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The Lead with Jake Tapper

NYPD: Gun Found On Suspect Matches Shell Casings At Crime Scene; FBI Director Chris Wray To Resign Before Trump Takes Office; Accuser Speaks For First Time On Alleged Sexual Assault By Sean Combs; Malibu Wildfire Burns Nearly 4,000 Acres. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired December 11, 2024 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:01]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: "Stuck Squirrel" by Milko Marchetti, taken in Italy. Marchetti said he caught the exact moment when the red squirrel led his back legs free from the tree to enter inside of it.

Some of the other winners include back off my bird, a couple of penguins that look like they're about to get into fisticuffs, and an eagle whose feathers were very much ruffled. Looks like me at the end of three hours of "CNN NEWS CENTRAL".

This is the 10th year for the contest. It's always fun to watch/

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Always fun.

And THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER starts now.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: The forensic test results are in and they are damning.

THE LEAD starts right now.

A positive match, the gun and shell casings, along with fingerprints and the suspect himself sitting behind bars. The brand new details from detectives adding new layers in the case of a CEOs murder in cold blood as the suspected killer's manifesto also cements a possible motive.

Plus, a truly stunning find in Syria, a padlocked prison cell shot open only to discover an inmate alive inside. CNN cameras were there as it happened, and you will see that moment first here on THE LEAD.

And then President Trump hired him in 2017, presumably for a traditional ten-year term. But now, FBI Director Christopher Wray is announcing plans to resign before that term is over, under pressure from Trump, who wants to replace Wray with a new, much more pliant and controversial choice.

(MUSIC)

TAPPER: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

Lots of fast moving and major developments today in the case against Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The latest, the NYPD commissioner says the gun found on Mangione in Pennsylvania on Monday matches the shell casings that were discovered at the crime scene last week.

And according to law enforcement, Mangione fingerprints were found on evidence discovered at the scene of the assassination. The first forensic match directly tying the suspect to the scene in Manhattan where Thompson was shot one week ago.

The suspect's lawyer, however, is denying his clients involvement, saying that he will plead not guilty. Police right now are looking closely at the suspects writings that they discovered in a spiral notebook. Sources say some of those notes actually reference his plans to kill, while other notes reference his back pain from a 2023 back injury. Police are investigating whether the insurance industry either denied a claim or didn't fully come to his aid.

Even though the victim in this case was a husband and father of two, the murder has prompted many Americans to express anger at the health insurance industry, and even in some cases, a nihilistic fandom of the suspected killer himself, a sentiment shaking up corporations across the nation. They are scrambling to protect their senior executives as police warn of an elevated threat against business leaders.

CNN's Brynn Gingras takes a look now at where the investigation stands, and how law enforcement is trying to trace the suspect's activity in the months leading up to the murder.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): While Luigi Mangione sits alone in a Pennsylvania jail cell, police say they now have crucial connections between the 26-year-old and the Manhattan crime scene.

JESSICA TISCH, NYPD POLICE COMMISSIONER: First, we got the gun in question back from Pennsylvania. It's now at the NYPD crime lab. We were able to match that gun to the three shell casings that we found in midtown at the scene of the homicide.

GINGRAS: The NYPD commissioner also confirming what CNN first reported. Mangione fingerprints match evidence found where UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down a week ago.

TISCH: We're also able at our crime lab to match the person of interest fingerprints with fingerprints that we found on both the water bottle and the kind bar near the scene of the homicide.

GINGRAS: Sources also telling CNN a to do list on how to carry out a killing was found in the pages of a spiral notebook, along with notes justifying the plan, suggesting what could be better than, quote, to kill the CEO at his own bean counting conference.

LUIGI MANGIONE, ALLEGED CEO KILLER: It's completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people. It's lived experience! GINGRAS: The links come as Mangione's attorney continues to fight extradition to New York.

THOMAS DICKEY, LUIGI MANGIONE'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I haven't seen any evidence that says that he's a shooter.

GINGRAS: Investigators are also working to track his whereabouts days, weeks, months before the murder, a hotel clerk telling ABC, Mangione tried to check into this Altoona, Pennsylvania, hotel before his arrest.

JOHN KUKLIS, HOTEL CLERK: There was somebody that checked in, and the officer goes, did he have a mask on? Did he ever take a mask off? I was like, no, he never did take his mask off. He says, I'll be down there in five minutes to talk to you. We pulled it up on surveillance and sure enough, they go, yeah. That's him.

