Return to Transcripts main page

Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Vance To Deliver Keynote Address At Las Vegas Bitcoin Conference; Louisiana And Arkansas Police Search For Escaped Prisoners; 2 Escapees From The New Orleans Jailbreak Remain At Large; Convicted Killer Ex-Police Chief Escapes Arkansas Prison In Disguise; A Former Employee Testifies Sean Combs Threatened To Kill Kid Cudi. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired May 28, 2025 - 05:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:32:21]

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. In the coming hours, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance is scheduled to give a keynote address at the 2025 Bitcoin conference in Las Vegas. Donald Trump Jr. has also appeared at the three-day event along with several U.S. lawmakers.

Their appearances come amid a notable rollback of regulations in the cryptocurrency industry since President Trump started his second term in office. While speaking at the conference, the President's oldest son said that he believes his father has always been a trailblazer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP JR., EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: And once we started explaining to him the potential, as you know, I mean, he's a quick study as a guy who is a serious innovator. I mean, you know, he sort of did things before everyone else. He saw ideas before everyone else. He implemented them. And first guy to do branded real estate, he was really successful in that. And then he saw an opportunity in television, parlayed that into the presidency of the United States. I mean he's a guy that gets these things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Meantime, the Trump Media and Technology Group has announced plans to raise two and a half billion dollars to buy Bitcoin. That would be one of the largest bitcoin treasury deals of any public company.

Joining me now is Adam Zarazinski, CEO of Inca Digital, that's in analytics firm specializing in open source data and intelligence. Adam, great to have you this morning. Welcome to the program.

Just first, your reaction to this news that Trump Media is raising $2.5 billion to buy Bitcoin. That's a lot of money. How significant is that for the industry? ADAM ZARAZINSKI, CEO, INCA DIGITAL: Good morning and thanks for your

time. I mean, I think it's significant. Of course. Ultimately, I think all these moves by the Trump administration are a good thing for America. You know, I and many other people in the crypto industry see this as a national security issue. Something -- it's a new critical infrastructure for the world and for the United States in particular. And the Trump admin leaning into crypto is ultimately going to be a good thing.

SOLOMON: And bitcoin has more recently been near record highs. But it wasn't long ago that it was the crypto winter was a very sort of different sort of landscape then. Trump has said that he would like to make the U.S. the crypto capital of the world. Adam, where do you see the U.S. in this space three and a half years from now or at the end of his term?

ZARAZINSKI: Yes, I mean right now we are very behind. We're losing to Asia, we're losing to the Gulf, we're losing to China. And I think it's important that we onshore as much crypto innovation as we can.

[05:35:00]

And that's everything from small data analytics companies like mine to more of the big exchanges. It's important for our markets in a lot of different ways to ensure efficiency, to bring innovation back here. It's also important for law enforcement and for national security. If we have these companies here onshore, we are able to not just impute our jurisdiction, whether that's with the FBI or the national security community, but also just our values. Right. And like what we as Americans think markets should be, there's no going back.

It's either going to be here or it's going to be elsewhere. So I hope it's going to be here. I know that's kind of a long winded answer to your question, but in the next three years, you know, I really hope that U.S. markets turn on to crypto in the way that I think they should, in the way that you're -- I think you're kind of starting to see in the ecosystem.

SOLOMON: And so what would need to happen, you sort of touched on it there in terms of law enforcement or enforcement. What would need to happen from a regulatory standpoint, a policy standpoint, in order for the US to catch up, as you point out?

ZARAZINSKI: Yes, I mean, the first is just bringing companies onshore. Right. Still, most of the lit trading volume in crypto is offshore, despite Coinbase being a very large exchange. So, so that is step one. Step two, while I'm not a policy wonk, you know, I think clear guidelines on what is expected of crypto companies here in the United States is super important and is something that I know the administration is working on.

You know, I had a chat with treasury officials just last week where they were getting inputs from a lot of the big crypto companies on what they need to get clear guidance, what that guidance should be. Those are the two main things that will really help crypto companies come back to the U.S. and grow here. SOLOMON: Yes. At the same time, you sort of have, I mean, to your

point, these sort of valid sort of interests of at least those in the industry of wanting to onshore or make the U.S. more of a player in the crypto space.

On the other side, you have these concerns about how the admin, how Trump, how his family may benefiting from some of these ventures into crypto. And I'm curious what the perspective has been inside of the crypto sort of circles about Trump, his family, these ventures, and how they impact, I think the credibility or the legitimacy of the industry.

ZARAZINSKI: Yes. I mean, it's a mixed bag. I think for the most part, I'm obviously not speaking for everybody. You know, the feeling is that it's demonizing what the Trump admin and what the Trump family is doing because it's crypto. Right. I'm not sure how different it is than, you know, selling merchandise, selling MAGA hats, for example, and benefiting off of that in some way, shape or form, or Hunter Biden selling art pieces. Right.

