Return to Transcripts main page
CNN News Central
Sean Diddy Combs Challenging Removal of His Personal Notes After Cell Searched; Trump to Attend SpaceX Test Flight Launch with CEO Elon Musk; Artist, Dealers Hope Big-Ticket Pieces Entice More Buyers. Aired 3:30-4p ET
Aired November 19, 2024 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:30:00]
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Right now, music mogul Sean Diddy Combs is back in court. His lawyers are accusing federal prosecutors of outrageous conduct after his personal notes were taken from his jail cell following a search. But prosecutors say the notes appear to show Diddy's alleged efforts to influence witnesses from behind bars ahead of his trial.
[15:35:00]
CNN Entertainment correspondent Elizabeth Wagmeister joins us now. Elizabeth, what's the latest on this?
ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: So, Boris, at the end of the day, this is all about Combs wanting to be released from jail as he awaits his criminal trial, which is set for the spring of next year. He has been denied bail twice. There is a third bail hearing that is set for this Friday. That was set long before this all came about.
But here's what's going on. It seems that every day we have a new filing from one of the sides. And late last week, prosecutors in a new filing, they revealed allegations where they say that Combs has been attempting to tamper with witnesses. They allege that he has paid at least eight other inmates to use their phone accounts. They say that he is instructing his family to use social media to perhaps taint the jury.
But in that filing, Combs' defense is now saying that they learned that the government has obtained Combs' personal notes from inside his jail cell. That is why there is now a hearing that was scheduled for today. It is getting underway right now, Boris.
And Combs' defense wants to know who authorized this search, why they have these notes. They say that it is a violation of his constitutional rights. So we will see just in moments what the judge rules as it pertains to the notes.
But, again, Friday is when we have a larger hearing, which is about whether or not he will be denied bail.
SANCHEZ: And, Elizabeth, there's this anonymous celebrity who's filing a lawsuit claiming that he's being exonerated by an attorney representing Combs' accusers.
WAGMEISTER: Yes. So, as I said, there is something new with this case every day, Boris. And one of the attorneys who is representing over 100 victims, or alleged victims, rather, who are accusing Combs, he has said that he does not believe that Combs has acted alone.
He says that there are celebrities, that there are A-listers who were either witnesses or complicit or actually participated in this alleged sexual abuse with Combs. Well, just yesterday, an anonymous John Doe, a male celebrity, the only thing we know about this celebrity is that they reside in Los Angeles, they are now suing that attorney claiming that they are being extorted. They say that there is absolutely no merit to any of the claims, that they were not involved with any of the sweeping allegations against Combs.
I want to read you part of what was from that complaint. You see it right here, Boris. They call these baseless accusations, and they say there is no factual basis for such claims.
Now, I reached out to the attorney who they are going against, and he says he denies this all, and the truth will come out.
SANCHEZ: Elizabeth Wagmeister, thank you so much for that reporting.
Still ahead, they are taking their friendship to new heights. President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk both attending today's SpaceX test flight launch in Texas. What to expect from today's launch of the most powerful rocket ever built?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: In just a few hours, President-elect Donald Trump will see an out-of-this-world event firsthand. He's going to be in Texas along with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk for the launch of the most powerful rocket ever built. The Starship on its sixth test flight.
And as Starship heads out, its booster may offer the best show for the president-elect. It's expected to make another attempt at a spectacular feat made last month steering itself back into the mechanical arms or chopsticks of a launch tower.
Let's discuss with former NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman. He's a professor of astronautical engineering at the University of Southern California. He's also a senior advisor for SpaceX. Garrett, thank you so much for being with us.
Help us understand what's the goal of tonight's launch.
It looks like we're having some technical difficulty with Garrett Reisman's feed. We're going to try to get that fixed. And hopefully we'll be back with him after a quick commercial break. Stay with CNN NEWS CENTRAL. We're going to iron out these kinks and hope we don't have another failure to launch.
Actually, just kidding. He's there, Garrett Reisman. Garrett, how are you doing, man? GARRETT REISMAN, FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT: Hi, Boris. We can put a man on the moon, but apparently working a Zoom call is kind of hard.
SANCHEZ: It's complicated. It's complicated, man, yes.
REISMAN: So, it is complicated. This mission, Boris, is going to be very similar to the last one. The objective is to get Starship into orbit, bring it back through the atmosphere.
But there's a couple of key differences. The first is that they're going to light up one of Starship's engines in space. And this is really important. It's something they haven't done before because they need to be able to do that to put Starship into orbit and leave it up there for a while.
So far we've been lobbing it up there, and even today we're going to lob it up there, and whether or not the engine fires, it's going to come back down. But in the future, if we want to keep it up there, we need to be able to light the engines and bring it back in a controlled fashion.
And what SpaceX wants to do is one day catch Starship just like they catch the booster.
SANCHEZ: What are the challenges with igniting that engine while in space versus closer to Earth?
REISMAN: So, these engines, these Raptor engines, are what we call stage combustion engine.
[15:45:00]
They're very similar to the engines that we had on the space shuttle, although they work with different propellants.
And they're complicated engines. They're finicky little beasts, and it's not so easy to light them up and shut them down and light them up again.
And on the space shuttle, we used a hypergol engine, an orbital maneuvering system engine, which is a much more simple design. It's two liquids that once they touch, they automatically combust, so it's a lot more robust. So this is tricky, what SpaceX is doing, but it's very important for everything they want to do from now on. So I'll be watching that engine light very carefully.
