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The Lead with Jake Tapper

After Mixed Verdict, Judge Denies Sean "Diddy" Combs Release Before Sentencing; Diddy Denied Bail After Acquittal On Most Serious Charges; House GOP Stalls As White House Works On Holdouts; Bryan Kohberger Admits To Idaho Student Murders. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired July 02, 2025 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

ELIE HONIG, FORMER ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: Lawyer can do in the end is advise and your client does not have to take your advice. So, I would plead with any client, don't say anything. And if you do, keep it generic. I'm thankful to the jury. This is our process and I'm vindicated by the result. And walk into the car and get the heck out of there because at.

KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: The end of the day, this was obviously some convictions, but not on the most serious charges here.

HONIG: Exactly.

HUNT: All right. Elie Honig, thank you as always for expertise. Really appreciate it. Thanks to all of you for being with us today as well. Don't go anywhere. The Lead with Jake Tapper starts right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: And welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. At any moment, we will learn whether music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs will walk out of the courthouse today free from custody while he awaits sentencing.

Combs has been in jail since last September and a bail hearing to determine his future is set to start right about now. CNN reporters are inside the courtroom ready to bring us updates as they happen.

This morning, a jury acquitted Combs of the most serious charges in the government's sex trafficking and racketeering trial against him while convicting him of two lesser charges. A judge will weigh arguments from Diddy's lawyers and the prosecution, which includes this letter from the lawyer for Cassie Ventura, victim one in the case, who writes, quote, Ms. Ventura believes that Mr. Combs is likely to post, a danger to the victims who testified in this case, including herself, as well as to the community.

Here is a look at what the music mogul was and was not convicted of that we learned today. Count one, racketeering conspiracy. He was found not guilty. That was the most serious charge. It could have meant life in prison. Counts two and four, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion pertaining to victim one, Cassie Ventura and victim number two, Jane, who testified under that pseudonym. The jury found him not guilty in those charges. Counts three and four, transportation to engage in prostitution. Pertaining to Cassie Ventura and Jane, he was found guilty of those two counts.

So those two counts that Combs was found guilty of carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years each.

But let's talk more about these charges and let's be clear about what those transportation to engage in prostitution really means. In this case, the charges accused Combs of transporting his then girlfriends, Ventura and Jane, as well as male escorts, prostitutes across state lines for the purposes of prostitution. That's it. That is what he was found guilty of.

Sean Diddy Combs was acquitted on the biggest charges, the accusation of the accusations that made up the crux of the case. First of all, this racketeering idea that he was behind an illegal scheme, a significant part of which, according to the prosecutors, was based on accusations that Combs employees helped facilitate sex trafficking, sex trafficking that they said occurred by force. The prosecution's case accused Combs of both physical and sexual violence.

Jurors heard graphic testimony, including from Cassie Ventura herself, who claimed Combs raped her in 2018 after they broke up. CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister spoke exclusively with Ventura's attorney, who was obviously disappointed with the outcome. But it gave some insight into Ventura's mindset. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUG WIGDOR, CASSIE VENTURA'S LAWYER: Cassie was comforted in knowing that not only has she played a role in the criminal prosecution, but that she has shined a light on this behavior by Sean Combs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Elizabeth will have much more of her exclusive interview coming up on the show. But first, let's go straight to CNN anchor and chief legal analyst Laura Coates outside court. Laura, walk us through what the judge is doing right now. What is being considered right now inside the courtroom behind you.

LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: Well, generally speaking, when you're considering whether to release someone pending sentencing, you're looking at whether they are a flight risk, whether they pose a threat to the community and the severity of the charge and the potential sentence. The defense is saying although the prosecution count could be up to 10 years per charge, the likely federal sentencing guideline puts him, because of him first time offense in the category which he corresponds to somewhere around the areas of 21 to 27 months.

I remember he's already been in for 10 months. A lot of that would be counted towards that. It could run consecutively. The prosecution wants it to be 20 years, but that might be a pipe dream given these charges. But you know what's happening right now. We just learned this. There are pretrial service officers who have entered into the courtroom.

