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Senate Begins Marathon Vote; Rep. Richie Torres (D-NY) is Interviewed about Trump's Agenda Bill; Two Firefighters Killed in Idaho; Kelly Hyman is Interviewed about the Combs Trial. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired June 30, 2025 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

MICHAEL OREN, FORMER ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: Long time. Again, the big issue will be, if and when the Iranians come back to negotiate --

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Trying to see if that is going to work. But we have some technical difficulties there. So, all my questions are now over.

But you know what is not over? This show.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, high drama and high stakes on Capitol Hill. A series of votes begin any moment on the president's signature legislation as a key Republican breaks from the president announcing a huge career decision.

And the two firefighters dead in a shocking ambush after a suspect appears to start a forest fire on purpose. Now, investigators focus on discovering a motive.

And a new app is allowing users to flag nearby ICE sightings in real time. The developer says he wanted to create something to fight back.

I'm John Berman, with Sara Sidner and Kate Bolduan. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, the breaking news on Capitol Hill this hour, a marathon is now about to get underway in the Senate on President Trump's sweeping domestic policy bill. It's really the last obstacle that the Senate -- that Senate Republicans must overcome to get to a final yes or no vote on that massive bill. Trump wants it on his desk by July 4th, but there is a long road still ahead before then.

This weekend, two Republican senators voted against advancing the bill to this point, Rand Paul and Thom Tillis. For Senator Tillis, that also meant a wrap on his Senate career. After the president threatened to meet with primary challengers against him, for, he says, standing in the way, Tillis said he won't run for re-election next year. The senator has maintained all along his concerns of how the deep

Medicaid cuts in the bill would impact his constituents in North Carolina. Also adding to the uncertainty of the moment now, the Congressional Budget Office, the non-partisan scorekeeper on The Hill, it is now weighing in on this bill, saying that the Senate version would result in nearly 12 million more people becoming uninsured and saying that this bill is even more expensive and will increase the deficit even more than the House version.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is on Capitol Hill for us this morning, watching it all as it's all about to get underway.

What are we about to see?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, senators have started to trickle in as the senate is about to come back into session. We expect, in just a short while, they will kick off the so-called vote- a-rama. This is a process that will allow senators to introduce amendments to President Trump's big agenda bill.

Now, it comes after a weekend of dealmaking and cajoling to try to get GOP senators on board. There will be a number of amendments introduced by Democrats who have railed against this bill, but there are also some key amendments that will be proposed by Republican senators. One of those includes an amendment from Senator Rick Scott of Florida, who is proposing reducing the federal matching rate for states that expanded Medicaid under President Obama. Senator Susan Collins is another senator to watch as she will be introducing some amendments. And then there will be a lot of attention also on Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. They -- the Senate leaders have introduced two provisions that would have aided Alaska and Hawaii in hope of getting her on board with this bill. But the Senate parliamentarian said that those cannot move forward.

So, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done here in the Senate if they want to get this bill across the finish line. They can only afford to lose three Republican votes. And there were importantly two no votes on that critical procedural vote over the weekend. And then anything that changes here in the Senate still has to go back to the House, where some conservatives have expressed concerns about there not being enough to cut -- to offset spending, and also when it relates to Medicaid cuts that are being made in this bill.

So, there's still a lot that needs to be ironed out as they are hoping to get the president's bill across the finish line.

BOLDUAN: And another senator that everyone is sure to be keeping a close eye on today would be Senator Thom Tillis after the announcement -- after the -- we've described the back and forth with President Trump, his very important big announcement last night, and then his very fiery speech on the Senate floor explaining it all. What more are you hearing about -- what's next for him and what more are you hearing?

SAENZ: Yes, well, Senator Thom Tillis was one of two Republicans to vote against that key procedural vote. And last night he went to the Senate floor and really had an incredibly fiery speech criticizing this bill. He said that -- he told reporters after that he respects President Trump, but he thinks that this bill is a mistake for Republicans.

