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Trump and Putin Expected to Speak; Andrea Lewis is Interviewed about the Combs Trial; Dr. Bidal Siddiqui is Interviewed about Biden's Diagnosis. Aired 9-9:30a ET
Aired May 19, 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]
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Attack on Kyiv, a bloodbath.
Cancer has spread to his bones. The latest on former President Joe Biden after he revealed he has an aggressive form of prostate cancer.
And stunningly awful details pouring out of the trial of music mogul Sean Combs. Today, Dawn Richard, a former member of the -- of Combs' group, Danity Kane, back on the witness stand with more salacious details.
I'm Sara Sidner, with Kate Bolduan and John Berman. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we are standing by for a critical phone call. Two, really. President Trump is expected to speak with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, about ending his country's war on Ukraine. That happens shortly. Then later, the president says he will speak with Vladimir Zelenskyy from Ukraine. Both those calls will come after Ukraine accused Russia of carrying out its largest drone attack since the war began. Nearly 400 drones, killing at least three people, injuring more than a dozen others. This comes on the heels of the first direct peace talks in three years between Russia and Ukraine. They happened in Turkey on Friday. No major breakthroughs there. Nothing even really close.
Let's get to CNN's Alayna Treene at the White House for the latest.
What are the expectations here, Alayna.
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, look, there's a lot of pressure, John, on this phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin at 10:00 a.m., as you mentioned. He'll also speak, President Donald Trump, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shortly thereafter.
But there's no question that Trump administration officials and even the president himself have grown increasingly frustrated with Putin in recent weeks. And really, I think a key goal today with this phone call is to decide whether or not a deal is still viable.
Now, we did hear the president this weekend kind of express optimism. He also said that he believed he needed to sit down, or at least have a direct conversation with the Russian president to determine what a path forward could look like.
But all of this, these calls today, come after we know that one, as you mentioned, Ukraine is now accusing Russia of launching its largest drone attack on its country since the war began. It also comes after Putin did not show up to Turkey for a meeting that he actually proposed in the first place. Instead, Zelenskyy and Ukrainian official -- representatives met with Russian representatives there. And then we also know that Zelenskyy met with Vice President J.D. Vance, as well as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, yesterday in Rome.
Now, we did hear from Rubio yesterday on this. He essentially said that he believed like a key goal today is to determine whether or not Putin is, how they keep describing it, tapping them along, and again, whether or not there is actually, you know, value in continuing these talks with Russia to determine if there can really be peace reached here. And that, of course, is going to be a key question of this briefing with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt that is set to kick off shortly.
I also just want to mention one key thing as well, which is that we know there's been a lot of pressure building in Congress, but also from the United States' European allies about placing more aggressive sanctions on Russia. Senator Lindsey Graham has teed up a package to do just that. Congress is expected to consider that soon.
And I think a key question is, if today's call does not go well, how will President Donald Trump react? Will he support such a move? A lot riding on these calls today, John.
BERMAN: Yes, again, I think there are nations, literally nations on pins and needles -- waiting on pins and needles to find out what happens from this.
Alayna Treene, at the White House, awaiting a briefing right now, thank you very much.
Kate.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, we'll be listening to see what comes from this briefing.
In the meantime, joining us right now is Sabrina Singh. She's the former deputy press secretary at the Department of Defense, and CNN chief national security analyst Jim Sciutto.
Jim, what do you see as the stakes for this call?
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Listen, you know -- you know, it's interesting. President Trump is clearly frustrated with Vladimir Putin. And we've heard that for -- for weeks now. But the administration not frustrated enough to impose new costs on -- on Russia for refusing a ceasefire that's been on the table for weeks now. It was very quick to impose costs on Ukraine remember following the Oval Office meeting, withdrawing the intelligence sharing, et cetera.
