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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Russia And Ukraine Working Toward Large Prisoner Swap; Report: Trump's Photo Showed D.R. Congo, Not South Africa; Rapper Kid Cudi Testified Combs Damaged His Home And Car. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired May 23, 2025 - 05:30   ET

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

[05:30:00]

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: Iran's foreign minister is on his way to Rome where he will be discussing a potential nuclear deal with U.S. envoys in the coming hours. A source familiar with the matter tells CNN that the talks are hitting crunch time as both parties approach a 60-day deadline for a deal set by President Trump back in March.

Iran says that it will not relinquish its right to nuclear energy, including uranium enrichment, despite warnings from the U.S. that Israel is preparing to strike some of the nuclear facilities in that country. But two Iranian sources telling CNN that they are skeptical of the Trump administration's intentions and doubt that there will be any agreement.

CNN senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman live in Rome where these talks are expected to take place. So not a lot -- not a lot of optimism coming from some, Ben. Where you are though, what's the feeling ahead of these meetings?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, indeed, there is -- there are low expectations, Polo, about these talks.

Now, we understand that Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, has arrived on the grounds of the Omani Embassy where these talks are being hosted. The Omanis are acting as intermediaries in what are being described as direct and indirect talks between Steve Witkoff, the special White House envoy, on the one side, and the Iranians on the other.

Now, the Iranians have complained that the messages coming out of Washington are somewhat confusing. That American officials have in the past said that they would allow some enrichment under a proposed agreement with Iran -- enrichment of uranium under the JCPOA -- the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action concluded between the Obama administration and Iran in 2015. Iran was allowed to enrich its uranium up to 3.67 percent.

The Iranians have said that -- and now, of course, the Americans are also saying no, you can't enrich any uranium whatsoever. Iran should have no nuclear program whatsoever. For the Iranians, that's a red line. They have invested billions of dollars in their nuclear program. They say that they're fine for inspections and that they have no intention of developing nuclear weapons. The Americans are saying no, you cannot have any nuclear program whatsoever. So clearly, they have reached something of a brick wall in these talks.

Now, back in mid-March President Trump sent a letter to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, giving him a 60-day deadline to reach some sort of agreement. So we've sort of reached that deadline now.

CNN is reporting this -- I would described its spin by American officials saying they believe there is an increased likelihood of an Iran -- Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. That's something the Israelis can't do without American help. The Americans have provided with them with most of the weaponry that they would use in such an attack.

So it appears that those -- that leak, those spins by the -- by American officials may be just a means or an attempt to pressure the Iranians to somehow be more flexible in these talks that are the fifth round today and they're expected to just last one day here in Rome, Polo.

SANDOVAL: We'll see if those 24 hours produce anything, and we know you'll be following closely.

Ben Wedeman in Rome. Thank you.

Russia and Ukraine agree to a major prisoner swap at this meeting last week and now hundreds of POWs could be just hours away from heading back home. A live report is straight ahead.

You're watching EARLY START.

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[05:38:25]

SANDOVAL: Liberation could be just hours away for hundreds of prisoners of war held by Russia and Ukraine. The two countries are expected to swap up to 1,000 POWs from each side. This exchange was negotiated during their first face-to-face talks in nearly three years, which happened in Istanbul last week. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the agreement was perhaps the only tangible result from the meeting, which did not yield a ceasefire.

For more now we head live to London and CNN's Nic Robertson with more. Nic, as we heard from the Ukrainian leader, it is a prisoner swap. It's no ceasefire but perhaps it is nonetheless a positive development.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: You know, I think if you were looking at any other conflict you would see this in the context of a confidence-building measure whenever this happens over the coming days. It's sort of the anticipation at the moment -- 1,000 prisoners from each side.

But I think when you put it in the context of the Ukraine-Russia conflict this is not the first -- it'll be the fifth if it happens -- prisoner exchange just this year. It'll be the 64th since the war began -- Russia's legal and unprovoked full-scale invasion began back in February 2022. So on that scale it is not the first.

It is, if it happens as anticipated from that meeting in Istanbul last week, it will be the largest -- 1,000 on each side. So far, more than 4,757 Ukrainian soldiers have been released from prisoner of war status in Russia back to their families in Ukraine.

