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Tens Of Thousands Resume Protests In Tel Aviv; Now: Senate Holds Key Procedural Vote On Trump's Agenda Bill; U.S. Families Agonize Over GOP's Proposed Medicaid Cuts. Aired 10-11p ET

Aired June 28, 2025 - 22:00   ET

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

[22:00:00]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: All right everyone. Welcome to the CNN Newsroom. I'm Omar Jimenez. We are continuing our coverage on breaking news out of Washington DC. Vice President J.D. Vance is on Capitol Hill along with the Senate for a rare Saturday session that has now become a Saturday night session as Republican leaders push to advance President Donald Trump's massive policy bill, and Republicans are trying to get a final version to Trump's desk by July 4, but given what we've got ahead, including a key procedural hurdle now, that deadline might not be possible, we will see.

Republicans need 51 yeas to advance the bill. The voting right now unofficially stands at 47 yeas and 50 nays. Meanwhile, Trump is reacting to the proceedings on Truth Social he put out a long statement, as you can see here. It starts essentially, looks like Senator Thom Tillis, as usual, wants to tell the nation that he's given them a 68 percent tax increase as opposed -- as opposed to the biggest tax cut in American history. Quick context, there -- there is no credible basis for the foot -- for the claim that failing to pass the bill would result in anywhere near a 68 percent tax increase.

But we have heard that from the president repeatedly to this point. It goes on to criticize Tillis critically because Tillis Senator out of North Carolina decided not to support moving forward with this procedural vote. I want to bring in our CNN Congressional Correspondent Lauren Fox and CNN Senior White House Reporter Betsy Klein, as we follow this story from all angles at this point.

Lauren, OK, obviously we saw what the President said. Why is he singling out Senator Thom Tillis and well, I guess I just said it, but why is Tillis not supporting moving forward here?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Thom Tillis has been clear all along that he had a lot of deep concerns about some of the Medicaid cuts and what they could mean for his state's rural hospitals. That is something that he has been expressing issues with over the course of the last several days, but he announced hours ago that he was not going to support moving forward with this bill.

I will point out that in the office of the Majority Leader right now, Senator John Thune's office, there are a number of conservatives who are actually very close with President Donald Trump, including Rick Scott of the state of Florida, as well as Mike Lee of the state of Utah and Cynthia -- Cynthia -- Cynthia Lummis, excuse me, of the state of Wyoming, who are huddling with the Majority Leader behind closed doors.

Now they have all expressed concerns in the past that this bill adds too much to the country's debt and deficit, but they still have not voted. So Thom Tillis has voted no. We know Senator Lisa Murkowski, just a few minutes ago, voted yes to get on to this bill and continue debating it. But there are a number of conservatives who are actually quite close with the president, who are currently huddling with the majority leader and have yet to vote.

So that just shows you that this isn't just about Thom Tillis. There are a number of potential holdouts here, and again, this vote has been open for several hours. The Vice President is here at the Capitol preparing to be a tie breaker if he's needed, but Republican leadership has already lost three Republican votes. They can't afford to lose a single other vote, and there are still several Republicans who have yet to cast whether or not they will support this legislation moving forward or not.

And it's important to point out once again, this is not the final vote. This is just the vote to get this process underway. Omar?

JIMENEZ: The vote to get to the vote. No better words late on a Saturday night. Lauren Fox, really appreciate it. And Betsy, look, I know you've been reading through what the President put out on -- on Truth Social, just a few other excerpts. North Carolina will not allow one of their senators to grandstand in order to get some publicity for himself for a possible but very difficult re-election.

And Thom Tillis is making a big mistake for America and the wonderful people of North Carolina. So Betsy, can you just -- I know I might be asking a lot here, but can you try and put into context why the President has come out so -- I mean, with such a long statement towards someone like Thom Tillis and why he felt the need to do so at this stage?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, this is such a make or break moment on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. We know that President Trump is watching this vote extremely closely, and the White House and the President's team really believe that this is so critical to unlocking the rest of the President's domestic agenda going forward.

[22:05:00]

So this is a very critical moment here the president recognizing and fielding all of the concerns and questions, taking calls and making calls, reaching out to Republican senators over the last 24 hours or so, including a round of golf with a trio of Republican senators that included one of those holdout Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who, of course, has expressed some misgivings about the debt ceiling increase.

