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Jail Employee Assisted in New Orleans Jailbreak; Defense Cross- examining Male Escort Who Detailed Freak Offs; Trump Told House GOP to Stop Negotiating and Pass Bill; Home Depot Says It Won't Raise Prices on Most Products, but Some Items Will Increase in Cost or Be Eliminated. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired May 20, 2025 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:00:41]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": There is a new clue in the mystery of how 10 inmates escaped from a New Orleans jail. An employee has been arrested and accused of helping them break out. We're going to look at how close authorities are to capturing the six inmates still on the loose.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": And a busy day of testimony in the criminal trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs, the jury hearing from his ex-girlfriend's mother before the prosecution calls a male exotic dancer for questioning. And a warning from the CEO of the country's biggest bank, Jamie Dimon saying Investors may need to worry more about the threat that President Trump's trade war poses to the U.S. economy. We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to "CNN News Central."

SANCHEZ: Officials in Louisiana have made the first arrest following one of the state's largest jailbreaks, the State Attorney General charging jail maintenance worker Sterling Williams with malfeasance of office and 10 counts of simple escape. That's one count for each of the inmates who got away last week. Six escapees are still on the run. The AG is saying that Williams turned off the water in the cell where the inmates opened a hole, which allowed them to reach a loading dock door.

Video shows them running out of that door and then getting away. The Attorney General also alleges that Williams failed to immediately alert officials after an inmate allegedly ordered him to shut the water off. CNN's Rafael Romo joins us now with the latest. And Rafael, according to court documents, Williams says that he was threatened. They said that they would stab him if he didn't shut the water off.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's right. That appears to be the case. Based on a legal document we have reviewed in the last hour, Boris, a document that may spell out the reason why the man accused of helping the inmates escape might have done so. CNN has obtained a copy of Sterling Williams' affidavit for arrest warrant, where investigators say that the 33-year-old willfully and maliciously assisted with the escape of the 10 inmates. But there's another important detail that might explain his motive. The affidavit says in part that during a Mirandized interview with Williams, he explained to agents that he turned the water off from the outside pipe walk area under direction of an inmate who threatened to "shank him" if he did not turn the water off. That inmate was one of the inmates who escaped the OPSO Correctional Center.

According to Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, Williams was employed as a maintenance worker at the Sheriff's Office. Attorney General Murrill also said in a statement that Williams admitted to agents that one of the escapees advised them to turn the water off in the cell where the inmates escaped from. Instead of reporting the inmate, the statement says, Williams turned the water off as directed, allowing the inmates to carry out their scheme to successfully escape.

Earlier today, Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson the investigation into the jailbreak is active and ongoing item that she takes full accountability for this failure.

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SHERIFF SUSAN HUTSON, ORLEANS PARISH, LOUISIANA: There were procedural failures and missed notifications, but there were also intentional wrongdoings. This was a coordinated effort aided by individuals inside our own agency, who made the choice to break the law. One arrest has been made and we are continuing to pursue everyone involved, and that investigation is active and ongoing.

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ROMO: And Boris, the arrest of the Parish Sheriff's Office employee comes after a fourth inmate who escaped from the jail Friday was captured on Monday in the New Orleans East neighborhood. Now back to you.

SANCHEZ: Rafael Romo, thank you so much for that reporting. We turn now to the testimony in Sean "Diddy" Combs racketeering and sex trafficking trial. Right now, the defense is cross-examining a male escort who just described in detail some of the multiple sexual encounters that he says he had with Combs and Combs' then girlfriend, Cassie Ventura.

KEILAR: The escort under direct examination testified Combs was always present during their encounters. He said that Combs often directed him and Ventura while watching them.

[14:05:00]

He also told jurors he usually was given $1,200 or $2,000 in payments after each session, and he said, Combs never appeared to be intoxicated when he was with him. We're joined now by criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor, Nark O'Mara. So Mark, we just heard moments ago that under his cross-examination, this escort testified he didn't sense any discomfort from Cassie Ventura during their encounters. What is the significance of that? MARK O'MARA, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY & FORMER PROSECUTOR: Well, quite honestly, it does help play to the defense because what the prosecution has to present and they're starting out quite slowly, in my opinion, is getting to the sex trafficking, right? Getting to the control over people, whether it's the escorts, the, sex workers, and of course, Cassie Ventura. And so far, they're doing a fair job at doing that, but I think they're leaving a lot of room for the defense to say, maybe he's guilty of battery of Ms. Ventura, maybe he's guilty of some bizarre behavior, but if they don't get to sex trafficking, they don't get their conviction.

