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"Implosion" Explores What Led To Doomed Submersible's Voyage; Trump Announces An Increase In Steel Tariffs To 50 Percent; Trump Agenda Now In Senate's Hands After Narrowly Passing House; Emanuel: Dems Need To Focus More On Core Issues, Less On Cultural Ones; CA Trans Student Athlete Advances To Finals Today Amid Controversy; Ex- Aide Challenged Over Sexual Assault; Claims In Tense Cross; Suge Knight Urges Rival Sean Combs To Take The Stand; Hamas Responds to Gaza Ceasefire Proposal; Saudi Foreign Minister Postpones Trip to West Bank; Governors Walz, Moore Rally Dems at Rep. Clyburn's South Carolina Fish Fry; Biden Makes First Public Comments on Cancer Diagnosis; Taylor Swift Announces She Now Owns All Her Music. Aired 1- 2p ET
Aired May 31, 2025 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[13:00:00]
PAMELA GORDON, DIRECTOR, "IMPLOSION: THE TITANIC SUB DISASTER": -- that not only did he not want to take the risk of going down in Titan, but he didn't want to make a film that would then promote Titan where other people might make the decision to go down into it and then something bad happens.
So, you know, it was just an extremely responsible --
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: That was fortuitous.
GORDON: Yes, it was --
WHITFIELD: Right?
GORDON: -- fortuitous, but also it was kind of, you know, great respect for Josh, to Josh for doing that and for having the courage to go back to the network and say, actually, we can't do this. And, obviously, he was proven to be so right.
I think that it forms a really important part of the documentary. In a way, it's just one of the warnings in this whole series of warnings which go unheeded. I mean, obviously, Josh acted, so didn't make the special, so therefore didn't make another promotion for Titan.
But nevertheless, you know, Stockton continued. And a few months later, he took the Titan into the North Atlantic and they started diving down to the Titanic. Just a few months after, Josh had decided that he couldn't back the project.
WHITFIELD: Wow, incredible.
Pamela Gordon, thank you so much.
GORDON: Yes.
WHITFIELD: The director of "Implosion: The Titanic Sub Disaster", now on Discovery. Thank you so much.
GORDON: Thanks very much. Thanks for having me.
WHITFIELD: Absolutely.
All right. Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Saturday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
And we begin this hour with President Trump ramping up his global trade war. He is now doubling tariffs on steel imported into the U.S. from 25 percent to 50 percent starting on Wednesday. Trump made the surprise announcement in front of a crowd of steelworkers at a factory in Pennsylvania on Friday.
He traveled there to celebrate Japanese steelmaker Nippon's plans to buy the iconic American steelmaker, U.S. Steel. It's a takeover Trump opposed on the campaign trail. But recently, he reversed course, announcing he would approve the controversial deal. The president described the merger as a partnership and not an outright purchase of U.S. Steel by Japan.
CNN's Betsy Klein is with us now. What more can you tell us about this unexpected tariff announcement, this deal? And I guess we can call it was an about face, right, by the president on this?
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: That's certainly right. I mean, we saw President Trump unveil a doubling in tariffs on foreign made steel yesterday in Pennsylvania. And this move could potentially be good for the American steel industry, but it could have impacts on the domestic manufacturing and construction industry, could potentially raise prices on things like cars.
The president made this announcement as he visited that Pittsburgh area U.S. Steel plant. He was there to celebrate a deal made between Japan's Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel, something that he says is not yet finalized, but marks a partnership. And he said the U.S. would still control U.S. Steel Company.
Now, steel tariffs will jump from 25 percent all the way up to 50 percent, a move that he says is aimed at bolstering American steel production. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are going to be imposing a 25 percent increase, we're going to bring it from 25 percent to 50 percent, the tariffs on steel into the United States of America, which will even further secure the steel industry in the United States.
Nobody's going to be able to steal your industry. It's at 25 percent. They can sort of get over that fence at 50 percent. They can no longer get over the fence. I said to the group, would you rather have a 40 percent increase? Because I was thinking about 40 percent when I came. I said, would you rather have a 40 percent or a 50 percent? They said, we'll take 50 percent.
