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Biden Delivers Commencement Address At West Point Military Academy; Trump Courts Libertarians Amid Concerns Of Third-Party Candidates; Trump's "Unified Reich" Video Looks To Be The Work Of A Turkish Graphic Designer, Russian Escalates Offensive On Kharkiv Region; Children's Grief Book Author Speaks Up About Killing Her Husband; Attack On Shelter In Northern Gaza Kills 10; Judge Denies Motion To Dismiss Indictment Against Alec Baldwin; Another Woman Accuses Sean "Diddy" Combs Of Sexual Assault; Remembering African- American Veterans On Memorial Day. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired May 25, 2024 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Today, the president traveled to West Point to deliver the commencement address for this year's graduating class of cadets. This is the third time Biden has given the commencement address to the army's newest officers but his first time as U.S. president.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez joining us now with more on his message to the class of 2024 -- Priscilla.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, President Biden thanked the cadets and took that opportunity to congratulate them on their achievements, and also called them the next leaders in civilian and military life. But without naming Donald Trump or really making a direct election year appeal, President Biden also under scored the values that he has previously said are at risk if his Republican rival were to take a second term, for example, protecting democracy and also the NATO alliance.

Now on that front, the president talked about U.S. leadership on the global stage, including, for example, again, that NATO alliance, saying, for example, that Russian president Vladimir Putin or testing his assumption that NATO would not be able to unify and support Ukraine from his invasion, saying quote, "Putin was certain that NATO would fracture," and of course there speaking directly to the invasion of Ukraine.

And instead, the president said it is, quote, "The greatest defense alliance in the history of the world." Now of course, President Biden has been a defender of NATO, especially earlier this year when former president Donald Trump said he'd encourage Russia to invade those countries that don't meet their NATO obligations. But beyond that, the president also maintained that he's determined not to send any U.S. soldiers to Ukraine. Instead saying still that the U.S. will be a steadfast supporter.

The resounding message of all of this, of course, was countering tyrants in the world. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our women and men in uniform are hard at work, strengthening our alliances, because no country has allies like ours, invested in deterrents so anyone who thinks they can threaten us thinks again. Defending our values by standing up to tyrants and safeguarding a piece of protecting freedom and openness.

Thanks to the U.S. Armed Forces, we're doing only America can do as the indispensable nation. The world's only superpower and the leading democracy in the world. Never forget America is the strongest when we lead not only by our example, of our power, but by the power of our example.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: So there of course you heard the president really underscoring that U.S. leadership around the world. Now, of course, he did also reflect on the situation in the Middle East, citing U.S. efforts to get humanitarian aid to Gaza, as well as reflecting back to those Iranian attacks against Israel. But still at the end of the day, the message here was a big congratulations to all of these cadets and calling on them to be leaders, moving forward as the U.S. continues to face these global challenges.

WHITFIELD: All right, Priscilla Alvarez in Washington, thanks so much.

All right. Meantime, former president Donald Trump is out on the campaign trail speaking later today at the 2024 Libertarian and National Convention in Washington, D.C.

CNN's Steve Contorno joining us now.

Steve, help us understand why the likely Republican presidential nominee is speaking at the Libertarian National Convention.

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, the anticipation in Trump's campaign is that it is going to be an especially tight election this fall. And there is an increased sense of urgency over the continued interest in some of these third-party candidates especially Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Now Kennedy is not running on the Libertarian Party ticket, but he has been aggressively courting their voters and people who are interested in voting libertarian, and so Trump is going head- to-head essentially with RFK for libertarian voter support.

And RFK addressed the convention last night, although the most talked about moments or one of the most talked about actually came when Vivek Ramaswamy, a Trump surrogate, someone who is supporting the former president tried to make the case to libertarians that they should be considering Donald Trump. Listen to the reaction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VIVEK RAMASWAMY, FORMER REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have gotten to know Donald Trump over the course of the last several years and the last several months.

(CROWD BOOS)

RAMASWAMY: And you're going to hear from him tomorrow night. And the question is, do you want to influence the next administration or don't you? That is the question for this room to ask. And my thesis for you, you believe in -- you all get to speak your mind, I respect that. Libertarians in the room got to speak up, but now the question is, how do you get it done?

