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Suspect in Fiery Colorado Attack Expected in Court; Jury Dismissed for the Day; Combs' Former Personal Assistant "Mia" Wraps Testimony; Russia & Ukraine Hold Peace Talks After Strikes on Russian Air Bases. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired June 02, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

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ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: A horrific crime in Boulder, Colorado, where people were intentionally set on fire at a Jewish community event. The suspect set to make his first court appearance in a matter of minutes. Investigators say Molotov cocktails found at the scene show it could have been even more tragic.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: And it's an audacious operation by Ukraine's military. The drone mission, codenamed Spiderweb, hitting targets thousands of miles inside of Russia. We have the latest on how it could change the dynamics of this conflict ahead.

And a medical marvel. Doctors using fish skin to help heal a little girl's wounds. Her mom says, "She's now my little mermaid."

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

HILL: Well, just minutes from now, the man suspected of a fiery attack on a Jewish event in Colorado is expected to make his first court appearance. He is accused of making a flamethrower, according to police, to carry out a targeted anti-Semitic assault. The horror unfolding during a weekly peaceful walk for Israeli hostages. At least eight people were hurt, some of them badly burned. The Justice Department now vowing to hold the attacker to the fullest extent of the law.

SANCHEZ: This hour, the 48-year-old suspect has been charged with a hate crime. Officials say he was in the country illegally after his work authorization expired in March. The FBI saying he yelled free Palestine during the attack as they now investigate the incident as an act of terror.

CNN Senior Law Enforcement Analyst Charles Ramsey, joins us now. Chief Ramsey, thanks as always for being with us. According to the affidavit, the planning was allegedly a year in the making for this attack. Obviously, this was a walk that had been held just about every week since October 7th, 2023. How concerned are you about similar events around the country right now? CHIEF CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, I'm very concerned, and I think law enforcement around the country is concerned. I mean, this is a terrible environment that we find ourselves in. You just had a governor here in my state of Pennsylvania, a house firebomb. We had the murders in D.C., and now we have this.

You know, any large gathering, and remember, these are soft - this is a soft target. I mean, it's outdoor. It's a march. You know, you have rallies because of what's going on overseas in Gaza. It's going to really heighten security for law enforcement around the country. So, you have to be concerned whenever you see and hear of things like this.

HILL: There's a balance to between there's that level of concern. Right. And what do you say? You can't stop it altogether, right, because then that is attackers winning. So, how do you balance that in the name of safety for an event like this, which, again, was well known? You know, we've spoken to a couple of different people today who were there on a regular basis over the last year, plus saying for the most part, they felt pretty safe. They were very peaceful, quiet moment.

RAMSEY: Well, you know, police can't be everywhere, and that's why the public has to be very vigilant and pay attention to what's going on in their surroundings. And if they see anything, any activities that are unusual, you need to contact authorities right away so we can check it out. I mean, this guy was stopping at gas stations, filling up bottles with gasoline. I mean, you know that by itself, in my opinion, is something suspicious.

And so, when you see things go on, it just don't feel right. It probably isn't right. And it doesn't hurt to make that phone call and we'll check it out. If it turns out to be nothing, you haven't lost anything. But you may have actually avoided something bad from happening.

SANCHEZ: I am curious about some of the charges because the suspect was booked on several felony charges, including two counts of first- degree murder. And we're waiting on clarity from officials because so far, they've made clear that no one died as a result of the attack. There is obviously some inconsistency there. I wonder how you think this is going to get cleared up later in court.

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RAMSEY: Well, I mean, I think they probably meant attempted murder. Clearly, it was attempted murder, but you can't have murder. The person has not yet died. So that was clearly a mistake. That'll probably be when he's arraigned. That'll be cleared up at that point in time.

HILL: What more do you think we will learn in this first court appearance?

RAMSEY: Well, I don't know much more you'll learn in the court appearance, but the FBI and the local police are still digging deeply into this person's background. Again, I think officials right now feel very comfortable that he was a lone actor. But that doesn't mean that you don't continue to dig down to find out how long had he actually been planning. Look at video previous to yesterday. Was he doing surveillance there? Can they pick him up? Was he in any other location - in another city doing something similar?

