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Jury Shown Freak-off Videos; Polls on GOP Bill; Chris Sununu is Interviewed about Trump's Bill, Minnesota and Tucker Carlson; U.S. Retail Sales for May; Trump Shatters Ethics Norms. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired June 17, 2025 - 08:30   ET

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

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[08:31:47]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, next hour, new testimony expected in the sex trafficking and racketeering trial of Sean Combs, as the prosecution says it is nearly done presenting its case. It said six weeks. This is the sixth week.

Yesterday, for the first time, jurors were shown explicit videos for so-called freak offs. And some of them visibly reacted. Today, the jurors will hear from another one of Combs' former assistants, Brendan Paul. He's expected to take the stand for most of the day.

CNN's Kara Scannell is outside the courthouse in New York.

Kara, I'm just curious with these videos, they've been listening to testimony of what happened in these freak offs, but now the jury has seen these videos for the first time. You were in court. How did they respond?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Sara.

Yes, this is the first time the jurors have seen clips of some of these videos of the freak offs. Earlier in the trial they had seen still images. Images taken off the videos. But yesterday was the first time they actually played some clips from them. And they played clips from exhibits that are videos involving Cassie Ventura and some of the male escorts.

Just two minutes in total. It wasn't a long length of time. But they were showing them some detail. Of course, we can't see it. It's closed to the -- to the public and the press, that aspect of the evidence. But the jurors did see it.

And I saw some of them fairly stone-faced, but others, one woman had grimaced. Another woman kind of shielded one of her eyes with her hand. Something that appears to be uncomfortable for some of them to view. And again, just a few minutes of that.

It's unclear if we'll see more of that today, but those videos are all in evidence and something that the jurors could look at when they're back in the room deliberating. Today, that summary witness, who was the vehicle through which the prosecution introduced that, will be back on the witness stand. And then we're expecting to hear from Brendan Paul, who was Combs' former assistant. He's testifying under an immunity deal. And he is expected to testify about setting up these hotel nights for "Jane," that's Combs' other girlfriend, as well as his involvement with getting Combs drugs. That is one element of the racketeering charge. His testimony is expected to go the full day.

We're also, though, expecting to still hear from that summary witness. And yesterday -- she is an agent with the U.S. attorney's office. She presented to the jury text messages of Combs texting with one of the escorts, arranging for him to travel to New York and to stay at a hotel with them for one of these events. They also showed Combs emailing one of his personal finance directors at Bad Boy, where he was the CEO at the time, also asking her to set up the flight. This all part of the prosecution trying to prove those transportation counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.

So, the prosecution in the homestretch, trying to tie all the evidence together using these law enforcement witnesses to connect the dots for the jury. And though Brendan Paul is expected to be on the stand for most of the day.

Now, something interesting just happened this morning. The judge brought the parties in earlier than expected and he made reference to an article that was published, something that referenced details that happened in a closed courtroom with a transcript sealed. He admonished both parties, asked them to say whether the prosecution or the defense had leaked any of this information in violation of his order not to have this case play out in the media.

[08:35:09]

He was pretty upset about it. And he warned them that if this happens again, he said that he will launch an investigation that could involve the seizure of their devices and testimony under oath.

Sara.

SIDNER: Wow, not just drama with the particular case, but drama over what it is that's being leaked as well.

Thank you so much, Kara Scannell. You've been following it from the beginning, giving us every detail. We appreciate it.

All right, Senate Republicans have finally unveiled their proposed changes to President Trump's massive bill, including cuts to Medicaid. New polling this morning showing Americans, well, showing exactly what Americans think about it. Our Harry Enten here to give us the lowdown on that.

Plus, he became famous as McSteamy on "Gray's Anatomy." Now actor Eric Dane is opening up about his ALS diagnosis.

Those stories and more ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:40:04]

SIDNER: All right, this morning, after weeks of back and forth, Senate Republicans have finally unveiled their proposed changes to President Trump's self-titled big, beautiful bill, including cuts to Medicaid and eliminating some clean energy tax credits. The announcement comes as a new KFF survey finds that Americans generally not so in favor of the bill, with nearly two-thirds of the American public expressing their disapproval.

CNN's chief data analyst Harry Enten is with me now.

So, where is support for this mega bill?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: You know, I'm really, really surprised when I look at polling data. I look at it every day. But the amount of disapproval for this bill, holy cow, my goodness gracious. And, you know, you mentioned the KFF poll. We're talking about 29 points underwater on the net favorable rating.

But that matches the Quinnipiac University poll from last week when it was 26 points underwater. Oh my God. You need Greg Louganis to get that far underwater. And, I mean, we're talking about a negative 41 net favorability rating among independents in the center of the electorate. You rarely ever see pieces of legislation or proposed pieces of legislation as unpopular as this. But here you see it, in two polls, 26 points underwater and 29 points underwater. No good.

