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It is Monday, May 26th, and here's what's happening right now on CNN This Morning. Another delay in the trade war, this time with the European Union. But how long will it really last? Plus this. He's sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don't like it at all. Russia launches its largest aerial attack on Ukraine ever, but will President Trump's rare rebuke of Vladimir Putin help ease tensions? And later...
We are being used essentially as poker chips. Thousands of international students at Harvard in limbo, and now the Trump administration wants their names and countries of origin. And military recruitment making a comeback on this Memorial Day. What's behind the trend? And will this momentum continue?
It is 6 a.m. here on the East Coast. Here is a live look at the White House on this Memorial Day weekend. Good morning, everyone. I'm Adi Cornish. I want to thank you for waking up with me on this holiday. And we're going to begin by talking about the president's on-again, off-again tariffs because they're sort of off, at least for now, when it comes to the EU. On Friday, the president announced 50% tariffs. We're going to kick in this upcoming weekend on all imports from the European Union.
and seemed pretty sure nothing was going to change that. I'm not looking for a deal. I mean, we've set the deal. It's at 50%. Now, if somebody comes in and wants to build a plan here, I can talk to them about a little bit of a delay. Two days later, a call from the EU Commission president apparently changed all that. And she asked for an extension on the June 1st date. And she said she wants to get down to serious negotiation. July 9th would be the date.
That was the date she requested. Could we move it from June 1st to July 9th? And I agreed to do that.
- Joining me now in the group chat, Stephen Collins, and CNN Politics Senior Reporter, Maria Cardona, CNN Political Commentator and Democratic Strategist, and Lindsey Dratz, CEO of the Forward Party and a former campaign finance official for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. Thank you guys all for being here today. - Thanks for having us. - Appreciate it. Okay, Stephen, so you've talked in the past about the tariffs in general. When you look at the state of play, are these reversals? Are these the art of the deal?
Is the EU doing better than other countries? You know what I mean? It feels like there are some European leaders that have won his favor. What are you looking at now? I think there's really total confusion.
Oh, my 10 questions didn't convey that? No, no, yeah. Yeah, no, obviously I have a firm grasp. The argument that this is the art of the deal found us in the fact there hasn't really been any deals yet. There have been discussions about deals or commitments about deals or a commitment with China to talk about a deal. But I think there are increasing...
uh, concerns about how real all of this is. Uh, ultimately, I think what Trump would like is a tariff of 10%. I think that's what we've seen on, uh, most of the deals that have emerged. The problem is it's backwards and forwards, and I think the...
thing that a European leader probably would take away from the Chinese example, for example, is when the pain is about to kick in, the president steps back. And that seems to be what's happened here. All right. I have to play a clip of tape from the president because so much of this conversation has been wrapped around the idea of bringing manufacturing back to the U.S. What would that look like? What would that mean? How long would it take? He was asked about it. And here's what he had to say.
We want to make military equipment, we want to make big things, we want to do the AI thing with the computers and the many, many elements. But the textile, you know, I'm not looking to make t-shirts, to be honest. I'm not looking to make socks. We can do that very well at other locations.
OK, it's a tie for Lindsay and Maria on facial expressions while that was playing. Lindsay, let me start with you. I mean, that's ambitious, and I think that has always driven the U.S. protection of its manufacturing capabilities, military equipment, being competitive. What's going on with what he's saying? Yeah, it is ambitious, and I think that the American people want to hear that the president is committed to bringing manufacturing jobs because the American people equate that with middle-income jobs.
So middle class job creation equals manufacturing. Unfortunately, it's not realistic. As most of us know, the time horizons to build out the infrastructure to create these manufacturing facilities is not something that's going to happen, certainly not during this Trump administration. But if you want to launch a golden age, then this is what you do.
