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Senate Holds Marathon Voting Session; Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D- NJ) is Interviewed about the Mega Bill; Trump Heads to Florida; Kohberger to Plead Guilty; Jeremy Saland is Interviewed about the Kohberger Case. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired July 01, 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]

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 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. Ultimately, the judge decided to send a note back. In that note he said he was reminding the jurors that they had a duty to deliberate, and the obligation to follow his instructions and ask them to continue their deliberations. Those deliberations were -- then went on.

I mean what we know about juror 25 from the jury selection is that he's a 51-year-old man. He's a scientist. And he lives in Manhattan with his domestic partner. You know, he's sitting in the jury, following the case, just like everyone else.

After that note, there wasn't anything else for several hours. But then at the end of the day, around 4:30, the jurors sent another note where they said they wanted some further instruction about what the law is around drug distribution. That would suggest they seem to be continuing to deliberate. Maybe they got over their initial hurdle. But what happens in the jury room is a mystery until the case is finally over and a verdict is reached.

So, the parties are back in the courtroom to figure out how to respond to that juror note, which they will send back this morning. Once the jury is all here, all 12 of them, they'll restart deliberations on the second day and continue until a verdict is reached.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Absolutely. Thank you so much, Kara, for being there for us. Really appreciate it.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, just moments ago, President Trump left the White House. He did not say that they have secured the votes in the Senate this morning for his sweeping domestic policy bill. He did say he thinks they will get there, but added, "I don't like cuts. Don't go crazy with the cuts."

Now, the president did lash back at Elon Musk after Musk threatened to challenge any Republican who votes for the bill. The president said maybe Musk needs to be kind of investigated by DOGE.

And a new attack from President Trump on the Fed chair, this time with a highly publicized, handwritten note.

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

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news this morning. Just a short time ago, President Trump departing for Florida and saying, when it comes to Medicaid, he does not like cuts. And he warned Republicans not to go crazy with them. While at the same time demanding they pass a bill that makes major cuts to the health care program.

Senators are still in the throes of trying to pass the sweeping bill, which they have been trying to do all night. The legislation would extend the 2017 Trump tax cuts, spend billions on defense and border security, and, as we mentioned, also cut some social safety net programs.

A live look at the Senate floor for you now where lawmakers this morning have cast their 45th vote in a row on Trump's mega bill. That's a new record for this type of session. Republicans are pressuring holdouts in their party who are worried about the cuts the bill would make to Medicaid. Nearly 12 million people could be pushed from those Medicaid rolls.

And there are also concerns about the cost. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates this would add more than $3 trillion to the national debt.

The price tag led Elon Musk, the president's one-time ally, to launch a new attack on the bill. He called it "insane," and is now threatening to primary any lawmaker who votes for it.

The president responded to Musk earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, he's upset he's -- that he's losing his EV mandate and he's upset. Yes, he's very upset about things. You've got -- you know, he could lost a lot more than that, I can tell you right now.

(CROSS TALK)

TRUMP: Hey, Elon -- Elon can lose a lot more than that.

REPORTER: Are you going to deport Elon Musk?

TRUMP: I don't know. I -- we'll have to take a look. We might have to put DOGE on Elen, you know? You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that have -- that might have to go back and eat Elon. Wouldn't that be terrible?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: How times have changed.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is at the Capitol this morning, where the vote-a- rama is still ongoing.

What are you learning?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, the Senate is about to hit the 24 hour mark in that marathon voting session on President Trump's domestic agenda bill. Now, the president, as he was speaking to reporters at the White House, said that he would be open to potentially shifting that July 4th deadline, which this is -- is this coming Friday. There is still a lot of work that both the Senate and then the House would need to do in order to get this bill passed.

And Vice President J.D. Vance has been up here on Capitol Hill this morning as they are trying to push this bill across the finish line. He told reporters, we're going to see whether they can get that done today.

Now, these senators have been working around the clock, voting on these amendments, but there are a few key senators to keep in mind.

