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Testimony Resumes in Combs Trial; Storms Move Across U.S.; Bill Joel has Rare Brain Disorder; Kremlin Slams Lifting of Lon-Range Missiles for Ukraine. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired May 27, 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]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Students are coming from. Harvard already shares a list as of October 2024. There's information on that. Donald Trump now says that is not enough.

So, we know that Harvard's become this symbol of the president's fight with institutions he disagrees with. But to what end does the answer to that question, Madison, not even matter in the political realm?

MADISON GESIOTTO, POLITICAL STRATEGIST: I think -- do you not think it's important that we should be knowing where some of these students are coming from, if they have ties to Hamas, if they have ties to any other organizations? I don't understand what the issue is when it comes to the federal government wanting access to that information. It's not a free speech issue, it becomes a -- a much broader issue, I think, and we're seeing that played out on campuses as we've seen students put in danger as a result of some of this.

BOLDUAN: Paul.

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: OK, I worked in the government. Students from other countries have to have what's called a student visa. You know who gives them that student visa? The federal government. You know who runs the federal government? Donald Trump. He needs to call Marco Rubio over at the State Department, who's also now busy running USAID and the National Security Council, but say, hey, Marco, who's here and why and from where?

We already know that, Madison. We've known that for decades. This is just Trump being Trump. And -- and he -- he -- he's really hurting our country. That's my problem with it. I mean, I don't -- I didn't go to Harvard. I know John Berman did, and I'm sorry about that. But I -- I -- he probably couldn't get into the University of Texas.

BOLDUAN: Exactly.

BEGALA: Or Ohio State, Madison, in your case. You're a big Buckeye and I can't stand that. But -- but, come on, he's hurting America. As -- as Dr. Garber (ph) said, they -- we hire them to do research. And particularly these foreign students. You know, everybody's -- all these people said China's going to

overtake America. They never will because our Chinese are smarter than their Chinese. You know, we're like the NFL draft. We get the smartest people from all over the world to come here. And then they make our country better. Like, that's called the American dream. Why Trump hates the American dream I will never know.

BOLDUAN: One thing we can end on, though, is it's always fun to hate on each other's universities, except when you're pulling funding from them. No one's targeting GW right now.

BEGALA: Right.

BOLDUAN: Stand by to stand by. But it's great to see you guys. Thank you both very much.

Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: But, Paul Begala, it is not okay to hate on our John Berman. We will come for you, sir. Only we get to do that.

BOLDUAN: Not -- not unless we're involved. Not unless we're involved.

SIDNER: Correct.

BOLDUAN: That's the -- oh, yes.

SIDNER: I like it.

Good job, Kate.

Coming up this morning, another former employee of Sean Combs will take the stand at his trial. We are expecting to hear some wild, wild tales. What jurors will be listening to do today.

All right, plus, Billy Joel's wife sharing a health update after the singer's brain disorder diagnosis. Dr. Gupta is joining us to share what we know about his condition.

Those stories and more coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:36:39]

SIDNER: In less than an hour, the racketeering and sex trafficking trial of Sean Combs is set to resume with another one of Combs' former employees taking the stand. Capricorn Clark served as Combs' director of marketing. She is the third former employee to testify in the trial. You'll remember rapper Kid Cudi mentioned Clark during his testimony. He said that Clark called him back in December 2011, warning him that Combs had broken into his home. Kid Cudi testified that during that call, Clark sounded like she was, quote, "on the verge of tears."

CNN's Kara Scannell is outside court today. What else can we expect today? We know that she will be taking the

stand -- the stand in a bit here.

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Sara, Capricorn Clark is expected to be the next witness called by the prosecution in this case. Then they said that they will also call a member of the Los Angeles Fire Department and the LAPD. All of that testimony ties back to Thursday's when Kid Cudi was on the stand and he testified about Capricorn Clark calling him, telling him that Sean Combs was in his home after Combs had learned that Cassie Ventura, his then girlfriend, was in a relationship with Kid Cudi. It all goes to this theme of jealousy.

And so, Capricorn Clark is expected to testify about that, and also about how she ended up in that car. When prosecutors opened their case, they talked about a former employee being forced by gunpoint to go into the car with Combs and his security detail after he learned that Ventura was dating someone else. So, she will shed some light on that experience and then also tying it in to -- and corroborating Kid Cudi's testimony.

