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Attorneys For Kilmar Abrego Garcia Detail Alleged 'Torture and Mistreatment' in El Salvador; Alternate Juror in Sean 'Diddy' Combs Trial Speaks Out; Record Holiday Travel; Interview With Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO). Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired July 03, 2025 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

REP. JASON CROW (D-CO): They have short-circuited all the things that are built into a process like this to hear from people, to hear from constituents. So we're slowing this down. And we're actually trying to provide opportunity for them to weigh in.

I have been spending the morning talking to my constituents, answering the phones in my office. Hakeem Jeffries is reading letters and outreach from constituents that are actually being sent in, in real time in some cases.

We are listening to American people, because that's really what's important right now.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: What are your constituents saying and what are your plans to protect them? Because you say that this will hurt the most vulnerable.

CROW: Well, it's not what I say. It's just the fact, right?

This is the single largest transfer of wealth from the working class and the middle class in America to the top 1 percent, to billionaires. Not only that. It adds over $3 trillion to the deficit. It's going to rip health care away from 17 million Americans. It's going to blow up the health care system for everybody else.

Even if you have a platinum Cadillac program, let's just say you have a great employer-sponsored program and you're not on Medicaid, just imagine what's going to happen when a trillion gets removed from the American health care system, rural hospitals closing, clinics closing, doctors and nurses leaving the profession.

It is going to blow up the system for all of us. We have just seen the tip of that iceberg. So what we're going to do is, we're going to look at legislation. We're going to communicate about this. We're going to organize. We're going to mobilize. But we are just getting started with our fight.

BROWN: And the CBO does project that nearly 12 million will lose Medicaid coverage over the next 10 years. I'm wondering, what is the Democrats' plan for the midterms? I mean,

from what you lay out, it sounds like this could hurt a lot of Americans and could cause some blowback for Republicans. So how are Democrats going to seize that?

CROW: Well, first of all, I don't want to be seizing any opportunity like this.

I just desperately was hoping that this would not be happening, because I have been talking to my constituents. I have been reading their letters, the fear, the anxiety. I mean, there are literally people that I'm talking to that I represent, Pam, who don't know if they're going to survive, literally survive this, that can't pay for their health care bills, that have disabled children, and the coverage for these disabled children, the care that they need to be able to work, to be able to survive, to be able to get basic care is going to go away.

This is the most brutal thing I have ever seen in my time in public office. And that's my focus. And we're going to talk about it. We're going to fight it. I'm never going to stop so long as I'm breathing and here doing this work. And, of course, the people will have a chance to weigh in, in less than 18 months on this devastation as well.

BROWN: We just interviewed Congresswoman McClain, a Republican, in the last hour. And she said that the most vulnerable, like disabled children, they will be protected. And she said that Democrats are selling fear over facts.

What do you say to that?

CROW: Well, she's lying. That's just the simple fact of the matter. I don't say that in jest. I don't like saying that about my colleagues, but it's true.

I mean, this is the fact of the bill. You're removing upwards of $1 trillion from the system. You're cutting off or reducing health care for 17 million. I have 175,000 constituents that rely on Medicaid. But over 100,000 of those are at risk of losing all that coverage.

This is really devastating stuff. And it is just true that it's going to add $3 trillion to the debt. So it's not deficit reduction. It's not a pro-health care bill. It's not a pro-worker bill. It's not a pro-energy bill. It's going to roll back energy independence.

And for what? The for what is to give massive tax breaks to billionaires and the large corporations, which is really what Donald Trump and this administration are all about.

BROWN: Well, in addition to the tax cuts and the Medicaid cuts, it's important to note that this bill would also permanently boost the child tax credit to $2,200, depending on income, create government- funded investment accounts for every new baby, and then, of course, the no taxes on tips and overtime depending on income.

Is there anything that you like in it like those measures?

CROW: Sure, those things -- listen, if they were to put up a bill, actually, with those things, I would have supported a bill with those things.

But if you're not getting taxed on your tips, but you actually lose your health care, you're really in the hole, right? And all of the other cuts to services, the food nutrition programs, and the shifts, the massive shifts of wealth to the top 1 percent wipe out all of those savings for the vast majority of working folks.

I grew up in a working-class family. I worked minimum wage jobs growing up. I worked fast-food. I worked in construction to put my way through college. And it's the folks that I grew up with are the ones that are going to have to hold the bag here.

[11:35:06]

BROWN: Congressman Jason Crow, thank you so much, and happy Fourth.

More news when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: All right, get ready to be in a lot of traffic and long lines.

This Fourth of July is expected to see record-breaking travel, with AAA predicting more than 72 million Americans will drive or fly.

[11:40:01]

CNN's Pete Muntean is tracking all of this for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: You might think of this as only a driving holiday, but it's also huge for air travel. The FAA says Thursday will be the biggest of the rush in terms of the number of flights in the air.