No, I'm serious. It's like you just you have to decide at some point, right? It was like building the highway system. It didn't happen overnight. Yeah, but you also have to base it on reality and on history and on the knowledge of what the United States is capable of and what other countries are there to do for the United States in terms of trade. This is nothing but chaotic, discombobulated, chaotic.
craziness and confusion. And we're seeing it in what not just the tariffs are doing to consumers, but what this back and forth is doing to the markets. And you all have done, CNN has done such a great job, and I'm so proud of the network, of focusing on real people's stories. You all have on all the time, small businesses, entrepreneurs, people who are
frankly, would be the ones who would benefit if this kind of manufacturing would actually come back to the United States. But are experiencing the pain right now, which is to your point about other countries saying, well, let's just maybe you put them through it. It's a problem. I want to add one more thing to this, which is all of this also depends, at least according to the Treasury Secretary, on the math of the budget bill, right? It's one thing to do the tariffs, but there's supposed to be another half of that policy here. I want to
play for you. I think it's some Senate Republicans who are now taking a look at this legislation after the House was able to pass it earlier this week. I think we have enough to stop the process until the president gets serious about spending reduction and reducing the deficit. I think the cuts currently in the bill are wimpy and anemic, but I still would support the bill even with wimpy and anemic cuts if they weren't going to explode the debt.
I feel like I have been listening to a lawmaker named Paul complain about the deficit for easily 20 years. We've gone through the generations. The fiscal hawks are back, baby. Do they have any power? I think it's going to
call for some changes to get this through the Senate. But the problem then is you have to go back to the House. And a lot of the things that the Speaker, Mike Johnson, did to get this bill through the House with one vote are things that are going to annoy senators. Yeah, let's underscore that. One vote. Right. It's interesting to hear Senator Hawley, for example, talk about the pain of the Medicaid cuts. That's, you know, the real politics of this kicking in. But eventually...
The bill will pass because the bill has to pass because it's so important to the president. For him, I think it's less important necessarily that what's in it is
It's about just getting the big beautiful deal to his desk. - Yeah. Group chat, stay with me. We got a lot to talk about at the start of this week. Coming up on CNN this morning, the trial against music mogul Sean Combs entering its third week. We're gonna talk about what you can expect and about the victim who will not be taking the stand. Plus, the US expresses unwavering support for Israel as its other top allies demand action for what's happening in Gaza.
And activists and family members recommit to fighting police brutality five years after the murder of George Floyd. We are not deterred. We are recommitted. So do what do with the Department of Justice. We will not turn back. Justice for George Floyd.
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It's been a devastating weekend in Gaza. Israeli airstrikes killing dozens, one doctor losing nine of her 10 children in one of the attacks, her one remaining son and her husband left clinging to life.
One of the civil defense workers was handing me one of the bodies. Dr. Alaa, who was standing next to me, recognized it. She said, this is Rival. Give her to me. She asked to hold her in her arms. She's a pediatrician. See the subconscious reaction. She wanted to embrace her daughter, forgetting that her daughter was burned in front of her eyes.
With the violence against Gaza escalating, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is in Israel meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. CNN's Nada Bashir is tracking the latest developments. Good morning, Nada. I want to talk about the purpose of this visit. What have we learned about why the Department of Homeland Security is in Israel?
Well, that's right. We understand according to the White House that this visit was instructed by the US President Donald Trump following this devastating tragic attack in Washington DC just last week against the couple just outside the museum in Washington DC. But of course the timing of this is interesting. This comes at a time where of course the Israeli government is facing
mounting criticism from many of its closest international allies and of course as the Israeli military expands its operation in the Gaza Strip and as you mentioned already we have seen a devastating weekend in Gaza yet more attacks of course and just after midnight overnight in the Gaza Strip another devastating attack an airstrike on a school in central Gaza which according to health authorities in Gaza has killed at least
20 people. This is an area of course in central Gaza, in Gaza City, where thousands have flocked to take shelter since the breakdown of the ceasefire in March. This was a school known to be housing displaced civilians and according to many of the eyewitnesses on the ground there was no prior warning against this airstrike. We've heard from health authorities at the Al Ahly hospital, Al Ahly Baptist Hospital rather, where
Many of the injured, wounded and those killed were taken by emergency workers. They have said that while they were able to identify the bodies of at least 20 victims, others have been dismembered, disfigured or charged by the fire which engulfed the building, parts of the building, and that they have
been unable to identify some of those victims, many of whom they have said were women and children. But of course, alongside this, there continues to be that mounting focus on the aid situation on the Gaza Strip. Of course, this is a huge focus for the Trump administration as well. Kogat, the Israeli agency which oversees the shipment of aid to the Gaza Strip, has said that at least 107 trucks were able to pass
the Kerem Shalom crossing on Sunday. Of course, that is a fraction of the total number of trucks that the U.N. says is needed, around 500 to 600, which they say is desperately needed in Gaza. Audi? That's Nada Bashir in London. Thank you.
