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Pentagon Limits Reporters; Independent Pharmacies Face Rising Costs; Numbers on Memorial Day; Testimony in Combs Trial; Bringing Veterans' Stories Closer to Home. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired May 26, 2025 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: The Pentagon says they're needed.

Plus, Memorial Day is, of course, the unofficial start to summer. So, how are Americans marking the day? There's your clue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: The Pentagon Press Association is calling out Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on his attempts to limit press access at the Pentagon. They said the most recent restrictions placed by Hegseth are, quote, "a direct attack on the freedom of the press and America's right to know what its military is doing."

[08:35:09]

Hegseth announced new additional credentialing procedures for the press and limits to where reporters can go in the Pentagon.

CNN's chief media analyst Brian Stelter joining me now.

Brian, can you give us some sense of the impact that these restrictions will have on the coverage of the military and the Pentagon?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Yes, this is a really specific change at the Pentagon, but it's part of something much bigger and broader, a clampdown on independent media access to knowing what's happening inside the U.S. military.

Let's start with the holiday weekend announcement. This announcement by the Pentagon, which is one of the world's largest office buildings, saying that key parts of the building will be off limits to journalists unless they have an escort and approval in advance to be there. In practice, that means the Trump administration will be able to keep journalists out of some key areas all throughout the building.

Here's part of the statement from the Pentagon Press Association that you just read. They say, "the decision is purportedly based on concerns about operational security. But the Pentagon Press Corps has had access to non-secured, unclassified spaces in the building for decades, including Republican and Democratic administrations, including in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, without any concern about OP-SEC from leadership." So, that's the statement from the Press Association saying this is extremely concerning to see these restrictions put in place.

And this is all part of a much broader pattern that has been seen over the past few months. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, coming over from Fox News, he has attacked a number of journalists who cover the military, including one of his former colleagues at Fox News. And one of his first moves back in January was to exile some of the news outlets that long -- had longtime workspaces in the Pentagon, like CNN, NPR, "The New York Times," boot them from their workspaces and bring in smaller, pro-Trump outlets into those workspaces instead.

Furthermore, Hegseth has been limited in his press availability, and the Pentagon's top spokesman has only held a single press briefing. One press briefing in about 120 days since the administration came into power.

So, we've seen a real cutback in press access in and around the Pentagon. And these new restrictions, literally inside the building, seem to be part of that pattern.

SIDNER: You know, it has to be pointed out how ironic this is that it was his department that used Signal and added "The Atlantic" reporter to the chat where classified information was being shared. That wasn't because a reporter was walking around the Pentagon grabbing classified information. It was because they themselves had this group chat and -- and accidentally added "The Atlantic" reporter.

Just out of curiosity, do you see more restrictions heading down the pipe here?

STELTER: Well, that's the illusion in this memo that came out over this holiday weekend. No details yet from the Pentagon, but there's a reference in the memo to enhanced security procedures, changes to credentialing and some sort of pledge that journalists will be told to sign that they are ensuring they will keep the secrets of the military safe. The concern among some journalists, that would be used as a pretext to strip credentials and kick them out of the building altogether in the future.

Certainly, it's understandable why Hegseth and his aides have concerns about leaks. But as you pointed out, we have known where some of those leaks have been coming from.

You know, the National Press Club came out with a strong statement over the weekend saying access to the military and understanding what's going on in the military is not a luxury, it's a necessity. Quote, "it keeps voters informed, strengthens democratic oversight and sends a clear message to the world that America stands for openness and accountability." That's the National Press Club.

And, Sara, that's what I'm going to be thinking of. I'm heading to my town's Memorial Day parade right now. This is a very special day in the country. We always think about what this country and what its veterans have been through. And a lot of that information comes thanks to having journalists embedded, thanks to having members of the media who are at the Pentagon to tell the country what is happening in the military.

So, I think it's important we pay attention to these signs that it seems Hegseth and his aides don't want the press around, don't want the press to be in the way. Ultimately, that ultimately might hurt the public's knowledge of what's going on in the military.

