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Sean "Diddy" Combs to Arrive at Federal Court; Trump Back on Campaign Trail. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired September 17, 2024 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

WILMER VALDERRAMA, ACTOR AND AUTHOR, "AN AMERICAN STORY: EVERYONE'S INVITED": And the truth -- you know, we'll let, you know, Donald Trump's words speak for themselves. But I would - I would probably say to myself that, in this moment, the most important thing we have to do is reach out to one another. You know, the across the aisle is important, but the community base and unity is what has to be enforced. So much paraphrasing of our culture's contribution to this country, so much, you know, so many stories have been built to, you know, to basically say, hey, maybe you don't belong here, maybe you do belong here.

And I think that to me, if I can humbly say, and I think one of the biggest reasons why I was writing this book is to say, hey, you know, we're here, we're on the same team, we're in the same jersey, we should really play for the same championship. And to me the thing that I love to do, and especially with, you know, (INAUDIBLE) Latino, I know the organizations that I'm - that I'm working with, and specifically by educating all of these communities to rise up and say, hey, I need to take a seat at the table and I need to continue to shape and vote for what a country we really want to live in next. And that, to me, is the priority, is just to - to hopefully get everybody to be proud of exercising their vote and - and shaping governing on a local level and on a national level to what our needs are.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, there's 36 million Latinos that will be eligible to vote this time around.

VALDERRAMA: Yes.

SIDNER: Thank you so much for coming on the show. And, of course, the new book, it's good, you know, it really tells "An American Story."

VALDERRAMA: Thank you. Thank you.

SIDNER: Really appreciate it.

VALDERRAMA: Thank you so much. I appreciate you having me. Thank you.

SIDNER: Yes (ph).

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Any moment now, Sean ""Diddy"" Combs is expected to appear in federal court in New York after being arrested overnight. And soon the details will be coming on what charges he is really facing now.

And today Donald Trump is back on the campaign trail for the first time since an apparent second assassination attempt. And new details are also coming out this morning on the suspect.

And we are seeing the first image of the Titan submersible sitting at the bottom of the ocean floor after that horrible, catastrophic and deadly implosion last year. What officials have now learned from the Coast Guard.

I'm Kate Bolduan, with John Berman and Sara Sidner. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, breaking this morning, Sean ""Diddy"" Combs arriving any moment at a federal court in New York. He was arrested overnight at a Manhattan hotel, taken into custody by Homeland Security investigators. A federal indictment is set to be unsealed very soon.

Let's get right to CNN's Kara Scannell, outside the courthouse in New York. We've been awaiting this arrival, awaiting really new information all morning long.

Kara, what are you learning?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, John.

So "Diddy" - Sean "Diddy" Combs was arrested last night around 8:15 at the Park Hyatt Hotel in midtown. He's been in federal custody overnight, and he will appear in court today to face these charges.

Now, we are not going to see him walk through the front doors of the courtroom. He will be brought in by federal agents, likely through a garage. So, we won't see him actually walk in. But he will be in a courtroom today. Once he arrives and is processed. And then he will face those charges.

We are expecting the indictment to be unsealed this morning. We'll learn the breadth of these charges. But this whole investigation stem from the lawsuit brought by "Diddy's" former girlfriend, recording artists from Bad Boy Records that - "Diddy's" label, Cassie Ventura. She alleged that "Diddy" had sexually trafficked her, that he raped her, that he forced her to have sex with other men. And after her lawsuit was filed last year, "Diddy" settled it within one day.

He then faced several other civil lawsuits from other women, including one man who alleged much of the same, that "Diddy" had invited them to drug-fueled parties, so they were forced to have sex with "Diddy" and others.

Now, "Diddy" has denied those allegations, but we will see exactly the scope of these criminal charges once they are unsealed. I believe that was "Diddy's" lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, arriving in court. He is going to be in court with "Diddy" today once these charges are unsealed. But they are also still waiting to see the breadth of the case that "Diddy" is facing. But it does stem from these sexual harassment - Diddy's lawyer's speaking.