[09:05:05]

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NANCY CORDES: What do I tell 663,000 people in two years or three years when President Trump breaks his promise by pushing them off of Medicaid because the funding is not there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: So, Tillis' announcement that he will not seek re-election just highlights some of the political pressure points the senator feeling around this bill as President Trump is hoping to keep that GOP caucus on board with his plan.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Arlette, thank you so much. Arlette there as it's just about to start getting underway.

Sara.

SIDNER: The pressure is on as the Senate moves towards a final vote expected today.

President Trump is viewing what unfolds on Capitol Hill as a loyalty test. Republican senator, as you heard, Tom Tillis basically setting fire to that test, slamming the GOP's plans for drastic Medicaid cuts last night.

Tillis, of course, you heard it there, retiring after Trump threatened to primary him.

CNN's Betsy Klein joining us now from the White House.

Curious to know how Donald Trump is responding to this, with Tillis saying, all right, I am not going to run anymore.

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER AND WRITER: Well, Sara, President Trump really views this bill as key to unlocking his agenda, and the White House views this as absolutely mission critical to get this done while Republicans control both the House and the Senate. So, the president here setting up that key loyalty test. The White House says that voting no is, quote, "an ultimate betrayal."

So the president, for all of those reasons, spent a rare weekend here in Washington negotiating on the golf course, working the phones in the Oval Office late during that vote on saturday night. And he also went after those two Republican senators who voted against that key procedural vote, Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, as well as Rand Paul of Kentucky. But the reality is that this bill is so sprawling, it has provisions

on border security, ending green energy subsidies. It raises the debt ceiling. It reimagines Medicaid policy and extends tax cuts. So, there are some serious and diverse concerns from within the Republican Party. And we're going to watch that play out in the coming hours on the Senate floor.

The president appearing to acknowledge those concerns last night. He said, quote, "for all cost cutting Republicans, of which I am one, remember, you still have to get re-elected. Don't go too crazy. We will make it all up times ten with growth more than ever before." And Democrats, for their part, starting to coalesce the message that this will lower taxes for wealthy people and hurt working class Americans. All of this setting up a key test for the 2026 midterm elections.

Sara.

SIDNER: Yes. And there's a lot in there. It's more than 900 pages.

Betsy Klein, thank you. We will see what happens.

John.

BERMAN: With us now is Congressman Richie Torres, a Democrat from New York who serves on the House Financial Services Committee.

Congressman, thanks so much for being with us.

The Senate version of this bill, which was read out loud and you've now had a chance to go through it, if it becomes law, what would it mean for people in the Bronx?

REP. RICHIE TORRES (D-NY): Well, the so-called big, beautiful bill is a broken promise that represents a betrayal of working people. It's -- it's a catastrophe, not only for the Bronx, but for the whole country. It would cause 12 million people to lose their health care. It would slash Medicaid and children's health care by $1 trillion. The largest health care cut in American history. It would slash SNAP by $267 billion, the largest food assistance cut in history. It would add trillions of dollars to the national debt. It would raise electricity costs by an average of 7 percent for residents by an average of 10 percent for businesses with increases as high as 30 percent in the hardest hit states.

And no district would be more affected than mine because my district has the highest rate of Medicaid enrollment in the country, 67 percent. More than 70 percent of children, more than 80 percent of nursing home residents, more than 90 percent of baby deliveries are covered by Medicaid. And so this legislation represents an unprecedented assault on working people, all to finance tax cuts for the top 1 percent. I represent constituents who, after paying all their bills, live on $20 a day. And Republicans are going to cut health care and food for those living on $20 a day in order to pay for a tax cut for Elon Musk, who has a net worth of $400 billion. I cannot think of a greater betrayal of working people than this so-called big, beautiful bill. BERMAN: You, online, have been writing about the cuts or the removal

of incentives for solar and renewable energy sources, and also some incentives being in place for coal. What's your issue here?

[09:10:01]

TORRES: Look, the Republican reconciliation bill is going to restrict the supply of electricity available to American households and businesses. In order to grow the American economy, we have to grow the electric grid. And the best and cheapest and fastest way to grow the electric grid is solar energy. In 2024, 90 percent of new electricity generation in the United States was clean energy. Sixty percent of it is solar. And Republicans are proposing to defund solar and battery storage and wind, which are the leading sources of new electricity generation in the United States. It is an act of strategic self- sabotage that will only benefit foreign adversaries, like the Chinese Communist Party.