But in addition to that, the President now taking aim at Senator Thom Tillis. He actually posted just a second ago. As you were reading excerpts of that post, he actually is now warning that he is going to be weighing primary challenges to Senator Tillis. He said numerous people have come forward, wanting me to run in the primary against, quote, Senator Thom Tillis. I will be meeting with them over the coming weeks, looking for someone who will properly represent the great people of North Carolina and so importantly, the United States of America.

So clearly a very serious threat there from President Trump. And we should also note that the Marine is positioned outside of the West Wing, which does indicate that the President is inside, clearly watching this extremely closely in this very serious moment for this legislation. But the reality is, the President is acutely aware that there are razor thin margins in the Senate and deep policy divisions amongst his party about how to proceed here.

It was so critical to Trump that they move forward with this as -- as he calls it, the one big, beautiful bill, and that meant that there were a lot of different provisions in it, things like tax cuts as well as numerous other border security provisions, as well as that debt ceiling increase, I mentioned a few moments ago that really have a lot of different competing interests within the Republican Party, and we are starting to see some of that bear out here, as they are struggling to keep that coalition together with those very tight margins.

But the President has hosted a major event on Thursday, pushing for this bill. He warned that people who vote against it are, quote, grandstanders and not good people. We are starting to get a little bit of a taste of that with how he is reacting to Tillis, the others he has yet to lash out at, but he's clearly monitoring this extremely closely, and of course, as Lauren and Annie and our other colleagues have mentioned throughout the day, this is just a first step.

Of course, if and once the Senate passes their version of this legislation, any changes will then need to go back to the House of Representatives. The President will also need to lobby that coalition to keep them in line and get this over the finish line, to get it to his desk. So a lot of work ahead for the President to close that deal, Omar.

JIMENEZ: Yeah, we will see if the President continues to weigh in, keeping an eye on the feed by the minute at this point, as you mentioned, likely continuing to watch these proceedings as we are very closely. Betsy Klein, thank you so much. For everyone else, we're going to have much more ahead, including on the fate of Donald Trump's signature policy bill in the U.S. Senate.

Again, just trying to get past a key procedural hurdle. We'll bring you those details as they come in.

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[22:10:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) JIMENEZ: All right, everyone. Back to our breaking news. Right now,

U.S. senators are voting to advance President Donald Trump's massive tax and spending bill and in many regards, a major test of loyalty to the President. But three Republicans have already voted no raising concerns over spending levels in some cases, and cuts to Medicaid.

Now Vice President J.D. Vance is on Capitol Hill, and that's critical, because he may need to cast a tie-breaking vote here. If one more Republican votes against the motion, it will fail. Now numerous people have -- I should say the President has been weighing in tonight, because North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis has been among those who has not wanted to move forward with this bill, and the President saying numerous people have come forward wanting to run in the primary against Senator Thom Tillis.

I will be meeting with them over the coming weeks, looking for someone who will properly represent the great people of North Carolina and so importantly, the United States of America. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Now, of course, a veiled threat for not moving forward with this procedural vote. But Senator Tillis, representing North Carolina, that state has over 25 percent of their residents that are either on Medicaid or child health insurance program, so a large consideration there, but not alone, and not deciding to move forward.

So we're going to continue to monitor this, and as we make progress, I'll bring you back. But I also want to update you on a number of other headlines going on across the world right now.

In Israel, tens of thousands of protesters filled Hostages Square in Tel Aviv on Saturday. They called for an end to the Gaza war and the return of the remaining hostages, the war in Gaza. Now, meanwhile, Donald Trump is taking up a cease fire for the devastated enclave where an air strike early Saturday killed numerous children in one family, as well as their mother and grandmother. CNN's Nic Robertson reports from Tel Aviv.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: On hold during the Iran conflict, energized by the possibilities of that perceived victory.

RUDY CHEN, FATHER OF HOSTAGE ITAL CHEN: Prime Minister Netanyahu, because he can and he must bring all the hostages back, the living and the deceased, because we want all of them. (FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

ROBERTSON: 'Free the Hostage' protesters in full voice at their first regular Saturday rally in three weeks. Viki Cohen, mother of hostage Nimrod, hopeful she'll get her 20 year old son back soon. VIKI COHEN, MOTHER OF HOSTAGE NIMROD COHEN: We feel that a little

different. Trump is very demanding, and we believe in him. We trust him, and we know he has the power to stop the war. He can pressure our Prime Minister to do it, to finish the war in Gaza, and in this way, all the hostages can come back home.

