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Putin, Trump No Show at Russia-Ukraine-U.S. Ceasefire Talks in Turkey; Trump Heads to UAE to Wrap his Middle East Tour; Daughter of French Crypto Boss Escapes Kidnapping Attempt; Combs' Attorneys to Cross-Examine Ventura. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired May 15, 2025 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world and to everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, U.S., Ukrainian and Russian delegations are set to hold ceasefire talks in Turkey. But what will the absence of Vladimir Putin mean for these talks?

President Donald Trump's Middle East tour will head to Abu Dhabi next after signing some major deals with Qatar.

And Cassie Ventura gives more emotional testimony at Sean Diddy Combs' sex trafficking trial.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: I appreciate you joining us.

Russia and Ukraine have accused one another of launching overnight drone strikes ahead of their first direct talks since just after the start of the war. But it's unclear when that meeting will begin or if it will even happen.

Ukraine says no time has been set and questions remain over who will actually show up. The Kremlin has confirmed the Russian President will not be there, even though these talks were Vladimir Putin's idea. One of his senior aides is leading the Russian delegation.

But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he won't bother negotiating with anyone but his Russian counterpart. Still, any face to face meeting between the two sides would mark a milestone in the more than three year conflict.

U.S. President Donald Trump is also a no show, despite saying earlier that he might join the talks, quote, "if it's helpful."

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is tracking this live for us from London, she joins us now. Good morning to you, Salma. So what additional details are you learning about these peace talks today in Turkey?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Very little, Rosemary. And that's why many European diplomats, Ukraine, President Zelenskyy simply see these talks now as a distraction tactic from President Putin.

To explain that, we have to take it back to where this started about a week ago when European powers, allies gave President Putin an ultimatum, a 30-day ceasefire. And they said that if he does not agree to that, more sanctions would be put into place.

The U.S.-backed this 30 day ceasefire proposal. But President Putin responded with a carrot, he proposed direct talks with Ukraine, something that President Trump has been deeply interested in.

And quite quickly, we saw President Trump pivot away from that demand for a ceasefire and put the pressure on President Zelenskyy to agree to those direct talks.

Now, President Zelenskyy did not only agree to those talks, he actually raised the stakes, Rosemary, and said, I will speak only to President Putin himself directly. He is in charge. He is the man I want to talk to.

President Putin, who initially suggested these talks, the Kremlin started to lay the groundwork for him not showing up and now confirmation that he will not be in Turkey.

So there was this great moment of excitement, really, Rosemary, where there was the possibility, however slim it was, that you would see all three leaders, President Zelenskyy, President Trump, President Putin, all in Turkey, what would have been a major step, a major sign of progress towards those promised peace negotiations.

Instead, this has fizzled down to what may be at best a meeting between senior level officials. Even the time is under question, Rosemary, as you mentioned, with Russian state media saying that it would take place at 10 a.m., while Ukraine saying that that is fake news. Now, a lot of this was promised by U.S. officials who are in Turkey as well for this meeting.

I want you to take a listen to what Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at a NATO meeting just moments ago about these talks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: There are millions of Ukrainians that have lived outside of their borders and their country right now, and the world the President wants to see is one in which people can come back home and begin to rebuild their country and spend their time focused on how to build the economy, not how to fight a war.

But obviously, we're in a very difficult spot right now, and we hope that we can find the steps forward that provide for the end of this war in a negotiated way and the prevention of any war in the future as a result, meaning a peace that's going to ensure not just that this war ends, but also prevents a new one from starting at some point down the road.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: You're hearing there, of course, from Trump officials the hope that these talks will still yield something, but I think experts will tell you it is unlikely to see any progress out of these talks if they even take place.

[03:05:03]

Still, it is significant because if it takes place, these would be the first direct negotiations between these two sides since 2022, since the start of this conflict. But again, a very far cry from the promise that President Trump has made, which is to wind down this conflict and far from the demand of President Zelenskyy for a 30-day ceasefire.

