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Secret Service Issues Suspension for Several Agents in Connection with Trump Rally Shooting in PA; Senate Dem: Documents Support Whistleblower's Account that Top DOJ Official Told Others to Ignore Court Orders; Jury Selection Begins for Dentist Accused of Poisoning Wife. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired July 10, 2025 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Pennsylvania Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheadle resigned. Why do you believe these six suspensions, ranging from 10 to 42 days, are coming now just days shy of the July 13th year mark of the shooting?

JONATHAN WACKROW, FORMER SECRET SERVICE AGENT: Well, Fred, good afternoon. And, you know, I think it's actually important to address why we're witnessing the suspensions and not employee terminations. Because we have seen for almost a year now individuals calling for the termination, thinking that that is accountability.

But the reason why we're seeing suspensions and not terminations is primarily because these personnel actions are stemming from individual performance deficiencies, and those performance deficiencies were clearly identified in multiple investigations that happened in the aftermath of the assassination attempt.

So really, these are errors in judgment or lack of oversight by these employees, not willful or malicious misconduct. But to get to that, it took a lot of time for the Secret Service, working with DHS and other stakeholders, to fully investigate where things went wrong.

And we have, you know, a lot of, you know, evidence pointing to, you know, the systemic failures that led to, you know, the breakdown in the security plan on that day in Butler, Pennsylvania. And now we're seeing the consequence of that in holding these agents accountable.

WHITFIELD: So you see this more as performance issues, not necessarily because of protocol or procedural issues. So even having said that, is there introspective turmoil within the U.S. Secret Service after, you know, more than one assassination attempt of Trump?

WACKROW: Yes, no, and I just want to be clear. These agents are being held accountable for a lack of following those procedural considerations, and that's why they're being, you know, suspended. But to your question directly, these suspensions actually right now are signaling an effort by the agency to balance accountability, due process, and most importantly, workforce stability.

And this is all represented in a measured disciplinary response, right? They didn't have a knee-jerk reaction to, you know, terminate or suspend people right away. What they're doing is they're holding individuals accountable under the current progressive discipline structure.

But one thing that's important to note about this right now, Fred, is that these individuals that have been suspended, they're in a process that preserves their legal protections, and they're also afforded the right to appeal this suspension decision in the future.

WHITFIELD: And what about, you know, recruiting for this very specialized branch of law enforcement? How difficult has that road been, and how much more difficult perhaps is it as a result?

WACKROW: Well, listen, I think that, you know, if you asked that question one year ago, recruiting was very difficult, right? The Secret Service was really, you know, full of tumult from the top down. And what we've seen over the last year is a seismic, you know, restructuring of the agency, starting with the director and deputy director in the senior leadership team, and how they are, you know, really righting the ship and bringing the Secret Service back to its core responsibilities and missions.

And to me, you know, what these suspensions really are showing is a consolidated effort to rebuild the public's confidence in the agency, and most importantly, restore the internal accountability that's necessary, ensuring that every Secret Service agent is held to the highest standards, whether they're working investigations or protection.

WHITFIELD: All right, we'll leave it there. Jonathan Wackrow, always great to see you. Thank you so much -- Jessica.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: New today, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee now says he has documentation backing up a whistleblower's claim. The top Justice Department official, Emil Bove, told DOJ attorneys to ignore court orders. Bovee is a former personal lawyer to President Trump and is now up for a lifetime appointment to an appellate judgeship.

He testified during his confirmation hearing last month that he did not recall making that alleged remark. But the whistleblower, who's since been fired from the department, previously told Congress Bove made the comments during a meeting one day before the administration flew migrants to El Salvador under using controversially the Alien Enemies Act. Attorney General Pam Bondi today weighing in, saying no one ever was ever asked to defy a court order.

Joining us now, former U.S. Attorney Harry Litman to talk more about this. Harry, thanks for being here with us. What kind of impact might these documents that Dick Durbin now says he has have on this situation?

[14:35:00]

HARRY LITMAN, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL: We'll see. In a normal setting, and I've handled hundreds of judicial nominations for the DOJ.

There's no doubt the nominee would be withdrawn because they are. He has the whistleblower brought receipts. You're right that Bove said, I don't recall saying FU, but the profanity is really secondary to what he doesn't recall saying FU about.

He said, if we get such and such an order, we may have to consider saying FU to the courts. They got that order, and now we have e-mail traffic saying it's FU time and we have to consider it and we'll get sanctions. So strong circumstantial evidence that Bove said this, and not just in profane terms, but really saying we might have to ignore the courts.

And there's more, Jessica. There's also strong evidence that he himself was the architect of the decision, totally bogus decision, to ignore a court order because it was oral. That makes no sense. Oral court orders are enforceable. And to send the planes along because he said they had taken off. That also wasn't legally sound.

