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Trump Planning to Cancel All Federal Contracts With Harvard; Dozens Hurt, Including Four Children, When Driver Rams into Parade Fans; Manhunt for Two New Orleans Inmates Still At Large, Three Captured Monday. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired May 27, 2025 - 10:00   ET

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

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WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, President Trump hits Harvard's funds again. The president is now planning on directing all federal agencies to cancel their contracts with Harvard University $100 million worth.

Plus, panic and horror in Liverpool, England, dozens injured after a car rams through crowds at a victory parade, the latest on the investigation and why police are calling this a, quote, isolated incident.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. Pamela Brown is on assignment. And you're in The Situation Room.

And we begin with breaking news. Trump administration sources telling CNN the White House is now canceling the federal government's remaining contracts with Harvard University, that's about $100 million, the latest in the escalating battle between President Trump and the nation's oldest university.

A critical hearing meanwhile in the president's efforts to block Harvard from enrolling international students has just wrapped up just days after a judge temporarily suspended the Trump ban. Both sides are now making their case this morning.

We're also hearing from those directly impacted the international students at Harvard.

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LEO GERDEN, INTERNATIONAL STUDENT AT HARVARD: I think especially what is hitting the hardest right now at heart of this community, it is the threat to essentially deport all international students because without this international student body, then Harvard is not Harvard anymore.

If there's one thing we know about Trump by now, it's that he's a pretty (BLEEP) poker player. If we start to give in on something, then he's going to send a new letter of demands the next week. And we simply have to hold the line.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: We're covering all the angles of this breaking story with CNN Crime and Justice Correspondent Katelyn Polantz and CNN White House Reporter Alayna Treene.

Katelyn, let me begin with you. What happened in court today?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, it was a very short moment before Judge Allison Burroughs in federal court in Boston, but it's all teeing up, table setting for a much bigger hearing that is scheduled for Thursday, the same day Harvard's going to have its commencement.

So the case, this case specifically before Judge Burroughs, is about the Trump administration wanting to revoke the ability of Harvard to have international students on its campus, something that the judge has temporarily paused, but she's going to look at with a lot more meat to the legal arguments and to the evidence. But she's also hearing other cases where Harvard is suing the Trump administration over the revocation or the possible revocation of grant funding, money that the university is set to get.

And so now that we've heard from the judge just this morning briefly leading up to Thursday, there's going to be a lot more information coming in, evidence even from Harvard about what's happened in recent days in this case, as well as more legal arguments from the Trump administration.

The big picture here, though, Wolf, is it's not just about international students or student visas. Harvard is alleging that this is all part of a massive retaliation campaign the Trump administration has against the university, and it's about free speech.

Here is the university president, Alan Garber, on NPR this morning.

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ALAN GARBER, PRESIDENT, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: Why cut off research funding? Sure, it hurts Harvard, but it hurts the country, because, after all, the research funding is not a gift. The research funding is given to universities and other research institutions to carry out the research work that the federal government designates as high priority work. It is work that they want done. They are paying to have that work conducted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POLANTZ: So, President Garber there talking about research funding that Harvard is saying this is about much more.

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It's about a cultural institution in the United States, a massive academic force, something that the Trump administration wants to say that they are going to make restrictions on, but it's about many other universities as well falling in line with Trump administration policies.

It's a long road ahead in court, Wolf. There are many proceedings to go. But this is a crucial week already before this judge.

BLITZER: Critical developments unfolding. Stand by.

Alayna, let me go to you over at the White House. Tell us about your latest new reporting on the Trump administration's decision to cancel all the remaining government contracts with Harvard.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Right. Really, Wolf, this is the latest move now we've seen from the Trump administration against Harvard. And today, they are directing all federal agencies and government agencies to cancel their contracts with Harvard and, if not, cancel them to redirect that money elsewhere.

Now, I was able to obtain the copy of the letter that will be going out from the General Services Administration to all of these different government agencies. I want to read for you just one part of it because it sums up really the goal here, I think, quite well. It says, quote, we recommend that your agency terminate for convenience. Each contract that it determines has failed to meet its standards and to a new vendor, those contracts that could be better serviced by an alternative counterparty. Going forward, we also encourage your agency to seek alternative vendors for future services where you had previously considered. Harvard.