But those sanctions that have been hanging over the Kremlin's head for weeks now, this president has not pulled the trigger on them. Now, is it possible after a call today if he doesn't hear what he wants to hear, some opening from Vladimir Putin that the administration takes that step? It is -- it is possible. The -- the worry is that Putin and Trump may share one key view of this war, which is that Russia has the upper hand. Putin believes he has the upper hand. Trump often says Russia has all the cards. Does that lead him to push Ukraine into concessions that Ukraine doesn't want to make?
The fact is, when you look at the war, it's not clear that Russia has all the cards. In fact, the front lines have been static for some time, and Ukraine has enormous advantages in drone warfare. So, there are a lot of folks in Europe and Ukraine who contest that appraisal of the war.
[09:05:04]
We'll see what kind of pressure President Trump is willing to apply.
BOLDUAN: Absolutely.
Sabrina, I want to play something that the former Mideast coordinator, Brett McGurk, told us just last hour about all of this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRETT MCGURK, FORMER MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA COORDINATOR, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: And there's a saying in diplomacy that diplomacy without leverage is like music without instruments. And I -- I remain concerned here that the United States, and the president in particular, is not kind of approaching this with a type of leverage you need to deliver the outcome.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: And McGurk says that if the outcome from this call with Putin is not a path to a ceasefire, then he thinks that diplomacy is failing. I mean, it made me start to wonder just how high the risks are, not just the stakes, but the risks from this call as well.
SABRINA SINGH, FORMER DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: Well, I think what Brett said is exactly right. I mean this administration is not using the leverage that it has to impose, you know, steep consequences for Russia. At the beginning of this administration, they did propose a 30-day ceasefire that Ukrainians took in good faith, and they showed up at the negotiating table time and time again.
You'll remember, you know, they also had a. ceasefire against energy and infrastructure targets. And Ukraine abided by that and yet Russia hit Ukraine with, you know, swarms of drones that we're seeing continue up until this last weekend. So, it's -- it's fair to say that the administration is not using the leverage that it has because it hasn't imposed any consequences to Russia in the form of any types of sanctions. And, as Jim mentioned earlier, there have been no military packages
going out to Ukraine since the Trump administration took -- took over. And they've also withheld intelligence sharing at some point. So, really the costs have been imposed on Ukraine when it should be the opposite way.
BOLDUAN: Yes.
Both -- stick with me. I was just told by the control room that we have some new sound coming in from the vice president, J.D. Vance, speaking with reporters on board Air Force Two about this call. Let's listen to this together.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's -- it's not going to spin its wheels here. We want to see outcomes. And the first major outcome that we wanted to see, which we were glad about, is that we wanted the Russians and Ukrainians to put a real peace proposal on the table. What would you need to do in order to stop fighting. That happened.
The second thing is they needed to agree to direct talks with one another. These sides hadn't talked in years. We thought that was a disgrace. That has now happened.
But now, you know, the talks have been proceeding for a little while. We realize there's a bit of an impasse here. And I think the president's going to say to President Putin, look, are you serious? Are you real about this? Because the proposal from the United States has always been, look, there are a lot of economic benefits to thawing relations between Russia and the rest of the world. But you're not going to get those benefits if you keep on killing a lot of innocent people.
So, if you're willing to stop the killing, the United States is willing to be a partner for peace. That's been the proposal to the Russians, to the Ukrainians, and, frankly, to nations in other hotspots around the world.
I won't prejudge the president's conversation. I actually was just on the phone with him. I know he's looking forward to it. And I wish him all the best. I think he's the right guy to negotiate for the country. And I'm -- I'm excited about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: It's really interesting, Jim. What do you think about that?
SCIUTTO: Well, this administration has for -- for a number of weeks, months, been reluctant to identify Russia as the aggressor and say --
BOLDUAN: Right.