Straight ahead on CNN this morning, an American arrested in New York for allegedly plotting an attack on a U.S. embassy office in Israel. Plus, the U.S. military experiencing a rise in recruitment. What's behind it? Can it be maintained? And I want you to take a look at these live pictures out of Hawaii, the Kilauea volcano actually spewing lava into over a thousand feet to the sky overnight.
Liberated our troops from divisive and demeaning political trainings. There will be no more critical race theory or transgender for everybody forced onto our brave men and women in uniform. Okay, when I heard that, I realized I want to go off script because it's Memorial Day and there is actually a rise in military recruitment and the direction of the armed forces under this new administration.
So as you saw over the weekend, President Trump was speaking to the graduating class at West Point. The cadets also got this very clear message about his expectations as their commander in chief, all of which follows the firing of top level military officers, orders to remove transgender troops from service, the uptick in enrollment numbers that the president is taking credit for.
So bringing in an expert to join us on Military Recruitment, Deputy Editor of the Military Times, Leo Shane. Thanks for being here with us this morning. - Yeah, thanks for the invitation. - So a few years ago, I was covering this story on my podcast where I spoke to the Secretary of the Army, Christine Wormuth.
And she walked me through all the reasons why there was a recruiting crisis at the time. I think the army had missed its target by like 15,000 recruits. And part of it was like people couldn't do the physical part of it because of their weight. Some people had failed drug tests. Some people had remedial education.
So there were, am I getting it right? - These have all been major challenges, especially the physical fitness one, as we've seen the American population have a rise in obesity, increases in just a sedentary lifestyle. It's been a real challenge for bringing in younger folks who can meet those physical requirements over the years.
But she never mentioned diversity. She never mentioned that it was so woke people just didn't want us, the health, I guess the people who could compete didn't want to sign up. This has been a fighting debate point on Capitol Hill for quite a few years now, even before President Trump came into office, because we heard from Republican lawmakers who said, hey, the military is spending too much time worrying about diversity, worrying about including other folks.
When we've heard testimony from the military leaders themselves, they've said this is not a factor when they're talking about this. They don't hear complaints. They don't hear folks who are shying away or getting out of the military, except for maybe an anecdotal case here and there. It's really a matter of those issues, plus just the economics of it. In good economic times, fewer people join the military. In bad economic times, we've always seen an upturn because of the stability. But military service is a lot. It's a lot of sacrifice. So it's not...
It's not just a job like going down the street and picking up another hourly wage here. You've got to make a commitment for years. Although the recruiters were competing against higher hourly wages in places like Amazon. And that's what it is. So we've seen a lot of increases in pay in recent years. Let me talk about that. Data shows that the military recruitment numbers rose, I think, more than 12% in 2024. That was before Trump was reelected. He's still taking credit for it. But can you talk to me about what people think...
is actually driving some of this increase. Yeah, at least part of the increase right now that we're seeing are folks who signed up last year, as you said, deferred entry. So folks who maybe this time last summer were like, hey, I want to get in, but the Army was already at their numbers and they said, we're going to
We're going to just delay you for a few months and bring you in. That way we can help with the numbers next year. So about a quarter of all the ones that have come in so far this year fall into that category. Last year, you know, the Congress passed a very substantial pay increase for junior enlisted troops, bringing everybody's salary over $30,000. It doesn't include other stipends like housing stipend, food stipend, things like that.
So it's a stable paycheck coming in. It's more money than some folks would see with just a high school degree after that. So there's a lot of interest in getting into that.
