite. While the weeklong itinerary shows some law enforcement meetings in the morning and discussions with Vatican officials.

CNN saw guests chauffeured to excursions and captured Maryland's Attorney General Anthony Brown, resting near the pool at the Waldorf. Brown's office tells CNN that he is honored to participate in the bipartisan delegation to address pressing global issues.

Records show the AGA paid more than $14,000 for Brown and his wife's business class tickets to Italy. Along with Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, the AGA also flew her husband to Rome. The man chatting them up is Paul Connell. He works at a law firm which represents Blackrock, a company AG Murrill is suing. But the law firm is also representing Murrill's Department of Justice in another matter, and it told CNN that conversations with clients are privileged.

CNN also spotted in Rome multiple other representatives from corporations and law firms, including Kia Floyd from General Motors. GM was slapped with a lawsuit from two different states. The company did not reply to requests for comment.

Besides Italy, the AGA has also flown state AGs and their plus ones to Spain, France, and South Africa.

We tried to talk to state AGs earlier this year about why they joined other foreign trips with the AGA.

LAH: Attorney General Torres, excuse me, sir. Hi. Can I just grab you for one second?

LAH (voice-over): New Mexico's Attorney General Raul Torres.

RAUL TORRES, NEW MEXICO'S ATTORNEY GENERAL: We got to run.

LAH (voice-over): Minnesota AG Keith Ellison said international partnerships are important to his state.

KEITH ELLISON, MINNESOTA ATTORNEY GENERAL: I understand how this game is played. I mean, us reporters and politicians always, oh, you went on a trip and try to embarrass the politician.

LAH: The concern from --

ELLISON: I get it.

LAH: Ethics.

ELLISON: I know where you're coming from, and I'm just telling you that we have substantive programs, our constituents that are disadvantaged if we are not having meaningful conversations with international partners.

I'd like to end the conversation right there. Thank you. Yes, whatever.

LAH: I appreciate it. Thank you.

The AGA tells CNN that they held accredited legal educational sessions, that no litigation was discussed and just because an attorney general decides to go on a trip like this, it, quote, "does not in itself constitute impropriety".

[15:35:00]

LAH: Now, records show that Torres did accept the invitation to go to Rome. Ellison did not attend the trip. And we reached out to an ethics professor that says, all of this is very challenging to defend, because if this was really about gathering in one place at the same time, why not select Chicago in January?

Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Fantastic reporting there by Kyung. We're following breaking news. Cassie Ventura has just finished testifying in the federal trial of Sean Diddy Combs. Her attorney, Doug Wigdor, just spoke to reporters. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUG WIGDOR, CASSIE VENTURA'S ATTORNEY: It's hard to put into words how honored I have been to represent Cassie Ventura since we filed her civil complaint in November of 2023. She has shown such great courage and bravery for stepping forward, and she has now testified throughout this entire week. She's done so under the most difficult of circumstances, just about to give birth to her third child and under some very difficult circumstances because of the subject matter of what she testified to.

Putting that aside, she was able to do so poignantly, she was able to do so graciously, and it's a real testament to who she is and the support that she has. I have a statement from her and I also have a statement from her husband, which I'll read in a moment. But before I do there's a few people I want to thank. Most importantly, I want to thank my partner Meredith, who's here, as well as the other attorneys who worked on the case at our firm, including Kat Vask, who's also here.

And I also want to thank, of course, the excellent attorneys in the U.S. Attorney's Office who have really been great lawyers, but also just great people who have made Cassie feel comfortable in the process. I would also like to thank the court staff who have made our appearance this week easy. The Department of Homeland Security, the marshals.

And with that, I'd just like to read a statement that Cassie just prepared as well as her husband. There are two separate statements I'll read Cassie's first. This week has been extremely challenging, but also remarkably empowering and healing for me. I hope that my testimony has given strength and a voice to other survivors and can help others who have suffered to speak up and also heal from abuse and fear.

For me, the more I heal, the more I can remember, and the more I can remember, the more I will never forget. I want to thank my family and my advocates for their unwavering support, and I'm grateful for all the kindness and encouragement that I have received.

I'm glad to put this chapter of my life to rest. As I turn to focus on the conclusion of my pregnancy, I ask for privacy for me and for my growing family. And then I have a statement from Alex Fine. Over the past five days, the world has gotten to witness the strength and bravery of my wife, freeing herself of her past.

