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Ex-Assistant Testifies Combs Sexually Assaulted Her Multiple Times; Appeals Court Pauses Ruling that Blocked Trump's Tariffs; Trump Administration Defends MAHA Report Amid Questions About Whether It Cites Nonexistent Scientific Studies. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired May 29, 2025 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Jurors in Sean Diddy Combs racketeering and sex trafficking trial are now listening to some of the last testimony they are going to hear today from Combs ex-assistant who's using the pseudonym Mia. She is also one of Combs alleged victims.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And moments ago Mia began testifying about her allegations of being sexually assaulted by Combs. Her voice dropping to nearly a whisper on the stand.

CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister is live outside of court. She's with us now. Elizabeth, this is difficult testimony. Tell us what Mia has been saying.

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the allegations that Mia has testified to are quite frankly horrific, Brianna. This is a really crucial witness because unlike Cassie Ventura, who was the government's first alleged victim, Mia was not a girlfriend. She was not a romantic partner of Sean Combs. She was an employee.

She was hired as his assistant and she has given an account all day on the stand about the physical violence that she endured from Combs. And now she has been getting into the sexual assaults that she says happened not once but on numerous occasions.

She spoke about an instance at Combs' 40th birthday party at the Plaza Hotel here in New York City. And she said that they were in a penthouse and there was many other staff members there. And Combs then said for her to come into the kitchen of this penthouse suite, she went into the kitchen, he cleared the room. So the rest of the staff left.

And he said, let's celebrate my birthday. And he gave her two shots of vodka. She took those two shots and she said immediately she felt it hit her very hard. She even thought, did I not eat? Then she said that Combs kissed her, which she did not want. And he put his hands up her dress.

She then said that the next thing that she remembers is waking up on a chair as the sun was rising. So seemingly a lapse of memory there. And here's a direct quote from her on the stand. She said, I was shocked and I froze. I couldn't even process what was happening.

As you said, her voice really dropped. She was trembling at times, she was whimpering. It was very hard for her to get through this testimony. She then went on to talk about another instance of an alleged sexual assault where she said that she was asleep and she had to stay in Combs' homes during her employment. She essentially lived with him. She said that she was not allowed to lock the door of her bedroom because Combs said it's his house. She can't lock the doors.

She said that she needed permission to even leave the home where she was residing, again during her employment. And in this instance, she said that she was woken up by the weight of Combs' body on her. So again, truly horrific testimony.

And her cross examination, by the way, will not begin until tomorrow. Prosecutors say that they will not be done with their direct of her today. So she is going to continue on the stand tomorrow for some more grueling testimony.

KEILAR: All right, Elizabeth Wagmeister, thank you for that. Tough to hear.

Next, the White House is defending Secretary Robert F. Kennedy's key health report after accusations. It's not only ripe with errors, but that it actually cite studies that don't even exist. We'll have those details right after this.

[15:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Breaking news into CNN. A court decision now injecting even more whiplash into President Donald Trump's trade war. A federal appeals court has paused last night's ruling from the Court of International Trade that blocked President Trump's tariffs.

Joining us now to discuss is Joe Weisenthal. He's the co host of Bloomberg's Odd Lots podcast. Joe, thanks for being with us.

What do we know about this appeals court decision?

JOE WEISENTHAL, CO-HOST, BLOOMBERG'S ODD LOTS PODCAST: It's just incredible. It's funny because with every headline that comes out about the tariffs, the degree to which people take them, any of them seriously continues to decline. But essentially, you know, the Congress allowed the White House years ago to unilaterally impose tariffs in emergency situations.

Trump did that. An appeals court came out last night said this is not what was allowed under that law. This is not a proper separation of powers.

And now we have another court saying no, actually, it's fine. So the ongoing limbo continues. SANCHEZ: So essentially they're saying it's fine for now, right? Until this appeal plays out in court. Does that mean that, you know, these tariffs are now immediately back on?

WEISENTHAL: Yes, and apparently even with last night's, there was some sort of 10 day pause. So my my read of the situation is that they are back on and then the process will continue to play in court with all of these things, with all of these other issues that you're talking about.

Everyone expects that these will eventually get resolved in the Supreme Court somehow. But I think both in the market and for businesses, now the expectation is that whatever the rules are today, they're probably going to be somewhat different a week or a day or a month from now.

SANCHEZ: So what does that do for business and what does it do for consumers?

WEISENTHAL: Yes, it's not great. I mean, look, Trump has already pulled back from the most extreme version of the tariffs that were announced on April 2nd. We've seen this recovery in various sentiment surveys that have emerged in the last week.

There is this rebound. But on the other hand, you said it exactly. You know, in a period of uncertainty, that's never good for capital. That's never good for adding headcount, etcetera. And I think we're starting to see that a little bit in the hard data. We've seen initial claims, continuing jobless claims both creep up.

We've seen factory orders slow down.

[15:40:00]

So has the economy fallen off a cliff? No. Has the stock market crash recovered? Yes. But at the margin, all of these things have a decelerating effect.