CHURCH: Salma Abdelaziz, many thanks for that report. I appreciate it.

To Arlington, Virginia now, and William Taylor, Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council and former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine. Thank you so much for joining us.

WILLIAM TAYLOR, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE, AND DISTINGUISHED FELLOW, ATLANTIC COUNCIL: Glad to be here, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So it now appears that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will not be turning up for these peace talks in Turkey that are expected to get underway in the coming hours. But Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be there. So what happens now and what significance will these talks now have if they do go ahead?

TAYLOR: I think they will be significant in that it will be very clear who's serious about peace. It'll be very clear that the Ukrainians are there in full force.

It'll be very clear that the Americans have sent a senior delegation, not the President, Secretary of State and National Security Adviser, and two special envoys. The Turks will be there.

So everybody will be there, a low level Russian delegation will be there. So the senior people will be there except for Vladimir Putin. And that suggests to me that he's not serious about these talks.

CHURCH: Yes, that was my next question. In fact, you know, your reading of both Putin and Donald Trump bailing out, I mean, does this put the whole peace effort in jeopardy as Trump lost interest, do you think?

TAYLOR: I don't think he's lost interest. I think he was waiting to see if Putin would show up. President Trump said that if President Putin showed up and was there to having conversations with President Zelenskyy, that he, Trump, would show up as well.

It's really Putin who dropped the ball. It's really Putin who is opposing and putting the problem into these negotiations. So now it's up to you ask the right question. What's next? It's now up to the Europeans, the British, the French and the Poles

have indicated and the E.U. all indicated that if Putin is not serious about a 30-day ceasefire, then they will put additional sanctions on. And by the way, they had conversations with President Trump last weekend, which indicated that President Trump may also go with sanctions in order to force President Putin to be serious about these negotiations.

CHURCH: But they do keep talking about these sanctions, don't they? And if they applied these sanctions, doesn't that give them leverage? And wouldn't that be more likely an inspiration for Putin to come to these talks?

TAYLOR: Absolutely right. Some indication that the Europeans are taking the first steps toward applying these new round of sanctions. Last week, we heard actually that U.S. Treasury had put together a sanctions package for review by the White House.

So there are steps being taken to impose more sanctions on Putin now that he's indicated that he's not serious about these negotiations. That was the deal.

Come to the table, negotiate or we'll put sanctions on. And the steps are now being taken to put those sanctions in place.

CHURCH: And, you know, of course, as you've mentioned, the list of Russian delegates attending, heading for these talks does not include Vladimir Putin or his foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov. How would Putin even spin sitting down with Zelenskyy given domestically that makes Zelenskyy look like he's equal and surely Putin would never allow those optics. So why did he even propose these direct talks in the first place?

TAYLOR: Putin has put himself in a bind when he proposed these talks. He thought this was a move, a good move for him. But it turned out that President Zelenskyy was quicker.

President Zelenskyy called his bluff and said, OK, fine, I'll be in Turkey. You show up, Mr. Putin. And Mr. Putin then had several days of dithering to try to figure out how to respond to that challenge.

CHURCH: And so just very quickly, I mean, have hopes for a ceasefire orbit disappeared. And, you know, we talked about those sanctions. What's the timeline for those? I mean, presumably if these talks go ahead, just after those talks would be the time to the time to apply these sanctions, if not before.

CHURCH: You're absolutely right, Rosemary, and now is the time it'll be very clear tomorrow. It'll be very clear within hours that Putin is not serious.

[03:10:01]

As you say, this low level delegation is not a serious delegation coming to talk, make decisions. So now is the time to demonstrate resolve, to demonstrate commitment to a promise, a threat that the Europeans, together with some agreement by the Americans, made last weekend to put serious sanctions on if Putin doesn't come to the table.

He's not at the table. Now is the time for sanctions.

CHURCH: William Taylor, thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate it.

TAYLOR: Thank you, Rosemary, good to be here.

