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Erin Burnett Outfront

Trump Once Called Qatar "A Founder of Terrorism", Now About To Accept Luxury Jet As A Gift; RFK Jr.: I Don't Think People Should Take "Medical Advice From Me"; Businesses Say They Are Struggling To Survive Amid Trump's Tariffs; Diddy's Ex-Girlfriend Alleges She Suffered Wounds From "Freak Offs". Aired 7-8p ET

Aired May 14, 2025 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:27]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:

Camel, Cybertrucks and a luxury jet. Qatar giving Trump the royal treatment today. The same Qatar that Trump once called a funder of terrorism. So what's changed for Donald Trump?

Plus, a stunning admission from America's top health official, facing questioning under oath. RFK, Jr. telling Americans not to take his medical advice.

And crumbling under Trump's trade war, business leaders telling CNN they're in the hole, still paying millions a year because of the tariffs that are in place right now.

Let's go OUTFRONT.

And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.

OUTFRONT tonight, funder of terrorism. That's what Trump called the nation of Qatar, the very same country that he's about to accept a luxury jet from, with a reported price tag of at least $400 million.

So, here's the thing about this, let me just show you, how Donald Trump felt about Qatar not so long ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The nation of Qatar, unfortunately, has historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: A funder of terrorism at a very high level.

Well, fast forward nearly eight years. Trump has changed his tune, obviously quite dramatically. Here he is today, speaking next to the Qatar emir. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I have to say that we've been friends for a long time. Thank you for everything. And maybe in particular our friendship. It's been a very loyal, great, beautiful friendship.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: A loyal, great, beautiful friendship now, and a funder of terrorism the last time he talked about them.

So, what has changed in just these few years?

Well, for starters, Trump Org, the business and the Qataris are now very deep business partners. And Trump is clearly taken by the Qataris and the role of real estate developer today, lavishing praise on Qatar emir for his country's construction prowess.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: As a construction person, I'm seeing perfect marble. This is what they call perfecto. And just a great job you've done. And what a beautiful place this is.

You take a look at this room. This room is the real deal. That's called white marble. It's very hard to buy. Believe me, it's been incredible what -- what you've been able to build as a nation. And we're with you all the way. And you know that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: With you all the way. Maybe that's the real estate developer speaking, not the president of the United States who had called them the funder of terrorism at the highest level. But it comes as Qatar is pulling out all the stops for Trump's first visit as president. Fighter jets escorted Air Force One into Qatari airspace. Trump's deputy chief of staff, Dan Scavino, posted this video of Trump watching as the jets were just off the wings of Air Force One.

And then once on the ground, it was a spectacle fit for -- and yeah, let's just go ahead and use the word -- fit for a king, complete with Cybertrucks, horses and camels.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We appreciate those camels. I haven't seen camels like that in a long time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: And soon, of course, the cherry on the top gift from Qatar, the state of the art plane that Trump says would take the place of Air Force One.

The prime minister of Qatar telling CNN this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHEIKH MOHAMMED BIN ABDULRAHMAN BIN JASSIM AL-THANI, QATARI PRIME MINISTER: This is a very simple government to government, dealing, even if there is something is coming out of Qatar for the U.S., its coming out of love. It doesn't come out of in exchange of anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Well, I just let that stand on its own. Coming out of love. Not in exchange for anything.

Does Trump really believe that? I mean, let's just go back. Roll back the tape.

Here he is in 2016 talking about Hillary Clinton's dealings with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, accusing her of breaking the law.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: It's a criminal enterprise. Saudi Arabia giving $25 million, Qatar, all of these countries. You talk about women and women's rights. So, these are people that push gays off business, off buildings. These are people that kill women and treat women horribly. And yet you take their money.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Now it's him taking the money. And a whole lot more of it.

And then here's Trump back in 2015, again, going after corrupt foreign influence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I turned down $5 million last week from a very important lobbyist because there are strings attached to a thing like that. He's going to come to me in a year or two years, and he's going to want something for a country that he represents, or for a company that he represents.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[19:05:05]

BURNETT: Well, that is saying it like it is like it was then and like it is now. Except for now, Trump is about to accept that jet $400 million at least in value, which dwarfs any gift that prior presidents have ever received.