What does that mean? These are the officers whose job it is to essentially determine what are the appropriate release conditions for a defendant. We have no idea or somebody's predicted of a crime. We have no idea whether they will indeed decide to release Sean Diddy Combs Day out of the door that's just behind me where his family has walked in and out of.

[17:05:08]

Some of these conditions of release have already been offered by the defense where they have said he's not facing life without possibility of parole. He's not a potential threat to society is the prostitution conviction. And although he's been charged with a lot of things, he was only convicted of the two that you pointed out, Jake.

Now some of these conditions of release, generally speaking, we are talking about whether to release someone pending sentencing can be drug testing. Drugs were a huge part of this trial. Drug fueled freak offs. The prosecution has said that he has had illicit drug use. The witnesses testified to his drug use as well. Drug testing is normally a component of any precondition of release.

Also, where are you going to live? Who will be there to essentially monitor that you're there? Are you a flight risk in some way, shape or form? He won't have his passport, he won't have a flight. He would likely go back to Miami on Star Island, that infamous island where the Uber wealthy live. He has not one, but two addresses down there.

We're waiting to see if that's going to happen right now, but the judge will consider all of this and frankly, it could be today that we see Sean "Diddy" Combs walking out of the courthouse today.

TAPPER: Yes. Laura, something I want to ask you. So the judge has to decide whether or not he considers Combs a threat if he is released before sentencing. The jury has basically said we think he's guilty of transporting prostitutes, transporting escorts. But they have also said they do not think he's guilty, at least not beyond a reasonable doubt of the more heinous and violent offenses.

Does the fact that the jury has essentially said we don't think he's guilty of the violent offenses. Again, I'm talking about what the jury concluded, not what I personally think. Does that play a role in the judge's decision as to whether or not he poses a threat?

COATES: Absolutely, Jake. The juror's decision here, and they've been dismissed after they gave it, will be sacrosanct to this particular judge because it's not what he was charged with. The trial is over. It's one thing to deny him bail not once, but twice, but three times, as is what happened here in this case prior to the actual conviction.

But now that he has not been convicted, that finding by the jury is very important to this judge. And I think when we talk about what they'll consider the judge has to only go on what he could potentially sentence for. Now, there is a particular caveat in some of the and some of the

federal sentencing guidelines, and I would just explain to you that one of it is that they can essentially as prosecutors, they can argue that whatever score that means, have you previously convicted of crimes. Where do you fall on this chart that the youth presenting guidelines, they can say it doesn't reflect his true record.

Prosecutors can describe in some way that somehow there's a lot more that could happen. But this judge, he's got two counts to sentence on and neither have a lifetime penalty.

TAPPER: Give us a sense of what the scene's been like outside the courthouse there.

COATES: OK. If you have a split screen between the decorum inside of the federal courthouse, where taking out a TicTac can be bad decorum, the gravitas of what's happening inside there, wanting you to appreciate the formality of it, marshals who are enforcing this spoken and unspoken code that is a complete and total distinction from what you see outside of the courthouse.

Words like show and spectacle and circus would all be apropos to describe what you're seeing here, particularly today. You have the breadth of people who, some are just onlookers who are watching to see with interest what's going on, others who have been here every single day. Some have been fanatics, others have been journalists, others have been those who wanted to capture the moment.

Then you have people who are provocateurs and some of them, I kid you not, Jake, are out here pouring baby oil on themselves. One in which when Sean Combs' mother walked by to go back into the courthouse, was pouring baby oil on themselves. People are walking around with trial sized ones and of course looking for a camera to show you that there is some bravado and provocation about the irreverence in which they're holding it.

And so you're seeing a lot of this go down. You're all seeing people wear shirts that say things like this is FRICO, not RICO, including one of the bodyguards for the families. Remember that Just earlier in the week, I think it was last week as well, one of Sean Combs' adult children had on a shirt that said "Free Puff," I believe, and he was asked to leave the courthouse. And so you're seeing all that play out behind us and the crowd and the NYPD presence is thickening.