The numbers have continued to go up since Trump's election and since Trump's inauguration. So there may be a factor that goes in there, but a lot of what we're seeing him claim credit for now are folks who signed up even before his election sometime last fall or late last summer. And we mentioned preparedness. I know there's a future soldier preparatory course, which is kind of like a pre-preparatory
basic training and other things. Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of these programs that, you know, the military isn't just looking to recruit for right now, they're looking to recruit for years from now. So, you know, there's junior ROTC programs that are looking down the road to bring in new officers. There's just
There's recruitment not just of the high school seniors, but of sophomores, of freshmen, of folks who might be interested down the road so they can bring them in. So it is a long process. They're already this year starting to look ahead at what the next year's numbers are. Are there candidates for those deferred programs, for those things to come in? One more thing. When I was digging into the numbers, I saw that the recruitment growth is disproportionately
driven by women. That into the 2024 year, 10,000 women enlisted, that's an 18% increase from the year before.
You're smiling. I mean, is that due to some diversity efforts? And is this the kind of, what are these women in for under a leadership that now sees a different role for them, so to speak? And that's the real question. I mean, what we've seen is after missing those marks for several years with recruiting, we saw a targeted effort at all sorts of populations, at minority populations, at women. Diversity initiatives. Not just diversity, but like...
really anything that they could get to, but certainly diversity initiatives helped out. Outreach to populations that maybe were underrepresented there. So with those ending, it's interesting to see if we'll see a pullback, especially with some of the rhetoric from President Trump with Secretary Hegseth. Are those folks going to regret signing up now? Are they going to be fine with it? We may get to next fall and see that numbers have continued to go up, that all these populations
do like the direction in military or at least aren't dissuaded by anything the president saying but we just don't really know right now how much the president and the new sector defense have have played into these recruiting numbers well thank you so much for digging into it with us I appreciate you coming here Leo thank you are at Leo she's the deputy editor at the military times
All right, next on CNN this morning, President Trump lashing out why he says Vladimir Putin has gone, quote, absolutely crazy. And a controversial move in Texas requiring all public schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms has cleared a key hurdle.
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Good morning, everyone. I'm Adi Cornish. I want to thank you for joining me on CNN this morning. It's half past the hour, and here's what's happening right now.
President Trump pressing pause on another set of tariffs this time for the European Union. On Sunday, he said the 50% levy on EU imports wouldn't go into effect until at least July 9th.
And an American has been arrested after allegedly plotting to firebomb a U.S. embassy office in Israel. Officials say on May 19th, he showed up at the embassy, spat on a guard and then ran away, leaving behind his backpack. Inside, they found three Molotov cocktails. He was arrested at JFK Airport in New York on Sunday.
And we are looking live at the World War II Memorial today. President Trump to commemorate Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery. In just a few hours, he's expected to lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier.
now in the meantime russia has just launched its largest aerial attack on ukraine since starting the war more than three years ago the russians have been intensifying the bombardment in recent weeks as international pressure mounts on president vladimir putin to accept a ceasefire proposal president trump obviously frustrated posting on truth social putin's gone quote absolutely crazy
I'm not happy with what Putin's doing. He's killing a lot of people and I don't know what the hell happened to Putin. I've known him a long time, always gotten along with him, but he's sending rockets into cities and killing people and I don't like it at all, okay? We're in the middle of talking and he's shooting rockets into Kiev and other cities. I don't like it at all.
All right. So here's the thing. This just in from the Kremlin. They're calling those remarks that you just heard from the president emotional reactions to the situation. The group chat is back. Response from the Kremlin kind of like girl, calm down. At a certain point, when does this start to be embarrassing for Trump and by virtue of the United States? And I don't mean to say that in a high commentary way, but it looks like he's getting schooled.
I think in a geopolitical sense it's been embarrassing for the United States for some time, but the president doesn't want to take that step to create ownership of the situation. These tweets, he was mad at Putin, then he criticized President Zelensky. He's acting more as a commentator of the situation rather than an active participant. Oh, interesting.