[16:05:01]

GINGRAS: CNN has learned Mangione's mother filed a missing persons report in San Francisco on November 18th. This summer, it seems as if Mangione fell off the grid as concerned friends reached out. I haven't heard from you in months, one friend commented on X.

CHRIS KWOCK, NEIGHBOR IN HAWAII: He was a nice guy. He, you know, said hi. We rode the elevator a couple of times, always smiling, really good. I just asked him where he's been and for like six months, he was like on the mainland, like he just said medical stuff.

GINGRAS: Police wondering if a back injury in July 2023 or a list of ailments like brain fog or Lyme disease posted on a Reddit account believed to be Mangione point to a motive.

JOSEPH KENNY, NYPD CHIEF OF DETECTIVES: So we're looking into whether or not the insurance industry either denied a claim from him or didn't help him out to the fullest extent.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GINGRAS: And, Jake, you heard Mangione's defense attorney say that he hasn't seen any evidence that links Mangione to the crime scene. Well, now you have the ballistics from the gun, the fingerprints, the fake ID they found on him. In addition to all that video, some of which was released by police.

Of course, that is now all going to be used by prosecutors at the next court hearing as they try to work to get Mangione back here to New York to face those -- the murder charge. And it is worth noting, Jake, that we reached out to Mangione defense attorney with this new development about this evidence, and we have not heard back -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Brynn Gingras, thanks so much.

Let's discuss all of this with CNN chief law enforcement analyst John Miller, former special agent at the ATF in New York, John DeVito, and criminal defense attorney Stacy Schneider. John, to you first. Bring us inside the investigation. What are your

sources telling you?

JOH MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, the match of the fingerprint which occurred yesterday, the match of the ballistics, which occurred today and John DeVito can tell you how that's done, because when he was the ATF special agent in charge, he actually gave NYPD direct access to the kind of technology they could do that with.

But those two things pull a lot together because you've got a suspect and a gun in Pennsylvania. Now you've got that gun matched to shell casings found at the murder. You've got a suspect in jail in Pennsylvania, and now his prints matched to prints found at the murder. So, the whole idea of -- is this your suspect? And how do you know? Starts to close in on this technology. The third piece to follow will be DNA.

TAPPER: And, John, police say the suspect wrote in a notebook that using a bomb against his intended victim, quote, could kill innocents, unquote. But shooting would be more targeted, saying what could be better than, quote, to kill the CEO at his own bean counting conference, unquote. The CEO was, of course, killed while in New York, attending his company's investor conference.

This writing was very specific. How helpful is that to the investigation?

MILLER: Well, it's very helpful. It goes to motive. And of course, it is in and of itself beyond the three page letter he wrote, which we've sometimes referred to as a manifesto. What the police have referred to as a claim of responsibility.

The spiral notebook really is more about the planning process. It has to do lists and things that need to be accomplished, but also these writings about Ted Kaczynski and the Unabomber and comparing himself with this justification of how to do this murder and where.

TAPPER: John DeVito, your take on this.

JOHN DEVITO, FORMER SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, NY FIELD DIVISION OF ATF: Well, at the end of the day, you're looking at a, you know, a mountain of evidence. But its still investigators are still working hard to put the best case forward because end of the day, this suspect in custody, you know, is still innocent until proven guilty. So as John Miller was speaking about earlier, were bringing all of our experts to the table. They've done a comparison microscope ballistics test on the firearm in question. So we know it's the same firearm that fired the deadly rounds.

And at the end of the day, we're going to put all these pieces together and bring the best possible case together against the suspect.

TAPPER: Stacy, let's take a listen to what the suspect's lawyer said last night to CNN's Kaitlan Collins. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICKEY: Well, I haven't seen any evidence that they have the right guy. I can tell you that much, you know, there's, you know. Identification issues that are present. And so, I don't -- you know, like I said, this is why I need to look at some things, and they need to convince me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: This morning, that attorney reiterated he had not seen the evidence, including writings police said were in the suspect's possession at the time of the arrest.

Help us understand what this -- this Altoona attorney just walked into. When is he going to see this evidence?