SIDNER: All right, what about the GOP? Because we have seen some pushback from some lawmakers. And we saw that, I don't know, nuclear reaction from Elon Musk about this bill. What are you seeing there?

ENTEN: Yes, I mean, there is a large chunk of the Republican Party that is not in favor of this bill. So, this is the GOP with an unfavorable view of this bill. And what we see here is, look at this, 23 percent are opposed, have an unfavorable rating of the big, beautiful bill. Now, to put that in some perspective, Donald Trump's unfavorable rating with the GOP is 9 percent. So, this is more than double.

All of a sudden you're taking a huge chunk of that MAGA base, of that Republican base, that has turned against this bill. It is not just Elon Musk, it is not just Ron Johnson, the Senate Republican from Wisconsin. It is a large chunk of the Republican base's large. Double the percentage that have an unfavorable view of Donald Trump, have an unfavorable view of the big, beautiful bill.

And I will note that in the KFF poll, the unfavorable view, get this, 36 percent. You rarely ever see anything that Donald Trump backs get that high of an unfavorable view among Republicans, but here it is with the big, beautiful bill.

SIDNER: Yes, and there's a very small margin there. So -- so, they're going to have to work out these details. Give us some comparison. 2017 we saw a bill that had Trump tax cuts in

it. What is the support look like compared to that?

ENTEN: Yes, you know, that wasn't that popular back in the day. It was a minus 17 net favorable rating. But here, what do we see with the big beautiful bill on the aggregate, minus 28 points. So, this is far more unpopular than that -- those tax cuts were back in 2017. And remember, Republicans lost the House in 2018. So, if this is the big, beautiful bill, it may be a big, beautiful bill for Democrats if it passes because they'll have a big, beautiful night come midterm night of 2026.

SIDNER: In my sad math, that is almost double there.

ENTEN: Yes.

SIDNER: Almost.

ENTEN: It's not good. It's not good.

SIDNER: Not good.

All right, Harry Enten, it's always good to see your butt out here.

ENTEN: Same with yours.

SIDNER: All right, John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And a Greg Louganis mentioned to boot.

All right, with us now, the former governor of New Hampshire, Chris Sununu.

Governor, thank you so much for being with us.

CHRIS SUNUNU (R), FORMER NEW HAMPSHIRE GOVERNOR: You bet.

BERMAN: All right, you just saw Harry's numbers there.

SUNUNU: Yes.

BERMAN: You know, 28 percent underwater.

SUNUNU: Yes.

BERMAN: So, if you're giving advice to your Republican colleagues, do you change the bill or do you force it?

SUNUNU: You re-message it. So, it's -- it's really -- most folks in America don't even really understand exactly what's in the bill. And -- and a lot of that is because they haven't messaged what's in it, why they're doing it, what the tax cuts mean, the fact they're not just, you know, slashing Medicaid, like a lot of the messaging on the other side is. What they're really doing is -- is saying, look, we're just going to say there's a work requirement, which was -- it was always designed to make sure that able bodied working adults could get Medicaid. Well, let's just make sure that you're actually working. So, I think it's more of a messaging problem.

Now, the interesting aspect of those numbers is, the reason Musk doesn't like the bill is it doesn't go far enough for him.

BERMAN: Right.

SUNUNU: The reason most Americans don't like the bill is because they think it goes too far. So, there's actually a diverging reason why they're -- why it's not very popular.

BERMAN: I will note, I'm going to move on to other things, in the Kaiser poll, when actually people were given more information about the Medicaid stuff, they liked it less. It may not be a messaging thing on that side of it, but we'll see what they choose to do.

Obviously, what we saw in Minnesota was horrific with these two state lawmakers targeted, one killed. Political violence of any kind, we know, is terrible. And members of both parties have been targeted.

President Trump was asked about whether he would call Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. He was asked about that on the plane trip back to the United States. Listen to what the president said.

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REPORTER: Have you called the governor yet or been able to speak to any of them?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't really call him. He's -- look, he appointed this guy to a position. I think the governor of Minnesota is so whacked out. I'm not calling him. He's a -- he's a mess. So, you know, I could be nice and call him, but why waste time?

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BERMAN: I think the governor of Minnesota is whacked out. I'm not going to call him.

[08:45:00]

How does that help?

SUNUNU: No, it doesn't help. No, it definitely doesn't. I think what happens is, I mean, you see the Mike Lee post, which was absolutely terrible. Folks are forgetting, people -- people have lost their lives here. And -- and this isn't just one incident, right? We can go back and start this on the Republican side or the Democrat side. It's almost like a culture crisis we have in America where the -- the lines of -- of morality have moved. And now people think that they can take the law into their own hands. They're going to do things out of what their perceived idea of political and social justice is. So, people have lost their lives. You make the call. You -- you show the empathy. You don't want this to -- to kind of get out of hand. And the messaging just is never good when you're not willing to at least empathize someone that's lost somebody. BERMAN: You make the call is what you're saying there.