Just take a look at this image. This is based on information compiled by "Axios". Going through the gifts that presidents received that then would go to their presidential libraries, Bush, $1.1 million worth of gifts. Obama, $2 million. Trump and his first term, only 371,000. Biden less than any of them, $250,000.

But that jet. Nothing even comes remotely close. That is called exponentially different.

So, again, what has changed between when Trump was so ready to call out the Saudis and the Qataris and now?

Well, here are some things that have changed. There are now plans for two Trump towers in Saudi Arabia, with Trump emblazoned on the top, the same country that has invested $2 billion into Trump's son in law Jared Kushner's firm. And there's a new golf course and beachside resort in Qatar.

And that is where Jeff Zeleny is tonight traveling with the president.

And, Jeff, the controversy over this luxury Qatari jet is looming large over Trump's trip today.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Erin, it certainly is. I mean, even as the current air force one is parked on the airport tarmac here, when the president flew in on it, was that conversation about the propriety of the plane that is dominating much of the conversation. And we heard the Qatari prime minister telling our Becky Anderson that it is a gift out of love. It is not a guitar looking for anything. He said they wouldn't do anything if it was illegal.

But the bottom line is the White House is still a little bit shocked at the response to this, particularly from Republicans. One official told me today that they will have to wait and see until he returns next week to see if they move beyond it, or if they will have to adjust a course here.

But, Erin, it was a day filled of transactions. Thats what this trip has been scripted to be about. I was struck once again by seeing the long line of business leaders and some of the world's most elite standing in line. Once again, some of the same people as yesterday to shake the hand of the president, the U.S. president, as well as the emir here. So, these are all structured around deals.

The president was happy to announce that Boeing, the U.S. company, is going to sell a lot of planes, a couple hundred planes here to the government's airline.

So, the bottom line to this trip, yes, there is a diplomacy. The president met this morning with the new president of Syria. That is extraordinary. That's a change in U.S. policy.

But beyond that it's a trip of deals. It's a trip of transactions. So, the president is retired for the evening now after another state dinner here. He was feted all day long. And that continues once again tomorrow when he visits the UAE -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Jeff Zeleny, thank you very much. That, of course, is a 20-minute flight, if that.

All right. Next, Democratic Senator Cory Booker joins us. He is member of the Foreign Relations and Judiciary Committees.

And, Senator, I very much appreciate your time.

So, you know, look, it's -- it's low hanging fruit, as I would say, when you look at what president Trump has said in the past about Qatar and Saudi Arabia, he has said that Qatar is a funder of terrorism at the highest level. He has said that it is categorically wrong to take money from them in the case of Hillary Clinton.

And he has said when taking money from lobbyists that if you do that now, they'll come down the line and ask for something from you. Theres no such thing as no strings attached. So, it's all on tape.

And yet here we are. Why do you think suddenly he has changed his tune on Qatar from being a funder of terrorism at the highest level to taking this plane from them?

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): Well, remember, this is a president. Now that the Supreme Court gave a get out of jail free card, he has very little accountability for anything he's doing. The Republicans in Congress haven't held one hearing on his meme coin, on all the ways he's grifting off of his job.

And so, he's going to the Middle East at a time where his family is making literally tens of millions of dollars from his UAE crypto deal. Now, hundreds of millions of dollars of a plane being offered. And I think this is just the most blatant, gross examples of presidential corruption we've seen in a century.

BURNETT: You're on the Judiciary Committee, and I know that you are trying to get answers in that capacity from the attorney general, Pam Bondi, about the jet. Now, just to give the context on Attorney General Bondi and Qatar, she's a former lobbyist for Qatar, reportedly paid $115,000 a month -- a month -- for her work for Qatar, and she has now, as the attorney general of the United States, signed off, saying it is fine in the legal context right now for Trump to get this gift from Qatar.

Are you -- do you have any chance of getting any real answers from her given that context?

[19:10:01]

BOOKER: Again, as long as the Congress, which is supposed to provide a check and balance on the president, as long as Republicans refuse to have hearings, we refuse to provide any oversight. It's very difficult for us to get answers.

We are dealing with a situation with the presidency that is defying a 9-0 order from the Supreme Court that is literally calling out judges who rule against them in a way that imperils them and endangers them. As people are now threatening our federal judges at rates we've never seen before and is operating completely independent of any kind of congressional check or balance.

