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Closing Arguments Underway in Sex Trafficking Criminal Trial of Sean Diddy Combs; Senators Receive Classified Briefing on Israel-Iran Conflict; Experts Warn Against AI Measure in Big, Beautiful Bill. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired June 26, 2025 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Right now, closing arguments are underway in the Sean Diddy Combs trial as the prosecution works to make a final impression on the jury.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: For hours today, jurors have heard the government lay out how Combs allegedly used violence, fear, and intimidation to fulfill his desires. Some of those claims involve his ex-girlfriends, who prosecutors say were coerced and forced into marathon sexual acts with male escorts.

CNN's Kara Scannell is outside the federal courthouse with more. Kara, bring us up to speed.

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So the prosecutor has been speaking for about four and a half hours, and she said she's about one more hour left. What she is doing is telling the jury what they have charged Sean Combs with. That includes the racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage and prostitution, what they need to prove in order to do that, and how the prosecution believes they have done just that.

So they've gone through different elements of the racketeering conspiracy, drug distribution, kidnapping, arson, and they've focused a lot on the sex trafficking charges, of which that's a part of racketeering, but also two standalone charges, including the alleged sex trafficking of Cassie Ventura and Combs' former girlfriend, who testified under the pseudonym Jane.

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They're walking through that saying that this was done by forced fraud or coercion, saying that Cassie Ventura, as much as the defense has wanted to say that she was an adult making adult choices, they have argued that Ventura was not able to do that, that she -- there was such an age difference between her and Combs, that he had control over her career, her finances, everything, and so that she was not able to actually make an independent distinction.

Again, with Jane, they were doing the same thing, giving three different examples where they say sex trafficking occurred, and overlying all of this was physical violence that Ventura sustained and that Jane said she also sustained from Combs, where in one instance he said to her when he got into her face and said, is this coercion? The prosecutor said that he right then, that was knowledge, that he knew what he was doing was illegal, and that he then still forced Jane to engage in sex acts with a sex worker. They've been working through the different elements here, and they're rounding out the end.

They have two more elements of racketeering to work through, and then the prosecutors will be done, and they will finish their closing arguments this afternoon.

KEILAR: And preview, Kara, what we should be expecting tomorrow when the defense is going to present its closing.

SCANNELL: This will be the defense's opportunity to respond to what the prosecution said and lay out and underscore what their defense has been to this entire case. They have said that these were voluntary, consensual activities between Combs and his girlfriends at the time. They have said that he was not in any racketeering conspiracy, that his underlings, that his security guards were helping him with personal items, but this was not some sort of coordinated, concentrated criminal enterprise.

So they will probably reprise some of the text messages that they have read repeatedly between Jane and Combs and Ventura and Combs, where they appear to want to participate in these freak-offs. The prosecution today trying to get ahead of that, trying to address some of the videos that the jury saw of the sexually explicit content, where the women may have appeared to have looked like they were enjoying it, but that is where Combs' team is going to focus tomorrow. Their lawyer says that he's going to go for about three hours, then the prosecution gets an hour for rebuttal, and then ultimately the jury will begin their deliberations if there's time tomorrow -- guys.

SANCHEZ: Kara Scannell, live for us outside the courtroom in Manhattan. Thank you so much.

Still to come, we have new details from Capitol Hill after the classified briefing to U.S. Senators on U.S. strikes in Iran. Hear directly what Senators made of this briefing when we come back.

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SANCHEZ: We have breaking news coming into CNN from Capitol Hill, where Senators are now emerging from that classified briefing on the Iran strikes.

Earlier today, we heard from both Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. But they both said that there was no indication that Iran had been able to move enriched uranium from its nuclear sites ahead of these strikes, something that President Trump himself cast doubt on.

KEILAR: Yes, and CNN's Manu Raju has been talking to lawmakers to see what they are understanding here. What are they telling you, Manu? MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we're hearing various accounts from the aftermath of this briefing. We heard from Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, who came out afterwards and told me and other reporters that the nuclear program has only been set back by a few months, essentially aligned with some of the preliminary intelligence that has been reported by CNN and other news outlets.

