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Defense Cross-Examines Combs' Ex-Girlfriend "Jane"; Los Angeles Protests Inch Musk Back to Trump; RFK Jr. Forces Out Entire CDC Vaccine Advisory Committee. Aired 1:30-2 pm ET
Aired June 10, 2025 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[13:32:32]
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: In the sex trafficking and racketeering trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs, the defense began cross-examining the witness Jane. A pseudonym used by Combs' ex-girlfriend. Today, she told jurors that she still loves the music mogul. One day after revealing the, quote, "sexual trauma" she experienced with him back in 2023. For the last two and a half days of testimony, Jane described to jurors the drug-fueled sexual performances she says Combs forced her to have with other men.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: The two called them, quote, hotel nights. This morning Combs' lawyers also played audio messages between the then partners in which Combs is heard saying that he loved her. He's also heard mentioning the, quote, "contract" referring to the love contract that Jane had with Combs in which he agreed to pay her $10,000 a month rent.
With us now is attorney Areva Martin. Areva, yesterday we heard Jane or we heard of Jane going into this great detail about how traumatized and sleazy as she put it that she felt because of Combs pressuring her into these hotel nights, which of course seemed to really track with what Cassie Ventura had described as freak offs that she had had with Combs. And yet Jane also talked about how she still loves Combs. Will that for some jurors possibly undermine her past testimony?
AREVA MARTIN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Well, Brianna, this is very complicated testimony from this witness. This is a witness that was the girlfriend of Sean Combs right up until the time when he was arrested or at least indicted. They had a big blow up just months before that indictment that involved physical abuse on the part of Combs.
She also, this Jane, the witness says, she also struck Combs. And then after this big fight that left her with a black eye, she said he gave her a negligee and then called in a sex worker for her to have sex. So, the issue in this case for the prosecution is coercion.
And are jurors going to believe that Jane was coerced? We know under the Mann Act, coercion has a very expansive definition and courts have been very liberal in its interpretation. And if jurors believe that financial support for necessities like rent were threatened to be withdrawn unless she participated in these hotel nights, that's going to be the crux of this case. Will jurors believe that it was the threat of coercion that caused her to participate versus her love for Combs and her desire to make him happy?
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SANCHEZ: Overall, how would you say the defense is doing at cross examining her right now?
MARTIN: I think they've been doing an effective job. This is obviously a very sensitive witness. She's been very tearful on the witness stand. She has experienced a great deal of domestic violence. She talks about feeling like she was treated as an animal or a dog.
So, this is a potential -- potentially very sympathetic witness that the defense has to be very careful in going after her. But she also is making a lot of admissions, I think, that play into the defense's theory that she voluntarily participated in these hotel nights.
KEILAR: She also was on the -- there was audio of Combs showing affection to Jane last week. We should note that jurors heard other recordings of Combs's voice in a very different context, where he was actually threatening that he wouldn't pay her rent after Jane had fought with him over hotel nights. Here is that audio from last week.
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SEAN "DIDDY" COMBS, MUSIC MOGUL: Hey, I really don't know what's going on with you, but I just want to just give you a heads up that I'm about to really disappear on you. You feel me? I'm not going to be playing these games with you at all, at all. So, I don't know, you think you sound treating me, treating me. And you think I'm going to be nah. You'll have a rude awakening, you'll just have silence and ain't nobody threatening you. And I don't need trying to go back and forth with no woman.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: The audio of the other discussion is not available at this point. But what do you think about sort of these back-and-forth audio snippets being played?
MARTIN: Well, one thing, Brianna, that Jane has testified to is love bombing. And she said that Combs had a pattern of basically abusing her, using physical violence against her, according to her, pressuring her into these hotel nights. And then when she expressed her disgust, her frustration, he would then love bomb her.
He would show her lots of attention. He would say nice things to her. And again, I think the jurors are going to have to grapple with, is this classic definition of coercion? We know that there's been a witness that has testified for the prosecution, testified about women who are stuck in this kind of domestic violence cycle, who believe that they are in love with someone. But when in actuality, they've been brainwashed and they are being coerced into acts that they otherwise would not participate in. So, I think the jurors are going to have to grapple with this question about consent versus coercion.
KEILAR: Yeah, they certainly will. Areva, great to have you. Thank you so much, Areva Martin.
MARTIN: Thanks, Brianna.