I mean, it depends on if he's cooperating or not. If he's cooperating, you'll get more information. They may have found something in execution of search warrants, going through a social media footprint, all those kinds of things. But the bottom line is this individual, this was just a horrific act. And it was very unusual in that the method that you're using, fire or something like that, it's just something you don't see very often at all.

SANCHEZ: Charles Ramsey, thanks so much for sharing your expertise.

RAMSEY: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Joining us now is Oren Segal. He is the Senior Vice President of Counter-Extremism & Intelligence for the Anti-Defamation League.

Oren, thanks so much for joining us.

What was going through your mind as you learned about this attack?

OREN SEGAL, SVP, COUNTER-EXTREMISM & INTELLIGENCE, ADL: What was going through my mind is here we go again. I mean, it was just, you know, less than two weeks after, you know, two young people are shot to death in front of a Jewish museum in D.C. You know, we have documented nine terrorist plots and attacks targeting the Jewish community or Jewish institutions in just the last 12 months. And in comparison, the previous 54 months, there were only seven such incidents.

So, clearly, we are seeing a spike in this activity. And it's important to understand why this is happening now and what predated it that has made this atmosphere so ripe for those that want to attack the Jewish community.

SANCHEZ: You wrote something on X that I want to share with our viewers. You wrote, quote, "Rhetoric blaming all Jews for Israeli policies is not only anti-Semitic, but can animate violence against the community." I was hoping you could expand on that for us, because I think it's clear that what's fueling much of this is the war in Gaza.

SEGAL: Yes, so listen, you know, people want to have policy debates about what the Israeli government is doing and the military is doing and be very critical of that. I mean, that's one thing we know that is not necessarily anti-Semitism. What we're concerned about, what we have been warning about and documenting is, for example, there have been 600 days where people around the country have been removing posters of hostages, including, you know, young children when they were hostages, right, denying Jewish suffering, denying Israeli suffering. And now what we have seen just yesterday is that people who were there to express concern over the current hostages were literally burned alive, right? This is the rhetoric that glorifies terrorism that we are seeing at rallies around the country that is normalizing the type of conflation between Jews and Israelis. And that's why tragedies like we have seen in Boulder, in D.C. and beforehand are likely to happen when that environment and that atmosphere, which enables that type of rhetoric to go unchecked and unchallenged, is normalized.

SANCHEZ: I wonder what your message is to officials around the country about how to handle this, not only on considering making potential targets stronger, but also on specifically what you're describing, the rhetoric.

SEGAL: Listen, the Jewish community is among the most hardened targets in this country, right? This is not our first go around with being the target of threats, whether it's bulletproof glass or metal detectors. That's the norm for many institutions around the country. And, you know, we do need law enforcement to be supported and provided with, you know, funding in order to help protect Jewish institutions, especially in an environment like this.

But at the end of the day, this is not about arresting, you know, the issue away. This is about winning hearts and minds. This is about basic understanding that the more that you dehumanize human beings for who they are, the more likely it is that people will want to act upon that. This is true across the ideological spectrum.

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This is true not only this year, but for the past five years and, frankly, 50 years.

The more that people are enabling others to demonize, dehumanize and treat others as worthy of being attacked because of who they are, the more it will happen. So, the allies, the government officials and leaders across the country need to say this is not okay. And not just after these attacks happen, but throughout the year when these types of narratives get normalized.

SANCHEZ: Oren Segal, thanks so much for joining us.

SEGAL: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Still to come in the Sean "Diddy" Combs' trial, his ex- assistant has to answer defense questions about her past messages, expressing love and support for him, as she also claims that he sexually and physically assaulted her.

Plus, a massive drone attack may have turned the tide in the war in Ukraine. Details on the ceasefire proposal now coming from Russia.

And Harvard University making its case to hold on to research funding from the government. That much more coming your way in just moments.

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SANCHEZ: The jury has been dismissed for the day in the Sean Diddy Combs sex trafficking and racketeering trial. Moments ago, a Beverly Hills hotel employee briefly testified for the prosecution. The jury saw two bills for Combs hotel stays addressed to an alias associated with his guest profile.