This is a test for the president. These attacks came one week after that call with President Putin, which the White House billed as a great success, even though it didn't push the process forward, you know, clearly. And the Kremlin seems to be testing, will Trump actually just say stuff about Putin? Right. And or will he actually go ahead and impose secondary sanctions? Right.
in a way that could hurt Russia. And that, I think, is what's happening here. - Trump also posted this on Putin on Truth Social saying, "I've always said he wants all of Ukraine, "not just a piece of it. "Maybe that's proving to be right, "but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia." Cullensen mentioned secondary sanctions, but we know politically within the Republican Party there is not the same appetite. How do you guys think of what more pressure there could be?
Zelenskyy actually has come out. He has said that the world knows all of the pain points that we can hit Russia on in terms of the economy. The world has chosen not to. We do have sanctions that are in place now, but in turn, Putin has gone ahead and diversified a number of their trade partners around the world.
Politically right now, over 50% of Americans view Russia as an enemy. And I think a lot of what we're seeing here is the president also acknowledging the political realities of him cozying up to Putin and the fact that that's actually not what Americans want to see.
This is all about Trump's ego. And I think what's happening now is that the fact that Putin is not doing what Trump wanted upends Trump's whole vanity strategy around this. There's a lot of egos involved here, which I think Trump himself has said. True, but let's remember, Trump has said this never would have happened if he was president, right? During the campaign, he said, I'm going to end this war on day one.
All of this focuses on Trump's inability to get done what he said he was going to get done. And frankly, what we know is the reality. But in his mind, right, it upends his whole power certainty in terms of what happens when he is in office. Well, he is in office now. And what he said was going to happen is not happening. Yeah. So he's trying to.
I guess by a truth social post, he thinks he can change things, but he's running into reality. So buying time or backing away? I think for a time I heard, oh, maybe Pope Leo will get involved. Like, what's happening here? There doesn't seem to be much of a plan, to be frank, from the U.S. side. The issue here is this is an existential conflict for Putin politically. It's the product of years of warped history.
And Putin is playing by a far longer clock than the 24-hour clock or the before Memorial Day clock or the July 4th clock. And in the meantime, the U.S. has mostly just extracted a deal, literally, for minerals out of Ukraine. Deals don't get done unless there's some leverage from one side on the other. And if the U.S. isn't prepared to use the leverage, then...
I don't see how anything's going to change. And the Ukrainians understand that. OK, you guys, stick around. We have a lot more to talk about. And first, I want to turn to the president's relationships abroad from that to how he's governing here at home. So here's this CNN headline.
It zeroes in on a key question being asked as Trump continues to bypass the courts, Congress and other constitutional norms to advance his agenda. We're going to talk about whether anyone can stop him because so far the courts have posed the biggest challenge. And here's what House Speaker Mike Johnson had to say about that.
It is about separation of powers. And right now you have activist judges, a handful of them around the country who are abusing that power. They're issuing these nationwide injunctions. They're engaging in political acts from the bench. And that is not what our system is intended for. So what is it intended for? Well, joining me now, senior political analyst Ron Brownstein. Good morning, Ron. Hey, good morning, Audie.
OK, so in your piece, you highlight basically the idea that these institutions that the president is either bypassed or directly challenged. But what is the goal here? Is it ultimately to create a stronger executive branch? Because in that case, he's actually not the first president to be doing that.
Yeah, but I think what we are seeing is different not only in magnitude, but in kind. I mean, I think if you take a step back and you look at the first month of the Trump administration, what you see is a kind of panoramic effort on all fronts to shatter the boundaries, the limits that the Constitution and subsequent legislative decisions made to try to limit the arbitrary exercise of presidential power. I mean, just kind of look in every direction in the executive branch.
He's trying to consolidate unfettered personal control, eroding the independence of agencies, firing inspectors general, undermining civil service protection. Congress has been sidelined willingly, as Mike Johnson shows, I mean, as the administration has effectively shut down agencies that were authorized by statute and openly announced that they're not going to enforce laws they don't like. We've seen them already move toward pretty clear defiance of lower courts.
in particularly in the Abrego-Garcia matter, traditional notions of federalism, which was another protection that the founders built in, I think have been overrun as they've moved to try to impose red state policies on blue states. And then the kind of maybe the most ominous fronts of all, all the different ways in which they're trying to mobilize and weaponize all
the power and kind of mass of the federal government against targets in civil society, law firms, universities, even individuals. You know, think about the threat to Apple over the weekend with the tariff threat. Imagine that under a Democratic president, what you would be hearing from the Chamber of Commerce or the Business Roundtable if a Democratic president made that kind of threat.