I said, I had I had a feeling you were going to say that. So congratulations.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
KLEIN: So all of this comes as the president's broader tariff agenda is facing so much uncertainty. We have seen the president use tariffs to really transform the U.S. and global economic system over the past few months with varying degrees of success. But now the courts are threatening to transform the president's economic agenda.
We saw that panel of judges earlier this week announce a decision that would block the president's global tariffs that was shortly reversed by an appeals court, giving this some time to play out in court, but leaving those tariffs in place for now, buying the administration some time there.
But the administration says they are prepared to take this all the way to the Supreme Court, raising two key questions, Fredricka. Number one, what happens to those trade deals that are in the process of being negotiated? U.S. officials have been telling their foreign counterparts, let's keep staying the course, let's get these deals done.
[13:05:06]
And their counterparts are wondering if they need to just let this play out in the courts and wait and see what happens. Number two, what happens to the president's so-called Big, Beautiful Bill? It has passed the House, has not yet passed the Senate, and it really relies on the revenue from some of these tariffs to pay for the tax cuts that it has planned.
So we will be watching both of these questions quite carefully in the coming weeks.
WHITFIELD: All right, we know you will.
Betsy Klein, thanks so much.
All right, joining me right now to talk about these developments and more is Michigan Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Dingell. Congresswoman, always great to see you.
REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D-MI): Always good to see you.
WHITFIELD: So what's your reaction to President Trump doubling the tariffs on imported steel and aluminum from 25 percent to 50 percent?
DINGELL: You know, I get in trouble sometimes because I say tariffs are a tool in the toolbox, and we are not competing on a level playing field with countries like China that are actually subsidizing and the manufacturing of the products by the Chinese Communist government, and they're manipulating their currency.
But what we have in this country right now is sheer, unadulterated chaos. We do need to bring and protect steel manufacturing in this country. We've lost shipbuilding capacity. There are many things that as a strong, independent country that wants to continue to be a world economic leader, we need to have the ability to do in this country, and we need to be competing on a level playing field.
But instead, companies need certainty. We have total chaos. It changes from day to day. You don't know at 10:00 in the morning what the policy will be at 5:00 in the afternoon. I want to have a strong steel manufacturing industry in this country. I want a strong auto industry. But the way we're doing it right now is doing nothing but creating chaos.
WHITFIELD: So then what is your reaction to this takeover of U.S. Steel by a Japanese company? The president is, you know, calling it a partnership. You supported President Biden blocking the sale of U.S. Steel to this Japanese firm a while back. So have you changed your mind about this kind of arrangement?
DINGELL: No, I have not changed my mind. But by the way, President Trump said he was opposed to it until he changed his mind again.
WHITFIELD: And what provoked that, do you think?
DINGELL: I don't know. What I do know is that we need to have steel manufacturing capability in this country. That is a national security issue. It's an economic security issue and a national security issue.
Now, he says that the United States is still going to control this. Again, it's chaos. We don't know exactly what it's there. I want the steel workers to have jobs.
We need to have -- we cannot be dependent upon any other country to produce steel. If we get into a war or a military crisis or an economic crisis, we've got to have that.
WHITFIELD: Could there be anything that would block the, you know, finality of this kind of purchase?
DINGELL: Well, on this, the lawyers are taking a look at it. I suspect the steel workers. The steel workers want jobs. The steel companies want certainty. But I do believe that we need a consistent, thought out strategic trade policy in this country, which Congress should be a part of and we should all be working on.
WHITFIELD: The president's so-called Big, Beautiful Bill now in the hands of the Senate after Republicans in the House passed the tax and spending cuts package. What concerns do you still have with this bill? What are you hoping might transpire in the Senate?
DINGELL: Well, I have a lot of concerns about this bill. I was home, have been home. People are scared to death about losing their health insurance. Seniors are concerned that they could get kicked out of nursing homes.