SIDNER: Brian Stelter, it is always a pleasure to have you. Thank you for being here on this Memorial Day.

Erica.

HILL: Well, this morning, independent pharmacies are now warning they could become a casualty of President Trump's trade war. The president has threatened to put steep tariffs on imported pharmaceuticals. This is part of his attempt to bring drug production to the United States. Small pharmacies, however, say the cost of those tariffs could actually drive them out of business.

CNN's Julia Vargas Jones takes a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SONA KAZANGIAN, PHARMACIST, DISCOUNT MEDICAL PHARMACY: There is not a single bottle that I pull up here that doesn't say made in China or made in India. The generics I think probably about 80 percent of it or more is made in other countries.

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The threat of tariffs for this slice of the health care industry looms large. But it's just one of many challenges independent pharmacists like Sona Kazangian now face.

KAZANGIAN: It's very difficult for us to survive.

JONES: Her father started the business 41 years ago. Now she is fighting to keep it open among razor-thin profit margins in what she calls a broken reimbursement system.

[08:40:03]

KAZANGIAN: There are drugs that I don't even buy anymore because I already know that there is no plan that reimburses me even at cost, much less at a profit.

JONES (voice over): That reimbursement is set by pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs. Companies that act as middlemen between insurers and pharmacies.

KAZANGIAN: They control, you know, what the patient pays as a copay. They control what we, as the pharmacy, receives as payment. These entities are paying us less than what the drug costs for us to buy it.

JONES (voice over): This business model is not sustainable for the pharmacies, experts say, but often more profitable for PBMs.

ROBIN FELDMAN, LAW PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LAW SAN FRANCISCO: PBMs are paid by the discount they get. So, they've learned that if prices rise, they get a better discount and their pay goes up. That's PBM.

JONES: So could they benefit from higher prices of medication?

FELDMAN: If the prices rise because of tariffs or for any other reason, they will do better.

JONES (voice over): If enacted, the costs of tariffs on those drugs would be passed down from manufacturer, to wholesaler, to pharmacy, squeezing these businesses even further.

KAZANGIAN: We don't really know exactly what's going to happen, but I think all independent pharmacies have thought about this issue. If you're acquiring this drug now for x dollars more because of a tariff, the likelihood that the PBM is going to pay me x dollars more to make up for that is probably slim.

JONES (voice over): But the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association says PBMs generate at least $148 billion in savings for the health care system annually and support independent pharmacies through innovative programs to increase reimbursement on prescription drugs.

Earlier this month, the National Community Pharmacists Association issued a statement saying that "unless the federal government ensures that PBM pharmacy reimbursements are increased to reflect higher costs, the ripple effect of tariffs could be fewer pharmacies, stranded patients and inadequate pharmacy networks for Medicare and Medicaid."

A grim prognosis for institutions that play a vital role in so many communities.

KAZANGIAN: In parts of this country that are very rural or not very accessible, those pharmacies are really the only like medical facilities that exist. So, those patients are really going to -- they're really going to suffer.

JONES (voice over): Julia Vargas Jones, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: All right, today, as you know, is the last Monday in May, Memorial Day, where we salute U.S. service members who gave everything to us.

It also marks the end of school for many students across the country and the kickoff to annual summer traditions.

CNN's Harry Enten is here.

OK, there may be a dispute here as to when the official beginning of summer is. A lot of us think of Memorial Day as that day, even though it's unofficial. It's not like what the calendar says.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yes. SIDNER: It's what, you know, we feel.

ENTEN: Yes, it's what we feel.

So, you know, simply put, when is the unofficial start of summer? All right, here we go. We actually got polling on this.

SIDNER: OK.

ENTEN: Is it Memorial Day weekend? Forty-five percent, the plurality say yes.

How about the last day of school? That was certainly the case for me, but I haven't been in school --

SIDNER: Well, those are all the kids, to be fair.

ENTEN: Yes, those are all the school -- all the kids. That's -- that was me even until about my mid-20s. That's 41 percent.

How about your summer vacay? If that's the case, that's not happening until the end of August for me.