TAPPER: All right, Laura Coates, we'll come back your way when you learn more. Let's bring in CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Joey Jackson. We also have Stacy Schneider with us, also a criminal defense attorney.

Joey, as compelling as the testimony might have been, the jury clearly did not think that the president. Criminal defense attorney Joey Jackson.

[17:10:00]

We also have Stacey Schneider with us, also a criminal defense attorney. Joey, as compelling as the testimony might have been, the jury clearly did not think that the prosecution proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Sean "Diddy" Combs coerced the women into this. Was this a failure on the part of the prosecution?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, I think you can call it that. You can also call it an overcharged case. Good to be with you. And Stacy, you can call it a lot of things. But at the end of the day, the jury rendered its decision.

We have to remember, Jake, that this was a very unconventional prosecution from the outset. Why do I say that? When you think about racketeering, generally, you think about mob bosses and you think about other their underbosses who are generally on trial with them. And if they're not, they turn state's evidence, as we call it, and they testify against them. See the guy right there on the stand? Right. He points to the other person who's the defendant in the chair saying, he told me to do ABCD.

Not only did we see that, we didn't see other people who were sitting with Diddy. At the same time, it's certainly a case in which, you know, as it relates to sex trafficking. Sex trafficking these were long term relationships. I'm not minimizing anything. No means no. It shouldn't happen in the event a woman does not want it to. But we don't think about sex trafficking in the context of 11-year relationships or 3-year relationships at all.

So in that regard, you can argue the prosecution overcharged. So at the end of the day, I think the result in terms of the evidence and facts that I've examined and saw seem to be appropriate to what the charges were. And that is not guilty on the counts of, in terms of the sex trafficking, not guilty in terms of RICO.

Now comes the issue as to whether he would be released. And there are considerations in that regard. And the judge certainly would be in their discretion because today is a different universe than it was even this morning in terms of saying, hey, I will release you because there are conditions or a combination thereof to that would ensure A, you return to court and B, in terms of being a risk of danger to the community, he certainly would be troubled in the event that he decided between now and sentencing to do anything untoward, inappropriate or certainly dangerous to anyone at this point.

TAPER: Stacy, do you think there's any chance that prosecutors would have brought this case just on the two charges he was convicted of? Transportation across state lines of prostitutes is, I mean, it is a potential 20 years in prison. But does that seem like something the federal government would have tried to do?

STACY SCHNEIDER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE TRIAL ATTORNEY: No. And there aren't that many past cases where the government would bring a case like that, unless you're talking about these large prostitution rings that have gone on. So, this was really a case that should have been brought in state court. The reason why it wasn't brought is because none of the alleged victims filed any charges with the police against Sean Combs. So the district attorney in Manhattan had no case, and maybe the

state's attorney in Florida had no case. And even in Los Angeles, there were no state charges to bring. And the only reason the federal government got involved here is because Cassie Ventura filed a civil lawsuit against Sean Combs and basically laid out the path of all these offenses.

But what the offenses turned out to be, according to the jury and also according to the testimony given in the courtroom, is domestic relationships between Sean Combs and Cassie Ventura and the woman who called herself Jane. Although they were horrendous domestic relationships involving alleged violence. And we all heard what was going on through the testimony.

But the women themselves, their text messaging to Sean Combs throughout the relationships they maintained with him showed that these were non-forced, consensual relationships. There were -- there's differences in what's called consent. But there were so many messages, particularly from Cassie, saying, I love you. I'm ready to do the next freak off. I'm ready to go to the hotel room. So the case really is a strange case to have been brought in federal court. And the prostitution charges that he was convicted of normally would not have been brought alone.

TAPPER: Yes. And Joey Cassie Ventura's lawyer, told CNN, many others who have come forward about Combs are planning to try to hold him responsible in civil courts. But I wonder if the outcome of this trial could cause prosecutors to be less willing to swing for the fences against Diddy in other cases, against potentially or allegedly abusive men.