STACY SCHNEIDER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE TRIAL ATTORNEY: Well, the funny part here about what he's saying is that he hasn't seen the evidence is he's a Pennsylvania attorney representing Mangione in Pennsylvania and not on the murder charges.

So there'd be no real reason for the New York authorities to dump their evidence onto the Pennsylvania attorney and show it to him before he's even been arraigned in New York. And I think it's a really bad strategy call on the part of the Pennsylvania attorney not to allow his client to be returned to New York or extradited to New York, because right now, a New York attorney could be working on investigating the case and working it up.

[16:10:03]

And there are all kinds of things coming out now about his health, which may, led -- lead to an insanity type of defense, which is an affirmative defense that the defense has to present. All these Reddit posts that are coming out now about possible Lyme disease, the pain he was undergoing. Ive spoken to surgeons regarding this matter, and they say that a surgery can actually unmask an underlying condition, and we don't know if this particular defendant and again, innocent until proven guilty and he's going to plead not guilty when he gets to New York, as his attorney has said. And it might not be this attorney again.

But, you know, you have to look at what kind of defense he can possibly mount. And it looks like right now that there is something going on in Mangione's background, for someone to have such a stellar reputation and then to disappear or go dark from their family and friends over six months. What was going on for him during those six months? And its important that an attorney in New York, who's going to be representing him in a murder charge of second degree murder, begins investigating these things, begins going to the hostel where he unmasked, allegedly in front of the female clerk there when he was flirting and going to the Starbucks where he was and looking for witnesses and looking for additional types of evidence. He's wasting time sitting in Pennsylvania on those lesser charges. He should be facing the music in New York. The New York charges are

not going away. He is going to be brought to New York at some point in time pretty soon. And I think it's better that he come here sooner rather than later and start preparing a defense.

TAPPER: All right. Thanks to all. Appreciate it.

As investigators pore over the subject's writings and social media posts, we're trying to get a better understanding of what Mangione may have been dealing with in terms of his health.

Let's bring in CNN chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He's a practicing neurosurgeon who operates on the brain and the spine.

And, Sanjay, Mangione allegedly claimed in handwritten notes that he was suffering from spondylolisthesis -- well, you can explain it to us, to how you say it. It means a slippage of the vertebrae in the spine.

Tell us more about it. How to pronounce it and how it affects people.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Sure. Yeah. So this is what we're gathering from some of these reports. We haven't confirmed this, but spondylolisthesis is the -- is the term. Let me just show you, Jake. I pulled this -- this spine model here so you can take a look at this with me.

But so, this is -- this is the spine. We're going all the way up to the neck, down into the thoracic spine. And then the lower back, lower back. And this is your sacrum over here.

So with spondylolisthesis, you might have slippage of the bone over here kind of moving forward on -- on another bone. So it's just basically instead of lining up perfectly like you see it in this model, one of the bones sort of slips out a little bit forward. And that can be painful for -- for various reasons. It can be painful in the back because of that movement of the bone. It can also cause leg pain if one of the nerves in that area starts to get encroached or pinched by those bones moving around as well.

So it's a -- its a fairly common condition. I mean, just back pain. Overall, 65 million people roughly have that in the United States. And there's a lot of operations performed for this sort of thing. Again, we don't know for sure what exactly was going on with him. How long he had this sort of problem. Sometimes people are born with issues that can lead to this sort of problem later on in life, but it is. It's quite common, actually, Jake.

TAPPER: Posts from a now deleted Reddit account that does not list Mangione's name, but it closely matches many of his biographical details, including his age, where he went to college, his health condition. These posts talk about having undergone spinal surgery, and we believe Mangione had posted this x ray image on Twitter or X, although authorities have not yet commented on the image and there is no confirmation. This is an X-ray of Mangione spine. But we're all just, you know, trying to make sense of this horrible,

senseless moment. But looking at that picture, what can you generally tell us?

GUPTA: Yeah. So, again, with all the caveats you just mentioned, if we put that spine picture back up again and I'll show you the model here in a second to sort of correlate that. But basically, when you -- when you have the slippage of the bones that I mentioned, one of the things you try and do is basically fuse those bones together. So they stop moving. They stop actually slipping back and forth one on the other.

So a couple of screws, the upper screws going into one of the bones, the lower screws going into the sacrum that I was just mentioning and basically just trying to hold that together. That's -- that's a fusion. That's a fusion operation.