BERMAN: There has been a primary in the race for mayor of New York City, and Zohran Mamdani is the apparent Democratic nominee for mayor. He has been asked whether or not he repudiates the phrase "globalize the intifada." Yesterday, with Kristen Welker, she asked him repeatedly if he would condemn the phrase. This was his final answer. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTEN WELKER, NBC NEWS: Why not just condemn it?

ZOHRAN MAMDANI, DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE OR NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: My concern is, to start to walk down the line of language and making clear what language I believe is permissible or impermissible takes me into a place similar to that of the president, who is looking to do those very kinds of things, putting people in jail for writing an op-ed, putting them in jail for protesting. Ultimately, it's not language that I use, it's language I understand there are concerns about. And what I will do is showcase my vision for the city through my words and my actions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: He says it's not language he uses, but he did not specifically condemn it. What did you think of that answer?

TORRES: I -- I strongly disagree. No one's advocating for imprisonment. I mean, every elected official has an obligation to condemn hatred, whether its anti-Semitism or islamophobia. You know, the second intifada refers to a wave of terror attacks, suicide bombings and slashings and stabbings that left more than a thousand Israelis and Jews dead. And so, when one uses the word "intifada," it causes profound pain and trauma to the Jewish community. It is deeply offensive. Every elected official, without exception, should condemn it.

BERMAN: In the primary you were supportive of former Governor Andrew Cuomo. He is going to stay, he says for now, on the ballot in November. Do you still support his candidacy for mayor?

TORRES: My -- my endorsement of the governor only applies to the Democratic primary, which is over. So, the voters of the Democratic primary have spoken. And so, my focus is on governing.

BERMAN: I just missed what you said there at the end. Do you support the nominees, Zohran Mamdani, in his race for mayor now?

TORRES: I have not endorsed the assemblyman. We spoke on Sunday. We had a mutually respectful conversation. We have profound differences of opinion. There was no discussion of an endorsement, but there was a discussion of a commitment to continuing the dialog.

BERMAN: So you're not ruling it out?

TORRES: I think we have profound differences of opinion. But again, you know, if he becomes mayor, and he's likely to become mayor, the mayor needs the New York City congressional delegation, the New York City congressional delegation needs the mayor. And so, it's in the interest of both sides to have a working relationship, to figure out how to coexist. So, I'm thinking about governing, not the election.

BERMAN: Understood.

Congressman Richie Torres, from the Bronx, appreciate your time.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: A deadly ambush on firefighters responding to a mountainside brush fire. Investigators are now trying to figure out why a man lured them in and then started shooting.

And the fate and future of disgraced music mogul Sean Combs is about to be in the hands of a jury. We're standing by for deliberations to start any moment.

And some good news for you. As millions prepare to hit the road for the July 4th holiday, gas is the cheapest it's been in years.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:18:47]

BERMAN: This morning, officials in Idaho are investigating what motivated a suspect to ambush firefighters, killing two and injuring a third. Investigators say the suspect deliberately set a brush fire to lure them in, then started shooting as soon as they arrived. The suspect was found dead more than six hours later. Investigators located his body, they say, by tracing his cell phone signal.

CNN's Julia Vargas Jones is live in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, with the latest.

What are you hearing this morning, Julia?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, as this community is waking up, it is waking up to grief and trying to figure out why this happened. Why here? Why to these firefighters?

Now it's all made worse by what we are hearing from the dispatch audio of those last few moments and -- and the harrowing sounds that came from those calls.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got two unresponsive battalion chiefs, gunshot wounds, multiple gunshot wounds. Two Coeur d'Alene firefighters are down. We need law enforcement to get up here. We can possibly get two -- the two wounded out. I'm pinned down behind battalion one's rig. It's clear to me that this fire was intentionally to draw us in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[09:20:03]

JONES: And, John, today, investigators are heading back into that mountain, which is just to my right here. And we can smell that fire still burning on the side of the mountain. They said that they had to remove the body of the shooter quite quickly from that side of the mountain because of the fire threat. And today they're heading back in there. And what they're looking for is a clue to have a better sense of what was going on, how he had prepared and what else they could find where he was hiding.