SANCHEZ: Now, fundamentally, the administration is arguing that there is a crisis in international trade, and the president is trying to address that through these tariffs. What do you make of that argument? Because overall, the U.S. economy seems to be doing OK.

WEISENTHAL: Yes, I think that's exactly right. I think very few people would look at the current environment and say there is an acute economic crisis, the likes of which Congress would have imagined when it delegated this essentially unilateral fiscal authority to the White House.

Now, people may zoom out and look at the big picture, and they might say, OK, there's the declining manufacturing capacity of various key goods happening in the United States. This is a multi decade story, etc.

And I think someone could even make the case that there are conditions with regards to international trade that amount to a very serious issue for the United States. But is it the type of crisis in which, you know, other tariffs, such as those applied during the Trump administration, came after came after an investigative process identifying what were perceived to be unfair trade practices?

Is this the type of crisis that would justify? No, we can't even go through that process. I think people are skeptical that it's that type of crisis, and perhaps that's why you know the administration was dealt that setback, which has since been reversed in the court last night.

SANCHEZ: And then sort of put on hold again after that. I do wonder, as you're sitting back looking at all of this, if you think that the administration has avenues beside the emergency powers to try to gain the leverage that it's looking for to negotiate some of these trade deals, because they they seem to have options. I wonder how far they can go.

WEISENTHAL: Well, look, they did tariffs in the initial Trump administration that survived court battles, but it was a slightly, it was a slower process. There was an investigation that took place. It was more about specific areas in which perceived unfair trading practices on the part of our partners were argued to have taken place, and I get the impression that courts will give the White House quite a bit of flexibility down that route, where you establish that one way or another. Whether we're talking about dumping of various high-tech things, whether we're talking about, you know, certain things where a country is protecting its agriculture industry at the expense of American farmers.

There is a process through which I think the White House can prosecute a trade war in such a way that would be permitted by the courts. Again, all of this could be permitted by the Supreme Court in the end, and that's what everyone is wondering about, whether the heavily Republican-appointed Supreme Court will side with the White House.

I don't think it's that obvious which way the Supreme Court would go on some of these questions, but it's very likely that there is a route via which the White House could, you know, put tariffs on more goods or more countries or more partners, etc., in a way that the courts would be chill with, just not in this way that everybody gets the 10 percent blanket tariff under the guise of an acute emergency.

SANCHEZ: Joe Weisenthal, appreciate you navigating these twists and turns with us.

WEISENTHAL: Thanks for having me.

SANCHEZ: Of course -- Brianna.

KEILAR: The nonprofit Washington publication Notice today reporting that the Trump administration's latest Make America Healthy Again report includes some references to studies that don't seem to exist. CNN has done its own review of the administration's flagship report.

Let's bring in CNN Health reporter Jacqueline Howard. Jacqueline, what are some of the problems that you're seeing? JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Brianna, the report itself has more than 500 citations. We at CNN did check dozens of them. Now, the report has since been updated, but in the original version of the report, we did identify at least two citations that did not appear to have been published anywhere online.

These two citations referenced research related to direct-to-consumer advertising of medications. One of those studies appeared to have been authored by Dr. Findling at Virginia Commonwealth University. We reached out to the university, and the university confirmed that Dr. Findling had not authored such a paper that is cited in the MAHA Report.

And then there was another study in the report titled, quote, overprescribing of oral corticosteroids for children with asthma. And in the original MAHA Report, that reference was published in the journal Pediatrics. Pediatrics said that they had not published such a study.

Now, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about this today. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We have complete confidence in Secretary Kennedy and his team at HHS.

[15:45:00]

I understand there were some formatting issues with the MAHA Report that are being addressed, and the report will be updated. But it does not negate the substance of the report, which, as you know, is one of the most transformative health reports that has ever been released by the federal government and is backed on good science that has never been recognized by the federal government.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is it AI that's used to put together these reports now?

LEAVITT: I can't speak to that. I would defer you to the Department of Health and Human Services.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD: Brianna, some experts still have questions, but we did just hear from the Department of Health and Human Services. They say the report has been updated.

Quote, Minor citation and formatting errors have been corrected, but the substance of the MAHA report remains the same -- a historic and transformative assessment by the federal government to understand the chronic disease epidemic afflicting our nation's children.

But again, Brianna, as I said, there are still some experts out there who suspect that these errors may have been AI related. But again, those are questions that it seems like we're still waiting for answers.

KEILAR: Yes. All right, Jacqueline Howard looking for more info there. Thank you.

CNN's Wolf Blitzer has anchored shows all around the world, but if you want to find his happy place, you will have to travel to the city that sits on the eastern end of Lake Erie.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: CNN's original series "MY HAPPY PLACE" is celebrating the favorite destinations of its celebrity hosts with in-depth tours of the places that bring them joy. CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer's Happy Place, his hometown of Buffalo, New York.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR, THE SITUATION ROOM (voice-over): Buffalo, New York, birthplace of the Buffalo chicken wing and home to my favorite football team, the Buffalo Bills. I was thrilled that the Bills invited me to visit the stadium recently, after the season, and I immediately accepted that invitation. I walked around the field and was even allowed into the Bills locker room where I had a chance to see Bills quarterback Josh Allen's locker.