ROBERTSON: The deal they want now is a comprehensive agreement to bring all the hostages home, 50 of them, about 20 believe to be alive, and get the army out of Gaza. In Gaza, peace can't come soon enough, either. Tents pitched on this sand hit rescuers say by an Israeli air strike early Saturday. The IDF say they are looking into the incident. By daybreak, this night's horror revealed a huge crater and no tents.

The recovery not done. Alone with a shovel, Abu Mohammed (ph) searching for two children, eight of their deceased brothers and sisters already found. Among the dead were children aged one, two, three, four, five, seven, nine and 10 and 11 years old. Mohammed (ph) says there were two boys, five girls, their mother and their grandmother.

In Tel Aviv, the days of war counted by the second, eyes of both sides on President Trump to stop the clock.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it's close. I just spoke with some of the people involved. It's a terrible situation that's going in Gaza. He's -- he's asking about and we think within the next week, we're going to get a cease fire.

ROBERTSON: President Trump is turning up the mood music for a possible deal in Gaza. Prime Minister, Netanyahu's top confidant is expected in Washington soon. It hints at momentum, but Israelis have been here before, hopes dashed by differences. Nic Robertson, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: Nic Robertson, thank you. Meanwhile, Iran's Supreme Leader is repeating his vow that his nation will never surrender to the United States. The statement was posted on X and this is the first from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei since the start of state funerals for those killed in Israeli air strikes. Khamenei did not address the funerals directly, but said the Americans want Iran to surrender and that such a thing will never happen.

Tens of thousands of people filled the streets in Tehran, Saturday for the funerals honoring those killed in recent Israeli strikes. The victims include top military commanders, at least six nuclear scientists, and many civilians, including women and children.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen was there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is a gigantic procession right through the heart of Tehran. There are thousands of people here who are trying to touch the caskets. They're trying to give the folks who are on the caskets items to rub on the caskets. Now there are 60 coffins in total that are going through the city. Among them, Iran's top military leadership.

You have the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Salami, the head of Iran's missile program, Ali Hajizadeh, many others as well, including nuclear scientists, but also civilians. There's also women and children whose caskets are in this procession right now. People here say that they are honored to pay their final respects to those who were killed, but they also vowing to continue to stand up to both the U.S. and Israel.

Death to America, Death to Israel, she says. God willing, you'll be destroyed soon. My message to Trump is God willing, you will die, he says, because you attacked Iran, and be sure, the people will take revenge for the blood of these martyrs soon, with the obliteration of Trump, Israel and the United States.

All this runs as Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has lashed out about the United States and Israel, saying he believes that Iran's military campaign against the Israelis was victorious, and that also the U.S. has gained nothing from bombing Iran's nuclear installation. But at the same time, the Iranians are vowing to be defiant, saying that their nuclear program will continue. Of course, enrichment will continue as well. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Tehran.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[22:20:00]

JIMENEZ: All right. Thank you -- thank you, Fred. Meanwhile, President Trump wants to sign his tax cuts and spending bill Friday, the Fourth of July. But a lot of work to do to get to that point, because right now, Republicans are scrambling just to get the votes to start debate on the measure. You're having a live look at the Senate floor right now.

We're going to have the latest details from Capitol Hill just ahead, including what the President is saying tonight. Stay with us.

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JIMENEZ: Welcome back, everyone. I'm Omar Jimenez. You're watching CNN Newsroom. We are following breaking news from Capitol Hill in Washington. A short time ago, Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski voting in favor of advancing President Donald Trump's policy bill, which is significant because she was one of the holdouts that we were monitoring over her concern over the extent of the cuts to Medicaid in this version of the Senate Bill.

So she was a crucial vote to come in for Republicans, but with just three Republican senators left to vote, Republicans need 51 yeas to move into debate. Right now, the vote stands at 47 yeas and 50 nays, and that brings me to Vice President J.D. Vance, who is on Capitol Hill critically, because he could potentially cast a tie breaking vote if needed.

Joining us now from Washington, DC, CNN's Senior Reporter Annie Grayer, who has been following this for, I forget how long we been following it at this point. Time doesn't matter, right now. But Annie, can you just tell us where we stand right now? Who are we waiting on, and why are we still waiting.

[22:25:00]

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: So there are three Republican senators that leadership and Vance have been focusing on for the last three hours when this vote started, back at 7:30, Omar, when we first started talking about this.