I believe the future of this country depends on a libertarian nationalist alliance that will save this country.

(CROWD BOOS)

RAMASWAMY: That's what I believe is required.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: Those were definitely boos -- those were definitely boos that you heard there and the reception obviously not great for Vivek Ramaswamy.

[15:05:04]

And look, the Trump campaign says, we understand that this is not friendly turf. In fact, Jason Miller, a spokesperson from the Trump campaign, telling our Kate Sullivan earlier today we're on offense and competing for non-traditional votes in order to unite the country.

When you talk to some of the people in the Libertarian Party, they say look, it's not just about Donald Trump. They say there is strong differences between the libertarians and the Republican Party as a whole on spending, on trade, and they don't believe that their voters ultimately will consider Donald Trump this fall -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Steve Contorno, thank you so much. We'll see what happens this evening.

All right. This week, former President Trump faced fierce criticism after a video shared on his social media implied if Trump wins, there would be a unified empire, using language typically linked to Nazism. Trump later deleted the video. Bizarrely, the fake article's text appears to trace its origins to a graphic designer in Turkey.

CNN digital producer Jon Sarlin tracked down that graphic designer.

So, Jon, hello. You spoke exclusively with the man in Turkey and what's he saying?

RON SARLIN, CNN DIGITAL PRODUCER: Right. Well, Enes Simsek is a 30- year-old graphic designer living outside Istanbul in Turkey, who tells me he doesn't follow American politics, let alone Turkish politics. What he does do is design motion graphic templates, video graphics that anyone can buy. This one was for sale for $21. He told me he sold 16 of them. And video producers use these as kind of a cheap and easy way to get graphics where you can take and manipulate and swap out images and text.

Now that text, that phrase "unified Reich," which raised so many eyebrows when it was included in that video, Enes tells me it's a huge misunderstanding. Here's how we got the phrase.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ENES SIMSEK, GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Well, actually, I don't remember and probably, I think, copy-paste, copy-paste. Maybe it can be Wikipedia, maybe it can be a Google page, because the story is the World War and I copy and pasted about World War issues.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SARLIN: So as you can see there, Enes was making this motion graphic as a kind of World War I newsreel. So for that, he put placeholder text that he Googled World War One and just took random stuff, assuming that someone at the other end would replace.

One year later that random text that he inserted into his video somehow found its way into the center of American politics when it ended up in that Trump video. So it should be noted, of course, you know, when Trump tweeted that or sent it on Truth Social of that video, the broader context at play here, right? I mean, this is Trump who has made repeated comments recently about Jews who aren't going to vote for him as needing their heads checked out.

He had lunch with Nick Fuentes in 20221, one of the most prominent antisemites in the country. And our colleague Jim Sciutto recently reported that he told his former chief of staff that Hitler, quote, "did some good things." A conversation that Trump denies. So when he made that video with the phrase unified Reich, obviously it raised a lot of eyebrows, but however, according to Enes, that phrase, A, was not referring to World War Two.

It was actually referring to World War I, the German empire at the late 19th and 20th Century, and it was texts that was originated as a placeholder text for a video that was only in it for a brief second. And some of the other placeholder texts that Enes put in also made it in that video.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. All right, so what is that graphic designer, you know, saying about being kind of in the middle of all this now and having to explain himself, explained, you know where this video has gone and its meaning and all that stuff?

SARLIN: Yes, we can imagine how bizarre this must be, right? I mean, this is a 30-year-old graphic designer who has no connection to American politics and yet somehow the butterfly effect of his copy and pasting one night just trying to get to this video template out somehow one year later has this massive effect in American politics where the president of the United States calling it out, saying that it's Hitler's language.

I asked him what he thought about his work having that kind of effect. And this is when he told me. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIMSEK: It's a very, very big problem for the American politics especially Trump and Biden. And somewhere I thought because of me, Trump is in trouble, but when I think it not. I made this template, anyone can change this text and image.