SIDNER: Yes.

ENTEN: Or maybe its astronomical summer, which begins, you know, June 20th, 21st, depending on the year. Or meteorological summer, which begins at the beginning of June. I got it right, dear producer, Noah, this time around.

But this weekend, around 45 percent. That's not half a bad number.

SIDNER: It feels right to me.

ENTEN: It feels right.

SIDNER: It feels right.

All right, so what does not feel right is that we're working today. What about most Americans? Where do they stand in this sort of working on this day?

ENTEN: Yes, we're a bunch of suckers, Sara Sidner.

SIDNER: Dude.

ENTEN: We are sucker, sucker, suckers. Memorial Day, a paid day off. The vast majority, nine and ten, yes, they are off today. So, if you're watching us at home, you are probably off today. Or maybe you're part of the unlucky, or the lucky because I get to work with Sara, 10 percent who are not off today, but I'm part of the 10 percent. Part of me wishes I was part of the 90, but then I wouldn't get to see Sara Sidner.

SIDNER: It's funny, our whole crew just walked out. They saw that number and they said -- ENTEN: Where are they?

SIDNER: I think it's more like 95 percent now.

ENTEN: Yes.

SIDNER: Look, a lot of us are going to be barbecuing today. We're going to have some food later.

ENTEN: Yes.

SIDNER: What are people grilling? Like, what's the -- what's the most popular thing?

ENTEN: OK, so Sara and I have a bit of a disagreement on this one. Favorite food to barbecue. Beef, not much of a surprise, comes in at number one, 39 percent. I don't remember the last time I had a beef hamburger. I feel like it was more than five years ago at this point. You know, I'm trying --

SIDNER: Five years ago?

ENTEN: At least. At least. I like a bison burger.

SIDNER: You eating a burger today. That's what's happening.

ENTEN: Well, we'll see what happens. We'll report back tomorrow. Chicken, 27 percent. That's pretty decent for me. Pork, the Jew in me, absolutely not.

SIDNER: No.

ENTEN: Fish. I love a good piece of salmon, 11 percent. And veggies, 10 percent. But, you know, I'm trying to get fit. You know, I'm trying to look good. I'm trying to get on the right path.

[08:45:01]

SIDNER: You look -- you look good, Harry. (INAUDIBLE) disagree on this, but here's my favorite -- my favorite ad has always been that Wendy's ad.

ENTEN: Yes.

SINDER: Where's the beef? And there it is, 39 percent of Americans.

ENTEN: As first Mondale once said to Gary Hart back in 1984.

SIDNER: Right. I hate it when you do the 1900, but, OK, we will let it stay there, young man.

Harry Enten, thank you.

ENTEN: Thank you.

SIDNER: All right, ahead, jurors in the federal sex trafficking trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs have a lot to listen to in court this week. What we can expect after the explosive testimony last week.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: Sources tell CNN the ten inmates who broke out of that jail in New Orleans used electric hair trimmers with multiple clipper braids -- blades to help make their way through those cell walls.

[08:50:11]

Authorities have now captured five of the escaped inmates. They're being held at the maximum security Louisiana State Penitentiary, but five still remain on the run.

And as law enforcement searches for the escapees, they're also tracking anyone who may have helped them. Investigators have now arrested seven people so far, but they do say more are likely to be taken into custody. Louisiana officials also say they're sending auditors to the Orleans Justice Center to investigate the escape.

A star of the reality show "Duck Dynasty" has died. Phil Robertson was the patriarch of the family, founder of Duck Commander sporting goods. His family announced his death on Sunday but did not note a cause of death. Back in December, on his family's podcast, Robertson's son said his father was facing early stages of Alzheimer's disease. Phil Robertson was 79 years old.

The armorer, convicted in the deadly shooting on the set of the Alec Baldwin film "Rust" is now out of prison. Hannah Gutierrez Reed was released on Friday after serving 18 months for involuntary manslaughter. She was convicted in the 2021 fatal shooting by Baldwin of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Prosecutors say she brought live rounds to the set and also failed to follow basic gun safety rules. Gutierrez Reed is now out on parole with restrictions, including a ban on owning firearms. Her appeal is still pending. The charge against Baldwin was dismissed.