CHURCH: President Donald Trump has kicked off the third day of his Middle East tour in Qatar, where he has been speaking with top business leaders in Doha and discussing a number of issues, including Iran. Here's what he said just moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. President: We're getting close to maybe doing a deal without having to do this. There's two steps.

There's a very nice step, and there's a violent step, the violence like people haven't seen before. And I don't -- I hope we're not going to have to do this. I don't want to do the second step, some people do, many people do.

I don't want to do that step, so we'll see what happens. But we're in very serious negotiations with Iran for long term peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The U.S. President traveled to Qatar Wednesday after holding an informal meeting in Riyadh with Syria's new President, former militant Ahmed al-Sharaa. Mr. Trump has announced that he plans to remove decades old sanctions on Syria and is praising the country's leader as the U.S. explores the possibility of normalizing diplomatic relations.

Donald Trump received a lavish welcome in Doha and was greeted by camels and red Cybertrucks upon arriving Wednesday. Later, the U.S. President announced a deal for Qatar to purchase 160 jets from U.S. airplane manufacturer Boeing.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny has more details now from Doha.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: President Trump completing another whirlwind day here in Doha, flying from Riyadh, where he started the day visiting the new Syrian president. Extraordinary set of images from that private meeting. The first time in 25 years, an American President has met a new Syrian leader a day after lifting sanctions for Syria.

The President has been suggesting or teasing all week long that he could perhaps upend his agenda here and go to Turkey to personally mediate the ceasefire discussions between Russia and Ukraine. The President said earlier today he was thinking about it.

But as soon as the Kremlin said that Vladimir Putin is not on the delegation list, the White House confirming to CNN that President Trump is not going to Turkey, which is what officials were sort of suggesting all day long. But the President did once again, as he was speaking here in Doha, have strong words for neighboring Iran.

TRUMP: You're also working with us very closely with respect to negotiating a deal with Iran, which is the far friendlier course that you would see. I mean, we have two courses. There's only two courses, there aren't three or four or five, there's two.

There's a friendly and a non-friendly, and the non-friendly is a violent course, and I don't want that. I'll say it up front, I don't want that. But they have to get moving.

ZELENY: It is the second straight day President Trump has talked about Iran, saying that the country will never get a nuclear weapon, but wants the country and leaders to come to the table and further nuclear talks.

So as the President continues his journey here, he'll be meeting with military forces at the Al Udeid military base, the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East. It, of course, is the site of many Afghan refugees. Many of the fighting over the last two decades or so, Iraq and Afghanistan, both the theaters have gone from there.

So the President, we're told, will be delivering a campaign style rally before going on to the UAE and returning to Washington on Friday.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Doha.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: The Qatari prime minister is dismissing the controversy surrounding President Trump's plan to accept the gift of a Boeing jet from Qatar to be used initially as Air Force One. CNN's Becky Anderson spoke to him on Wednesday about that and some of the key developments during President Trump's Middle East tour. Here's part of that interview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR, "CONNECT THE WORLD": Did you anticipate the strong backlash that this announcement or this offer, as you say, it is not yet signed off on, but this offer, did you anticipate the backlash? And might you have made another decision, you know, were you to have thought that this would happen?

[03:14:57]

MOHAMMED BIN ABDULRAHMAN AL-TANI, QATARI PRIME MINISTER: Well, actually, nothing is changing our decision. It's at the end of the day, if there is something that the U.S. need and it's completely illegal and we can -- we are able to help and to support the U.S. and we are not shying away from that. We are proud people. And even if there is something is coming out of Qatar for the U.S., it's coming out of love.

It doesn't come out of an exchange of anything or that.

ANDERSON: It sits with the lawyers, as I understand it at present. If it's not deemed legal, the offer would be withdrawn.

ABDULRAHMAN AL-TANI: Yes, of course. I mean, we will not do anything illegal. I mean, if there was something illegal, there were many ways to hide these kind of transactions when will not be visible for the public.

