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Senate Republicans Aim For Key Vote Today On Trump Agenda; Supreme Court Limits Power Of Lower Courts To Stop Trump Orders; Public Pays Respects To Minnesota Lawmaker Killed In Assassination; Fifty-Million-Plus People Under Severe Storm Threat Today; Tens Of Thousands Gather For Funerals In Tehran; Senate Dems Fails To Advance Iran War Powers Resolution; Video Shows Woman Clinging To Tree As Immigration Agents Try To Detain Her; Protesters March In Venice Against Bezos-Sanchez Wedding. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired June 28, 2025 - 12:00   ET

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

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN HOST: And his partner Leila tells us Rod's courage in the field was reflected in his courage throughout his illness.

That's all we have time for this week. Don't forget, you can find all our shows online as podcasts at CNN.com/audio and on all other major platforms.

I'm Christiane Amanpour in London. Thank you for watching and I'll see you again next week.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Saturday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

And right now senators are gathering on Capitol Hill preparing for a key vote to advance potentially the president's so-called Big Beautiful Bill. Senate Republicans released the full text of the bill just before midnight. It's a whopping 940 pages long. Republicans can only afford to lose three votes in today's expected procedural vote, and as of today, they were still falling short.

One holdout Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina says he will vote against proceeding with the bill unless major changes are made. Tillis and a handful of other GOP senators are especially concerned about Medicaid which faces major cuts to pay for Trump's tax and spending bill.

We have a team of correspondents covering today's developments. Betsy Klein is at the White House. Manu Raju on Capitol Hill. Let's get started with you, Manu. Bring us up to speed on where things stand right now and what we can expect to happen today.

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR & CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, total uncertainty right now. The Senate Republican leadership is scrambling to try to get this measure through the United States Senate as soon as early tomorrow morning with the procedural vote as soon as this afternoon. But there are major questions about whether they can actually do that or whether they'll be forced to punt amid opposition from both the moderate flank of their party and also the right flank of their party concerned about some of the key provisions in this sweeping proposal and about some demands for some changes.

Just last night, just before midnight, the Republicans put out a roughly 980 page bill, revised text of this massive proposal that would deal with a multi-trillion dollar overhaul of the United States tax code, deep cuts into programs, including like Medicaid, new work requirements for Social Safety Net programs, hundreds of billions of dollars for new defense spending and whole and border security spending.

But it is those cuts in particular that are dividing Republicans. On one side of the aisle, people like Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin warning that he plans to vote against moving forward because he said it does not go far enough in cutting spending. And also Senator Rand Paul already says he is a no because of the plan's inclusion of a $5 trillion increase to the national debt limit.

Then you have others and the more moderate flank of the party, like Senator Susan Collins of Maine, who are concerned about the cuts to Medicaid, worried that it could impact rural hospitals in their states. They want inclusion of a relief fund in this latest text, about $25 billion worth for some of those providers who would be hit hard by the Medicaid cuts.

But it is not far enough, not as much money as those like Senator Susan Collins and Senator Josh Hawley, a more conservative member, have called for roughly $100 billions they wanted to provide relief for some of those hospitals. So where does this all leave Senate Republican leaders?

In an uncertain position, because they can only afford to lose three votes to move ahead on this massive measure. And already you have not just Johnson, not just Rand Paul, but also Senator Thom Tillis warning he could vote no. Where does Senator Susan Collins come down? Senator Josh Hawley and others who are still uncertain about moving ahead here.

So the big question for Republican leaders here, Fred, is whether or not they actually will roll the dice, put this on the floor, have Donald Trump pressure these members to fall in line, or whether they have to punt and retool this massive package amid opposition within their conference. Fred?

WHITFIELD: And all this, Manu, while you have the House Speaker who says this is jet fuel for the nation's economy. So he's pushing hard to advocate for things as is.

RAJU: He most certainly is, Fred, and he's also trying to deal with rebellion within his own conference. There are a lot of members who don't want to simply be jammed by the United States Senate. They want some time to review the bill themselves. They want their own changes.

But the hope among the Republican leaders and the White House is they can somehow get this through the Senate barely tonight or tomorrow morning, get it on to the House, and have the Speaker and Trump roll over those members who are trying to stand up to them. Will they get their way? Well, it remains to be seen. But that is the calculation of the moment by the Republican leaders.