I can tell you were just looking at one image here, it's usually not enough to really conclude exactly what's going on there. I can obviously see the screws. The screws look like they are actually extend a little bit further than normal, but we don't have all the images to be able to tell exactly what that -- what that is exactly doing.

[16:15:09]

Again, if you look at the model here, it would be essentially putting screws into this bone over here and then and then screws into the lower bone to try and hold that together, Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much to you.

First, it was UnitedHealthcare's Brian Thompson. Is another CEO next? The troubling message sent to other executives as police investigate this crime.

Plus, accusations over Sean "Diddy" Combs like you've never heard before. This time, it's a male accuser coming forward in person, talking to CNN in an exclusive interview, and we'll bring that to you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Back with more in our national lead on the CEO killing. "Wanted" posters showing the images and names of health care executives are popping up, popping up across New York City. We're blurring out the faces, but some of them read "Wanted: denying medical care for corporate profit. Health care CEOs should not feel safe."

An NYPD intelligence report called the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a symbolic takedown. And the NYPD is warning that the murder could inspire others to act violently towards other business leaders.

Let's talk about this with Dave Komendat. He was the vice president and chief security officer at the Boeing Company.

Dave, these posters show the faces of and name specific executives. Obviously, it's chilling. Are these executives in real danger or are people just venting?

DAVE KOMENDAT, FORMER VP & CHIEF SECURITY OFFICER, THE BOEING COMPANY: Well, thanks for having me on, Jake. And yes, I think that these executives and their security organizations need to take these posters seriously. We're in an environment right now that's pretty supercharged around this event. There's a lot of angst that's been shown towards the health care industry and others, and I think it would be prudent for those executives to pay attention to these.

TAPPER: How serious is the threat of a copycat crime?

KOMENDAT: I think it needs to be taken seriously. This suspect has gotten a monumental amount of media coverage, continues to receive it, and we know there are those people out there that will look at something like this and say, I'd like some of that for myself. And so I think it's something that security organizations around the country are looking at and taking seriously and planning for.

TAPPER: Is there something that, I mean, obviously, this is a huge story, the murder of a CEO in broad daylight. Is there something that you think we in the news media should be doing differently as we cover it?

KOMENDAT: Well, no, it's a story and it's an unusual story. This is not an occurrence that happens every day. And so when you have kind of a low frequency, really high impact tragedy like this, it is, of course, news.

So I'm not pointing any fingers at the media. But what I'm saying is there are people out there that are seeing in some ways how this individual has been glorified, not necessarily in the media, but on social media by those people who agree with the position and the steps that he took, which is tragic in itself.

TAPPER: Yeah.

KOMENDAT: But because of that type of coverage, I think that will be appealing potentially to people out there who are looking and saying, well, I would like my 15 minutes of fame. I'm going to look to do something like this to and I've got somebody in my city, somebody in my area that would meet this profile. So I'm going to see if I can do something similar.

TAPPER: Let me ask you, Massachusetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, who's a vocal critic of the health insurance industry, told "The Huffington Post", quote, violence is never the answer, but people can be pushed only so far. This is a warning that if you push people hard enough, they lose faith in the ability of their government to make change, lose faith in the ability of the people who are providing the health care to make change and start to take matters into their own hands in ways that will ultimately be a threat to everyone, unquote.

What do you make of that?

KOMENDAT: Well, I think that that's a fair statement. I'm not sure that there's anyone that would be listening to this broadcast today that has not had a negative experience somewhere along the line with their insurance provider. A bill didn't get paid. Something didn't happen that was supposed to happen. And it creates frustration and anxiety and stress.

And in certain people's lives, some of those decisions, some of those things that didn't happen, can be life altering or end a life. And so I can see why something like this has come to a head. The taking of someone's life over it. However, I don't think is obviously the right way to go and get those concerns addressed.

TAPPER: As we -- as we talk about threats against corporations, corporate leaders, we should note that earlier today, the U.S. Capitol police chief revealed that more than 50 members of Congress have been victims of swatting attacks in the past month, and more than 700 investigations into threats into their -- of their lives of members of Congress in the past month.

Is there an increase in threats against people in positions of power, or is there just more transparency about it?

KOMENDAT: I think it's a combination of both. I think it is, yes, there -- there is a more -- an atmosphere where threats are coming more frequently, but there's also more transparency around those threats. People have more access to them. They're shared more widely when they occur. And so I really do believe that -- that it has an additive effect on this.

