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Musk Blasts Trump's Agenda Bill As A "Disgusting Abomination"; WH: Trump Knows Musk's Position On Bill, But Trump Is "Sticking To It"; Colorado Attack Suspect's Family Taken Into ICE Custody; Combs' Ex-Finance Chief Testifies In Racketeering Trial; Court Doc: Defense Official Warned That Ending $12M Harvard Grant On Biological Threats Could Harm National Security. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired June 03, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

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[15:01:36]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: We begin this hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL with public backlash to President Trump's so-called "Big, Beautiful Bill," not only is it facing opposition from key Republican senators, but former DOGE leader Elon Musk blasting the bill calling it today, quote, "a disgusting abomination." CNN's Kristen Holmes is at the White House tracking this for us and CNN's Lauren Fox is on Capitol Hill getting reaction from lawmakers.

Kristen, let's start with what the administration is saying about all of this.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, Boris, this actually crossed while Karoline Leavitt the press secretary was delivering her press briefing to reporters. I do want to pull up the tweet one more time just to show really how explosive it is, because Elon Musk has said he was disappointed in the bill. But this is him taking it a whole step further.

He said, "I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination."

Then he goes on to tell people, "Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it."

I mean, this isn't just saying I'm disappointed with the bill - this is a full-out attack on this bill. And so, because this came out during the briefing, Karoline Leavitt was asked about it, and here's what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Look, the President already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill. It doesn't change the President's opinion. This is "One, Big, Beautiful Bill," and he's sticking to it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: So, he's sticking to it. But one thing that might anger the administration more than just the tweet itself has been the response to the tweet itself, particularly by Republican holdouts who have said that they also believe this bill is too big. Moments after Musk sent this out, Sen. Rand Paul, who has vocally opposed this bill - who Donald Trump spent the morning attacking - also piled on to Musk's tweet, saying that he agreed with the bill - that itself, adding to that kind of pushback from Republicans is likely to anger the administration more than Musk's tweet alone.

SANCHEZ: Kristen Holmes at the White House, thank you so much.

Let's go to Capitol Hill now with Lauren. Musk is obviously not the only one raising concerns as this bill moves to the Senate, because Sen. Paul is not alone here. What are you hearing?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And Democrats actually started their weekly press conference in the United States Senate with Chuck Schumer coming forward, holding the tweet from Elon Musk blown up for reporters to see as he read it aloud - arguing this is one of those rare moments where he actually agrees with Elon Musk.

But Republican leaders are really pushing back rapidly. We heard from the House Speaker a couple of minutes ago, who said he has a disagreement with Elon Musk about this - that he actually had a phone conversation with him yesterday and believes that Elon Musk isn't necessarily as opposed as he was tweeting.

Meanwhile, John Thune said this just moments ago at his weekly press conference --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): Well, look, we obviously respect everything that Elon did with DOGE. On this particular issue, we have a difference of opinion, and I think it's rooted in the fact that he's accepting the CBO assumptions. So, we have a difference of opinion. He's entitled to that opinion. We're going to proceed full speed ahead.

My hope is that as he has an opportunity to further assess what this bill actually does, it - he'll come to a different conclusion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:05:02]

FOX: And this comes at a really precarious time for Senate Republicans, in part because John Thune has a herculean task ahead of him. He has to unite some of those hardliners who are opposed to this bill because they don't believe it goes far enough in cutting federal spending with some of those Republicans in his conference who have concerns that some of those spending cuts in the House bill have already been too drastic and too dramatic. So, this is really a difficult moment, and the next couple of weeks

are going to be one in which Thune is going to be really herding cats within his conference. He can only afford to lose three Republican votes on this bill, and certainly Elon Musk's tweet does not make this any easier for him.

SANCHEZ: Lauren Fox live for us on Capitol Hill, thanks so much. Erica?

HILL: Also, joining us this hour, CNN Media Correspondent Hadas Gold. So, Hadas, Musk has only been out of government, of course, a few days. He dodged questions in an interview over the weekend. Now this. Is there a sense at all that Elon Musk could become a problem for the President - someone who, of course, was at one point seen as a member of the inner circle, almost a whisperer to Donald Trump in some ways?

HADAS GOLD, CNN MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's definitely a stunning rebuke, and it's the harshest he's been on this, because just in the interview with CBS last week, he was saying that he didn't want to speak up against the administration, but he also didn't want to take responsibility for what the administration did. And we've just seen his rhetoric on this really ratchet up and up.