WHITFIELD: All right, Manu Raju, we'll check back with you. Thank you so much there on Capitol Hill.

[12:05:00]

Let's go to the White House now. It is largely why the president decided to stay at the White House this weekend, Betsy Klein. So what is he doing? How is he working the phones or calling, you know, meetings, trying to twist some arms, et cetera?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's exactly right. For all of those reasons that Manu just laid out, this is far from a done deal. There are many hurdles ahead, and President Trump and his team are keenly aware of that. And it is for that reason, as you just mentioned, that the president decided to change course on a planned weekend here in New Jersey and spend the weekend here instead at the White House.

The president now at his golf club. But we know that he has been working to intensify pressure on the Senate Republican holdouts.

Now, the president held a big event here at the White House on Thursday, pushing for lawmakers to vote to -- on behalf of this so- called Big Beautiful Bill, this tax and spending package that he says will really unlock his domestic agenda. And he warned that those who are considering voting against it are, quote, "grandstanders and not good people."

But the reality is that there are deep policy divisions on this bill going forward within the Republican Party over the scope of this bill, how to pay for it, some of the specifics that Manu just pointed to, and concerns from some lawmakers about those rural hospitals at risk of spending cuts to Medicaid.

The White House has been pushing toward this July 4th deadline, but President Trump made clear yesterday that that is not a hard deadline to get this over the fence. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How important is the July 4th deadline to you?

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's important. It's not the end all, if no longer, but we'd like to get it done by that time if possible. And look, we have a lot of very committed people and they feel very strongly about a subject, subjects that you're not even thinking about that are important to Republicans. The problem we have is that it's a great bill. It's a popular bill, but we'll get no Democrats.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

KLEIN: Now, the president spoke today with Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. And after that conversation, Johnson told Fox News he was still a no. He said there's, quote, "no need to rush it." Of course, all this still far from over. After the Senate votes, the House will have to work through those changes before it can get to the president's desk.

The White House watching all of this so closely, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, still lots of work to do.

All right, thank you so much, Betsy Klein and Manu Raju.

All right, meantime, President Trump's executive power just received a major boost from the U.S. Supreme Court in a 6 to 3 decision. Conservative justices on Friday sided with the Trump administration's request to limit lower court judges' ability to block his agenda.

CNN's Paula Reid is here to break down exactly what this ruling means.

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Friday's case is incredibly significant for the Trump administration because the president loves to govern through executive action. He has issued a record number of them. And before Friday's opinion, any federal judge anywhere in the country could respond to a legal challenge against one of these actions by blocking it for the entire country.

These so-called nationwide injunctions, this is not a Trump phenomenon, this is something that every modern president, Bush, Obama, Biden, they have all faced these. But Trump faced him in record numbers because he's so voluminously uses these executive actions.

So now, after this opinion, the Supreme Court's conservative supermajority has limited the power that judges have to block policies for the whole country. Now, this is going to be a little bit messy, but going forward, it appears that Trump will be able to sign an executive order, and it will go into effect, at least in parts of the country, and impact some people while it continues to face legal challenges and questions about whether that policy is constitutional.

Now, when you talk about something like mass firings or birthright citizenship, allowing those policies to go into effect even for a time, even for only part of the country, that impacts the lives of hundreds, thousands, even potentially millions of Americans, depending on what the policy is that we're talking about.

But these still will likely face constitutional questions. And I think we're going to see in birthright citizenship over the next year or so that the justices have to look at whether Trump actually has the constitutional authority to do that, to limit that right, where if you're born here, you are a U.S. citizen, if you can do that through executive action. It's not clear if they'll be successful.

But what is clear is this is a victory for the president. His lawyers told me as soon as he was inaugurated that he was going to issue executive orders with a very broad view, expansive view of executive power. And they knew they would face challenges. They knew they would lose at the lower courts.

They kept telling me, if they could just get to the Supreme Court, that that court would agree with them and affirm their view of executive power. And that's why after Friday's decision, President Trump does have more power and authority than he did the day before.

Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.

[12:10:11]

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Paula.

All right. Right now, former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris among the many mourners attending the funeral for Minnesota's former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark. They were killed earlier this month in an attack authorities call politically motivated.

CNN's Julia Vargas Jones is covering all of this for us. Julia, Hortman, her husband and their dog, who was also killed in the attack, a lay in state in Minnesota's capitol yesterday. Tell us more.