SCIUTTO: It's on Russia to stop its ongoing invasion of Ukraine, a sovereign country, et cetera. In his comments there I did -- did hear a little bit of movement in the direction of saying, you know, to Russia specifically, are you serious? Because the truth is, the administration has the answer from Ukraine, right? Zelenskyy abided by -- or at least agreed to a ceasefire, right? Russia has not abided by it. Zelenskyy was ready to go to Turkey to meet, but -- but Putin didn't -- didn't show. So, he's -- he's shown that Ukraine is serious, right? The question will be, after this call, will -- one, will he hear something surprising from Putin that say, oh, yes, absolutely, I want to be a good faith negotiator. The track record is not good. There's nothing to substantiate that. We'll see. But we should at least allow that possibility.
If he doesn't hear that, is Trump willing to say, OK, I've heard enough here. Russia's not serious. Now we got to go to the next stage. We'll see.
BOLDUAN: We'll see. I mean, you're exactly right.
Sabrina, if you're helping to prepare the president for this call with Vladimir Putin, what are you -- what are you -- what are you advising?
SINGH: I mean, certainly I would have, you know, some of the -- the policy experts that have been steeped in the issue studying Vladimir Putin, studying Russia for years, a part of these conversations because they know how to -- not only how he thinks, but they'll be able to brief the president on how he conducts himself with this call.
I mean Putin, at the end of the day, is a very smart man who has proven time and time again that he's not serious about ending this conflict. So, I think it is good that Donald Trump is engaging Vladimir Putin, that both sides did meet in Turkey this week and have -- this past weekend and have conversations about potentially ending this war. But at the end of the day, this administration has actually put up different efforts in a way to, you know, end the war with 30- day ceasefires.
[09:10:01]
And Putin has walked away every single time.
So, if Donald Trump can really close and -- and pressure Putin to end the war, you know, I think we'll have to see from what comes from this call later today.
BOLDUAN: Absolutely. And also then they're -- and what we hear from the White House and what we hear from the Kremlin, and also then what we hear from Kyiv coming out of -- coming out of today.
Thank you both very much.
Sara.
SCIUTTO: Thank you.
SIDNER: All right, thank you, Kate.
At any moment, the criminal sex trafficking trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs resumes with the former member of his musical group, Danity Kane, returning to the stand to testify against him. Dawn Richard testified Friday that she saw Combs attack his former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, in 2009. Last week, Ventura gave emotionally gripping testimony and at times graphic testimony of what she says was a decade of physical and sexual abuse by Sean Combs.
Joining us now is trial attorney Andrea Lewis.
Thank you so much for being here.
First of all, what are prosecutors trying to show the jury other than, look at his behavior, look how dangerous he is in their words. How are they linking this with, for example, sex trafficking, which is one of the big -- and racketeering, which are the two big charges in this case?
ANDREA LEWIS, FORMER FELONY PROSECUTOR: Sure. That's a great question, Sara. And -- and here's the issue, is that, we -- there's a very fine line here between consensual, sexual activity and then coercion, manipulation, threats and ultimately the criminal enterprise that the prosecution in this case alleges that Sean Combs was a part of.
So, what they are trying to do here is show, look, there -- it's not -- this isn't an isolated incident. This is a -- a larger problem. A very large problem that went on for ten plus years with multiple people, many people involved, at the urging of -- of Mr. Combs, all in an effort to satisfy his own sexual fantasies, manipulate young women, force women, to a large degree, even psychologically, to do things that they otherwise never would have done. And then really blackmail is what we've -- we've heard testimony about them into continuing to engage in this activity. So, that's the prosecution's angle.
And, of course, what they're up against from the defense is having to combat their theory that, well, this is just all a completely consensual sexual encounter between Cassie Ventura and (INAUDIBLE).
SIDNER: Just how damaging is it, though, to hear from another woman who was in the room, not when the videotape happened, we all saw that and the jury sees that, too, but she was there in 2009, and seeing what she says with this horrible abuse. And then she testified that she was told by Sean Combs basically to keep her mouth shut because people disappear if they open their mouths and talk. How impactful is that kind of testimony?
