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Taylor Swift's "The Life Of A Showgirl" Goes On Sale With Much Fanfare; Sean Combs Expected To Address Judge At Sentencing Hearing Soon; Prosecution Witness Mia Decides Not To Speak at Combs' Sentencing; Obamacare Subsidies At Center Of Government Funding Impasse; FDA Approves Second Generic Abortion Pill. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired October 03, 2025 - 13:30   ET

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

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": This is --

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Yeah, I mean, this is out of control. OK, so what would you say about the era she is in? If you had to put a label on it, what would you say?

BRYAN WEST, TAYLOR SWIFT REPORTER, USA TODAY: This would be her happiness era. So she said that on the podcast that this was kind of her life after the Eras Tour, when she would be in the bathtub and that's when she first started dating Travis Kelce. And so, this really seems like to reflect that she's happy, keeping it 100. It's one of the lyrics and just the bright sunshine that he brings her.

An interesting metaphor is she used to call her skies 'lover skies'. We saw the pink and the blues. Now, she's saying the sky is opalite, that he's bringing the sunshine. And opalite is opal, manmade. It's his birthstone. And so, you can see his influence on her in this album.

KEILAR: You are -- what did -- what -- what is it 100, Bryan? Bringing it 100? What did you call it?

WEST: Keep it 100.

KEILAR: Keep it 100?

SANCHEZ: Keep it 100.

WEST: Keep it 100.

KEILAR: (Inaudible) OK. Bryan was --

WEST: The reason is because his football number is 87 and hers is 13, so 100.

KEILAR: So true. Bryan, I learned so much.

SANCHEZ: A lot of lore (ph) there.

KEILAR: -- just then. Thank you so much. You're keeping it 100, Bryan West.

SANCHEZ: Appreciate you, Bryan.

KEILAR: We appreciate you being with us.

SANCHEZ: Thanks.

KEILAR: Taylor Swift reporter.

WEST: Thank you.

KEILAR: Isn't that amazing?

SANCHEZ: Heck of a gig?

KEILAR: That's a great gig.

WEST: Heck of a gig, yeah.

KEILAR: All right. So, we are in the New York City courtroom where Sean "Diddy" Combs sentencing is underway. The judge now indicating how much prison time he's considering, and neither side is happy about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:35:27]

KEILAR: Right now, court is on a lunch break as disgraced music mogul, Sean "Diddy" Combs is in federal court. And moments ago, we heard from some of Combs' children who spoke through tears as they asked the judge to give their father a second chance.

SANCHEZ: And a stunning moment earlier, prosecutors slammed combs behavior as nothing more than lip service, telling the judge, "He has booked speaking engagements in Miami for next week. That is the height of hubris, your Honor."

Joining us now is Attorney and Legal Affairs Commentator Areva Martin and CNN Correspondent Kara Scannell, who's live for us outside the courthouse. Kara, talk to us about Combs' demeanor throughout this hearing. We understand that at one point, he was sobbing.

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boris, just before they broke for lunch, the jury -- sorry, the judge had seen this video, a 15-minute video that Combs' team had put together, kind of showing the highlights of Combs' life to show a softer side of him, all part of the theme that he is much more than the crimes that he has been convicted of. And it was during the playing of this video, Combs lost his composure. He put his head in his hand.

He was sobbing at times as the video was showing, moments from when he was working in a charter school trying to inspire young kids, when he was with his family, and when he was with his longtime partner, Kim Porter, the mother of several of his children. Those moments is when Combs seemed to have cried the hardest during the playing of the video. It really seemed to strike him, seeing all these high moments in his life when he is at what is likely to be the absolute lowest moment awaiting a sentencing, when he has just heard the prosecution speak so strongly in urging the judge to sentence him to 11 years in prison.

I mean, as his kids all spoke, his six adult children, his three sons and three daughters, they each individually addressed the judge. They stood at this very small podium with them all huddled around each other, supporting each other, literally with one brother on the arm of a sister who was crying throughout, really struggling to get the words out at times, but saying to the judge they believe that their father was a changed man, that they've looked him in the eye and see that he's a different person. He's more patient.

They said that he is not going to end up back in jail ever again. His daughters who lost their mother, Kim Porter when they were young, urging the judge to think about their baby sister who's two-years-old and saying that they didn't want her to grow up missing these memories and their moments with their father serving a long sentence. During their speaking to the judge, that was also when you could see Combs getting pretty uncomfortable, shifting in his chair, placing his head on his hand.

But it was later, once the video of his life played out and these big highs, that he really seemed to lose his composure and was crying as he was watching just how far he has fallen. Once the lunch break resumes, we are expecting to hear from two more of Combs' attorneys. They've asked for two other individuals to speak. The judge has not ruled on that yet. And then the prosecution will have another opportunity to speak, before the judge hands down that sentence. It's unclear how long this process will play out.

