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Trump's Historically Strong Base; Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) is Interviewed about Turmp's Agenda Bill; Jose Javier Rodriguez is Interviewed about Immigration; Jury Deliberations in Combs Trial. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired July 01, 2025 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Because there have been a number of delays along the way. And they already felt like this was being dragged out. So, then they feel they're on the -- right, the brink of finally getting their day in court, and they feel like with this deal, the rug's been pulled out from under them, right?

And to your point, right, prosecutors do not have to get the consent of victims for a plea agreement. The prosecutor wants to put someone in prison. And let's be clear, under this deal, he's going to go to jail for the rest of his life. And -- and they have caught the killer, right? Which was not clear in the days and weeks that immediately followed this. But for the family, they're just heartbroken.

Listen, you or I or anybody who lost their children would be heartbroken under any circumstances, but they just feel the system didn't serve them and then didn't keep them informed along the way. And -- and its interesting, Steve Goncalves told me that, you know, typically court -- family members will appear in court on the day and have their say, right, you know, victim impact statements, et cetera. He said to me, he's not going to court, right? He's --

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Oh.

SCIUTTO: He's going to talk outside the court to make it clear that he -- he's just not -- he's not a party -- part of this, does not support this outcome.

BERMAN: That is interesting because they would get a victim impact statement during sentencing there.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BERMAN: He's choosing to speak out of court.

Jim Sciutto, what a tragedy for this family overall, the last several years --

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BERMAN: And how much pain they must still be going through. Thank you so much for sharing your conversation. SCIUTTO: And I should note -- I should note, John, I'll be speaking to

Steve Goncalves later today on the air. We'll make sure to share that around.

BERMAN: All right, we will all be watching for that.

Jim Sciutto, thank you very much.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up still for us, senators are nearing the 24-hour mark on their marathon all-nighter that they've been pulling. Can Republicans get the president's sweeping domestic policy bill across the finish line? If they do, what's the bill going to look like at that point? And then, what is the House going to do with it? As you can see, there's a lot of uncertainty around this, this morning. We're going to continue to bring you the latest from Capitol Hill.

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[08:35:48]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, new this morning, Senate lawmakers have worked overnight and continue to work in a marathon voting session on President Trump's huge spending bill. The president just left the White House, in the meantime, for the Florida Everglades, to tour the so-called "alligator Alcatraz" immigration detention facility.

With parts of his domestic agenda on full display this morning, new data showing just how strong Trump's base is now that he's back in the Oval Office.

CNN's chief data analyst, Harry Enten, joining me now to look at those numbers.

All right, so how does the GOP base feel towards Trump compared to his first term?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yes, OK. So, we're going to look at the strongly approved numbers. So, this isn't just Republicans who like Donald Trump. This is Republicans who love Donald Trump. And he's up like a rocket.

Look at this. In July 2017, the strongly approved was 53 percent. That's pretty good. But look at where he is now, 63 percent of Republicans strongly approve of the job that Donald Trump is doing about five months into his presidency. Republicans love Donald Trump the way that Americans love Disney World.

The bottom line is, 63 percent. That is a huge, huge base. And, of course, it's just part of the Republican base in which about 90 percent of them overall approve of him, including the somewhat approves as well.

SIDNER: I mean any politician would like this number here, especially to see it go up.

How about compared to other presidents who were Republicans?

ENTEN: Yes, it's history making. It's history making.

What are we talking about here? So why don't we look back. We have all the presidents, Republican presidents, going back over the last 35, 36, 37 years. What are we talking about? GOP who strongly approve five months in. Look at this, George H.W. Bush, Bush 41, 46 percent. Bush 43, 59. You see Trump, the first term, 53. But look at this, 63 percent. He beats all the other Republicans on the board here. And I was looking even back since Reagan. And, get this, Donald Trump beats Ronald Reagan when it comes to the strongly approved five months. And, of course, Reagan was coming off that high after that assassination attempt.

So, the bottom line is, Donald Trump is making history with the Republican base. He is more beloved by this Republican base than any Republican base loved any GOP president five months in. It is history making.