I think -- I think that, like the general sentiment is in the right direction, right, which is, you know, there's this sentiment in the United States that we don't want public officials benefiting off of their personas and personalities. Right. But it's happening everywhere. And this is just -- this is an example of it, you know, of it maybe happening in crypto.

But whether that, you know, whether it's congressmen trading off of private information, you know, they have the ability to trade stocks or selling art or selling merch. Right. And doing marketing. I think the sentiment is right. But, you know, overwhelmingly, at least, you know, in the crypto community, Trump's involvement is seen as a good thing and as a sign that there's -- that there are good markets ahead and there's going to be more innovation here in the US.

SOLOMON: Yes. I mean, to be fair, I think there was quite a bit of concern about all of those other issues that you pointed out to, whether it is merch or whether it's art.

ZARAZINSKI: Yes, you're right.

SOLOMON: You know, they raise flags and questions as well about, you know, any ethical considerations that need to be raised. But all important talking points, great to have you this morning. That's Adam Zarazinski. Thank you, sir.

ZARAZINSKI: Thank you so much. Bye-bye.

SOLOMON: All right, in the coming hours, the trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs is set to resume. We're going to have details on the latest witness testimony when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:44:05] SOLOMON: Welcome back. I'm Rahel Solomon and here are some of the stories we are watching for you this morning. U.S. State Department has ordered a pause in issuing new student visas. A diplomatic cable seen by CNN says that the government is working on new enhanced guidelines for screening and vetting applicants, social media posts. The cable says that appointments that were already scheduled can still take place.

Sources say that President Donald Trump is considering slapping new sanctions on Russia in the coming days following its attacks on Ukraine over the weekend. President Trump has previously raised the notion of new sanctions on Russia's banking sector and secondary sanctions on buyers of Russian energy products. Not clear though what specific steps Trump is considering.

And the first day of aid distribution for private contractors in southern Gaza devolved into chaos. Thousands of Palestinians stormed the site on Tuesday.

[05:45:00]

The aid distribution was operated by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, backed by the U.S. and Israel. The Israeli military says that it fired warning shots. Palestinian officials say that one person was killed and the number of wounded now rising to 48.

Authorities in two southern states are looking for escaped criminals, first in Louisiana. That's where two of 10 inmates who were broke out of a New Orleans jail almost two weeks ago are still on the run. Eight are now back in custody, including Leo Tate and Jermaine Donald, the first of those escapees to be found outside of Louisiana.

They were arrested Monday in Texas after what police described as a high speed chase. Now the two men still on the run are Derrick Groves and Antoine Massie. Both are considered armed and dangerous.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON WILLIAMS, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, ORLEANS PARISH: Got a lot of leads. The crime stopper tips are coming in my office. My digital forensics team has been scouring through hours and hours of jail calls, using some AI software to figure out who they were in contact with the night before, hours before to figure out where they may have been heading. Their circle is tightened as people who are assisting are being arrested. That circle is tightening around these last two.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: 13 people accused of helping the inmates escape are now facing charges, including a maintenance worker at the jail.

And in Arkansas, manhunt has been ongoing since Sunday for a former small town police chief who escaped prison while serving lengthy sentences for murder and rape. Authorities have shared few details on how 56-year-old Grant Hardin escaped, but they do say that he was wearing a disguise to mimic law enforcement. The trial of music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs is expected to resume in

the coming hours. The prosecution says that four witnesses will be called to testify. On Tuesday, meantime, his former personal assistant testified that he planned to kill rapper Kid Cudi. CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: A former employee of Sean Combs, Capricorn Clark testified all day for emotional and sometimes grueling testimony. Capricorn Clark worked for Sean Combs from 2000 through 2018, on and off, and she was depicted as someone who was truly inside Sean Combs' inner circle.

She began working as his personal assistant and worked her way up to be head of marketing at his Sean John fashion label and at one point was in charge of the creative direction of Cassie Ventura's career when she was at Sean Combs Bad Boy Records.

Now Capricorn Clark was brought on by the prosecution as a witness and she testified to a few incidents where she alleged that she received death threats. She said that when she first started working for Sean Combs in 2004, that he asked her to meet him in Central park at nighttime.

She says that it was dark, and when she showed up, Sean Combs was there with one of his bodyguards. Sean Combs then allegedly said to her that he knew that she had previously worked for Suge Knight at his record label. And Sean Combs said something to the effect of, if I hear that anything is going on with you and Suge Knight, that I am going to have to kill you.

That was the first death threat that she told the jury about. Then she explained an instant later, in 2004, when some of Sean Combs' jewelry went missing. She said that she was forced to take a lie detector test, even though she testified that she did not steal his jewelry.

She said that over the course of five days that one of Sean Combs bodyguards, Uncle Paulie, picked her up at her home and would drive her to a deserted building where she was locked inside, brought up to the sixth floor, and was met by a man that she did not know who administered this lie detector test. She said that this man told her that if she did not pass the test that they would have to throw her in the East River. The insinuation there is that she was receiving another death threat.