[05:40:05]

And obviously, this is very joyous for the families when it happens but as a harbinger for a meaningful traction for meaningful talks it's President Zelenskyy that said, as President Trump has asked him to do, to commit to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire. And the Ukrainian position has been very clear that every action by Russia subsequent to President Trump's demand that Russia should also come to the negotiating table in such a manner and fashion to negotiate the terms of what peace could look like during a 30-day ceasefire. The Ukrainian position is that Russia isn't doing that.

So I think while we look at this as a -- as what will be for the families on both sides a great moment in the arc of the war, it's hard to -- it's hard to grasp how this will really generate -- that you would see in other places -- the kind of trust that is usual as a step to then build on negotiations.

Of course, all those pushing the sides to -- and particularly, pushing Russia by increasing sanctions to bring it to the table will be hoping that this might do that. But I think in reality -- I think let's see if this plays out as anticipated over the coming days.

SANDOVAL: And as you point out, perhaps seen as a small victory for the families of these prisoners of war for now.

Nic Robertson, thank you so much for your reporting.

A lot still ahead here on EARLY START, including debunking President Trump's false claims of white genocide in South Africa. Some stunning new reporting revealing at least one of the images that the commander in chief held up during that Oval Office saying that it's evidence -- well, it does not show South Africa.

And also, rapper Kid Cudi telling the jury that the damage that he believes Sean "Diddy" Combs caused at his home and his car. The latest on this high-profile trial happening in New York is next.

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[05:46:35]

SANDOVAL: Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York, and here are some of the stories that we're closely watching today.

The man suspected of gunning down two Israeli Embassy staff members in Washington, D.C. is now charged with murder. Police say 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez shouted "Free Palestine" as he was detained. The U.S. Justice Department says that it's too soon to say whether they'll pursue the death penalty.

And the Trump administration is barring Harvard University from enrolling international students. School officials -- they have been in a dispute with the White House over federal funding, and they have refused to bow to the Trump administration's policy demands.

And President Trump held a private dinner for the top holders of the Trump coin, which is his cryptocurrency. Protesters gathered outside, meanwhile, at the Trump National Golf Club in Virginia. Over 200 crypto investors joined the president for dinner on Thursday. Critics say that the dinner allowed foreign nationals to buy access to the U.S. president.

On to new fallout now from Donald Trump's contentious Oval Office meeting with South Africa's president earlier this week.

During that meeting President Trump held up some printouts of news articles and images that he claimed were evidence of a genocide against white South Africans. Well, as Reuters report, one of the images is actually from Reuters' video of a mass burial in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It does not depict white farmers in South Africa as Mr. Trump and the White House claimed in front of the South African president and in front of journalists in the White -- in the White House.

For more now let's go to CNN's Larry Madowo joining us from Nairobi in Kenya. This Congo confusion, Larry -- how are people where you are reacting to it?

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is shocking to a lot of people because as I said after that meeting, based on my own reporting in this region, and especially from 15 years in South Africa, a lot of what President Trump used to justify this persecution, and murders of white farmers was just untrue, and this is another evidence.

When I saw him hold up that picture, I thought it looked familiar. We now know, and Reuters is confirming, that this picture of body bags is not from South Africa. It's actually from the Democratic Republic of Congo. It's from a mass burial in -- from a mass burial in Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo on February 3. And the Reuters video journalist, Djaffar Al Katanty, who took that video was surprised to see the president hold up that picture.

It's a screengrab that links to a Reuters video from that day. It follows a big assault on that Goma city in the eastern DRC by rebels named M23, and that was the effect. A lot of people were killed on that day and the days before and this was a mass burial that was carried out by the International Committee of the Red Cross. And Reuters were the only news organization that were allowed in to film that.

So this picture does not depict the deaths of white farmers in South Africa as President Trump led President Ramaphosa to believe. And the wider question -- the point that President Trump was trying to

make here is that lots of farmers in South Africa are getting killed or getting executed even though he used evidence that does not support that. That picture was from an American conservative online magazine that had talked about both Goma, the Democratic Republic of Congo in South Africa.

[05:50:00]

And the South African foreign minister was on "AMANPOUR" last night and he brought some statistics with him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RONALD LAMOLA, SOUTH AFRICAN FOREIGN MINISTER: In the last four years, 225 farmer attacks, 101 farm dwellers who are majority Black, 55 farm owners who are majority white. So that is a period of four years. And that does not represent a genocide and -- but it is still unfortunate. It should not happen because any crime -- it is a crime and that's why the president then stated that we are dealing with a crime situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADOWO: And that is the argument that South Africans were trying to make in the Oval Office. They have a crime problem, not a murder of farmers. In fact, farm murders -- last year when we looked at it, 0.2 percent of the overall total -- a small percentage.

