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Sen. John Fetterman Breaks Silence on New York Magazine Allegations; Appeals Court Weighs Whether Detained Tufts Student Should Be Moved; Trump Says U.S. to Stop Strikes on Houthis in Yemen. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired May 06, 2025 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

ROBERT HIRSCHHORN, JURY AND TRIAL CONSULTANT AND ATTORNEY: ... I think this is very well a case about the government, the United States government overcharging Diddy in this particular case, and we'll see if it pans out that way.

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: It will be interesting to see to your point how it all plays out, how it plays out in court. I will say, having covered a few of these, it doesn't always matter if the cameras aren't in court because the information does make it out, and if there is a lot there, it will certainly bring people in. Robert, appreciate your time. Thank you.

HIRSCHHORN: Thank you, Erica.

HILL: Still to come here, Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman now speaking out to CNN about a damning article questioning his fitness for office. His response is next.

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[14:35:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Now to Capitol Hill where Senator John Fetterman is breaking his silence on a damning New York Magazine report that raises serious questions about the Pennsylvania Democrat's mental health, his fitness to serve in Congress, and his viability to serve in the future.

HILL: That magazine's key source was Fetterman's former chief of staff. CNN's Manu Raju just spoke with the senator about these allegations. Manu, what's it telling you?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he is pushing back. This report suggested that Fetterman, who checked himself into Walter Reed Hospital last year because he was battling depression, he was in Walter Reed for about six weeks. The report, according to his former chief of staff, was that Fetterman is no longer following that strict medical regimen that was outlined by his doctors and is demonstrating erratic and reckless behavior, according to his former chief of staff, Adam Jentleson, who went public in that New York Magazine report.

I asked Fetterman about that and about whether he is indeed following that protocol and whether he can actually fill out his term, which ends at the end of 2028.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): My reaction is it's a one source hit piece, and it involved maybe two or three anonymous disgruntled staffers saying just absolute false things.

RAJU: Have you been keeping up with that, taking your medication?

FETTERMAN: My doctors, my doctors are like, John is great, and I am on all of the plan that it's always been, and it's incredibly invasive, and why are people talking about anyone's personal medical things?

RAJU: So you've only been treated for depression, not for being bipolar?

FETTERMAN: No, no, I haven't. I haven't, but I've been very front and center about my life with depression. Absolutely, none of these other things, and it's like, so someone that was trying to accumulate my medical records and leak those things, that's part of this weird grudge for this hit piece.

RAJU: You fully plan to serve your full term here in the Senate?

FETTERMAN: Come on, of course, obviously, obviously, everybody understands I was treated for depression.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJU (on camera): He did say it was too early to say whether he would run for re-election in 2028. He is getting some support though from a lot of his colleagues who are pushing back at those allegations. But nevertheless, despite what Federman said about his former chief of staff who worked with him while he was going through that bout with depression, I asked Adam Jentleson, the former chief of staff, about what Federman just said. He said, quote, I stand by what I said, and I hope he gets the help he needs -- guys.

KEILAR: All right, Manu, thank you for that, appreciate it.

HILL: Still ahead here, new developments today as an international student from Tufts University accused of supporting Hamas tries to regain her freedom. Her lawyer joins us next.

[14:40:04]

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KEILAR: The panel of federal judges heard arguments today on whether to transfer Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk from an immigration detention center in Louisiana back to Vermont. The Turkish national has been in the spotlight since late March when she was arrested near her Massachusetts home by plainclothes officers -- which you see here. It was all captured on surveillance video at the time.

Ozturk co-authored an op-ed in the Tufts student newspaper criticizing the university's response to Israel's war in Gaza. She is now facing possible deportation.

Esha Bhandari is an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing Ozturk and argued for her return to Vermont today.

Thank you so much for being with us. This was a hearing that started this morning. Can you give us the status of it? Is it over? What all transpired in court today?

ESHA BHANDARI, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF ACLU'S SPEECH, PRIVACY AND TECHNOLOGY PROJECT: This was a hearing where the Court of Appeals based in New York is going to decide whether Rumeysa Ozturk can be transferred back to the district of Vermont, where the court there is going to have a hearing this Friday on whether to release her on bail. So the hearing today in New York is done. We're awaiting a decision from the appellate court.

And the heart of the question here is, can the government be required to produce people in court for the courts to be able to have a full and fair adjudication of their claims?

KEILAR: So part of it -- this was really a jurisdictional dispute being aired in court today. Talk a little bit about that and why you think she should be returned to Vermont rather than stay in Louisiana and why you think the government's argument that the court really shouldn't have a say in that isn't valid.

BHANDARI: First, it's very important that Ms. Ozturk be returned to Vermont. That is the district court that has jurisdiction to hear her claims. The court said it wants her present in court this Friday, which is a normal thing that courts regularly do.

They require people to be in court. They may have questions for witnesses or the parties.

[14:45:00]

It's a very important factor in the court's consideration. And the court has every right to require her return.

But the other reason it's very important is that the reason she is in Louisiana is because of the government's actions. You know, they arrested her by playing clothes officers on the street in Somerville, Massachusetts.

Then they quickly moved her through multiple states without telling her lawyers where she was, without her being able to tell her lawyers where she was, and then moved her to Louisiana, where she's now thousands of miles away from her lawyers, from her community, from the people who could advocate for her.

And this troubling pattern is another reason why she should be returned to Vermont, because the government shouldn't be able to benefit from its actions, trying to separate people from their lawyers, trying to separate people from the courts that are hearing their cases.

KEILAR: Have you been able to touch base with her? Can you tell us about what she said about what it's like in Louisiana, her conditions, that kind of thing?

