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Trump in Qatar for Second Stop on Middle East Tour; Ventura Details Multiple Incidents of Alleged Abuse in Combs' Trial; Football Social Media Teams Work to Create Viral Moments. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired May 14, 2025 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

JEFF ZELENY, CNN: And ignore the fact this is happening against the backdrop of a region of the world where the Trump organization, the Trump family is also seeking to make major inroads, major investments. So even though the president is not traveling with his family members, has not spoken about it, that certainly is the undercurrent in the air. All the Trump personal investments running right alongside U.S. government business.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: And Jeff, there was one particular meeting that was historic because before leaving Saudi Arabia, President Trump met with Syria's new leader, this reformed jihadist whose rebel group helped topple Bashar al-Assad's regime. What did Trump say about that meeting?

ZELENY: The president yesterday announced somewhat out of the blue that the U.S. would end sanctions on Syria. Of course, this follows in the line of other countries, the UK, the EU as well, of pulling back sanctions. We're nearly six months on from the end of the Bashar al- Assad regime in Syria.

And this is something the president clearly was eager to meet the new Syrian president. He talked about it earlier today on Air Force One.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How did you find the Syrian president?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Great., I think very good. Young attractive guy. Tough guy. Strong past. Very strong past. Fighter.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does that worry you at all?

TRUMP: But he's got a, he's got a real shot at pulling it together. I spoke with President Erdogan who I'm very friendly with. He feels he's got a shot at doing a good job. It's a, it's a torn up country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So we know this is a president who really revels in personal relationships. So making a new one, at least in a brief meeting with the new Syrian president, we shall see where this goes. There's no doubt about it.

But one of the reasons that the president, the American president, did this was at the request of the Saudi Crown Prince, as well as other leaders in the region.

So the president is clearly, has investments in dealmaking on his mind as he continues the rest of this trip. He'll be addressing USF forces who are based here tomorrow morning at a very central Air Force base here just outside of Doha before making his return to the United States, at least scheduled to be so on Friday -- Boris and Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: All right, Jeff Zeleny, thank you so much for that.

And now to some of the other headlines that we're watching this hour.

A judge in Virginia has ordered the release of Georgetown University scholar Badar Khan Suri. He was detained by masked federal officers outside of his home in March. Suri was moved across multiple state lines after his arrest and has been held in custody in a Texas detention center.

He has not been charged with a crime, but the Trump administration revoked his student visa and accused him of having ties to Hamas. Suri has been released on the condition he maintain a residence in Virginia and attend other hearings in his case.

SANCHEZ: Plus, a doctor accused of trying to kill his wife is behind bars after being denied bail in Hawaii. His wife alleges that Gerhard Koenig grabbed her while they were on a hiking trail, pushed her toward the edge of a cliff, tried to inject her with a syringe and then bashed her on the head with a rock. He has pleaded not guilty.

The judge also said that there's evidence that he hid from police is a serious flight risk and a danger to the victim. That's why he did not offer him bail.

There's also a historic moment for Omaha to tell you about. The city's first female mayor has conceded the mayoral race to a man who's poised to become the community's first Black mayor. The race between Jean Stothert and challenger John Ewing primarily revolved around local issues, but in the final stretch, the campaign touched on more national issues like the Trump administration and transgender rights. While the mayor's office is nonpartisan, the candidates have made it clear to voters that Stothert is a Republican and Ewing, the winner, is a Democrat.

When we come back, we have more coverage of the Sean Diddy Combs sex trafficking trial. His former longtime girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, testifying for a second day.

The prosecution set to wrap up their direct examination. Cross examination by the defense set to begin soon. We have the latest. Don't go anywhere.

[15:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: We're following breaking news from day three of the Sean Diddy Combs criminal trial. And moments ago, his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura detailed an incident in which Combs allegedly threatened to blow up a car belonging to rapper Kid Cudi, someone that Ventura was dating at the time.

SANCHEZ: Now, Ventura testified that Combs told her that Kid Cudi's car would be blown up. Combs apparently also told her that he wanted Kid Cudi's friends to see the car blown up in the driveway. At some point, Kid Cudi's car blew up.

Former prosecutor and criminal defense attorney Imran Ansari is back with us now. How does this fit into the broader picture as the prosecution is trying to point to Combs as the head of essentially a criminal operation?

IMRAN ANSARI, FORMER PROSECUTOR: It's another piece of evidence and testimony that is adding to what seems to be a methodical presentation of evidence by the prosecution against Diddy here.

[15:40:00]

You know, Ms. Ventura, she's been on the stand. She's been very well prepared for her testimony. She's testifying rather confidently.