I'm counting on Josh Hawley, the Conservative senator from Missouri, who says the Medicaid provisions in there are immoral. It's the largest cut in food assistance that we've ever seen in this country. I don't think a child should be going to school hungry. Let's start there.
You know, the tax provisions are uncertain. We add to the deficit. We don't take away from it. I'm not always a fan of the United States Senate, but I'm hoping the United States Senate is going to improve a bill that's a very bad piece of legislation that passed by one vote in the House.
WHITFIELD: OK. Let me shift gears and ask about something internally now. The Democratic Party, former Obama chief of staff and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel says, you know, the party needs to stop focusing on cultural issues and image and focus more on core issues that voters, he says, care about.
This was Rahm Emanuel on CNN. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
RAHM EMANUEL, FORMER OBAMA WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: The party in the last few years, I think, got caught in a whole set of cultural issues that not only were tangential to the core issues the American people cared about, it looked like what we cared about were those issues rather than important issues.
Just because people are loud doesn't mean they represent a lot of people. It just means they're loud. And we allowed a series of interest groups to look like they were dominating the party to the exclusion of the American people.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
[13:10:24]
WHITFIELD: What do you think about what he has to say?
DINGELL: So I'm going to be very blunt. Remember, I'm the person in 2016 that said Hillary Clinton was going to lose and was demonized by many for saying it. We need to be talking about economic issues. We need to be talking about the cost.
We need to be talking about job security. We need to be talking about health care. We need to be talking about security, period. Everybody wants to feel safe.
I think sometimes Rahm is Rahm and I love Rahm. Everybody's got a right to have their voices heard, but we need to be talking about what people in the union halls, the veterans halls, what people are talking about. There are worries every single day about whether their job is going to be safe, whether they can find a job, make enough money and be able to afford basic necessities.
WHITFIELD: All right, Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, we'll leave it there. Thanks so much.
All right, just days after President Trump threatened to block federal funding to California over transgender track and field athlete, that student is headed to the state championships. In a Truth Social post Tuesday, the president railed against high school junior A.B. Hernandez and ordered local authorities not to allow her to continue competing.
But the preliminary round Friday, Hernandez plays first in the long jump, high jump and triple jump, which means she's advancing to today's finals in all three events.
CNN's Julia Vargas Jones is live for us in Clovis, California, where those finals are taking place. So, Julia, you know, the state changed some rules. It'll be a little different in terms of who potentially ends up on the podium. But then in addition to that, what is happening there today right now?
JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the finals are set to go on and we haven't heard any indication, Fred, of whether A.B. Hernandez would be impeded from competing. That hasn't even -- you know, the organizers here, the California Interscholastic Federation, they've made it very clear they've changed the rules to make it -- so to make it more fair.
They said that they wanted to change these rules to allow everybody to have the opportunity to compete. And that has allowed. So there is an extra cisgender girl going on to the next round.
And if A.B. Hernandez makes it to the podium, which she's been doing really well, it looks like she might, there will be an extra medal awarded to another cisgendered girl who would have placed in the podium if Hernandez did not or does not later today.
We'll see how those competitions, at least three events go in the next few hours. But this is happening because California has since 2013, I should say, allowed for transgender athletes to compete in the category of the gender they identify with.
Of course, with the president's comments now, the DOJ has opened an investigation to see if that law is a violation of Title IX, the federal law that does not allow for discrimination based on sex in any learning institution that is federally funded.
But the governor, Gavin Newsom, said that these compromises are good, even though he had previously said that transgender girls being part of girl sports raises an issue of fairness. He says that these accommodations are good.
Now, it remains to be seen what the president will say. You know, he did threaten to pull funding and asking those local authorities to step in and not allow A.B. Hernandez to compete today. But so far, no indication.
WHITFIELD: OK. And then what's been the reaction from others there to Hernandez's participation? JONES: Well, that is an interesting question. For months, there have been a small group of protesters that have come to A.B. Hernandez's competitions, saying that they are there to protect girl sports, saying that a boy should not be competing in girl sports.