HILL: So, the witness follows three days of testimony from Combs' former assistant Mia, a person who was testifying under a pseudonym and described multiple instances of alleged physical, emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of Combs. The defense grilled her about why she stayed on the job despite that alleged abuse. Combs' attorney also questioned her social media posts and text messages that were sent to Combs expressing her love and admiration for him. Combs has pleaded not guilty. He is facing up to life in prison if convicted on all counts.

CNN Legal Analyst and criminal defense attorney, Joey Jackson, joins us now.

So, Joey, as we lay this all out, Mia concluding her testimony, cross examination, finishing up here. You know, Boris and I have been talking about this today, but there's really a fine line here. And the judge even admonished the defense attorneys and basically told them to be careful in their line of questioning. Don't be too argumentative. There's also a concern over, you know, victim blaming and going on too long.

Ultimately, how do you think the defense handled this moment?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, good to be with you, Erica and Boris.

So, this is a compelling witness. Big picture. When you look at racketeering, you look at an alleged criminal enterprise. The head, of course, being, according to prosecutors, Mr. Combs, and as a result, he was having and conspiring with people to do a number of bad things. So, Mia gives you a number of that, right? She talks about issues relating to his abuses, bad behavior, you know, drugs, guns, all these things that are happening.

But in addition, specifically, she talked about the issue of this forced labor. She worked days on end, right? Not having a break. And that goes also to this racketeering, this lawlessness, this enterprise. She gives you the issue of coercion in terms of the sex trafficking. Not only do you need to establish, if you're the federal government, from place to place, right, interstate, but that it was coercive behavior. And she spoke about Cassie.

She worked for the company for eight years. She was internal to what was going on. She was good friends of Cassie. They were sisters. Cassie Ventura, of course, the star witness who alleges, right, the allegations with respect to bad behavior. We saw that videotape. So, that's big picture. So, you have to, if you're the defense, refute her testimony because you want to refute the racketeering charge, big picture. You want to refute the sex trafficking charge. And so briefly, they went after her with all they could. The defense, your social media. You say that this was a person who abused you sexually, yet you made the social media post saying, I love you. You know, in sum and substance, you're the best thing that's happened to me. A birthday post talking about, you know, how good he was to her.

And so, the defense attempting to reconcile her suggestions with respect to abuse, not suggestions, specific tells, according to the defense of abuse, with why she would do that. So, talking about, hey, did you ever tell anyone about this? If not law enforcement, what about your family? What about friends? What about when you were separating from Diddy's company when you were going through this mediation, which is this process because she sued the company to resolve it? Did you tell them? And even when you met with prosecutors, did you tell even prosecutors until 2024?

So finally, Erica, to your question, the defense needed to really rebut and suggest that this was all a fabrication, because if the jury believes that, wow, she checks a lot of boxes and it gets the jurors closer to concluding that there may have been racketeering, may have been sex trafficking. And that, of course, gets you closer to a conviction.

So that's why, Erica, the defense went after her as they needed to do in order to refute her testimony.

SANCHEZ: And so, for the prosecution, how much do you think this now rests on expert witnesses to sort of help walk the jury through what it's like to be caught in that space between being very close to someone and having affection for them and being the victim of coercion and abuse?

JACKSON: Yes. So, Boris, very much so. You would recall to your question that there was a psychologist, excuse me, and that psychologist testified to how a woman who was engaged or involved in this abuse would behave, why they wouldn't report, why they would feel shame, why they would, you know, have behavior that would be inconsistent with a person just saying, hey, he abused me, coming out and telling all.

So, that expert testimony gives the jurors a sense of a path of how someone's psychology involved in this abuse, right, how they would behave if you believe the expert.

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But it's larger than that. This is a very unconventional prosecution. When I say that, I think that when you look at a racketeering charge, this is a charge that generally is used for mobsters and underbosses, ordering assassinations, doing lawless things, shaking down businesses. Here we have Diddy and no one else at the table, right, who is indicted and standing trial with him being co-conspirators. In addition to that, you have the sex trafficking. We normally don't think about it in the context of long-term relationships. We think about it in the context of coercing a person who you don't have a relationship with to do your bidding, to engage in this sexual activity. So, to the core of your question, Boris, if they're going to get there, that as prosecutors, they have to show this coercive behavior.

