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The Situation Room

The Extent of Mafia-Linked Gambling Scandal; FBI Links Chauncey Billups to Gambling Scheme Involving Mafia; Father Detained by ICE as Daughter Fights Cancer; WH East Wing Completely Demolished; NY Attorney General Letitia James' First Court Appearance. Aired 10:30- 11a ET

Aired October 24, 2025 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, new questions emerging about just how widespread a massive mafia gambling scandal could be. The Portland Trailblazers coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier are among nearly three dozen people who've been arrested. Prosecutors allege Rozier leaked non-public information about his health, allowing associates to place insider bets. Rozier's attorney says the FBI revived what he calls a non-case after the NBA conducted its own investigation last year. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM TRUSTY, ATTORNEY FOR TERRY ROZIER: There was an investigation. They interviewed him twice. They took his phone, downloaded everything. And at the end of the day, they said there's nothing to see here and cleared him. And that was a very professional investigation. It wasn't something that was perfunctory. You had FBI agents. You had a vice president within the NBA. There was a former prosecutor in SDNY. So, it was the real deal. They looked at the same stuff and they said there's nothing here. But, you know, we got a trophy hunt. So, we're going to fight it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The scandal is drawing loads and loads of reaction. Last night, the "Inside the NBA" crew weighed in on the allegations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHAQUILLE O'NEAL, CO-HOST, "INSIDE THE NBA": All these guys knew what were -- what was at stake. And I'm just ashamed that they put themselves and put their family and put the NBA in this position.

KENNY SMITH, CO-HOST, "INSIDE THE NBA": Gambling is an addiction. So, the addiction of it is what makes you make illogical decisions.

CHARLES BARKLEY, CO-HOST, "INSIDE THE NBA": Man, this ain't got nothing to do with damn gambling addiction. This ain't got nothing to do with addiction. These dudes are stupid. Why are they stupid? You under no circumstance can you fix basketball games. Under no circumstances. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: I want to discuss this and more with the NYPD's chief of detectives, Joseph Kenny. Chief Kenny, thanks so much for being here. You heard Rozier's attorney say this is a, quote, "non-case." First of all, how do you respond to that?

JOSEPH KENNY, CHIEF OF DETECTIVES, NYPD: Well, that investigation was conducted by the NBA, which obviously is not a law enforcement entity. This case was investigated by the best of the best, the FBI, the NYPD and the Eastern District of New York.

BLITZER: The director of the FBI says the fraud here is, in his words, mind-boggling. What's most striking to you about this investigation, Chief? And should we expect to see more people indicted in this case?

KENNY: Well, right now, as we know, everybody that's involved in this case is presumed innocent. They will go through the due process and they will have their day in court. But as of right now, you know, we're looking at, there were two cases that were taken down yesterday involving over 34 defendants, involving four out of the five organized crime families in New York City.

So, we're going to go where the evidence takes us and we'll see what happens at trial. But it covers nine states and it was a very expansive investigation involving multiple law enforcement agencies.

[10:35:00]

BLITZER: There are some truly stunning allegations in this indictment, including X-ray poker tables, rigged card shufflers, even glasses and contacts that can see through playing cards. How widespread, Chief, is this?

KENNY: Well, the card shuffler itself was very high-tech to the point where they actually robbed one at gunpoint because they're very difficult to get. But as far as the X-ray machines, you know, these guys are not your father's mafiosa. These guys are young, they're smart, they're intelligent, they're very tech savvy. But unfortunately for them, we got some smart people that work for us too.

BLITZER: And there's a second indictment here, as you know, Chief, that accuses Hall of Fame player and current NBA head coach Chauncey Billups of luring players into poker games rigged by the mafia. We're going to be talking more about this part of the case in just a few moments. But should people be surprised to see the mafia linked directly to this investigation?

KENNY: Well, historically, the mafia has always been involved in gambling. This is a type of gambling that we haven't seen before. But they were basically using celebrities and pro athletes, as you can see here from Mr. Billups, lure them to get people to come and attend their game.

BLITZER: Betting is now legal in over three quarters of the United States. And the NBA has even embraced sports betting. Do you think cases like this one will become more common down the road?