BERMAN: Hang on, Kara. This is - this is the lawyer. Let's listen.

MARC AGNIFILO, ATTORNEY: Details giving them to me, I'll - I'm share them with the press and - and (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you speak with Mr. Combs? And -

AGNIFILO: I speak to him all the time. Yes. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's his reaction here (INAUDIBLE)?

AGNIFILO: We - we knew this was coming. I mean he - he moved to New York, as I think some of you guys know. We brought him to New York about two weeks ago because we knew this day was gong to come. And it's here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did he expect it to occur -

AGNIFILO: He - he -

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Happen last night? Was that planned?

AGNIFILO: We - we - no, no, it's not planned. Certainly it's not planned by us. I mean he came here to - to surrender at a time agreeable to the U.S. attorney's office and then they - they arrested him last night.

I spent - I spent the evening with him. I was with I'm till about 1:00. His spirits are good. He's confident. He is dealing with this head-on, the way he's dealt with every challenge in his life.

[09:05:03]

And he's - he's not guilty. He's innocent of these charges.

We know - we know what the charges are going to be without seeing the indictment. It's going to be racketeering. It's going to be sex trafficking. It's going to be things along those lines. This is what we've been expecting since the searches in March. He - he - to his great credit, he voluntarily came to New York. Not a lot of defendants do that. He came to New York to basically engage the court system and start the case. And it'll start today.

And he's going to plead not guilty, obviously. He's going to fight this with all of his energy and all of his might and the full confidence of his lawyers. And I expect a long battle with a good result for Mr. Combs.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think he'll be released?

AGNIFILO: So, if - if you - I'm going to fight like hell to get him released, and he should be released. With all that he's done, and coming here voluntarily. And, guys, I'm going to cut it short because I have to go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. We got it.

AGNIFILO: All right? So, thank you all very much. And I'll keep you all posted.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you spoken to Combs this morning?

AGNIFILO: Not this morning. I'm going to see him now. I was with him till 1:00. So -

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is he in court already?

AGNIFILO: I don't know. That's one of the things I'm going to go see.

But I'm going to run, you guys.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

AGNIFILO: Thank you. Thanks a lot. All right, fellas. Bye, everybody.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you (INAUDIBLE) afterwards, sir?

AGNIFILO: Yes, yes, I'll be around. I'll be around.

BERMAN: All right, that is attorney Marc Agnifilo, happening right behind our Kara Scannell right here.

And we learned a number of new things. Number one, "Diddy's" going to plead not guilty. Number two, they expect the charges to be racketeering and sex trafficking. And three, as you've been reporting all morning long, he's leaning into the fact that "Diddy" came voluntarily to New York, he claims a few years ago, because they - a few weeks ago, I should say, because they believed this was about to happen, Kara.

SCANNELL: Right, John. That's right. I mean this investigation really entered a new stage last spring when "Diddy's" homes were searched by Homeland Security investigators. Those homes in Los Angeles and in Miami. They seize his electronic devices. And a lot of the women in their civil lawsuits had alleged that they were filmed doing these sex acts. So, that is all evidence that the prosecution has been looking for. And it is possible that they have recovered some of that.

But we will learn more details of that once its indictment is unsealed. And as you said, "Diddy's" attorney, Marc Agnifilo, saying that he expects this to be racketeering and sex trafficking. And he also said that he is going to try to get "Diddy" released today. That is the one question that is unknown at this point of whether prosecutors are going to seek to detain him. Other individuals charged with sex trafficking have been detained. The big question is, will "Diddy" walk out these doors behind me later today?

John. BERMAN: Yes, Agnifilo said he's going to fight like hell to get "Diddy" released this morning.

Kara Scannell, great reporting. Thank you very much.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, joining me now to continue the discussion, CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Joey Jackson.