But -- and we do expect them to be here today. They were here yesterday. We're expecting perhaps a bigger group of protesters here today. They're not allowed inside the competition.
But the majority of the parents here, they say that they're just concerned with the athletics of it all. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
DAN USHER, FATHER & COACH: It's terrible for the kids. And it's something that they're going to have to decide so that we don't have controversy when we come to the state meet and everybody wants to focus on the excellent performances. And, you know, instead, there's some distractions.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
[13:15:10]
JONES: And focusing on the competition is also what A.B. Hernandez and her mother have said that they want to do. They've defended her right to participate in this team, to compete and to be a student athlete.
She said herself in a board school meeting last month, Fred, that she is also very thankful for her teammates who have so far supported and loved on her as she goes on to these, you know, finals that are happening in just a few hours.
WHITFIELD: All right. Pretty exciting day out there.
All right. Julia Vargas Jones, thank you so much.
All right, coming up, a former assistant to Sean "Diddy" Combs testifies about alleged sexual abuse and fear of losing her job and her life.
And former President Joe Biden speaks publicly for the first time since his cancer diagnosis. What he told CNN about his health.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:20:48]
WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. A tense back and forth in court Friday as the second woman to accuse Sean "Diddy" Combs of sexual abuse took the stand. The former assistant detailed more instances of alleged abuse and blackmail, saying she feared not only losing her job, but she also feared for her life.
CNN's Kara Scannell has details from outside the court. KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sean Combs, former assistant, testifying under a pseudonym Mia, was under cross-examination for much of Friday. She was confronted with about three dozen social media posts she made about Combs.
In these posts, she posted photos of them smiling, captions that called him legend, mentor and inspiration, and also writing repeatedly, I love you with multiple exclamation points. The jury was also showed several posts where she wished Combs a happy birthday.
And Combs' attorney, Brian Steel, said to her, wasn't that the anniversary of the very first time you claimed he sexually assaulted you? Mia testifying that for her job, she was expected to promote him. And she also said that she was still unraveling all of this in therapy.
She was also showed a scrapbook that she made for Combs for his 45th birthday. Along with that scrapbook sort of encompassing his rise in hip hop in the 90s was a long handwritten note. She was asked, why would you make a scrapbook for him if he sexually assaulted you and brutally beaten your best friend, Cassie Ventura?
Mia testified, it's a lot more complicated than the way you phrase that. It's abuse on many levels. She was also challenged directly, asked, you just made up that Sean Combs sexually assaulted you. He never did that. Mia testified that everything she said on the stand was true.
Now, earlier in the day, she was still under direct examination by the prosecution. And then she testified that two weeks after Cassie Ventura filed her civil lawsuit against Combs, that she was contacted by Combs' security guard called D-Roc and Combs himself. She said, Puff wanted D-Roc to get to me and make sure I wasn't a threat.
She called that a front. Mia will be back on the witness stand on Monday for more cross-examination.
Kara Scannell, CNN, New York.
WHITFIELD: All right, here with me now for more perspective is Julie Grant, Court TV anchor and former prosecutor. Julie, great to see you.
JULIE GRANT, COURT TV ANCHOR & FORMER PROSECUTOR: Great to see you, Fredricka. Thanks for having me.
WHITFIELD: So this witness, Mia, I mean, pretty powerful. How did this help the prosecution? Did it fill in some blanks? Did it allow, you know, jurors to see P. Diddy differently?
GRANT: Yes, yes, yes, yes, Fredricka. So it helped the government mainly in two ways for two of the counts. For the count involving Cassie's sex trafficking, count number two, it helped corroborate Cassie's testimony because Mia was a witness to so much of the force, the beatings, her trying to escape certain situations.
We heard about what happened at Prince's party when she was supposed to stay in the hotel room. Mia was supposed to keep tabs on her when they went. And then Diddy tried to hit Cassie at the party and it was Prince's security that intervened. So Mia largely corroborated the situation that Cassie was living in, helping to establish that she was, in fact, trafficked.