BERMAN: Yes, it was a terrifying crime, obviously. Searching for so many answers there now, obviously, in the wake of what happened.

Julia Vargas Jones for us in Coeur d'Alene in Idaho, thank you very much for that.

The jury in the Sean Combs trial is about to get the case after seven weeks of testimony. What to expect in court today.

And a new app warns users when ICE agents are nearby. The developer says it's not about protest, its about protection.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:25:36]

All right, so we're learning that court is now back in session in the Sean Combs sex trafficking and racketeering case. Twelve New Yorkers, eight women, four men are currently receiving instructions from the judge. Prosecutors laid out their closing arguments over almost five hours, going over six weeks of testimony and, of course, that disturbing video of Combs' beating his then girlfriend. And the defense, for its part, accused prosecutors of going after Combs only because of his lifestyle.

Joining me now, trial attorney Kelly Hyman. Let's first start here. So, the judge is preparing right now to read

instructions to the jury, which is expected to take at least an hour, if not longer. How significant are these instructions that the judge will now be telling the jury that they must follow in this case?

KELLY HYMAN, TRIAL ATTORNEY: They are key because the jury instructions are a roadmap to the jurors when they go and deliberate. And what I mean by roadmap is, it lays out each one of the charges, racketeering, transportation across state lines to engage in prostitution, sex trafficking. And each one of the elements as well.

Also, the judge lets the jury know that ultimately they are the trier of facts. And what that means is, they can weigh the credibility of the witnesses, because that's going to be key for the sex trafficking charge.

SIDNER: I do want to ask you how you saw both the prosecution and the defense, how they did in -- in sort of doing their closing arguments, but also laying out their case to this jury. What did you see on both sides of this?

HYMAN: A tale of two different stories. From the prosecution standpoint, they told a story of Diddy as someone who used power, violence and fear to get what he wanted. And from the defense standpoint, their position was, this case was about love. This case was about jealousy. This case was about infidelity. And this case was about money.

Ultimately, it's going to be up to the jury to determine whether or not which side that they believe. But it's interesting, in New York, that 95 percent of cases that go to trial in the Southern District of New York come back with a guilty verdict.

SIDNER: That's a really interesting number. This has been a very long and -- and sometimes complex case. Lots and lots of testimony. Even testimony to deal with the finances of all of this.

Was there any testimony to you that really stood out that the prosecution did well, because the defense did not put on any witnesses. This was all about their cross-examination.

HYMAN: And they don't have to put on any witnesses because the prosecution has the burden of proof, and they have to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. But from the prosecution standpoint, Cassie Ventura, Diddy's ex-girlfriend, was their star witness. If the jury believe her, then they will ultimately determine that he is guilty of sex trafficking of her.

SIDNER: You said that, you know, the defense, rightly so, does not have to put on a case. This really is -- the burden is on the prosecution. Was it any surprise to you that Sean Combs did not take the stand, that they did not bring in any other witnesses, but used only cross-examination, really to -- to tell the story from their perspective?

HYMAN: An attorney can advise his client whether or not to take the witness stand. And ultimately it's Diddy's decision. But it was a very smart decision from the defense standpoint because here's why. Once Diddy takes the witness stand and testifies, that opens the door for the prosecution now to come in and cross-examine him and ask him all types of questions. And that opens the door to a lot of things.

SIDNER: There's been a lot of talk about this case and the racketeering part of this case. Racketeering conspiracy. Is that a very difficult charge to -- to -- to get a conviction on? A lot of prosecutors, I think, have struggled with this charge in.

HYMAN: In regards to all the charges, the sex trafficking, the transportation across state lines and the RICO, the RICO is the hardest charge for the prosecution, but also the strongest penalty because, if convicted, he can go to life in prison for the RICO charge.

[09:30:02]

SIDNER: What -- what makes it so difficult? I mean, obviously, when you hear RICO, you usually think there are more people involved and more defendants.