Yes, there was a long-term relationship, prosecutors will argue, but if it's predicated upon controlling what you do, how I pay you, what you wear, right, the things that we engage in in order to please me because you're abused, that gets you closer to coercion. And if you get closer to coercion in that you really didn't want to engage in this freak off even though the text and email said you did, then that gets you closer to sex trafficking.

And so, these are the narratives, and this is the fight you're having in court over the issues of coerced sex versus consensual sex, over was he a racketeer and a person engaging in this lawfulness, lawlessness with other people, or was he just engaged in private bad behavior, which would constitute awful, tragic, terrible things that he did, but does it if you're the defense constitute the nature of racketeering, and that's the argument we're seeing in court, and how they conclude will be how this case goes, Boris and Erica.

HILL: All right, really quickly before we let you go, prosecutors are set to call this former hotel security worker, so this is from the Intercontinental, this is the video at the hotel that the video that CNN obtained of Cassie Ventura being kicked and pulled by Sean Combs on camera. He is testifying under an immunity order. What do you expect from his testimony?

JACKSON: Yes, I think it's critical, because what happens is, is this is the essence of what the prosecution has shown, this videotape where Sean Combs is engaged in this really inexcusable behavior that the defense would suggest to you as behavior that is awful, it shows domestic violence, but does it show racketeering, does it show sex trafficking?

So with regard to the immunity deal, we know because he's gotten immunity, he won't be prosecuted for anything, right, in terms of whether he engaged in an agreement to hide the tape, whether the tape shouldn't have seen the light of day, whether the hotel took money for the tape that they shouldn't have taken, whether he took money, so nothing he has to worry about, just the authenticity of that, the fact that it was this tape that existed, the fact that those parties, Cassie Ventura and Sean Combs were there, and the fact that this most certainly happened, and that Combs must have been somewhat concerned about it, because there was this alleged payment to conceal that tape.

So critical testimony goes to show the narrative of this persistent pattern of abuse, which is what prosecutors need to establish their case.

HILL: All right. Joey Jackson, appreciate it as always. Thank you.

JACKSON: Thank you, Erica. Thanks, Boris.

HILL: Still ahead here, Ukraine and Russia holding peace talks just one day after Ukraine launches a stunning operation targeting multiple Russian air bases.

And a little later, a young girl in Texas who was gravely ill is now thriving after a surprising medical treatment. That and much more ahead right here on CNN NEWS CENTRAL. NEWS CENTRAL

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HILL: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine is now turning up the pressure on Moscow in an effort to end the more than three years of war. Kyiv launching incredibly sophisticated drone strikes across Russia. The operation, codenamed Spiderweb, hit a number of Russian air bases thousands of miles from the war's front lines. Ukraine says drones hidden inside of Russia were able to destroy dozens of the Kremlin's war planes, including long-range bombers.

SANCHEZ: Those strikes come on the eve of a potentially pivotal moment in the war. Both sides meeting today in Turkey for a second round of direct peace talks.

With us now, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia, Evelyn Farkas. She's also the executive director of the McCain Institute.

Evelyn, thanks for sharing part of your afternoon with us.

I wonder what you make of this attack. Does it bring Vladimir Putin any closer towards diplomacy?

EVELYN FARKAS, FORMER U.S. DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR RUSSIA, UKRAINE & EURASIA: Well, Boris, it might, but Vladimir Putin is very stubborn and we haven't seen any signs that he's going to give up on his maximalist objectives. There might be, and I would imagine there's some pressure being put on him internally because what the Ukrainians did was use drones to achieve strategic surprise and strategic effect. Even if the Ukrainian estimate of a third of the cruise missile carriers being destroyed is exaggerated, we know from New York Times reporting that it's somewhere close. And this is a game changer. It could definitely put increasing pressure on the Kremlin.

HILL: Here's one of our missing military analysts, retired Colonel Cedric Leighton, laid out to us earlier. The fact that it was planned for so long, that it was so intricate, right, what it involved in terms of being able to reach across some 11 time zones, being in Russia, all of that adding up to this very sophisticated attack.

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