So the three senators who still haven't voted are Rick Scott of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah, and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, and they have been going in and out of leader Thune's office, the Vice President has been in there at times, and we are seeing the pressure campaign on full display here, trying to get these last three Republicans on board so Republicans can take just their first step at advancing this critical piece of legislation that President Trump has been pushing for months now, but this is -- vote has been open three hours.

This is not how Republican leadership wanted this to go, but it just shows you how difficult this process has been because Republicans are so divided on so many of the key issues for this bill, specifically Medicaid cuts. That has been time and time again the central question of how much to cut Medicaid. And it has sort of been like a game of Whack-a-Mole this whole time of when you try and please one group of Republicans by lessening cuts, and you have another group of more Right wing Republican Republicans who want steeper spending cuts.

So this has been the dynamic, and it's coming down to the wire as we wait to see if the arguments from the Vice President, from leader Thune and the leadership team are going to be enough, or if Republicans are going to deliver an embarrassing defeat to President Trump. We are standing by and waiting outside of -- our team is waiting outside of Thune's office trying to get an update here. But it's really been a slow moving couple hours here.

JIMENEZ: Yeah, and we have been here over that slow moving couple hours, but a crucial couple of hours, because again, this could be the difference in potentially moving this process forward. Annie Grayer, appreciate it as always. I want to bring in Ted Johnson, who is a Political Reporter with Deadline and joins us from Washington as well.

Thank you for taking the time, Ted. You know, one of the things that we are watching is that one of the Republican senators who voted nay here decided not to support this is North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis, and we are seeing President Trump out on Truth Social tonight saying -- essentially threatening that he will be primary -- primaried for not supporting this moving forward.

I wonder, can you just contextualize the importance of this bill for the president and why we are seeing so many defections, or I guess, the nature of the defections, we're seeing to this point.

TED JOHNSON, POLITICAL REPORTER, DEADLINE: Well, this is President Trump's signature legislative achievement, and what they've done is everything that Trump has a priority -- has made a priority in this second term he has put into this one bill. So it's everything from border security, it's Medicare, the changes to Medicare, it's just and then most you know, most prominently, obviously the tax cuts, the extension of the tax cuts that he had in his first term.

So -- so to see this bill being blocked would be a significant defeat for Trump, because it would show that he just doesn't have the power to -- to get this across. Well, we're not even talking about across the finish line. This is just to bring it to the floor to a debate. So that's why this is so important. That's why Trump is kind of saber- rattling and saying we're in a primary.

Those who've voted against us in this in this case, Senator Tillis, and that's also kind of a message he's trying to send to anyone else who may be thinking of voting against this bill when it comes to the final vote, or if it comes to the final vote.

The -- the reason that you're seeing some of these defections in the case of or -- for various different reasons in the case of -- of Rand Paul, he is, you know, made his feelings heard throughout the process, that he just feels this bill is going to add too much to the national debt over its lifespan.

And others, I think, are taking a look at some of the polling, and the polling on this bill is pretty dismal. I do have to say that one big -- one thing we're seeing, you know, presidency after presidency is they start with these huge, big bills that they have to pass by party line votes, and they have to do through the reconciliation process.

[22:30:00]

The problem with that is that it allows the opposition to kind of define the bill before they have a chance to do so themselves. And that's kind of what Trump is finding himself, that -- kind of the place that Trump is finding himself in right now.

JIMENEZ: Yeah, and, you know, one of the interesting things is that, you know, months ago, it feels like an eternity ago, there was this debate between the House and the Senate over whether they wanted to do two different processes and put the extension of the tax cuts in one set of priorities and then put everything else in another, versus the other chamber said, you know what? Let's do this all together as one.

And that's clearly what we're seeing right now. Hence the big, beautiful bill, but I wonder, look, the House put forward their version. The Senate now tweaked a little bit. Is there room for -- I might be looking too far ahead, but say this does get passed out of the Senate, is there room for compromise when the House receives this once again, or are there -- or is that essentially dead on arrival, making changes to what they previously put forward?

JOHNSON: Well, I think the philosophy is the Senate will have its crack at this bill, and it will be kind of a take it or leave it to the House. The problem with that is that you already have a number of House members who indicated that they'll vote against this, and the margin in the House is even slimmer than it is in the Senate. This passed out of the House by just one vote.