And just what's going on in our normal day to day lives, this is just become, unfortunately, part of the environment in which we live.

TAPPER: All right. Dave Komendat, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

A big announcement today from FBI Director Chris Wray, the man Donald Trump put in place the first time he was president to be FBI director for a traditional ten-year term. Now Trump wants him out to make room for a much more controversial name.

How Chris Wray is clearing the way to make that happen. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:28:50]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: After weeks of careful thought, I've decided the right thing for the bureau is for me to serve until the end of the current administration in January and then step down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: That was Trump-nominated FBI Director Christopher Wray announcing his plan to resign about three years before the traditional ten-year term was set to end. Wray is leaving under pressure from Trump to leave. Trump has been

pressuring him to make way for the nontraditional and controversial pick to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, whom you may remember, said this in September.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KASH PATEL, FORMER TRUMP DEFENSE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: I'd shut down the FBI Hoover building on day one and reopening the next day as a museum of the deep state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Let's bring in some expert voices.

Evan Perez, let me start with you. Why did Wray choose now to announce his resignation? And who takes over January 20th, January 21st?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, he was thinking about this, trying to figure out when would be the right time. And part of the consideration here is that you saw in recent days, Republicans beginning to lash out at the bureau, attacking the bureau, really? They were trying to make it clear to Chris Wray that it wasn't just Donald Trump who wanted him out, that Republicans had lost confidence in him.

[16:30:07]

And so what you see in Wray's remarks today at the at the FBI headquarters was a realization that they were going to start attacking the bureau, and he felt that this was the best way to get out of the way to make sure that that didn't happen.

Paul Abbate is the deputy director. He's a career agent. He takes over, but he's also planning to leave by April of next year. So Trump will really have a chance to remake the bureau from the -- from the top when he takes office.

TAPPER: Tom Dupree, you worked for the Department of Justice, which works closely with the FBI. I'm sure you know a lot of FBI agents and officials. How do you think FBI rank-and file-are feeling today?

TOM DUPREE, FORMER PRINCIPAL DEPUTY ASSISTANT ATTORNY GENERLA, GW BUSH ADMINISTRATION: Well, I think there's a lot of loyalty within the organization to their director. He served for about seven years, and you would expect he's forged a lot of personal relationships.

(CROSSTALK)

DUPREE: So, and when you saw people crying at the announcement today. So clearly there are a lot of people who feel a strong personal attachment to Director Wray.

I think there's also a lot of uncertainty about what the future holds. The clip we played from Kash Patel, I mean, he's promising as President Trump promised to bring change to the bureau. And I think for people particularly who've served a long time in the FBI, a lot of this change changing the organizational structure, maybe even changing the location of the bureau itself, causes a good deal of uncertainty.

TAPPER: And, Kristen Holmes, this afternoon, President-elect Trump responded saying that FBI Director Wray's resignation, quote, will end the weaponization of what has become known as the United States department of injustice. I don't think it's become known as that.

How much pressure publicly and behind the scenes did Trump put on Wray in recent weeks? This is essentially the second FBI director that Trump has fired, right?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. And to be clear, there really didn't need to be much pressure put on privately since most of this was done in the public. Naming a successor to Wray when Wray's job wasn't up for another three years is about as much public pressure as you can put on someone to show them that the decision is either they resign or they're going to be fired.

And Donald Trump was asked about that on Sunday during an interview where he essentially said, look, I've put Kash Patel. I've named Kash Patel as the person I want leading the FBI that would go to show you or go to reason that that needs to job needs to be open by the time Kash Patel gets there, meaning Christopher Wray would either have to resign or I would fire him.

And Donald Trump has had a real turning with Christopher Wray, the person that he himself appointed to this job, particularly after that 2022 search of his Mar-a-Lago home for classified documents that ultimately led to his indictment in 2023. It was just a matter of time, and Donald Trump's team is celebrating the fact that Christopher Wray decided to go down this path of resignation rather than waiting to be fired by Donald Trump.

TAPPER: And, Tom, former Attorney General Bill Barr threatened to quit when Trump first threatened to fire Wray back in his first term, first reported by "Business Insider". Now we're going to see Pam Bondi, if she's confirmed as the attorney general and Kash Patel if he's confirmed as the FBI director, how different will it be? The dynamic that is traditional when it comes to the president, to the FBI and the DOJ and what we're going to see in the second Trump term?

