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Former Assistant Capricorn Clark Testifies in Sean Combs Criminal Trial; FBI Revisiting Probes into Several Unsolved Investigations; Understanding Billy Joel's Rare Brain Disorder Diagnosis. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired May 27, 2025 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Happening right now in the Sean Diddy Combs federal criminal trial, Combs former personal assistant Capricorn Clark is being cross-examined by the defense. She's testifying about how her relationship with Combs ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura began to change while she was working as Ventura's creative director.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Earlier today Clark testified that she was forced to go with Combs to confront Kid Cudi, another rapper, in December of 2011 after Combs learned that he was dating Ventura. Clark says Combs had a gun and said we're going to go kill him. Clark also testified she was subjected to taking a lie detector test to threats and intimidation and that she witnessed Combs be violent with Ventura.

The trial is in its third week and today prosecutors told the judge they may rest their case a week early in five weeks instead of the original estimated six.

Let's talk about how things are going with criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor Mark O'Mara. So Mark, with Clark's testimony what do you think prosecutors have accomplished?

Have they made strides in providing evidence that Combs participated in something broad, in a conspiracy, in racketeering?

MARK O'MARA, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY AND FORMER PROSECUTOR: Well they're starting but I don't think they're making a great deal of headway now they're into week three. We had talked earlier about the fact that they really need to show this criminal enterprise, this ongoing maneuvers by him. They are showing some intimidation, they're showing a gun, they're showing some more threats to Ventura but even with the Kid Cudi thing, OK he threatened but nothing happened.

There may have been the arson that they're going to roll back around to but my concern is that again this is the best prosecution team in the country and they really seem to be stumbling over really putting together a strong case that this guy is the kingpin of a criminal enterprise that it should be held responsible for. They need to start tying up the loose ends.

SANCHEZ: I wonder what you make of Clark's testimony that she was held against her will in this office part, that she was made to take a lie detector test, that she was forced to go to Kid Cudi's home. That doesn't in your eyes amount to the idea that she was part of this corporate conspiracy or this business enterprise that funneled criminal activity.

O'MARA: And it does start to get the prosecution there. I'm not minimizing it, it's just that it seems as though there would be better steps they could take. Certainly the idea of keeping her in a room for four or five days, that's intimidation and it seems as though Combs was willing to intimidate whether it's with guns, Molotov cocktails, a car, threats, physical violence to Ventura or other people.

They are building that case and as they continue over the next week or two of their presentation, I'm presuming they are going to put all those pieces together. I'm just thinking about that jury who's sitting there thinking, yes I hear what you're saying about Combs, I don't like him but where's the sex trafficking? Where's the Rico yet?

And I think they need to start getting to that.

KEILAR: And if they're trying to build a case of this is a man who is using his employees, right, and his business, who it has been alleged so far that he had Cassie Ventura's mother sending money not to him personally but to Bad Boy Records.

[14:35:00]

He's using employees who were employed by Bad Boy Records in sort of the commission or the setup or the support of these sexual encounters with Cassie Ventura, those kinds of things.

The racketeering, it is -- they have to prove this continuous use of the enterprise, right, of the criminal enterprise. Are those kinds of data points that we're describing, that's not enough? I mean what else would you think that they would need to plug in there?

O'MARA: Well I think it does get us on the way, gets the prosecution on the way, because you're right, he is using all of his employees or at least some of the ones that have testified to, you know, if we liken this to a drug organization, a drug dealer organization, it's not the guy in the cartel who's out there dealing drugs. He uses or she uses the people below him and that's what the government is trying to show, that he tells them what to do, that he does the money or gives the money or orders the money be given, tells people what to do, threatens them to do it, holds people against their will for three or four days to prove up whether or not she stole from him. All of that is good for the prosecution.

It just seems, and maybe it's just my prejudice about it, that they would have come across a bit stronger, with a little bit more precise information, truly showing his criminal enterprise. They're getting there, it just seems to be maybe a touch slow.

SANCHEZ: And quickly Mark, prosecutors saying that they are far enough ahead of schedule to predict that they might wrap one week early, what do you make of that? O'MARA: They have a lot to prove in the next two weeks, but yes they are moving the case through, but again we have to presume that they know what they're doing and they're laying out these foundation points, like a building a house, and they're going to start building the walls and really bring it in on him. But it is time to get that type of criminal behavior and enterprise home to the jury, because those are the only ones who count.

SANCHEZ: Mark O'Mara, fascinating to get the perspective, thanks for joining us.

Now to some of the other headlines we're watching this hour. A second suspect has surrendered to New York police in connection with the kidnapping and torture of an Italian cryptocurrency trader.