The TSA says, when this rush is over, it'll screen a total of 18.5 million people at airport checkpoints nationwide. Sunday will be the biggest at airports. That's when TSA anticipates screening 2.9 million people at airports nationwide, pretty close to the all-time high, when TSA screened 3.1 million people on June 22 right after the Juneteenth holiday.

Here are the busiest airports of this weekend, according to travel site Hopper, Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver, Chicago O'Hare, and LAX, but pretty hard to avoid those because some of those are huge hubs for airlines. It'll also be hard to avoid the traffic on the roads.

Leave early in the morning or late at night because AAA says, nationwide, another 1.3 million people will drive 50 miles or more compared to the last July 4 rush, maybe because summer gas prices are the lowest they have been since 2021, the nationwide averaged down about 35 cents compared to a year ago.

Independence Day falling on a Friday this year, also making things interesting. Technically, that's when the federal holiday is observed, but a lot of people are getting a jump on things early. Wednesday was forecast to be the busiest day on the roads before the holiday, but we are not out of the woods yet. AAA says Sunday will be the busiest on the roads after the holiday.

The advice from AAA, avoid the afternoon rush. In general, the worst times are between 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. So try to hit it before noon. Much after that, best to wait until 8:00 or 9:00 at night.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: All right, Pete Muntean, thanks so much.

And new this morning, a CNN exclusive, one-on-one with an alternate juror from the Sean "Diddy" Combs federal trial.

BLITZER: CNN anchor and CNN chief legal analyst Laura Coates is joining us right now.

I understand, Laura, you just wrapped up that interview. What did he tell you?

LAURA COATES, CNN CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: Just now I did with an alternate juror who spoke about what his experience was in receiving all of this seven-week trial's worth of evidence.

He said that, although he did not actually deliberate because he was an alternate juror, he, of course, sat through everything up to and including jury instructions and, of course, closing arguments. And he said that he actually agreed with the verdict to acquit on RICO and also sex trafficking.

And he said that the government did not prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. Listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: You were an alternate. You did not deliberate, but did you agree with the final verdict?

GEORGE, ALTERNATE JUROR: I understood the final verdict. And I think if I -- because I took a copious amount of notes overall. I took 350 pages worth of notes, because at the end we weren't told who was an alternate, who was the major until literally the last second, when they were reading the entire -- when the judge was reading his entire statement at the end.

He was like, the first 12 of you are the jurors. The last five are the alternates. So we didn't know. We -- even in the jury room, no one treated everyone -- we all were really equal, because we didn't know who was who. COATES: Would you have acquitted him on RICO?

GEORGE: I think -- I think, reading all my notes and looking back at the evidence, I probably would have reached the same conclusion as the other jurors.

COATES: You saw some very graphic images, videos. You heard very sexual and graphic details.

GEORGE: Yes.

COATES: What was that like hearing that and how did it impact how you viewed the case?

GEORGE: No, they were -- they were very graphic. And -- but I think, overall, it was just -- it was -- we were looking at it from one side. And it was definitely riveting and eye-opening.

COATES: What did you see on the videos? The press wasn't able to see it in real time.

GEORGE: Yes.

No, I mean, they were showing some of the -- well, I mean, it was both the freak-offs and hotel nights, as they were called, from both of them. But it was...

COATES: What did they show in those videos?

GEORGE: They showed -- well, again, defense and the prosecution showed different clips, so they were very selective. Like, the prosecution was showing more just Cassie just sitting around.

COATES: The defense showed that.

GEORGE: Defense showed that, yes.

COATES: Just her sitting around not engaging in sexual activity.

GEORGE: Yes.

COATES: The prosecution, when you had to have your headphones on and otherwise, what were you seeing then?

GEORGE: Yes.

There was -- there was sexual activity. But, I mean, it wasn't -- it wasn't really...

COATES: Was it forced? Did it appear...

GEORGE: No, it didn't -- it didn't seem -- it didn't seem -- it didn't seem forced. It was -- it was -- it was actually -- it was actually like pretty tame.

[11:45:05] COATES: Really?

GEORGE: Yes.

COATES: Did she...

GEORGE: It was just a lot of rubbing oil and stuff on there. It wasn't anything too graphic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: He also went on to talk about how not only did the consensual aspects of it or what he thought play into the videos, but also the text messages that he saw from both Cassie Ventura and Jane as well to suggest that there was some level of consent in his evaluation of the material.

BROWN: And you also talked to him about that graphic video that they saw of the assault in the hotel hallway. What did he tell you about that?

COATES: Pam, when everyone thinks about this trial, one of the first things that comes to mind is that Intercontinental Hotel video that we saw obtained exclusively by CNN.

You see this savage assault of Cassie Ventura. There were questions throughout the trial whether the prosecution was showing it too much or too little, how the jurors were viewing it. Did they become desensitized over time? And what impact did it have overall in how they viewed the other charges in this case? Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Can I ask you one more question?