[15:10:07]

He probably maybe doesn't see those texts. I don't know. But for this I'm really actually in my soul I'm really -- I'm sad because this is just for the text.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SARLIN: So Enes, after this, he realized that his texts caused this controversy. He didn't know what to do, but he felt a need to correct the record. So what did he do? He sent an e-mail to Truth Social to support at TruthSocial.com, to support e-mail for Truth Social, the social media network owned by Trump, saying he is the author of the Trump video templates. And he's willing to correct the record. He did not receive a response.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. What a story that is. All right, Jon Sarlin, thank you so much for trying to get to the bottom of it, or maybe not, maybe the surface of it.

All right. Well, 200 people were shopping inside a shopping center in Kharkiv when Ukrainian officials say it was hit by Russian bombs. We're following the very latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:15:58]

WHITFIELD: Dramatic video now of the moment a Russian strike hit a large hardware store complex in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city. At least two people were killed and dozens more were injured in the attack. Another Russian strike later hit a different part of the city injuring at least 14.

Here's CNN's Nick Paton Walsh.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Some towns they can never let Putin take, and this, Lyptsi, is one of them. Destroyed artillery on the streets. Homes aflame from an airstrike. They can only move at night.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lights off.

PATON WALSH: It's a perilous grip they keep, but lose here, and Russian artillery will be in range of Ukraine's second city, Kharkiv.

You can still smell the smoke here from an airstrike that landed just in the last hour or so.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): This is life under the drone. We're the first reporters into the heart of the town. Only soldiers left here underground. The Khartiia 13th National Guard first tackled Russia's new offensive.

OLEKSANDR, KHARTIIA NATIONAL GUARD BRIGADE (through text translation): You saw how it's all burning. It's like that every night.

PATON WALSH: Do you think there were good enough fortifications here?

OLEKSANDR (through text translation): Nothing was prepared here. Nothing. Just nothing. All the positions are being built by the hands of the infantry. The Russians are trained professional soldiers. We can see it from their equipment, from their tactics.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): There were eight airstrikes just in the last hour, so we leave soon. A buzzing noise near us, very close, and the only way they know whose drone this is, is if it attacks.

(Through text translation): Is it your drone?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): Who knows?

PATON WALSH (voice-over): All around Kharkiv, they don't have enough guns and the Russians have too many drones. The 92nd Assault Brigade show us something that isn't even theirs.

Russian artillery piece that they captured in the first year of the war in the fighting in Kharkiv region. And now they use, strangely, French mortar rounds to fire from here. It's just a sign of how little appropriate ammunition they have available to them. This wire is a protection from FPV drones.

(Voice-over): Above, he sees a drone with two battery packs, a long- range scout.

Run. Basement.

(Voice-over): It is not friendly. If you can tell, it's an attack drone. Hide. This seems to be a scout so running is better before it calls in shelling. Another artillery unit wants to show us something not even Russian, but Soviet. Made in the 1940s, it can still fire newer Polish shells. In the autumn, it was a hundred a day. Now it is 10.

Extraordinary to see something here that's three times the age of either of these two guys holding back a new Russian offensive in 2024. I say the metal is so old that that limits the number of times.

(Voice-over): That sound warns another drone is incoming. And back in the bunker, they show us the online bought $30 gadget that is their best warning mechanism.

The team here embody Ukraine's exhaustion and resilience. Older guys, wounded infantrymen. Artur (PH) has drone shrapnel in his arms still. UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): Moving towards Lozova?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): Yes, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): Orlan, don't go out at all for now.

PATON WALSH: He just saw an Orlan Russian drone passing overhead. So he is saying, better stay inside.

(Voice-over): On the way back into the city, we see what fuels this defense. This was a lakeside resort, football, cocktails, a beach.

[15:20:00]

Extraordinary devastation. And they're here to collect the bodies.

(Voice-over): A seven-month pregnant woman was among the seven dead here. Another body found later. Just fragments in the mulch. Russia's advance looms over whatever life persists here, belching out over homes.