So good to see you.

We just heard, as John was reporting there, and what we saw on the air, Sean "Diddy" Combs' lawyer talking about what he expects. And so he said himself, we expect the charges to be racketeering, sex trafficking, along those lines. Why?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes.

I think the answer, Sara, good to be with you, good morning, is because what we've seen in the lawsuits, OK.

SIDNER: Right.

JACKSON: So, taking it back -

SIDNER: The civil suits?

JACKSON: Yes. These are civil suits, not criminal in nature, but the allegations have centered around misdeeds concerning commercial sexual activities, concerning issues relating to flying in people for illicit purposes, relating to various drugs and various parties and him doing these things. As a result of that, you have the civil lawsuit so you can put it together to surmise that it's going to be about the sex trafficking and racketeering.

Now, what is that? You're running a criminal enterprise for profit. That's racketeering. The sexual issues in terms of the human trafficking, you're - you're really transporting them -

SIDNER: Taking someone across state lines for -

JACKSON: Exactly, Sara. So, that's - that's why.

And I'll tell you what the concern is briefly as a defense attorney. The concern is a couple of things. Number one, we know they raided his home in California.

SIDNER: Right.

JACKSON: They rated his home in Miami. And what do you get from that? Potentially various videos and other evidence.

But I'm also concerned about the lawsuits. Now, they're civil, not criminal, but these are witnesses who are motivated. Motivated witnesses to come forward to give testimony. So, I'm looking to determine what the indictment says as to that and what prosecutors have done in following that roadmap to lead to this indictment. The road map being all of the civil lawsuit, almost about ten of them or so.

SIDNER: We did hear also from his attorney. He says his client is innocent and he will plead not guilty. And that's not a surprise.

JACKSON: No. So, it's not a surprise at all.

So, what happens is, is that, when you appear in court, it's about notice. It's about, hey, listen, this is what you're being charged with. Have you had an opportunity - it will be unsealed, right? Now, just very briefly, Sara, this is an indictment. Remember, an indictment is merely an accusation. A grand jury consisting of about 23 people convenes. A majority, a simple majority, 12, has to say two things. One, there's reasonable cause to believe a crime was committed, and, two, the subject of the investigation, the indictment, committed it. That would be, right, Sean Combs.

SIDNER: Right.

JACKSON: So, as a result of that, it's not proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. It's not unanimous. So, that's what they're looking at. So, we'll see what they considered in terms of charges, who appeared before the grand jury, the nature, the quality and substance of the evidence.

[09:10:07]

SIDNER: Speaking of the evidence, CNN obtained a video that showed Sean "Diddy" Combs dragging one of his girlfriends, at the time, who has also filed a civil suit, those sorts of things, do you expect those to be part of the evidence here? They certainly will be - and this is that video. It's extremely disturbing, so we should warn you about that. Those sorts of pieces of evidence will certainly be used in his civil cases. Do you expect that those also will be picked up here?

JACKSON: So, they could. And here's what I mean by that. When I say "could," Sara, it's always a determination made by a judge, right?

SIDNER: Right.

JACKSON: And so because of the allegations here, what happens in many cases, we've seen it, is you have these things called prior bad acts. And what prior bad acts can go to show, not because you did it then, you'll do it now, it goes to show motive, it goes to show intent, it goes to show opportunity, various thing. So, it may be admissible for that purpose, even if it's not specifically charged, meaning that particular crime. And there could be other things. We don't know exactly what they found on the devices. We'll certainly know.

And I also expect, Sara, it will be a speaking indictment. And what that means is that it'll be -

SIDNER: They're read it out. JACKSON: Have a narrative, yes, with regard to exactly what the conditions and charges and what he's been doing. So, stay tuned. It's going to be a lot.

SIDNER: It means that not only "Diddy" will hear all of this, but the public will find out about what is in this indictment very clearly as well.