There has been speculation online surrounding how it must feel for me to sit there and listen to my wife's testimony. I have felt so many things sitting there. I have felt tremendous pride and overwhelming love for Cass. I have felt profound anger that she has been subjected to sitting in front of a person who tried to break her. So, to him, and all of those who helped him along the way, please know this, you did not. You did not break her spirit nor her smile. That lights up every room. You did not break the souls of a mother who gives the best hugs and plays the silliest games with our little girls. You did not break the woman who has made me a better man.

I did not save Cassie, as some have said, to say that is an insult to the years of painful work my wife has done to save herself. Cassie saved Cassie. She alone broke free from abuse, coercion, violence, and threats. She did the work of fighting the demons that only a demon himself could have done to her. All I have done is love her as she has loved me. Her life is now surrounded by love, laughter, and our family.

[15:40:00]

This horrific chapter is forever put behind us and we will not be making additional statements. We appreciate all of the love and support we have received, and we ask that you respect our privacy as we welcome our son into a world that is now safer because of his mom.

Thank you everybody. We really appreciate the media's attention to this case as well. Thank you. I'll answer a few questions if I can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Extraordinary statements there from Cassie Ventura and her husband, Alex Fine, after her days of testimony in this trial of Sean Diddy Combs has gone on here. We have Elizabeth Wagmeister, who's been inside the courtroom watching all of this gut-wrenching testimony from Cassie Ventura. Elizabeth, take us through what you saw.

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, as you just heard, there nearly a week on the stand for Cassie Ventura, and of course we all know by now she is incredibly pregnant. So, that absolutely added to her presence there on the stand. It remains to be seen if that will make any impact on the jury. But she was frequently rubbing her belly as things appeared to get tough for her.

Now, today, as she completed cross-examination, the defense trying to paint. This entire case not as a sex trafficking and racketeering case, but rather a volatile relationship. In fact, in their opening statement on Monday, they said, this is not a sex trafficking, prostitution and racketeering case, this is the government looking into the private bedroom of our client. Well, we certainly did get a peek into that private bedroom and the allegations were horrifically disturbing. So, again, the defense through cross-examination trying to portray Cassie as someone who was in love with Sean Combs, somebody who was jealous that she couldn't be the number one woman, and someone who was an addict, addicted to drugs and alcohol, had a propensity for violence. But on redirect, which was just moments ago, Cassie answered their questions and she said that the reason why she would send. Sexually explicit texts to Sean Combs even after she claimed that she was being abused, it's not because she wanted to, it's because she was scared of him.

In fact, when she asked about how her career suffered in those 11 years that she was with Sean Combs, because remember, they met when she was just 19 because he signed her to a 10-album deal at his Bad Boy record label. Well, she said I couldn't focus on my job because I had another job. And what was that job? Her words, she said, I was essentially a sex worker.

SANCHEZ: Yes. The prosecution actually asking for that statement to be stricken from the record. I wonder, Elizabeth, from your vantage point, watching all of this go down what you made of how the jury reacted to her testimony. I know that there were moments where they were shown explicit images that drew reactions.

WAGMEISTER: Yes. So, the jury, I have to be honest, they were definitely engaged throughout these four days of testimony, but they were pretty stoic, Boris. As you mentioned, when they were shown -- sorry, we have obviously on the streets of New York here at the courthouse. So, sorry about that noise with the ambulance coming by.

So, the jury, when they were shown those explicit photos, which were still images from these so-called freak offs, which according to the government were drug fueled sex parties orchestrated by Combs where he forced Ventura and other women to have sex with male escorts. Well, when the jury saw those photos, they absolutely reacted. And how could you not?

But it really is difficult to tell what they are thinking. But what I will say is Cassie Ventura, she stuck to her story. You know, I have covered many trials like this dealing with sex crimes of high-profile men in Hollywood, and it is challenging for these alleged victims to get on the stand, and sometimes their stories do change a little bit. Cassie Ventura, not one detail change when she was on the stand and she was incredibly honest. And of course, a lot of this information to which she was testifying is embarrassing. It's some of the most private moments of your life. And she was very forthcoming, and again, her story did not change.

KEILAR: Elizabeth Wagmeister, thank you so much for following this for us. We have much more ahead as Cassie Ventura has finished testifying in the Sean Combs trial. Stay with us. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:45:00]

SANCHEZ: The judge overseeing the trial of quadruple murder suspect Bryan Kohberger is cracking down after potential key evidence was featured in a "Dateline" NBC special last Friday. The judge is now ordering attorneys on both sides to preserve records in the case, which is under a sweeping gag order. Kohberger, of course, is accused of stabbing University of Idaho students, Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle back in 2022. A not guilty plea has been entered on his behalf.

