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Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) Hamas Announcement Of Imminent Release Of Last Living U.S. Hostage; Opening Statements Expected In Sean Combs Sex Trafficking Trial; Newark Mayor Arrested During Protest Against Immigration Facility. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired May 12, 2025 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:31:30]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Right now we are standing by for official confirmation that the last known living American hostage held in Gaza has been released. Edan Alexander was serving in the Israeli military when he was taken by Hamas on October 7, 2023. Hamas announced his planned release on Sunday. His family called it "the greatest gift imaginable."

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Tel Aviv for us this morning. What else are you learning about this and whether or not he has officially been released?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: As of now we do not have any information that Edan Alexander has been released but we understand that it will happen, you know, within a matter of minutes or hours.

It is expected to happen today that Edan Alexander will be freed after more than 19 months of Hamas captivity as a result of deal between the United States and Hamas that very much bypassed the Israeli government as President Trump dispatched his team to negotiate via the Egyptian and the Qatari mediators to secure Edan Alexander's release -- what is being described by U.S. officials as a move of good faith by Hamas that will hopefully jumpstart negotiations towards securing the release of the all of the remaining hostages and perhaps even ending the war. That's exactly what President Trump himself said in a Truth Social post, saying that this could be one of the first steps towards ending what he described as a brutal war in Gaza.

There is uncertainty though about what it will mean for the remaining hostages. Certainly, a source familiar with the matter who I spoke to told me that following Alexander's release they will go directly into immediate peace negotiations to try and achieve that exact goal of releasing all the hostages, ending the war or, at a minimum, securing some kind of a ceasefire.

Today, here in Hostages Square, we have heard from the families of other hostages who are still being held in Gaza, 58 of whom, in addition to Alexander, are being held in Gaza. And many of them asking as a simple question, which is what are they to do when their loved ones do not have an American passport? That is, of course, the impetus for Edan Alexander being released.

I spoke with the father of Nimrod Cohen who is held at -- who is serving in the Israeli military at the exact same base that Edan Alexander was. And he said that because his son is only an Israeli citizen, he believes otherwise his son would be also getting out today.

And so there are a lot of questions but there is a little bit of hope in the air now that perhaps the Trump administration will use this moment to build on this momentum to pressure the Israeli government to reach some kind of an all-encompassing deal to release all of the 59 hostages held in the Gaza Strip. That is certainly in the air at the moment.

But for now we are waiting to see when and how soon today Edan Alexander will be released. His mother, Yael Alexander, is landing in Israel any moment now with Adam Boehler, President Trump's hostage envoy, and Steve Witkoff, President Trump's special envoy for the region also set to be on hand to welcome Alexander home and out of captivity -- Sara.

SIDNER: Yeah. There are dozens, as you mentioned, of other hostages hoping that this could be their story too. And there are tens of thousands of families in Gaza hoping that this pushes forward to a ceasefire of the devastating war there.

Thank you so much for all your great reporting. Jeremy Diamond for us this morning -- Kate.

[07:35:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And joining us right now here in the studio is Democratic Congressman Jake Auchincloss from Massachusetts to talk about this and much more.

And admittedly, there are a lot of big news stories today that I want to ask you about. But first, on what will be a momentous, huge moment for Edan Alexander and his family, and so many other families to see him coming out.

What's your -- what do you think this could mean for the war?

REP. JAKE AUCHINCLOSS (D-MA): Every life saved is a whole world, and so this event is to be celebrated on its own terms.

The administration, though, also needs to recognize that this is not "in good faith" as they described. Hamas is an organization that murdered toddlers with their bare hands. There is no such thing as good faith.

Hamas is doing this because Israel, with bipartisan American support, isolated and weakened this terrorist organization. And Joe Biden was wise enough to resist calls from the hard left to appease Hamas, and now Trump needs to resist calls from the hard right to isolate Israel. Both administrations need to stay the course of bipartisan support for our ally. BOLDUAN: Yeah. Let's see what happens today with that.

Another major headline that we're going to be covering throughout the morning and need to learn more about is this 90-day de-escalation in terms of the trade war between the United States and China.

What is your reaction to this agreement?