So, essentially, here, of course, they're saying we do not want this money going to Harvard. Please look at other places that it could be.

Now, one of these senior Trump administration officials that I spoke to about this, they told me that, over the weekend, the president had posted that he wanted and was considering freezing $3 billion in grant money that is going to Harvard, and instead would think about moving that money to trade schools. One of those administration officials said, keep an eye on that because that is exactly what they want these agencies to be doing.

But I think the broader picture here, Wolf, which is so important to keep in mind, is that Harvard University has really become a symbol for the Trump administration and for the president specifically as it relates to, you know, what they believe is the liberal woke front when it comes to universities. And we've really seen Harvard kind of bear the brunt of this assault on higher education.

And one thing as well that I think is very important to note that we've heard from the president, and it ties into what Katelyn was saying when it comes to some of these lawsuits, is we are seeing a lot of this now tied up in the courts. And one thing that we've seen the president be angered by and what he's kind of accused Harvard of is job shopping. Over the weekend, he said that the best thing Harvard has going forward is that they have shopped around and found the absolute best judge for them, but have no fear, the government will, in the end, win. Of course, to be clear, judge shopping is essentially when they have plaintiffs file outside of their normal course of jurisdictions, to have a judge who would maybe be more favorable to their case, something the president is accusing Harvard of without evidence. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. Alayna Treene and Katelyn Polantz, to both of you, thank you very, very much.

Also happening now, an investigation is underway in Liverpool, England, after a car plowed through a crowd of fans celebrating the soccer club's victory parade. Dozens were injured, including several children. A 53-year-old man believed to be the driver has been arrested. Police quickly ruled out terrorism and say it's an isolated incident.

Let's go live right now to Liverpool and seeing and International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson. Nic, what are you hearing from officials where you are?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, Wolf. We're about to get an update from the police. Their press conference is due to begin, or was due to begin just a couple of moments ago. And as you say, it was a 53-year-old white British male from the Liverpool area whom the police announced late last night was the person whom they'd arrested.

The hundreds of thousands of people, Liverpool fans, who were out on the streets here celebrating this sort of trophy tour, the ten-mile trophy tour around the city streets here, abruptly ended when that vehicle a people carrier plowed through the crowd's. Emergency services or fire service saying when they arrived on the scene, first thing they had to do was to pull four people out from underneath one of the vehicles.

One of those people trapped under the vehicle was a child. And there were four children injured. One of them seriously -- one other person seriously injured, 27 people treated in hospital, 20 treated for injuries at the side of the road here. And this is a city still in somewhat of a state of shock about what has happened. This is something that I guess no one here was expecting.

The police forensic teams, we've been watching them working behind me here, and I'll just step out of the way here -- so Luis can zoom in on that big police truck, but right behind that truck is an inflatable tent.

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And inside of that tent is the vehicle that plowed into the crowd.

So, this is still an active crime scene here, Wolf, and the forensic team's still on site, still searching for clues and indications, but the police due to give an update in the next few minutes.

BLITZER: All right. Nic Robertson on the scene for us in Liverpool, thank you very much. We'll check back with you as news comes in. Meanwhile happening now, officials are still searching for these two inmates who are on the run after escaping from a New Orleans jail more than ten days ago. Three escapees were captured yesterday, one in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and two in Southeast Texas.

Ten inmates escaped from the New Orleans jail allegedly using electric hair trimmers to help cut through the cell walls.

Let's go live right now to CNN Senior National Correspondent Ryan Young, who's joining us. He's monitoring all these developments. Ryan, what more are you learning about who police say helped these inmates escape?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf. We've been following this for a couple days now, and, of course, we know 13 people in total have been arrested as police continue to try to get phone calls in from Crime Stoppers and from other citizens about exactly what's going on in terms of how these inmates have been able to escape.