We are in a crisis right now with the authoritarian inclined president, who is enriching himself in broad daylight and unfortunately, at the expense of what's in the best interest of the American people.

BURNETT: You mentioned the crypto deals. Obviously, "The New York Times" has reported on massive deals in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the UAE, where the president will be heading tomorrow, the Abu Dhabi deal we understand is about is $2 billion, which is connected to a firm set up by the Trump family. This is the New York times reporting.

And the other context to this Senator Booker, again, there's that. And if that isn't bold enough, there's this, which is that at the very same time Trump is dismantling and taking apart the crypto fraud unit at the DOJ. And I know I sound like a bit of a broken record here, but is there anything that can be done about this as the U.S. government is, is structured and set up right now?

BOOKER: Look, Americans disdain corruption and self-dealing politicians. It should not be a surprise to anything, anybody that one of the first things this administration did through DOGE is get rid of accountability across the board. They got rid of accountability with inspector generals and department after department.

Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, attacked the agencies that were investigating him. Americans hate corruption. And yet this president is doing it in broad daylight, really enriching himself at the expense of the interests of Americans. They're seeing their costs go up. Americans are seeing their grocery costs going up. They're seeing suffering as a result of these tariffs. Small businesses are in crisis right now as this president cruises through the Middle East with a bag open, basically collecting more and more money.

This is wrong. And my Republican colleagues should be standing up and saying, the very least, we are going to hold hearings to investigate these allegations of corruption.

BURNETT: All right. Well, Senator Booker, I appreciate your time, and thank you very much.

BOOKER: Thank you very much.

BURNETT: All right. Senator Cory Booker, as I said on the judiciary committee.

And David Axelrod and Bill Kristol are now OUTFRONT.

So, David, you heard senator booker talking about in his, in his view, that that what is happening with Trump and the Middle East now is the greatest example of presidential corruption in a century. And he's specifically talking about Qatar, right. Taking the plane now, even though he had said they are a funder of terrorism at the highest level just a few years ago.

So, what -- where do you begin with the hypocrisy that at least Trump's words and actions are showing?

DAVID AXELROD, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah, well, in some ways, you know, yes, there's hypocrisy between what he's said before and what he's doing now, but he's being pretty honest about what he's doing now. He's raking it in.

And, you know, I was -- he was on the plane. He was talking on the plane about why he wanted the plane. And he said, you know, we -- our plane isn't as impressive as some of the planes of other countries, and the greatest country in the world should have the greatest plane. As if our greatness is in the opulence of our -- of plane, you know, and not in in the strength of our values, which this betrays.

He also stood -- he also stood up in front. He made a speech in Saudi Arabia in which he said, we were not going to tell you how to live. In other words, the guy who said in the video that you played that it was deplorable that gay people were being pushed off roofs and women were being treated the way women were being treated now says, hey, whatever you want. You do business with my family. He didn't say this part, but you do business with my family. You know, and you do what you want. We're not going to have anything to say about human rights here or anywhere in the world.

So I think he's being, you know, he's -- transactional was the word Jeff Zeleny used. This is a tribute to the transactional worldview of Donald Trump.

BURNETT: Yeah. I mean, and just to say what he had said, he was talking about Hillary Clinton taking money from Qatar and Saudi Arabia. And as you said, he said, these are people that push gays off buildings. These are people that kill women and treat women horribly. And yet you take their money.

He couldn't have been more direct about it, Bill Kristol, but about those leaders he's talking about there, he's now talking about now. He's now meeting with. He's sitting with them.

[19:15:02]

And here is what he is saying about the leaders so far of Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We came from Saudi Arabia, where we have another great man over there. That's a friend of yours. And you two guys get along so well and like each other, you sort of remind me a little bit of each other. If you want to know the truth. They both tall, handsome guys that happen to be very smart, but he's a -- he's also a very special guy. It's a great honor to be with you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Does this send a more -- a bigger picture message, Bill, to others around the world, to other leaders around the world?

BILL KRISTOL, DIRECTOR, DEFENDING DEMOCRACY TOGETHER: Yeah, of course, it does. It says that Donald Trump is up for sale, so to speak. And, you know, if you're running another country, you got to think, gee, maybe I need to arrange some backdoor way of getting him or some open way of getting him a couple of hundred million dollars. So, he's so his foreign policy is good for us.