[09:05:02]

We learned just a short while ago that Senator Rick Scott had proposed an amendment relating to the federal share of Medicaid payments, that that amendment would no longer be voted on. There is also a lot of attention being paid to Senator Susan Collins and where she will land on final passage of this bill.

And then there's Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Senate leadership was actually huddling with her on the back of the Senate floor for quite some time a bit earlier this morning, and another instance overnight. There have been some provisions that would have benefited her state that have been struck from this bill. One of those coming overnight from the Senate parliamentarian who ruled that one provision relating to Medicaid that would have affected Alaska could not be included, though they did allow for a carve out on food stamps.

So, senators are trying to work Murkowski as they need to hold together this GOP caucus. The Senate can only afford to lose three Republican votes on this bill. You've already seen Senator Thom Tillis and Senator Rand Paul vote no over the weekend on advancing this bill. So, they're trying to work with this very tight math.

Now, overnight, these senators have been finding ways to occupy themselves. You've seen senators walking around with either coffee or energy drinks in between votes. Senator Thom Tillis even playing a game of hide and seek with his family members who are watching on TV. So, this is all some of the things that senators have been trying to do to keep themselves occupied as this grinding vote continues. And we'll see in a matter of time whether Republicans will have the votes for final passage of this bill in the Senate. And if it passes in the Senate, it still has to go over to the House.

SIDNER: And we just saw Senator Tillis blowing kisses to the cameras as well.

Arlette Saenz, thank you so much. Appreciate all your reporting there.

John.

BERMAN: All right, with us now is Congressman Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, a Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee.

Congressman, how do you think you slept compared to your colleagues in the Senate?

REP. JOSH GOTTHEIMER (D-NJ): I mean, I got a lot more hours of sleep than they did. What a mess. I mean, unbelievable. What you're seeing here, John, right, is a bill, they're dying to try to get it across the finish line, but there's just a realization of, you know, of -- of this -- not only is it a mess for the Senate, but it's a disaster for the public, right, and for families and children and seniors. And they're trying to find their way out of it. But when you've got the reality that it's going to cut health insurance for 12 million Americans and take food away from children, both in school meals and SNAP, you know, the largest cut in food assistance in American history, I think there's a realization among all of them that this thing is a disaster. And the -- you look at the polling on it and it's even worse than -- than they want.

BERMAN: The president, as he was leaving the White House a short time ago, says he hates to see cuts, not to go crazy with cuts. What do you say to that?

GOTTHEIMER: Well, then they should start over and come up with a new bill. I mean, this thing is just a giveaway. You know, they've got tax breaks for oil and gas and coal, at the same time they're taking health care away and going to -- it's going to force nursing homes to shut down, health care away from children and families, millions of people.

And the big thing that, you know, and you just mentioned this before, but not enough people are talking about, it adds a massive amount to our national debt. You're talking $3.3 trillion. So, they kept walking around saying they're the party of fiscal responsibility and they're just going to blow a huge hole in the deficit and make the debts go up -- and make the debt go up significantly. That's going to be a huge problem when the bill goes over to the House, you know, because this is not the deal that the speaker had cut with many of the Republicans, especially with the Freedom Caucus, over in the House.

BERMAN: Well, one person who is talking about that quite a bit is Elon Musk overnight, who is now threatening to -- to finance primary challengers to any member of Congress who vote for the bill. The president responded to Elon Musk again as he was leaving the White House and threatened to basically sic DOGE on Elon Musk. He called, you know, DOGE the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon.

And to that, Elon Musk tweeted just a few minutes ago, "so tempting to escalate this. So, so tempting. But I will refrain for now." What do you think about that? GOTTHEIMER: I mean, you know, the love affair is officially over. You

know, I -- I think Elon Musk is looking at this as their -- you know, part of the bill, of course, has massive cuts to wind, solar and electric vehicles, which obviously would hit Musk hard. But it also -- he -- he knows the reality, that we need more energy, not less energy. And what this bill is going to do is gut the ability to actually produce more energy in the United States, especially with things like A.I. growing and the demand of energy increasing, we need more energy opportunity.