JACKSON: Absolutely.

SIDNER: Thank you so much, Joey Jackson.

JACKSON: Always.

SIDNER: It's always a pleasure to have you.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: New bodycam footage of the man accused of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump, and the Trump campaign now quickly trying to blame Kamala Harris for all of this.

Plus, another college in Springfield, Ohio, forced to go virtual, a community festival canceled. The safe concerns all sparked by that lie about immigrants eating pets, also rhetoric still being pushed by Donald Trump and J.D. Vance.

And big changes are coming to Instagram, moving to force teenager's accounts to be private in an effort to protect them and answer to the huge amount of criticism that the platform has faced.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:16:41]

BOLDUAN: Donald Trump heads back out on the campaign trail today for the first time since Sunday's apparent assassination attempt against him. And he's going to Michigan with his running mate, J.D. Vance, obviously a critical battleground state. Even with their own recent history being called out for dangerous rhetoric, they say it is the heated rhetoric of President Biden, Kamala Harris and Democrats that is most dangerous.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, there's a lot of rhetoric going on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.

TRUMP: A lot of people think that the Democrats, when they talk about threat to democracy and all of this. And it seems that both of these people were radical lefts.

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No one has tried to kill Kamala Harris in the last couple of months and two people now have tried to kill Donald Trump in the last couple of months. I'd say that's pretty strong evidence that the left needs to tone down the rhetoric.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Overnight, Donald Trump's message on social media to supporters, fight, fight, fight.

CNN's Alayna Treene back with us now for much more on this.

They're headed to Michigan. What is the message that - that you expect to hear from them in Michigan today?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, that post you have up from Donald Trump on X saying fight, fight, fight, of course, the - what he had said on stage during his first assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. I'd also note that that linked to a fundraising page. So, keep that in mind. They are raising money off of some of this.

But look, I think a lot of people are eager to hear from Donald Trump tonight, but also to see him. This is the first time people are going to physically see him on stage addressing his supporters. It is a town hall. It's being moderated by Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, of course, his former press secretary. But I think he'll get a lot of questions from the crowd on this and I think you will hear Donald Trump - at least I'm told you'll hear from Donald Trump from his advisers, about what had transpired on Sunday.

Now, yesterday, you played some of this, but he did participate in an X Spaces event where he kind of walked through and recounted his experience during this. I want you to take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Secret Service did an excellent job. And they have the man behind bars. And hopefully he's going to be there for a long time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, Kate, what you heard there about him saying Secret Service did an excellent job. I can tell you, from my conversations with Donald Trump's senior adviser, that they are happier - I don't know if that's the right word - but they are - they are feeling better about the way that Secret Service had handled this event in Florida on Sunday, then what had happened in July with Butler.

But I think the big picture here is that there's a lot of finger pointing at what happened and there's definitely a key difference in their rhetoric that we're hearing from both Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, immediately placing the blame on Democrats here. You'll hear some of that on the campaign trail this week as well.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Alayna Treene, thank you so much for your reporting. John.

BERMAN: I think Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is speaking about all this right now. Let's listen in.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): Accountable. We are going to hear from some folks that will be involved in this, starting with our attorney general, Ashley Moody.

ASHLEY MOODY, FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL: Thank you, Governor. Thank you for all who are joining us today. I'm Ashley Moody. I'm the attorney general of the great state of Florida. Really proud, as always, to stand with a leader like Governor DeSantis, who always appears to meet the moment, whatever that may be, whatever challenge may be upon us.

[09:20:10]

And he's certainly not one to sit on his hands. And today is another demonstration of that incredible leadership characteristic.

You know, I think America, right now, is - and Florida, citizens, are very hungry for leadership -

BERMAN: Going to do this. We will let you know if there's any news here. But there have been calls for Florida to launch its own investigation into what happened there, along with whatever federal investigation is going on. But you just heard Alayna Treene, by the way, say that Donald Trump and people around him seem to be happy right now, or happier, with how the Secret Service performed in this instance.