The darkest little salvation. This may be a drone being hit, but they kill, too, when they crash in failure. Flares breached the enforced blackout. Moscow is getting nearer again. And there are always too many blasts before dawn.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PATON WALSH (on-camera): Now the horrific devastation was visited upon a hardware complex today in the northern parts of Kharkiv City. There may not be assigned necessarily that Russia is getting the success that it wants by getting close enough to that village we're talking about in that report, Lyptsi, to get artillery to strike Ukraine's second city. But it certainly is a sign that they're able to get their aircraft to drop, in this case to glided glide bombs.

Extraordinary firepower they're using, often half ton levels of explosive that hit areas again and again. Now the death toll from that particular strike, four now with potentially 40 injured, and then two other strikes afterwards, one in Kharkiv City, no injuries reported from that, and another one injuring over 10 people as well.

Just earlier on in the week after we saw the horrific devastation after the Lakeside Tourist resort was hit and seven were killed, another target in Kharkiv City was hit with another seven dead. It is relatively daily that we see strikes, but I think it's every three, four days that you get a death toll that's truly horrific. The target seemed to be predominantly civilian in nature. And again and again, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy simply says, we don't have the air defenses we need to look after ourselves.

Just when Russia's newest offensive towards Kharkiv began over two weeks ago, he clearly said we need two Patriot systems. The $61 billion worth of U.S. military aid held up by some absurd, frankly, Republican congressional dysfunctionality that is slowly trickling through, we don't know exactly when they're going to get the weapons. What we can see on the frontlines nothing is changing. Rushed ascendancy at the moment. And it's really in that city, Kharkiv, that the brutality of that advances changing the daily calculations of life hour by hour, utterly horrific to behold.

And that week we spent in Kharkiv every night the skyline a light as you saw in that report, they're just bang after blast and a real sense I think of life in that key city having almost got back to normal since the Russians was pushed out about two years ago. Now slipping quickest back towards the worst nightmare.

WHITFIELD: Wow, yes, those new rounds of weapons can't come soon enough.

Nick Paton Walsh, in eastern Ukraine, thank you.

Coming up, this Utah mom was charged with poisoning her husband with a lethal dose of fentanyl. Now she's speaking out the first time and declaring war from behind bars.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:27:50]

WHITFIELD: A Utah grief author turned murder suspect speaks out for the first time since being charged with her husband's murder. Prosecutors say Kouri Richins poisoned her husband, Eric, with a fatal dose of fentanyl back in 2022, and then published a children's book about how to deal with grief.

CNN's Camila Bernal joins me now live from Los Angeles with more on this.

And now what does Kouri Richins is saying?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred. She's saying that it is time to speak up. She says that she's anxious about this trial, but in her words, she said she's ready to give this one heck of a fight. And as you mentioned, this is the first time that we're hearing from her after we heard from her on local TV when she was promoting that book about grief, that children's book. And she released these audios to do different news outlets.

And so we're waiting to hear exactly what is going to happen in her trial, but in the meantime, this also comes just a week after her attorneys that have been with her this entire time withdrew from the case, so they are citing irreconcilable and non-waivable situation that they say is related to her civil cases. So now she has other attorneys that were appointed, and CNN has reached out to these new attorneys to ask about the audio specifically, and also to figure out what is going to come next in terms of her defense.

It's unclear clear exactly when she recorded these audios and when she released them. But I want you to take a listen to what she told ABC News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KOURI RICHINS, SUSPECTED OF KILLING HUSBAND: What I've really done is protect Eric at all costs. What I really didn't do is murder my husband. I could not and would not ever do that to Eric or anyone for that matter. I will not give up. I will not give in. Please, just give me a chance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: So let's take a step back. Kouri Richins is accused of killing her husband by giving him this cocktail. It was a Moscow mule that was laced with fentanyl and when the toxicology report came out, it said that essentially he had five times the lethal dose of fentanyl.

[15:30:06]

And so what the prosecutor alleges here is that she bought these drugs, gave them to her husband. They also say she withdrew money from his account, changed the life insurance policy, and they're saying that this was all in terms of money, in terms of her marriage, and they say that they also have proof that she was on her phone looking up things like, what is the lethal dose of fentanyl?