So everything we had heard about the whole kind of frenzy and hubbub of the day before everything happened on March 15th points directly at Bove. And there's an issue both of what he did at DOJ, and recall this supplements other allegations about Mayor Adams, where he ordered them to stand down from a valid suit, and also his candor to Congress. The issue is not, does he recollect or not saying FU?

It's how did he handle the court's orders? And did he personally countermand the court's orders and say, send those planes to El Salvador?

DEAN: Yes. And look, Democrats on The Hill have been talking about this, certainly. But what can they practically do about it if they want to take action?

Obviously, they're in the minority and in both chambers.

LITMAN: Yes, they can persuade one member of the Judiciary Committee not to vote him out. They can urge DOJ to withdraw the nomination. That would, as I say, be absolutely the normal move here, but not under this administration.

So they need, as you say, to pluck off a Republican. We already know one, Thom Tillis, who's leaving, has said, I'll support Bove. The worry is not, I don't think you can defend the conduct, but you can keep your head in the sand. And if all members of the committee do that, and all members of the Senate do that, he will get by notwithstanding these very serious allegations of impropriety.

And by the way, he will then become on the short list for the U.S. Supreme Court. So it's a very consequential nomination, but they have to use these documents to say, look what he did. How can you let somebody get on the court who was so derelict and so ignored court orders?

DEAN: And I want to ask you about another specific case, kind of a branch of this tree, if you were -- if we will. Kilmar Abrego-Garcia is back in court today to consider his request to be sent to Maryland as he awaits trial. This, of course, after the Trump administration said they will take steps to deport him before he goes to trial if he's released from that criminal custody.

What are you watching for in this hearing?

LITMAN: Well, the government said that, then they said we really want to put him through trial. What this hearing is about is finding out just what are your plans, government, because you haven't told us. That's actually part and parcel going all the way back to what we were just talking about with Bove.

But the government just today has made some overtures to at least giving him full process if he drops his civil suit. And of course, he has strong claims against them, right? They sent him down there by mistake.

So what I'm looking -- I'm looking for two things. First, will the witness that the judge has required show up actually be responsive when asked what are your plans? And then second, is there any kind of play in the joints for some agreement that Abrego accepts in order to break the impasse?

DEAN: Also earlier this week, the government of El Salvador acknowledged to the U.N. that the Trump administration maintains control of the Venezuelan men who were deported from the U.S. to that notorious Salvadoran prison. That contradicts a public statement from both El Salvador and the U.S. Do you expect this acknowledgement will come up in Abrego Garcia's case at all?

LITMAN: It sure should. I mean, it is head spinning, Jessica. Remember, it's not just a statement.

The government repeatedly said, oh, we can't do anything about this. It's all up to President Bukele. And what El Salvador has officially said to the United Nations is basically we're just keeping them as a contractor for the U.S. It's in El Salvador, but it's all up to them. They do whatever they want.

So it puts a lie not only to the statement, but to the whole course of assertions that, oh, there's nothing we can do.

[14:40:00]

And really, it, I think, enhances the need for a spotlight on the same days, the 14th and the 15th of March, what the government was telling the court and what was really happening.

But we have this flat contradiction now between the U.S. that's saying, oh, it's all up to El Salvador and El Salvador saying, what are you talking about? And we'll give you back anyone you want. These are your prisoners. You're just paying us to house them. Somebody ought to get to the bottom and fast of that direct contradiction, as you say.

DEAN: All right. Harry Litman, thank you. We really appreciate it. LITMAN: Thank you, Jessica.

DEAN: Coming up, jury selection begins in the trial of a Colorado dentist accused of killing his wife by poisoning her protein shake with cyanide. More details on this when we come back.

[14:45:00]

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DEAN: Jury selection now underway in the trial of a Colorado dentist accused of killing his wife by allegedly poisoning her protein shakes.

Police say Angela Craig, who is a mother of six, went to the hospital three times complaining about her severe headaches, dizziness and vomiting. Just days later, she was declared brain dead. A coroner's report lists cyanide and arsenic poisoning related to her death.

And her husband, James Craig, is now charged in the case. CNN's Jean Casarez picks it up from there. Jean, as this trial gets underway, what are you watching and what do we know?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The facts and the evidence that it will come out. They expect opening statements to begin next week. But that man that you're seeing right there in the orange jumpsuit, he was a very successful dentist in the Aurora, Colorado area.

He was very popular. He had commercials on television. People knew who he was.

And from the outside, it looked like he had a wonderful marriage with his wife, Angela, as you said, raising their six children together. But when all of this happened, there began an investigation. And according to the probable cause affidavit, beginning on February 27th of 2023, this dentist started making Internet searches at his dental office.