French President Emmanuel Macron's office is trying to downplay video that apparently shows his wife, Brigitte, shoving his face. The video was taken early this morning as the two were preparing to leave a plane in Vietnam. The first stop for Macron's tour of southeast Asia. A source with the president's office dismissed the video, telling CNN it was a moment of togetherness, and that the president and his wife were unwinding and playfully teasing each other.

Sara.

SIDNER: All righty then.

All right, it is gearing up to be another big week in the Sean Combs sex trafficking trial. Testimony set to resume tomorrow with another one of Combs' former assistants taking the stand. Last week concluded with rapper kid Cudi, who testified about his brief relationship with Cassie Ventura. Kid Cudi said he was concerned for her safety, as well as his own. He described the time when he says a jealous Combs broke into his home, locked his dog in a bathroom and opened his Christmas gifts. The jury also saw photos of Kid Cudi's charred Porsche. Cudi testified

he knew Combs had something to do with that damage.

Joining me now, defense and trial attorney Misty Marris and former U.S. prosecutor Sarah Krissoff.

Sarah and Misty, thank you so much for being here on Memorial Day, no doubt, when you could be doing a lot of other things.

I'm going to start with you, Sarah. When we saw this testimony from Kid Cudi, how impactful and important was it for the words that came out of his mouth on the stand, but also they've had the whole weekend to sit with it?

SARAH KRISSOFF, FORMER U.S. PROSECUTOR, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: Yes, so the prosecution is trying to build the racketeering case particularly through Kid Cudi and hopefully, from their viewpoint, with witnesses to come. So, I think that's been the area where there's been the least amount of testimony so far, but they are going to build that block by block in trying to, you know, convince the jury there was some sort of enterprise, and all of these people that were around Combs trying to cover up the crimes that were committed in furtherance of that enterprise.

SIDNER: Misty, as far as how the defense is handling some of this explosive testimony from Kid Cudi, who was very strong on the stand, according to our reporters who were in there watching this every single day. How is the defense handling itself so far?

MISTY MARRIS, DEFENSE AND TRIAL ATTORNEY: Well, first of all, explosive is the perfect word because the main point of that testimony from the prosecution's perspective was the Molotov cocktail that Kid Cudi says it was Combs and his affiliates, his associates, who blew up his car. And that is part of the predicate crimes prosecutors are seeking to establish of arson, which goes towards racketeering.

But, Sara, I was actually in the courtroom for Kid Cudi's testimony. So, I saw it. He was a great witness. But the defense was able to chip away at his testimony on cross and establish that he had no direct information. He didn't see anybody. There were no cameras. There was never an arrest. Basically, throwing a little bit of doubt as to whether or not he could really say it was Combs, or someone associated with Combs, who actually did that damage to his car. So, the defense did a good job.

He also said that Cassie played him. This was his testimony. And that she was living a double life by dating both himself and Combs. Now, that speaks to her autonomy in the situation, that element of control. So, the defense did an excellent job on cross-examination of getting that out in front of the jury.

SIDNER: Yes, one of those moments that Kid Cudi had was saying that he saw Combs standing outside after that car was burned looking like a super villain staying there with his hands behind his back.

[08:55:08] But -- but I am curious about some of this coming in. There -- there was no police report. There was no investigation. There was no arrest of -- of Sean "Diddy" Combs at the time. How did -- were you surprised that that came in, that the judge allowed that testimony and those pictures?

KRISSOFF: Yes, I'm wondering if there is more to come on this because it was a lot of supposition on behalf of Kid Cudi --

SIDNER: Yes.

KRISSOFF: Saying, I -- this must have been him because we had this warning and then the -- then the thing happened. So, it was -- you know, and that is always, frankly, a danger in a racketeering case. They have this huge swath of time that they're covering. There's lots of events. There's a real question of, like, is all of this stuff properly before the jury?

