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Combs Defense Delivers Closing Argument in Criminal Trial; Markets Could Close at Record Hights, Marking Stunning Rebound; Biohacker Bryan Johnson on Extreme Lengths He Takes to Reverse Aging. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired June 27, 2025 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Right now, attorneys for Sean Diddy Combs are giving their closing arguments in the music moguls racketeering and sex trafficking trial. The defense has been attacking the credibility of the government's case and the testimony of its witnesses, telling jurors that Combs is on trial for what the defense calls a swinger's lifestyle.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Combs' lead attorney has mocked the federal searches on Combs' homes and has used humor and sarcasm trying to slam the federal RICO charges. The defense has also painted Combs as an ambitious entrepreneur who broke barriers in the music industry. Combs faces up to life in prison if he's convicted on the most serious counts against him. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges that he's facing.

Let's go to CNN anchor and chief legal analyst Laura Coates, who is there outside the federal courthouse. Laura, what's the latest?

LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: This has been an amazing closing defense argument. We were waiting to figure out what they would say as the defense, and here we have it. It's a tale of two trials, they're saying.

One on the one hand with the evidence and witness testimony tells you, and the other hand with the prosecutors wanting you to believe, which is why they went into great detail about the kind of person that Sean Diddy Combs is, aspects of DEI and diversity ahead of his time in terms of corporate America, talking about love life and his lifestyle and things that you might not be able to relate to, but that is there. It was really a striking contrast in style and tone from what the prosecution gave.

This one far more folksy, far more meandering, but in the same vein, trying to go to the heart of the matter to convince this jury that there is nothing to see if the government was invited into a bedroom of this particular couple. They own the domestic violence but say that's very separate from what this really is, and they question, almost guffaw at the idea of this being a RICO case.

SANCHEZ: And Laura, how would you describe Combs' demeanor through all of this? COATES: I'm so glad you asked that because I pay attention when people think that no one else is watching. And so while there was a break and the jurors left the courtroom, do you know what was happening? I wondered, did Sean Diddy Combs, was he satisfied by his counsel? What times he was smiling, he was interacting, he was talking to them. He was almost pantomiming and imitating his counsel while he was speaking. His daughters, who were in a row or two behind him, passed up a note through counsel and then looked back at each other and kind of gave a fist bump and smiled to their father in an encouraging way.

There was also a moment as well where one of the daughters, one of his twins, was rubbing the back of his mother, who seemed to be very emotional during the closing portion of the argument, where the defense counsel suggested this was a vulnerable person with whom he shared intimacy with Cassie and Jane, and almost suggested that he himself was being exploited in their now willingness to divulge different details about it. She had her head down, she was almost curled over, and one of the daughters was rubbing her grandmother's back, a very human moment indeed.

[13:35:00]

And in fact, the defense counsel wanted everyone to know in that courtroom that his children, six of the seven, the youngest one being an infant, were there in that room. But the idea of a nod.

There was a moment when Marc Agnifilo described Kid Cudi and that now infamous attempted arson or Molotov cocktail of the car and said, this is not the person Diddy is. He would have gone and confronted him. He's no coward. A cowardly act is the Molotov cocktail, to which Diddy nodded profusely. I'm telling you, everyone is leaned in today.

SANCHEZ: Laura Coates, live outside the courthouse in Manhattan. Thank you so much for the update.

Up next, stock market hitting a new high today. So why are economists worried that things could take a turn for the worse?

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SANCHEZ: Taking a look at markets right now. Quite a bit of green.

[13:40:00]

Right now the S&P and Nasdaq are both on track to close at record highs today. Really an incredible rebound, given where we were just 80 days ago.

CNN's Matt Egan joins us now with the latest from New York. Matt, the markets have regained trillions of dollars of value in a very short amount of time.