LEWIS: It's incredibly impactful. And -- and here's why. Because Cassie gave very, very compelling testimony. And you saw how emotional it was at times. It was very detailed and, frankly, very graphic.
Now, here -- but then we see text messages where the defense is countering and saying, but wait, you appeared to enjoy this. You were in on this. But -- but that's not the case when you see what -- what these other women have testified to. They're supporting Cassie's version of this.
SIDNER: Andrea Lewis, this case is going to go on. I think the prosecution said their case alone is six weeks, and then the defense gets its crack at showing the jury a different story. It's going to be a long, long six weeks plus.
Thank you so much. We will be having you back, I am sure. We appreciate your time.
LEWIS: Thank you for having me.
SIDNER: John.
BERMAN: All right, for the first time, former President Biden is publicly addressing his cancer diagnosis. What we're learning now about his illness.
New video of a training ship slamming into the Brooklyn Bridge. Two dead, more than a dozen injured. We've got new details on what went wrong here. Just stunning video.
This morning, new threats of extreme weather after dozens of tornadoes tore through the central United States, tossing trucks from highways.
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[09:19:03]
BERMAN: Breaking this morning, President Biden is speaking out for the first time since revealing he is battling an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones. Biden posted on X, quote, "cancer touches us all." And he added, "we are strongest in the broken places."
Let's get right to CNN's Arlette Saenz for the latest on the diagnosis and what happens next.
Arlette.
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, former President Joe Biden is at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, really working with his family right now to determine what the treatment options will be going forward after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, which has spread to his bones.
As you saw in that post there, Biden made his first comments relating to this diagnosis, saying that cancer touches us all, and notably that we are strongest in the broken places.
Now, Biden received this diagnosis two weeks before the family was set to mark the ten year anniversary of Beau Biden's passing from brain cancer. Biden had initially gone in to have a small nodule that was found on his prostate evaluated.
[09:20:07]
His office had said that he was experiencing increasing urinary symptoms, and on Friday he received the diagnosis that it had -- that it was an aggressive form of prostate cancer and has spread to his bones. Now, it's unclear what exactly his treatment will look like. Medical experts who are not working with Biden have told us that there are options like hormone therapy, chemotherapy and radiation as well.
But this has really prompted a swell of support from people -- political leaders on both sides of the aisle. Biden's former opponent, President Donald Trump, tweeted that he and his wife "extend our warmest and best wishes to Jill and the family, and we wish Joe a fast and successful recovery.:
Former President Barack Obama posted on social media, saying, "nobody has done more to find breakthrough treatments for cancer in all its forms than Joe, and I am certain he will fight this challenge with his trademark resolve and grace."
But the news of his diagnosis also comes at a time when Biden's legacy has really been reemerging into the spotlight. Our colleague, Jake Tapper, and "Axios" reporter Alex Thompson are about to roll out this new book which details signs of physical and mental decline for Biden while in office. So, that has already provided some challenge for the Biden family, as they've heard these resurfaced questions about his -- the limitations of his age really come back to the surface.
But now they are keenly focused on this diagnosis and trying to determine what the next steps will be for treatment going forward.
BERMAN: All right, Arlette, I know you've been doing reporting on this. Keep us posted as to what you hear. Thank you very much.
Sara.
SIDNER: Joining us now is Doctor Bilal Siddiqui, a medical oncologist and prostate cancer researcher at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Thank you so much, Dr. Siddiqui, for -- for talking us through this.
First of all, what does it mean to have to live with this type of aggressive prostate cancer?
DR. BILAL SIDDIQUI, MEDICAL ONCOLOGIST, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEAS MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER: Thank you very much for having me.
So, what this means is we are dealing with a stage four prostate cancer, having spread to the bones. This is the cancer that is not curable. However, it is treatable. The average life expectancy for men with metastatic prostate cancer can range from three to five plus years. Although this is influenced by, of course, things like age, specific features of the cancer and other medical issues that may be going on.