Just a few days ago, he was railing against that - the fact that this bill would, he said, increase the deficit. Also railing against the fact, something that's near and dear to his heart, is the fact that it removes some of the subsidies and tax credits for electric vehicles. This removed the $7,500 credit people would get for getting an electric vehicle like a Tesla. It also removes some of the subsidies and credits for solar energy. And he specifically pointed out that it doesn't remove the subsidies for things like oil and gas. He obviously have some personal connections - personal feelings about this.

People who know Elon Musk will say, though, that they are not the least bit surprised that he is speaking this way, and that they would be even more surprised if he actually just held his tongue. He is not one to mince his words, and he's not one who's afraid to speak up. But what I'm going to be looking out for is not so much about him speaking up about the bill or even about Congress. It's whether he actually starts aiming some of this attention towards the President himself. Because, of course, the President is backing this. We heard from the White House Press Secretary - they have a difference of opinion - but the President is backing this bill. Will Elon Musk now - or at some point - just turn to President Trump and turn his attention there? So far, that seems to be the red line he does not want to cross.

Another thing I'm interested to see is he seemed to be issuing sort of a veiled threat in that post, saying, you know who you are. Will he be then turning his attention and maybe some of his money towards some of these members of Congress who have voted for this bill saying, you know who you are? He's got a lot of money, of course, in the bank. He said he doesn't see himself spending money on politics in the near future unless he sees a reason to do so. It seems like he's pretty passionate about this, maybe this will be his reason to get back into political spending.

HILL: Yes. I was sort of wondering the same. Hadass, good to see you. Thank you.

SANCHEZ: We pivot our focus now to breaking news in that fiery anti- Semitic attack in Boulder, Colorado. CNN is learning that members of the suspect's family are now in ICE custody. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is back with us.

Priscilla, this suspect had overstayed a work visa. What are we learning about why his family is now being detained?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are still trying to gather details as far as the status of the family - that is, what is their immigration status? What we do know as of this hour is that his wife and his five children are now detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, so that is a development of today.

Now, to your point about his immigration history, which may eventually shed some light as to what his family's immigration history is, he arrived in 2022 on what's known as a B2 visa. That visa can be used, for example, for tourism. He later applied for asylum.

Now, when he applied for asylum, he later got a work permit - that's pretty standard - and that work permit expired in March of this year. And so as of then, he did not have a status. Well, similarly, he had already run out the visa because that visa is only generally for about six months.

So, this is what the authorities, as well as we, are trying to piece together as to what this means for his family. Now, the Homeland Security Secretary did post on X a little bit ago about the status of the family being detained and a little bit more. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTI NOEM, DHS SECRETARY: Now, Mohamed's despicable actions will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, but we're also investigating to what extent his family knew about this horrific attack - if they had any knowledge of it or if they provided support to it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: So, the Secretary, implying there that they will be asking questions of the family. One of the other details that we're still trying to get more on is the ages of the children. We know, for example, one of them had graduated high school. We're still trying to learn more about the others. So, this is all still very much in play, but certainly now we have confirmation that his family is in ICE custody.

[15:10:03]

SANCHEZ: Priscilla Alvarez, thank you so much for the reporting. Erica.

HILL: Joining us now is Rabbi Marc Soloway, six members of his congregation, Bonai Shalom, were injured in the attack on Sunday. Rabbi, we appreciate you taking the time to join us this afternoon. First of all, those members of your congregation - have you been able to speak with any of them? Can you update us on how they're doing today?

MARC SOLOWAY, RABBI, CONGREGATION BONAI SHALOM: I speak - I've spoken to some of them, but one is in a very, very serious condition and is not able to take visits or calls really right now. But I've been in touch with her husband, who's also in serious condition in the same hospital. And the other four were discharged on Sunday after their wounds were treated, but some of them have fairly serious burns and will need skin grafts. All very shaken up.

HILL: Those are the physical wounds, as you mentioned they're shaken up. How do you think overall they're doing? I mean, it's only been a couple of days now, but emotionally this is obviously a very large wound for so many.

SOLOWAY: The emotional - yes, the emotional trauma is immense. And there's circles of trauma. Of course, the inner circle is the people who were actually injured, some of them incredibly badly. And then there's the circle of people who were there and witnessed it. And then there's a wider circle of all of us who sometimes go on that peaceful walk that's only there to raise awareness of the fact that there's still 58 hostages in tunnels in Gaza. It's a peaceful walk. I could have easily been there but wasn't on Sunday. And so - but I still feel ripples from the trauma now.