BLITZER: Josh Allen, MVP.

JEFF WARE, OWNER AND PRESIDENT, RESURGENCE BREWING COMPANY: It's a good time to be a Bills fan and we're certainly basking in it. It's kind of put us on a national spotlight in a lot of ways that we haven't had in a long time.

BLITZER (voice-over): That's Jeff Ware, a local Buffalonian who opened his brewery, Resurgence, in the hopes of bringing new life to a city that has seen its population decline by a lot since 1950.

My Polish-Jewish parents, both Holocaust survivors, moved to Buffalo from Germany as immigrants after World War II. The people of Buffalo welcomed them and helped them. I grew up here. I went to school here, including Kenmore West High School and the State University of New York at Buffalo.

BLITZER: So there's my Kenmore West Corridor of Honor.

You got my yearbook? I can show my yearbook picture. That was when I graduated from high school.

BLITZER (voice-over): Buffalo clearly holds a special place in my heart and I love to come back to visit. Buffalo has been called the city of good neighbors and it certainly is. I love my fellow Buffalonians.

It's my happy place.

One of the most unique things is that Buffalo sits on the border with Canada.

WARE: It's funny, it's probably one of the only places in the United States where our kids know the national anthem and the Canadian national anthem.

BLITZER (voice-over): But Buffalo is now making a dramatic comeback. Jeff Ware says that's possible with the help of Canadian tourists.

WARE: We very much count on Canadian tourism coming down. You know, we're right down the street from the hockey arena. People come to watch hockey games and they're going to have a beer or two before or after or want to grab something to eat.

So yes, Canada is a big economic push for us from a tourism perspective.

BLITZER (voice-over): And despite current political tensions between our nations, in Buffalo the two countries coexist harmoniously.

BLITZER: We're in Buffalo, which of course is the United States, but if you look behind me, this is the Niagara River. On the other side is Canada.

So many of us who grew up in Buffalo spent a lot of time over the years in Canada going to the beach at Crystal Beach, driving up to Toronto or St. Catharine's. And it's nice to see the U.S. flag flying right next to the Canadian flag here in Buffalo.

BLITZER (voice-over): Just 20 miles outside of Buffalo is arguably the most famous attraction shared between the U.S. and our northern neighbor, Niagara Falls.

BLITZER: When I was growing up, every time we had guests, family or friends visiting us, we would always have to bring them to Niagara Falls.

BLITZER (voice-over): And if you come here, bring your passport so you can check out Niagara Falls from both sides of the border. The American side lets you get up close and personal with the falls, while the Canadian side, in my opinion, offers the best view.

Not only that, but there are plenty of fun things on the Canadian side for the whole family to enjoy.

And back in Buffalo, if you're feeling a bit hungry, head over to the Anchor Bar to get a taste of the original Buffalo chicken wing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Theresa, one of the founders, created a concoction of hot sauce and chicken wings and now it's a Buffalo wing and served all across the country, all across the world.

BLITZER: It's been a while, but I love Buffalo chicken wings. It makes me happy.

BLITZER (voice-over): And yes, I know what you're thinking, but that's just how I like to eat them. Buffalo has so much to offer and it's working to rebrand itself as a place that is much more than just a city with cold weather.

BLITZER: People hear about Buffalo, they think about snow and bad weather.

WARE: Yes, well, we're in the Northeast, we're going to get some snow and we certainly make the best of it in the weather, but it's great for skiing, hiking, tubing, ice skating, which we have all those amenities around town.

[15:55:03]

But then you have this, you know, three quarters a year, they're absolutely wonderful months to get outside, be active, and then, you know, come back to the brewery and have a pint.

BLITZER: Give me five.

Best part of Buffalo, in my opinion, has always been the people of Buffalo. Friendly, nice, energetic, hard-working, and they try to help each other.

WARE: 100 percent. Chicken wings, beer, and good company, you know, you're in a good spot.

BLITZER: And the Buffalo Bills.

WARE: And the Buffalo Bills.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Despite eating that Buffalo wing with a fork, Wolf Blitzer, I think we can all agree, is a national treasure.

A new episode airs this Sunday night at 10 Eastern and Pacific with Oscar-winning actress Octavia Spencer, who takes viewers to New Orleans to show why the Big Easy is her happy place.

And ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, how a pair of nuns went viral using their mad beatboxing skills on the mic. Don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Two nuns giving new meaning to the phrase #blessed. I don't really know what that means, but OK. Meet Sister Marizele and her sidekick Sister Marisa.

[16:00:00]

They were appearing on Catholic TV programming in Brazil and they had this entirely impromptu beatboxing and dance session that broke out.

Listen.

KEILAR: OK, so they say that music has long been a powerful tool to help people in need. They're dedicated to helping young people struggling with addiction and this viral video has now been seen by millions. No word yet on what they're going to be named.

We have some ideas. Nunstop beats. You don't want nun this. Sister Act 2.

SANCHEZ: Catholicism is so hot right now.

KEILAR: It really is.

All right, "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts right now.

END