And we've heard from other Republicans who said it's been set back but set back by several years and there's been major damage that has been done to the program.

I caught up with Senator Lindsey Graham, and I asked him about the ability of Iran to build a nuclear weapon still in the aftermath of this attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Here's where we're at. The program was obliterated at those three sites, but they still have ambitions. I don't know where the 900 pounds of highly enriched uranium exists, but it wasn't part of the target set.

RAJU: But Senator, are you concerned that it might have been? It's several years. When the administration is saying it's obliterated, it's just that they're not able to build a weapon. You're saying in several years, perhaps they'll be able to.

GRAHAM: That's what I'm saying. They're obliterated today, but you can reconstitute it. I don't want people to think that the site wasn't severely damaged or obliterated. It was. But having said that, I don't want people to think the problem is over because it's not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU (on camera): And Lindsey Graham went on to say that the CIA director, John Ratcliffe, indicated to Republicans and Democratic senators in that closed-door briefing that the administration would not be limiting access to intelligence to members of Congress. This came out over the last day or so that the administration planned to do so because of concerns about leaks that could come out of Capitol Hill that had caused some blowback from members on the GOP side and the Democratic side. But some reassurance there.

But no doubt about it, there's an overwhelming agreement that this did have an impact. The attacks did have an impact. How much of an impact seems at the moment to come down along party lines there.

But what you heard from Senator Lindsey Graham, he says that it had caused major damage. But if Iran wants to build a nuclear weapon, it certainly could. Perhaps in several years, though -- guys.

KEILAR: All right, Manu, thank you so much. Super helpful to get that off of Capitol Hill.

And as President Trump ramps up pressure on GOP lawmakers to pass his domestic agenda bill, one provision in the bill that would block states from enforcing A.I. regulations is getting a lot of criticism both on The Hill and off. And we'll have that next.

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KEILAR: Just moments from now, President Trump will host an event at the White House as he attempts to rally support for his so-called Big, Beautiful Bill. One measure that is inside of this huge piece of legislation that even took some Republican lawmakers by surprise would prevent states from regulating artificial intelligence for the next decade. And experts warn that move could ultimately harm A.I. users and society at large.

CNN's Clare Duffy is here to explain for us. Clare, why are some in the tech world and also state regulators so concerned about this?

CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yes, Brianna, this provision would effectively prevent states from enforcing A.I.-related laws if they want to receive really crucial federal funding for Internet infrastructure.

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And the concern here really is that these big A.I. companies that are moving so fast to develop this technology could no longer be held accountable if they cause harms to society. Now, the big tech companies say that they would rather have one federal piece of legislation rather than a patchwork of state laws that they have to navigate.

But I spoke with North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson, who is the state's former congressman, and he said that he has little faith in Congress passing federal A.I. legislation because of Congress's record on things like social media, data privacy.

He told me, I think it's perfectly reasonable to be concerned with overregulation of a nascent technology that's going to be economically transformative.

However, if we're weighing that against being locked into doing literally nothing for the next decade, that's a major concern.

And I think that's how a lot of people see it. Either we have this patchwork of state regulations or these A.I. companies kind of just get to run free without any guidelines.

KEILAR: And what's Silicon Valley saying about this, Clare?

DUFFY: Yes, I think most of the big tech companies are in the camp of wanting this to pass because they would rather have federal legislation rather than a patchwork of state laws, but not everybody. And one interesting sort of exception figure who is opposed to this provision is Anthropic CEO Dario Amadei. He is the one that made that sort of scary warning that A.I. is going to be taking lots of jobs in the coming years. And he is among the leaders who is calling this provision really dangerous and potentially problematic if states aren't able to hold some of these companies accountable.