But again, it's not Donald Trump. I mean, this is what's so sickening about it. Honestly, he's the president of the United States. He's taking these gifts as president of the United States. He's not some corrupt politician who's getting a little bit on the side.

And this is and this isn't foreign policy, where he has an awful lot of power. The Republican Congress isn't going to stop him or hasn't so far.

So, this is corrupting not just Donald Trump. This is not just corruption of Donald Trump. This is a corruption of the United States government. And it makes me feel personally, as someone who worked, you know, years ago in the executive branch, just -- there are people make mistakes and individuals can go bad. But this is corrupting the foreign policy of the United States of America at a very fundamental way.

BURNETT: David, we have heard some Republicans speak out -- some Republicans speak out on the plane specifically and saying that it is not okay. Here are three of them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): I don't like the look or appearance of it, so I would hope that he would reject it.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): I also think that the plane poses significant espionage and surveillance problems.

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): I trust Qatar like I -- like I trust a rest stop bathroom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: David does this and that's, of course, Kennedy. He will always find a turn of phrase like that. Does this, though. Get any bigger, or is this just, you know, they're going to say this now, and whether those individuals go along or not overall, it just plows ahead. Republican Party vows.

AXELROD: Yeah. Listen one thing about those gas station rest stops is if you're desperate, you use them. And these guys are desperate to stay in power. And to the degree that Donald Trump holds, the Republican Party in you know, in his sway because of his influence with voters and primary elections, there's going to be a hesitancy to challenge him.

So, people may speak out. Now, what they're willing to do is another question. We haven't seen a lot of great examples in the last 100 -- whatever days. Since he's been president. But let me point out something. A lot of the guys who you just showed and others have made quite a living over the years lecturing us on the Constitution. They ought to go back and read the Constitution and the Federalist Papers and some of the commentary around the Constitution, because this is precisely why there is an Emoluments Clause. They couldn't be clearer. They were worried about foreign interests

buying influence with the president and policymakers and influencing American foreign policy. The fact is, when he takes all this money for himself and when he takes this plane, which he apparently is going to then inherit after he leaves the presidency, how do we know why Donald Trump is making the decisions he's making? Thats why we have ethics rules. Thats why we have conflict of interest rules.

BURNETT: Bill?

KRISTOL: No, totally. And I come back always. He's president of the United States. We're the most powerful country in the world, and now we're up for sale.

I mean, he's already thrown values and principles out the window. He has no interest in those. He said that in the speech in Saudi, that deserves a little bit of comment, too. It's a kind of alleged realpolitik.

But it's not realpolitik. It's not Kissinger where he downgrades values and, you know, plays power politics. This is about enriching him personally at the expense of the United States, at the expense of the well-being of the United States.

BURNETT: Thank you both so very much.

And next, what happened during a hearing that caused RFK Jr. to almost jump out of his seat in congress? That was after the nation's top health official, the top health official said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR., HHS SECRETARY: I don't think people should be taking advice, medical advice from me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Plus, American companies struggling amid Trump's trade war and wondering if they'll be able to make it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Are you confident you'll be around for resort 2026?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: And the jury in the Sean "Diddy" Combs case, physically reacting to some of the evidence that was presented in court today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:24:29] BURNETT: Tonight, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the nation's health and human services secretary, testifying under oath and telling Congress and Americans and I quote him. He said, I don't think people should be taking medical advice from me.

Today's hearing is coming. Just a few days after, Kennedy also faced widespread criticism for going swimming with his grandchildren in a Washington, D.C., creek where swimming is not allowed due to high levels of fecal bacteria.

Tom Foreman is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KENNEDY: I'm presenting today, supports these goals and reflects --

(PROTESTER YELLING)

[19:25:05]

TOM FOREMAN, CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The secretary of health and human services jumped as a protest erupted behind him. But Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. squirmed a lot more amid sharp questions from lawmakers up front.

REP. ROSA DELAURO (D-CT): Are you planning to break the law by impounding congressionally appropriated funds?

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): Is health care a human right?

FOREMAN: Way up in the clashes, drastic cuts to health care spending? The secretary pushed back on claims they will have serious real-world consequences.