And -- and also it, as you probably know, it taxes energy production. So, you're looking at, in New Jersey, where I live, about 100-year increase, $100 a year increase in energy prices for people if this bill goes through because suddenly all of the wind, solar, electric vehicles, all this alternative energy will -- will disappear. And that's a disaster for our country.

[09:10:13]

BERMAN: You mentioned the tri-state area. I want to ask you something about what's happening in another one of those three states, that would be New York, specifically New York City, where Zohran Mamdani looks like he will be the Democratic nominee for mayor here. Sitting where you sit, you know, through the tunnel, across a few bridges, you know, how would you feel looking across the Hudson with a New York City with Zohran Mamdani as mayor?

GOTTHEIMER: Listen, I'm like completely confused by how people go ahead with a lot of the ideas that he's put forth, you know, and -- and if you saw this weekend when he was asked to condemn globalize the intifada, right, and -- and he refused, which is, you know, a call for a wave of terror -- was a call for a wave of terror against Jewish people around the world, and he refused to condemn that language, you know, and -- and as far as I'm concerned, somebody who refuses to condemn hate speech is not acceptable. And I'm looking for him to clarify that, as well as a lot of the -- his other socialist policies. So, you know, there's got to be a lot of clarification before I start to warm up to -- to the idea of him being mayor.

BERMAN: He says it's not the language that he would use when he was pressed on that by Kristen Welker on NBC. What do you think it says about the Democratic Party?

GOTTHEIMER: Yes, but he -- but he refused to -- but he refused to condemn it. But why wouldn't he condemn -- just outright condemn the language? Why would you not condemn anti-Semitic language? You saw what happened in Washington and Boulder, Colorado, and -- and the surge of hate around the country. Why would you not condemn hate speech, you know? And that's not something that should be confusing. By the way, against anybody. Whether you're talking about against Muslims, against African Americans, against anybody, you should, right away, not hesitate and condemn hate speech. And so, I don't understand where any confusion is there, and I'm expecting him, I hope, to clarify his position.

But listen, I believe the Democratic Party needs to move in the direction of common sense and reasonableness of affordability. And I -- and I -- I -- that's where we should be -- where we should be going and have zero patience for any kind of hate speech.

BERMAN: Congressman Josh Gottheimer, from New Jersey, appreciate your time this morning. Thank you so much.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Very soon, President Trump is expected to arrive in Florida and headed to the Florida Everglades. He's there to visit the state's newest migrant detention facility there that's been dubbed "alligator Alcatraz." The president is going to be attending, there for a photo op, the opening of the 5,000 bed facility that's now set on a small airstrip in the Everglades, which is why it's become the latest battleground in the president's immigration crackdown.

CNN's Isabel Rosales is in Florida with the very latest.

And the president will be landing there soon. What else are you learning about this?

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kate, in the span of a week and one day, workers have transformed the Dade Collier Training and Transition Airport from an 11,000 foot runway into this temporary tent city that they've dubbed "alligator Alcatraz." Now, this location here in the Everglades is just under 50 miles west of Trump's resort in Miami.

I want to give you a bird's eye view of what this looks like right now from our CNN affiliate WSVN. You can see these aerial pictures showing these repurposed FEMA trailers, these heavy duty tents that, when completed, are expected, according to Governor Ron DeSantis' administration, to hold over 5,000 detainees awaiting deportation.

Now, the governor says that this is very much needed, this so-called "alligator Alcatraz," to deal with all of the influx of migrants from immigration crackdowns that are overburdening the jail systems. He also says that not much security is needed thanks to the pythons and gators that are surrounding this facility.

