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Trump Pardons Reality TV Couple Convicted of Fraud, Tax Crimes; Trump Administration Pauses New Student Visa Appointments; Harvard Students Protest Trump Administration's Moves Against School; Testimony Resumes in Sex Trafficking Trial of Sean Combs; RFK Jr. Announces Change to COVID Vaccine Recommendations. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired May 28, 2025 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

MARC ALESSI, CLIMATE AND ENERGY PROGRAM, UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS: ... engage with each researcher in a moderated question and answer session. And really just -- we think it's an exciting opportunity to share our research that we love so much. You know, we're very passionate about what we do, but we also are passionate because we're saving American lives and livelihoods.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, scientists get into the literal nitty gritty of things, which, you know, a nerd over here loves. Good luck with this 100 hours. That gives people a lot of time to be able to chime in and ask questions. Mark Alessi, thank you so much.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, new this morning, a get out of jail free card, or is it free? A tax cheat gets a full pardon from President Trump after his mother attended a high price political fundraiser.

And the death threats, kidnapping and a male escort named the Punisher. Explosive new testimony in the criminal trial of Sean Combs as four new witnesses are set to take the stand.

And severed fingers and wrench attacks, a crypto investor set to appear in court this morning after kidnapping and torturing a man or being accused of allegedly kidnapping and torturing a man to get his Bitcoin password.

I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan and Sara Sider. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, this morning, a reality TV worthy twist from the White House. President Trump issuing a pardon to Todd and Julie Chrisley. They are the former stars of the reality show, Chrisley Knows Best.

Former because they were convicted in 2022 on all counts for conspiracy to defraud banks out of more than $30 million. The president's decision now comes after the Chrisley's daughter, Savannah, launched a public lobbying effort to get her parents out.

She spoke at the Republican National Convention in July. She appeared on Fox News to plead their case. The White House posted video of President Trump informing Savannah Chrisley and her brother of the pardon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's a terrible thing, but it's a great thing because your parents are going to be free and clean and I hope we can do it by tomorrow. I don't know them but give them my regards and wish them well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President.

TRUMP: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just want to say thank you for bringing my parents back.

TRUMP: Yes, well, they were given a pretty harsh treatment based on what I'm hearing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: This wasn't the president's only recent pardon. The New York Times is reporting now that the president has also pardoned a convicted tax cheat after his mother attended a $1 million per person fundraising dinner last month at Mar-a-Lago. We should note, though, we do not know, However, if she paid for said ticket to that dinner.

Also, the president announced a pardon Monday for a former sheriff out of Virginia who was sentenced to 10 years in prison as part of a $75,000 bribes for badges scheme.

Joining me now is Errol Louis, political anchor for Spectrum News, host of The Big Deal with Errol Lewis. It's great to see you, buddy.

ERROL LOUIS, POLITICAL ANCHOR, SPECTRUM NEWS: Good morning.

BOLDUAN: Thank you for being here. The power to pardon, I feel like we've talked about this many times. Unique to the presidency when it comes to federal crimes and the power to pardon is a broad one reserved for the presidency.

What do you see in the trend and path of this presidency?

LOUIS: Well, what we're seeing is a trend and a path of taking what was one of the original powers that transferred from the ancient kings to the American democratic system, an unlimited power, an unchecked power, and what we're seeing it being used in ways that were never intended, that it's supposed to be the exception and not the rule. It's not supposed to be random. There's supposed to be some order to it.

There are Department of Justice guidelines, for example, Kate, that say that you're supposed to have served your entire sentence and then five years later maybe ask for a pardon, not have a president sort of handed out willy nilly to big donors and others.

BOLDUAN: To that exact point, I was very interested to see Liz Oyer, the DOJ's pardon attorney for years, she was dismissed in March by President Trump. She had held the position, which is to advise the president, review these pardon requests. She's been a hold that position since 2022.

She just did an interview with PBS and she -- and I'm going to read part of her reaction to this.

This is not at all how pardons normally work. And she also says, this administration appears to be using pardons in a completely different and new way, which is to reward people who demonstrate political loyalty to the administration and that is unprecedented.

Interesting coming from the woman who was advising presidents on this.

LOUIS: Well, that's right. And this was somebody who really was just a career professional. We didn't know her name. She didn't have any particular affiliations.

[08:05:00]

And she was really just doing what had been done for so many years. Again, with the occasional exception, but then this becomes the rule.