I mean, this is a very clear exchange that's happening between two governments, and this is happening between countries around the world. I don't see any controversy. And it's -- I don't know why it's been taken to a different direction and it's being politicized this way.

ANDERSON: And let's talk about Gaza.

You've been deeply involved in mediating between Israel and Hamas for more than 19 months. I've been in and out of this country and watch the efforts that have been put into that mediation.

There's a high level Israeli delegation here today. Steve Witkoff is here. Donald Trump's Middle East envoy and his hostage -- chief hostage negotiator, Adam Boehler. And what can you tell us about any progress in those talks? The indirect talks, of course, with Hamas here?

ABDULRAHMAN AL-TANI: Well, the progress that we have achieved by releasing Edan Alexander, the Israeli American citizen the day before yesterday. From our perspective, we were seeing it as a breakthrough that will help and bring back the talks on track and bring us a ceasefire and opening up a humanitarian corridor for the humanitarian assistance to come to the people of Gaza.

Unfortunately, Israel reaction to this was a mass bombing the next day while sending the delegation. And statements coming out of the Israeli government that this delegation is coming to negotiate a hostage deal without ending the war, which is basically sending the signal that we are not interested in negotiations.

ANDERSON: Can we talk about Syria?

ABDULRAHMAN AL-TANI: Sure.

ANDERSON: You're a strong backer of this new government, and you've been lobbying for sanctions release for some time now to unlock aid into the country. Now, Donald Trump in Riyadh announced that he is lifting sanctions. This news is making huge waves across this region. What do you now believe that you can accomplish for Syria?

ABDULRAHMAN AL-TANI: Well, I think, first of all, the Syrian people deserve to live a dignified life. And basically the sanctions were imposed on Assad's regime given his behavior against his own people. And now, if the sanctions remain as they were, how will we be able to help the Syrian people to change their situation and to get out of the consequences of the civil war that they had been through in the last 12 years, maybe?

So lifting the sanction, we believe it is the right step moving forward. Now, there are a lot of questions being raised about, OK, how do we know the current government? What's about their background? Everyone has these questions, and these are legitimate questions since it's a new government.

ANDERSON: Can you share--

ABDULRAHMAN AL-TANI: And given this background, of course, we have no knowledge about this government until they became in power. So basically, what we decided to do is to start engaging with them, to start to see if they are saying and doing the right things, then we should support them.

We should support the stability of Syria. We should support that Syria shouldn't fail and shouldn't turn into a chaos. And basically what we've been hearing and what we've been seeing until now, we've been hearing the right things.

ANDERSON: The U.S. is in talks with Iran. Donald Trump has said the time to choose is now. This is not an offer that will last forever.

He said he'd discussed Iran with the Emir today. Did he share what that U.S. offer to Iran looks like? Are they close to a deal? And he talked about how the Emir has been a great help. So what's Qatar's involvement here?

ABDULRAHMAN AL-TANI: Well, actually, we had a very good and very productive discussion between His Highness the Emir and the President about the negotiations on the Iran nuclear program.

[03:20:09]

We strongly believe that this can be only solved diplomatically and we believe that escalation is not in the interest of any party. We are trying our best to support that effort. Our colleagues in Oman are doing an outstanding job in mediating the conflict between them and any kind of support that we are able to provide when we are reaching out to the parties. We are doing our utmost.

The discussion basically between His Highness and the President is just highlighting the risks of not having a deal and what would be the best way to mitigate those through finding a compromise between the U.S. and Iran that can bring us to a deal.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: The Qatari Prime Minister talking there with our Becky Anderson.

Still to come, Israel ramps up strikes on Gaza while talking ceasefire at the negotiating table. The latest on the conflict in the enclave, coming up next.

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[03:25:00]

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CHURCH: Israeli airstrikes continue to bombard Gaza as ceasefire talks are being held in Qatar. Palestinian officials say nearly 70 people were killed in overnight strikes across Gaza and the death toll is expected to rise as many victims are still trapped under the rubble.