DUPREE: Well, if there's one word that would define the forthcoming Trump term, I think untraditional is probably a pretty good word for it. The president has made no secret that he does envision a fundamentally different relationship between the FBI, the nation's chief law enforcement agency, and the White House.

In the past, there has been a separation. The FBI director has been viewed as someone outside of partisan politics. That's why Congress made the FBI director almost unique in our federal system that they have a ten-year term. The attorney general doesn't get a ten-year term.

But unfortunately, for better or for worse, the FBI director in years past has become embroiled at the epicenter of political controversies, which is why we see what happened today play out.

So I think what we're going to see in the next Trump term is one where there is a much closer working political relationship between the White House and law enforcement than there has been in the past.

TAPPER: And we should note, Evan, as you and I were discussing during the commercial, presidents have historically found the FBI director and even in many cases, their own attorneys general, to be thorns in their side. I can't think of one that didn't at one point or another clash with them. That's what the job is supposed to be. I don't think that's what were going to get.

PEREZ: No, exactly. I mean, the job is supposed to be that you say no when there's bad ideas or something that is not legal, and you're not supposed to love your FBI director. I mean, that's traditionally -- there's been -- there's been that tension, right?

And what we've seen clearly from, from Donald Trump is that he wants his FBI director out there, one of his one of his problems with Chris Wray is that Chris Wray wasn't on television during his first term defending him, which is a fundamental -- right. It's not a thing. And especially Chris Wray, who is, you know, kind of a more quiet presence. He doesn't do television. He doesn't like the media.

TAPPER: Yep. A nation of men, not laws. I guess thanks to both of you and to Kristen Holmes.

We're back with that big exclusive, a male accuser of Sean "Diddy" Combs sharing his claims with CNN. Hear his story firsthand, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:39:04]

TAPPER: We're going to bring you a CNN exclusive in our law and justice lead. We're hearing for the first time directly from a man who filed a civil lawsuit against Sean "Diddy" Combs, alleging that Combs drugged and sexually assaulted him 17 years ago while he worked security at one of the music producer's white parties in East Hampton, New York.

Representatives for Sean Combs maintain that Combs has never sexually assaulted anyone.

CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister spoke with the man who asked to not be identified and has his story. A warning, some of these details are graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ACCUSER: I was screaming, I was telling him to stop. It was incredibly painful. He was acting like it was nothing.

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Telling his story for the first time exclusively to CNN.

ACCUSER: It was animalistic. It was brutal.

WAGMEISTER: One of Sean "Diddy" Combs' accusers describes his allegations of being drugged and sodomized in the back of a vehicle by the disgraced music mogul.

[16:40:01]

Choosing to keep his identity hidden, John Doe says combs assaulted him in 2007 while he was working security at one of Combs' white parties in the Hamptons.

Sean Combs himself offered you a drink, is that correct?

ACCUSER: Correct.

WAGMEISTER: Okay, so this didn't come from staff or someone holding a tray of drinks. It came from him directly.

ACCUSER: Correct. The effects were so far beyond what two drinks would have been. It felt like the effects of maybe 15 drinks. To the point where I couldn't even stand any longer.

WAGMEISTER: And then what happened?

ACCUSER: Sadly, Sean Combs was waiting in the wings. He knew that this was going to happen to me, and he was waiting. He was acting like a concerned person at first in order to get my trust. And once I was in a helpless position and he was sure that he was in a position of power, then he took advantage of the situation. He held me down and sodomized me.

WAGMEISTER: Doe is seeking punitive damages. In a civil suit filed in October, Doe said he told his supervisor at the security firm what allegedly happened to him that night. He says he was then blacklisted and had to find another job.

Did you tell your wife at the time?

ACCUSER: No. I was too ashamed.

WAGMEISTER: Have you told anyone other than your manager at the security firm at the time?

ACCUSER: No, I was at that time. It just seemed so out of bounds. It seemed so crazy back then that it didn't even seem believable. I thought people would just think I was crazy.

SEAN "DIDDY 'COOMBS, DISGRACED MUSIC MOGUL: Just wanted to spread the love.