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are, Fred, seeing the first images and hearing from the pastor in the memorial today. This is a private funeral that is being live streamed for people around the world with some very illustrious guests, as you laid out.

We are also expecting to hear from Minnesota Governor Tim Walz later on. We just saw the images of Walz helping bring down one of those caskets down to the front of the church, and he's expected to make remarks later on.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JONES (voice-over): Beneath the Capitol Dome in Minnesota, a rare and somber moment of tribute. State flags lowered, uniformed guards standing watch, and at the center of the rotunda, two wooden caskets.

Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were honored as they lay in state, the first woman in Minnesota history to receive that distinction. But they were not alone. Laid to rest beside them, their golden retriever, Gilbert. Gilbert was trained as a service dog before the Hortmans adopted him, but he, too, was shot and later euthanized due to his injuries.

On Friday, mourners paid their respects, including former President Joe Biden. Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar met with the Hortmans' two children saying, "Sophie and Colin were strong and determined to make sure everyone carries on their parents' legacy of public service and goodness."

Just a few miles away in federal court, the man accused of killing the Hortmans appeared before a judge. Vance Boelter wore a green padded smock typically used for inmate safety. His attorney told the court Boelter has been sleep deprived due to jail conditions and communication has been difficult. The judge granted a delay, and his next hearing is now set for July 3rd.

Boelter faces state and federal charges, including murder, firearm offenses and stalking. Authorities say the June 14th shooting was a politically motivated assassination and that Boelter could face the death penalty if convicted. He allegedly went to the Hortmans' home dressed as a police officer and opened fire when police showed up, then fled, triggering the largest manhunt in the state's history.

Before the Hortmans, authorities say Boelter went to the homes of three other Minnesota state politicians. At one of them, police say he shot state Senator John Hoffman and his wife multiple times. Both are making a recovery but say they are, quote, "lucky to be alive."

According to court documents, authorities later searched Boelter's vehicle and found at least three AK-47 assault rifles, a 9 millimeter handgun, as well as a list of names and addresses of other public officials, most of them Democrats or figures with ties to the abortion rights movement.

There have been questions about what Boelter's wife, Jenny, knew and when. Investigators say she was initially not forthcoming with information but later became cooperative. On Thursday, Jenny Boelter spoke out for the first time, saying she and her children are absolutely shocked, heartbroken and completely blindsided.

She called the attack a betrayal of everything we hold true as tenets of our Christian faith, adding that from the start her family has fully cooperated with investigators. And they're grateful to law enforcement for apprehending her husband and preventing further harm.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

JONES: And Fred, the political nature of this attack is just undeniably in the back of the minds of all of those friends and family who are there to remember Mark and Melissa today. We're also expecting to hear from their children, Sophie and Colin. And as Pastor Griffith has just finished telling the crowd there how strong they've been throughout all of this.

WHITFIELD: Yes, terrible, sad and tragic.

All right, Julia Vargas Jones, thank you so much.

Up next, President Trump says the mission to end Iran's nuclear capabilities was a complete success, but he also says he's open to more airstrikes if necessary.

Plus, thousands of people stranded on a West Virginia highway after a mudslide and flooding shut down the road. We're tracking more severe storms today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:19:49]

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. A nightmare scenario for thousands of drivers on a mountainous West Virginia highway. They were left stranded for more than eight hours Friday after heavy rains caused a mudslide, which then blocked a storm drain and then led to flooding on that turnpike.

[12:20:05]

With no detours set up, traffic was backed up for 12 miles. People were stuck there overnight, in fact, with no water, food or even information on what actually caused the backup. The West Virginia Parkways Authority says it is taking full responsibility for failing to reroute traffic. The governor has also ordered an investigation into the incident.

And a source tells CNN that more than 100 Delta aircraft in Atlanta will need to be inspected after a quarter-inch hail hit the airport on Friday. The severe weather also forced a ground stop at the world's busiest airport. And today, more than 50 million people nationwide are under severe storm threats, including major cities in the Midwest and the Northeast.

It seems to be non-stop. What a crazy summer we've had so far.

Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is here. Usually we're talking about hurricanes, I'm not wishing that, you know, this time of year. But instead, we've got these unbelievable storms that we typically see in the spring?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You do. You start to see them taper off once you get to June. But for some reason, we just haven't been seeing it. Usually we start transitioning to talk about record heat.