KEILAR: And if you or someone you know is struggling with intimate partner violence, here are ways that you can chat or text the National Domestic Violence Hotline. You can also just call it at 1-800-799- SAFE.
And coming up, Elon Musk and President Trump softening their tone toward one another after their public falling out. Could their relationship be on the mend? We'll talk about that.
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KEILAR: The heated standoff between Elon Musk and President Trump may be cooling. And it seems the protests in Los Angeles are actually playing a part in all of this. Musk appeared to wholeheartedly support the Trump administration's stance on what they're doing in Los Angeles. He added American flags to a post from Vice President J.D. Vance about how the president will not tolerate rioting and violence. And then a response to a clip that shows Trump wishing Musk very well. The tech mogul posted, yes, a heart emoji.
SANCHEZ: A heart emoji. It was just last week that Musk was calling for President Trump to be impeached. Musk also dropped what he called the really big bomb, posting without evidence that Donald Trump's name appeared in documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, posts that over the weekend were deleted.
Joining us now is CNN Contributor Kara Swisher, host of On and Pivot podcast. She has covered Elon Musk extensively. Kara, why do you think these two, or at least Musk, seems to be publicly softening his tone? Do you think there's more to that behind the scenes?
KARA SWISHER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Sure is. His businesses are at risk and deep risk. Trump could do enormous damage to Tesla. It's already not just Tesla, but all his businesses, Starlink and others, AI. He's realized, you know, after he had his incident, I guess, I don't know what it is, his bender, whatever you want to call it, he can't do this because Trump could cause him great pain, whether it's investigations or contracts or other things, especially as his own businesses are struggling. Even though Tesla shares went up, the fundamentals are really bad. And it got recent, got downgraded. Certain people have left the company. People are doing the robotics thing. He's got this launch of robo taxis that probably is not going to be as big as promised. So, he really needs to stay on Donald Trump's good side.
KEILAR: Yeah. And then Trump, Kara, was, of course, asked about Starlink yesterday. And, you know, he just kept very -- he played very nice about it. I do wonder, does this go both ways? I mean, is Trump -- is the Trump administration reliant on Starlink? And also the fact that, you know, Elon Musk has markets with other countries, of course, as well. How does that play here?
SWISHER: Well, they are reliant. The U.S. government's quite reliant on not just Starlink, but the rocket stuff that they need to have to bring these satellites or to the International Space Station, et cetera. So, he does have leverage here. It's not like it's just anybody leaving the White House. He's got money, he's got means and everything else.
But the fact of the matter is Trump wasn't too nice, if you noticed. He's like when they asked about the drug issues, he's like, I don't know. He could have said no. Absolutely not. He said, I don't know. I don't think so. I wish him well. That's what you might say to an ex. You don't really interested in coming back. So, that's why Musk has been so thirsty on Twitter, complimenting Donald Trump.
[13:45:09]
It's somewhat comical to watch him do it, be so, you know, obsequious to Donald Trump. But he also believes those things, too. So, it's probably easy in that regard.
SANCHEZ: Well, soon after the -- the falling out went public. I heard you say on CNN that you thought that Trump used Musk. And that there has to be --
SWISHER: Sure, it is.
SANCHEZ: -- some level of at least awareness within the Trump administration of what Musk is capable of. Because as you put it, he has money and means in the way that other folks that Trump, in your eyes, has used before.
SWISHER: Right.
SANCHEZ: What do you think Musk might do?
SWISHER: Yeah. He could do a lot of things. I mean, he definitely is the only choice when it comes to rockets right now. Of course, the Trump administration has been pushing for other competitors, which is probably smart in any case, whether it's Elon Musk or anybody else.
You know, he could -- he has money. He could start making trouble. He could -- you know, he may have another tariff. He's very anti-tariff. I don't know if he can hold it in on the deficit stuff if this bill passes. He could quietly call senators. He could do all kinds of manner of things. So, they've got to keep him sort of at least in a box and somewhat happy, I guess. And he certainly has to keep sort of mutually assured destruction.
In this case, Donald Trump definitely has the upper hand. But Musk is not without his power. And so, he's trying to wedge his way back in there. I don't think he's going to get back in largely that Epstein thing, even if he took it down. Everybody saw it. And then saying that Trump owed his presidency to Musk. That's probably a no-no with Donald Trump. So, I don't -- I think they'll keep him close, but not, you know, keep
him close. I don't think he's an enemy, but he's certainly not the friend he was.
