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Scottie Scheffler Arrested; Diddy Abuse Allegations; Bodies Of Hostages Recovered; Former Biden Staffer Resigns Over Israel-Gaza War; Paul Pelosi's Attacker Sentenced. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired May 17, 2024 - 14:00   ET

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

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JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: New exclusive reporting. CNN has obtained footage appearing to backup abuse allegations made against music mogul Sean Diddy Combs. You will see it for yourself, just ahead.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And the world's top golfer winding up in jail hours before he tees off in a major tournament. What we're learning about Scottie Scheffler's arrest and charges ahead, and a devastating discovery inside a Hamas tunnel. Israel says its forces found the bodies of three hostages. We're following all these major stories and more coming up on CNN News Central.

DEAN: We begin this afternoon with an arrest involving a golfer, but not just any golfer; it's the world's best, Scottie Scheffler. He was arrested early this morning on his way to play in the PGA Championship. It's a major tournament he hopes to win just weeks after his victory at the Masters. Scheffler reportedly tried to drive around a fatal crash scene near the golf course and kept driving when an officer says he tried to stop him. ESPN's Jeff Darlington shot this video of the arrest.

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UNKNOWN: Right now he's going to jail.

UNKNOWN: Okay.

UNKNOWN: Okay. He's going to jail and it ain't nothing you can do about it. Period.

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KEILAR: All right. Scheffler, for his part, called all of this a quote, big misunderstanding. He though, and you see him there in this jailhouse uniform, he is still charged with four counts, including felony assault on a police officer who was reportedly injured after being dragged by Scheffler's car for several feet. Let's go now to CNN correspondent Patrick Snell and CNN chief law enforcement analyst, John Miller. I want to start with Patrick Snell, who is at the PGA championship there in Louisville, Kentucky. Patrick, we should also mention just hours after this arrest, Scheffler returned to the course to play his second round, but this arrest is raising a lot of eyebrows because of how mild-mannered Scheffler is known to be.

PATRICK SNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, you're absolutely right. Welcome to Louisville here in Kentucky. The world's top ranked golfer, Scotty Scheffler, as clean cut as they come. And he is very passionate as well about his courses, his Christian values as well. And he says that a Christian faith helps shape the person he is. And golf at times always takes a backseat to that. But, you know, he's such a dominant force in the game right now. He's trying to win his third consecutive tournament, his fifth out of the last six starts. He's just won the Masters tournament for the second time.

And boy, would he fancy his chances of a third career major, right here this week. And off the golf course as well life couldn't be sweeter as well. He's just become a dad for the first time. He and wife Meredith welcoming their baby son, Bennett, into the world. So wonderful moment for him just a few days ago, but nothing could have prepared him for what transpired and what played out early on, on this day, on this Friday, as he headed to the course for his second round. Absolutely surreal scenes. The mugshot we saw of him as well. And I do want to say the statement that he picked up on, in it, he said he never intended to disregard any of the instructions as well. And I want to get to a PGA of America statement as well that we've just had with literally within the last few minutes.

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PGA of America paying tribute to the loss of life of John Mills, the tragic loss of life, the incident and the individual who passed away tragically in the prior, in the build-up to the Scotty Scheffler incident. As regards the Scheffler incident, PGA of America saying it's fully cooperating as local authorities review what took place. Back to you.

DEAN: And let's turn to John Miller now. John, we're told police are reviewing that body camera footage of the incident. It's likely going to shed some more light on whether or not this was a misunderstanding as Scheffler has described it. What kind of role can it play?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT & INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, it can play a very decisive role, especially when you have a he said, he said scenario here. You know, according to Scheffler's attorney, he was directed to go that way. And a second officer stopped him. And that's what he calls a miscommunication. The story goes south where the officer says he was holding on to the car and Scheffler and he lurched forward and dragged the officer. What one witness described is about 30 feet before the officer fell to the ground, causing these injuries of abrasions and swelling and so on. The body camera will tell us what the officer's instructions were, what Scheffler said in return. The body cameras of other officers. And look at all those police cars in the background, the dashboard cameras running from those cars. There are pole cameras that are up in that area on the high ground. So between all of those points of view, we should get a clear, literally a clear picture of what occurred and maybe some of the sound that goes with it.