WAGMEISTER: Combs' white parties were a Hollywood sensation with an ultra exclusive guest list of A-list celebrities and executives from film, music and fashion.

CONAN O'BRIEN, TV HOST/COMEDIAN: You're a legendary for the parties that you throw. You throw a great party. COOMBS: I'm a legend, baby, for a whole bunch of things.

WAGMEISTER: He dubbed himself the modern day Gatsby.

COOMBS: If you don't have what they need, they're going to leave.

O'BRIEN: Right.

COOMBS: Got to keep them there.

O'BRIEN: Right.

COOMBS: You need locks on the doors.

WAGMEISTER: Combs is currently incarcerated in Brooklyn after he was indicted on three federal charges earlier this year. He's been denied bail three times. He pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution, and is awaiting a criminal trial that could put him behind bars for life.

A torrent of civil lawsuits against Combs began surfacing after his then girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, filed the first complaint against him in November of 2023. He initially denied her claims and said she was looking for a, quote, payday.

But earlier this year, CNN published hotel surveillance video from 2016 where Combs appeared to grab, shove, drag and kick Ventura.

ACCUSER: I saw the beatings he did to that, the beating he did to that poor woman. And I was mortified. That was really terrible. I wondered maybe if I had come forward, maybe if I had been braver, that maybe I could have stopped it. He used his celebrity to just keep victimizing over and over.

WAGMEISTER: Combs is now facing more than 30 suits from accusers, including John Doe's.

Representatives for Combs have denied all allegations. Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted anyone, adult or minor, man or woman, they said in a statement. His lawyers did not respond to the specific allegations in John Doe's case when approached by CNN, but addressed inconsistencies in Doe's October legal filing and his interview with CNN.

What are you hoping to accomplish? What does justice look like to you?

ACCUSER: Nothing could give me back the person I was before that evening. Nothing -- nothing could change that. I would love to see him spend the rest of his life in prison, because that's where he belongs where he can't hurt anybody else. He's going to live a very lonely, miserable life, I hope. And if nothing else, he's not going to be able to victimize anybody else. And that's all that matters.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WAGMEISTER (on camera): Now, Jake, as you said, Combs attorneys have denied that he ever sexually assaulted anyone. When I reached out to them back in October, when John Doe initially filed his complaint, they gave a blanket denial, but they didn't respond to the specific claim.

So after this interview, I reached back out to Comb's legal team and I asked if they wanted to respond to these specific allegations that were laid out in his initial lawsuit that I also asked him about in this interview. Now, they did not respond to the specific allegations, but they did -- they did take issue with some inconsistencies between our interview with John Doe and his initial filing from October. That initial filing said that this alleged incident occurred at the 2006 white party. While in our interview, John Doe said it was actually 2007.

In the filing from October, it also said that John doe had never been married. And as you heard Jake in this interview, he told me that he was married and that he never told his wife.

[16:45:04]

So after this interview, John Doe's legal team, they filed an amended complaint saying that they were clerical errors that were made at the time that they initially filed.

TAPPER: All right. Elizabeth Wagmeister, thanks so much.

Here to discuss is CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney, Joey Jackson.

Joey, so Sean "Diddy" combs is facing criminal sex trafficking and racketeering charges. He's denied all the allegations against him. He's currently in a New York City jail awaiting trial after his bail was denied not once, but three times.

Do you think that federal prosecutors are likely listening to what John Doe has to say? Could this impact the criminal case against Combs?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: So, Jake, here's the answer -- everything is relevant. Everything is on the table. Federal investigators are going to investigate this. They will vet it and they will do their due diligence.

But they will have serious questions like, what, did you file a complaint in October wherein you sat with your lawyers and gave them specific information? What specific information? We heard it in Elizabeth's excellent reporting there.

Like for example, it happened in 2006, but you amended it several months later, right? Or a couple of months later wherein you said it was 2007.

Was this not a traumatic event? Did you not know the specific date? Did you not know the specific time? Did you not know the specific place?

Did you not know so in October that you were not married? Or were you married, as you said now?

And in terms of other information that feds are going to vet, they're going to say there was another celebrity present. Who was that celebrity? They will speak to them. They will indicate that, hey, this happened at some point and you then were fired. They will seek to speak, the investigators will, to his supervisors. And so there's a lot of information they will glean before they attempt to insert this in the criminal case.