WHITFIELD: All right.

CHINCHAR: And you're right, tropical systems. Now, we're just kind of stuck in that.

WHITFIELD: We have that right here too.

CHINCHAR: This is true. And I'm not complaining either. Yes. But yes, we're just kind of stuck --

WHITFIELD: Right.

CHINCHAR: -- in this pattern. And yes, so we have two separate areas today that we're looking at the potential for those severe storms. The first is going to be across portions of the Northeast. The second is going to be in portions of the Midwest.

So here's a live look at the radar. And you can see we've got clusters of storms in several different areas. But right now where the warnings are located is in portions of the Northeast. Both severe thunderstorm warnings right now located across Pennsylvania. But more of these storms are expected to fire up as they slide eastward.

So more of those watches and warnings could, in turn, pop up as we head through the afternoon hours. We also have this cluster of storms a little bit farther to the west. States like Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky. No warnings with this right now, but still potential there for some to develop.

These are going to be the two areas where we have the best potential. So again, outside of this, you can still see some strong thunderstorms. But these are the two areas where we have the best potential for those strong to severe thunderstorms.

We're talking damaging winds, 60, 70 miles per hour, also some large hail. And we can't rule out an isolated tornado or two for both of these areas. Now the timeline, we're already starting to see those storms fire up across the Northeast. And we're going to continue to do so through the afternoon and evening.

It's going to be a little bit later in the day when we really start to see the Midwestern storms ramp up, especially across Minnesota, the Dakotas, and Iowa. Likely 6:00, 7:00, even 8:00 tonight before you really start to see the bulk of those thunderstorms ramp up.

The other downfall, though, is that means they're going to linger through the overnight. So 2:00, 4:00, even 6:00 in the morning tomorrow, you're still likely going to have a lot of these storms underway. So keep that in mind. Make sure you have a way to get some of those emergency alerts on your phone, and then they'll continue yet again tomorrow.

WHITFIELD: My goodness.

CHINCHAR: It's just like clockwork.

WHITFIELD: It is nonstop.

All right, Allison Chinchar, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

All right, coming up next, hundreds of thousands of people turn out for state funerals in Tehran. We'll have that full story for you straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:27:42]

WHITFIELD: Happening today in Iran. Senior Iranian officials were among tens of thousands who filled the streets of Tehran. They were part of funeral processions for dozens who died in recent Israeli airstrikes. Top military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians were among those killed.

Many of the mourners were heard chanting death to Israel and death to America. 60 coffins were carried to a cemetery in Iran's capital for burials.

Meantime, on Capitol Hill, Senate Democrats failed to advance a resolution aimed to rein in the president's ability to use U.S. military force on Iran without congressional approval. U.S. Air Force B-2 planes dropped more than a dozen so-called bunker-buster bombs on two of Iran's nuclear production sites last weekend. President Trump said this week that he would consider striking Iran again if necessary.

With us now is Julian Zelizer, he is a historian and professor at Princeton University. He's also the author of several books, including his latest, "In Defensive Partisanship." Thanks so much for being with us, Julian. Great to see you.

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Nice to be with you.

WHITFIELD: All right. So Democrats are arguing the president violated the Constitution and the War Powers Act by bombing Iran. The White House says it feels it was within Article 2 of the Constitution. Can you walk us through both those arguments?

ZELIZER: Well, I think the critique is, it's an old one, that presidents since 1950 have been able to go and send troops too easily without a congressional declaration of war, which we have not had since World War II. And even after the War Powers Act of 1973, a reform that was meant to curb in presidential power, they still send troops all the time. And critics believe that's a violation of the Constitution. They believe that with President Trump, and they believe that with other presidents.

The other side is that presidential power is so sweeping and so expansive that the role of commander-in-chief, as outlined in the Constitution, allows a president to do this.

[12:30:03]

WHITFIELD: House members were given an intelligence briefing yesterday, the first one since last weekend strikes. Have a listen to what former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had to say afterwards.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D) CALIFORNIA: I'm almost sorry I went to this briefing because almost everything that was there is in the public domain. There has been no evidence presented in the public domain. Let's just talk about the public domain that talks about obliterated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The White House is blaming Democrats for leaking intel on the Iran strikes. Even if that is true, Julian, is there an obligation to brief House members on classified operations?