Now, Capricorn Clark was asked on cross-examination why she continued to be in communication with Sean Combs over the years and why after she was repeatedly terminated by him, that she continued to take jobs with him. She explained that held all the power, that she loved what she did. She loves the music industry. She also said that she has a nonverbal autistic son that she had to continue taking care of.

Now, Capricorn Clark was also allegedly at the scene of the crime with Kid Cudi when Sean Combs allegedly broke into his home. You may remember last week that the rapper Kid Cudi testified that Sean Combs broke into his home and he told the jury that he believed also blew up his car.

Well, Capricorn Clark, we heard from her the first time she did appear to corroborate Kid Cudi story. And she told the jury that Sean Combs showed up at her home with a gun, forced her into a car as he had that gun on his lap, and then went to Kid Cudi's home where he broke into his house.

[05:50:07]

Now to jog your memory, the reason why Sean Combs allegedly broke into Kid Cudi's home is because he was jealous that Cassie was dating Kid Cudi at the time. Now, the defense did aim to poke some holes into Capricorn Clark's account. So there were some moments that were again, very emotional. She was crying. But overall, the prosecution here clearly aiming to get to this racketeering charge where Capricorn Clark painted a picture where other people who were employed by Combs were in on these alleged crimes, in on these death threats. So we will see how the jury takes that.

But this ended up being a very significant witness and again, one who was on the stand all day. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: Thanks to Elizabeth Wagmeister there. Still ahead, from Buckingham Palace to the Canadian Senate, King Charles makes a historic and symbolic address to Canada's Parliament. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:55:27]

SOLOMON: Welcome back. Britain's King Charles wrapped up a trip to Canada where he is head of state by delivering a ceremonial speech from the throne of the Canadian Senate. On Tuesday, he emphasized Canada's self-determination amid annexation threats from President Trump who claims that the country should be the 51st US state. CNN's Paula Newton has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This was a bold invitation on the part of Canada and Prime Minister Mark Carney and this was in fact a bold speech. Very audacious in terms of its ambition for Canada. And King Charles, the king of Canada definitely delivered on the royal ceremony. He and Queen Camilla arrived on an absolutely spectacular day in the horse drawn carriage accompanied by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. It was extraordinary. And preceded the speech was by a 21 gun salute.

After that, he got down to the substance and a reminder here that it is the Canadian government, Mark Carney's government, that actually writes the speech and Charles delivers it. Now in the beginning he did have some personal words saying that every time he comes to Canada, he feels more certainly of Canada going into his bloodstream and right to his heart.

But after that there were several comments about Canada's independence and its sovereignty. Listen.

KING CHARLES, KING OF THE UNITED KINGDOM: Some reminds us the true north is indeed strong and free.

NEWTON: You know, when the king and the queen were out and about, this was less than a 24 hour visit. You could see in even speaking to people the gratitude. There were spontaneous cheers, spontaneous singing of O Canada and God save the King. And after Charles's speech, Mark Carney sat down with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and in that interview he underscored the kind of message he wanted King Charles to send to Canadians. Listen.

MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: We are seeing the danger of over reliance on the United States. We will cooperate where necessary when it's in both of our interests very clearly, but we won't necessarily cooperate.

NEWTON: In that last little bit from him, you will hear about the substance of what Canada expects from the United States and its allies going forward. Again, as I say, this was a bold move on the part of Mark Carney. But in policy terms both at home and abroad, he must now live up to those expectations. Paula Newton, CNN, Ottawa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: Police in Liverpool, England say that they believe the suspect in the parade crash that injured dozens of people followed an ambulance onto a closed off street. Medics were responding to a suspected heart attack victim. That's where the driver ran through crowds of people celebrating the Liverpool Football Club's Premier League Championship.

The 53-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, dangerous driving offenses and driving while unfit through drugs. Police say that 11 of the 65 people still injured are in the hospital, but all are stable and recovering well.

SpaceX's most powerful rocket launched on its ninth uncrewed test flight on Tuesday. But the mission didn't go exactly as planned. The Starship spacecraft went farther into its flight path than in previous tests this year, but it also failed to deploy mock satellite or reignite its engines.

Upon reentry, SpaceX lost contact with Starship. It's believed that the spacecraft likely broke apart over the Indian Ocean after losing control upon reentry to Earth.

Finally this hour. So stowaways with feathers causing a commotion aboard a plane. You hear the shocked passengers there screaming as two birds thought to be wild pigeons tried to catch a ride on their Delta Airlines flight. This was a flight from Minneapolis to Madison, Wisconsin on Saturday. It's really not funny. I would be terrified if I was on that flight. A passenger says that baggage handlers removed one bird before a

second, then came strutting down the aisle. It took off when another passenger tried to catch it, but was later removed safely.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You guys need assistance? There's a pigeon on the airplane and it won't go away. That's a first for me. Wow. Where is it on the airplane that will move? Is it inside the plane? Oh, my goodness. That's insane. Apparently a pigeon inside the plane?

(END AUDIO CLIP)

[06:00:08]

SOLOMON: Yeah. How does this happen?