And you have the prosecution putting in photographic evidence, video evidence that is directly corroborating and supporting her testimony. And when you have that, you have a strong witness.

This latest piece of evidence with Kid Cudi and the circumstantial sort of testimony that ultimately the car blows up after it's testified that Diddy wants to blow up the car is just another aspect that the defense is going to have to deal with as the prosecution puts on testimony and event after event, photograph after photograph. So I think the defense is going to have some real issues to contend with because of this testimony.

KEILAR: She's describing in some of her recent testimony here that at one point being in Jamaica and having been beaten by Combs, she says that she recalled hiding from combs underneath a tractor with a friend for several hours. She recalls another incident, Imran, where she's talking about trying to hide behind a toilet when she received a beating in a Las Vegas hotel. Combs, she alleges that when a member of his security team finally saw her, they started to cry.

What is the effect of those kinds of descriptions on the jury?

ANSARI: The jury is taking that in. They've seen the photographs. I hear that they had visceral reactions to the photographs, the photographs of the freak offs.

And then, of course, the testimony that you just described, which is painting a picture for the jury of systematic abuse, coercion and control. And the way it's being delivered to that jury from Cassie Ventura and then coupled with the photographs that are complimenting and corroborating her testimony, the jury is really getting a picture of Diddy here, which is not favorable, of course, and it's having an effect.

They're going to be seeing the videos. They have seen the video of that hotel assault. They're seeing the photographs. And now you're hearing these real detailed, very dramatic, very emotional pieces of testimony about events and their relationship from Cassie Ventura.

And you can imagine that the prosecution is putting forth this case. They feel that they're building out the elements and ultimately the defense is going to have to react to that testimony as it comes in and really figure out how they're going to go about cross examining this witness who is coming across as a strong witness, a confident witness. And then there's other evidence that is corroborating her testimony.

SANCHEZ: Soon we'll get a chance to see how the defense will ultimately go through with that cross examination. We are anticipating that the direct examination of Cassie Ventura will wrap up at some point today.

Imran Ansari, thank you so much for the analysis. Appreciate your time.

ANSARI: Thanks for having me.

SANCHEZ: In just a matter of weeks, convicted murderers Lyle and Erik Menendez could potentially be out of prison for the first time in more than 35 years. Yesterday, a judge opened the door for their possible release by reducing their sentence to 50 years to life for the 1989 murders of their parents, Kitty and Jose.

KEILAR: The brothers have a previously scheduled parole board hearing on June 13th. The board can either deny or recommend the brother's request. California Governor Gavin Newsom will make the final decision there.

During yesterday's hearing, both Lyle seen on the right and his younger brother, Erik took, quote, full responsibility for shooting and killing their parents. We'll be right back.

[15:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Today's a big day. It's scheduled release day for the National Football League, aka the Super Bowl. For those of us that don't get to the Super Bowl and for each team's social media department, their best creative minds spend months brainstorming how to come up with the most viral video to coincide with today's big reveal.

KEILAR: And one social media team that's been just a standout is the Los Angeles Chargers. Their anime-inspired videos that were posted for schedule release day back in 2022 and '23, you see them here. Huge splash online. The latter attracted more than 23 million views on X. And then last year, the Chargers went viral again. Tell us, it's pretty amazing, right? This new twist.

Schedule release day, Sims edition, social media squad taking it to the next level. Fully recreating iconic figures of the NFL in the world of the popular video game. Video has 41 million views across multiple social media platforms.

Megan Julian, the senior director of digital and social media for the LA Chargers, is with us now. How do you guys even come up with these great ideas and then execute them, Megan?

MEGAN JULIAN, SR. DIRECTOR, DIGITAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA, LA CHARGERS: First of all, hi. I think every year it's just, yes, it's just a different group, slightly, but mostly the same core group. And we get in a room and we throw a bunch of ideas at the wall.

We do that for a few weeks and then we come up with a few ideas that we like that we could maybe run down that kind of fit the formula that we found works for this type of video.

[15:50:00]

And then we have people on our team who have expertise in that area go run it down. So, for example, with anime the first year, we had a guy on our team who was like, I can draw that. And we were like, there's no way you can draw this. This is crazy.

He went, he drew it. He drew up one of the jokes that we wrote. I think it was for the Rams. He presented to us and we were like, that's it, that's our idea. But there's never really this moment for us where we're like, yes, this is officially our idea.

We just start running ideas down and one becomes the leader in the clubhouse and we just keep going.

SANCHEZ: Megan, you pointed out the joke that was made about the Rams. There was a Raiders fan, I believe that you put in clown makeup for one of the videos. How far is too far to go with these jokes?

Because I feel like there's very fertile ground for some funnies.