SIDNER: It is a striking number. Tillis stepping down, stepping aside after President Trump threatened to primary him. The question is, how effective is Trump's endorsement? We know it can hurt, but how effective is it?

ENTEN: Yes, OK. So, you know, the bottom line is, if you're a Republican lawmaker, you see this 63 percent. You say, my goodness gracious, you do not want to go against Donald Trump because the Republican base is with Donald Trump. And it's not just the polling. We actually have the data to show that the Republican base is with Donald Trump.

The times Trump endorsed -- endorses won the GOP primary for governor and congressional races. Look at this, 2024, 96 percent, 2022, 95 percent, 2020, 98 percent. The bottom line is this, 95 percent plus of the time, the Trump endorsed candidate wins in GOP primaries.

And even in the cases where Donald Trump endorses a challenger to an incumbent, the majority of time that challenger wins. So, Donald Trump is a winner in Republican primaries. You go against Donald Trump, to quote the movie "Good Burger," you go in the grinder. Donald Trump is the key nugget. His endorsement's the key nugget in a GOP primary because he's historically strongly popular with the GOP base.

SIDNER: And now there's going to be a surprise primary in North Carolina. So, we will be watching that, of course.

Harry Enten, it is always a pleasure. Thank you.

ENTEN: The pleasure was all mine.

SIDNER: Kate.

All right, Kate. BOLDUAN: All right, let's take a live look, once again, at the Senate

floor right now, where they have been at this marathon session for 23 hours at this moment. Republicans trying to push through the president's massive tax cut and spending bill. They've been going through amendments and votes. A few amendments have passed through this marathon session in the Senate.

How much longer will they go? What will the bill look like when they take that final vote? Only the shadow knows at this point.

One thing we do know, after the Senate finishes its work, the bill heads back to the House, which will need to approve the Senate's changes.

Let's talk about this. Joining us right now is Republican Congressman Pete Sessions of Texas.

Congressman, thank you very much for coming in.

The Senate is still working through it.

[08:40:00]

The CBO analysis that came out this weekend projects that the Senate version will cost more, add more to the deficit, leave more people without health insurance than the House version that you supported. Does that make the Senate bill a better bill or a worse one?

REP. PETE SESSIONS (R-TX): Well, it makes it certainly different. It's hard to say if it's worse that -- what I would say to you is, we're not for raising the debt. The debt of this country is the problem. It's where inflation is created.

But the bottom line to this is, we've done -- been through this before where we have disagreements. We have ideas about our bill. And not everybody agreed on our bill, as you know. But it was a -- it was put together to pass.

So, what we're going to have to do is come together as a team. We understand overwhelmingly to pass this means that we avoid a 40 percent tax increase for most Americans. And that is an overwhelming viewpoint that I think my colleagues in the House understand. We can put up with a big, beautiful bill that gives us direction and then come back at some later time. This is not permanent law. We're not going to get the 60 votes. So, let's do something that makes a huge difference for the American people, not adding debt.

BOLDUAN: And in -- and -- and to be clear, and I know you know this, that when you say we're not here for raising -- adding debt, raising -- adding to the deficit, raising deficits, the House bill does as well, according to analyzes. What I hear you saying is that what you're looking at is that it's worth it in this moment.

SESSIONS: Well --

BOLDUAN: You talked about tax increases. You don't want to see people's taxes be raised. One thing I'm interested in, because we just heard from my colleague Bill Weir, is about energy bills being raised by this bill.

A new analysis came out showing that household energy bills in your state, in Texas, will go up if the bill passes. Thats because Texas and other neighboring states, especially, they were set to kind of deploy a big amount of wind and solar if the Biden era tax credit -- Biden era energy tax credits stayed in place. The bill, as we see them, they want to kill those tax credits. And for Texas, this analysis says it could mean 16 percent higher energy costs by 2035 and annual household energy cost could go up by 700 plus dollars per year. If that's what happens when -- if this bill goes through, how do you explain that to constituents?