The other main thing it does is it establishes one of those predicate crimes that falls under the big racketeering conspiracy in charge, which is count number one. And the government's got to prove two of them that happened within 10 years. And they're proving forced labor through Mia's testimony because she's Diddy's assistant.
She's talking about how when she's working for him, he's throwing things at her. A bowl of spaghetti slammed her arm in a door, sexually assaulting her.
WHITFIELD: And that speaks to the assault --
GRANT: Yes.
WHITFIELD: -- but then how did they best establish that, you know, forced labor? I mean --
GRANT: Right.
WHITFIELD: She was being paid. People were being paid.
GRANT: Right.
WHITFIELD: But there has to be the criminal element that the prosecutors are trying to allow the jurors to see.
GRANT: Yes. Excellent question, Fredricka. So when you think about what the government has to prove with forced labor, we have someone receiving some type of service through some element of threat or force.
And so if we take even one instance, for example, when Sean "Diddy" Combs is alleged to have forced her to perform oral sex when she is at his home, helping him with business matters. And if she doesn't perform, then what happens?
[13:25:05]
So that's just one of many instances that Mia described where she was forcibly assaulted, continuing in the position to provide him with services for work as his assistant, multitasking with so many things. That's forced labor.
When someone is made to do things against their will and someone else is getting a value from them. And so her whole experience with him largely establishes that predicate crime.
WHITFIELD: So the defense attorneys will also try to attack the credibility of every witness, including Mia, with the question of why did you stay? I mean, she said it's more complicated than you think. What's the opportunity that I guess needs to be given to her or does she need to take since he'll be back on the stand on Monday to express what made it complicated?
You know, she did say she was worried about her livelihood. She was worried about her life. But there needs to be more. And that's a question.
GRANT: Right?
WHITFIELD: Or a statement.
GRANT: Yes, yes.
WHITFIELD: Well there have to be more.
GRANT: Yes, Fredricka, absolutely. You know, it's understanding the cycle of abuse is what it boils down to. And Diddy's lawyers have clearly picked up on this. They know what they're doing. He's assembled a tremendous team, as you're well aware.
And with every witness, they're trying to exploit those things that are favorable, like the, well, you posted this great message about him. You said you loved working for him. You said you would kill yourself, you know, when you were terminated.
You know, all of these things to show that, hey, you weren't having a bad experience at all. You were in this. You were in it to win it. He was helping your career. For anyone that understand what it's like to be in the cycle of violence, it's a feeling of paralyzation that you can't leave.
Tremendous fear overcomes you. It's a freezing type of response that a lot of people go through. And her saying to the jury, I think was pretty powerful last week. Hey, who would believe me when Sean "Diddy" Combs is my boss? Who was I going to go to to try to fight this? This --
WHITFIELD: And that's consistent with Cassie Ventura's testimony that she --
GRANT: Didn't go.
WHITFIELD: -- you know, she did try to leave or she felt like she couldn't leave. That was a powerful thing to say. She really felt like she couldn't leave. So imprisoned former rap mogul Marion Suge Knight. I mean, he urged his longtime, you know, arch rival to actually take the stand.
You know, it's up to P. Diddy, right? Ultimately --
GRANT: Yes.
WHITFIELD: -- not necessarily his attorneys. But he kind of tried to do that on video after the videotape was revealed of, you know, him, you know, beating Cassie Ventura. That didn't go over well. Does he need another opportunity to try to sway public opinion or the jurors by taking the stand? Or would that just be terrible for him?
GRANT: Oh Fredricka, well, that is the million dollar question, right? I mean, Suge Knight, what a great interview with Laura Coates.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
GRANT: I mean, he's, you know, a hardened gangster --
WHITFIELD: Right.
GRANT: -- and yet he's speaking like a jury consultant.
WHITFIELD: Right.
GRANT: In that interview, he's saying, you know, Diddy could humanize himself. And he's right. That's exactly the kind of thing a jury consultant may say, where you go before the jury and you say, look, I'm an imperfect man.
I did a lot of bad things. I am an abuser.