Hospital workers say their facility is, quote, "packed with bodies and young children are among those killed." The strikes come on the heels of others earlier this week that have left dozens of Palestinians dead. Multiple sources say Israel targeted Hamas leader Mohamed Sinwar on Tuesday.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond has more and a warning. Some of the video you're about to see is graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's still no confirmation on whether those Israeli airstrikes at a hospital in Southern Gaza actually killed their intended target. That target, of course, was Mohamed Sinwar, Hamas' de facto leader in Gaza, whom Israel targeted with a series of very powerful airstrikes on the European Hospital in Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip.

And we can see from videos of the moment of impact on this CCTV video, the power of this blast that even threw people into the air who were standing in the courtyard of that European hospital as well as in footage of the aftermath of that strike. You can see these enormous craters that were caused by what appears to be very large bunker- busting bombs designed to target underground infrastructure.

And indeed, the Israeli military claimed that there was an underground facility underneath or near that European Hospital in Gaza where they claim, according to our sources, that Mohamed Sinwar was located. It could take days or perhaps even weeks before the military is actually able to confirm whether or not he was killed in this strike.

But in the meantime, we are aware of other casualties as a result of this strike. At least 28 people were killed, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, more than 50 others injured in a strike that also damaged that hospital. It comes at a time when hospitals in Gaza are already suffering under the strain of a lack of fuel, a lack of medical supplies getting into Gaza as Israel's total siege of the Strip now stretches into its third month.

It was just one of a series of very deadly strikes that we have seen in Gaza over the course of the last 24 hours or so, including strikes in northern Gaza that killed more than 50 people, bodies were flowing into the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, including the bodies of many children and one baby carried by his father. And you can see the toll as Israel not only seems to be continuing,

but intensifying these airstrikes, even as negotiations are ongoing, including in the Qatari capital of Doha to see if a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas can be reached in the wake of Hamas choosing to release the last living American hostage, Edan Alexander.

Indeed, the Israeli military's operations appear to be intensifying in Gaza with the IDF issuing an evacuation order for large swathes of the Al-Rimal neighborhood in Gaza City. The Israeli military saying that Hamas is embedded in civilian infrastructure in that area and vowing that there will be intense strikes there.

Those evacuation orders prompted panic, including at Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, where patients began to leave. As soon as those evacuation orders were issued, the hospital later got a call telling them that they were not actually part of the evacuation orders, despite that hospital having been specifically mentioned in a tweet by the Israeli military's Arabic language spokesman.

Several schools in that area that have become shelters for displaced Palestinians were included in this evacuation order and that sent a panic coursing among thousands of displaced Palestinians in that area, many of whom were uncertain of what to do, given that this evacuation order didn't say when these strikes would begin and how long people would have in order to try and get to safety.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[03:30:02]

CHURCH: Still to come, luxury brands in the U.S. start to feel the pain of President Trump's tariff war. How they're dealing with the uncertainty, that's ahead.

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[03:35:00]

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CHURCH: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom." I'm Rosemary Church. Let's check today's top stories for you.

Today, Ukraine and Russia are expected to hold their first direct talks in more than three years, but it's unclear when. Ukraine says no time has been set. The Russian President won't be attending, even though he's the one who proposed the meeting in Istanbul, and Ukraine's President has said he won't speak with any Russian officials other than Vladimir Putin.

Nearly 70 people have been killed overnight in Gaza as a week of intense Israeli strikes continues. Officials in Gaza say that includes 57 people killed in Khan Younis in the south, six in Deir el-Bala in central Gaza, and five in northern Gaza's Jabalia area. President Donald Trump is in Qatar on the second leg of his Middle

East trip, he's been meeting with business leaders in Doha this hour. Mr. Trump announced a deal on Wednesday for Qatar to purchase 160 jets from U.S. airplane manufacturer Boeing. He's expected to meet with U.S. forces at a military base before heading to the UAE.