Here's President Trump, just moments ago, what he had to say about security.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I guess that's the concept. This is not a nice business. I guess that's the concept. If you -- you know, snakes are fast, but alligators are -- we're going to teach them how to run away from an alligator, OK, if they escape prison, how to run away. Don't run in a straight line. Run like this. And you know what? Your chances go up about 1 percent. OK. Not a good day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: Again, this is, of course, drawing major backlash from all sorts of groups, including immigrant rights advocates who say that this is cruel and inhumane.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS KENNEDY, FLORIDA IMMIGRANT COALITION: When we talk, you know, about people as if they were vermin.

The location. The manner in which it was done and the language, right, the dehumanizing language employed by the authorities here, there's nothing about this facility, about this detention camp that is not cruel and inhumane.

[09:15:02]

The fact that we're going to have 3,000 people detained, in tents, in the Everglades, in the middle of the hot Florida summer, during hurricane season, right? I mean this is a bad idea all around that needs to be opposed and stopped.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: And as for the price tag, $450 million a year to run, according to a senior DHS official. The governor says, hey, the federal government is funding that.

Guys.

BOLDUAN: Isabel, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

The president will be landing there very soon.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, just ahead, a surprising plea deal in the murders of four University of Idaho students. Bryan Kohberger to plead guilty. But one victim's family says they weren't consulted about the deal, and they are furious. What they're trying to do about it. That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:20:12]

BOLDUAN: There is outrage this morning after prosecutors in Idaho announced a plea deal for Bryan Kohberger, the man charged with murdering four college students back in 2022, in the house that they shared in the middle of the night. If this deal is approved, Kohberger would plead guilty to four counts of murder. It would mean life in prison and he would waive his right to an appeal. But in exchange, it would mean the death penalty would be taken off the table. That is what has made at least one of the victim's families furious that this is no longer going -- likely not going to trial.

The family of Kaylee Goncalves released a statement to CNN about the deal, calling it "a secretive deal and a hurried effort to close the case."

CNN's Jean Casarez has much more on this, as you've been following this building case that was set to begin early next month, this trial.

Jean, what more are you learning about this plea deal?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we -- we are learning exactly what you said, that he would plead guilty, that he would not have any appellate rights, but he would -- he would save his life, basically.

But -- but let's remember, the cards are in the hands of the prosecution. They are the ones that are bringing this case, this prosecution. If they choose not to have a plea deal in this case and go to trial, they will. But this was a situation Bryan Kohberger had lost so much. He didn't have an alibi defense. He wasn't going to be able to have an alternate perpetrator offense. This is a case that cost a lot of money.

But the fact is, there is something called justice. And the families here deserve justice for their loved ones. These young people that were just starting their life.

And it all seemed to happen so quickly. We want to show you an excerpt of a letter that was sent by prosecutors to the families just very recently. It says, "the resolution is our sincere attempt to seek justice for your family. This agreement ensures that the defendant will be convicted, will spend the rest of his life in prison, and will not be able to put you and the other families through the uncertainty of decades of post-conviction appeals."

But at least one family, the Goncalves family, Kaylee Goncalves was their daughter, they are very angry. They are very upset. They do not feel this is right. They wanted a trial because they want justice. And that's how they felt they could achieve it.

Listen to Mr. Goncalves last night on "News Nation."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE GONCALVES, FATHER OF KAYLEE GONCALVES: This is not justice. We had an outsider come to our community, kill our kids in their sleep while they're getting a college education, doing everything that they should do, and we don't have the courage to hold him accountable. No plea deal. Let's go for this guy. A hundred percent, let's do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: So, what he is saying here, and it's true, the judge has to accept the plea deal. And the hearing at this point for that acceptance is tomorrow afternoon in Boise, Idaho. And what normally happens, it's a -- it's a simple procedure, but the judge has got to make sure that Bryan Kohberger freely and voluntarily has entered into this agreement. The judge himself has to accept it. We have to see what's happening.

Now, the families are saying, we don't have time to get to Boise. We just found out about this. So, we've got to see what happens in this. And then, at a later date, will be that full sentencing.

BOLDUAN: All right, Jean, thank you very much for staying on top of this.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, joining us now is criminal defense attorney and former Manhattan prosecutor Jeremy Saland.