KEILAR: Since this friendship really intensified, you've been saying just wait. You've been saying that all along, Kara. And I wonder how you think history is going to be looking at this episode and this friendship.
SWISHER: Well, it's very unprecedented, the idea of the world's richest man staying at the Lincoln bedroom a lot and having an office, you know, at the White House. It's incredible. I mean, like the big oligarchs of old would love to have that kind of access.
That said, Musk made himself a nuisance. He alienated lots of Cabinet members, including the Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, and also Marco Rubio and others. And then I think ultimately behind the scenes, my guess would be Susie Wiles probably had a lot to do with this. I'm sure she was not a fan of his hijinks and the trouble that he could bring.
But again, you have to keep him somewhat satisfied because he could mouth off on any number of things and cause problems for the Trump administration. I wonder what he'll do if the tariffs continue. Really -- he's really quite adamant anti-tariff. And even when he was inside the tent, he was calling Peter Navarro a moron on Twitter. I don't know if he can control himself on things like that. And I agree with him on that one.
SANCHEZ: Quickly, Kara, do you think he's serious about starting a third party?
SWISHER: You know, I just think he just was trying to be a little threatening, I guess. You know, I suspect the problem is Musk overestimates his political capital, right, compared to Trump. And Trump understands political capital. And when he lost in Wisconsin, it was a big tell is that he didn't have any political -- money wasn't enough. And he's certainly not charming, politically speaking.
And so, you know, Trump has a lot of political power, whether you like him or not. He does, and he understands that. And so, in that regard, you know, maybe he could start it. But I don't think -- Musk has a small constituency, politically speaking. And he certainly has fans. But he also has a lot of detractors. And so, you know, I suspect he's probably just using that as a threat, possibly. It's an empty threat, as far as I can tell.
SANCHEZ: Kara, always appreciate your point of view. Thanks for joining us.
SWISHER: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Still ahead, an unprecedented move by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., firing all 17 members of a critical vaccine advisory committee. What this could mean for you when we come back.
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KEILAR: In an unprecedented move, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ousted the entire CDC Vaccine Advisory Committee. It's made up of expert advisors and it's a panel that had guided vaccine recommendations to the federal government.
Kennedy said in a recent "Wall Street Journal" op-ed that the group was plagued with conflicts of interest. A longtime critic of federal vaccine policy, the dismissals now call into question who he will appoint to replace the 17-member panel. CNN Medical Correspondent Meg Tirrell is with us now. Tell us what happened here, Meg.
MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Brianna, this was something that folks had worried about to the degree that Senator Bill Cassidy of the Health Committee had actually gotten a promise from Kennedy not to disrupt this committee in order for Cassidy to end up voting for his confirmation as HHS Secretary.
Now, this is a committee called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. It was founded in 1964 to provide expert outside advice to the CDC and HHS on vaccines, and it's something that doctors in particular rely on to know that they're giving the vaccines that have the best evidence behind them to their patients.
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This is a panel of doctors, infectious disease researchers, pediatricians, other public health experts, who all have to declare their conflicts of interest at the beginning of every meeting and sometimes do recuse themselves if there's any perception that there could be a conflict. So, there is a lot of disagreement, to put it mildly, from the public health world about the idea that these folks are conflicted and that this is going to restore trust. They say, in fact, it will do the opposite.
And Brianna, I mentioned that about Cassidy and that promise that he said RFK Jr. made him. Listen to what Cassidy said precisely about this committee in February when he voted for RFK Jr. for HHS Secretary.
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SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R-LA): It confirmed he will maintain the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommendations without changes.
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TIRRELL: Now, of course, all 17 members being dismissed, Cassidy posting on X yesterday, quote, "Now the fear is that the ACIP will be filled up with people who know nothing about vaccines except suspicion." I've just spoken with Secretary Kennedy, and I'll continue to talk with him to ensure this is not the case. We'll have to see what happens there, Brianna. But we should note the next meeting of this committee is scheduled for the end of this month, and HHS says that's still on. So, are we going to see these new members announced before then? We don't know, and they haven't told us.
KEILAR: All right, Meg Tirrell, thank you for that.
Happening now, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is talking about the protests in her city. We're monitoring those remarks. We're going to bring you any news that comes from it. Stay with CNN.
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