GEORGE: Sure.

COATES: And it's about the video from the Intercontinental Hotel that you saw a lot.

GEORGE: Yes. Yes. It was...

COATES: Was it a -- did you see it...

GEORGE: Because they did it -- sometimes, they did it like frame by frame by frame.

COATES: What do you think of that? Did you see it enough, too much, too little, what?

GEORGE: We -- it was -- I mean, it was a very bad video. And I think they showed it -- I think they showed it enough. I mean, they tried to show it both sides. And...

COATES: Did it make a difference to you and the actual charges that you would have had to deliberate over? Because he wasn't charged with violence alone.

GEORGE: He wasn't charged with domestic violence, no.

COATES: Did that surprise you?

GEORGE: No, because I don't think domestic violence is a federal crime. So...

COATES: Did it cloud the way you saw the rest of the charges by seeing that video?

GEORGE: No, I think we -- again, we looked at just what we were supposed to be -- what the judge had said we were supposed to look at, and then based off of the evidence that was presented to us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: It was fascinating to me, because, of course, we all knew about this video and how horrible it was to watch that assault and the frequency in which this jury saw it, but they appeared to be through him talking about it.

They were focused almost singularly on only the charges that were presented to them. He said he was overwhelmingly looking to the jury instructions from the judge. He respected a great deal and all of them did. He was stern, but had command over the entire trial.

And he also talked about how those jury instructions were going to give a bit of a marching order to figure out the case. And also I found it fascinating. I asked him a little bit about that RICO charge and what could have helped him to feel that they had met their burden of proof, specifically about whether he wanted to hear testimony of the other alleged co-conspirators and people who worked for Diddy.

And he said that it wouldn't have made a difference and it also wouldn't have made a difference to him to hear from Sean "Diddy" Combs himself, because he'd heard enough through the actual case.

It was fascinating to get some insight into how they were viewing and seeing all of this over the past nearly two months.

BROWN: Yes, really interesting.

Laura Coates with this exclusive interview with the alternate juror in the Sean "Diddy" Combs case, illuminating, for sure.

Thank you so much, Laura.

And you can catch "LAURA COATES LIVE" weeknights at 11:00 right here on CNN.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:53:06] BLITZER: We're getting new details in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man who used to live in Maryland that the Trump administration says was mistakenly deported in March to El Salvador and later returned.

His lawyers are providing shocking new details, truly shocking new details, about the -- quote -- "torture and mistreatment" they say he suffered at the notorious Salvadoran mega-prison.

CNN correspondent Priscilla Alvarez is here with us in THE SITUATION ROOM.

And what are some of the things Abrego Garcia's lawyers are now saying that he had to endure?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, these court filings give us a glimpse into the conditions at CECOT. That is a notorious mega- prison in El Salvador, and it's coming in the form of an amended complaint.

Now, the allegations by the attorneys are that -- and I'm going to quote here -- "He was subjected to severe mistreatment upon arrival to CECOT, including, but not limited to severe beatings, severe sleep deprivation, inadequate nutrition and psychological torture."

They also detailed some of that, for example, detainees in one of the cells having to kneel overnight, and if they bent over that somebody would beat them. They also talk about Kilmar Abrego Garcia soiling himself because of limited bathroom access.

So they detailed some instances where they drew these allegations. It's notable, Wolf, because this wasn't just Abrego Garcia. He was mistakenly deported, according to the administration. But dozens of other migrants were also sent there from the United States. And, generally, CECOT is shrouded in secrecy. CNN cameras have gone in a couple times.

But the president has said, the Salvadoran president has said that people don't leave the prison. So we don't know really what the experience of inmates are there. So this is Abrego Garcia through his attorneys describing some of what happened there, and the attorneys saying that they are trying -- that this filing really is to provide a complete picture of what occurred while he was on El Salvador and while they were fighting the case for him to be returned back to the United States.

[11:55:00]

Now, the Department of Homeland Security said the following in a statement -- quote -- "Once again, the media is falling all over themselves to defend Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The media's sympathetic narrative about this criminal illegal gang member has completely fallen apart, yet they continue to peddle his sob story."

Now, this has been the position of the Trump administration, which is that he is -- has a criminal record. We're still waiting to hear more about that and where the "there" there is. But this is certainly disturbing in its allegations of what is happening in that notorious mega-prison.

As far as Abrego Garcia, he remains in Tennessee. He's facing human smuggling charges. So that case is still ongoing.

BLITZER: It's pretty shocking, the way his lawyers describe what he had to endure when he was taken down to that prison there.

All right, Priscilla, thank you very, very much.

Priscilla Alvarez reporting for us.

And, to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us this morning. You can always keep up with us on social media @WolfBlitzer, @PamelaBrownCNN. We will see you back here tomorrow morning, every weekday morning 10:00 a.m. Eastern.

BROWN: "INSIDE POLITICS" with our friend and colleague Dana Bash is next after a short break.