AUCHINCLOSS: You've got to give credit to Trump as a marketer. He creates uncertainty and havoc by raising tariffs and then claims victory when he lowers the tariffs that he himself put in place, right? All this does is extend uncertainty for another 90 days.

I've been talking to big businesses and global investors. I've been talking to small businesses, including in the biggest city in my district that voted for Donald Trump. I've talked to labor unions. They're all saying the same thing, which is uncertainty is toxic for business. It's for hiring decisions, for investing decisions. And he's just kicking the can down the road for more uncertainty.

BOLDUAN: But do you at least applaud the administration for getting -- I mean, this is much more dramatic of a rollback than a lot of people were expecting. I mean, do you applaud the administration for at least rolling it back on a temporary basis?

AUCHINCLOSS: For tariffs to be successful, and tariffs do have a role to play --

BOLDUAN: Uh-huh.

AUCHINCLOSS: -- in U.S.-China relations, they have to be three things.

One, they've got to be aligned with an industrial policy at home. So, for example, the Build America caucus, a bipartisan caucus that I'm a founding member of, is all about building more in America by cutting regulations promoting technology. You've got to nest it with that type of domestic strategy. You've got to do it with allies so that they know what we're trying to accomplish --

BOLDUAN: Um-hum.

AUCHINCLOSS: -- and they can help us.

And then you've got to do it through Congress so that business has long-term certainty. Because right now businesses are looking at the president and being like what's he going to tweet next, and that's no way to set industrial policy.

BOLDUAN: What do you think happens -- what do you think happens after 90 days? Do you have any confidence this will remain?

AUCHINCLOSS: That's exactly the point is that I don't know the answer to that and more importantly my motorcycle jacket manufacturer in Fall River, Massachusetts, has no idea. And if he doesn't know he can't make hiring decisions. He can't make capital equipment decisions. It's bad for the economy. BOLDUAN: You sit on Energy and Commerce. The Republicans on the committee -- they released last night their plan to overhaul Medicaid. This is part of how to find -- how to pay for the tax bill -- the tax cut bill that the Republicans in both majorities want to push through in Congress.

This -- what we see of it so far, from the Republicans on the committee, it's cutting billions from the program including adding new work requirements. The moves could leave millions of people without health coverage. But it also isn't as dramatic of or severe of a change to the program than hardline Republicans were really seeking and demanding.

Do you see this as a compromise?

AUCHINCLOSS: No, because five million Americans are going to lose access to health care. This is a nonpartisan, independent analysis. This is not a Democratic point of view; this is the Congressional Budget Office. And people who get health insurance through their employer are now going to pay more for that health insurance. So I don't see that as a win, and I don't see that as a compromise.

You would use the term "pay for." I think it's important for us to note that they are not actually going to be paying for these tax cuts. These tax cuts -- again, independent analysis -- are adding $7 trillion to the national debt over the next decade.

So what they're doing is they are exploding the national debt, which is going to cause inflation and tax hikes in the future for the middle class, and they're taking away health care from people at the same time as they're pushing a good economy into a recession. I don't see how this is a win for my constituents.

BOLDUAN: You guys have -- you're going to be -- I think it's this week you guys are going to be starting a debate on this.

AUCHINCLOSS: All night mark-up.

BOLDUAN: All right, let's see what happens.

Congressman, thanks for coming in. I appreciate your time.

AUCHINCLOSS: Thanks for having me.

BOLDUAN: I really appreciate it -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All night mark-up. Sounds like a party.

All right. New this morning President Trump's promise to usher in an era of American energy dominance may not be working out as many in the industry had hoped. A new report from S&P projects that U.S. oil production will shrink in 2026.

CNN's Matt Egan is here. As with most things there's some important nuance in all of this.

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Yeah, John, there is. But what's interesting here is that there's been so much gloom and doom in the oil industry.

[07:40:00]

It's kind of surprising because, yes, the president promised to slash red tape and to usher in this period of energy dominance. But what's happened is that oil prices are so low because of the trade war and because of recession fears that there's these new projections out that oil production will actually decline next year.

This is from S&P. They are projecting a decline in 2026. This would be pretty rare, right? The first time since COVID and the second time in the last decade. And when you look at the trend for oil production you can see it was really gangbusters about a decade ago. It did bounce back from COVID, but it has started to level out a bit. And this is important because look, this is one of the bigger industries in the United States. It's one that the president did receive a lot of support from.