KENNEDY: It's just not true. We weren't cutting thousands of scientists. We weren't cutting clinical trials.

FOREMAN: When challenged about proposed reductions in Medicaid, which serves many low income and disabled Americans, he recited the administration mantra, it's all about waste, fraud and abuse.

KENNEDY: There are a million people who are claiming Medicaid from multiple states. That's illegal. It's theft. These are the only cuts that are being made to Medicaid.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's not true.

KENNEDY: Yes, it is.

FOREMAN: He even leveled charges at his own National Institutes of Health.

KENNEDY: We should have the cure for Alzheimer's today. We don't have it purely because of corruption at NIH.

FOREMAN: However, the secretary struggled when confronted over rising measles cases in the U.S., topping 1,000 this year and his continued reluctance to fully embrace lifesaving vaccines.

SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): Are you recommending the measles vaccine or not?

KENNEDY: What I've said and what I said --

MURPHY: It doesn't sound like you are if that's --

KENNEDY: Are you going to let me answer? I am not going to just tell people everything is safe and effective if I know that there's issues.

FOREMAN: And the head of the department responsible for improving the health of Americans added this stunning statement.

KENNEDY: I don't think people should be taking advice, medical advice from me.

FOREMAN: Kennedy, who went swimming with his grandkids in a contaminated D.C. creek this past weekend, also took heat over his calls to remove fluoride from public drinking water. Although it is known to prevent tooth decay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We better put a lot more money into dental education because we're going to need a whole lot more dentists.

FOREMAN: At times, it was all too much for Kennedy and the lawmakers, too.

KENNEDY: My time has expired.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, well then, so has your legitimacy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: All right. I mean, just to give a sense of how contentious it was, Tom, there are a lot of lawmakers, though, Democratic and Republican, who have been saying that cutting thousands of jobs at HHS will endanger the health of Americans and that that will cost American lives.

Did Kennedy answer those concerns, which are bipartisan?

FOREMAN: He tried to, but he answered them badly by basically saying, I'm just going to tell you it's not going to have an effect. Well keep all the studies going. Everything's going to be fine. But he offered no real details on that front.

That's one reason why a lot of these lawmakers really jumped on him and said, yeah, yeah, yeah, we've seen this act from the Trump administration. You say one thing and the facts prove otherwise. And in this case, with possibly life or death consequences -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much.

And next, Elon Musk's A.I. chatbot going off the rails now, spitting out bizarre and completely unprompted claims about, quote/unquote, white genocide, even if it's asked questions about baseball or fish. It talks about white genocide.

Plus, Putin and Trump both saying they're no shows at ceasefire talks starting in just hours. So, if no one shows up, is there any peace talk?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:33:10]

BURNBETT: Tonight, Elon Musk's A.I. chatbot seemingly going off the rails talking about, quote, white genocide, even when it is asked questions that have nothing to do with white genocide. Questions about topics like baseball players or videos of fish being flushed down toilets. One user asked Grok to talk like a pirate and got responses about the theory of white genocide in South Africa in pirate talk.

Okay, it's obviously not funny, but its amazing. I mean, Musk was born and raised in South Africa. He has long argued that there is a white genocide there. And of course, this week, you know, we've seen amnesty given to people from Afrikaners, from South Africa.

It comes as Musk was by Trump's side in Saudi Arabia this week, making business deals, something that many American businesses suffering under the trade war don't have the privilege of doing.

Jason Carroll is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL 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.

Are you confident you'll be around for a resort 2026?

DEIRDRE QUINN,CEO, LAFAYETTE 148: No.

CARROLL: 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.

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

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

CARROLL: So far, Quinn has paid some $2.8 million in tariffs this year.

[19:35:02] 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: Tough, because if she were to pass on the current total tariff costs 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 onto 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: Independent jewelry designer Presley Oldham is doing what President Trump has been advocating for. His product is made in the United States.

PRESLEY OLDHAM, OWNER DESIGNER, PRESLEY OLDHAM: They're really beautiful color.

CARROLL: He still needs fresh water pearls, which come primarily from two places in the world, China or Japan. At a recent show, he says retailers from Canada and Mexico who wanted to avoid tariffs refused to buy because he's a U.S.-based designer.

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: Repercussions already being felt on the sales floor at Lafayette 148 boutique in Soho.