That's also where we're seeing these other officials come into play, because Kid Cudi testified that when he learned that Sean Combs had broken into his apartment, or his home, by Capricorn Clark, he called the LAPD. Kid Cudi also testified about a separate -- about a separate episode where he said he believed that Combs had -- Combs or someone associated with him had firebombed his Porsche. And in that instance, he also called the LAPD and the fire department. They were on scene.

So, this is -- the testimony today is expected to try to corroborate some of what Kid Cudi and others have said, because part of the government's case is a racketeering conspiracy charge, which one element of that is the element of arson. So, this is part of a prosecution effort to fill out that aspect of their case. Those three are expected to be on the stand the entire day.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right. And, of course, the defense pouncing on the fact that he was never charged with any of those breaking in or burning the car of Kid Cudi. We will see what happens. There has been such, such explosive testimony throughout this trial so far.

Kara Scannell, I know you'll be watching all of it, thank you so much.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, the Kremlin demeans President Trump, saying he is on emotional overload, as the president says he is considering new sanctions against Russia.

And happening now, millions of people under the threat of dangerous winds, hail and tornadoes as a powerful line of storms is set to tear through the United States.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [08:43:43]

BOLDUAN: So, right now, millions of people are in the path of a dangerous line of storms sweeping across the south today. Big winds, hail, possible tornadoes could hit the region.

CNN's Derek Van Dam tracking this one for you this hour.

And, Derek, where's the -- where's the greatest threat today?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, look, Kate, it was a rude awakening if you were in Houston this morning, Galveston, along the coastal areas of Texas. Now that line has moved offshore.

We're focusing our attention across southern Mississippi, as well as eastern sections of Louisiana. This bowing line of thunderstorms is producing winds in excess of 60 miles per hour. It's about to slam into places like Jackson, Mississippi. It just crossed through Baton Rouge. It will impact the Lake Pontchartrain region in the northern suburbs of New Orleans as it continues to race east at about 40 miles per hour.

So, that is why we have this area identified for severe weather, because that line of storms will track eastward through Alabama, eventually reaching the Atlanta metropolitan later this evening, just in time for that rush hour drive home.

But keep in mind, we have the potential for some stronger thunderstorms to redevelop over the western portions of Texas, particularly the hill country.

So, in terms of hail, hail threat is marginal here across the southeast. But we want to focus in on the hill country of Texas because we could see two inch in diameter or larger size hailstones falling from the sky.

[08:45:01]

So, we like to put this comparison out there. How big is a two inch sized hailstone? Well, that's between a golf ball and a baseball. Can you imagine that falling from the sky? That will certainly do damage to your car, to your home, and certainly to yourself if you're unprotected outdoors.

All right, so this is the line of storms reaching Atlanta by 5:00 p.m. So, dinnertime tonight, it will be impacting the region. Macon, Athens into the evening and overnight hours, dissipating but bringing heavy rainfall to the mid-Atlantic by Wednesday morning, tomorrow.

Speaking of rain, still some elevated rivers across the southern plains. Look at the areas that have the potential for excessive rain that could lead to flooding today all across the south.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Derek, thank you so much for focusing in on that for us.

VAN DAM: You got it.

BOLDUAN: John.

BERMAN: All right, this morning, Billy Joel's wife is speaking out for the first time since the singer/songwriter was diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder that forced him to cancel his upcoming tour. Joel's wife thanked fans for their support and said they are hopeful for his recovery. He was diagnosed with normal pressure hydrocephalus, which is a brain condition that has led him to experience problems with hearing, vision and balance.

Let's get right to CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Sanjay, explain to us what normal pressure hydrocephalus -- make sure I said that right -- is.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You got it.

So, this is basically a neurological condition that is caused by having too much fluid, too much cerebral spinal fluid specifically, on the brain.

A lot of people have heard of hydrocephalus. You typically think of this as in baby's, water on the brain sometimes it's referred to, but it can happen in adults as well, especially people over the age of 65.