But oil prices -- they've actually gone down by about 20 percent since the president took office. Again, this is because OPEC has produced more oil. It's also because of these concerns about the economy.

One thing I would note though John -- and you know this -- this is a boom to bust industry, right?

BERMAN: Yeah.

EGAN: So it's entirely possible that the trade war breakthrough with China could end up driving prices even higher, and that could give this industry a bit of a boost.

I would note that this morning U.S. oil prices are up almost four percent.

BERMAN: Yeah. And again, this is because it's not worth the investment. Oil producers won't invest if prices are so low. But low prices, you know, might be OK for consumers.

EGAN: Oh, yeah. I mean, look, what's bad for big oil is very good for much of Main Street. We look at the gas prices. The U.S. average is $3.14 a gallon across the country today. That's down --

BERMAN: Yeah.

EGAN: -- six cents from a month ago. Much cheaper than a year ago.

And when we look at the map of the United States there's over a dozen states where the average price right now is below $2.90 a gallon, including North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, New Mexico, Texas.

And so yes, the fact that oil prices are muted, that is one of the bigger positives in this economy and it's certainly helpful when it comes to the cost of living.

BERMAN: Yeah. Look, the president's been touting low oil prices. It's just you probably can't have super low oil prices and drill, baby, drill at the same time.

EGAN: They don't add up.

BERMAN: It doesn't work like that.

Matt Egan, great to see you.

EGAN: Thanks, John.

BERMAN: Thank you very much -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Thank you, gentlemen.

This morning opening statements are expected in the Sean Combs federal criminal trial, but there is still a last bit of jury selection that needs to occur this morning to seat the 12 jurors and six alternatives.

One of the prosecution's key witnesses is also standing by to potentially be called today. Combs' former girlfriend Cassie Ventura could take the stand. She filed that startling civil lawsuit accusing him of abuse and violence where CNN eventually obtained a video showing him beating her in a hallway.

Since then dozens of men and women have alleged that Combs committed serious wrongdoing against them.

CNN has learned at least six of Combs' seven children will be in court today to support him.

Combs has pleaded not guilty to all the charges of racketeering and sex trafficking. If convicted though he could spend the rest of his life in prison.

CNN anchor and chief legal analyst Laura Coates is outside the courthouse today. Laura, a lot to be expected on day one.

LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR, CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Day one is finally her for Sean 'Diddy' Combs. He is, as you said, facing life in prison if convicted of all of these five felony counts, all of which are very serious -- racketeering, prostitution. You have sex trafficking. All of this combined to have the equivalent of life if there's a conviction.

There is a really important thing happening today and, of course, we don't have the final jurors. They were afraid I think of having people maybe over the weekend, Sara, get a little bit of cold feet. And they're going to seat them finally today. So at this moment in time the prosecution and the defense have no idea who these 12 jurors and six alternates will be to decide the fate of Sean 'Diddy' Combs.

They're also going to have some very important witnesses today, not the least of which is the prosecution's star witness -- his girlfriend of many years -- Cassie Ventura, who, of course, we saw victimized in that video that was -- that was obtained by CNN by Sean 'Diddy' Combs allegedly. That will play into this not because there's an alternate or a

separate assault charge but because this is a charge and they're going to try to prove that somehow, she was resisting or that this is part of her -- the fraud or the force that was used to try to encourage and engage and force her to involve herself in these so-called "freak offs."

And so we're going to have a lot of information coming at these jurors fast and furiously. We will see Sean 'Diddy' Combs in court today to decide what the fate will be.

But opening statements, Sara -- this is the moment you're going to hear from the prosecution to lay out their case. What will they allege? What do they want the jurors to know and to hang onto in what will be an eight- to 10-week trial?

[07:45:00]

We're also going to hear from the defense who will give us their official preview of what their defense will be. He has pleaded absolutely not guilty, and we will see how it all turns out.

SIDNER: I'm just curious. Can you set the scene for us because this case -- I mean, everyone from New York to around the world knows who Sean Combs is and maybe has heard some of these allegations. But there are a lot of other very well-known famous people who could be called in this case.