More now on Mr. Trump's visit to Qatar from CNN's Julia Benbrook.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is President Donald Trump's first major international trip of his second term. And one of the big goals of this trip is to project himself as a dealmaker and a diplomat on the world stage.

Trump's arrival in Qatar on Wednesday was met with great fanfare, including camels and red Tesla Cyber Trucks. He announced several economic deals, including an agreement for Qatar to purchase jets from U.S. manufacturer Boeing.

TRUMP: Over $200 billion, but 160 in terms of the jets, that's fantastic.

BENBROOK: Now, prior to this trip, Trump announced plans to accept a luxury jet from Qatar to use as Air Force One. And while speaking on the current Air Force One, he outlined his desire for an upgrade.

TRUMP: When you land and you see Saudi Arabia and you see UAE and you see Qatar and you see all these and they have these brand new Boeing 747s mostly and you see ours next to it, this is like a totally different plane. It's much smaller, it's much less impressive.

BENBROOK: This proposal raises legal, ethical and security concerns voiced by members of both political parties.

REP. JEFF HURD (R-CO): Regardless of who the President is, I think we would be cautious and I certainly something that I cannot support.

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): He is so dazzled by the notion of putting this plane in his Presidential museum. He's forgotten his responsibility to this nation.

BENBROOK: The top Democrat in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, is looking for more information on all of this and placed a blanket hold on DOJ political nominees as he seeks answers on the President's plans to accept the jet.

Reporting at the White House, I'm Julia Benbrook.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Mr. Trump's Middle East tour does not include a stop in Israel. When asked if his trip sidelined the country, the President said no and insisted that it actually helps. Earlier, Jasmin El Gamal, a former Middle East adviser at the Pentagon, weighed in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASMINE EL-GAMAL, FORMER PENTAGON MIDDLE EAST ADVISER: President Trump reportedly wanted to focus on coming out of this trip with a lot of positive deliverables and given that Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel has been really intransigent when it comes to negotiations and ending the war in Gaza, the President reportedly felt that he wasn't going to get anything positive out of this trip and it is being taken as a sign, as a message to Netanyahu, that the President is not happy with his intransigence.

So that's why he avoided Israel on the trip and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also canceled a scheduled trip to Israel. Now that said, Rosemary, the President, as you said, did say that all of what was happening on this trip and in the region is good for Israel and that's true.

The fact that talks are ongoing with Iran to resolve the issue with Iran diplomatically, to prevent it from getting a nuclear weapon diplomatically, avoiding a war, helping Syria turn a new page, move into a new more peaceful chapter, supporting the Syrian President who's made it clear that he doesn't want to be enemies with Israel and doesn't want to fight with Israel, basically supporting any kind of stability in the region and security around Israel is good for Israel.

And that's what Israelis are saying themselves. There was an open letter to President Trump by several former Israeli officials, civil society activists, and they were all saying the same thing.

[03:40:09]

They were saying, President Trump, please use the trauma of October 7th to help all of the people in the region move forward and turn a new page.

So a lot of the Israeli public is also rallying around this idea of turning a new page, ending the war, getting the hostages back and moving forward. And Prime Minister Netanyahu and his coalition partners seem to be the only ones standing in the way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The economic experts say the recent tariff deal between the U.S. and China is likely to trigger a surge in imports. Retailers will order goods in greater numbers just like they did before the tariffs went into place.

They will especially want to buy holiday items during the 90-day pause before prices shift again. But we won't see those products immediately.

West Coast ports say the number of ships and cargo arriving this month is still low. Shipping items from China usually take three to four weeks to arrive to the U.S.

Well a new survey shows American consumers are changing their spending patterns due to President Donald Trump's chaotic tariff policy and the broader economic uncertainty. And U.S. business owners, including those selling luxury items, are beginning to feel the impact of this change.