But, it's possible that this could finish today depending on how long those attorneys speak. And the course with (ph) Combs himself is going to address the judge, he had already written a letter to the judge expressing his remorse, saying he never wanted to end up back in this position again. He will have an opportunity to speak to the judge directly when this resumes this afternoon. Guys?

KEILAR: Areva, that's -- it's incredibly compelling, right? The case, of course, the prosecution is saying that he should spend years in prison. But I wonder what you make of their claim. And we haven't confirmed this, I just want to be clear that Diddy had already arranged speaking engagements in Miami next week.

AREVA MARTIN, ATTORNEY & LEGAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Well, that would be very presumptuous on his part, particularly given, Brianna, what this judge has done in the past, in the past meaning recently denying his request for a new trial, denying his request for an acquittal, and denying his bail request. So for him to, if it's true as you said, to have book speaking engagements would be rather presumptuous because nothing that this judge has done would suggest that he's going to be walking out of the courtroom today or in time for any kind of speaking engagements that may be taking place this year.

And we can't lose sight of the fact, Brianna, that the Federal Probation Department issued its report and it made recommendations for sentencing between five and seven years. [13:40:00]

So, not only is the judge going to take into consideration the very personal and very powerful testimony of Combs' six children, as well as the statements made by the lawyers, the judge is also going to weigh very heavily this recommendation from the Federal Probation Department. So, it's not clear that either of the requests from prosecution or defense will be the recommendation accepted by the court.

SANCHEZ: And earlier, the judge said that he didn't see a reason to stray from those recommendations. Areva, I wonder how likely it is you think that this possibly lasts the entire day and continues into Monday.

MARTIN: Well, I think Sean Combs' team wants it to last as long as possible. As long as they think they have an opportunity to persuade the judge to move away from that federal probation report recommendation, I think they're going to try to do that. The last thing Sean Combs wants to hear is that he is going to spend a significant amount of time in jail. In this case, it would be prison. His team has put on a tremendous case, effort (ph) 70 plus letters, this very slick, stylized video. So clearly, they're hoping to persuade this judge to allow him to have the 13 months time served and possibly just a couple of additional months added to a sentence.

KEILAR: And Areva, we know that the prosecution witness known as Mia decided not to speak today. Also, an ex-girlfriend known as Victim 3, who ultimately was not part of the trial, wrote in a letter to the judge yesterday denying that she was actually victimized by Combs, said that she kind of felt pressured to be a victim by the prosecution. How do you think that's going to resonate with the judge?

MARTIN: I think the judge will take that into consideration, but I think what's going to weigh the heaviest on this judge is the testimony of the star witness for the prosecution, and that's Cassie Ventura. Cassie Ventura was the heart and soul of the prosecution's case. And not only did the judge get to hear from Cassie, he got to see like the rest of the world, that horrific video, that violent video of Sean Combs attacking Cassie Ventura in that hotel lobby in Los Angeles where we saw her kick -- where we saw him, I'm sorry, kick and punch and drag Cassie Ventura. So despite what those other two women may have said or may not be saying today, I think Cassie Ventura's testimony and the video are going to carry a tremendous amount of weight with this judge.

SANCHEZ: Areva Martin, Kara Scannell, thank you both.

The Senate is about to vote on a funding bill that would end the government shutdown. Unfortunately, this vote is expected to fail. We have the latest on the shutdown and potential layoffs coming right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:47:10] SANCHEZ: At the center of this shutdown fight is the issue of healthcare, specifically Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year. President Trump and other Republican leaders are accusing Democrats of demanding free healthcare for undocumented immigrants, a claim that is inaccurate. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries spoke about that last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES, (D) HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: In that Oval Office meeting, it was -- the meeting lasted for over an hour. And the amount of time that we spent literally, in talking about the issue of health insurance for undocumented immigrants was less than 10 seconds. You know why? Because they know it's a lie. So, they didn't even bother to bring it up because the cameras weren't rolling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: CNN Political Commentator Michael Smerconish is here. Michael, great to see you as always. The question of who is deserving of federal benefits is central to where the shutdown debate stands right now. The facts and nuance are one thing, who do you think broadly is winning this messaging war, and who potentially caves first?

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I hope they're both losing because they both deserve to lose, in my opinion. I don't think there's, there's any side of nobility in any of this. By the way, my heart is on the side of the Democrats because I believe that those subsidies ought to be maintained. My head, however, says this is not the way to do it. It it's within time and place, go win the election. The midterm is coming up.

And I think the Democrats in this fight are going to be handicapped by the fact that people have not yet received their open enrollment statements. I guess that comes on or about November 1st. And Boris, if right now, people had received statements in the mail saying your rate is going up 20 percent in 2026, it would be a whole different political calculus.