Let me -- let me show you an image. I think this will sort of make it a little bit clearer here. When you think about the brain, you obviously have gray matter. You can see that all around the brain. You have fluid as well. So, those dark areas in the middle of the brain on the left, that's what it should look like. That's where the fluid is sort of supposed to be. On the right is normal pressure hydrocephalus. And you can see those fluid filled areas, known as ventricles, have expanded. And -- and that's -- that's normal pressure hydrocephalus. It's called normal pressure because it's not under a lot of pressure, but it can cause all sorts of different symptoms. Some of the ones that he's talking about that has led to the -- the postponement at least of this tour.

BERMAN: Yes, look, that -- those images are so vivid. You can really see the difference there.

GUPTA: Yes.

BERMAN: How common is this?

GUPTA: You know, this is one of those interesting things, John. It's not that common. But in the world of neurology and neurosurgery, it is very well known. This is one of those things that can be a huge mimic for all sorts of things, because you look at the symptoms that it causes, difficulties with walking, difficulties with cognition, things like memory, difficulties with bladder control. That can -- like that could be a lot of different things. Is this Parkinson's disease? Is this Alzheimer's disease? Patient comes into the doctor's office with these types of symptoms. They get a scan. And even though this is not that common, if you do see normal pressure hydrocephalus, in many ways that could explain a lot of other symptoms.

So, you know, it's well known in the neurosurgery world, not that common, but very treatable as well.

BERMAN: Yes, this is your wheelhouse, Sanjay. I mean this is neurosurgery.

GUPTA: Yes.

BERMAN: It's what you do. You perform surgery on people with this.

GUPTA: Yes.

BERMAN: I mean, so -- so talk to us about the treatment.

GUPTA: All right, so this is really interesting. So, you think about this. You have fluid that is sort of circulating around the brain and around the spinal cord. I just showed you the images. There's too much fluid.

First thing they typically do is they put a needle in the lower back, something known as a lumbar puncture, and just drain some of that fluid. Just take some of that fluid away. And basically then just observe how does the patient do for several hours, several days afterward? Do they improve in terms of those symptoms? If they do, then you can do a more permanent procedure. Let me just show you on this brain model, John.

So, this is the brain. Basically those fluid filled spaces are closer to the center of the brain. You put a little catheter through the top of the brain into those fluid-filled spaces, and then that catheter basically goes into the abdominal cavity and drains fluid regularly, consistently, so as to sort of bring down the size of those ventricles.

And I got to tell you, John, it can be really effective. And again, keep in mind, someone -- he got a diagnosis, Billy Joel, but people oftentimes come in fully believing they have Alzheimer's, dementia, fully believing they have Parkinson's disease. They get this scan, they get that procedure, and they can effectively treat, if not reverse, those symptoms, John.

BERMAN: Well, again, this is why -- you explain so well why people do say it is treatable. We will see how it works for Billy Joel going forward.

GUPTA: Absolutely.

BERMAN: Thank you, Sanjay. Really appreciate it.

GUPTA: Of course, John.

BERMAN: And, of course, you can scan the QR code on your screen, send us your questions about this, about Billy Joel's diagnosis. And Sanjay will be back tomorrow to answer them.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, the American Music Awards were all about the icons. You're seeing Billie Eilish there. We also saw Janet Jackson taking the stage and J.Lo sharing a medley of this year's biggest hits.

[08:50:04]

We will bring you the big winners from last night's show.

Also, an historic feat off Martha's Vineyard. An endurance athlete swam 60 miles around the island. The first ever to be able to do this. Why he's calling it the most difficult swim in his 40 year career.

Those stories ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: So, right now, a manhunt is underway in Arkansas for a former police chief. A former police chief who is also a man convicted of rape and murder. Investigators say Grant Hardin escaped from prison on Sunday by dressing like law enforcement. And they released this photo, we will show you, of him simply walking out of the jail disguised, as they describe it, a makeshift outfit designed to mimic law enforcement. Hardin is serving a 30-year sentence for first degree murder, as well as two 25-year sentences for two counts of rape.

A British South African endurance athlete just became the first person to swim around the island of Martha's Vineyard.