KEILAR: I wonder, John, what questions you have at this point, because I I wonder, you know, did one of these officers know if this was a golfer? Trying to enter the tournament? Did the other officer realize that? I mean, what what kind of questions do you have?

MILLER: Well, Scheffler's attorney said he was driving a marked player's car that, you know, has the name of the tournament on it and that he had credentials in the in the window that were visible and that, you know, all of that should have made it plain who he was, where he was going. But think of the way these scenarios actually occur in real life. You know, you come up upon the accident scene. This is not the normal traffic detail of police officers who are always there and directing people in to the golf course and managing traffic. This is the team that's investigating the fatal accident involving a bus and another vehicle. And, you know, one officer says, OK, well go around this way, according to Scheffler, and another officer says no. And at that point, does he say, I'm just going to ignore this guy because the other guy said it was OK and accelerates the car? And that's where the moment of truth is going to be looking at what happened right there, right then.

KEILAR: Yeah, lots of questions here. John Miller, Patrick Snell, thank you so much to both of you. Obviously, we're hoping to get more information about this. And let's turn now to that disturbing video. Very disturbing of Sean Diddy Combs, where he is appearing to shove, kick multiple times and then drag his then girlfriend, Cassie. The graphic video, which was exclusively obtained by CNN, seems to support at least some of her claims about being physically abused, something that Diddy denies. The surveillance video was recorded inside of a hotel back in 2016.

DEAN: And we do want to warn everyone before we play this video for you. It is violent. It is very hard to watch. CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister joins us with more from her exclusive reporting. Elizabeth, walk us through this disturbing video.

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it is very disturbing footage to watch. Now, Cassie and Diddy were in a long-term relationship over the course of a decade. Many people may know her from her hit song Call Me and You from 2006. She was the first woman to come out with a lawsuit against Diddy. And that is the first that started this domino effect. Now, that lawsuit was quickly settled within one day. But in that lawsuit, she references an incident that happened in a Los Angeles hotel in 2016. We have obtained footage from that. Let's take a look.

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WAGMEISTER (voiceover): New surveillance footage obtained exclusively by CNN appears to corroborate some of the allegations of abuse. Against music mogul, Sean Diddy Combs. The video, captured on multiple cameras, shows Combs assaulting his then-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, in a hallway at a Los Angeles hotel in March 2016. A lawsuit filed by Ventura in November last year and settled the next day referenced actions that seem to match those seen in this video. There is no audio. According to the complaint, Combs became extremely intoxicated and punched Ms. Ventura in the face, giving her a black eye. Which, according to the lawsuit, prompted Ventura to try and leave the hotel room. The surveillance video obtained by CNN begins as she enters the hallway.

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The complaint says as she exited, Mr. Combs awoke and began screaming at Ms. Ventura. He followed her into the hallway of the hotel while yelling at her. The complaint goes on to say he grabbed her and then took glass vases in the hallway and threw them at her. In the surveillance video, Combs can be seen grabbing Ventura and throwing her to the ground. As Ventura lies on the ground, Combs then kicks her twice and attempts to drag her on the floor back to the hotel room. Ventura is seen picking up a hotel phone. Combs seems to walk back to the hotel room, then returns and appears to shove her in a corner. Moments later, he can be seen throwing an object in her direction. According to Ventura's now settled lawsuit, the pair began dating several years after they met in 2005.