So there's not a lot of wiggle room. There are several options, you know, going into conference, but that extends the timeline. And I think the philosophy is, you know, the longer you extend the timeline, the easy it is, easier it is for the opposition to build to this legislation. Again, it's a problem with some of these massive, massive bills, is it is so much easier for the opposition to define them before you actually get a chance to do so, or the supporters actually get a chance to do so.

We've seen that -- Obamacare, you know, they passed that, and that took a much longer time, but you saw things like death panels and -- and by the time that passed, Democrats had to pay a mighty price for it. But we've seen it in Trump's first term, when he passed the tax cuts. That didn't end up benefiting him so much in the midterms, and we also saw it with some of Joe Biden's, the COVID relief package ended up -- you know, he was accused of that only increased inflation.

So -- so it's -- it's a little unwieldy, so to speak, and it allows for a lot of people to kind of define what they want to out of the bill.

JIMENEZ: Yeah, well, it doesn't seem like it's a process is going anywhere quickly at this point, but Ted Johnson, Political Reporter with Deadline, really appreciate you being here. Thanks for taking the time.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

JIMENEZ: Of course. All right, as we've been talking about Trump's budget bill comes with big changes likely for Medicaid. CNN's Jeff Zeleny actually spoke to families in Missouri about what potential cuts to the program could mean for them.

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COURTNEY LEADER, DAUGHTER RELIES ON MEDICAID: I know that they're saying that they're not planning to cut Medicaid, right? I reached out, concerned that if any changes are made, there will be this trickle-down effect that will impact families like mine.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: The front lines of the Medicaid debate are right here in Courtney Leader's kitchen.

What is the face of Medicaid, do you think, and it is -- is it different than you think some people may assume.

LEADER: I mean, we are the face of Medicaid.

ZELENY: The Missouri mother of five wrote her Republican Senator Josh Hawley to explain how slashing benefits would be devastating to her nine-year-old daughter, Serena, who lives with brain damage and cerebral palsy.

LEADER: Our private insurance won't cover the formula. It doesn't cover the feeding tube pump. The hit on our budget, it would be over $1,500 a month just for the formula, just for the pump rental, and those are things that we have to have to keep my daughter alive.

Oh, there's my beautiful smile.

ZELENY: We came along for the ride sitting behind Serena's nurse, who's funded by Medicaid, as they drove to weekly therapy sessions, also paid by Medicaid, which more than one in five Missourians rely on for health coverage.

LEADER: We cannot let people like my daughter lose her benefits. And if anybody tells you that, oh, she's -- she's covered, she's protected, I would really encourage you to say, how? What provisions have you made to make sure that those who meet eligibility requirements are covered?

[22:35:00]

ZELENY: We visited Ozarks Food Harvest, which distributes food across one-third of Missouri.

What is the demand like for food?

BART BROWN, CEO, OZARKS FOOD HARVEST: Unfortunately, Jeff, right now, the demand for food is quite a bit higher than it was even at the height of the COVID crisis.

ZELENY: Congress is weighing billions in cuts to food assistance programs like SNAP, once known as food stamps. That will increase demand at already crowded food pantries like this.

How important is this food to you?

JUNE OWENS, MARSHFIELD, MISSOURI RETIREE: Well, it really helps us get through the month. And they have a good variety of things.

ZELENY: Your husband got hurt in an accident?

OWENS: Yeah, he fell between 10 and 11 feet, landed on top of his head. But it kind of changed everything. We were in the process of getting all of our ducks in a row, so to speak, for retirement. And then he got hurt really bad, and it just upside downed everything. And so food pantries do that, have helped us through the situation.

ZELENY: Another hotly contested piece of the spending bill is deep cuts to rural hospitals. Inside a maternity ward in Clinton, Missouri, Dr. Jennifer Blair worries for her patients.

DR. JENNIFER BLAIR, GOLDEN VALLEY MEMORIAL HEALTHCARE: Missouri has the fourth largest number of maternity care deserts. We actually are surrounded by several maternity care deserts that's defined as a county that has no or very limited access to obstetric services for their patients.

If we were to lose that access, the Birthing Center here at Golden Valley, our patients would have to travel more than 60 miles.

CRAIG THOMPSON, CEO, GOLDEN VALLEY MEMORIAL: Four out of five babies that are delivered in our hospital are covered by Medicaid, and that's not unique to us.

ZELENY: Craig Thompson is CEO of Golden Valley Memorial. He said many rural hospitals in Missouri and across the country are at high risk for closure.