I mean, and frankly, this was signaled last year when Donald Trump ran for president on a promise to pardon the January 6th, I mean, the people involved in January 6th, who in most cases had pleaded guilty. They said that they did what they did.

They were sentenced. In some cases, they had already served. And so when President Trump as a candidate said, I'm going to pardon over a thousand people just because they were politically useful or loyal to me, that signaled that we were in for a big change. And of course, that's what has happened.

BOLDUAN: When this is raised -- I know that I've heard this in the past is when we look at past presidents, they say, but look, President Barack Obama is the president who in the course of history, especially recent history, has issued the most pardons and commutations. But when it comes to it -- when you look at the details, it's just very different path that these pardons are taking.

LOUIS: Well, that's right. He was trying to accomplish a policy ad by undoing some of the damage from the war against drugs. But, you know, here again, if you look at it as a policy, what kind of policy is Donald Trump trying to institute?

Is he trying to broadly change how we think about justice?

BOLDUAN: It's truly a valid question that should be asked of the White House. LOUIS: Well, that's exactly right. I mean, and that's how the pardon power is supposed to be used is to say that, look, we want justice to go in a particular direction. That direction, though, needs to be articulated and it needs to be consistent, not simply whoever the president feels like dispensing favors to. That takes us back toward the old king's privilege that the pardon power originally was.

BOLDUAN: And we will see if that trend continues. Likely will. It's good to see you, Errol, thank you -- John.

BERMAN: All right, this morning, the State Department has instructed U.S. embassies and consulates around the world to pause new student visa appointments. This is so it can expand its vetting of students' social media posts.

And again, if you get accepted to a U.S. university from overseas and plan to attend in the fall, you need to get a student visa. And this is about when you would be doing that. So if they're not holding these appointments, this could hold a wrench in not just Harvard, but all international student plans to attend college here in the United States.

It does follow repeated attempts to pull federal funding from Harvard, and a key court hearing is scheduled for tomorrow.

With me now is the college administration's reporter for the Harvard Crimson, Sam Church. Sam, thank you so much for being with us. Thank you for being a reporter and working at a college newspaper.

Look, I don't know if you're still on campus, given that graduation is still happening. I don't know if you're a graduating senior. But what's the vibe been at Harvard leading up to graduation in these repeated attacks? Is this something that people are talking about, or are they just going out drinking at night?

SAM CHURCH, COLLEGE ADMINISTRATION REPORTER, THE HARVARD CRIMSON: Yes, there's definitely a cloud of uncertainty on campus that you feel when talking to students and international students alike. Yesterday's move to temporarily pause new student visa interviews comes after a tumultuous week for international students on campus, you know. Last week, the Department of Homeland Security moved to revoke the university certification necessary to host these international students.

So, you know, one in four Harvard students are international. So there is this sense, you know, when talking to students that they're not sure what happens next for them. A lot of eyes are on this court case tomorrow to hear what is next for those students on campus, for sure.

BERMAN: I don't know if you have any friends who are international students who, again, aren't graduating. But young people from overseas that I've talked to over the last week, they're saying they don't know whether they'll be back next year, not because they've been told they can't, but because there's so much uncertainty, they may have to, as a protective measure, make alternate plans. What are you hearing on that front? CHURCH: Yes, we've definitely heard that here. I think a lot of students are worried that if Harvard does not receive an injunction retaining their certification necessary to host international students tomorrow, those students will face a choice to either transfer or risk losing their ability to lawfully remain in the United States.

But still amid that uncertainty, there is definitely this sense of urgency that's emerging. Yesterday, more than 300 Harvard faculty, students, and friends showed up to protest against the Trump administration's demands and kind of send that signal that regardless of what happens, they want to stand with their international peers. So amid all of this uncertainty, there's definitely that sense of urgency and unity emerging.

BERMAN: Yes, I was reading in one of your competitors, the Boston Globe, that I think it was at this protest you were talking about, there were actually speeches from one of the students from the Hillel and also one of the students who was supportive of some of the Palestinian protests coming together to protest against what the Trump administration is doing. So you're seeing a type of unity at Harvard you haven't seen before.

You report on college administrations. What are you learning from your sources about what the Harvard administration intends to do here? Is this still pushing forward no holes barred?

[08:10:00]

CHURCH: Well, it's hard to say for sure. Harvard college administrators, including the dean of the college, as well as President Garber of the university, have been pretty adamant in affirming the importance of international students to campus culture and the university writ large. They're a big part of the student body. They're also Harvard's teaching fellows and their employees, as mentioned in the lawsuit Harvard filed.