SANCHEZ: Seemingly almost as tricky as making a Zoom call work without any issues.
REISMAN: It's not to have that home.
SANCHEZ: Garrett, as a senior advisor for SpaceX, what do you make of the cozy relationship between President-elect Trump and Elon Musk? I'm not sure that history has seen that kind of a relationship between a president and the richest person on the planet and, you know, this space pioneering tycoon type before. REISMAN: Yes, it is certainly unique. And I think this is the advantage that Elon was clearly hoping to obtain when he went all in supporting the candidacy for Donald Trump. He saw a lot of upside and not a lot of downside, because if Kamala Harris would have won, then I think he would have preserved the status quo.
So he went all in hoping for this return, and he's now hoping, it looks like, to reap the rewards.
SANCHEZ: Garrett Reisman, we'll leave the conversation there. Appreciate having you and look forward to watching this later tonight.
REISMAN: OK, Boris, nice to talk to you.
SANCHEZ: Thanks so much.
Hundreds of pieces of art are hitting the auction block this week, including this infamous duct tape banana. And they could in total fetch up to a billion dollars, possibly because of Donald Trump. We'll explain in just moments.
[15:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: That viral artwork of a banana duct taped to a wall could fetch up to $1.5 million at auction this week. I know, how is that possible? But it's just one of the big-ticket pieces that art dealers hope will boost auction season. And those sales could offer a major test about how the wealthy are feeling about the economy.
CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich joins me now. Vanessa, I could get that for 29 cents. Nonetheless, let's talk art here. Artists and art dealers are hoping to rebound from last year. And apparently, President-elect Trump's election win could actually offer the bounce the industry needs.
VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, about $1 billion worth of artwork are hitting the auctions this week. And a lot of these companies, Sotheby's, Christie's, well-known, are hoping that there are some big sales. And they're thinking that maybe Trump's reelection actually could help after a really lackluster 2023 when sales of high-end art dropped by 27 percent. And the average amount on this high-end art dropped by 32 percent year over year.
So this year's auctions really could test how the wealthy are feeling about the economy. Analysts say that a lot of the proposals and policies that Trump had in place in his first term benefited the wealthy, made the rich richer.
Also, lower interest rates right now will help with financing for this very expensive art. And tax breaks ultimately for the wealthy mean they have more disposable income to spend.
Some of the art coming to the auctions, as you mentioned, called The Comedian. We refer to it as the duct tape banana, could fetch up to $1.5 million. You don't actually get the banana and the duct tape. You just get the instructions about how to install it.
Also coming to the market, Empire of Light by Rene Magritte is estimated to sell for $95 million. That would be a record for the artist.
Also, Andy Warhol's Skyscraper. This is actually a work of art that Donald Trump commissioned, but then didn't end up liking. So that's expected to go -- you see it right there -- for $500,000 to $600,000. But if someone wants to invest in the drama of it all, maybe it'll go for a little bit more.
La Grande Dame, it's called The Cat Woman. That sold for $11.4 million. You see it right there. More than twice what people had estimated. So if last night's auction was a foreshadowing of what's to come, there's some good news for the art world.
Also, Monet's Water Lilies painting, one of his famous Water Lilies painting, fetching $65.5 million. About $5.5 million more than expected. So the auctions are already off to a good start.
Of course, we cannot predict the economy and what is to come. But seems like so far, Brianna, people are feeling pretty good about spending their cash -- Brianna.
KEILAR: Really interesting stuff. Vanessa Yurkovich, thank you for that.
Move over, Moo Deng. A new pygmy hippo is taking social media by storm. More on Haggis, the new headliner at a zoo in Scotland, next.
[15:55:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: Animal lovers have a new pick for cutest pygmy hippo on the planet. Meet Haggis, the new arrival at the Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland. Now, her name is as Scottish as it gets. Haggis, of course, being that traditional Scottish dish made from the innards of a sheep or a cow, put into a sheep's stomach, boiled. Anyways, we digress here. It's cute, though.
SANCHEZ: Tasty lunch option. She is already, Haggis, a social media star. Following in the footsteps of Thailand's Moo Deng, seen here, this apparently set off a competition and some controversy, with Edinburgh shading Thailand's pygmy superstar in its announcement, saying, Moo who? Who Deng? After a bit of backlash, the zoo apologized, saying, quote, We were wrong to pit Haggis and Moo Deng against each other. There is space in this world for two beautiful pygmy hippo divas, and we should celebrate them all.
KEILAR: Space in the world. Space in our heart.
[16:00:00]
SANCHEZ: In our boiled innards of whatever Haggis is made of.
KEILAR: Is there enough space in our stomach for all of that organ meat delicacy?
SANCHEZ: Haggis is huge.
KEILAR: I don't know.
SANCHEZ: I would like to see her handle running water and attack her zookeeper the way that Moo Deng does.
KEILAR: Yes.
SANCHEZ: She's the original, and my favorite, in my personal record book --
KEILAR: We'll see Haggis, yes.
SANCHEZ: -- of pygmy hippos.
KEILAR: They'll win us over, right?
SANCHEZ: Yes, yes. Thank you so much for joining us this afternoon. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts in just a few seconds.
END