BHANDARI: Her lawyers have been able to speak with her. We have been able to talk to her and the conditions in Louisiana are not good. She is not the only one who is in immigration detention there.

And the conditions are very bad in general. But for her in particular, because she has asthma, her asthma attacks have increased. Her medical conditions are deteriorating.

And that's another factor why it's so important for her to be returned to Vermont. Even if she's in detention, she can be closer to people who can advocate for her.

But fundamentally, what this case is about is the executive branch asserting a very breathtaking authority. What they are saying is that they can take someone off the streets with no notice, without charging them with violating any law, without them having any idea that they might be, you know, taken off the street like this, and then ferry them away far from anyone they know, far from their lawyers. And then keep them there for weeks without ever having to answer to a court about why that detention is lawful to begin with. It's now been six weeks, and no court has yet weighed in on the merits of her claim because the government continues to use these delaying tactics.

KEILAR: So ultimately, as you get to perhaps the heart of the matter, depending on the outcome of this hearing today, are you expecting that this goes to the Supreme Court and we do hear on the merits?

BHANDARI: Ultimately, this may be a question that the Supreme Court has to answer, and the question is, does the First Amendment protect the right of everyone in the United States to express their political opinions and viewpoints, no matter what other people may think about them?

Of course, people who are in the United States do have that right, and the government is trying to suggest that, you know, it can use immigration law to serve as a tool of censorship or to silence people or to punish them through the harsh punishment of detention. But it is fundamentally an American principle that people are entitled to their political viewpoints, and they're entitled to have them without the government engaging in this type of harsh punishment.

KEILAR: Yes, the First Amendment, and it's going to come up against this Immigration and Nationality Act from 1952. So we'll be looking for that. Esha Bhandari, thank you so much for taking the time to be with us today. We appreciate it.

BHANDARI: Thank you.

KEILAR: Still to come, Israel launching new strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen. We'll have a live report on what could happen next.

[14:50:00]

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HILL: An important development from President Trump a short time ago in the Oval Office, as he noted the U.S. would stop the bombings, in his words, against the Iran-backed Houthi rebel group in Yemen.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Houthis have announced that they are not, or they've announced to us at least, that they don't want to fight anymore. They just don't want to fight. And we will honor that.

And we will stop the bombings. And they have capitulated. But more importantly they -- we will take their word. They say they will not be blowing up ships anymore. I will accept their word. And we are going to stop the bombing of the Houthis effective immediately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: So you heard those comments from the president. They actually follow Israeli airstrikes on the rebel-held main airport in Yemen. The Israeli military saying that a short time ago, its fighter jets struck and disabled the airport in the capital city of Sanaa.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is following these developments for us. So this attack today, Jeremy, also marks a significant escalation in recent days. What more do we know about it?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes, without a doubt about it, Erica, these were some of the most significant Israeli strikes that we have seen amid the ongoing back and forth of Houthi missiles aimed at Israel and Israeli attacks in Yemen.

Over the last 24 hours, we saw two successive rounds of airstrikes, and today's were certainly very significant, striking the capital city airport, a civilian airport, we should note, with a heavy barrage of airstrikes that hit runways, aircrafts and other infrastructure there, fully disabling the airport, according to the Israeli military, which accused the Houthis of using this airport for their militant purposes. The Israelis also struck several power plants in the capital city of Sanaa, as well as a cement factory just north of the city.

In the videos that we saw from the scene, you can see a series of explosions and large plumes of smoke rising over that capital city.

[14:55:00]

But the Israelis now have a lot of questions about this supposed truce between the United States and these Houthi militants. An Israeli official telling me that the United States did not inform the Israeli government about this truce before President Trump made that announcement in the Oval Office. And Israeli officials now left with a slew of questions about whether

or not this truce will at all impact Houthi attacks against Israel and how it could affect U.S. support and cooperation, both in terms of defending against Houthi missile attacks in Israel, but also, of course, the coordination that Israel has had with the United States when it retaliates and goes after Houthi targets in Yemen, as it did just earlier today.

So a lot of questions on that front. But the Houthis, for the time being, they have vowed to continue their attacks against Israel. So those certainly don't seem to show any signs of letting up, even amid this U.S.-Houthi truce that President Trump described -- Erica.

HILL: Yes, certainly interesting, too, that it came as a bit of a surprise to officials there.

I also wanted to ask you about, so we've been learning more about this expanded operation in Gaza and comments that have certainly struck a nerve with the hostage families, the families of the hostages still being held, and whether or not they are being prioritized as this expansion would move forward. What is the latest on that front?

DIAMOND: Well, look, it seems quite clear that the Israeli prime minister, both in rhetoric and now also in deed, has chosen to prioritize the defeat of Hamas, that military objective of the war in Gaza, over the objective of securing the release of the hostages. Just last week, he said that the supreme objective of Israel's war in Gaza is the defeat of Israel's enemies, including Hamas, placing that higher on the scale to the other objective of the war, which has been securing the release of the hostages.

And now, with this expanded military offensive, he is making that clear in action as well. And that has triggered a lot of fear and concern among the families of the hostages who fear that this expanded military operation will endanger their loved ones and also, of course, making it secondary to Israel's war goals in Gaza.

Also important to note that a majority of Israelis have said now in poll after poll that they would like to see an end to the war in Gaza and a deal that secures the release of all of the hostages over an expanded military offensive, which is exactly what Israel is headed for now under the leadership of Prime Minister Netanyahu -- Erica.

HILL: Jeremy Diamond with the latest for us from Jerusalem. Appreciate it. Thank you.

Still ahead here, after 20 years, the deadline to get your Real ID. It's finally here. Clock is literally ticking. So what happens if you show up to the airport tomorrow without yours? That's next.

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