So while it's hard to say for sure, I think Harvard students are both calling on the university and expect the university to continue fighting for their ability to remain at Harvard, just because they are so important. And a big part of that protest yesterday was aimed at calling on the college to continue fighting for their ability to remain. So we'll see what happens, but there's definitely pressure from the students to push Harvard in that direction.

BERMAN: Sam Church, again, from the Harvard Crimson. Keep on digging, keep on reporting. Thanks for being with us this morning. We appreciate it -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right, ahead. Any moment testimony resumes in the sex trafficking trial against Sean Diddy Combs, an ex-employee testified yesterday. Combs threatened to kill rapper Kid Cudi for dating Cassie Ventura.

Who will take the stand today? We'll have reporting on that.

Plus, new guidance on COVID vaccines, why health officials are cutting recommendations for children and pregnant women.

And two men arrested for allegedly kidnapping a crypto investor. Details on the torture he allegedly endured because investigators say the suspect simply wanted his Bitcoin password to steal his Bitcoin.

[08:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: Today, Sean Combs' criminal trial is set to resume. Prosecutors are expected to call four more witnesses to the stand, including a former employee who has accused Combs of abuse. It comes after another former assistant, Capricorn Clark, testified that Combs was holding a gun and planned to kill Kid Cudi after learning about his relationship with Cassie Ventura.

And a former male exotic dancer who was hired by Cassie Ventura for a sexual encounters while Combs watched is now apologizing to her, telling CNN's Laura Coates that he had no idea what she was going through.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHARAY "THE PUNISHER" HAYES, FORMER MALE EXOTIC DANCER: I just saw it as an opportunity. I see this stunningly beautiful woman and, you know, $2,000 for this type of interaction was, you know, kind of like a no-brainer in terms of it.

LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: Nothing seemed illegal to you or anything out of sorts?

HAYES: Not even close. Like, I didn't even get any thought of anybody being like under the influence of any drugs or anything. It seems like a very, for the circumstance, everybody was just normally in their right state of mind and this was just something they did for sexual pleasure.

COATES: You never saw any violence?

HAYES: Nothing close.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: But there have been many more who have testified that they did see violence. Joining us now is CNN's Kara Scannell. Kara, once again, it's like the details coming out of this case read like a huge dramatic movie script.

What are you expecting today?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, as you said, we're expecting four more witnesses to take the stand today and they will build on the very dramatic testimony yesterday from Capricorn Clark, who had worked for Combs on and off the set for a number of years. At times, her testimony was very emotional. They paused for a moment so she could collect herself. But she testified that she felt threatened by Combs multiple times, including, she said, when she was accused of stealing jewelry, diamond jewelry. She said she was subjected to five days of lie detector tests and the man administering it told her that if the test determined that she was lying, she could end up in the East River. But a lot of her testimony was focused on what she said was the kidnapping.

When Combs arrived at her home between 5 and 6 a.m., pounding on the door, she said he was furious, livid. He had just found out that Cassie Ventura was in a relationship with Kid Cudi. So she said Combs gets into her home, he's got a gun in his hand, and he says to her, get dressed, we're going to kill Cudi.

She said that I had never seen him with a weapon, I had never seen him making me do something like this. She said that they got in the car, an Escalade, and they drove over to Kid Cuddy's house. She said Combs went inside, and that is when she testified that she called Cassie Ventura, where Kid Cudi was with Ventura, which she could hear him on speakerphone saying he was coming to his home, and she said she warned him, don't let him go, he's going to get killed.

Now, she testified that they heard Kid Cudi's engine approaching, and they popped in their Escalade, and they were pursuing him in a car chase. That is slightly different than what Kid Cudi had testified to, and something that the defense will likely make something of. But Capricorn Clark testifying that later that day, she was back at Combs' house, had witnessed Combs kicking Ventura, something that Ventura had testified had occurred.

Capricorn Clark said that the security guards just stood by, nobody intervened. She said that months later, she was contacted by an arson investigator with the Los Angeles Fire Department, but she hung up on him because she said she wanted nothing to do with this anymore. She also testified that when she reported what had happened that day to HR and to the president of Bad Boy Records, she says she was then fired months later.

So what we're going to hear from today is additional testimony around the Kid Cudi break-in and the arson. Prosecutors say they're going to call an LAPD officer. The arson investigator also expected Cassie Ventura's friend and then another accuser in this case -- Sara.