Silence, because they are worried, I think, about further retribution. And all of this does go to your point. What you're looking at is sort of an unbound executive who controls not only the executive branch and the other elements of government, but unprecedented influence over civil society and any institution that might resist them.
I want to ask you, though, from the position of, say, like MAGA right, there is this sense that the president is punching in the face all the cultural bullies that they have railed about over the last 20 years, whether that be education, whether that be corporations, whether whether that be the quote unquote elites. So is there appetite for this? And is what's the threat of overreach that you think would create backlash?
Well, there is appetite for it. The question is whether there's legal justification for it or constitutional. I mean, because you don't like an institution as a political movement doesn't mean that you necessarily have the right to use the tools that they have been employing to try to destroy or undermine them, you know, through the mechanisms of federal power. Yeah, I think there is an audience, but there certainly there is an audience. I mean, that is the core Trump audience.
the idea that all of these institutions in American life have been kind of mobilized against them. You know, two thirds of Trump voters say discrimination against whites is as big a problem as discrimination against minorities. An overwhelming majority say discrimination against Christians is a bigger problem than discrimination against other religious groups. So, yes, there is an audience. But I do think that the cumulative weight of what we are watching
is something that could make Americans uneasy in the long run. You know, it is the bottom line. It is people's personal finances that it's gonna decide above all. But I think if you look at polling, pretty consistently a majority of Americans already believe that Trump is not following the rule of law. And the question is whether even institutions that feel like they're getting what they want out of this presidency. I look at business, you know, they're getting a lot of what they want, eviscerating regulations, cutting taxes.
but they may be getting uneasy about a world in which their decisions are being questioned and influenced by the federal government to a degree that I think they would never tolerate from a democratic president. That's Ron Brown, CNN senior political analyst. Thank you.
Thanks for having me. Still ahead on CNN this morning, President Trump doubles down on his attacks against Harvard University. His latest threat after blocking foreign students from enrolling at the school. Plus, Team USA does something in hockey that they haven't done in nearly a century. More from the group chat after this.
The trial against Sean Diddy Combs has paused for Memorial Day, but the testimonies are far from over. You're going to see more witnesses taking the stand tomorrow. The second week of the trial brought some very serious allegations and dramatic accounts from eyewitnesses who crossed paths with Combs. Among them, rapper Kid Cudi, who accused Combs of breaking into his home and setting his car on fire with a Molotov cocktail.
celebrity makeup artist who described a violent assault on Cassie Ventura, also allegedly by Combs. Joining me now to discuss is CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney, Joey Jackson. Joey, good morning. Thanks for being here.
Of course, Howdy. So since we have this pause in the proceedings, it's a good time to talk about the testimony that we've heard so far. For my money, rapper Kid Cudi was very much a remarkable witness. Can you talk about who stood out to you and why?
Yeah, there's no question. I mean, obviously, Kid Cudi, let's start there, was important because what he brings is, remember the charges, Adi. We're talking about a racketeering conspiracy and what the government is alleging that this conspiracy existed over the course of 20 years. And in conspiracies of racketeering, what do you have? You have guns, drugs, money. But in addition to that, let's talk about what Cudi brought to the tables.
He talked about the issue of arson. He talked about the firebombing of his Porsche. That gets you to that. In addition to that, he talked about the burglary of his home, the removal of surveillance cameras. So that's certainly significant as it relates to what this alleged criminal enterprise was doing. However, he also gave something to the defense, and that was his relationship with Cassie Ventura, who was she. She's a star witness of the government who had a long-term relationship with Sean Combs.