KENNY: Like I said, it's -- this is the first case that we've seen. This case started back in 2023 with some other allegations involving other players and it branched off. So, that's still yet to be seen. Like I said, everybody involved in this case is innocent until proven guilty. But we will follow out every lead that comes from this case.

BLITZER: All right. NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny, thanks so much for joining us.

KENNY: Thank you. Have a good day.

BLITZER: Pamela.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Coming up here in the Situation Room, holding out hope for his release. We'll speak to the attorney for a man detained by ICE while his teenage daughter fights cancer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:40:00]

BLITZER: A Chicago teenager fighting cancer is now also fighting for her father's release. Immigration authorities detained 16-year-old Ofelia Torres' dad at a Home Depot. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OFELIA TORRES, FATHER DETAINED BY IMMIGRATION AUTHORITIES: You guys are targeting the wrong people. You guys are targeting hardworking fathers, mothers, kids.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: She also shared this video. She says it shows the state of Ruben Torres' car after it was left in the parking lot. Look at that. Her attorney is telling CNN affiliates that he has been in the United States since 2003 and previously tried to go through the documentation process. A spokeswoman for Homeland Security said in a statement he has, quote, "a criminal history of habitual driving offenses and has been charged multiple times with driving without insurance, driving without a valid license, and speeding," adding, and I'm quoting now, "During his arrest he did not comply with instructions from the officers and attempted to flee in his vehicle and backed into a government vehicle. He will remain in ICE custody pending removal," close quote. A judge heard his case yesterday but has not made a ruling yet.

Joining us now is Kalman Resnick, Ruben Torres Maldonado's attorney. I want to get to the legal matters in just a second, Kalman. But first, what can you tell us about Ofelia, his daughter, who is doing -- how is she doing right now?

KALMAN RESNICK, ATTORNEY FOR RUBEN TORRES MALDONADO: She's struggling. She has stage 4 cancer. She was due in the hospital on Monday. She was let home last weekend to go home to spend time with family and friends, and then her father got detained while she was home for this brief period. And when she went back to the hospital on Monday, she was not in good enough shape to continue with the chemotherapy. So, we're hoping her dad comes home this weekend and that the judge will rule that he can be released from detention and he'll get back here from Indiana where he's being held.

She needs him home, and the family needs him home. I'm hopeful that the judge will release him from detention today, and we're waiting for the ruling. Any moment, we're expecting it.

BLITZER: The Homeland Security Department accuses your client of being undocumented. Do you dispute that? And what's your argument for why he should be allowed to stay?

RESNICK: Well, first of all, he's been in the United States since 2003. He's been with his wife for 20 years. He's had the same job as a painter for 20 years. He works side jobs on weekends to pay his daughter's medical bills. His daughter is a U.S. citizen. His son is a U.S. citizen.

And because the law provides an avenue for him to get permanent residence based on how long he's been in the United States and the hardships his children will suffer, we're going to go and apply for the benefits of that law, which is called cancellation of removal. And we're hopeful that an immigration judge, hearing the facts of this case, will grant him the right to remain permanently in the United States with his family.

BLITZER: And how strong is the argument that his kids are U.S. citizens born here in the United States and that his young daughter has stage 4 cancer?

[10:45:00]

RESNICK: I think it's a very strong argument. The law says that a man in his position whose children -- U.S. citizen children would suffer exceptional and extremely unusual hardship is entitled to be granted permanent residence. And we're hopeful that an immigration judge would do that. We just want our client to come home, so he can be with his family during this very challenging period when his daughter is under treatment at Lurie's Children's Hospital in Chicago.

BLITZER: What's your response to what the Department of Homeland Security is saying about Ruben, your client, that he attempted to flee and has been charged multiple times, driving issues?