SIDNER: Yes, and -- and that is something that obviously, if there's a conviction that can come back up on appeal.

Misty, I'm curious going forward this week what you're expecting to hear, because so far almost every single day of this trial has been jaw dropping testimony.

MARRIS: Absolutely. So tomorrow, after this long weekend, we'll be back in session in court. And Capricorn Clark is set to take the stand. Now, she's come up in several different witness testimony. She's been referenced. She's a longtime assistant and eventually became an executive at Bad Boy Records. So, many of the witnesses that we've heard from so far that were affiliated or working for Combs were little snapshots of time. Two years here, two years there.

Capricorn Clark worked with him for a longer period of time. She also was referenced in Kid Cudi's testimony that she had reached out to Kid Cudi and said, hey, Combs and some of his affiliates are at your house, are breaking into your house.

So, she's certainly going to be a very important witness. And my expectation from pretrial is that she's going to testify about the means and methods of the criminal racketeering conspiracy that prosecutors are seeking to establish.

SIDNER: Yes, and we're expecting, what, six weeks of -- of the prosecution putting on its case and the defense doing its thing afterwards.

I do want to ask you, Sarah, about some reporting that has come out from "People." They talked to folks in the jail. And they said that Combs will have a chance to take part in a spades card game, dominoes, three on three basketball tournament and a soccer tournament that were offered -- offered to prisoners for the holiday, as well as to have some barbecue. He is innocent until proven guilty, but is this the kind of the norm when you're in jail during a trial?

KRISSOFF: Listen, there is nothing that is good about being in the Metropolitan Detention Center. It's a pretty tough facility. And these types of pretrial facilities have a lot less access, outdoor time, educational programing that you would have at a post-trial facility.

SIDNER: Right.

KRISSOFF: So, listen, I -- I think these are -- these are human comforts that he's being provided.

SIDNER: Yes.

KRISSOFF: But -- but nothing, nothing out of the ordinary.

SIDNER: Nothing out of the -- out of the norm. And this was provided for all, I think, of the -- of the inmates there.

Thank you so much, Sarah, to you. And thank you to you, Misty. We will be back asking you more questions as this trial continues tomorrow.

Erica.

HILL: Well, as the nation remembers U.S. service members today who made the ultimate sacrifice, there's a new partnership between the VA and the American Battle Monuments Commission, helping to tell the stories of veterans buried far from home. They've created an online memorial where families can add their photos and add mementos as well to keep a veteran's memory alive.

CNN's Karin Caifa explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm walking towards the grave of Ellen Ainsworth. She's buried here in plot c.

KARIN CAIFA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The final resting place of U.S. Army Second Lieutenant Ellen Ainsworth is far from her hometown of Glenwood City, Wisconsin. But the World War II Army nurse still draws visitors at Sicily-Rome American Cemetery.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, as we take this sand and rub this across her name, for a family member it creates this physical and emotional connection.

CAIFA (voice over): Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, about 40 miles south of Rome, is one of the cemetery's administered by the American Battle Monuments Commission, which maintains monuments to more than 200,000 of the nation's fallen heroes outside of the United States, including the sites like Paris and Normandy.

BEN BRANDS, HISTORIAN, AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION: They are powerful sites of remembrance that are an incredible place to visit and honor the dead of World War I and World War II. However, our audience is the American people, and many Americans will never get the chance to physically journey to one of our cemeteries.

CAIFA (voice over): The American Battle Monuments Commission has now partnered with the Department of Veterans Affairs to bring the stories of these service members closer to home, using the VA's Digital Veterans' Legacy Memorial.

JAMES LAPAGLIA, DIGITAL SERVICE OFFICER, DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS: These American heroes deserve to be remembered, and their stories to be told, just as any other veteran or service member.

CAIFA (voice over): Launched in 2019, VA program officer James LaPaglia says the digital database is intended to make the stories of every U.S. veteran more interactive, more vivid and more accessible.

[09:00:04]

LAPAGLIA: We wanted to take the cemetery experience beyond the confines of a -- of a gate or a cemetery