The whole Jewish community is traumatized. I mean, just the fact that in 2025, someone can just literally try to burn Jews to death on the streets of Boulder, Colorado is shocking. It's enraging. We're incredibly angry. We're sad. We're grieving. It's awful.

HILL: Yes. You mentioned how peaceful this event was - which, you know, we had heard from a number of folks that we've spoken with over the last couple of days who also attend on a fairly regular basis. What was your reaction when you learned that the suspect had actually been planning this attack on that event for a year?

SOLOWAY: I mean, horrified obviously, just horrified, disgusted, enraged. It's sick. It's sick that this individual can think that this heinous act - with intent - I mean, I think he's being charged on some, like, 16 counts of attempted murder, that it's going to somehow help the people of Palestine.

I mean, many of us who do that walk are very sympathetic to the plight of the innocents who are dying and hungry in Gaza. I mean, the, you know, the thought, in his corrupted, evil mind, that somehow trying to kill people is going to make the conditions in Gaza better, it's just - it's so outrageous. And we're also outraged because, in a way, there's been so much violent rhetoric - so much violent rhetoric. We've seen what's going on, on campuses. We've seen what's going on in our own City Council here in Boulder, Colorado, where there are people who are using incredibly violent language that incites violence. I can't say with certainty that he was influenced by that, but there is just this sense that anyone who is Jewish, anyone who is a Zionist, anyone who has any relationship to Israel is somehow evil and needs to be killed. And it's got to stop. We're just - we're outraged to what's been happening here and in other places.

HILL: You mentioned the City Council. I spoke with City Council Member Tara Winer yesterday. She told me specifically how she had seen this level of vitriol rise since October 7th. She mentioned being on the receiving end of some of that. She feared what would happen one day. You've talked about the reaction in the last couple of days - moving forward, do you believe that these walks should continue?

SOLOWAY: Yes, I do. And I've been - I mean, the last time I was in the City Council meeting, I got verbally and physically attacked myself just for being there. I wasn't even talking. I was just there to be present. So, there really is a lot of vitriol and hatred coming in our direction. I don't think it should stop the walks. This is part of a global movement, "Run for Their Lives." It's really a peaceful global movement. Cities throughout the world - just a half-hour, 45-minute walk or run - just to raise awareness of the fact that there are 58 hostages. It's not political. It's not like a one-sided narrative about Israel-Palestine. It's just like - there are people for 604 days who've been in tunnels in Gaza, and only, like, 20-something of them are still alive.

And so, the fact that that peaceful walk can give rise to such hatred and now this attempted murder is just horrific.

[15:14:59]

And the fact that I have a congregant in her 80s who is touch and go with horrific burns all over her body and was lying on the ground in flames - bringing back horrendous memories of our own Jewish history. We just know it's - we just had a memorial service today in which we honor, among other things, victims of the Holocaust. And the language is, you know, we think of all the people who've been killed and burned in the Shoah, in the Holocaust and just the image of a Jewish person literally burning on the streets of Boulder, Colorado, in 2025 is something that many of us will just never ever recover from.

We hope that we'll move forward. We'll continue. We're resilient. We've got incredible outpourings of love from other faith partners. I've been here 20 years, I've got very, very close relationships with other faith communities, and they're here for us. We're here for each other, and we'll get through it. But it's horrific. It's horrific what we've witnessed.

HILL: Yes, it absolutely is. Rabbi Marc Soloway, we appreciate you taking the time to join us this afternoon. Thank you.

SOLOWAY: Thanks very much for inviting me in.

HILL: Still to come here, Trump versus Harvard. How the university is using a defense official's own words now against the government.

Plus, the latest in the Sean "Diddy" Combs' trial, what a former security guard revealed about that infamous hotel assault video, including the payment he says he received. That and much more ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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[15:20:39]

SANCHEZ: Right now, Sean "Diddy" Combs' former CFO is still under cross-examination, describing his relationship to the music mogul. Derek Ferguson, who says he worked for Combs for 19 years, has been testifying about Combs' businesses, including his ventures into the spirits industry and launching the media company Revolt. Ferguson took the stand after the jury heard from today's first witness, Eddy Garcia.

Garcia was a security guard at the Los Angeles hotel where surveillance video showed Combs brutally beating his then-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura. Garcia said he and Combs spoke directly and that he was paid a hundred thousand dollars to hand over the footage. Garcia also says he was asked to sign a $1 million non-disclosure agreement, which he did. CNN Entertainment Correspondent Elizabeth Wagmeister is outside the federal courthouse and joins us now with more.

Elizabeth, what stood out most to you today?