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, Boris, it has been such a wild ride from record highs, the market meltdown and then back again, all in the span of just a few months. But look, today does represent a significant market milestone. We look at where stocks are right now. You can see the Dow, the S&P and Nasdaq all solidly in the green, the S&P and the Nasdaq hitting intraday record highs. And they're both solidly on track to close at record highs for the S&P. This will be the first record high since February.

And when you look at where the market has been so far this year, what stands out, of course, is this massive drop in late March and early April. This as -- this came as investors and economists and central bankers, they all feared that the president's Liberation Day tariffs were going to cause a recession. And what happened is the market turned around dramatically as the president walked back those tariffs.

As you mentioned, the S&P 500 has gained almost $10 trillion in this recovery. And I do think, Boris, this is good news, right, because people who are looking at their 401ks, their investment portfolios, they're going to feel better because those numbers have gone up. And maybe that means they're going to go out to eat. They're going to buy that car and take that vacation. So it is certainly nice to see that markets have bounced back.

SANCHEZ: And yet, Matt, what happens on Wall Street, not necessarily reflective of what's happening on Main Street, there are some economists who see clouds on the horizon.

EGAN: Yes, well, Boris, you know, as much as we spend a lot of time talking about manufacturing, it's really Americans willingness to spend money that drives this economy. And we did get some disappointing numbers on that front today. We learned that consumer spending unexpectedly fell by 0.1 percent in May. It was supposed to go up. When you look at the trend for consumer spending. It's clear that there has been softness here. Right. Spending was pretty solid the second half of last year. And then we had a dip in January.

There was a tariff driven increase the prior few months. And then another drop right here. When you look at the categories, not all bad news. People did increase spending in some areas like clothing and recreation and furniture. But cars were down significantly. Also, restaurants and hotels. That is something to keep an eye on.

I talked to Greg Dacko, veteran economist. He said, look, the consumer spending engine is starting to sputter. He said that's never a good sign for an economy so dependent on consumer spending. And so now the trillion dollar question is, what happens next? Dacko thinks that this is just getting started. We could see more weakness. Other economists think that this is just a blip. We've got to pay attention to what happens next, very closely here -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Yes, and especially on the tariff front with those anticipated deadlines coming up in the beginning of July. Matt Egan, thank you so much for the update from the markets -- Brianna.

KEILAR: On home front this week. A sense of pride and nervousness for military families bidding farewell to sailors on board the USS Gerald Ford Carrier Strike Group this week. The world's largest aircraft carrier departed from Naval Station Norfolk for a regularly scheduled deployment near the Middle East. But, of course, tensions in the region on the mind of those families who watched as the Ford left.

Among them, Bob McHerrin and his wife. They were there to see off their son and they told local media, quote, It's bittersweet. You want to see them go, but you don't want to see them go.

And Lindsey Young, whose husband is an aviation maintenance officer, telling the Navy Times, quote, I'm nervous, especially with everything going on in the world and three kids by myself, too. The Ford Carrier Strike Group will join the USS Truxton, the USS Forrest Sherman, the USS Carl Vinson and the USS Nimitz in the region.

There are total about 40,000 American troops there in the Middle East. And the Ford Carrier Strike Group will bring an additional 4,500 sailors.

This just into CNN, the University of Virginia President James Ryan has told the school's board of visitors that he plans to resign. The university is facing pressure from the Justice Department to dismantle its diversity, equity and inclusion programs. We're following the latest on this developing story. We'll bring you more.

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SANCHEZ: Don't die. It's a mission and a mantra promoted by a millionaire biohacker willing to try just about anything to defy aging. And I mean anything.

Bryan Johnson, an entrepreneur and CEO, has divided the Internet with the extreme lengths he's willing to take to try and live forever, as featured in a recent Netflix documentary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRYAN JOHNSON, ANTI-AGING AND HEALTH ADVOCATE (voice-over): I take 54 pills, red light therapy, plasma exchanges, and I'm going to be injected with my first gene therapy.

JOHNSON: Thanks, Doc.