JACKSON: Well, I think, look, there's a place for accountability with regard to anyone who does something improper, inappropriate, or certainly unlawful. The government took its shot here. Again, I think it was an unconventional prosecution with respect to what I mentioned in terms of the RICO and the sex trafficking.

At the same time, you do have these civil disputes.

[17:15:00]

And civil disputes is a court. Right? That's different. It's not holding you accountable for criminal responsibility, which affects your liberty, your freedoms. It holds you responsible monetarily. And I should say in saying that there certainly are these lawsuits out there. It's a different standard of proof because it affects your liberty. You have this ultrahigh standard beyond a reasonable doubt. That is not the same standard in civil court as it relates to, is it? More likely than not, it's called the preponderance of the evidence. And if there's civil liability, it should be pursued.

Last thing, Jake, and that is, look, celebrity, non-celebrity, everyone in our system needs to be treated the same. Whether you know it should celebrity shouldn't work for you, it shouldn't work against you. And I'm going to see, and we're all going to see as it relates to this detention hearing, whether that occurs. Right. Whether or not the judge, factoring in precedent, factoring in other things, will release him or will he detain him with, you know, certainly to go back until sentencing.

TAPPER: All right, Joey and Stacy, stick around as we wait for the proceedings in this bail hearing to begin with. There's a lot of news coming out of that New York City courthouse. We're going to have more reaction after today's verdict. Plus, an exclusive interview with the attorney for the trial star witness Cassie Ventura.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: And we are back with our breaking news.

[17:20:00]

The judge in the Sean "Diddy" Combs trial has just rather shockingly denied him bail. This, of course, coming after the news that the jury convicted him of two of the lesser charges in the government's case against him, finding him not guilty of the three biggest and most consequential charges.

Do we have Elizabeth Wagmeister? Yes. OK. So let's get straight to CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister, who's outside the court along with Laura Coates. Laura, this is a surprising development. What are we learning? What are the judge's reasons for not letting him out?

COATES: Well, we are still learning all the reasons why the judge has denied bail to Sean "Diddy" Combs pending his sentencing. That can be an indication of a number of things. Remember, the prosecution is intending to ask for jail time in this matter. Each of those charges could provide 10 years in prison. The sentencing guidelines will obviously dictate to what extent that will be followed. Those are the maximum. It is the ceiling, not the floor.

But given the number offenses he has failed to have in the past and the corresponding ways in which you judge someone's category that they're in for the ultimate speech in the sentencing, it could be far less than that. I will say, of course, that the judge, by making this statement, essentially is giving a bit of a heads up that perhaps just jail time is in fact what he will actually hand down to Sean "Diddy" Combs when the sentencing does, in fact occur.

I will also say that this indicates that the judge believed that there were no conditions of release that could have been met that would have satisfied the court in terms of whatever pending threat there may have been to society or the witnesses or victims in this case that has alleged, and that the conditions of release, including a passport being removed, no access to a flight, living in places other than New York, all these things could have been a part of it. You have additional information as well in terms of the why?

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: You know, we don't have the why what yet. We are waiting from our team inside the courtroom. But when you said that, part of the reason why could be that the judge perhaps believes that Combs could be a threat to society or the other witnesses. It reminded me of a letter that Cassie Ventura's attorney submitted

just hours ago opposing him being released on bail. Jake, I want to read you a quote from his letter. It says, quote, Ms. Ventura believes that Mr. Combs is likely to pose a danger to the victims who testified in this case, including herself, as well as to the community.

Now, before this trial began, Laura, we remember that there were three attempts at bail from Combs's defense, all of which were denied by three different judges, one of them being the judge who is overseeing this case.

Now, part of the reasons why the prosecution had alleged that he was tampering with witnesses, that he was trying to manipulate witnesses from behind bars. The prosecution had said at one point that Sean Combs was paying inmates at the NDC to use their phones in jail. So that was one of the reasons why the judge denied bail before the trial as he was awaiting this trial. But again, we don't know the reasons yet.

COATES: Perfect segue here, Jake, as well, because we're learning that the judge says this on the bench essentially that he had denied bail when he -- when it wasn't mandatory before the trial and quote, sees no reason to reach the opposite conclusion.