SANCHEZ: That is an interesting point. We were just hearing from Senator Roger Marshall and in speaking to Brianna, he was suggesting that for Democrats this was all political. And we've heard the argument before that this is because Chuck Schumer is afraid of getting primaried. I wonder after the criticism that he specifically received for extending funding back in March, does this come down for Democrats to showing their base that they're willing to put up a fight?

SMERCONISH: Yes, it does. And look, you got to get into the weeds to really unravel what this is all about. And I think that the risk that the Republicans face is one of, the public certainly know that a Republican is in the White House and Republicans control the House and the Senate. And therefore, I think there's going to be this temptation to say, well, they can't work it out. It's their fault. They're in charge. Not taking into consideration that this is a 60-vote issue and consequently, Republicans alone can't get it done.

[13:50:00]

The side that's demanding something normally suffers. That would be the Democrats in this case. But I think the president runs the risk of overplaying his hand if Russell Vought starts to fire people. And I'll mention something else that I think is an embarrassment. In the Bush 41 administration, I served in the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and I was responsible for a region of five states plus Washington, D.C. and all federal housing therein. 2,000 employees, only two of us were political appointees, myself and one other person.

So today, Boris, after reading the stories, I went onto that HUD website which I'm familiar with, and to see the radical left has shut down HUD is such an embarrassment because I think of the 2,000 employees for whom I was responsible. They're just people showing up and doing a job. They're not caught up in any of this partisan crossfire. And for their public housing work to be subject to the radical left or the right or whatever, it's just so demeaning. It's so demeaning.

SANCHEZ: To the question of cheapening what is a fraught political argument, not only about benefits, but also the value of those who decide to serve the American people by working in the federal government. What did you make of the memes coming out of the White House, putting Democrats in sombreros and J.D. Vance saying that this is all in good fun and they can poke fun at their rivals while also negotiating a deal. Do you think that's appropriate?

SMERCONISH: I didn't even think that it was funny. Like the Grim Reaper video I watched this morning and I'm prepared to have a laugh in the midst of all of this, I just didn't think that the thing was funny at all. There's nothing funny about 700,000 people being marginalized and that's what is going on here. And I'm sorry if I prioritize, but I think about the troops and what are we? 10 days, two weeks out from whether the paycheck is going to be there. Look out if some of those TSA folks, as they've done in the past, just start calling in sick. That'll bring this to a close in a hurry.

One final thought, if I may. Who will next want to go work for the federal government?

SANCHEZ: Right.

SMERCONISH: You know, they already struggle to bring in competent folks and to say to yourself, well, I could go into the private sector maybe and have a job, or I could be subject to this. It's going to further make it difficult.

SANCHEZ: Yeah. And in the private sector, you make more money. The idea is that if you work for the federal government, you have more stability. It doesn't seem like there's much stability right now. Michael Smerconish, great to see you. Thanks for joining us.

SMERCONISH: Great point. Thank you. SANCHEZ: So, conservatives are outraged after the FDA approves a new abortion pill. What we know about the medication and the backlash right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:57:54]

KEILAR: The FDA just approved another generic version of the abortion pill, Mifepristone, and it's a move that is infuriated conservatives and anti-abortion groups aligned with the Trump administration. The low-cost version of the drug can be used to end pregnancies up to 10 weeks. CNN Medical Correspondent Meg Tirrell is here with more on the backlash.

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Mifepristone is one of the two drugs that make up the regimen for medication abortion, which is the most common way that women access abortion in the United States. And this is not the first generic version of this drug that the FDA has approved. But the approval comes at an awkward time for the agency because just last week, it was made public that Health Secretary, RFK Jr. and FDA Commissioner, Dr. Marty Makary had sent a letter to Republican attorneys general, promising them that they had an ongoing safety review of Mifepristone.

And so, this approval is getting heavy criticism from some in conservative circles, including Republican Senator Josh Hawley, who posted on X, that he's lost confidence in the leadership at FDA, also getting a lot of criticism from anti-abortion groups. A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services emphasizing that the FDA has, what they call, limited discretion in deciding whether to approve a generic drug. They say, "By law, the Secretary of Health and Human Services must approve an application if it demonstrates that the generic drug is identical to the brand name drug."

Secretary Kennedy also playing some defense, posting on X that they are running the safety review and saying "the Biden administration removed Mifepristone's in-person dispensing rule without studying the safety risks. We are filling that gap." Talking again about that ongoing review and what some folks expect the result of that review may be could be to take away the ability to prescribe Mifepristone by telehealth and send it through the mail. We're going to have to see what the outcome of that is. But of course, the pressure ratcheting up on Secretary Kennedy as a result of this approval.

KEILAR: All right, Meg Tirrell, thank you for that. A new hour of "CNN News Central" starts right now.