ZELIZER: Well, yes. I mean, the War Powers Act, back to that, has said that Congress has to be consulted before this starts and after. There needs to be a report justifying why an action was taken and that's going to include this kind of evidence. And Congress wants to know what was the outcome.

So, I think Congress does have a right. We actually need a system where Congress knows what is happening and we don't want to recreate the problems with the Iraq war and the lack of evidence of WMD. So I think they want to know what happened and what's happening right now.

WHITFIELD: Without a willing White House or DoD, is there an alternative route that Congress can go?

ZELIZER: Well, sure. I mean, they can hold hearings, as Senator Fulbright famously did in 1966, about Vietnam and shed light on this. They could make public demands, threaten with the budget to withhold money for this kind of operation. They won't do any of that.

The Republican majority is not showing any indication that they will bolt with the president. But they have many tools at their disposal. It's not do they have them? It's do they want to use them? Right now, the answer for the Republican majority is no.

WHITFIELD: All right. A new CNN poll is showing that 60 percent of independent voters, so not along power lines, say they do not support the bombing of Iran. Could these Iran strikes hurt Republicans and this White House with voters somewhere down the road?

ZELIZER: They could. I mean, this was something that President Trump himself was very adamant about trying to keep the United States out of major conflict. So, some of this will depend on what happens if this expands. If it gets worse, I think it could be very damaging to the president if it moves on. I don't think it will help him, but I think it might be forgotten in our short attention span political culture. So it's one of those two. It really depends how this unfolds.

WHITFIELD: The White House and Trump's advocates keep talking about legacy right now. Is it especially as it pertains to this strike on Iran Is it too early for that kind of discussion or will this culminate into a marker of his legacy?

ZELIZER: It could look if ultimately there is a nuclear free Iran, if that's what happens, and it reconfigures a more stable region in the Middle East, that will be a part of his foreign policy legacy. But again, it's way too early to tell. If you know anything about the Middle East, is that things unfold quickly, unpredictably and usually in a very volatile fashion.

WHITFIELD: And without a majority in Congress. You know, what is the recourse for Democrats who are against the president's decision to bomb Iran last week or even upcoming since he has already said that he could do it again.

ZELIZER: Just to use their platform to keep building public pressure against his being able to do that easily? That's about it. I mean, power is in the hands of the Republicans. But still, they have a voice, as we just heard former Speaker Pelosi, and they can use it.

WHITFIELD: All right, Julian Zelizer, we'll leave it there for now. Great to see you. Thanks so much.

ZELIZER: Thank you. Nice to be back.

WHITFIELD: All right. Still to come, new questions about the tactics being used by immigration agents after this dramatic video shows a woman cleaning, clinging to a tree to avoid being detained. Details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:39:00]

WHITFIELD: All right. Dramatic new video showing a woman being detained by federal agents near a Home Depot in West Los Angeles. It is hard to watch. And in this video, a shot by a bystander. The woman, who is a street vendor, is seen clinging to a tree there as police try to pry her while other bystanders are demanding the agents identify themselves. A lot yelling going on. It's very emotional.

There's so much more we know to this story. Rafael Romo is here with us now to help us understand the context of it. How did, how and why did this play out this way?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and we have seen, we have heard about the tactics, but rarely ever do we have an opportunity to see exactly what happened. And it's a video, Fred, that gives the public a glimpse into the tactics being used by the Immigration and Customer Enforcement agents as they face enormous pressure to arrest as many undocumented immigrants as possible on a daily basis.

The cell phone video was shot by a woman in West Los Angeles on Monday.

[12:40:00]

Aleca Le Blanc says that she was running errands around 10:30 in the morning when she saw a young woman being chased down the street by an older man wearing street clothes, a tactical belt, and a negator covering his face.

At one point, the young woman being chased clings to a tree. As you mentioned before, in what appears to be a last effort to avoid detention, she's being identified as Celina Vanessa Hernandez Ramirez. This is the moment when she's pried off the tree by the agent that's captured by Le Blanc's cell phone camera. Let's take a look it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you have an ID and a warrant --

UNDIENTIFIED FEMALE: Do not force to take her.

UNIDENATIFIED FEMALE: Oh, oh. Oh, no. Oh, no, no. Are you kidding me, old man?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What you're doing is fucking illegal.