Last point, Jake, and that's this -- even if those answers are answered positively, right, and lets be clear, civil complaint is an allegation. There are allegations that have to be proven in a court of law. It would be up to a judge to make the assessment as to whether or not this would be admissible in that case, meaning, could a jury hear it and how could it be used, whether it would be limited? Will it be excluded? That all will be to the discretion of the judge in the federal case.

TAPPER: All right. Joey Jackson, thanks so much for your expertise. We're getting some brand new reporting in on Hannah Kobayashi, the Hawaii woman declared voluntarily missing, then spotted crossing the border into Mexico. We just learned something about her case. We'll tell you more, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:51:52]

TAPPER: In our national lead, a major update in a mystery that captured the nations attention, Hannah Kobayashi from Hawaii was initially declared missing last month. Last week, police declared her voluntary missing after surveillance video showed her crossing into Mexico.

Let's get to CNN's Natasha Chen.

Natasha, what's the update?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Hannah's mother and sister have now released a statement on X via their attorney, saying they are incredibly relieved and grateful that Hannah has been found safe.

And as you mentioned, this comes a little more than a week after Los Angeles police had declared her as a voluntary missing person and to respect her privacy that she had not, as far as they were concerned, involved in any criminal activity and not the victim of a crime, as far as they could tell. And that's because they had seen footage of her crossing into Mexico on November 12th.

The family describes this whole thing as an unimaginable ordeal, made more difficult because in the course of the search for her, Hannah's father, who had flown to Los Angeles to help look for her, died by suicide, according to police.

And so, now, the family, of course, is relieved at having found Hannah and confirmed that she's okay. But of course, they have gone through so much in this journey just to find out where she is, Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Natasha Chen, thanks so much.

Also in our national lead today, Malibu, California, has been burning. The Franklin Fire, which started on Monday, forced evacuation orders for up to 18,000 residents, and at its peak, blazed through an area at the rate of five football fields every minute, demolishing at least seven structures.

CNN's Nick Watt filed this report from Malibu.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is going to catch on fire.

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Locals fought to save their own homes as this fire exploded.

MICHAEL BRUNET, HELPED FRIEND SAVE CONDO: It's chaos. It's complete chaos. And for me, it's an adrenaline rush, and I'm just in the moment, putting out as much water as I can. And you know, there's fire all around.

WATT: Over a thousand acres burned last night. The good news winds have dropped. But --

CHIEF ANTHONY MARRONE, LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: I don't think we've turned the corner at this point. If the wind changes direction, we're going to have the fire moving into new areas.

WATT: There are 1,500-plus firefighters on the ground, and relentless water drops from the air.

MAYOR DOUG STEWART, MALIBU, CALIFORNIA: All the way to the White House has been checking in on to see what they can do for us and how they can help. We owe a debt of gratitude that we will never forget.

WATT: Malibu Seafood, a famous shack by the shore, was just saved.

Was it just luck?

JOHN CHRISTENSEN, OWNER, MALIBU SEAFOOD: The wind died, so, you know, that's the driving force. And so, it moves slower. And that allows all these guys with the big trucks to get in here.

WATT: They're closed today, but dishing out coffee and free lunch for the firefighters.

I noticed you wouldn't take money from us for the coffee.

CHRISTENSEN: We can't take -- it's bad karma. The next time, we'll burn.

WATT: Folks in Malibu know to fear fire. Memories remain from the Woolsey fire of 2018, which destroyed over 1,600 structures and took three lives. Today?

SHERIFF ROBERT LUNA, LOS ANGELES COUNTY: At least to date with the information we have now, we have no reports of significant injuries or deaths. And that is a huge victory.

[16:55:00]

WATT: The venerable Dick Van Dyke is among the thousands evacuated from this starry little city. He turns 99 Friday. By then, the wind should have dropped and the danger passed, for now, at least.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATT (on camera): Now, Jake, the people who stayed to defend their homes. Remember they were doing that largely without power, without Wi-Fi, without cell service, and that inability to communicate during a fire is something the mayor of Malibu says they're going to look into before all this inevitably happens again -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Thanks to Nick Watt in Malibu.

A significant update is just coming in on the CEO murder case, and when the suspect was last in touch with his mother. That news is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

This hour, a new disturbing case of sexual misconduct, this time involving prominent real estate brokers who are brothers.