Police say the victim was held captive for weeks in a Manhattan apartment and that he was tortured for days, threatened with death and even dangled over a railing, all in an effort to get his Bitcoin password. On Friday, the victim escaped and was able to flag down a police officer for help. Later that day, police arrested a 28-year-old Kentucky man in connection to his kidnapping.

KEILAR: And President Donald Trump pardoned a former Virginia sheriff who was convicted in a so-called cash for badges scheme. Scott Jenkins accepted more than $75,000 in bribes, including from two undercover FBI agents. Trump blamed what he calls an overzealous Biden Justice Department for Jenkins' conviction, even though Jenkins was sentenced during the Trump administration.

The DOJ had said Jenkins' sentencing was proof that officials who unjustly used their authority to profit would be held accountable.

And Southwest Airlines has now put a price tag on checking bags. Say it isn't so, well it is. A coveted free perk. It's about to disappear as part of the changes the carrier is making. If you buy a ticket after today, checking your first bag is going to cost you $35.

It's going to be 45 bucks for the second piece of luggage. The airline says members of the A-list tier of its Rapid Rewards program, anyone who holds its branded credit card and those who pay for business class, will not have to pay for those bag charges. I guess they're incentivizing that.

And next, the FBI says it's further investigations into unsolved cases, like that bag of cocaine that was found in the White House a couple years ago, an unidentified pipe bomber, a leaked Supreme Court decision. Details ahead.

[14:40:00]

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KEILAR: The FBI is planning to reexamine several unsolved cases. Deputy Director Dan Bongino says the case involve the cases involve potential public corruption that have garnered public interest. SANCHEZ: These include the discovery of cocaine at the White House back in 2023. The D.C. pipe bombs that were discovered shortly before January 6, 2021, and the Supreme Court Dobbs decision leak.

CNN senior justice correspondent Evan Perez is here with the latest details. Evan, a lot of these cases are fodder for conspiracy theorists online.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, and a couple of these aren't even FBI investigations. So but let's take a look at the tweet from from Dan Bongino, the deputy FBI director.

And he says the director and I, of course, Cash Patel and he had evaluated a number of cases of potential public corruption that understandably have garnered public interest. We made the decision to either reopen or push additional resources and investigative attention to these cases.

Now, look, the pipe bomb investigation is one that the FBI has been after and going after. These bombs were found at the RNC and the DNC. They were placed there on the night before January 6th and were found just before the riot began. And of course, that has driven a lot of the conspiracy as to whether it was meant to draw the attention of law enforcement. And so a new set of eyes would potentially perhaps turn up new evidence. And I think that is obviously something that everybody wants solved.

[14:45:00]

The other two are a little on a different scale, right? The Dobbs decision, the draft was leaked a few months before the Supreme Court announced a decision. It's not really an FBI investigation. This is something that was done by the the Supreme Court police. And it's not clear whether the FBI is going to come in and try to interview justices. That's going to be something that we'll see what John Roberts has to say.

And of course, the cocaine, that was something that was done by the Secret Service. Again, they looked, they couldn't find any person who was responsible for it. To my knowledge, the drugs have actually been destroyed.

So it's not clear what else the FBI is going to be able to look at in this. But as you pointed out, a lot of this is about the messaging that it speaks to.

KEILAR: What does that mean, public corruption? What is he getting to with that?

PEREZ: That's the one that really sticks out, because nothing has emerged that indicates any kind of public corruption aspect of this. So it is something that perhaps the deputy director and others are trying to message to their supporters, right? Who they've been disappointed on the Epstein files so far. And so perhaps this is keeps the fires burning in that part of the Internet. SANCHEZ: Yes, Bongino and Cash Patel getting some blowback after saying that Epstein -- they reviewed the Epstein case and no, they're there without a shadow of a doubt it was suicide. Fascinating to see.

Evan Perez, thank you so much.

Still plenty more news to come on NEWS CENTRAL, including after a quick break, we're going to have Dr. Sanjay Gupta explain the rare brain disorder that forced Billy Joel to cancel his upcoming tour. We're back in a few minutes.

[14:50:00]

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KEILAR: Billy Joel's family is speaking out for the first time since the singer song writer revealed he has been diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder that is forcing him to cancel his upcoming tour. in a post on the piano man's Instagram.

SANCHEZ: In a post on the piano man's Instagram, Joel's wife thanked fans for their support and said that she is hopeful for his recovery.

CNN chief medical correspondent and practicing neurosurgeon Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now. Sanjay, Billy Joel has a condition called normal pressure hydrocephalus.