They parted ways in 2019. Combs' attorney said the decision to settle was in no way an admission of wrongdoing. Ventura declined to comment on the video, but her attorney told CNN the gut-wrenching video has only further confirmed the disturbing and predatory behavior of Mr. Combs. Words cannot express the courage and fortitude that Ms. Ventura has shown in coming forward, to bring this to light. The video hasn't been seen publicly before, and comes on the heels of a series of civil lawsuits alleging Combs' involvement in sex trafficking and sexual abuse. Allegations Combs has repeatedly denied. In a December 2023 statement, Combs responded to the claims in all the lawsuits, saying, sickening allegations have been made against me by individuals looking for a quick payday. Let me be absolutely clear. I did not do any of the awful things being alleged.

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WAGMEISTER: Now, that statement from Diddy was in reference to many of the allegations. Since him and Cassie have reached a settlement, neither of them are able to comment on this. I have reached out to Diddy's team, and we have yet to hear back on this video.

DEAN: All right, Elizabeth Wagmeister, thanks so much for that exclusive reporting. Still to come, Israel says it has recovered the bodies of three hostages killed by Hamas at the Nova Music Festival on October 7th. We are following the latest on that. Plus, a Capitol Hill hearing melts down after lawmakers start hurling insults at each other.

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DEAN: We are following breaking news. Israel. Israel is saying it has recovered the bodies of three hostages left in a tunnel in Gaza. The Israeli military saying Hamas terrorists killed them after they escaped from the Nova Music Festival on October 7th.

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REAR ADMIRAL DANIEL HAGARI, IDF SPOKESPERSON: Their bodies were taken into Gaza. They were celebrating life in the Nova Music Festival, and they were murdered by Hamas.

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DEAN: CNN International diplomatic editor Nic Robertson has been following this story for us. And Nick, this is heartbreaking for so many of these families. What more can you tell us?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, the idea said this was an operation that involved both them, the IDF and Shin Bet, the intelligence service. It was an intelligence led operation. Bodies were recovered from a tunnel. The operation took place last night, but just terrible for the families of these three people because for so long they thought, they've hoped that their loved ones were alive. Worried every moment that they were in terrible conditions, that they were being tortured, that they weren't getting enough food, that they all the horrible things that the hostages have been released have talked about. And now to find out that they'd actually escaped the music festival, they realized that danger was coming, gotten into vehicles and managed to get about 10 or 15 minutes drive away to Miffl Sim, which is a kibbutz. A short distance away.

We drove past that kibbutz just a couple of days after the attack. It was absolute chaos there. There were cars strewn on the road all shot up. Baby strollers at the side of vehicle's trunks open on the vehicles. And this is what the IDF is saying. That rather than them actually being taken alive, they were killed when they thought that they had reached safety in this kibbutz. And we know from the from a relative who was on the phone with one of those young people, he said he was on the phone with her for about an hour and a half talking to her. And he could hear the gunfire. So the family knew the desperate nature of the situation she was in, but just kept hoping and hoping that she was alive. So this is a really hard day for those families now to have this terrible news. But what we're hearing from the other hostage families is a very clear message that they want their loved ones brought back. They want a deal done. The hostages released dead or alive and to come home.

DEAN: Nic Robertson for us. Thank you so much for that reporting. Brianna.

KEILAR: All right. Here with us now is Lily Greenberg-Call. She is a former staffer in the Biden administration who resigned from her job over the war that Israel is waging in Gaza against Hamas.

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She is a former staffer in the Biden administration who resigned her job from her job over the war that Israel is waging in Gaza against Hamas. She is the first known Jewish appointee to publicly do so. And Lily, thank you so much for being with us today. First, before I talk to you about your decision, here we have this news about the bodies of these three hostages being found. What is your reaction as we've learned this?

LILY GREENBERG CALL, FORMER BIDEN ADMINISTRATION STAFFER: Yeah, I mean, I'm devastated and I'm horrified. And I'm you know, it's tragic that they won't be reunited with their families, that they won't be able to sit at Shabbat tables that have been missing them for months. But I think it's very clear that the only way to bring back living hostages is a ceasefire deal. And that's what families of the hostages have been asking for months.