[08:20:00]

SIDNER: Yes, and the defense pouncing on that none of this was reported to police, or there certainly wasn't any investigation that ended in charges against Combs. This case continuing on, and you've been watching every minute of it and bringing it to us, and we really appreciate it. Kara Scannell outside of the court for us this morning --Kate.

BOLDUAN: There's new reporting today. Russian President Vladimir Putin has set out new conditions for ending the war in Ukraine, as President Trump warns him he's, quote, playing with fire.

And crypto clashing with politics in a big way in Las Vegas. Vice President J.D. Vance set to deliver the headlining speech at a Bitcoin conference today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:25:00]

BOLDUAN: This morning, public health experts are raising new concern after HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that the CDC will no longer recommend routine COVID vaccines for pregnant women and most children. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., HHS SECRETARY: Last year, the Biden administration urged healthy children to get yet another COVID shot despite the lack of any clinical data to support the repeat booster strategy in children.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That ends today. It's common sense, and it's good science.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no evidence healthy kids need it today, and most countries have stopped recommending it for children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: We do know children overall fared better against the disease than other age groups, and the number of children who become seriously ill from COVID is low. According to data from the CDC, about 13 percent of children, just over 14 percent of pregnant women have received the updated version of the COVID shot out last fall.

Joining me now about this announcement and the manner of which it all came about is Marc Lipsitch. He's a professor of epidemiology at Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health. It's good to see you. Thank you for coming in, doctor.

I want to break this announcement into parts, if you can, because I think people are kind of viewing it a bit separately. First and foremost, what's your reaction to the CDC no longer recommending healthy children receive these routine COVID shots?

MARC LIPSITCH, DIRECTOR, HARVARD UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR COMMUNICABLE DISEASE DYNAMICS: I think on the merits, if I were making the recommendation, I would keep the current recommendation for vaccinating even healthy children, but there's room for debate, as was discussed in the clip you showed. Many countries don't recommend it at present, and there's reasons to do it, but some countries have made that other call.

The reasons to do it are that children, as you described, continue to get sick from COVID. Children continue to get long COVID, and the vaccine is effective in children and extremely safe in children.

BOLDUAN: Yes, long COVID is a real issue that continues to be studied, but it is definitely shown itself in children as well. And then RFK Jr. also announced that the CDC will no longer recommend

that pregnant women be vaccinated against COVID. And I saw some pretty tough criticism on this one coming from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

They wrote -- they put out a statement, writing in part, calling it, they were extremely disappointed by this one. How do you see this?

LIPSITCH: I see it the same way. First of all, there's the procedure that was followed for this whole recommendation, which undoes the extremely careful and thoughtful procedures that the U.S. government has had in place for years when it makes recommendations for public health.

People around the world look to the U.S. CDC for its recommendations on what are the best practices in public health. And having a secretary of HHS unilaterally make a decision bypassing the scientific and public health reviews that are always done when these kinds of decisions are made is a terrible idea and undermines the credibility of public health in the United States, which is exactly what we don't need to happen now.

On the merits of vaccinating pregnant women, I completely agree with the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists. It's clear that pregnant women are at higher risk of complications of severe COVID, even if they are otherwise healthy.

It's clear that vaccines are safe and very effective in preventing infection and especially the complications of infection, including in pregnant women. And it's also very clear that the child after it's born, in the first few months of life, a child has not had prior infection and has not had the opportunity to get vaccinated because vaccines are approved for those over six months. So in the first few years of life, the baby benefits as well as the mother.

So this is bad for mothers, it's bad for babies, and it's bad for public health.

BOLDUAN: And you mentioned some of what is getting a lot of attention which is just the manner with which it's been announced. I mean, I saw that CDC vaccine advisors were set to vote on this matter of this vaccine recommendation next month. Obviously, I guess now not as the health secretary is going around it.

I saw you post that as health advice becomes more polarized and arbitrary from the federal government, that people should lean more on their local health departments now these days. And also you wrote that Americans should maybe start looking to the UK and Canada for public health advice. Do you think public health has already suffered that much in the U.S.?

LIPSITCH: I think this was a -- for me, this was a turning point to have someone who is not only a single person and not actually an expert in vaccines, but who spent their career peddling misinformation and lies about vaccines, and happens now to be secretary of Health and Human Services making a unilateral recommendation and putting the CDC.