What exactly is that?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: So this is basically a neurological condition caused by having too much fluid in and around the brain. A lot of people think when they may have heard the term hydrocephalus and people have referred to it as water on the brain. You typically think about it in kids.

But take a look at these images here. This can happen in adults as well. Typically people over the age of 65.

On the left -- so this is a scan of the brain. On the left you see those black areas in the middle of the brain. Those are normal fluid filled spaces called ventricles.

I think you can tell pretty easily in the image on the right that those spaces are pretty expanded. So you get a lot more fluid in those areas and that's normal pressure hydrocephalus. That's the condition we're talking about.

And again it's it's something that typically it can occur in babies but it can occur in adults as well.

KEILAR: And how common is it Sanjay?

GUPTA: You know it's interesting, Brianna, it's not that common but it is widely known especially within the neurosurgery and neurology community. It's something that is often a mimic for other things like Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's disease. Someone comes in to be evaluated for that. They get a scan and they see that that normal pressure hydrocephalus. Oftentimes it can cause a sort of classic sort of three symptoms.

Difficulties with walking, difficulties with bladder control and cognitive difficulties. And that's why oftentimes it is mixed up with with other potential diseases. If you have normal pressure hydrocephalus it can be treated though in a very different way than let's say Alzheimer's or Parkinson's.

SANCHEZ: And one treatment option is an operation partly. Tell us about that kind of treatment.

GUPTA: Yes, it's interesting Boris. So you know you have too much fluid within the central nervous system around the brain and the spinal cord. The first thing doctors will often do is put a needle into the lower back something known as a lumbar puncture and just drain as much fluid, you know, they think appropriate and see if someone improves.

Does their walking improve? Does their cognition improve? Their bladder control?

If it improves that's a sort of validation of the diagnosis of normal pressure hydrocephalus. And if that's the case you can then do an operation. This is an operation that I perform. A lot of neurosurgeons perform. Where you actually put in a catheter through the top of the brain into one of those normal fluid filled spaces I just showed you. And then basically having that catheter run into the abdominal cavity so that you can sort of more continuously drain fluid.

And I got to tell you, you know, if someone has this diagnosis and they have some of the symptoms that Billy Joel is talking about, this can be really effective. When I say really effective, you know, up to 90 percent effective even in terms of actually helping with those symptoms. So, you know, fingers crossed doesn't work for everybody but this is one of those potentially very treatable things in neurosurgery.

KEILAR: Yes, fingers crossed. I feel like 90 percent is so rare that you hear something like that in medicine.

GUPTA: I know.

KEILAR: I also want to ask you, Sanjay, about health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. announcing today that the COVID vaccine is no longer going to be recommended for kids and for healthy pregnant women. He said it's common sense and good science. What does science say about the vaccines?

GUPTA: So let's talk about kids first. You know I think it's fair to say that kids are -- for a lot of kids who get COVID it's going to be sort of a bad cold and they usually bounce back in a few days.

[14:55:00] And if you have immunity which a lot of people have immunity these kids because they've either been vaccinated already or they've had COVID already they should already have some of that immunity.

But a couple things that I should point out as well, you know, part of the reason we talk about annual shots is because COVID is kind of more like flu versus more like measles, meaning that the virus can change a bit. It can mutate.

We were talking about mutations for four years when it comes to COVID. If it mutates, your existing immunity may not protect you as well. And that's the basic reason why they talk about getting an annual shot and thinking of it like a flu shot.

The other thing, just to give some context, while we talk about COVID primarily being something that affects adults and older adults in particular, which is true, nearly a quarter million kids were hospitalized with COVID over a four-year period. Quarter million kids, and nearly half of them did not have any pre-existing conditions, OK? So again, quarter million kids hospitalized for COVID, nearly half of them did not have any pre-existing conditions.

So, you know, you get the sense that if they don't have immunity, that's problematic. And when it comes to pregnant women in particular, pregnancy is a time in your life where your immune system is sort of depressed a bit, compromised a bit. And because it's compromised, you're more at risk of infection, which is exactly what the FDA said just a few days ago.

So why pregnant women would be on this list of not getting COVID shots, that's, I think, bewildering to everyone in the infectious disease community. They're more at risk.

KEILAR: Yes, we saw that as some of them were going on ventilators early on.

Sanjay, I do want to let our viewers know, they have so many questions for you, so they can scan that QR code on the screen, send us your questions about Billy Joel's diagnosis, and we're going to have Sanjay back tomorrow to answer them. Sanjay, thank you so much.

GUPTA: You got it, thank you.

KEILAR: Still to come, why President Trump is suddenly threatening to withhold federal funding from California.

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