SESSIONS: Kate, thank you very much. Two points. First of all, we're having to deal with 2009 law. We're -- the tax law that President Obama, when he did this exact same thing in 2009, his bottom line figure was, it raised spending to a -- to a deficit of $6 trillion. Raising taxes, raising spending.

What we're trying to do is to take away the artificial barrier that is in there where this some $18 billion or more of a subsidy is added to make those rates less -- less than they -- their real cost is. So, are we in favor of going to market-based plans to where things -- the real cost comes to the table for solar, for wind? Yes, we are. And so, I would explain it that instead of a subsidy that is driving bad behavior, yes, adding to our grid, but bad behavior because, you see, I come from an agricultural district where it's not unusual that we lose 30,000, 40,000, 50,000 acres at a time of prime agricultural land for a subsidy by people who live somewhere else to put solar panels on.

Now, do we need the energy? Of course we do. But the price of that should move to market. And that's where Republicans are, as opposed to subsidizing and making things look different.

BOLDUAN: One new thing that you're facing right now is a new threat from Elon Musk. Congressman, he says that he's -- he's now attacking the bill once again, and this time saying that, "every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame and they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this earth."

When it's said by just any regular joe, it might not be something. But when it's one of the richest men in the world, it's quite another something when you see what he helped do with -- for Donald Trump. Does that make you nervous?

SESSIONS: Yes, it -- it makes me a little sad more than nervous. I think Elon Musk is the greatest entrepreneur in the world that we've ever seen. He has a large organization plant here, SpaceX, in Waco, Texas.

[08:45:04] And that is -- that comes as friends not only to Texas, he's got several locations here, but fundamentally he is correct. He wants to see us back up what we did with legislation.

But when you get to trying to put together the sausage, then there are individuals, and I've spoken a lot about this on CNN. I used to live in New Jersey when I was at the old Bell Labs. The people who were in New Jersey have high taxes. If we do not create some incentive to help them out also in dealing with that, they'll simply move somewhere else. And I don't like that.

So, we are the United States of America. And we need to make sure that the things that we do will help people all around the country. Does that mean adding to the deficit? No, I don't think so. Does that mean making sure that they have jobs and competitive where they are? Yes, it does. And so, Elon Musk, while he has lots of great ideas, he wants to see us be better. Oh, by the way, so does Pete Sessions.

BOLDUAN: How to get there and how much it's going to cost seems to be where the breakdown in that agreement is right now, Congressman. We will see what happens. But first got to see what the Senate does, and then it's back on you. We'll be back in touch. Thank you so much.

SESSIONS: It's -- you bet.

BOLDUAN: Sara.

SIDNER: All right. All right, ahead, alligators, pythons. President Trump and Governor Ron DeSantis in the Everglades together. The controversy surrounding the newest immigration detention center called "alligator Alcatraz," which opens today.

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[08:50:49]

BERMAN: All right, happening now, President Trump, you can see right there, a short time ago left the White House. He's now on his way to the Florida Everglades to tour the site dubbed "alligator Alcatraz." This is Florida's new migrant detention center. It is opening today. This controversial facility is expected to hold thousands of undocumented migrants. State officials say it is cost effective. They call it a one stop shop. Opponents say it is engineered to enact suffering.

With us now, Jose Javier Rodriguez, former Florida state senator, and now a candidate to be attorney general of Florida.

Senator, thanks so much for being with us. What's your feeling about this facility?

JOSE JAVIER RODRIGUEZ (D), CANDIDATES, FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL: Well, thank you for having me.

You know, listen, if -- if I were attorney general, I'd be focused on the affordability crisis and the opioid crisis. And I think for a lot of us here in Florida, we see this as a big distraction. It is pretty transparently political theater, cruel political theater, designed to get attention in Washington. And not just as a candidate for attorney general, but as -- as a lawyer, as a former state senator, there are a lot of legal questions as to their ability to do this. They're relying -- they're claiming, excuse me, emergency powers. They've seized land from local government. They've blatantly gone around the checks and balances of the legislature. They're grabbing hundreds of millions of dollars that are supposed to be for hurricane and disaster relief. And they're shelling out no bid contracts. And I'm sure were going to see campaign contributors to -- to DeSantis and Attorney General Uthmeier, are on the list of those who are getting it.