Is your hope for what happens over the next couple weeks in Washington in this debate?

THOMPSON: Well, I think the thing that again, would be beneficial is for better understanding of who Medicaid serves and what the real Medicaid face looks like because, again, I think that's been lost somewhere along the way.

ZELENY: Courtney Leader shares that hope too.

LEADER: I do not have my daughter enrolled on Medicaid so that we can have fancy things. I have my daughter enrolled in Medicaid so that we can keep her alive.

ZELENY: What do you worry about the most?

LEADER: I'm worried that the red tape is going to affect our Medicaid because of just the oversight burdens, and that as a result, I'm going to lose my daughter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: Jeff Zeleny, thank you for that reporting. Meanwhile, President Trump wants to sign his tax cuts and spending bill, Friday, the Fourth of July, but as we are seeing, lot of hurdles right now, a lot of work to get done to get to that point, because Republicans are scrambling just to get the votes to start the debate on the measure. We're going to have the latest details from Capitol Hill ahead.

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[22:40:00]

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JIMENEZ: All right. Welcome back to our breaking news. Right now, U.S. senators are voting to advance President Donald Trump's massive tax and spending bill really in a major test of loyalty, in some respects, to the President. But three Republicans have already voted no, raising concerns over spending levels and cuts to Medicaid.

Critically, Vice President J.D. Vance is on Capitol Hill because he may need to be the tie breaking vote here, because if one more Republican votes against the motion, it will fail. I want to bring in Mychael Schnell, Congressional Reporter with The Hill. She joins us now from Washington. Thanks for taking the time.

Can you just walk us through a little bit of why the Republican senators we have seen to this point not vote to move forward here, why they have chosen to take that option. MYCHAEL SCHNELL, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, THE HILL: Yeah. Hey, Omar,

good evening. So to set the stage of where we are right now, this is the procedural vote for this big, beautiful bill. It's called the motion to proceed. It's a procedural hurdle that needs to be cleared to kick off debate for the bill, essentially the formal consideration process on the Senate floor.

Now, where things currently stand, there are 47 Republican senators who have voted in favor of this -- of this procedural vote, and then there are 47 Democratic senators and three Republican senators who have voted against it. So right now we are looking at a 47 in favor, 50 against vote. Now there are three outliers, three folks who have not yet voted, Republican senators, Cynthia Lummis, Ron Johnson and Rick Scott. Now they all need to vote in support of this procedural motion in order for it to move forward.

It would be a 50-50 vote, but Sen -- Vice President J.D. Vance is at the Capitol and prepared to break the tie. Now these three Republican senators have been shuttling in and out of Senate Majority Leader John Thune's office, likely talking about a potential breakthrough of how they can be brought on in support. The main issue appears to be spending cuts.

We know that these are three conservatives who have been pushing for more muscular spending cuts in the legislation. The problem with that, and with appeasing them, is including more spending cuts in this bill could ultimately turn off support among moderate Republicans. John Thune right now walking an extremely tight rope, trying to cobble together some sort of coalition to get this over the finish line.

This motion to proceed vote has been open now for a little over three hours. It began at 7:30. At this moment, no real indication about when things could wrap up and when we can see those three senators finally cast their votes.

JIMENEZ: And as we await some of those senators and how they're going to move forward, you know Senator Ron Johnson, for one, saying that he doesn't like how this is adding to the deficit, the amount that he is, it's just among the various reasons we have heard from Republicans to this point. When you look ahead, say this moves forward, I know I'm looking way ahead at this point, obviously this is different than what the House passed.

Are there places for compromise on where the House is just going to have to say, well, we're going to -- we're going to accept what -- whatever the Senate has changed, because we want this to move forward. I just wonder what those pressure points will be.

[22:45:00]

SCHNELL: Yeah, look, there's always room for compromise in these situations. You know, the caveat here is that senators and Republican members of the House are under such immense pressure by President Trump to get in line and support this ultimate package. The President has been very clear that he wants this bill to be on his desk by July 4. So folks want to find a way to move forward. It's just a question of

what that landing spot is. Look we have seen this story play out on Capitol Hill before, a fierce fight tension points between moderate Republicans and hard line conservatives. Ultimately, what's going to end up happening is these folks, at some point, are going to find a landing spot where each side can claim victory.