WHITFIELD: Again, he kind of tried that in that video.
GRANT: Yes. He did.
WHITFIELD: I don't think it went over well.
GRANT: You're right.
WHITFIELD: But go ahead.
GRANT: No, you're right. And so that's where the performance element comes in. So a jury consultant will be helping his lawyers weigh the risks. Is the juice worth the squeeze? So you have a guy who's been a very successful producer and performer for many, many years.
This would be the performance of his lifetime --
WHITFIELD: No.
GRANT: -- if he could pull it off. On the other side, if he gets up there and he blows it, I mean, if he's just --
WHITFIELD: Because you'll be -- this cross-examination.
GRANT: Right.
WHITFIELD: Anything could happen.
GRANT: Right. I mean, Fredricka, if he's just convicted with sex trafficking alone.
WHITFIELD: That's where you're out of control, potentially. Right.
GRANT: 15 years. It was a mandatory 15 years.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
GRANT: He must do, he's 55. Now he'd be 70 before he gets out if the jury doesn't believe him and if they believe Cassie. So tremendous risk to consider --
WHITFIELD: Right.
GRANT: -- a risk --
WHITFIELD: Because even if you feel like you are in control of your image when it comes down to cross-examination, you don't necessarily have the upper hand, right, because anything could happen. So next week, what are you expecting?
GRANT: Yes.
WHITFIELD: What are you looking for?
GRANT: Oh, boy, I'm looking for a lot more from Mia and you really hit on it. She's got to explain why she stayed. Got to help the jury understand what it felt like to be her at the time and why publicly what she was putting out there wasn't a reflection of what she was feeling inside.
So she's going to have the weekend to think about that. And hopefully we're going to get some more clarification when it's time for the government to redirect her.
I'm interested in hearing more about the predicate crimes. I mean, we've got arson, arguably, through Kid Cudi's Porsche being blown up. You know, we've got extortion, arguably, from Regina Ventura saying that did he came to her said you owe me $20,000 for what I spent on your daughter.
So they're building -- the federal government is building up these predicate crimes to establish that big racketeering conspiracy. So think criminal activity and think about how it relates back to the enterprise, I think we're going to see a lot more of that, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: It's a lot of information. You wonder how the jurors are able to handle it all. But, you know --
GRANT: Yes.
WHITFIELD: -- we will find out what we are handling at all.
All right, Julie Grant great to see you. Thank you so much.
WHITFIELD: Absolutely. Thanks for coming in.
All right. Straight ahead. Hamas has now responded to the latest U.S. plan for a Gaza ceasefire. We'll find out if this could be a major breakthrough. Next.
[13:30:25]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:34:46] WHITFIELD: All right. New this afternoon. Hamas said it has responded
to the ceasefire plan put out by the U.S. envoy, Steve Witkoff. The group says it wants any ceasefire to be permanent. We're also seeing more chaotic scenes as humanitarian aid arrives in Gaza. This was in Rafah earlier today.
[13:35:04]
CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is joining us right now with more on all of this. Salma, let's start with Hamas and what it is saying.
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Let's start with that ceasefire proposal, because we do now have a response from Hamas. And to put it very clearly, it's not a no, but it is not a yes.
In its response, Hamas said that it is willing and able to release 10 Israeli hostages and 18 deceased hostages in exchange for a certain number of Palestinian prisoners. Now that matches the draft proposal from Mr. Witkoff and of course, the Trump administration. But Hamas also outlines its reservations with this draft ceasefire, and it again repeated the demands that it's made throughout this mediation process.
First, that it wants to know that there will be a full end in a permanent ceasefire in this war. A complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and guaranteed flow of aid to the people of Gaza. Now that does not match the draft proposal. The ceasefire draft proposal does not contain an intrinsic guarantee that there will be an end to the war, and it does not give assurances -- assurances that that ceasefire will continue as long as negotiations continue.
Now, one Israeli official did speak to CNN after Hamas' response. It said -- this official said that Israel sees this as a refusal, as a rejection of Mr. Witkoff's proposal. And of course, for the people in Gaza, Fredricka, they needed this ceasefire yesterday.