Let's look at what he searched for, according to the probable cause affidavit. How many grams of pure arsenic will kill a human? Is arsenic detectable in autopsy?

Top five undetectable poisons that show no signs of foul play. How to make poison.

And on that day, he ordered arsenic metal. It arrived two days later at his house. And then on March 6th, he always made his wife protein shakes. He was a loving husband, according to what people thought, because his wife liked to exercise. He'd make her protein shake every morning.

Well, on March 6th, she drank the protein shake that he had made for. And all of a sudden she didn't feel well.

Let's look at the text, because she started writing to her husband and she told him she didn't feel well. And he said, have you eaten anything? Well, I had my protein shake and magnesium and makes me weird. This is not hungry.

Are you nauseous?

No, I feel drugged, she says.

And then he says, given our history, I know that must be triggering. Just for the record, I didn't drug you. I am sure worried, though. You really looked pale before I left, like even your lips.

Now, let me give context to that last paragraph. Legal documents say that he admitted to people that he'd actually tried to drug her about four to five years before that, but not to kill her.

It was because he wanted to go in the bathroom and commit suicide. And so he thought if he drugged her, she wouldn't be able to go in and save his life. And that's why he did that.

But she knew that. And that's what prompted him to say that last paragraph right there.

Well, on 15th of March, she finally becomes comatose and her life ended on the 16th. And it was found that she had these substances in her system. At the same time, he has a girlfriend flying into the Denver area while she's in and out of the hospital for that two weeks. And at some points, she even stayed at the family home while Angela was in the hospital.

And so the defense here, because you think this is cut and dry, possibly not. The defense here is that Angela committed suicide. That's what the defense is going to say, that she was depressed. She had suicidal ideations and that she was overdosing on some substances herself. And he even told authorities, you're going to find something in her toxicology. And they sure did, because it was what he had purchased.

And that girlfriend, she's going to be a star witness for the prosecution.

DEAN: Goodness, what a trial this will be. Jean Casarez, thank you so much for laying that out for us.

Still ahead, 31 workers miraculously survive after a huge tunnel collapses in Los Angeles, trapping them more than 400 feet underground. We're going to show you more of this incredible rescue that's ahead here on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

[14:50:00]

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WHITFIELD: A CNN original series goes inside the shocking story of a social and investment club in the 1980s. But despite its alluring facade was filled with greed, fraud, and even murder. CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister gives us a look into the notorious billionaire boys club.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MICHAEL DOUGLAS, ACTOR: Greed is good.

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What Michael Douglas did for greed on Wall Street.

JUDD NELSON, ACTOR, BILLIONAIRE BOYS CLUB: Lamborghinis, Ferraris.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Judd Nelson did for greed in Los Angeles in the 1980s.

NELSON: A lot of excess, a lot of exuberance.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): At the height of his Brat Pack fame, Nelson played Joe Hunt in the hit TV miniseries, Billionaire Boys Club, based on the true story of an LA kid who scammed his way to a lavish life.

NELSON: He definitely wants to succeed, and he wants it to be shiny. He wants all the glitz and glamour of someone who makes a million dollars a year.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): It was an era of 80s excess, cocaine, cars, and the rise of the yuppie in search of it all.

NICOLE LAPIN, HOST, SCAMS, MONEY, AND MURDER PODCAST: I think LA in the 80s was all about image and the illusion of power. So what Joe Hunt did is he capitalized on that excess. He was not only running a scam, he was selling a dream.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): It all descended into another staple of a wild Hollywood story, murder, as chronicled in the new CNN docuseries, "BILLIONAIRE BOYS CLUB".

[14:55:00]

LAPIN: It was American Psycho meets Wall Street or Gordon Gekko, and the media just went after it.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Before the Menendez brothers, before OJ.

The Billionaire Boys Club helped start the era of the celebrity trial.

LAPIN: It played out in the backdrop of Hollywood, covered by Hollywood. It read like a Hollywood movie, still does. And that's why there's so much fascination decades later.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): It's a story Nelson has lived now for decades.

NELSON: Only in this kind of a profession can you play the guy and then 20 years later play the guy's dad.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): In 2018, Nelson returned to play Hunt's father in a big screen version of the Billionaire Boys Club. He says the new docuseries brings a timeless lesson to a new generation.

NELSON: Hiding in plain sight are many things that are dangerous to us. So we are vulnerable to people that say good things to us, that compliment us, that like us or pretend to like us. It's a cautionary tale.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Elizabeth Wagmeister, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, Elizabeth, thank you so much. And be sure to tune in the new CNN original series, "BILLIONAIRE BOYS CLUB" airs Sunday at 10 p.m. Eastern and Pacific time.

All right, ahead, a judge issues a new nationwide block on President Donald Trump's executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship. Why the decision complies with a Supreme Court ruling.

Stay with CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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