SANDOVAL: Yeah, we've been here before. Donald Trump and his press folks using material out of context. So we can now add South Africa to the list.

Larry Madowo, thank you so much for your reporting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my God, a plane just (bleep) crashed right here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Some amazing images here and heartbreaking as well. Investigators -- they are trying to figure out what caused a small private jet to crash into a San Diego neighborhood Thursday morning. Fire officials saying that they believe that none of the six people on board survived.

It happened just before 4:00 a.m. on Thursday. Authorities say the Cessna Citation actually rained down jet fuel and left behind a debris field about half a kilometer long in that neighborhood. The plane was on approach to a nearby airport when it hit power lines and then crashed. Visibility was less than a kilometer with low clouds at the time. Just an absolute miracle that nobody was hurt on the ground.

A third person is facing charges with helping inmates escape from a jail in New Orleans last week. The latest arrest coming a week after 10 inmates broke out of a prison in Louisiana. They met the brazen escape through a hole behind a metal commode. They weren't discovered missing for hours.

Fifty-nine-year-old Connie Weeden is accused of sending cash to one of the inmates and then talking to him on the phone.

Five of the inmates have been recaptured and are now being held at the state's maximum security facility. Five of them -- they are still on the loose. Louisiana's governor is mandating an immediate response to the escape across multiple state agencies.

And rapper Kid Cudi accusing Sean "Diddy" -- I should say Sean "Diddy" Combs of breaking into his home and then being involved in setting fire to his car. Now he testified on Thursday in Combs' racketeering and sex trafficking trial. He says that the incident happened after Combs learned about his relationship with Combs' ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, who testified already.

In other testimony a make-up artist described Combs becoming violent with Cassie Ventura in 2010. She says it happened after Ventura attended a party without telling Combs.

The trial resumes on Tuesday after the holiday weekend.

And we're now a week away from the state of hurricane season in the Atlantic, and forecasters saying that it's likely to be a very stormy summer. Details on that forecast ahead on CNN.

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[05:57:50]

SANDOVAL: It is time to watch the tropics again. The Atlantic hurricane season begins next week, and the National Hurricane Center is predicting a very busy few months.

CNN's meteorologist Derek Van Dam breaking it down for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: NOAA just released on Thursday its latest forecast for the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season. And guess what? It is above average just as we expected.

Let's talk about the baseline of an average season. Roughly 14 named storms. They're predicting anywhere between 13 to 19 named storms. That's tropical storm strength -- 39 miles per hour and roughly 68 kilometers per hour or greater. Six to 10 of those they're forecasting could become hurricanes with three to five them becoming major hurricanes.

So when we look at all of the factors leading to their decision the large majority of their factors and modeling favors this above average season -- a 60 percent chance. That slim margin there -- below normal changes -- only at 10 percent.

So what are the factors? Well, it's known as the ENSO, the El Nino- Southern Oscillation. It has to do with the water temperatures over the eastern and central Pacific. That determines whether or not we have a La Nina or an El Nino season and whether or not we get a suppressed or an enhanced Atlantic hurricane season. But what they found was that the ENSO will actually be in a neutral phase during those peak Atlantic hurricane season months -- August, September, and into October.

So what are they factors driving this above-average season? It has to do with the water temperatures that are above average across the Gulf, the Caribbean, and much of the East Coast. Roughly, two to four degrees Fahrenheit above average.

So when we look at the month of June -- June 1, the first day of the Atlantic hurricane season, this is typically where we see any tropical system development -- the Gulf and right along the southeastern coastline. Look at how the chances increase as we got into the months of July, August and September -- of course, the peak of the season. It's all because of the water temperatures really starting to warm, holding that oceanic heat content. And as we climax toward the middle of September when the peak of the hurricane season comes, that's when we anticipate the most activity.

[06:00:00]

The first name on the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season is Andrea. But take note, we do have Dexter in this forecast -- or this naming system as well.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Derek Van Dam, very important. That means an above-average season, meaning now it's time to prepare along the Gulf Coast and certainly people living and working in the tropics.

I want to thank you for joining us on EARLY START. From Rahel, the team, and I, thank you very much. And "CNN THIS MORNING" starts right now.