We now know the first -- those three people who were arrested yesterday are the first who had been arrested outside of the city of New Orleans. And if you look at this, at some point, there was Linton Vaughn. He was caught outside of a mall yesterday. He sort of surrendered himself outside that mall. Someone called to tip in $20,000 on top of each one of these escaped inmate's head.

And then there were the two who were in Texas who were in a high-speed chase. And, of course, at one point Jeremy Donald and Leo Tate were both running from those officers in Texas. They were captured. So, now we have those three men who have been captured.

But there are still two that are on the loose that police are concerned about. They believe they may be the ringleaders who have been behind this escape. That's something they're checking into. And, of course, Wolf, this is something that remains an ongoing manhunt.

BLITZER: Another issue I want to get your thoughts on, this isn't the only high-profile prison escape in recent days. A former police chief serving time for both murder and rape escaped from a prison in Arkansas on Sunday. What more are you learning about that, Ryan?

YOUNG: Yes, Wolf. This has all been baffling over the last two weeks or so when you have all these escapes, almost like movie scene here where this former police chief is accused of donning what looks like a sort of police outfit on the way out.

You see his picture right there, Grant Hardin, who was in Arkansas, who had been arrested and was serving time for those crimes that you just talked about, was able to slip out, it looks like, at the back of the jail facility. You look at him there, he's donning an outfit that looks like a police uniform, or at least a corrections uniform. He is now on the run.

And, of course, the same way with these other inmates, they're hoping from tips for the public could help maybe give them some information to find this man. But very concerning what's going on at two different facilities across this country.

BLITZER: Yes, very concerning indeed. Ryan Young, thank you very much.

Also happening now, after a four-day break, testimony is underway in the trial against Sean Diddy Combs, on the stand, one of Diddy's former employees. We're live outside the courthouse.

And later, Indiana Fever without star player Caitlin Clark. How long she's sidelined. Stay with us. We'll update you.

You're in The Situation Room.

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BLITZER: Happening now, testimony in the Sean Diddy Combs sex trafficking trial resumes after a long holiday weekend. Prosecutors have called 16 witnesses over the last two weeks.

On the stand right now is Capricorn Clark, the music mogul's, former marketing director. Combs has pleaded not guilty to all charges. If convicted, he faces life in prison.

Let's go live right now to CNN Entertainment Correspondent Elizabeth Wagmeister. She's outside the courthouse in New York. Elizabeth, what more do we expect in court today?

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf. So, as you said, Capricorn Clark, who is a former associate of Sean Combs, she is on the stand right now and she will continue. In fact, she is still under direct examination. So, Combs' defense has not spoken to her yet, questioned her yet.

But this has been explosive testimony this morning for the past hour. Capricorn Clark worked for Sean Combs from about 2004 through 2018, on and off. So, she worked for him for a while. She said that the first time that she met him, when she began to work for him, that Sean Combs actually had her meet him in Central Park at nighttime, so it was dark. He was there with one of his security guards. And he said to her that he knows that she knows Suge Knight and that if something happened that he would have to kill her.

So, there, we hear a death threat from Capricorn Clark on the stand. And that was not the only threat that she testified to. She said that on another instant that some of Sean Combs' jewelry went missing. She said that she did not steal it. But she said that for the course of five days that one of Sean Combs' personal security guards picked her up from her home and brought her to a deserted building where she was in a room alone with a large man who she did not know.

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She was forced to take a lie detector test and they told her, if you do not pass this, we are going to throw you in the East River. Obviously, there Capricorn Clark testifying again to another death threat.

Now, she also said that she witnessed Sean Combs taking drugs. So, we're seeing some patterns here, Wolf, from some other witnesses who have taken the stand in this trial.

BLITZER: All right. Elizabeth Wagmeister with an update, thanks, we'll stay in very close touch with you.