Now, her previous defense attorneys had said that there was no proof that she'd actually purchase the drugs. They said that these financial troubles were not necessarily motive for murder. We're waiting to hear what the new attorneys will have to say and what they will put forth as their defense.

But in the meantime, we did hear from Eric's family. They released the statement and here is what they're saying. They said, "We are never surprised by the rantings of this deranged woman. What she did to her children's father is unforgivable and her complete lack of compassion or empathy for them is deplorable."

So what happens here is that because of the change in attorneys, the new ones are asking for more time. So there was a hearing scheduled for the 18th of June. Now that's going to be a scheduling hearing on the 21st. We have to wait to see what the judge decides, but of course these new attorneys asking for more time -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And what is behind the changing of attorneys?

BERNAL: Yes. It's really interesting here because they've been with her this entire time and she says that this was not her choice, that she did not want to get rid of her attorneys. Take a listen to what she told "Dateline."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHINS: My defense team has been forced to withdraw off my case. Represented or not, we all know and should understand there's only so much I can say. But what I will say is this withdrawal was not my choice, and it was not a personal choice of any counsel on my defense team.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: And look, she says she is ready for this trial. She wants to essentially get it over with. And so we'll wait to hear exactly when this is going to start, but it looks like it might continue to be delayed despite the fact that she wants to get this over with and she says she wants to prove her innocence -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Camila Bernal, thank you so much for keeping us posted.

All right. The latest round of ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas just ended. Why the CIA director says progress has been made.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:37:13]

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. At least 10 people were killed, including children, after a drone strike hit a school that was being used as a shelter in Northern Gaza. People were fleeing violence in Jabalya as Israeli forces fought Hamas militants in that area.

I want to warn you the video that we're receiving, that we're about to show you is very disturbing.

CNN's Elliott Gotkine is in Tel Aviv.

So, Elliott, what more do we know about this?

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So according to eyewitnesses that we've spoken with here at CNN, there was an Israeli drone strike just on the outskirts of Jabalya where the IDF has been dealing with a resurgence of Hamas after effectively saying it was kind of job done in the northern parts of the Gaza Strip. So from these eyewitnesses, we understand that this school where people had been sheltering was struck by a drone, and that there are at least 10 people killed, including a number of children.

And we've seen footage of health workers at a local clinic tending to some of the bodies there as well. Now we have reached out to the IDF for comment on this specific incident. We haven't heard back yet. Usually in such circumstances, the IDF has said that it has been, you know, pursuing militants in that area, or had been using facilities to fight with Israeli forces or fire rockets and the light. But as I said, we haven't heard back from the IDF on the specific incident just yet -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: And Elliott, you know, let's talk about what was taking place in Paris. I mean, there were some hope that there were some sort of ceasefire discussions. It ended, but the CIA director Bill Burns says there was some progress made. I mean, it's hard to even, you know, understand that notion now when we see kind of this new video, but take us back to what happened.

GOTKINE: So in terms of these talks that were taking place in Paris with CIA director Bill Burns along with his counterparts from Israel and also senior officials from Qatar, the Egyptians usually involved as well. We understand that their usual point person, their head of intelligence was not there. And so what they're trying to do really is resuscitate these talks which would see a number of Israeli hostages who were abducted on October 7th and have been in captivity ever since, see a number of those hostages released in exchange for a truce and a larger number of Palestinian prisoners being freed from Israeli jails.

Now you may recall earlier this month there were hopes that a deal was about to be done. Indeed, Hamas said it had accepted a deal that have been mediated by the Qataris and the Egyptians. There were celebrations on the streets in parts of Gaza.

[15:40:04]

But then it subsequently turned out, according to CNN reporting, that the deal that have been signed off by Israel had been changed by the Egyptians before being presented to Hamas. So effectively both sides were agreeing to different deals. Now the Egyptians deny this, but certainly this is our understanding of what happened.