SUNUNU: Of course. Yes, of course you do.

BERMAN: How does that help? Just for those who say, oh, what does it matter?

SUNUNU: Just for the sake -- even if it's just for the sake of making the call, you do the call. I know it's not Tim Walz directly or to the families. I mean let's -- I mean the families of the individuals who lost their lives, they're probably, as the governor or the president, I would think, that would be the priority as well. So, I understand sometimes it's not easy. Sometimes it's with people you don't care for. But certain circumstances rise above the politics.

BERMAN: There is clearly a situation going on in the Middle East right now that's caused a divide politically in the United States inside each party. How much should the United States be involved in helping Israel in its attacks on Iran?

And we've seen something we've really rarely seen before, which is inside President Trump's sort of own political movement there appears to be a division here. Tucker Carlson, you know, a big supporter of the president, is adamantly opposed to further U.S. involvement here. One of the things he's written is, you know, the real divide isn't between people who support Israel and people who support Iran or the Palestinians. The real divide is between those who casually encourage violence and those who seek to prevent it -- between warmongers and peacemakers. Who are the warmongers? And then later in the tweet he goes on to name Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Rupert Murdoch, Ike Perlmutter, Miriam Adelson. You know, real huge Republican supporters.

And again, President Trump commented on this. Listen to what he said.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't know what Tucker Carlson is saying. Let him go get a television network and say it so that people listen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SUNUNU: Yes, exactly. Look, Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon do not define the conservative movement or even I would say the -- the MAGA base of -- of -- of Donald Trump at all. Kind of on the conspiracy theorist side. So, I know it might seem like there's some sort of fracture. There's not. I think folks really understand what President Trump is doing, where America is position need to be. It is in our interest to ensure that Iran isn't enriching uranium. It's in our interest to ensure that Israel is protected. And if we can do that without putting troops on the ground, then that -- and I have no doubt that's going to happen.

We're not putting troops on the ground. There will be some assistance there. And clearly there's already some indications that, you know, Iran is willing to -- to have that phone call that President Trump encouraged. Hopefully there will be some sort of reconciliation here, some sort of peace agreement or -- or understanding that, you know, we're going to stop shooting missiles like across the border at each other and make sure that Iran doesn't have -- have that -- that type of nuclear capability. Clearly Iran is in trouble here and they know it.

I think that the delicate part is making sure Russia doesn't back them militarily or China doesn't back Tehran economically, which they've indicated they -- they may be willing to do. So, if it goes too long. The -- the dance is, how much leverage does the U.S. but don't wait so long that you allow these other players to come in and the whole thing escalates.

So, that's why I think Trump left Canada. He's going to make sure that when the time is right to either accept or make that phone call, he's right there to do it.

BERMAN: Former New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, backstage with me watching Red Sox highlights from last night, great to have you here. Appreciate it.

SUNUNU: You bet.

BERMAN: All right, Sara.

SIDNER: All right, breaking just moments ago, new data showing consumers cut back spending sharply last month.

CNN's Matt Egan here on the spot with the new numbers.

What did you learn?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Sara, look, consumer spending is the engine of the U.S. economy. And that engine seems to be sputtering a bit right now, right? We just learned that retail sales during the month of May fell sharply by 0.9 percent. That is worse than expected. This is the biggest monthly drop since January. And it's actually the second month in a row where we're seeing a negative number here because April was revised lower. Originally reported as a slight increase. Now it is a slight decrease.

So, why is this happening? Well, this does appear to at least partially be driven by a hangover from tariffs, right? A lot of Americans, they were scrambling to try to beat the clock on tariffs by buying stuff before they went up in price due to import taxes.

SIDNER: Right.

EGAN: Now there's a giveback. And that makes sense, right? I mean chances are, if you bought a car in March to beat auto tariffs, you're not going to be buying that car in April or May.

SIDNER: Right.

EGAN: Let's look at some of the categories here. There was some good news, right? I mean there was an increase in spending when it comes to sporting goods. That category had been down. It bounced back.

SIDNER: Right.

EGAN: Furniture was up significantly as well. But then there were drops elsewhere, right? Electronics fell. Cars and car parts. That was the biggest one. A drop of 3.5 percent during the month of May.

[08:50:01]

I think one of the more concerning numbers here, though, is bars and restaurants. Look at that, almost 1 percent. Now, that stands in contrast to some other real time indicators we've seen. Open Table shows restaurant reservations are still up, but these numbers from the government suggest that maybe people are spending less at the restaurants they're going to. And I think that's something we've got to pay really close attention to because if people really were feeling pressure, that's where they would probably be cutting back first, right?