Now, he's also quoting the defense at different instances when Combs' own lawyers acknowledge his violence towards his former girlfriends during the trial, saying at trial the defense conceded defendants violence in personal relationship, saying it happened in relation to Cassie Ventura and Jane.

This is very important because remember, one of the things that was said in the opening statement by Teny Geragos is that they own the violence that they admitted to what was seen in that now infamous exclusive video obtained by CNN for the Intercontinental Hotel where there was a savage assault against Cassie Ventura.

And of course, the defense, I mean, the prosecution during trial said, well, domestic violence is not a defense of sex trafficking. Well, he wasn't convicted on that. But you can better believe that the notice from Cassie's attorney and others probably weighed very heavily on this judge's mind.

TAPPER: And Elizabeth, you spoke with Cassie's attorney. We're going to bring some of that interview later in the show. But it has to be pretty difficult for someone like Cassie who came forward to tell her story, to tell it in such a graphic and revealing and vulnerable way and then have a jury of her peers basically say, we don't believe you beyond a reasonable doubt.

WAGMEISTER: Yes, Jake, I know that we are going to get more of this interview a bit later in the show.

[17:25:02]

But I will tell you that her attorney, Douglas Wigdor did tell me that he believes that the jury actually did believe Cassie and did believe her for allegations, just that the burden is very high for these federal crimes and that he believes that the jury ultimately did not see a way to meet this charge because, again, that the jury did not believe that the prosecutors met their burden of proof, but that he does believe that Cassie was believed. He also said that Cassie is very proud of herself. This was traumatic for her to testify, but it was also cathartic. She can now move on. We know that she is a mother of three, a newborn at home.

She was eight months pregnant, testifying in this trial, had her third child shortly after she got off the stand. So she's really focused on family. Her attorney told me that she has a great support system, not just her family, but also she is in therapy. She has great resources now. And he said, you never heal from this. It'll take a lifetime to heal. She's well into that process.

So it sounds like she is doing OK. Her attorney actually told me don't worry about Cassie.

TAPER: All right. We're going to squeeze in another quick break. We're going to come back in a second. Much more in the breaking news, a judge denying bail for Sean "Diddy" Combs after he was acquitted of three charges, convicted of two lesser charges. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:30:27]

TAPPER: We continue to follow our breaking news. The judge in the case against Sean "Diddy" Combs made the surprising move of denying bail for Combs. Let's delay -- let's lay out some of the reasoning the judge cited for the denial of bail. First, he said he denied bail when it wasn't mandatory before the trial and, quote, sees no reason to reach the opposite conclusion now. But let's discuss those other reasons with CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney, Joey Jackson, as well as Stacey Schneider, also a criminal defense attorney.

Stacey, in denying bail, the judge quoted the defense at different instances in the trial when Sean "Diddy" Combs' lawyers acknowledged his acts of violence towards former girlfriends during the trial. And to be clear, this was not a domestic violence case. So their acknowledgement of that, especially when there was video of him beating up Cassie Ventura, was an attempt to get ahead of that judgment.

What do you make of the judge's reasoning? Essentially, he's been violent to these women before. I see no reason why he wouldn't do it again.

STACY SCHNEIDER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE TRIAL ATTORNEY: Well, I think the judge can't unhear the testimony that he heard in the trial. And also the judge pointed out that the defense attorneys during the trial admitted that their client was violent and had issues and problems and flaws and that these were terrible situations. But again, the defense was saying it was domestic violence. I think the judge could have gone the other way here because the jury did acquit him of the racketeering and the sex trafficking counts, which would involve alleged acts of violence. And the jury found that he wasn't guilty of any of that. He was just found guilty of transporting individuals across state lines to engage in prostitution.

So what is his risk to the community on that? The problem is, I think Cassie Ventura's letter might have had an effect on the judge. The judge feels that he needs to protect the community from Sean Combs. But in the end, Sean Combs might not get that steep of a sentence out of conviction. And he'll eventually be released from jail with credit for the 10 months he's already done in. And he'll be back out in the community after the case.