UNIDENTIFEID FEMALE: What you're doing is kidnapping. What you're doing is kidnapping.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And shortly before the woman was taken away, an SUV had pulled up with more agents wearing face coverings and hats. They were all armed with guns. Blank described to CNN what she saw in an interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALECA LE BLANC, WITNESS: I see basically an old man chasing a young lady down the street, which is horrifying. And she's running out of fear. By the time I get to the bottom of the hill, I see that she is like, you know, clinging to this tree right outside of this, like, little, like, strip mall that everyone goes to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And Fred, we reached out to officials about the incident. In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security told CNN that during operations on June 23, CBP encountered Celina Vanessa Ramirez, an illegal alien from El Salvador for being unlawfully present in the United States. Despite verbal harassment by members of the public, the officers ultimately detained this illegal alien and placed her under arrest.

According to the National Day Labor Organizing Network, Celina Vanessa Hernandez Ramirez came to the U.S. two years ago with her partner Carlos and their now four-year old son, Iker Javier, hoping to build a better life. She worked hard selling tacos on the streets of Ladera Heights in Los Angeles, doing what she could to support her family.

And according to Le Blanc, Hernandez Ramirez does not have an attorney yet, but she's on the waitlist to get one from two legal organizations. But again, we don't know at this point her status or where she is being held.

WHITFIELD: All right, and I was going to ask you that. We don't know whether she has already been moved to a facility. We don't know if she's still in the West Los Angeles area where she will be facing whatever's next legally.

ROMO: That's right. And even more importantly, we do not know if she committed a crime other than being in the country legally.

WHITFIELD: Gotcha. All right. Well, as you learn more, bring it to us. Thank you so much.

ROMO: Of course.

WHITFIELD: Appreciate it. All right. Still to come, protesters give a not so friendly greeting to the celebrity packed guest list of Jeff Bezos wedding live to Venice. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:47:23]

WHITFIELD: All right. Happening today, newlyweds Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez-Bezos are gearing up for their final day of partying in Venice to wrap up their wedding extravaganza there in Italy. The nearly $50 million lavish event is culminating with a party in a former medieval shipyard with a list guests, of course. Meanwhile, not far from the party, a protest is scheduled to take place as residents and activists in Venice see the wedding as a symbol of inequality and arrogance.

For days now, members of the No Space for Bezos Movement have been protesting throughout the city. With me now From Venice is CNN's Melissa Bell. She's been in the water. She's there back on land still among the throngs of tourists and party goers. So what's going on now today?

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: This, Fredricka, is Venice's famous Rialto Bridge. Anyone who's been to Venice will have come through here. They're just right now moving the tourists out of the way because we expect that protest to make its way up here shortly. We've seen the policemen try and get people out of the way now.

We could open up in a short while ago. Essentially what you're hearing are chance signs also that say No Kings, a lot of chance against Bezos's proximity to President Trump. There's anti-capitalists in there. There's people fighting against climate change and people who just object to the fact that Venice is being used as a sort of postcard backdrop for this particularly lavish wedding at a time when people are struggling financially. So you saw a sort of love signs speaking to that and a lot of chance speaking to that as well.

So imagine there are a few of them now that the police have cleared them out. I'll just show you over here that they've been cleared out the way you can imagine for the tourists making their way around Venice. And there are a lot of them as there are at any time. They'll have seen some pretty extraordinary sights this week and not just the likes of Jeff Bezos. And we saw his new wife walk around the city today.

But we've seen a lot of A list celebrities. We've seen Tom Brady, we've seen Sydney Sweeney, we've seen the Kardashians. All of them in town, of course, for this event. And now what the tourists are seeing are these protesters making their way up the Rialto Bridge to protest exactly this event.

And so we expect two things to happen. This protest to make its way up here, the Rialto Bridge, not to say in Marco Square as was planned, but also this big event this afternoon, the final party of the wedding. There had been a lot of speculation that maybe Lady Gaga or Elton John might be performing. We're hearing that's not the case. Certain facts, they're being entirely, very secretive and keeping things entirely under wraps in terms of who's likely to play tonight.