One other point here, gas prices. That was another driver here, right? Gas prices. Sales at gas stations fell by 2 percent during the month of May. And that does reflect that gas prices have been relatively low in coming down. However, Sara, as you know, in the last few days we've seen a shift. Oil prices spiking. A lot of fears about what's going on in the Middle East and gas station -- gas prices are starting to creep higher.

One last point, looking at U.S. futures.

SIDNER: Yes.

EGAN: Solidly in the red, but they were in the red before these numbers came out. So, not a big reaction. But I do think we've got to pay really close attention to all of these numbers because, as we mentioned, consumer spending is the biggest driver of this economy.

SIDNER: Right, and consumer confidence, when you look at restaurant and bars in particular --

EGAN: Yes.

SIDNER: That really tells you a little something about whether people are willing to go out and spend their money on things that are something they don't absolutely need. You need your refrigerator. You need other things. You need some of your electronics, but you don't absolutely need to go out and have a good time.

EGAN: Yes.

SIDNER: So, we will see what happens with these numbers.

Thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

EGAN: Thank you, Sara.

SIDNER: A close ally of President Donald Trump found liable for defamation. Details in the lawsuit linked to MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell's false 2020 election fraud claims.

Plus, the glitzy champ is back. What we are learning about Joey Chestnut's return to the World Famous Nathans Hot Dog Eating Contest.

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[08:56:16]

BERMAN: All right, this morning, "Euphoria" and "Gray's Anatomy" star Eric Dane is talking about his ALS diagnosis. The 52-year-old father of two teenage girls told "Good Morning America" he can no longer use his right arm and hand, and he feels his left arm weakening.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your left arm is fine.

ERIC DANE, ACTOR: No, it's going. Yes, I feel like maybe a couple -- few more months and I won't have my left hand either. It's sobering. I'm -- I'm fighting as much as I can. There's so much about it that's out of my control.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: ALS, which many people know as Lou Gehrig's Disease, is a nervous system disease that causes loss of muscle control. Dane announced his diagnosis in April. There is no known cure.

A federal jury has found that MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell defamed a former executive at Dominion Voting System following the 2020 presidential election. Eric Coomer sued after Lindell called him a traitor and made false accusations about him. Lindell was ordered to pay him $2.3 million in damages. Lindell says he intends to appeal.

This morning, the long national nightmare is over. Joey Chestnut is back. The world champion eater will return to Nathan's Famous 4th of July hot dog eating contest after missing last year when he signed a deal with a rival plant based brand. Now, he says his heart and stomach are with Nathan's. Chestnut has won the contest 16 times and once ate a record 76 hot dogs in ten minutes. His goal is to break that very famous 80 barrier. I once asked him how he likes to approach these contests. Sara, you will remember the answer, empty, loose and happy.

SIDNER: I can't. Can we just move on? But that was one of your most famous interviews. Let us just put that out there, John Berman.

BERMAN: My legacy. Journalistic legacy. I appreciate it.

SIDNER: Never going to forget that line.

BERMAN: Yes.

SIDNER: You won't let me, nor will it leave my mind.

Thank you so much. All right, new this morning, ethics watchdogs are raising red flags as

President Trump continues to blur the lines between public office and private gain, from a $400 million jet, to a $499 smartphone. His latest moves are sparking questions about conflicts of interest and frustration among experts who say the Biden administration actually missed its chance to tighten those ethics rules.

CNN's senior reporter, Marshall Cohen, joining me now from Washington.

How did we get to the point where -- where ethics watchdogs are now calling this out?

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, Sara, well, President Trump is known for pushing the limits, and that's exactly what he's doing when it comes to government ethics and conflicts of interest. He accepted that $400 million Qatari jet. He recently dined with top investors for his meme coin. As you mentioned, just yesterday, his company launched a wireless service and a smartphone.

So, I spoke to a bunch of government watchdogs and ethics experts. They're obviously alarmed by Trump, but they're also looking back at the inaction under President Biden and saying that Biden shares some of the blame for not passing any ethics reforms when Democrats controlled Congress.

There actually was a bill that would have addressed a lot of the problems we're seeing now. It passed the House but died in the Senate. The experts I spoke to said that this was, quote, the single biggest failure of the Biden administration. Another said it should have been a priority. And one called it a missed opportunity that the Biden administration didn't put its weight behind that bill.

Now, I want to be clear, Sara, the Trump White House says its abiding by all federal ethics requirements.

[09:00:00]

And a former Biden administration rejected these criticisms, saying that there is just no way to Trump proof the government.