RESNICK: Well, I've only had a five-minute conversation with my client, but I've talked with people who have talked with him, and what I understand is his car was surrounded by unmarked vehicles. He didn't -- and he, at that time, was in his car. They approached him, and he believed he had the right to remain in his car. And then they broke the window and forced him out of his car and took him into a ICE vehicle. He begged them to let him call his wife because his daughter had cancer and he needed to talk with her to inform him that he wasn't going to be home, and they wouldn't give him the right to talk to his wife until much later that evening. And I think that we've seen ICE, and federal judges have found that ICE has been lying in court in its press releases about what the actual facts are. Look at the car, what they did to his car. They smashed the windows, and then they dragged him out of the car. This is not how we should be treating in our country hard-working people who deserve to be with their families. We're breaking up families like this one with ICE's incredibly challenging arrests of people in the streets of Chicago, and I hope this comes to an end very soon.

BLITZER: Yes. Kalman Resnick, thanks so much for joining us. We'll stay in close touch with you, and let's hope that sweet little girl gets better. Appreciate it very, very much.

RESNICK: Thank you so much.

BLITZER: Pamela.

BROWN: Well, new this morning, a top Border Patrol official is accused of potentially violating a judge's restraining order in Chicago. Right here in this video, you can see Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino appearing to throw a tear gas canister toward anti-ICE protesters on Thursday. So, right here, we're freezing the video so you can see it more clearly.

As the protesters run away, the camera shows a cloud of smoke in that area. The Department of Homeland Security says protesters threw rocks, prompting Bovino to throw that canister of tear gas. And in a statement, they say, quote, "The use of chemical munitions was conducted in full accordance with CBP policy and was necessary to ensure the safety of both law enforcement and the public." Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Look at this. We're looking at live pictures right now at what used to be the East Wing of the White House. Now, new satellite images are providing the scope of the work being done in just a matter of days. Take a look at this photo. It's from October 28th of last year. You can see the East Wing highlighted on the right. And this image is just yesterday. The East Wing and the surrounding area reduced to rubble. Look at that. Awful.

BROWN: Yes.

BLITZER: With the East Wing, Pamela, gone the White House is now on damage control.

BROWN: That's right. And our CNN's Tom Foreman has been taking a look at President Trump's fixation on getting his dream ballroom there in the Situation Room special report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: I'm very good at building ballrooms. I build beautiful ballrooms.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In and out of office, President Donald Trump has long gushed over sprawling, splashy ballrooms. TRUMP: This is a ballroom, brand-new.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Claiming a certain expertise through his years in construction and the ballrooms he's added elsewhere, at the hotel he once owned in D.C., for example, and at his Florida home, Mar-a- Lago, where he completed a $40 million gold encrusted space just in time to marry his third wife there, Melania Trump now first lady.

He told a design magazine. I modeled the interior after Versailles, which is kind of the problem for some critics watching the demolition at this living shrine to democracy on Pennsylvania Avenue.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The White House was always meant to be more modest. It's not a European palace.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Based on models, Trump's ballroom, at 90,000 square feet will be mammoth compared to the White House, four times bigger than the Mar-a-Lago ballroom. It will be directly attached to the White House complex despite previous claims to the contrary. And although Trump insists he and his donors will pay for it all, his cost estimates have been wildly inconsistent.

[10:50:00]

TRUMP: It's about $200 million. It's going to be a couple of hundred million dollars at least. I think it will cost $250 million. It's about $300 million.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Trump's fixation with the White House ballroom goes back to at least President Barack Obama's terms. When Trump called a top Obama adviser to say he was bothered by large formal events spilling into temporary structures.

TRUMP: I called David Axelrod. I said, David, I see you have all the heads of state and all the biggest people from China, and you're in a crummy tent.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Trump offered to build a ballroom, then Axelrod says, Trump was turned down with reason.

DAVID AXELROD, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: He misunderstands why people were so eager to come. It's because of what America represented, not because of the gold that we had around us.

FOREMAN (voice-over): But now, Trump is in charge. The gold rush is coming, and his ballroom blitz is finally on.

TRUMP: This is the excavation of the White House grounds for what will be one of the best, most beautiful ballrooms in the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: All right. Thanks to our Tom Foreman for that report.