Indeed CNN's reporting almost prompted the Egyptians to pull out of its role as one of the key mediators here but certainly after these talks in Paris, spearheaded by Bill Burns, there is hope that these talks could resume perhaps as early as this week. We're trying to get some more information on that. But as we've seen for months now these talks have dragged on. They've hit impasses.

They've continued, they've seemingly broken down, everyone really is still trying to wait and see if a deal can be done. So even if talks resume, it's important to be cautious with any hope that a deal can be done very soon -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Elliott Gotkine in Tel Aviv, thank you so much.

We'll be right back.

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[15:45:43]

WHITFIELD: -- judge has denied Alec Baldwin's motion to dismiss an involuntary manslaughter indictment against him after the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. The actor's attorneys accused prosecutors of misconduct during the grand jury process and tried to get the case dismissed.

CNN's Josh Campbell has more on Baldwin's case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: A judge in the U.S. state of New Mexico clearing the way for the continued prosecution of actor Alec Baldwin, issuing a motion on Friday, dismissing a motion from Baldwin's team seeking to dismiss a charge against him of involuntary manslaughter. Now, in their original motion, Baldwin's team took exception with the

way the prosecutors were handling their case, alleging they were operating in bad faith, claiming that there was impropriety on the way that they had handled a grand jury that was ultimately used to indict the actor.

Now CNN has reached out to Baldwin's team for comment on the judge's motion. Of course all of this stems from the 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the movie "Rust." Baldwin himself was holding a firearm when it went off killing the cinematographer. Baldwin has denied pulling the trigger on that weapon.

Again, the news Baldwin will continue with the prosecution. That is set to begin in New Mexico in July.

Josh Campbell, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Sean "Diddy" Combs is facing yet another sexual assault lawsuit. It's his second this week and the seventh lawsuit since November that directly accuses the music mogul of sexual assault.

CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister has more, and I want to warn you that you may find the details disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The legal fallout continues for Sean "Diddy" Combs, just a week after CNN uncovered this disturbing video of the music mogul throwing then- girlfriend Cassie Ventura to the ground, then kicking and dragging her.

On Thursday, April Lampros filed a civil law lawsuit accusing Combs of sexual assault when she was a fashion student in New York in the mid- '90s and shared with him her dreams of working in the fashion industry. Then Mr. Combs love-bombed her, the suit alleges, using flowers and cards like this one, and inviting her to his first Father's Day celebration. But Combs' kind gestures became more aggressive, the suit alleges, leading to a total of four separate sexual assault.

The first, an alleged rape in 1995, leaving Lampros nude, sore, and confused. She claims Combs used his power in the industry to regain her trust. But then in a New York City parking garage forced Lampros to perform oral sex. As Miss Lampros' eyes filled with tears, she could see the parking garage attendant witnessing this horrific assault, the suit claims.

Lampros says she was caught in an abusive relationship and tried to end it after several years, but after running into Combs at an event, he pursued her and in late 2000s at her apartment, Combs violently grabbed her and forced himself onto her, kissing and touching her against her will. This came, the suit notes, while Combs was in a public relationship with Jennifer Lopez.

Combs developed this mobster persona, the suit claims, at one point violently yanking her down to her knees and pulling her hair. The alleged abuse similar to this, when Combs was caught on hotel surveillance in 2016, kicking and dragging Cassie Ventura, then throwing a vase at her.

SEAN "DIDDY" COMBS, RAPPER: I mean I hit rock bottom.

WAGMEISTER: The latest suit filed by Lampros is the seventh civil lawsuit against Combs, alleging sexual assault. Many of the cases once fell outside the statute of limitations. But in the case of that shocking video from Los Angeles, the district attorney's office says criminal charges won't be filed. The video shows assault, not rape, but with those federal raids on Diddy's homes in March, legal analysts say the civil claims, much like in the case against Harvey Weinstein, could play into criminal charges in the future.

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: And so just because it's a civil lawsuit now doesn't mean that prosecutors in looking at evaluating it may not find something that they feel that they can prosecute that makes it fair game for prosecution. And I think it's a faulty assumption to presume that he's out of the woods.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[15:50:04]

WAGMEISTER (on-camera): Now, I reached out to April Lampros and she says that the reason she came forward so that no other woman has to endure what she did. She says that she does believe that justice will ultimately prevail.