I want to bring in CNN Legal Analyst and Criminal Defense Attorney Joey Jackson right now. Capricorn Clark is another member of Combs' inner circle, Joey, and is expected to corroborate a lot of the allegations by previous witnesses. How important is she to the prosecution's case?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: So, very, Wolf, nice to be with you. Remember what we are talking about here. We're talking about the prosecution saying it was a criminal racketeering enterprise, a conspiracy. And so in order to do that, you have to get people in your inner circle, as we see the assistants who have testified so far that would establish that over a period of time that there was illegal things happening in this business, that he was agreeing with his confederates, who were acting as really underbosses to carry out his lawless activities. Whether that be, as we heard Friday from Kid Cudi -- excuse me, Thursday as it relates to Kid Cudi and the arson of his Porsche, as it relates to the burglary of his home, as it relates to Cassie Ventura, her mother testifying about this home equity loan with respect to $20,000 that was extorted, then later returned by Sean Combs.

What I'm talking about? What I'm talking about is a pattern, and that's what prosecutors will have to establish, a pattern of criminality, a pattern of criminal activity, a pattern of threats, a pattern of guns, a pattern of drugs, a pattern of all this lawlessness that would go to show that this was a criminal enterprise that was designed to engage in such behavior over a continuous period of time. And therefore, the inner circle with regard to what they were doing and his further threats to talk about this lawlessness will be very significant if prosecutors want to get through the threshold of proving that it was indeed a criminal racketeering conspiracy.

BLITZER: It's interesting, a woman identified as victim three is not expected to testify, but she's referenced in the government's indictment as part of the racketeering conspiracy count. So, why do you think the jury won't hear from her now?

JACKSON: So, what happens is that the government has indicated that they're having trouble, Wolf, getting her to testify. And that could happen as it relates to that or other witnesses. And so it's always, in any case, about the quality of the evidence, not the quantity.

Having said that, remember what prosecutors are trying to show. They're trying to show a pattern of criminality, a pattern of bad behavior, a pattern wherein, as it relates specifically to not only the racketeering, which is an organization that really contemplates and carries out criminal activity of all sorts, but they have to show with this sex trafficking count that you're carrying people across state lines and you're coercing them to engage by force or fraud into this whole sexual activity.

So, victim three was supposed to corroborate that and show yet another person who Combs allegedly did this to, so to the extent that witness three doesn't come forward, it would be a blow to the government's case with regard to establishing this pattern.

BLITZER: You know, Joey, more than a dozen witnesses are already taking the stand, at least so far. Considering the last two weeks of testimony, what more does the prosecution need to do to make its case?

JACKSON: So, I think quite a bit. I mean, when you look at the racketeering issue, you're going to want to show, as the government alleges, that over the course of a significant period of time, they say 20 years, that he was essentially the kingpin of this criminal enterprise. So, you want to bring in more of his close associates and confederates to show where was the agreement, that would be the conspiracy to engage in illegality.

What types of illegality was there? Was there obstruction of justice, witness tampering, telling people to keep their mouth shut, making these threats, engaging in other lawless activity? That goes to the racketeering count, so they need to bring in more witnesses to buttress that argument.

As it relates to the sexual trafficking issue, again, crossing state lines for the purposes of engaging in these sexcapades freak-offs, right, and was it coerced and fraudulent behavior. Did you compel, if you're Diddy, to do that, or were they simply voluntary and was that his lifestyle?

And as it relates to the count concerning prostitution, where people crossing state lines, that's what makes it federal. And was it your intent when they crossed those state lines to engage in prostitution? So, that is what we're going to see from every witness moving forward in terms of the government's narrative. And the defense narrative is going to refute that in every way, which would suggest that he was a legitimate business person who may be flawed, may be complicated, may have engaged assaultive and domestic abuse. But, certainly, from a defense perspective, he was not a sex trafficker, was not a runner of a criminal enterprise and was not guilty of any of these charges.

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So, those are the competing narratives. Which one carries the day will be up to the 12-member jury when this is done.

BLITZER: All right. Joey Jackson, thank you very, very much.

Up next, the head of a U.S.-backed aid distribution organization steps down just as the group says it's beginning its operations in Gaza. The controversy surrounding the Gaza Humanitarian Aid Foundation, that's coming up next.

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[10:30:00] BLITZER: In Gaza controversial new aid distribution group says it has begun operations in the war-torn enclave just days after the World Food Programme.