BLITZER: And just minutes from now, New York's Democratic Attorney General Letitia James will appear in court, this time as a defendant. Up next, a closer look at the Trump administration's case against her and the key players involved.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:55:00]

BROWN: Breaking news, in just moments New York Attorney General Letitia James will appear in a Virginia courthouse to be arraigned. She's facing two felony charges tied to a 2023 mortgage.

BROWN: We want to go to CNN's Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig, he's over at the magic wall for us. Elie, take us through the key players who will be in the courtroom in the next few minutes.

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST AND FORMER ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK AND FORMER START AND FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Well, Wolf, all the focus will be here on Letitia James, the Democratic New York State Attorney General. Today, she will find herself in an unfamiliar position, sitting at the criminal defendants' table in a federal court in Virginia.

Now, by her side will be her defense lawyer, Abbe Lowell. Abbe Lowell is one of the most renowned defense lawyers in the country. He's been practicing for over 40 years. He has other high-profile clients, including John Bolton, who was indicted recently, including Lisa Cook, who's under investigation. He's been a busy guy.

On the other side of the courtroom, we will have Lindsey Halligan, who is the current U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. She's been in that job for about a month. And the way she got this job is because her predecessor was pushed out and resigned, in part because he refused to charge this very case. And then finally, the judge is Judge Jamar Walker, relatively new to the bench. He was appointed by Joe Biden in 2023. He actually was a prosecutor in this same office for about eight years before he became a judge.

And really important to know, this case is about more than just Letitia James. It's about the independence of the Justice Department. Everyone, I think, will recall this Truth Social post by Donald Trump about a month ago in late September, when he posted to Pam Bondi, what about Comey, Adam Schiff, and Letitia. Letitia there, of course, refers to James. Just days later, Lindsey Halligan came in as prosecutor. And just days after that, Letitia James was indicted. So, the stakes here are even bigger than just this one defendant.

BROWN: So, what exactly is James accused of?

HONIG: So, this is a two-count mortgage fraud case. The first count charges her with bank fraud. The second count charges her with making false statements to a financial institution. Now, this is all about the purchase of a modest home in Norfolk, Virginia, that Letitia James bought back in 2020. The total purchase price here was about $130,000.

But here's the alleged fraud. The claim is that Letitia James certified that this would be a secondary residence, a place where she would sometimes live. But in fact, according to prosecutors, it was actually used as an investment or rental property. Now, why does that matter? The allegation is she got herself a better interest rate, that if it was a secondary residence, the interest rate would have been 3 percent. But in fact, because it was an investment or rental property, the interest rate would have been higher. It would have been about 3.8 percent.

Now, the difference -- I'm having trouble drawing the eight, 3.8 percent. The difference there comes out to $18,000 over the 30 years of this mortgage. Now, that's a good amount of money in the real world, but $18,000 is extraordinarily low for a federal mortgage fraud case. I handled some mortgage fraud cases. I never saw a case involving just an $18,000 loss.

BROWN: And yet -- oh, go ahead.

BLITZER: I was going to just ask, Elie, what will happen in the courtroom in the next few minutes?

HONIG: So, a couple of things to watch for. Letitia James will be arraigned, meaning she'll be advised of the charges against her. She will then enter a plea, certainly of not guilty at this point. They'll make sure she has an attorney, which she does, we saw it before, Abbe Lowell. They will set bail -- the judge will set bail conditions, but it's almost certain that she will just be released on her own signature. There won't be, in all likelihood, bail conditions.

But this is the most important part. We're going to get a schedule for two things. One, for motions. We're going to get a sense of what type of motions Letitia James plans to bring. I expect her lawyer will announce that she will move to dismiss this case based on malicious or vindictive prosecution. The second thing to watch for is, will the judge set a trial date? If so, look for a really quick trial date, because we saw a few weeks ago in the Jim Comey case, that case was set for trial in early January of 2026. That's extraordinarily quick. So, I'm looking to see, do we set a trial date? If so, I expect it to be early in 2026 as well.

BROWN: Really quickly, Ellie, you mentioned how unusual this is, a mortgage fraud case over $18,000. How unusual is it for then the U.S. attorney to go there for an arraignment like this?

HONIG: So, --

[11:00:00]