SANCHEZ: So cross-examination of Hayes has wrapped. We'll see if there is now, a redirect from the prosecution. I wonder what you make, Mark, of the detail that the escort testified that Combs never appeared to be intoxicated during his encounters. And he mentioned that multiple times, that Combs was giving he and Ventura directions throughout their encounters. How key are those two things?

O'MARA: I think it's important because it is done by the prosecution to try and preempt the defense argument that Combs was wasted, right? He was intoxicated himself, not quite as responsible for his actions. We know there were some issues about opiate use in the past. So, I think what the prosecution's trying to do is say, no, he knew exactly what he was doing. He was in effect the puppet master of everything that was happening around him.

And I'm presuming over the next several weeks of the prosecution's presentation, they're going to start tying this together. This one sort of chapter that they've started, they probably need to move on from this and start tying together his control of other people as well.

KEILAR: Yeah, because he is facing charges of racketeering, sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution. And Mark, when you think of that and what you -- you've heard so much, you said they need to -- or what we've heard so far, you said they need to tie that together. How exactly?

O'MARA: Well, you know, we use different examples. I use the example of building a house, right? You clear the land, you put down the footers, then you start building the walls. It is time for them to start building some of those walls to really get to the point of this control freak, if this is what they're going to say, was in charge of everything that they were doing. And really getting to the idea of racketeering, because the essence of their charge of racketeering is he was planning all of this. He was orchestrating all of it.

And while we have it with Ms. Ventura, a little bit maybe with the sex worker, we don't have that true criminal intent yet. And they need to get to it. They want this jury to say he is a sex trafficker. And I'm presuming this, the prosecution is starting out slow. But like I said, it is time to start putting some of those puzzle pieces down, so that we know what the picture is they're trying to present.

SANCHEZ: What about the details coming from the assistant, Mark, that claims that they helped orchestrate these freak offs and that when they paid for things upfront, they were reimbursed by Bad Boy Records, Combs' record label, does that get the prosecution closer to racketeering?

O'MARA: It helps. It's a couple of those footers putting down, right? It's a little bit more of those bricks being laid to show what's going on. That the business that he owns is involved, that he is doing it. That he is orchestrating everything, that when they're reimbursed, he's the one paying the money maybe through a third party. That he is again sort of orchestrating everything and that this is sort of one plan and that he's the spearhead of it. And that's what they really have to start focusing on.

KEILAR: We'll see if they start making more of that turn. Mark O'Meara, thank you so much for being with us.

O'MARA: Great to be here. Good seeing you guys again,

KEILAR: And still to come, a frustrated President Trump telling Republican lawmakers to stop negotiating and move forward with his sweeping tax reform and spending bill, while also warning his party in no uncertain terms to avoid doing one specific thing. We're going to look at what it is, whether that's even possible. Plus, the head of America's largest bank issuing a new warning about the president's tariffs, suggesting the president's negotiating tactics are not working.

SANCHEZ: And later, crippled by Federal cuts, a union representing National Weather Service employees say staff had to be urgently called in as deadly storms move through Kentucky this weekend. We'll explain why this is a critical moment for the agency when we come back.

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SANCHEZ: President Donald Trump delivered a blunt message as he met behind closed doors with Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill today. Sources say that Trump told them to quit negotiating and instead push ahead with his sweeping domestic policy agenda. Infighting among house Republicans is threatening to derail his so-called Big Beautiful Bill. Hardliners are worried that proposed cuts don't go far enough to address the nation's bulging deficit. And even as Trump warned lawmakers not to quote "F around with Medicaid" according to sources inside the room, some Republicans are still raising issues about potential cuts and the addition of increased work requirements to the program. Today, Trump downplayed those concerns.

[14:15:00]

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you guarantee that your voters who supported you in the election, working class voters, will not lose health insurance under this bill?