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: This was really stunning testimony, Boris, because for the first time we are getting a more clear picture into the great lengths and efforts that Sean Combs himself took to make sure that that hotel surveillance footage would disappear and would never be seen by the public. So, Eddy Garcia - as you said - he worked security at the InterContinental Hotel.

He said that after this incident occurred with Sean Combs and Cassie - which he saw through footage at the hotel - he said that he started to receive calls to the security desk at the hotel. He received a call from Kristina Khorram. Now, if that name sounds familiar to you, it's because she was essentially the right-hand woman to Sean Combs. She introduced herself to the security guard as his personal assistant and she repeatedly asked him for the video. He said no. He said that was against policy.

Well, then she even showed up at the hotel. Again, he said no. Long story short, she ends up calling him with Sean Combs on the phone. Sean Combs calls him, "Eddy, my angel." He says that he could really help him, and he begs for the video. Well, Eddy Garcia then goes to his manager in the security department at the hotel, and the manager says, okay, I'll sell it to him for $50,000. Sean Combs is elated, and he has Eddy Garcia come to meet him at the hotel where Sean Combs is present along with one of his bodyguards and Kristina Khorram.

Now, why that is important is because prosecutors here are trying to prove racketeering. They have to prove that there were people who worked for Combs' enterprise who were assisting in this criminal behavior. Well, Eddy Garcia told the jury that Sean Combs forced him to sign a non-disclosure agreement, which by the way was on company letterhead for Combs Enterprises, and then he gave him a brown paper bag full of $100,000, and he brought out a money-counting machine. Eddy Garcia told the jury that it seemed like this was something that Sean Combs had done before. And I want to read you a direct quote from him. I mentioned those

calls that Sean Combs directly himself was on with this security guard. This is what he said to him on one of those calls.

Eddy Garcia said, quote, "He stated that I sounded like a good guy, that I sounded like I wanted to help, that something like this could ruin him. He was concerned that this video would get out, it would ruin his career."

And why that's important is because this shows Sean Combs's frame of mind. He knew how bad this was. He knew that it was egregious behavior, Boris, that was caught on video.

SANCHEZ: Elizabeth Wagmeister, thank you so much for the update. Erica.

HILL: Well, the latest court filing from Harvard University alleges a Defense Department official warned the Trump administration that its plan to cancel a $12 million biological threat research grant at Harvard - that plan could put national security at risk. That disclosure, all part of a trove of internal Trump administration documents reviewed by Harvard lawyers in this escalating battle with President Trump. CNN's Katelyn Polantz joining us now with more.

So, there are a lot of details in this filing - not just that one research grant, but that's a significant one.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: It is examples, examples, examples, that's what's all over this very lengthy filing. It's the full argument of the case from Harvard as they try to fight to hold on to $2.4 billion in federal funding that the Trump administration has frozen ended the 950 research projects that Harvard was doing.

[15:25:07]

One of these is that grant - it was $12 million, and it was going to biological threats. That was the research being done. It was something that the Defense Department wanted, and this Defense Department official - a contracting official - told a superior in an email that the Harvard lawyers now have an - this - an executive branch document. That person said, "Inadequate knowledge of the biological threat landscape poses grave and immediate harm to national security," making the case to her superiors that Harvard should not have this research stopped, because it helps the DOD, it helps the Pentagon, it helps American troops.

National security - that case did not fly with the Pentagon. They did cut this grant. Other grants that were cut are things into medicine - that is the type of research that affects lots and lots of people, $88 million research grant into pediatric HIV and AIDS - a study that Harvard was conducting - stopped cold.

Another $7 million grant into prevention of breast cancer in high-risk women, and then an additional $10 million grant into antibiotic- resistant infections - these are just a couple of the examples ... HILL: Yes.

POLANTZ: ... that Harvard's pulling out. They say this fight is much bigger. This hurts everybody, not just Harvard - what the Trump administration is doing. And they are asking the court to rule in their favor and say this is all against the law.

HILL: And they're also saying, correct me if I'm wrong, in that filing, that the Trump administration does not make the case, right, for the reason that it said it was canceling these - which they said was because of anti-Semitism.

POLANTZ: They say they moved too fast.

HILL: Yes.

POLANTZ: And it was the White House themselves that told all the agencies, cut it off, end it now.

HILL: Yes, it is something. Katelyn Polantz, appreciate it. Thank you.

Still ahead here this hour, President Trump taking a strong stance on his requirements when it comes to reaching a nuclear deal with Iran. Now Iran is reacting.

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