I want to bring up some of those images you were showing of the aid distributions that were taking place in Gaza today. I mean, at some of these sites, there is clearly no organization happening at all, just hungry and desperate people descending upon these places and fighting for any bit of scrap of food that they can get.
The U.N. is warning that the entire enclave is on the brink of famine in the world. Food Programme says that 80 food trucks were looted today. The WFP says that most of that looting occurred by families just desperate to feed their loved ones.
Again, one U.N. official is saying, these scenes we see playing out here, there is no surprise, no shock among humanitarian officials given this 11-week blockade that has deprived the strip of any of the basics, food, water, medicine. Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Yes, just constant deterioration.
All right. And then the Saudi foreign minister was supposed to travel to the West Bank tomorrow, but then that trip has been postponed. What's going on? ABDELAZIZ: So yet more controversy here. One Saudi official with knowledge of the matter says that the trip was blocked by Israeli officials, that they were not given the permissions to go to the West Bank. This would have been a historic occasion. Now, the Saudi officials have not visited the West Bank since it was occupied. So we're talking about decades here. And this Saudi official was supposed to also -- the Saudi foreign minister was supposed to be seeing a larger Arab delegation visiting the West Bank. They say that visit has now been blocked.
This is extremely important when you're talking about how key diplomacy is at this moment to stemming the violence. When you hear, of course, of a diplomatic mission or a diplomatic olive branch, if you will, in this attempt to reach out to the West Bank being blocked, according again to one Saudi official with knowledge of the matter.
WHITFIELD: All right. Salma Abdelaziz, keep us posted. Thank you so much.
All right. Coming up, more on politics and how Democrats from across the country are gathering in South Carolina. Can they come up with a plan to fight President Trump's agenda? A live report next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:43:23]
WHITFIELD: All right. Deep red South Carolina is giving folks a peek inside the Democratic Party and its dilemma of how to fight President Trump's agenda. Congressman Jim Clyburn's famed fish fry last night attracted two prominent Democrats from out of state. Governors Wes Moore of Maryland and Tim Walz of Minnesota drew cheers as they called for their party to get tough on Trump now and not wait until midterms next year.
CNN's Arit John is in Columbia, South Carolina. Arit, great to see you. Moore and Walz, you know, both saying that they won't be running for president. So tell us more about their messages to Democrats there.
ARIT JOHN, CNN REPORTER: That's exactly right. When you talk to these governors and when you talk to their teams, they say this isn't about any potential 2020 run, but it's about meeting the moment for Democrats right now in 2025 and heading into 2026. And, you know, when you were in the room, you're hearing these governors talk about how Democrats need to show that they're willing to fight for working class voters and show that their policies actually work.
Take a listen to what Governor Moore said last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. WES MOORE (D-MD): Gone are the days when we are the party of bureaucracy. Gone are the days when we are the party of multiyear studies on things that we already know. Gone are the days when we are the party of panels. Gone are the days when we are the party of college debate club rules. We must be the party of action, and that action must come now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[13:45:00]
JOHN: What we're hearing from both these governors is that there needs to be a sense of urgency. And they're actually taking inspiration from an unlikely source. Both of them are saying that Democrats need to look to Donald Trump as an example. And the way that he has been aggressively pursuing his agenda.
Take a listen to what Governor Walz said this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN): What Trump learned from his first term to this one is: If you say you're going to get things done and actually do it, even if it's not the right thing, people still give you credit for getting something done. They give you credit for doing -- now it's destructive as hell on their side. Think how powerful a tool that will be. If we move with the same speed that he's moving to give everybody healthcare.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN: And so basically, we're hearing this similar message from both of these Democrats that Democrats need to push. They need to fight. They need to meet the moment right now. And they were both very well received by Democrats here in South Carolina, a state that doesn't often get a lot of attention outside of presidential election years.
WHITFIELD: They are this weekend. Arit John, thank you so much.