Let's get the latest from CNN's Jean Casarez, who's been tracking every development on this story. So, Jean, the judge issued some scathing orders regarding this leak.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And this came out of the blue late yesterday. There was a major hearing in the courtroom. It was not discussed, but after that, hours later, this did come out and he has ordered prosecution, defense, law enforcement, anyone that works for them, has worked for them, independent contractor, consultant to preserve and to not delete, destroy, alter, or discard your messages, your e-mails, your text messages, private messages, any of the files that you have.

[15:50:00]

And the judges saying, there was a leak here, this was material that was not supposed to come out, and it did, and we need to find who is responsible. And the judge also goes on, that there is going to be a very, very big issue now with finding a fair and impartial jury because this information went far and wide and jury selection is going to take much longer, he said. And also, it's going to cost the taxpayers of Latah County much more money because more time is going to be involved.

And, Boris, what he's really saying is there's going to be an investigation here. And he says the leaker will face consequences. So, this is substantial and this is something no defendant deserves the right to a fair trial. They deserve that. And I had thought that the defense must be livid with what came out on Friday night.

SANCHEZ: Jean Casarez, thank you so much for the update there. Stay with CNN News Central. We'll be back in just a few minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:55:00]

KEILAR: We are breaking news out of Louisiana. The New Orleans Police Department releasing mugshots of each of the 10 inmates who escaped from the Orleans Justice Center. Local police say officers noticed they were missing during a routine headcount at 8:30 a.m. on Friday. They'd initially said there were 11 who'd escaped. There were 10, and one of the inmates, Kendall Myles, is currently the only escapee who has been recaptured by the authorities. We just received that update from investigators moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUSAN HUTSON, ORLEANS PARISH JAIL SHERIFF: We do acknowledge there is no way people can get out of this facility without there being some type of lapse in security. There's no way. It's almost impossible, not completely, but almost impossible for anybody to get out of this facility without help from the outside, we intend to find out exactly what happened.

We know that. I want to want to say that we know that folks are normally locked down in this facility at 10:30 p.m. But these folks that were able to get out did so because of defective locks on the cells. I have talked about those locks since I got into office. I wrote a letter to the consent decree judge to the city council, and everybody else would listen. And every time I go to budget, I say the exact same thing.

When you all covered our millage, I said the exact same thing. There are deficiencies in these facilities that cause public safety concerns. That's why the millage was so important. We'll get into that a little bit more as we move forward.

I need to confirm that Kendall Myles is in custody. He's being rebooked for simple escape as well. OPSO deputies found him hiding beneath the car at the Hotel Monte Leon parking garage, and he was transported to OJC by the Louisiana State Police. We also need to acknowledge that Keith Lewis, who was previously reported as an escaped detainee was in a different cell. So, he had been moved, but it had not been updated. So, he is not on the run. There were 10, not 11, and he is in our facility and did not did not try to escape.

The remaining individuals are being actively pursued and our deputies in collaboration with local and state law enforcement are working tirelessly to locate and return them to custody.

Now, we're going to try and go through a little bit of the timeline of events, because what's being reported out there isn't accurate. What we noticed is that the detainees began lock -- yanking on a cell to pull it off track. These are the cells that we keep telling that we need to replace, at great cost in this facility. They were able to break -- that was around 12:23 a.m. They were able to break open a door.

There was a corrections monitoring technician in the pod module to be watching that. They were still able to exit the jail about 1:01 a.m. after breaching a wall behind a toilet in the jail. And based on video surveillance, they were seeing exiting a door on the docks where we normally bring in supplies, scaling a wall, and running across the interstate shortly thereafter.

We have indication that these detainees received assistance in their escape from individuals inside of our department. And the escape was discovered during a routine headcount at 8:30 a.m. this morning. The deputy who was on duty promptly notified jail leadership. And around -- before -- probably before 9:30, we locate -- we notified the United States Marshals Task Force, which includes all of our partners in the area. And that was before nine 30 about the incident.

I found out myself about 9:00 and was on my way to the jail and moving through it. About that time, I don't -- the exact time, I can't give you, but it was before 9:30. I asked our personnel, have we notified him NOPD? Have we notified our partners? I was told yes, the task force was notified. And then we were also able to discern that the NOPD was also notified through the Fusion Center.

Now, when this went down, our first concern is to find out who these folks are, confirm, and then we've got to lock down the whole jail and find out, make sure that nobody else is missing. That's the first thing we have to do. We also have people being moved out to court. We've got to confirm who those are. So, this is a fluid situation as we are trying to get a handle on 1,400 people in this facility.

So, the -- it was a fluid situation. We're still gathering information. We are investigating our own to -- and where those lapses were.

[16:00:00]