I can't imagine a defendant who's just gone through a trial like Sean Combs went through, where everything that happened behind closed doors was now exposed to the nation. And it was a heinous exposure that he wouldn't be on best behavior, not even to get a traffic -- traffic infraction if he was released on bail.

So I'm a little bit surprised that the judge didn't give him some leeway. So now he'll remain at the Metropolitan Detention Center, where Luigi Mangione is also housed.

TAPPER: And Joey, the judge also said there was violence and illegal conduct after the searches on Sean "Diddy" Combs' homes. When he was aware he was under investigation, the judge saying, quote, this highlights a disregard for the rule of law and the propensity of violence, unquote. Is that a common reason to deny -- to deny bail?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: So there's two ways of looking at this, Jake. The first way is, is that clearly there's a changed circumstance here. There's no way out of that fact. The fact is, is that initially when bail was imposed and -- and when he was going through that, as Mr. Combs, the iterations of the first time and the second time he appealed three different times, the judge saying no, he was facing life in jail.

He was facing a minimum of 15 years with respect to sex trafficking. That now has not happened. And so what we're looking at is a different universe. And so looking at it from that perspective, you can look at it from two reasons. Number one, is he a flight risk? Would he really be a flight risk under these circumstances where his passport's taken? He knows he's facing sentencing. You can put in conditions to ensure his return.

And number two, is he now a danger to the community, wherein if he did anything wrong, it would be factored into the sentencing? Resoundingly, no. That's the first argument.

The second thing is, listen, the fact is, is he was convicted of two felonies. So let's look at the prosecution briefly. The fact is, is that based upon those two felonies, prostitution, transportation to engage in -- in prostitution, you're facing up to 10 years. Now his guideline range, which is legal speak for the federal government, calculates various things with respect to the nature of the offense, the characteristics of the defendant, et cetera, is from 21 months to 27 months. That's two years and three months.

[17:34:59]

The judge could be giving the indication, right, we don't know, that, hey, he's going to keep him in jail for some period of time. What that period of time is, we don't know, but it could very well be the guideline sentence. And so maybe the judge says, if I let him out, I'm just going to put him back in anyway. I'm speculating, but there's two ways to slice this, Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Joey Jackson, Stacey Schneider, thanks. Stay there. We're going to come back to you.

Before this major development on bail denied, CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister spoke to the attorney for the trial star witness, Cassie Ventura. And we're going to bring you that interview, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: And we're back with our breaking news. The judge just minutes ago denied bail for Sean "Diddy" Combs. This after a jury found Combs not guilty on the three most serious charges against him, racketeering and two counts of sex trafficking. The jury did convict him on two lesser charges involving the transportation of prostitutes across state lines.

CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister has been closely covering this trial. She spoke exclusively with Cassie Ventura's attorney as soon as the verdict came down. Elizabeth, it has been quite a day in court.

[17:40:11]

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It has been quite the day in court, Jake. I have to tell you, some fans or detractors maybe, it's hard to tell. But screaming behind me that bail has been denied, it sounds like they are cheering. But we also know that earlier today there were some fans spraying baby oil all over themselves in celebration of the verdict.

So it has been a crazy day. But as you said, I sat down with Cassie Ventura's attorney for his first and only interview. Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WAGMEISTER: You were inside of that courtroom when this verdict was read. What were you feeling?

DOUG WIGDOR, ATTORNEY FOR CASSIE VENTURA: Well, I think there was a lot of mixed emotions in the courtroom, generally speaking. Obviously, we would have liked to have seen convictions on the RICO charges and the sex trafficking charges. But Cassie prompted this investigation by the Southern District. And now Sean Combs stands before the court as a convicted felon of two federal crimes. He faces significant incarceration. Not the exact outcome that we wanted, but we are grateful to the jury for finding a guilty verdict on those two federal crimes.