JOHNSON (voice-over): I'm trying to be on the outermost edge of possibility for the science.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Johnson spent part of his week here in the nation's capital meeting with lawmakers, and he stopped by CNN studios. Here's part of our conversation.

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[13:50:00]

SANCHEZ: Bryan, thank you so much for being with us.

I'm really fascinated by what you're trying to accomplish, and I wonder what brings you to D.C., why you're meeting with lawmakers. JOHNSON: Making new friends. I think we are in a new era of being

human, and Don't Die is going to become the world's next major movement. And so here to talk about health, wellness, and what we can do to improve it.

The goal here is that find common ground on things we can take action on. Everybody wants to be in good health. Everybody values good health. And we have a lot of fighting in the country. It's really -- if we could come together to be a healthy nation, it'd be very positive.

SANCHEZ: I do want to ask you about some of your processes, some of your regimens. I read that you consume upwards of 50 pills a day. You've spent millions on research and experimentation.

You've ingested experimental compounds. I saw that you were open about an experiment with facial injections that kind of backfired. I read that you shocked your genitals.

JOHNSON: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Is there a line that you won't cross with these experiments?

JOHNSON: No, there's no line. I mean, this is all in the name of science. And so over the past couple of years, I've become the most measured human in history. There's more data on my body than any humans ever lived. I have the best biomarkers of anybody on planet Earth.

And so I've tried to take health, which is more of an esoteric, storytelling-based way of approaching life, to a quantitative, scientific methodology approach. And so there's a richest person in the world, there's a fastest, now there's a healthiest. So I've tried to make this into a sport, something people could signal, like, this is what I'm trying to do.

So I've tried to change the narrative on what it means to be healthy. And so we've gone to the edge of all possibilities. And so we really want to demonstrate you can achieve high-quality health through a scientific rigorous process.

SANCHEZ: How do you know -- how do you measure I have the health of a certain age versus the calendar age?

JOHNSON: Yes, exactly. So you're chronologically, someone can be 50 years old but have the heart health of a 35-year-old or a 60-year-old. So your biological age is different than your chronological age.

And you have, you know, over 70 organs in your body. Each one has an age. Same with your biological processes.

So we've measured the biological age of all the organs of my body and the biological systems to have a baseline. Then we go to work and say, can we slow down the aging process or reverse the aging damage?

SANCHEZ: Due with a change that you made in your life. And it was on your website describing that before you started making these changes, you were chronically depressed.

JOHNSON: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Tell us about what led you to the conclusion that you needed to sort of alter the direction of your life.

JOHNSON: Yes, I mean, I think if you were to poll people in the United States right now, I think you'd find a substantial portion of people are suffering from some meaningful mood disorder. You know, anxiety, depression is really a challenging time, although we keep these things secret. So I've been very open.

I've said I, for 10 years, had this deep chronic depression. I tried everything to fix it. And so I'm very sympathetic to people who are suffering from some kind of disorder. And I want to try to help them understand how they can make baby steps in trying to address it. And again, like resting hard before bed. This is a good practice.

Sleep is the most powerful medicine anybody can take every single day. But yet we are sleep deprived culture. So I really tried to connect my personal experience of depression to what people can do on a daily basis to address their own challenges.

SANCHEZ: I'm not sure how much you read Internet comments, but I first came across you from a series of memes.

JOHNSON: Yes.

SANCHEZ: I wonder what you say to folks in the Internet comments section who argue that this is sort of a stunt that you're becoming a guinea pig to attract attention in order to profit from.

JOHNSON: Yes. I mean, I love the comments. They're like my favorite. I love the comments. They're colorful. They're creative. They're funny.

SANCHEZ: Even the mean ones?

JOHNSON: Yes, of course. It's just Internet culture. Right. And like you, you have to see it for what it is. People are just like getting along in their life. I take none of it personally. It's all fine.