[08:55:04]

Lewis Pugh swam 60 miles and 12 days, braving cold, rough waters, to raise awareness about protecting sharks. The 55-year-old said it is time to stop treating sharks as villains, as depicted in the movie "Jaws." Here, here. Berman, this is a conversation you and I have had for years. This summer marks the 50th anniversary of the blockbuster film that was shot on Martha's Vineyard. Pugh says this was one of the hardest swims of his life, and that is saying something for a man whose resume apparently also includes swimming near volcanoes, swimming among crocodiles and swimming near polar bears in the past. What is next for this gentleman?

So, it was a star-studded night at the American Music Awards in Las Vegas. Billie Eilish swept all seven categories she was nominated in, including artist and album of the year. Beyonce took home two awards, including for favorite country album for "Cowboy Carter." Another highlight of the night, Janet Jackson returning to the stage, making her first TV appearance -- marking her first TV performance in seven years as she accepted the Icon Award. Rod Stewart closed out the show after receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award.

And the baby panda cubs at Hong Kong's Ocean Park finally have their names. They are Hong Kong's first giant pandas, so there's a whole lot of excitement around it. We will now introduce you to sister and brother, I mean, they're adorabs-mcgorbs (ph). Jia Jia and I'm told two different pronunciations De De or De De. We're going with De De because that's the nickname I give my daughter. The names were picked from more than 35,000 public entries. Jia stands for family and joy, while day means success and virtue. The two were born last August to mom panda Ying Ying, who is the oldest first-time panda mom in the world and deserves an award.

John.

BERMAN: Yes, I'm just (INAUDIBLE) they didn't name them like Madison and Mason, which seems to be what everyone's naming their kids now in the United States.

BERMAN: Wait, wasn't it like Leo and Olivia? I love those lists.

BERMAN: Yes. I'm glad they branched out from that. Found something more original.

All right, this morning, a shift in approach for Ukrainian allies that has angered the Kremlin. Germany's chancellor announced that they have lifted the ban on firing long range missiles into Russia, and there are no longer range restrictions on weapons supplied to Ukraine by Germany, Britain, France and the U.S. This comes after Russia unleashed multiple deadly attacks over several days, including overnight, that left two people dead, 16 others wounded.

With us now, CNN global affairs analyst Kim Dozier.

Kim, so -- so these restrictions, which the German chancellor is talking about, and weapons that were given to Ukraine by the United States and allies for a long time, and President Biden wanted this too, wanted restrictions, didn't want Ukraine to be able to shoot them deep into Russia, or wherever they wanted. Now the German chancellor says, have at it. What difference could that make?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes, doing this in defiance or without seeking the permission of the Trump administration, this means that they can use these weapons, the Ukrainians can hit Russian supply lines, Russian command and control nodes, the same kind of things that the Russians are doing to the Ukrainians. It levels the playing field somewhat. But what they really need is permission to do the same thing with all the U.S. directly supplied weaponry, and they need continuing supplies to be able to continue to prosecute the fight as Russian troops are apparently readying for a summer offensive.

BERMAN: And whether those supplies continue in the numbers that they have over the last few years, that's one of the major questions now facing Ukraine, really facing the world.

President Trump expressed surprise over the weekend that Vladimir Putin and Russia continues to attack Ukraine. What -- what does that tell you? If he's really surprised, what does that tell you?

DOZIER: That every time Putin talks to him, as he did last week in a long two hour plus conversation, Putin manages to convince Trump that he is taking some steps towards negotiation, towards ceasefire. The Kremlin has said that they're about to come out with a memo that Putin promised Trump last week on how they would go forward with the ceasefire, but it keeps not happening. And Trump's tweet over the weekend got dismissed by the Kremlin as emotional.

BERMAN: Yes.

DOZIER: When you talk to Ukrainians and Europeans about this, they're like, when is he going to get it that Putin is playing him? Is he afraid of Putin? He seems to be as risk averse as Biden was, fearful that Putin might use nuclear weapons.

BERMAN: And President Trump is said to be considering new sanctions against Russia. Nothing definite at this point. Would -- how much would new sanctions make a difference?

DOZIER: The sanctions would be symbolic, but important for morale on the ground in Ukraine.

[08:59:57]

They would be doing things like the Senator Lindsey Graham package that's being considered on Capitol Hill would hit China, India and the EU for buying oil.