WAGMEISTER: After Cassie filed her civil lawsuit in November 2023, since, there has been roughly 70, that's seven-zero, suits that have been filed against Sean Combs. He denies all of these allegations. Egregious accusations of people being drugged at auditions, being drugged at his infamous white parties, not remembering a single thing after they were handed a drink and then being sexually assaulted. Given that none of these suits had come out prior to Cassie filing that lawsuit, does she feel like she has made a difference?

WIGDOR: Yes, definitely. And that was one of her major objectives, frankly, when she rejected an eight-figure settlement, was not only to shine a light, but to give a voice to -- to others who were suffering in silence. And she -- she knew that there were others out there. And so to now see, as reported, you know, numbers in the 50, 60, 70 or more allegations or lawsuits, I think that she's been vindicated in what she did.

WAGMEISTER: Was there ever a consideration that she wouldn't do this when the government began investigating her claims and asked her to testify?

WIGDOR: It was -- it was a roller coaster at times. There were certainly days where she didn't want to testify. You know, that's natural. I mean, it's -- a lot that the government was asking of her. And she ultimately did what -- what they wanted her to do. She testified truthfully. But, you know, just having to subject yourself to cross-examination, and ultimately, when you're done, have a lawyer say the sorts of things that were said in the closing argument about her, that's not easy for anyone to -- to endure.

WAGMEISTER: Is this something that she ever can fully heal from?

WIGDOR: It'll always be part of her life, unfortunately. I mean, you can -- you can heal, but you'll never forget going through drug rehabilitation and -- and being sober and clean for as long now as she has, has really helped in that effort. But, you know, the -- the abuse that she suffered, that's something that one doesn't forget.

And you watch the video, for instance, that was not an isolated event. You know, anyone who goes through that sort of abuse, it's impossible to ever forget it. You know, she has been compensated financially. She's in a good position, which certainly helps. But -- but she's not, you know, the winner, as -- as the defense lawyer said. You know, it's hard to call somebody a winner who has been physically abused.

WAGMEISTER: Her husband, Alex Fine, was in that courtroom during her testimony. I cannot imagine what that was like for him to hear about your wife, the mother of your children, who you love so deeply, going through these horrific, horrific moments of abuse and torment that she spoke about. What was that like for Alex?

WIGDOR: Yes, very hard. I mean, he really has helped change her life tremendously. When, you know, when -- when Cassie was ready to take her own life, obviously, you know, she testified about, you know, wanting to just walk into the oncoming traffic. And, you know, Alex obviously was there to -- to help her. So, you know, having -- having him at her side has been enormously helpful for her.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[17:44:58]

WAGMEISTER: You know, watching that, you are reminded of how disturbing her testimony was, Jake, and even though a large part of the focus of our coverage today has been that Sean Combs has been acquitted on the most serious charges. For Cassie Ventura, this is still justice.

And I want to remind our viewers that none of this would have happened without Cassie. It was not until after her lawsuit was filed that the feds began their investigation. Jake?

TAPPER: All right, Elizabeth Wagmeister, thanks so much.

The breaking news in Washington, D.C., the vote count has not moved much as party leaders are trying to get Republican holdouts on board with President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act. How will the final vote in the House go down? Lots of drama on the Cap -- on Capitol Hill, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: We have a lot of other big news today. One of them, one of the items, tops our Politics Lead. House Republicans are stalling right now. The White House is pushing to get remaining Republican holdouts on board with the Senate's version of Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, all before President Trump's self-imposed July 4th deadline. Moderates in the House GOP caucus are worried about changes to Medicaid that might hurt people who need that health insurance.

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Conservatives say they're worried about exploding the deficit even further. And this hour -- at this hour, House Republicans can only afford to lose three votes with the narrow majority Republicans have, 220 to 212. CNN's Lauren Fox is on Capitol Hill for us. Lauren, you're hearing that key holdouts are getting closer to a yes on this bill.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake. In fact, I just spoke with one of them, Representative Warren Davidson. He had been a no previously when this bill came up in the House of Representatives in May. And yet, I just spoke with him. He said that he is planning on supporting this latest version. He says he plans to support the procedural rule vote. He also says he plans to support the underlying bill.