Hard line conservatives can say, we took this deal because we got something out of it. Moderate Republicans can say the same thing. Nobody's going to be thrilled, but they can go home to their states and their districts and make the argument of why they were successful. Now the big question now is, A, what does that landing spot actually look like, logistically? And B, what are they going to find it?

Republican senators had unveiled new text changes to the sprawling piece of legislation overnight. This has been the first day that Republicans are really passing through those final specifics, and I'll note, there's still plenty of opportunity to change some provisions in this bill, but they're essentially trying to find a landing spot where both sides can claim victory.

What that is, is the main question now and when they'll actually get there. That's another big question.

JIMENEZ: Another big question, as we await these holdouts. So far as we understand, Senators Rick Scott of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah, and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming. We've talked about the critical folks that have not gotten on board, Rand Paul, Kentucky; Thom Tillis, North Carolina; Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, and then two potential holdouts that got on board, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Josh Hawley of Missouri.

These are the names that have sort of been floating around the last few hours. It seems like we're getting a little bit closer, but that's me wishful thinking at 10:45 on Saturday night. Mychael Schnell, really appreciate the time. Thanks for being here.

SCHNELL: Thanks, Omar.

JIMENEZ: All right, everyone. We'll be right back with more news. You're watching CNN.

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JIMENEZ: We are continuing to follow breaking news from Capitol Hill in Washington. Just a short time ago, Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski voting in favor of advancing President Donald Trump's policy bill, and that was crucial because some of her concerns were around the amount of cuts to Medicaid in her state, Alaska has the highest proportion of residents on Medicaid of any state with two GOP senators, so a crucial switch there.

And with just three Republican senators left to vote, Republicans need 51 yeas to move into debate. Right now, the Vote stands at 47 yeas and 50 nays, which is why Vice President J.D. Vance is on Capitol Hill, because he could potentially cast a tie-breaking vote if needed. And we do know President Trump is watching these proceedings closely, as he has been throughout the night, commenting on folks like Senator -- GOP Senator Thom Tillis, who was one of those who decided not to move forward.

The president essentially threatening to primary him as a result. So we'll continue to monitor those results as they come in. Meanwhile, outside of Washington, a funeral was held Saturday for a Minnesota state lawmaker who was murdered with her husband in an act of really shocking political violence.

Melissa Hortman was a Minnesota state representative and former House Speaker in the state. She was assassinated in her home on June 14, along with her husband. Now the service Saturday was attended by several Democratic leaders, including former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz served as a pallbearer and delivered a eulogy. Julia Vargas Jones has more.

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JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A funeral with the highest state honors in the country's first Basilica, Minnesota in mourning. Governor Tim Walz presenting the children of Mark and Melissa Hortman with the flags flown above the Capitol on the day their parents were killed.

GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN): Remember your servants, Melissa and Mark --

VARGAS JONES: The political nature of their tragic deaths, the undeniable backdrop for the day's events.

WALZ: All of us are searching for some kind of meaning, some kind of lesson that we can learn to help ease our loss. And maybe it is this moment where each of us can examine the way we work together, the way we talk about each other the way we fight for things we care about, a moment when each of us can recommit to engaging in politics and life the way Mark and Melissa did.

VARGAS JONES: In attendance for mass former President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. On Friday, mourners paid their respects as the Hortmans laid in state at the Minnesota capitol. Melissa the first woman in state history to receive that distinction, laid to rest beside them their golden retriever, Gilbert.

Just a few miles away in federal court, the man accused of killing the Hortmans appear before a judge. 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 3. Boelter faces state and federal charges, including murder, firearm offenses and stalking.

Authorities say the June 14 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.

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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 nine millimeter handgun, as well as the 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, heart-broken and completely blindsided.

She called the attack a betrayal of everything we hold true as tenants 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.

This attack comes at a time of historic rising threats against public officials and division in America, but the overall message from Saturday service was that there is still hope to mend that division that came both from Governor Walz as well as from the pastor who led the services, especially when he shared what the kids of the of the Hortmans had asked people to do in the memory of their parents.

They said, plant a tree, pet a dog, or try a new hobby. The best way to honor our parents memories to do something to improve your community, however small. Julia Vargas Jones, CNN, Los Angeles.

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JIMENEZ: All right, thank you, Julia, and thank you for watching CNN Newsroom. If you've been with me for hours at this point, thanks for being here. It's been a ride, huh? I'm Omar Jimenez. If you're just tuning in, lucky for you. CNN Newsroom continues with John Vause after a short break.

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