QUINN: Our clients are walking in and asking if were okay.

CARROLL: What do you tell them?

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

CARROLL: 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.

How long do you think realistically, you can keep doing this?

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

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: Won't make it to Labor Day. Thanks so much to Jason Carroll for that report. That, of course, is just a few months away.

Paul Hickey and Peter Tuchman are OUTFRONT.

Paul, okay. What I find so powerful about that, that's extremely high end brand, obviously. So, you see something $600 goes to what, north of $700 with a 30 percent tariff. But this is -- this is after Trump slashed. So, it went from 145, 145 percent to 30 percent. Everyone goes, phew, market goes phew.

But now, the reality of that 30 percent is still devastating.

PAUL HICKEY, CO-FOUNDER, BESPOKE INVESTMENT GROUP: It's still very high, especially for smaller businesses where they may not be able to eat some of the costs or some of the impact of the tariffs. I mean, there -- the tariffs weren't zero before Trump came in.

BURNETT: Right.

HICKEY: So, it's not quite zero to 30 percent. But it is -- it is, you know, in the margin -- in the clothing business where margins can be so thin as it is, any increase is going to be impactful. And especially in an economy that's been showing signs of slowdown, it's very difficult on the businesses impacted. Theres no denying that.

PETER TUCHMAN, TRADER AT THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE: No. You know, look, I think we were focusing for the first -- the last couple of days, we've been talking about GM and Ford and the problems with guidance and about how difficult, they're not clear about what they're going to do about tariffs. And they said they're going to have to raise prices for cars.

But you -- we started this whole thing when we came on here the first time a few weeks ago when we talked about your --

BURNETT: The stuffed animals.

TUCHMAN: The stuffed animals. And small business is going to be the biggest one to suffer here. And that is such a lifeblood of this -- of the economy. And to think that, you know what? How do they make their decisions?

Still, there's not a lot of clarity about what that number is going to be and what their costs are going to be. And their margins are really small, whether it's even -- there's some food businesses in the small business mode. And obviously toys are a big thing.

And, you know, I have a friend who runs a caviar business. I know it's a luxury item, but it's -- the question that they're being forced to make now is how much can they pass on to their customers, you know, or how much do they have to eat?

You know, at this point, eat sort of strange use of words. Sorry. But you know, do they stay in business and kind of ride this out, right? Because, you know, is it worth -- is it worth eating the cost to stay in business? Because sometimes the margins are just small enough that that's about all.

HICKEY: That's a case in point. The Russell 2000 today was the weakest of the indices. Well, the other well the large cap indices were higher. Russell 2000, small caps, were weaker.

And this is just one area where small businesses have less pricing power. And so, it's more impactful.

BURNETT: Right. Right. And you can see that and obviously, but you know, you looked at this market reaction where the market reaction is if as if none of this ever happened, as if we went from 145 back to the way it was before, which is not the case, but that is what the market reaction is.

So, Paul, this is your whiteboard here tonight.

[19:40:00]

So, the S&P coming into the decline was 15 percent. I mean that was epic. It was down 15 percent.

HICKEY: Over just over 15 percent.

BURNETT: So, now, I'm just going to go ahead and put a line. We're back to even. Right. You have erased that.

There are only -- here's our next number. There are only four years in history where the market has gone from down 15 to flat. And, and one of those years was 1982.

HICKEY: Right.

BURNETT: And I'm just going to put up this name. This will mean something to a lot of people.

HICKEY: Yes.

BURNETT: Paul Volcker was the head of the Federal Reserve. Interest rates at the time were 13 percent.

HICKEY: Right.

BURNETT: Thirteen percent.

HICKEY: Yes. So, I mean, the 1982 period is fascinating to look at because when you talk about central bankers, Paul Volcker is considered the gold standard. When you look back at it, back at the time, he was criticized from all angles for what he was doing. Carter, as he was president, called his policy and Carter appointed him, called his policies ill-advised.

Ted Kennedy was calling for an end of the autonomy of the Fed. There was even someone arrested at Capitol Hill with a gun because he was trying to take members of the FOMC hostage, because rates were so high. So, it was a crazy time.

BURNETT: So maybe you're making us feel better about, you know, Trump.