Obviously, this is an extremely significant development, given the fact that he was really marked for leadership as someone who couldn't get to yes. But his rationale was essentially this doesn't get better the longer that this hangs out. And he said he has had multiple conversations with the President, just really showing the fact that Donald Trump has a huge impact here in the House of Representatives, maybe even bigger than his impact in the Senate. I also spoke earlier today with Representative Ralph Norman, who this morning said he was a no. He voted against this in the Rules Committee. But here's what he said about today's meetings that he's been a part of.

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REP. RALPH NORMAN (R-SC): My whole posture now is find out more information, get it answered to see how it can be implemented. In other words, the fine print, the devil's in the details, ladies and gentlemen.

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FOX: And what you're starting to hear from some of these conservatives is less about the need to bring the Senate back and ping pong this back and forth, and more a desire to get assurances from the administration that the implementation of this bill, A.K.A. not changing the underlying legislation, but just the way that the administration goes about implementing this, that that could be a way to potentially really stop any of their concerns. So that is a huge, huge maneuver, a huge chip for the administration right now, Jake. It's really something to keep an eye on.

TAPPER: All right, Lauren Fox, thanks so much.

Now to our Law and Justice Lead, and the major case we've been following out of Idaho.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty?

BRYAN KOHBERGER, MURDERED FOUR UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO STUDENTS: Yes.

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TAPPER: The accused killer in the horrific 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students pleaded guilty today to all charges. The judge accepted his plea deal, removing the possibility of the death penalty. The victims in the case are Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin. And CNN's Jean Casarez was in the courtroom for today's change of plea hearing. Jean, tell us more about what happened.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was a packed courtroom, Jake. I mean, there was not a seat and there was a lot of security there, but there were so many family members of these four victims. And they came and they had to travel a long ways away. And no one knew that this was happening until Monday. But they got here and they packed this courtroom.

And all eyes were on that door when Bryan Kohberger walks through. And I can tell you that because I've seen him before in a courtroom, he was different today. He had -- he was confident. He walked with assertion. He focused in on his defense attorney. He never looked around the courtroom at all at the victim's families.

But he looked at his attorney with a smile when he walked in, sat down, started to talk to her. Once the proceeding begins and the judge turns to Bryan Kohberger, he has to answer a few preliminary questions. He stands up and he answers them and -- and he stands up. He doesn't stand up. He stands up. And the judge says, you don't have to stand up.

And then he admitted that he committed these murders. And the families are so intent looking at him. One was crying a lot. She was very, very emotional in silence in that courtroom. But he is now going to serve for life terms, no parole. And he will not be allowed to have any appellate rights.

TAPPER: Some of the victim's families were inside the courtroom today. How did they react to the plea deal?

CASAREZ: You know, it's different, Jake. They all have different -- Mr. Goncalves, the father of Maddie -- of Kaylee Goncalves, just issued a statement, I mean, minutes ago to our own Jim Sciutto. And he said that he thought today was, it was -- it was all about the judge, it was all about the defendant, but not about the victims.

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Now, on the other hand, the family members of the victims, and this would be the Maddie Mogen family, they believe that this can give them closure. Take a listen.

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LEANDER JAMES, ATTORNEY FOR MADISON MOGEN'S PARENTS: We support the plea agreement 100 percent. While we know there are some who do not support it, we ask that they respect our belief that this is the best outcome possible for the victims, their families, and the state of Idaho.

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CASAREZ: But Jake, there is no condition at all to this plea agreement. He doesn't have to apologize, he doesn't have to explain why, and that's the pivotal question. What's the motivation? There is no motivation that is known for this. There is no connection to those victims. We know that from hearings in court. And so, forevermore, we may not know why he did this, Jake.

TAPPER: Horrific. Jean Casarez in Boise, Idaho, thanks so much.

The mics are set up outside the courthouse in New York before the bail hearing. Attorneys for Sean "Diddy" Combs said that they would address the cameras. Has that changed now that bail has been denied? We're going to go live to New York, next, where that hearing just wrapped up.

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