COATES: In fact, during voir dire, the fancy way of saying jury selection, they had forms in advance for the perspective jurors. They listed over 100 names of celebrities who might be mentioned in the orbit of this trial either as people who could be called or people whose names might be actually referenced.

And so right now we're talking about somebody like 'Diddy' who since the '90s had been a hip-hop mogul and executive. And, of course, following the death of Biggie Smalls, also became an artist and the face of Bad Boy Records.

Everyone knows who he is. It's not a matter for these jurors to figure out who does not know him; it's a matter of who can set aside what they think they know and receive the evidence from the prosecution who carries a very significant burden: beyond a reasonable doubt.

And so don't look for anyone to think oh, I've never heard of this person or this case. No -- it's about who can set that aside and follow the elements and the law as laid out by the jury instructions and this judge.

SIDNER: Yeah, and I see the dozens of journalists who are gathering behind you before this starts in just a bit here.

Laura Coates, glad you're there. Thank you so much. We will be speaking to you again a bit later on. Thank you -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: And still ahead also for us the mayor of Newark, New Jersey arrested during a protest at an immigration facility. Why he says he did nothing wrong.

And a lead investigator expected to retake the stand today in the murder re-trial of Karen Read. The very latest on that coming up.

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[07:51:18]

SIDNER: All right. This morning, Newark, New Jersey Mayor Ras Baraka is responding to new allegations by DHS after being handcuffed and arrested by ICE agents at a protest outside a facility.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop shoving.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's enough.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get off of me! Get off of me!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't put your hands on me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: The Department of Homeland Security says the mayor was trespassing and ignored repeated warnings. The mayor says that he did nothing wrong. He was released from custody Friday night.

And the Democratic mayor of Newark, Ras Baraka, joining us right now.

All right. I want to ask you about something that happened over the weekend. DHS is accusing you and members of Congress of "storming the facility." And now DHS is saying that more arrests are possible because of what -- and I want you to listen to it -- DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told our Victor Blackwell this weekend. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRICIA MCLAUGHLIN, ASSISTANT SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY: There were multiple people arrested. And Victor, I think that we should let viewers know there will likely be more arrests coming. We actually have body camera footage of some of these members of Congress assaulting our ICE enforcement officers, including body slamming a female ICE officer. So we will be showing that to viewers very shortly. The American people should know the facts.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: And you say a video of members of Congress body slamming ICE --

MCLAUGHLIN: That's correct.

BLACKWELL: -- officials?

MCLAUGHLIN: That's correct, sir. It's disgusting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: I am curious if you've heard anything about this or did you witness this happening?

MAYOR RAS BARAKA, (D) NEWARK, NEW JERSEY (via Webex by Cisco): This is a complete fabrication. I mean, either she wasn't there and was mis -- is mis -- was misinformed or she's just straight-out lying. I mean, you're talking about an 80-year-old congresswoman, another congresswoman, and Congressman Menedez. They grabbed, slammed no one. No one stormed the place.

There is a video -- first of all, this video is from all angles that reporters had, as a matter of fact -- the news agencies. There is a video that shows the beginning of the incident all the way to the end that folks have who were out there taping and videotaping. When this thing comes completely out, you'll see how egregious these lies are.

Nobody stormed anything. Those folks -- when I got there they were already inside -- escorted inside by GEO and ICE to a booth to wait for homeland security folks to come and give them a tour.

So I sat in there at least over an hour waiting on the other side of the gate for them to come out, you know, with no discussion, no talk, no one telling me to leave -- nothing, zero. And was let in, by the way.

So all of this stuff is a fabrication -- a complete fabrication.

This officer was sent there -- the special agent in charge was sent there specifically to arrest me.

SIDNER: OK. She said that members of Congress were led into the facility, and they are allowed to go into ICE facilities without prior arrangements.

BARAKA: Right.

SIDNER: That is part of their --

BARAKA: Right.

SIDNER: duties.

You, as the mayor, are not afforded that right. Why where you there? And you said that there were no issues before. What happened? How did this get really riled up with you ended up being in handcuffs -- being, you know, arrested?

BARAKA: It's clear. If you see the video, they riled it up. They escalated it.