CNN's Jason Carroll spoke with some of them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fashion designers are already shooting next year's collections, but given the current trade climate, this is the first time in 30 years of business Deirdre Quinn is seriously doubting if she can keep her company for another year.

CARROLL: Are you confident you'll be around for resort 2026?

DEIRDRE QUINN, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, LAFAYETTE 148: No.

CARROLL (voice-over): Quinn is co-founder and CEO of Lafayette 148, a luxury label that has become a fixture in the fashion industry, worn by the likes of Julia Roberts; Viola Davis, the former Speaker of the House; and the First Lady. It's a brand now struggling. Despite the rollback on Chinese tariffs, Lafayette 148 is straining under the tariffs still in place.

CARROLL: So what do you do? What is your strategy then going forward?

QUINN: Well, at the moment it's to speak out.

CARROLL (voice-over): So far, Quinn has paid some $2.8 million in tariffs this year. Paying 30 percent, while certainly better than the 145 percent that was previously in place, still means she needs to pay an additional $2.3 million over the next 90 days.

QUINN: You know, we're in a tough position right now.

CARROLL (voice-over): Tough because if she were to pass on the current total tariff cost to her customers, a blouse from her collection, currently costing about $600, would be more than $700.

It's a shift the entire industry is feeling. The U.S. receives 97 percent of its clothing and shoes from other countries, primarily China and Vietnam.

In Quinn's case, 95 percent of her products are made in China. Right now, she stays afloat by shipping only what has already sold, without passing the total cost on to her customers.

Meanwhile, most of her inventory is still sitting in China.

QUINN: I can't afford to have my entire cash flow go to the tariffs, and that's what's happening.

CARROLL (voice-over): Independent jewelry designer Presley Oldham is doing what President Trump has been advocating for. His product is made in the United States.

PRESLEY OLDHAM, JEWELRY DESIGNER: They're a really beautiful color. CARROLL (voice-over): He still needs freshwater pearls, which come

primarily from two places in the world, China or Japan. At a recent show, he says retailers from Canada and Mexico wanted to avoid tariffs, refused to buy because he's a U.S.-based designer.

CARROLL: How much revenue do you think you've lost so far?

OLDHAM: Easily upwards of $40,000. As an entrepreneur, I'm really searching for this sort of ground to stand on right now, and I don't know what that looks like.

CARROLL (voice-over): Repercussions already being felt on the sales floor at Lafayette 148's boutique in Soho.

EMILY SMITH, CREATIVE DIRECTOR, LAFAYETTE 148: Our clients are walking in and asking if we're okay.

CARROLL: What do you tell them?

SMITH: You're looking for a ray of hope that this is all just a bad dream and it's going to go away.

CARROLL (voice-over): The real worry is if the tariff nightmare doesn't go away in short order, Deirdre Quinn says her life's work and all she has built may soon be gone.

CARROLL: How long do you think realistically you can keep doing this?

QUINN: No, I won't make it to Labor Day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Still to come, cameras catch the moment masked men tried to kidnap the daughter of a French cryptocurrency executive. More on the alarming string of abduction attempts in France when we return.

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[03:45:00]

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.

The daughter of a French cryptocurrency executive, narrowly escaped a kidnapping attempt in Paris on Tuesday. It happened in broad daylight and was caught on camera. The attack is the latest in a string of incidents in France targeting people with ties to the crypto industry.

CNN's Saskya Vandoorne has more from Paris.

[03:49:59]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN SR. PRODUCER: This is the spot where on Tuesday morning, four masked men attempted to kidnap the daughter and grandson of a prominent French crypto boss, according to police, and it was all caught on camera.

The video shows them fighting back and screaming for help. You can hear the woman shouting aide-moi, help me, as she grabs an object that appears to be a gun and throws it in the street. It turned out to be a fake, according to BFMTV.