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Oh, they won't lose health insurance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You campaigned on lowering the price of groceries. How do you justify cutting food assistance in this bill?

TRUMP: Let me just tell you, the cut is going to give everybody much more food.

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SANCHEZ: CNN's Lauren Fox is covering this from Capitol Hill. Lauren, the president saying that there was a lot of love inside the room at this meeting, but then the Republicans got out of the meeting and essentially said a lot of them, we can't vote for this bill.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I mean, what the president is dealing with is the same conundrum that Mike Johnson, the House Speaker has been dealing with over the course of his speakership. And that is the reality that he has a very divided conference and a very narrow majority at a moment when everyone is asking for various and conflicting things. He is about to go and meet with members from the New York delegation who are upset because they want to increase the amount that taxpayers in their districts can pay and deduct from their federal taxes for their state and local taxes.

That is an issue that they say that they are going to continue fighting for. They got another offer from the speaker last night. It wasn't good enough. Even after the meeting with Donald Trump today, I am told they still are voting against this bill as it's currently written. We're going to see if the speaker can convince them in his office in a couple of minutes to get on board. Given the fact that Donald Trump's message was clear today, it is time to put the pens down and get on board with this piece of legislation. We are not going to be arguing about this much longer.

The speaker has set this very ambitious deadline of wanting to move this bill by Thursday, by that deadline, the Memorial Day recess that is coming up next week. He has threatened to keep members in town if they can't get there. Obviously, you know, if you keep members in town when they're frustrated, that can cause even bigger issues down the line. But it's really interesting because conservatives are also warning that they're not there yet. Here they are.

REP. THOMAS MASSIE, (R-KY): I didn't feel attacked in there. I think he was just trying to persuade people who weren't there yet.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did he change -- did he change your mind?

MASSIE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you feel like the president moved the needle?

REP. ANDY HARRIS, (R-MD): The president, I don't think convinced enough people that the bill is adequate the way it is. Look, the president called for eliminating waste, fraud and abuse in Medicaid and we have not eliminated waste, fraud and abuse in Medicaid in this bill. FOX: And conservatives are arguing that they want to see deeper cuts to Medicaid. This bill already does make some changes to that program, including additional and new work requirements for able-bodied individuals between the ages of 18 and 64. There's also a new regulation that requires that if you are on Medicaid, you reregister every six months to make sure people aren't abusing or using the program when they aren't eligible for it.

But some of these conservatives want even bigger changes, including the fact that they think the federal government is contributing too much to states when it comes to that Medicaid expansion population. That is something the speaker has said time and time again, is off the table. These conservatives still want it. So, we'll see whether or not any of that gets brought back into the conversation in the next couple of hours. Meanwhile, at 1:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, we expect the House Rules Committee to begin deliberating on this bill. That gives the speaker less than 12 hours at this point to get a deal.

SANCHEZ: We'll see how it goes. Lauren Fox on Capitol Hill, thanks so much. Brianna?

KEILAR: A dire new warning from the CEO of America's largest bank, who is sounding the alarm on tariffs and their impact on the U.S. economy. We're talking about JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon saying that Trump's tariffs are extreme and that he believes the full impact are still yet to be felt.

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JAMIE DIMON, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, JPMORGAN CHASE: People feel pretty good because you haven't seen the effect of tariffs. The market came down 10 percent, it's back up 10 percent. I think that's an extraordinary amount of complacency. I don't think we could predict the outcome, and I think there is a chance of inflation going up and stagflation is a little bit higher than other people think.

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KEILAR: We're also seeing new fallout from President Trump's global trade war. Today, Subaru, following Walmart's lead, announcing that it will hike prices to offset increased costs. In the meantime, Home Depot says it plans to keep most of its prices stable, but it says the tariffs may increase prices on select items and force the company to eliminate some product lines entirely.

With us now is Scott Lincicome, the Vice President of General Economics at the Cato Institute. All right, Scott, so what do you first make of Jamie Dimon's warning here? Have projections about the effects of inflation and stagflation been too conservative?