I was there because ultimately, we have a dispute with GEO. I was -- I've been there every single day in the morning -- every day -- serving them with the fire inspector and health inspector, and UCC inspectors. We're in a dispute in court. Serving them because they won't allow the fire inspectors entry into the property to do their inspections for a certificate of occupancy. They won't allow them in. We go there every day and serve them.

[07:55:20]

I was there that morning. I was called back to come down for a press conference that the congresspeople were having after they viewed the inside so they could tell us about what was going on. And I was going to participate in that press conference. That's why I was there.

And I had a right to be there. I'm the mayor of the city of Newark. I have a right to make sure that people are following our rules, our laws, and that there's transparency, especially in a private kind of facility like this. I came down there for that purpose only.

The folks -- the special agent in charge who came there escalated that situation and I'm sure he escalated because he was told to. And they came directly for me.

And this lie about more people were arrested -- that's not true. It was only one person arrested that day and that was me. No one else was arrested. No one else was in a car. No one else was in cuffs. No one else sat in the ICE detention facility or homeland security's detention facility but me. That's it.

No other protester -- no protester was there, no congresspeople, no elected officials, no bystanders -- just me.

SIDNER: Do you worry at all, Mayor, about when you look at some of the numbers when people are polled and they tend to agree with some of what the administration is doing when it comes to how they are trying to get immigrants who are here undocumented out of the country. Are you worried about the optics here at all for Democrats when you look at the way in which people are seeing the immigration fight go down?

BARAKA: I'm worried about the erosion of the Constitution of the United States. The erosion of democracy. This authoritarianism that's coming here.

If the polls look like that it's because people are controlling the conversation and we're allowing them to. We're making them believe that the only people that they're attacking are gang members, child rapists, murderers, as they keep saying over and over and over again.

They're not talking about people that they have green cards, the people that have visas that they're kidnapping off the street or individuals that are, in fact, citizens of the United States that get caught up into this mayhem.

Or individuals who are waiting for the process to be finished -- that could be six or seven years -- who have already tried to become citizens and are waiting for that process. Where they make a decision not to allow them to go through that process and they grab them and deport them and separate them from their families. These are more of those people than there are more of the others that they're talking about.

And so when that -- when we begin talking about that and changing the dialogue to that, then people begin to understand what's really happening here -- the erosion of the Fourth Amendment of due process and the Fifth Amendment, and the 14th Amendment.

And if we can disagree on immigration until we're blue in the face, we can disagree on what the process should be, what our policy should be. But we can't disagree on the Constitution of the United States when a Fourth Amendment of due process where anybody on this soil has the right to due process. That's what separates America from any other country in the world.

SIDNER: Mayor, thank you so much for coming on, and we'll be checking back in with you to see when DHS says they're going to release all the tapes and show some of this evidence that you say is hogwash. I really appreciate you coming on -- Kate.

BARAKA: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: All right. Also this morning four people are dead and dozens are injured after a five-alarm fire in an apartment building in Milwaukee. This happened Sunday morning. Firefighters rescued 30 people from the flames. Medics were seen performing CPR on some people outside of the building.

Fire crews say the building did not have a working sprinkler system, but did not require -- was not required to have one because it was a building that was built before 1974. And an investigation is underway now into what caused it.

Also this morning, Karen Read's murder re-trial resumes just outside Boston, Massachusetts. A state police sergeant is going to return to the stand. The defense grilled him last week about alleged misconduct in the middle of the investigation.

And Read is accused, as you'll remember, of hitting her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV and leaving him to die in the snow. She has pleaded not guilty.

Today, May's full Flower Moon will be at peak illumination. I feel like this is like a really fun ad -- Mad Libs. The May full moon got the nickname Flower Moon to signify the many blossoms of spring this time of year. May's full moon is the third and final micro moon of the year. Micro moons look a bit smaller and dimmer than usual but can still be seen bright in the sky. Peak illumination in the United States will be at 12:56 p.m. Eastern today but will be visible throughout early -- through early tomorrow -- Jonathan.

BERMAN: Stay with CNN for our live special coverage of the micro moon.

(Laughter)

Breaking this morning, CNN meets the new pope. Pope Leo XIV did meet with members of the media for the first time since becoming pontiff.