We also reached out to Diddy's team. No word back yet on this lawsuit and also no comment from them on another suit that was also filed earlier this week. Both of those complaints coming after that surveillance video of Cassie that we released here at CNN.

Back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Elizabeth. And we'll be right back.

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[15:55:15]

WHITFIELD: Four years ago today, George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis by then Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's back and neck for more than nine minutes. Earlier today, we asked Terrence Floyd, George's brother, about how he remembers him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TERRENCE FLOYD, BROTHER OF GEORGE FLOYD: I remember my brother as he was, you know, a gentle giant is what we used to call him, you know, because he was a big guy, but he was loving. He was a compassionate, he loved the community that he was in. He loved the community that he was from, which was Houston. I just -- I just miss him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The chilling video of George Floyd's final moments triggered protests across the country and around the world, and escalated demands on addressing deadly police encounters. In the four years since Floyd's murder reform has been slow. According to the ACLU, at least 1,247 people were killed by police in 2023, more than any previous year on record.

We asked Terrence Floyd about his feelings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FLOYD: I see some change, you know, I usually say slow motion is better than no motion. I see slow movement on it, you know, where there are officers -- there are always been officers in law enforcement that care for the community and it was always the rotten apples that made it bad for all of them. You know, but I see more coming out and really be compassionate with the communities.

My family along with other families and politicians and people in the community are fighting to get this George Floyd Policing Act passed. Don't -- and what I want to let people know, don't focus on the name, focus on the content that's in it. What it's going to do for our future generations, how it's going to help future generations not have to deal with what we're dealing with right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: This week, Democratic lawmakers made a new push for federal police reform. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee re-introduced the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act. The bill was first introduced after Floyd's death. It passed the House, but stalled in the Senate. And now if passed, it would outline several reforms including limiting use of force, restricting no knock warrants and chokeholds.

President Biden, who supports the legislation, has previously called on Congress to pass police reform.

On this Memorial Day weekend, Americans will visit cemeteries across the nation to pay tribute to veterans and honor their service. But many veterans have been long overlooked, especially in historically black cemeteries.

CNN's Karin Caifa has more.

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KARIN CAIFA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On a blustery spring Saturday in York, Pennsylvania, the Civil War Service of John Noble is finally memorialized. Noble was born in Havana, Cuba around 1832. He fought for the Union

Army from 1862 to two 1863, and in 1902, he was buried in North York's Lebanon Cemetery until the 1960s, one of the only burial sites in the area for African-Americans.

SAMANTHA DORM, FRIENDS OF LEBANON CEMETERY: I didn't realize that this was a black cemetery. It was just the place where my relatives were buried, and so it's only been since 2019 when I started volunteering here that I knew and understood the gravity of what this site meant.

CAIFA: Samantha Dorm is co-founder of a volunteer group called Friends of Lebanon Cemetery. When the group first came together in 2019, the primary mission was upkeep. Now the focus has expanded to research, storytelling, education, and remembrance.

DORM: The truth of the matter is many of those stories are not there to be found. If you don't have families who can tell you about their ancestors, that can tell you about their history, their lineage, those stories are oftentimes lost.

CAIFA: The more than 150-year-old cemetery, Dorm says, is the final resting place of at least 300 U.S. military veterans. This spring, Noble and four other black veterans received the grave markers to which every eligible U.S. Military veteran is entitled, whether buried in a cemetery maintained by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs like this one in Alexandria, Virginia, or a private cemetery like Lebanon.

MATTHEW QUINN, VETERANS AFFAIRS UNDERSECRETARY FOR MEMORIAL AFFAIRS: Every veteran has the story to be told and so without that marker, that story is lost, and the legacy of that veteran is lost.

CAIFA: Matthew Quinn is the V.A.'s outgoing undersecretary for Memorial Affairs. He says efforts like that by the Friends of Lebanon cemetery and at other private sites is an extension of the recognition at the nation's V.A. operated cemeteries.