All right. Former President Joe Biden says the prognosis is good in his battle with cancer. This week, he made his first public remarks about the aggressive form of prostate cancer that spread to his bones. He told reporters, treatment is underway and that he and his family are staying optimistic. He also downplayed the new reporting about his health while in office.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And there's also been a lot of discussion recently about your mental -- mental and physical capabilities while you were in office.
JOE BIDEN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You can see that. I'm mentally incompetent and I can't walk. And I can beat the hell out of both of them.
SAENZ: Do you want to reply to any of those reports and also to the fact that there are some Democrats who are now questioning whether you should have run for re-election in the first place?
BIDEN: Why didn't they run against me then? Because I would have beaten them. SAENZ: Do you have any regrets?
BIDEN: No, I don't have any regrets.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right. Biden added that he is proud of his record as president. Talking to our Arlette -- Arlette Saenz there.
All right. Coming up. A big fight for Taylor Swift comes to an end. That's next.
Also, a wild scene in Missouri when a car flies off a road and crashes into the roof of a building. That's what that little dust was there. And what the driver -- driver, actually -- there it is. That's the other angle. What the driver was able to do.
George Clooney stars in Broadway's "Good Night, Good Luck," presented live on CNN in a first of its kind broadcast. Watch the Tony nominated play next Saturday on 7 p.m., right here on CNN, and streaming on CNN.com.
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[13:52:32]
WHITFIELD: A years-long fight has come to an end for Taylor Swift. She says she now owns her entire music catalog, buying her master recordings from a private equity company.
CNN's Randi Kaye reports.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
TAYLOR SWIFT, 14-TIME GRAMMY WINNER: I've always wanted to own my own music.
RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): And now she does. Taylor Swift announced the news on her website today, writing, "All of the music I've ever made now belongs to me."
Back in 2019, Swift said she'd been, quote, "blindsided" when the master recordings of her first six albums were part of the deal when her former label was sold to producer Scooter Braun.
TAYLOR: I made it very clear that I wanted to be able to buy my music. That opportunity was not given to me, and it was sold to somebody else.
KAYE (voice-over): Braun insisted Swift's team was aware of the pending deal. Swift wrote on Tumblr then that the $300 million deal "stripped me of my life's work." She moved on and signed with Universal Music Group's Republic Records, which allowed her to own her future masters. She also found a way to reclaim ownership of most of her earlier music by re-recording her first five albums.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's a plan.
TAYLOR: Yes, absolutely.
I just figured I was the one who made this music first. I can just make it again.
SETH MEYERS, HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS": Yes.
TAYLOR: So that's what we're doing.
(APPLAUSE)
MEYERS: You have to say it.
(APPLAUSE)
TAYLOR: So that's what we're doing. So when something says in parenthesis, "Taylor's version" next to it, that means I own it, which is exciting.
KAYE (voice-over): And when Swift announced her new album "Lover" on Good Morning America in 2019 --
TAYLOR: One thing about this album that's really special to me is that it's the first one that I will own. I think that artists deserve to own their work. I just feel very passionately about that.
My contract says that starting November 2020, so next year, I can record albums one through five all over again.
KAYE (voice-over): And now Swift also owns all her music videos, concert films, album art and photography, along with unreleased songs purchased, she wrote, "with no strings attached" from a private equity company that had bought her master recordings. Swift told her fans, "This is my greatest dream come true."
Randi Kaye, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
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[13:59:25]
WHITFIELD: OK, so this is a pretty wild scene in Missouri this week when a car flew off the road and then right into the roof of a building. Remarkably, the driver actually walked away. And it's not the first time that this has happened at this intersection.
Here's CNN's Samantha Lindell.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAMANTHA LINDELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A car flew off the road and into the roof of a veterans hall in Missouri. Police say as a result of speeding. This is the second time in three months a car crashed into the same building. The first incident happened following a police chase. Officials say they suspect the driver was having a medical emergency during this incident, and their foot may have been stuck on the accelerator.
Police say two crashes in the same spot appear to be just a coincidence and not a design flaw in the road.