SCOTT LINCICOME, VICE PRESIDENT, GENERAL ECONOMICS, CATO INSTITUTE: Yeah, I think they have, even granting that United States economy is huge and that trade is a relatively small part of the economy, the reality is that you're imposing hundreds of billions of dollars in new taxes on American manufacturers and retailers like Walmart and Home Depot. [14:20:13]

And as those costs get absorbed by the companies or passed on to consumers, it's inevitably going to be higher prices, fewer products or lower earnings. And the market's going to have to reflect that at some point. So far, you know, companies have built up these inventories. They have a lot of runway, but that runway's going to run out at some point.

KEILAR: And obviously, the objective of Trump's with his tariffs is supposed to be to rebalance trade, right? So, there's this question of what is that going to look like long term? And you have Dimon pointing out that even these low level 10 percent tariffs are enough that they're prompting trading partners of America to respond by then cutting deals with other countries. What is the effect long term of allies turning elsewhere like that?

LINCICOME: Right. I mean, the effects are a few-fold. For American exporters, it's the most obvious. You're going to see, less opportunity to sell in those markets and do business in those markets because your competitors that are now benefiting from these trade agreements that don't involve the U.S., where your competitors are going to have better trade terms, more access, easier operations.

So, the other things though are that, look, about half of everything we import into the United States are inputs used in manufacturing. So, even a 10 percent tax on those inputs, makes our companies less competitive and also, of course, it means slower growth and higher prices. And all of that just means -- doesn't mean economic Armageddon, but it just means we're a little poorer and a little less competitive overall.

KEILAR: That doesn't sound great, right?

(LAUGH)

KEILAR: That's not -- that's not, obviously, the aim here. Let's talk about what we're seeing from Home Depot and Subaru. Home Depot saying, although it is planning to keep most of its prices stable, like I mentioned there, it's going to get rid of some things -- it would expect some products will disappear. Subaru says they are raising prices. How big of a deal is that?

LINCICOME: Well, we can start with Subaru because this is an inevitable part of the tariff's effect because around half of Subaru Outback, for example, is imported materials. And even though it's made in the United States, when you raise taxes on those imported materials, at some point, you're going to need to raise prices. And we're seeing Subaru bowed to that add economic reality just as Ford and others have done previously.

But with Home Depot, this is one of the hidden costs of tariffs. You know, we talk a lot about higher prices, but sometimes it just means products won't simply exist in the United States anymore. And that's especially true for products on the lower end that have lower profit margins or more price sensitive consumers. In that case, well, the shelf just won't have the product anymore and it seems that Home Depot is acknowledging that unfortunate reality.

KEILAR: Can you think of an example? It doesn't have to be a Home Depot example, it could be at any retailer, something that people depend on that's going to fall into that hole?

LINCICOME: Yeah, it's really hard to say, of course, because there are so many variables. But I think you can actually go back to automobiles where we've already seen a few automakers talk about low- end imported vehicles that just don't make sense with a new 25 percent tariff. If you're charging $20,000 for a car and then you suddenly increase that by $3,000, $4,000, $5,000, you're just not going to have a market for it. And so, I think that's one of the most obvious areas where we're going to see that limited variety.

KEILAR: Yeah, there may be a market, but there won't be the supply, right? You won't be able to purchase that cheap car that maybe you really need. Scott, great to have you. Thank you so much for being with us.

And coming up, four days after devastating tornadoes ripped through Missouri, seven people dead because of them, state officials say FEMA is not yet on the ground. We'll take a look at the response. First though, President Trump says Qatar offered to gift him a brand new Air Force One, but sources tell CNN that's not how things actually went down. We have our new reporting about the controversial gift right after this.

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SANCHEZ: So, was it a gift or a request? There are new questions about that $400 million plane that Qatar is apparently prepared to hand over to President Trump as a replacement for Air Force One. Here's what the president has said about how this offer came about.

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TRUMP: If I wanted to, I could hurt Boeing and I don't want to hurt Boeing, but they're very late with the plane. And Qatar heard about it and he's a great leader. And we were talking and he said, if I can help you, let me do that and they had a plane.

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SANCHEZ: So Qatar heard about it. The president's narrative on how all of this happened is now in dispute because four sources familiar with the discussions tell CNN that it was actually Trump's team that first approached Qatar about acquiring a 747 that could be used as Air Force One. CNN Chief National Security Correspondent, Alex Marquardt joins us now with the details. What are these sources telling us?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: So as you heard there from Trump, in his --