And that relationship had a lot of violence, a lot of destructive behavior on the part of Combs. And that's what we saw the videotape that was played over and over for the jury. So there's no question that he was a central witness. But, of course, he said also that he dated her. That is Kathy Ventura. And he felt somewhat played because he didn't know that she was still with Combs. And so this.
the defense will seize upon that to say hey she manipulated party and she's manipulating you in addition to him though we heard from a psychologist and the psychologist was important because she spoke about how women behave when they have these real relationships that are predicated upon physical force violence et cetera to go to show some of the conduct because remember how do you what we have here is not
any testimony concerning him beating her and her saying no I'm not going to engage in these freak off wild parties where there was this rampant you know activity going on in we have the reverse we have certainly text messages and email saying she can't wait to do it the psychologist was explaining why a woman who is controlled by a person
would engage in that behavior. And of course, we heard from Cassie's mother as well with respect to something else you have in conspiracies and racketeering, right, which is extortion, wherein he, that is Combs, reached out to her and said, give me $20,000. She owes it to me. That is your daughter, and I want it, and the mother sent it. And so I think with Cassie and her mom and the psychologist, those were certainly compelling witnesses, and there were a variety of others as well.
Joey, it's sort of odd to understand this, but we're in the Me Too era or post-Me Too era. And so much of this conversation is around Cassie Ventura's motivations. It's kind of the equivalent of like, not she deserved it, but did she want it? Did she participate it? Is that surprising in what is essentially a RICO trial?
So what happens is, is that it is RICO and RICO is usually used, right, in terms of getting mobsters and others who run criminal syndicates and bringing them to justice. Here you have it used against Sean Combs. But in addition to that, Audi, what you have is you have sex trafficking allegations. Now, in order for the government to get to the issue of sex trafficking, of course, it makes it federal because it's across state lines. Was this occurring in New York?
was it occurring in Florida, California, internationally in fact. So they have to show that to make it federal. But you also have to show force or coercion. And so the reason that you have this battle, you have the psychologist, you have this whole issue of whether it was forced or whether it was not is because in order to get to trafficking, you have to show the element of coercion. And so that's the battleground here. The defense shows that it was consensual and a freaky lifestyle. It's one thing. It's not guilty.
If it's shown by the government that it was forced, it was coercive, and it was because of this abusive and controlling relationship, it gets you to another place. And that's why even in the Me Too generation and movement, we're hearing a lot about intentions, a lot about her intentions, a lot about the money she collected from him in a $20 million settlement, a money that she got from the hotel with respect to this incident.
incident. And that's the real critical issue, is whether the government can show this coercive behavior that led to her not consenting at all. That's the question the jury will have to decide. Many more witnesses this week. Joey Jackson, CNN legal analyst, thank you. Of course. Thank you, Addie.
Okay, it's 52 minutes past the hour. Here is your morning roundup. People in Minneapolis gathering for a candlelight vigil Sunday to remember George Floyd, marking the anniversary of his murder five years ago. He was killed by a white police officer who was caught on video kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes. Our Sarah Seidner spoke to his family.
There's so many people that have showed up, showed up out here, their kindness, their love, their support. You know, it brings a certain amount of peace and joy.
Crowds also gathered in Minneapolis at a memorial marking the site where Floyd died. And a proposal in Texas to require all public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments just cleared a major hurdle. The Republican-controlled statehouse just gave its preliminary approval the final vote expected in the next few days. Then the bill is off to the governor's desk where it's expected to be signed into law. And then there's this. Thompson in, shoots, scores!
The USA men's team has won the World Hockey Championship for the first time in more than 90 years. Team USA defeated Switzerland 1-0 in overtime. The goalie from the Boston Bruins stopped 25 shots to shut out the Swiss team.
Okay, we want those names. That's the newest demand from President Trump in his fight with Harvard University. In a new post on social media, he ordered the school to turn over the names of all foreign students as his administration accuses the school of failing to address anti-Semitism. Late last week, his administration banned the university from admitting foreign students, which actually make up about 27% of the student population there. A judge put the ban on hold, but President Trump is forging ahead.
They refuse to tell us who the people are. We want to know who the people are. Now, a lot of the foreign students we wouldn't have a problem with. I'm not going to have a problem with foreign students, but it shouldn't be 31%. It's too much. Thousands of international students at Harvard essentially are now in limbo, describing a situation of pure panic over the ban. I'm not sure if I can or if I have the ability to come back to the U.S. after the summer and the fall semester. And that's the story of, again, not just me, but
at least 7,000 individuals at Harvard admit right now, who again represent the absolute best of their own respective countries. And now they're being tossed around between the Harvard administration and the Trump administration as poker chips. - The group chat is back. I want to take on what that student just said as poker chips. What's the game?