HICKEY: But can you imagine if social media was around then, how crazy it would have been?

But getting back to these years. So, the years 1982 is one of them. We had 1970, 2009 and 2020 -- all years where we had some major problems going on in the economy.

BURNETT: COVID being 2020.

HICKEY: Exactly. Financial crisis.

And then when we came back and then we rallied back to even, there was still tons of uncertainty in the markets. People were thinking, okay, this could just go south really quickly again. But in all those four periods, the market ended up even after that rebound, ended up over the course of the next year, trading higher over the next three, six and 12 months, all of those times.

So, it just goes to show that the market, when -- as people, our psychology is to get so invested in the day to day headlines and make rash decisions. But the economy has been through it all.

TUCHMAN: And, yeah, but think about that. Each one of those cases, you explained to me what happened in 82 about what they had to do with interest rates. Obviously, with COVID, there was a stimulus package that came in that got us to the point where we were right.

If you think about COVID, right, we came into COVID. They put $3 trillion into the market over three months. And we were back to even by August. But in June, we don't have that happening at this time. There's no stimulus in the wings to get us out of this situation.

Think about that. That was huge. If we did not -- we had learned from the problem we had in the great financial crisis where we put $800 billion into the market -- over eight, over 18 months. It took us six years to get back to even.

COVID, we put $3 trillion into the market over three months. We were back to even in five months.

We don't have a stimulus package looming here to get us out of this. So right now, we're at the crossroads of, where are we going to go here? Are we going to stay? Markets are on their highs here. They're acting well.

But we just started this conversation with the reality that things are not perfect yet by any means.

HICKEY: No, by no means are they perfect. But in June 2020, in May 2008 -- 2009, people -- we weren't sitting here going, oh, there's a stimulus and markets going to go up from here. There was still uncertainty in the markets at that time even after the rebound. BURNETT: All right. Thank you both very much.

And next, the breaking news. Putin's letting it be known that he will not be attending tomorrows crucial peace talks. So, tree falling in the forest? I mean, what's going to happen here?

Plus, what was the jury in the Sean "Diddy" Combs trial shown that had them visibly reacting, even looking away? Our reporter was in the courtroom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:48:03]

BURNETT: Breaking news, no shows. Putin and Trump both saying they will not attend Ukraine peace talks. The two leaders each keeping the world guessing for days whether they would show up or not, show up for talks tomorrow in Turkey.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he will go. He was very open. He'll go anywhere, anytime and he will go if Putin goes. But Putin says no, which raises the question of whether all of these talks are dead.

And Clarissa Ward is in Istanbul tonight.

I mean, Clarissa, these talks were supposed to be the highest level. This was supposed to be Putin and Zelenskyy. And now here we are. No show by Putin. So no Zelenskyy.

I mean, what does this mean for the peace talks?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: At this stage, honestly, Erin, we really just don't know. President Zelenskyy is still expected to arrive in Ankara tomorrow in the Turkish capital to meet with President Erdogan. But he had said earlier on in a -- in a sort of telegram message that what would come next in terms of Ukraine's participation in those talks would depend largely on who Russia decided to send as part of its delegation.

And as you mentioned, we have now seen the list of Russian delegates who will be coming. President Vladimir Putin is not among them, nor is Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, the head of the delegation, is essentially a senior presidential aide. He is not someone, certainly, at the level of President Zelenskyy or President Trump. And so now we have to wait and see what the response will be. Do these talks still go ahead without, obviously, those major leaders meeting? What significance will they have if they do go ahead?

[19:50:02]

We're still expecting to see foreign envoy, Trump's foreign envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg come into town. But really unclear at this stage what this means for these talks and if, in fact, they will still go ahead, Erin. BURNETT: So, what does this mean for a ceasefire? Which, I mean, I

know Clarissa even used that word can kind of make you feel a little bit silly given what we've seen on the ground. But what's the implication for that?

WARD: Well, I think realistically, hopes for this ceasefire are dimming. And, you know, President Zelenskyy has been saying now for months and essentially calling Russia's bluff and saying that he does not believe that Vladimir Putin has any real interest in stopping this war, that he believes that Vladimir Putin has been playing for time. And now what we're seeing is kind of the proof in the pudding, effectively.