A shopkeeper now being hailed as a hero, ran out with a fire extinguisher, forcing the attackers to flee in a white van. The family was treated with minor injuries, according to BFMTV. Police believe the attackers were targeting them because of their ties to cryptocurrency. AFP reports the woman's father is the CEO of Paymium, a French crypto exchange.

The Paris prosecutor has opened an investigation into attempted kidnapping by an organized gang, aggravated assault, and criminal conspiracy.

This is the fourth attempted crypto-related abduction in France in just six months. In one case, a victim's finger was severed. The interior minister is holding an emergency meeting with crypto entrepreneurs on Friday, as officials now race to respond to this escalating threat.

Saskia Vandoorne, CNN, Paris.

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CHURCH: In the coming hours, defense attorneys will get their chance to question the former girlfriend of Sean Diddy Combs in his racketeering and sex trafficking trial. During her second day of testimony, Cassie Ventura described how she suffered injuries and other medical issues from Combs' assaults, and from his drug-fueled sex parties, also called freak-offs.

CNN's Kara Scannell has details.

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KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Cassie Ventura, the government's star witness in their case against Sean Diddy Combs, will be back on the witness stand on Thursday, and Combs' attorneys will have their first chance to cross-examine her. Ventura finished a second emotional day of testimony on Wednesday, where she testified about the physical violence she said she sustained at Combs' hand.

The jury saw numerous photos, images of bruises, swollen lips, black eyes, that Ventura said Combs had given her, sometimes because she was just sleeping instead of packing for a trip. She also testified that Combs had attempted to blackmail her, threatening to release images and videos of the freak-offs to the public if she didn't stick with what he wanted her to do. She testified at the trial saying, "I felt trapped."

Ventura also said that she became addicted to opiates in order to escape the freak-offs and the violence that she sustained with Combs, and she said years after they broke up, she became suicidal. When she had flashbacks of her experiences with Combs, she said she was testifying at the trial because what's right is right, what's wrong is wrong, I'm here to do the right thing.

The cross-examination will start first thing Thursday morning.

Kara Scannell, CNN, New York.

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CHURCH: It's one of the thinnest watches in the world, but it comes with a very hefty price tag. An up-close look at Bulgari's new razor- thin timepiece, that's next.

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[03:55:00]

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CHURCH: Welcome back everyone.

When it comes to iconic architecture, Art Deco, Brutalist or Victorian may come to mind, North Korean designs probably not. But according to state media, an architectural festival opened in Pyongyang this week. Details on what sets North Korean architecture apart were not provided, but we're told the exhibition features more than 500 layouts and the use of modeling technology.

And when it comes to luxury watches, it often seems that more is more, but if you're looking to go the other direction and have serious money to spend, Bulgari may have just the thing for you.

CNN's Anna Stewart gives us a peek.

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JEAN CHRISTOPHE BABIN, CEO, BULGARI/LVMH WATCHES: This is the thinnest ever tourbillon watch ever created. The thickness is 1.85 millimeter, which is difficult to understand until you put a one Swiss franc coin next to it.

And you see that in the one Swiss franc coin, you have 246 components put together, including a tourbillon, which is a pinnacle of complications. To deliver you a 43 grams watch, you should weigh it.

ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's so light. You just forget it was on your wrist.

BABIN: Totally.

STEWART: But what are you going to do next year? You can't make it any thinner.

BABIN: It's 11 years, I got the same question. This is the 10th consecutive world record for Octo Finissimo, which

was born as the thinnest watch in 2014 ever. And year after year after year has established new record in all galleries.

At Bulgari, we are one of the top names worldwide in jewelry. With the Octo Finissimo Serpenti, we also have the chance to have some of the most desired icons in watches.

There are always creative, interesting ideas, as long as the aesthetic is maintained. Because let's never forget that you buy a watch primarily because it speaks to your heart, it speaks to your emotions.

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CHURCH: Scary price tag, but beautiful. Thanks so much for your company, I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day.

"CNN Newsroom" continues next with Rahel Solomon after a short break.

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