Jeremy, thank you so much for being here.

Do families typically have any legal say, any legal standing in a plea -- plea agreement like this?

JEREMY SALAND, FORMER MANHATTAN PROSECUTOR: There's really no legal standing. This is -- this is a decision of the prosecution. Right or wrong, good or bad, this is their choice. And it is shocking in terms of what we're seeing and hearing. And it is disappointing in terms of the strength of that case and to argue and say you're saving the family from appeals and uncertainty, I understand that, but not if the families -- we're hearing from at least one of them is saying, this is wrong. I want -- I want justice. And justice is not about ease and dollar signs, it's about doing what's right.

SIDNER: I want to ask you whether you think this plea agreement is about how the prosecution felt about the case, which seemed to have quite a bit of evidence, or is this just the prosecutor saying, look, it's going to cost the county a lot of money, it's going to cost the family a lot of heartache having to go through the pictures and see the crime scene. And then, as you mentioned, the appeals as well.

SALAND: Yes. I think they're looking to check off certain boxes. And boxes that are being checked off here is, there could be an economic factor. We're not talking like Mangione where the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, which is a huge organization. This is a much smaller prosecutor's office. But that's not why you do it, right? Again, we do it because it's the right thing and it's because of justice.

[09:25:02]

It's a strong case. Anything or a lot of the angles that the defense was taking, the alternate person who may have done this, this --- this unknown perpetrator, that was stripped from Kohberger. He could not -- did not have the ability to make that argument. So, this seemed to be not a soap box cut and dry, but it seems to be a darn strong case. It's not why they decided not to move forward. It had to be economics or some other reason we don't know.

SIDNER: Well, the family clearly is terribly upset about this. At least one family, if not two of the four. We will see what happens going forward for today.

I do want to move on to the Sean Combs case. The jury is going to be starting in just a bit here their second day of deliberations. And there were two questions that were being asked. The last question of the day was whether or not, if someone asked for a controlled substance, requested it, and then someone else gave that controlled substance over, whether that was distribution. What's the answer?

SALAND: The answer, it can be distribution. Absolutely. You don't even need a sale. I don't need to have the monetary exchange to make a distribution.

SIDNER: OK.

SALAND: So, it is distribution, cut and dry.

SIDNER: OK. And then the second one was far more interesting. Jurors saying that one of the jurors --

SALAND: Right.

SIDNER: Juror number 25, could not follow the judge's instructions. What does that tell you?

SALAND: If I'm Marc Agnifilo and the defense team, I love hearing that question.

SIDNER: OK.

SALAND: Because it -- all you need is one person. Does that mean that that person will not or is incapable of doing so and doesn't understand it? Those are two very different things. But if he -- he cannot do it because he doesn't want to do it and disrupts that jury, all you need is one,, we get that mistrial. That's a big win potentially, though we can't read and know what they're actually thinking because they moved on. If it's cannot because they don't understand, the judge instructs and gives them an opportunity to ask further questions.

SIDNER: The judge certainly reinstructed in this case and --

SALAND: Yes.

SIDNER: And sent it back to the jury, saying, hey, guys, follow my instructions.

SALAND: Absolutely.

SIDNER: And that was that.

What are the attorneys typically doing right now as they're waiting for this? Are they just sitting there like trying to --

SALAND: They are -- they are full of anxiety.

SIDNER: Yes.

SALAND: They're trying to read the tea leaves.

SIDNER: Yes. SALAND: And I will tell you, I've done it before. Sometimes you're right. Sometimes you're wrong. You question why I did something or I didn't do it right. But at the end of the day, it's up to the jury.

SIDNER: Got to wait for that decision.

Jeremy Saland, it is always a pleasure.

SALAND: My pleasure.

SIDNER: Thank you so much.

John.

BERMAN: All right, President Trump escalates the pressure on the Fed, blasting not just Jerome Powell, but his entire team, with a key vacancy looming. Could a shakeup be on the way?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)