And look, most of the state laws are pretty specifically targeted to certain types of harms, things like the creation of deepfake pornography or the use of algorithms to discriminate in hiring. And those are the kinds of things that people are looking to protect here -- Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, Clare Duffy, thank you for taking us through that -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Now to some of the other headlines we're watching this hour. New York City Mayor Eric Adams has officially launched his re-election campaign, this time running as an independent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS, (I) NEW YORK: This is not a city of handouts. This is a city of hands up. We're going to lift up the city of New York. And so I'm asking you, New Yorkers, to continue to stand with me as we move this city in the right direction. I'm ready to be your mayor again for another four years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: A fired up announcement coming fewer than 48 hours after a shocking upset in the city's Democratic primary for mayor. 33-year-old Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani is poised to become the nominee after he won more votes than former Governor Andrew Cuomo. Mamdani likely will face off against Adams in November after the final results of the ranked choice ballots are announced in July.

Notably, Erin Burnett is going to be interviewing Mamdani tonight right here on CNN at 7 p.m., so tune in for that.

Meantime, in the sports world, a fan who heckled an Arizona Diamondbacks player to the point of tears is now banned indefinitely from all Major League ballparks. The MLB says the heckler made derogatory comments about second baseman Ketel Marte's late mother, who was killed in a car accident back in 2017.

The incident took place in Chicago during Tuesday's game against the White Sox. Fans are now expressing their support for Marte. The team is rallying behind him, posting this message on their scoreboard that reads, Baseball is family.

And mission accomplished. The Axiom 4 crew successfully arriving at the International Space Station early this morning after their trip was delayed by a series of air leaks. The team blasted off Wednesday from Florida's Kennedy Space Center.

It includes Peggy Whitson, who's been a NASA astronaut before, along with crew members from Hungary, India, and Poland, three countries that have never sent anyone to the International Space Station before. The crew is set to spend the next two weeks conducting dozens of space experiments, and hopefully they figure out whatever the heck this was.

Check your backyard, because a large fireball that was spotted over Georgia may have landed on your property within the last few hours.

If it did, we want to hear from you. It's suspected that this was a meteorite. We're chasing it when we come back.

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SANCHEZ: We have breaking news out of the southeast. People all the way from Georgia to North Carolina are reporting seeing a fireball falling out of the sky.

KEILAR: That thing right there. The American Meteor Society says the fireball caused a sonic boom, which is usually indicative of a meteorite. CNN's Dianne Gallagher is with us now from Charlotte.

OK, the big question here, Dianne, is where did this thing land?

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, Brianna, we don't know. Maybe it didn't land. This could have burned up before it actually hit the ground, or there's someone in the southeast that has something in their backyard somewhere.

We're all still waiting to find out. It's still being investigated. What we do know is that the American Meteor Society has received more than 100 reports from across the southeast, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, of people reporting seeing something in the sky along with some hearing that sonic boom.

A woman in Gilbert, South Carolina, told CNN she was driving home when she saw a big flash in the sky come down and then disappear. She said she thought it was a firework. That's what it looked like. And she actually called her husband to make sure that their home was still standing.

According to Mike Hankey with the American Meteor Society, they believe this looks to be something called a daytime fireball that probably caused a sonic boom. It is usually indicative of a meteor dropping a fireball, but not always.

And, look, fireball, not just an amazing Pitbull song.

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It is a little different from your run-of-the-mill meteor in the fact that you can see them in the middle of the day. Obviously, so many people did here because we have such bright blue skies right now in the southeast. The National Weather Service says it was detected between 11:51 and 11:56 a.m.

We reached out to NASA to see if they have anything to say. There is a low-level meteor shower happening this week across the United States. Maybe it has something to do with that. We're not entirely sure yet. Still a mystery.

KEILAR: All right, Dianne, thank you so much for that. I guess people better, I don't know, check their swimming pools, right?

SANCHEZ: Yes, check the backyard. Maybe the aliens landed. Who knows?

KEILAR: Yes, no. OK, "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts right now.

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