I mean, this is exactly the problem with they're going after these elite institutions. And clearly we've seen it's not just Harvard. You know, one of the things, Adi, that people miss is that the export from the United States of this kind of postgraduate education is one of the biggest problems
revenues that the United States has in terms of bringing all these foreign students here. And not only that, but what we get from that, right? I mean, so many of these foreign students stay here and contribute trillions of dollars to our economy. And I think this is a huge benefit for us. The Wall Street Journal had an editorial, the editorial board, in fact,
seem to oppose this, saying that the university seems likely to prevail on the law, but until the court settles the merits, thousands of students who have done nothing wrong will be in legal limbo. And I want to underscore this. They say some of them no doubt oppose the anti-Israel protest and may even hail from Israel. Why punish them? This is about power. It's about the administration taking aim at a classic
source of liberal power. Now, to your point earlier... Heritage source. Yeah, well, it's been, you know, there for... Andrew Jackson had a bit of a showdown with Harvard, which eventually decided to give him an honorary degree, so maybe that would have been the way to defuse this right at the start. Yeah, it's that or a plane, I think. But to your point earlier, there are a lot of conservatives who believe that Harvard and academia went far too far to the left, and this is their chance to...
you know, really take a shot at one of these big liberal institutions. If you stop
25% of the students, 27% of the foreign students going to Harvard, you create massive financial pain for that university and you send a message to all the other universities that can't afford to stand up to the administration. You also send a message to the world's best and brightest, do not come here because if something happens to this university, you're not going to pick another university in the U.S. In a previous segment, we were talking about innovation and the president's desire to come and
create incredible technologies here. - In this moment of AI. - We are the shining city on the hill. We are supposed to be the pinnacle of innovation in the world. We have to attract that talent. This is a cultural shift in the United States where we would be sending a message externally that we don't want the best and the brightest.
How are we going to create those things about power? It's about, frankly, downright clear xenophobia. You think so? I absolutely think so. Of all of these students from all these different places? Yes, I do. Including the Belgian princess? I mean, I think it includes, well, frankly, if we're going to be honest, I think it's about the majority of the foreign students who aren't white.
What do you think? Especially coming off of the South African refugee crisis, where you heard the president just going on and on about his allegations about white farmers. This is a theme that seems to underlie a lot of the administration's
rhetoric and actions. Yeah, which is sort of this over and over again, it's a privilege to be here. And it's very much underscoring who he thinks that privilege should be going to or not going to at any given time. All right, we're going to have a lightning round. Keep an eye on it. Don't mess up my clock. Okay, Stephen? Okay, the senators are back.
In the states, for the recess, do they get backlash on Medicaid and the Big Beautiful Bill? Lots of Republican senators in particular might deal with that. Maria? A small, nasty, dangerous provision in this, quote, Big Beautiful Bill that would strip the courts of their power to hold officials, especially Trump administration officials, in contempt. The courts have been the only thing that has stopped the egregious actions of this administration, and they want to put something in there to keep the courts from doing that. Okay.
Removal of leadership. Four partners resigning at Paul Weiss. CBS leadership stepping down. The calls for Jerome Powell to step down. Looking at independent agencies and the Trump administration putting in desired leadership in those places. So everywhere where there's independent voices, replacing them with loyalist voices. With loyalists.
You guys, thank you so much. We talked about a lot today. I really appreciate you being here on this holiday. Thank you for waking up with us. I'm Audie Cornish and CNN News Central starts right now.
This week on The Assignment with me, Adi Cornish. The rise of buy now, pay later services or BNPLs. The idea is this. Instead of using traditional credit or debit to pay for your new sweater or TV or even your DoorDash order, you can break it up. And sometimes those payments happen every few weeks, sometimes once a month. And it's clear we're not sure how to feel about it. Is this a dangerous fad or a smarter, healthier form of credit?
Listen to The Assignment with me, Audie Cornish, streaming now on your favorite podcast app.