On the other hand, one has to understand President Putin's perspective in this as well, what it would cost him domestically, politically, how he would spin, sitting down with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who he has, you know, continuously castigated, who he has ruthlessly tried to oust from power. And the optics of that for him domestically.

But certainly, the prospect at this stage of any real meaningful kind of a ceasefire, when we have seen the Russians really continue to obfuscate in the face of continued forays from the Ukrainian side, even though they may be charged with some sort of daring them to meet the moment or calling their bluff, it really does make one feel that it is unlikely were going to see a ceasefire anytime soon, Erin.

BURNETT: All right, Clarissa, thank you so much. Clarissa live in Istanbul tonight.

And next, Sean "Diddy" Comb's ex-girlfriend testifying about the horrific injury she said she suffered from Combs right before a Hollywood premiere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:56:18]

BURNETT: Breaking news, the jury today visibly reacting to testimony from Sean "Diddy" Combs former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, on the stand for a second day. The jury was shown multiple X-rated drug fueled sex party freak offs images. The explicit images hidden from the public.

Elizabeth Wagmeister is inside the courtroom again today, and she is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cassie Ventura looking glamorous at a Hollywood premiere. But she says the public couldn't see her mental and physical pain. Bruises, a black eye, a fat lip all from this -- an assault by Sean "Diddy" Combs just two days earlier, in March of 2016.

Ventura testifying for a second day. I had bruises on my body that weren't completely covered by the makeup, she said. I had quite a bit of makeup on my face. The injuries, the result of Combs kicking and dragging her, she said, after she tried to escape a so-called freak offs, a drug fueled sex session with a male escort orchestrated by combs.

It allegedly happened the day after this.

CASSIE VENTURA, ACTRESS: This is my first real like film.

WAGMEISTER: Ventura promoting her new film on CNN, addressing her racy sex scene in the movie.

VENTURA: I was aware that the sex scene was -- or the sex scenes were going to be a little bit much, but, you know, I was asked if I was comfortable, I was very prepared. And it is an uncomfortable thing at the end of the day.

WAGMEISTER: Days later, Ventura says she was dealing with the fallout from her assault in the hotel when Combs contacted her. She texted, you are sick for thinking it's okay to do what you've done. Please stay far away from me.

But when a friend saw the wounds and called the police, Ventura wouldn't name Combs. In that moment. I just didn't want to hurt him that way. It was just too much going on, Ventura testified, adding she wasn't ready to turn him in.

The couple attended the premiere together with this photo snapped of Ventura showing what appears to be a scar above her right eye. In court today, Ventura showed the jury a permanent scar near her eyebrow from a different alleged attack by Combs in 2013.

He threw me down. I had a pretty significant gash. I cover it with makeup, she testified after he sent her to a plastic surgeon, she says she texted him a photo of her wound so you can remember. Combs' response, you don't know when to stop. You have pushed it too far and continue to push. Sad.

While admitting she sometimes initiated physical fights with Combs, but she says she never saw him injured in the freak offs continued, she said as she felt controlled by Combs. I feared for my career, I feared for my family. It's horrible. It's disgusting.

Ventura testified that her physical health was also affected by the sex sessions, many of which lasted for days. Ventura's husband, Alex Fine, was in the courtroom for some of her grueling testimony, which comes as she's roughly eight months pregnant, which combs attorneys believed could endear her to the jury.

The defense tried to prevent Ventura from being paraded by the jurors, a source close to Combs tells me. The judge denied that request.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WAGMEISTER (on camera): Erin, this testimony was horrific, to say the least. Now, Cassie Ventura, for the first time ever, she actually revealed in front of the jury that she was suicidal in the years after her breakup with Combs. She said that she was getting flashbacks to this relationship.

When the prosecutor asked her, why are you here today? Why are you here at this trial? I want to read you what she said. She said, I can't carry this anymore. I can't carry the shame, the guilt. What's right is right. What's wrong is wrong. I'm here to do the right thing.

She was crying at the end of her testimony. And tomorrow, she'll take the stand for a third day for cross-examination.

BURNETT: That is going to be something to see. And of course, you will be there as you have, and all of this coming, you know, from your reporting and you breaking that original video and that horrible hotel elevator.

All right. Thank you so much, Elizabeth.

And thanks so much to all of you for being with us.

"AC360" starts now.