And I think the final point, as well, is that, you know, law enforcement does not want deaths in their custody. And I think this is a setup of -- of -- for -- for trouble. It's been a deadly year when it comes to deaths in ICE custody. And, you know, half of those have been in Florida just this year.

BERMAN: So, Ron DeSantis, the governor, says that it's the federal government, ultimately, who will pay for this, who will reimburse Florida for this facility? And one other thing supporters say is that you called it cruel. They say that will serve as a deterrent. It will serve as a deterrent for people who want to cross the border illegally. And they say it may incentivize people to self-deport rather than end up there. What do you say to that?

RODRIGUEZ: Well, first of all, you know, the -- the -- we're a nation of laws. We need to -- we need a secure border. Communities are entitled to -- to -- to -- to safety. We need to provide that to them. You know, but we also need to respect the law and treat people with dignity.

And I think one of the reasons why those of us in Florida know that this is transparently a political stunt, and the audience is outside of here, is because when it comes to the Everglades, we love the Everglades. We're not afraid of the Everglades. And one of the things that unites a lot of people is the fact that, you know, these are sensitive, environmental wetlands. You know, the parts of the Everglades are home to the Miccosukee and Seminole tribe. And so, you know, we look at this as, again, a political theater.

And, you know, it's -- it's -- it's expensive, it's reckless, and it's dangerous. And, you know, you mentioned the promise of reimbursement, but, you know, state taxpayers here, we're going to be shelling out these dollars. And as I mentioned, they've gone around the legislature. So, there's no scrutiny to how they're doing this.

BERMAN: You did say you support the rule of law. It is worth noting, the president's -- since the president has taken office, border crossings have gone just way down. Apprehensions, just May alone, in 2024 was 240,000 border crossings. In 2025, 29,000. So -- so down by a huge amount.

What do you think has worked to reduce the flow of undocumented migrants into the United States? RODRIGUEZ: Well, listen, as -- as -- as -- as, you know, you mentioned, that -- and I would -- I would actually, you know, go back to the point of this disaster declaration that they're relying on is from 2023, when the numbers were much higher. So, the legal framework they're using is, you know, is -- is -- is dubious at best for being able to do this.

[08:55:02]

But I think, you know, as you mentioned, yes, we're all on the same page. We need a secure border. We need to make sure the country is safe.

But what we have seen, you know, what we need actually is the type of legislation that the bipartisan legislation that was killed last year, more resources for law enforcement. We need a -- we need to streamline the process of figuring out who gets to stay and who gets to go.

So, again, this is cruel, political theater. As you mentioned, it's -- it's not necessary, right? It's extremely expensive. And it's on very dubious legal grounds.

BERMAN: Former State Senator Jose Javier Rodriguez, we appreciate your time this morning. Thanks so much for coming on.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, still ahead, jurors have questions about one of their own. We take you to court where day two of deliberations is set to begin in the criminal trial of Sean Combs. What do the jury questions reveal to us. That story and more, ahead.

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BOLDUAN: Very soon the jury will pick back up with deliberations in the sex trafficking and racketeering trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs. About one hour into deliberations yesterday, the jury sent a note to the judge saying that they were concerned that one juror could possibly not follow the judge's instructions. So, now what?

CNN's Kara Scannell is outside the courthouse with much more on this, as they are about to head back in.

Kara, what are you learning about what happened and what that means for today?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kate.

It was so unusual yesterday. Just about an hour into deliberations, there was the first note from the jury of any substance were from the foreperson who said that we are concerned that juror number. 25 "cannot follow your honor's instructions."

[09:00:00]

So, that raised a lot of questions about what it could possibly mean. And it was about two hours with the parties going back and forth to try to figure out the appropriate way to respond.