So, I mean, it's very hard to be human. Right. And so, like, I think when people see this, it's frustrating. They feel beat down by life. Every company in the world is trying to addict them to their thing. Food, porn, right? Scrolling. It's really tough. So I'm deeply empathetic. I know where they're at and it's fine. I'm on their side. I'm here for them.

SANCHEZ: Are you afraid of dying?

JOHNSON: No, I'm not.

SANCHEZ: So then what is it that guides this quest toward immortality?

JOHNSON: It's -- this is the most spectacular moment in the history of the human race to exist. We are giving birth to super intelligence, to a possibility that we can't even fathom. This is so special.

And if we can sober up and pay attention to this moment like this really could be an unbelievably cool existence. And that's what I want to say is like we are so stuck on these these pleasures that, you know, we seek every moment. But if we can zoom out just a bit, it really is a phenomenal moment to be alive.

SANCHEZ: If you're not fully enjoying the things that you enjoy in life, an alcoholic drink, bacon, I can think of a million things.

JOHNSON: Yes, yes.

SANCHEZ: You're not truly living.

JOHNSON: Yes.

SANCHEZ: So is following too much of a protocol is is keeping track of too many metrics, possibly taking away from your enjoyment.

JOHNSON: Yes, you know, I have so many friends who are fully living and they're depressed.

[13:55:00]

And so the ideas that people have about fully living, which is not sleeping well, drinking, smoking, you know, staying up late, that is not fully living. That is depression, anxiety, that is cognitive decline.

We have a misconstrued idea of what it means to be fully living. For me, it means feeling great. I love feeling great. I don't want to drink. I don't want to have pizza. I don't want any doughnuts. It's terrible. It makes me feel terrible. So we just have -- we have a wrong in the U.S.

This is not -- our idea of fully living is just not on point.

SANCHEZ: No disrespect, Bryan, but I feel great before and after having a doughnut. Bryan Johnson, thanks for being --

SANCHEZ: You know, I wonder if you'd test otherwise.

SANCHEZ: I'll give it a shot. Maybe we'll see how long it lasts.

JOHNSON: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Thank you so much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ (on camera): I've not yet put the no doughnut diet to the test, the no bacon, no alcohol. He seems very earnest in wanting to help people. I find him really fascinating.

Some of it, like the shocking of the genitals, a little bit weird. Maybe maybe for him, not for for others. I asked him about a tattoo that he has, the chemical makeup of DMT, this really powerful psychedelic. He spoke earnestly about that and the power that psychedelics had to sort of change his perspective on certain things.

I talked to him about a no cost, simple way to instantly get healthier. He gave me really good advice. Basically, eat and wait several hours before going to bed. He said at least four hours. I don't know how that's possible for some people. I'm going to give it a shot. Eat earlier.

KEILAR: Oh, I can do that.

SANCHEZ: Oh, I --

KEILAR: I know a lot of people can't.

SANCHEZ: I would go to sleep starving. I wouldn't be able to fall asleep.

KEILAR: It's the sleep part, though. I know I'm like I have to really force myself to go to bed on time. That's a tough one.

SANCHEZ: It's tough.

KEILAR: That's a tough one.

SANCHEZ: It's tough. It's tough.

KEILAR: All right.

SANCHEZ: Our thanks to Bryan for spending some time with us.

KEILAR: We'll try some of these things out. We'll try some of these things.

SANCHEZ: As we're ordering doughnuts right now.

We are on Celebrity Watch in Venice. We should tell you, in Italy, where billionaire Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez are tying the knot. Look at one half of the happy couple right there.

Kim and Khloe Kardashian are there. I mistook Lauren Sanchez for Kim Kardashian. My mistake.

KEILAR: Oh, those are Kardashians. Yes.

SANCHEZ: Apologies to all.

KEILAR: Why?

SANCHEZ: We've also seen Oprah, Usher, Orlando Bloom. We could talk about this all day. They're telling us to go to break. Let's go to break.

We'll be right back.

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