JULIAN: There is. There's definitely been a lot of things on the cutting room floor that have not made it or seen the light of day that only our internal group knows about. But luckily we work at a place that really understands the value of social and the ability to make a joke and that not everything has to be serious all the time.

So we have a lot of leeway to go and make some of these jokes. And then obviously the version that the world sees is pared down from our original. We don't want to do anything malicious. We don't want to go after a football performance. We don't want to actually hurt anyone's feelings. It should all be like in good fun and in good spirits.

KEILAR: And you cannot even -- I mean, there's so much interest. We talked about the tens of millions of views here. You can't even escape interest in these video announcements on the dating apps, as we understand it.

What's happened there?

JULIAN: Crazy story. I regretted this the moment I said it in an interview last week. But I have been on Hinge, Bumble, different dating apps and will match with someone. And I don't have my job explicitly listed in my profile, but you can kind of figure it out based on some things.

And on a dating app, it's like, well, what are y'all going to do for schedule release next year? And I'm like, seriously, like we're on a dating app like that. But it just shows you like how far NFL has really taken schedule release and how far all these creative teams across teams across the league, like how far we've brought this and how much attention it gets, which is great for our game and great for ticket sales.

SANCHEZ: And given the attention that it's getting and the interest, can we get something of a preview, a tease of what you have in store for tonight?

JULIAN: No, I can say you can follow us on Chargers across all social media platforms. We'll be posting at 5 p.m. We personally like to keep it pretty close to the chest. We don't want anyone to have any preconceived notions or ideas or thoughts on how we would do whatever our idea is. But I can say that it'll follow the same type of format with Easter eggs, with jokes for each team. And I can say that a lot of people here spent a lot of time on it and put in, I think we did the math, over 500 hours in the platform that we're using for this game, over 500 man hours working in that.

So hopefully people like it, and we can't wait to see what everyone thinks about it.

KEILAR: Do the players come to you with suggestions or ideas?

JULIAN: They do. Mostly they come to ask what it is and have an idea, or they also want to know if they're featured in it. Over the years, we've featured a lot of our guys in the video, so they want to know are they in it. And then we actually, tomorrow we'll go downstairs and show the players the video and get their reactions and see what they think, too.

KEILAR: I imagine they think it's pretty cool. Megan, thank you so much. There's just so much interest in this.

We are sorry that it has you asking, you know, does he like me for me, or is it just my videos on the dating apps? But that's pretty hilarious. Thanks for being with us.

JULIAN: Yes, thank you, guys.

KEILAR: And ahead, U.S. Navy plebes take on the Naval Academy's most slippery tradition, next. [15:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We're going to end our afternoon with something lighter to send folks home with. The Naval Academy Class of 2028 completed a unique time-honored tradition today by climbing a greased monument. 800,000 calories of lard, apparently.

This is called the Herndon Monument Climb. It involves the midshipman, freshman class, known as plebes, working together to scale a 21-foot- tall obelisk that is covered in grease.

KEILAR: And to complete this long-standing tradition, plebes build a human pyramid -- smart move there -- to remove a Dixie Cup hat at the top of the monument, then they replace it with an upperclassman's hat upon completion of the climb, which today -- I mean, look at all that excitement -- took nearly two and a half hours. The class will no longer be plebes, and they can now be called fourth-class midshipmen.

OK, I have some questions for you. Do you know how many pounds of vegetable shortening they had on there?

SANCHEZ: Vegetable shortening?

KEILAR: They greased that thing up with.

SANCHEZ: Oh, I don't know if it's like, what did they say, 800,000 calories? I don't know, 20 pounds.

KEILAR: 200 pounds, apparently.

SANCHEZ: 200 pounds.

KEILAR: And it took two and a half hours today. There was some rain. They had some issues.

But according to the Naval Academy, the first recorded time was the class of 1962. It took 12 minutes, I feel like --

SANCHEZ: 12 minutes?

KEILAR: Yes, I don't think they greased it up so well, no idea. But what do you think the longest time would be?

[16:00:00]

SANCHEZ: The longest time? The 30 seconds that we have left to fill in this segment. I don't know.

KEILAR: It's longer than our show.

SANCHEZ: It's longer than our show, so more than three hours.

KEILAR: That's right. More than three hours. How long do you think?

SANCHEZ: Four hours.

KEILAR: Four hours, five minutes.

SANCHEZ: Four hours.

KEILAR: Yes, class of 98. Come on, guys. Come on. That looks like fun, though.

SANCHEZ: It kind of looks fun for a little bit. Not for four hours.

KEILAR: Or two, even. Maybe 12 minutes.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

KEILAR: THE ARENA with Kasie Hunt starts right now.

END