[12:50:05]

Let me just show you over here. You can see the protesters. They're making their way, Fredricka, towards the Rialto Bridge in front of a few bewildered tourists and a lot of journalists trying to watch, keep an eye on what's going on. There are, of course, riot police to make sure that things don't get out of hand. We reckon there are a few hundred people, not that many. And so far it's been entirely peaceful, but a pretty incongruous spectacle for anyone who is imagining having just quiet romantic weekend in Venice. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: OK. Well, romantic, yes, maybe not so quiet. Not anymore. So you've got the protesters there. Meantime, Melissa, you just do still have the partying, even though you said, you know, it's unclear, you know, whether the Lady Gaga, the Elton John kind of factor of that post-nuptial celebration is going to be taking place.

Now, is it because the Bezos party is taking it to kind of an undisclosed location or is it just that it's always been in a location that's going to be difficult for anyone to access?

BELL: No, in fact, what had been planned, Fredricka, is that the thing would happen, this final bash was due to happen to the thing called the music. It's this big place where a lot of events happen. In Venice, they had to move it because these protesters were threatening simply to jump into the canal.

So in fact, it's happening slightly outside of the city in a place called the Finale, which is easier to secure in that they can keep this crowd away. I think that's part of the reason for the secrecy. But really they've kept the entire thing under wraps and you've seen many of the guests really respecting those nondisclosure agreements. You will not have seen much of what goes on inside those parties. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Melissa Bell, you always find a way of being in the middle of it all. And there you are. OK, I'm going to let you go for now. We'll check back with you. Thank you so much. Live pictures right there in Venice as protesters against the Bezos nuptials underway right there.

All right, straight ahead, Brad Pitt's new film has fans hearts racing.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE:I think it's really wonderful that Apex are given second chances to the elderly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's all right. You just wait. I'm quicker than you.

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WHITFIELD: All right. Los Angeles police are still searching for the suspects who burglarized a home owned by actor Brad Pitt. It happened Wednesday night. Police said three people entered the house through the front window around late Wednesday. They rifled through his belongings. They fled with an unknown amount of property. The house is nestled in a wealthy neighborhood near Griffith Park and Pitt was reportedly away during that burglary.

And this came as the actor is currently promoting his highly anticipated film "F1: The Movie" and now in theaters. Pitt is starring as Sonny Hayes, the most promising Formula 1 racer of the 1990s until an accident on the track nearly ended his career. CNN's Elizabeth Perez takes us behind the scenes.

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UNIDENIFIED MALE: Some people look at Sonny Hayes. They see a guy who lives in a van, a gambling junkie who missed his shot. The best that never was. But I see possibility.

UNIDENIFIED MALE: I've seen trailer it looks really cool.

ELIZABETH PEREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brad Pitt, a formula one car and some serious high speed Hollywood magic. That's right. The Hollywood star is starring in a brand new Formula 1 movie named "F1" filmed at real Formula 1 races with real teams and real fans watching. This could be one of the coolest racing movies ever made.

PEREZ (voice-over): In the film, Brad plays a retired racing legend, Sonny Hayes, who is pulled back onto the grid for the last shot at glory behind the wheel. With Lewis Hamilton producing the actual F1 teams involved and Top Gun maverick director Joseph Kosinski calling the shots, his movie promises a lot action.

GEORGE RUSSEL, MERCEDES DRIVER: It is very surreal, for sure. You know, I've grown up seeing all of Brad Pitt's movies, and he's obviously such a worldwide superstar, but he came into our world and he wanted to hear from us. He wanted our views, our opinions, how they can make the movie better, how they can make it as authentic as possible.

So, you know, I really can't wait to see it. And I feel this movie is going to be the one that we're going to love and everyone else will, too.

TOTO WOLFF, MERCEDES TEAM PRINCIPAL: Such a good personality. Humber, he was really interested in the sport and learning about it. And it's always, you see when somebody's successful is that the character is also very, very good. And that was why working with Brad and with Javier and with Jerry, overall was just a pleasure.

JERRY BRUCKHEIMER, PRODUCER, "F1: THE MOVIE": We make movies that entertain audiences, we call it. We're in the transportation business. We transport them from one place to another, and we're transporting them inside Formula 1.

What I love making, and I've made a lot of them, is take you inside a world that you'll never be a part of and show it how it actually works. You will see how these teams are running and how the teams come together, the drivers come together, and it's just. It's a fun experience.

[13:00:05] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When was the last time you won a race?

UNIDENIFIED MALE: Sunday. Daytona.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I'm sorry.

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