With me now, CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst, John Miller.

John, nice to see you this morning.

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Good morning.

BERMAN: So, one of the things that was raised yesterday by one of the sheriffs involved and just this notion out there that they are still investigating the idea that this could have been some kind of a conspiracy, that someone else may have been involved. It's natural to investigate that. Where do things stand right now?

MILLER: So, that was Will Snyder, the Martin County sheriff. A very sharp law man. And it's an important question. If you look at the history of assassins, you know, there's always a conspiracy theory. There is usually not a conspiracy with hidden, powerful hands in foreign countries. But, you know, we also have to look at recent history and put puzzle pieces together. There is the Iranian threat against Donald Trump. An individual was arrested a couple of weeks ago in the United States for trying to recruit a hit team.

You also have to look at the individual who stabbed Salman Rushdie, who was the subject of an order by the Iranian ayatollah years ago to be killed. You have to look at the person that, when I was in the NYPD, our detectives and the FBI arrested with an AK-47 and a pile of money who was targeting a Russian - an Iranian dissident in Brooklyn.

So, you've got to peel back the layers of this particular suspect and say, he's been out there living out loud online. Was he a recruitment opportunity for someone who told him, you know, you can do something big? It's possible, but it's unlikely. If you go by the stats, most of these people, and if you look at his - his developing profile, have it in their head that I'm going to do this big thing and I'm going to get notoriety and I'm going to change the world and have issues. But it's still, you've got to go through the motions and see who he's even talking to.

BERMAN: How does it complicate things if, as it appears to be in this case, not particularly cogent are linear in his thinking, at least in the public profile that we've seen?

MILLER: Well, it - it is not uncommon in these cases. You know, if you even go back to, I hate to say this, it's an indicator of the world we live in, the last assassination attempt, you know, two months ago.

BERMAN: Right.

MILLER: And you go back through his online history and postings. A lot of these people are all over the map. And it plays into defense. I mean one of the things that will come up in this case is a mental health evaluation. It's an avenue the defense will pursue. But when you look at the planning that goes into these things, finding that spot, having that weapon, the obliterated serial number, the bulletproof protection that he had built around where he was hiding, all of this alleged, of course, it shows he understood right from wrong, and he was conscious of guilt and what he was doing.

BERMAN: And one of the things we did learn yesterday was the cell phone data placing him in that area for 12 hours. What does that tell us?

MILLER: So, it gives us big questions, one of which is relevant to the Secret Service controversy, which is, did he wait for the cover of darkness in the wee hours of the morning, you know, penetrate that shrubbery and find, you know, his reconnaissance, find his spot, set up. And on the idea that I don't want anybody in daylight seeing me going through these bushes, so I'm just going to lie here.

The other alternative is that he may have set up their, placed his GoPro camera there, and then, you know, livestreamed that to his phone while he ate and slept in the car across the street. There's a million commercial businesses on the other side of Summit, where he could have been. Post office, gas station, Burger King, 7-Eleven, large empty parking lot where he could have been in a much more comfortable place waiting for the time when he was going to go in.

BERMAN: Raises even more questions.

John Miller, thanks so much. Great to see you.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, ahead, the Biden administration is touting a drop in migrants trying to cross the southern border as it remains a top concern for voters.

And for the first time we're seeing images of that Titan submersible on the ocean floor after it imploded. The chilling testimony on the warnings about the dangers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: This morning, there is increased security for schools in Springfield, Ohio. The city where former President Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance, have falsely claimed that Haitian immigrants are eating family pets.

Beginning this morning, state troopers have had to do a sweep at all 17 schools in the district after repeated bomb threats there. The mayor says that's impacted 6,000 to 7,000 children.

[09:30:01]

The threats have also targeted local colleges. In all the city has received 33 threats all tied to the false pet eating claims.