KEILAR: Tell us Lily about your decision. How long had you been thinking about this and how did you come to this?

GREENBERG CALL: Well, it's been a very challenging personal decision. Because of my community, because of how I was raised. I think from the beginning, I've been very disappointed with the administration and how, you know, the rhetoric coming from the president, especially around Jewish safety and how Israel makes Jews safe and Israel wouldn't be- Jews wouldn't be safe without the state of Israel. But the last few weeks in particular, the you know, the decision to continue sending weapons and money to Israel, even after they've pressing ahead with an invasion of Rafah, that was the last straw for me.

KEILAR: The administration we had learned was suspending shipments of 500 and 2000 pound bombs. What did you think about that?

GREENBERG CALL: I thought it's a step in the right direction. I think it would be a sign that the president is listening to the majority of Americans who want a ceasefire. But after that, they still sent a billion dollars in arms. And I think until that stops, until American bombs stop killing innocent people in Gaza, then the president hasn't done enough.

KEILAR: Talking to Jews who are supportive of Israel, who are supportive of the war, certainly very sensitive to criticism of Israel as it pursues this war after October 7th. They've been very sensitive, many of the ones that I've spoken to, when they see Jewish students among protesters or when they see, no doubt, someone like you, a Jew who is resigning from the administration. What do you say to that?

GREENBERG CALL: I tell them that I am living our Jewish values, all the values I learned from my community, Tikkun Olam, which means repairing the world. There's this idea in Judaism called the B'Tselem Elohim. It means everyone's made in the image of God. Those values informed this decision. That's how I know this is the right thing, that it's the least Jewish thing in the world to make people refugees, to wipe out entire families and to make parents choose which kid gets to eat today. So..

KEILAR: Tell us about how you were grappling with this. What were the things that were forefront in your mind as you were thinking about making what is a huge decision?

GREENBERG CALL: Yeah, I mean, every day since October 7th, we have been getting messaging from the president, the most powerful person in the world, that the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza is necessary to keep Jews safe. And once I decided that because of that, which I think is wrong, I could no longer work for him, I thought to myself, I have a chance to undermine that message and to cut through it. And I'm a really good messenger to do that, right? So you know, as long as, again, American bombs are killing innocent people in Gaza, I think everyone has to take a stand.

KEILAR: You use the word genocide. I will point out Israel is adamant that there is not a genocide. You are well aware of that. Should Israel exist as it does? Should there be an Israeli state? I mean, what do you think the future is going forward then for a place that is safe for Jewish people?

GREENBERG CALL: I mean, I think Israel as it exists right now doesn't keep Jewish people safe. Three hostages were just killed, right? I think every person, Israeli, Jewish, Palestinian, has the right to self-determination, to freedom, to dignity. And any system that suppresses one group for another is not safe. So whatever the long- term solution is here, it has to include Israelis and Palestinians. And they both have to be at the table to build a thriving future for themselves.

KEILAR: Should there be an Israeli state? Do you just think that there should be different leadership? I mean, what do you envision?

GREENBERG CALL: Ultimately, I don't know if it's my job to decide that, right? I'm an American Jew. I think that should be up to people on the ground. But I do know that what's happening with American tax dollars and American weapons is wrong, and it doesn't keep my community safe.

KEILAR: Lilly Greenberg Call, thank you so much for being with us. We really appreciate it. Thank you. Decorum, there was not. Thank you. lawmakers throwing so many insults during a hearing. This whole scene looked more like an episode out of Jerry Springer, I don't know, maybe more like Real Housewives of Capitol Hill, I don't know, what our elected officials are saying about it today when we come back.

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KEILAR: We are following breaking news. The man convicted of attacking Paul Pelosi, the husband of congresswoman Nancy Pelosi in October of 2022, the former speaker, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison. CNN's Veronica Miracle is following all of this from San Francisco.