SIDNER: Three to five years is not a long time when you're looking at the average life expectancy of somebody who -- who has this particular kind of cancer. I am well aware of the treatments that may have to happen here, as a breast cancer survivor. So, chemo, but what else? What other things will be potentially some of the medicines or some of the treatments that -- that the former president may have to go through to extend his life?
SIDDIQUI: So, the backbone of treatment for this is something called Androgen Deprivation Therapy. We've known for decades, actually, that prostate cancer feeds on testosterone, on the male hormone. And so our foundation of treatment is really geared toward lowering the levels of the male hormone. And then we usually layer on treatments on top of that, that can look like more intensified hormonal treatments. And, in some cases, this can include chemotherapy, possibly radiation to certain areas and possibly even consideration of clinical trials.
Now, hormonal therapy does come with side effects. The side effects that come from having a low level of testosterone. And these can include symptoms like fatigue, night sweats, decrease in -- in muscle, decrease in muscle, increase in -- in weight, as well as also memory issues as well. These can all happen with hormonal therapy and testosterone-lowering therapy in particular.
SIDNER: Yes, you -- you put that out there because a lot of women are familiar with this who don't have cancer and who do have cancer, because when it comes to estrogen, when they have estrogen and progesterone positive cancers, breast cancers, for example, they too experience these same things where your bones get more brittle, where you've got brain fog. Believe me, I've lived through it. I know what it feels like to go through this.
But for someone who is his age, how difficult will this be for him to deal with all of the treatments that he is going to need to try to extend his life?
SIDDIQUI: So, it's difficult to say, of course, without knowing all of the details of the cancer and -- and -- and the other medical issues.
[09:25:04]
What we often find is that patients -- all patients are different, all cancers are different, and patients handle their treatments differently. Some men are able to tolerate this without many side effects and others experience them more significantly.
SIDNER: Yes.
SIDDIQUI: It will really depend on when that treatment starts, how it's tolerated.
SIDNER: Dr. Siddiqui, are you surprised that this was diagnosed so late? I mean it's now into the bones. It's stage four. You never can get rid of it. I mean this is a former president for goodness sakes.
SIDDIQUI: There's a couple of possibilities for why a prostate cancer would be diagnosed at stage four when it's metastatic. So, it's important to remember that prostate cancer is not a one size fits all disease. In many men it is a very slow growing cancer that may never cause problems, and clearly in others it can become metastatic and -- and very aggressive. And so, the recommendations for prostate cancer screening by what's known as the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, recommends, for most men, talking to their doctors about getting screened for prostate cancer starting at age 55 until about 69 or -- or 70.
And so one possibility may have been to -- that prostate cancer screening was stopped. That's one -- that's one way that -- one -- one possibility. The other is that in certain rare aggressive forms of prostate cancer, you can have lower levels of that blood test, that blood PSA.
SIDNER: OK.
SIDDIQUI: Now, we don't know the specific details of what the former president's blood PSA levels were, but those are two possibilities for how this -- this might have been diagnosed.
SIDNER: I know I'm no doctor, but it does surprise me that people wouldn't want to keep checking and -- and have that be required as you get older. But you guys know what the science is, so I'll trust you.
Dr. Bilal Siddiqui, thank you so much for really explaining and giving us some deep insight into what Mr. Biden and his family will be going through. Really appreciate it. And our hearts go out to that family.
Kate.
BOLDUAN: Ahead for us, sources are saying House Republican leaders are set to brief members this morning now on the president's big tax and spending cut bill. Yet one source is now telling our Hill team they have not heard much about where leadership is going. There are some big questions heading into today.
And the terrifying moments this weekend in New York as the Mexican Naval ship crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge, and now investigators from the U.S. and Mexico are getting involved to look into how this happened.
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