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Sean 'Diddy' Combs Faces Sentencing; Delta Planes Collide on Tarmac; Deadly Synagogue Attack in U.K.; Trump Set to Cut Government Jobs During Shutdown?. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired October 02, 2025 - 13:00   ET

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

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COREY LEWANDOWSKI, HOMELAND SECURITY CHIEF ADVISER: We're going to do enforcement everywhere because we're going to make Americans safe. That is a directive from the president.

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MANU RAJU, CNN HOST: CNN is seeking clarification on whether this is anything out of the ordinary, since Homeland Security agents are usually a presence at Super Bowls.

Now, Bad Bunny has been a vocal Trump critic and said just this month that he didn't include the mainland United States in his concert tour because of fears that ICE would raid the concert venues.

Thanks for joining INSIDE POLITICS.

"CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Pumping up the pressure. President Trump set to meet with his budget chief to determine potential cuts to the federal work force at what he's calling Democrat agencies, as the White House says the number of layoffs will be in the thousands.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Plus: Investigators say a stabbing attack at a synagogue in the U.K. is now being investigated as terrorism, the attack happening on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, and now police are ramping up security across the country.

And taxiway collision, an investigation under way after the wing of a Delta plane slams into the cockpit of another jet at New York's La Guardia Airport.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SANCHEZ: With no end in sight to the government shutdown, we start this hour with the White House confirming President Donald Trump's threat to fire thousands of federal workers will soon be realized. Watch this.

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KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Look, it's likely going to be in the thousands. It's a very good question and that's something that the Office of Management and Budget and the entire team at the White House here again is unfortunately having to work on today.

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SANCHEZ: The president announced he would be meeting with his budget chief to discuss cuts to what he's calling Democrat agencies, also giving a notable nod to Project 2025 and suggesting that these cuts could be permanent.

Let's get right to the White House and CNN's Alayna Treene.

Alayna, is it clear exactly who the administration is going to be targeting with these cuts?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: When it comes to the specifics and specifically, Boris, which agencies they're really looking at to have these major slashes to, the White House has not been clear on that.

And, to be honest, in my conversations with people here at the White House, they said that that isn't really determined yet. That's going to be determined in some of -- in the course of the conversation that the president has with Russ Vought, the White House's budget chief.

But what is clear is that Vought has been planning for this for some time. He knows exactly which agencies that he wants to see these cuts be brought to. So all of that has to be kind of hammered out in that discussion today. Hopefully, we will learn more once that meeting wraps.

But one thing that I -- we did hear as well from Karoline Leavitt, you played that SOT of her saying that the numbers of layoffs will be in the thousands. She also said that they're going to be targeting agencies that essentially they argue do not align with the president's agenda. Listen to how she put it.

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LEAVITT: We're going to look at agencies that don't align with the administration's values, that we feel are a waste of the taxpayer dollar. And, look, unfortunately, these conversations are happening because we don't have any money coming into the federal government right now.

And so the president wants to be a good steward of the American taxpayer dollar during a time when our balance sheet is looking very grim because the Democrats chose to shut the government down.

(END VIDEO CLIP) TREENE: So not a lot of, again, specifics there.

But I will say that we heard President Donald Trump put it far more bluntly. He said in that post that you referenced, Boris, that they are going to be looking to determine which of the many -- quote -- "Democratic agencies," what he said, most of which are a political scam, that he recommends it to be cut.

So, still staying tuned to see what exactly agencies they might be looking at specifically.

SANCHEZ: It's really interesting, Alayna, the distinction in tone between the press secretary calling all of this unfortunate and the president earlier in a post saying that this is a great opportunity.

TREENE: No, I think that's exactly right.

I mean, look I think there's a little bit of them needing to juggle on one hand -- it's very clear that Americans do not like the fact that the government is shut down right now, and you have heard from a number of officials here trying to argue that this is unfortunate.

But the president himself -- and it was a bit of a -- kind of a gleeful tone that he used when saying he couldn't believe that Democrats are giving him this opportunity to take these major slashes to the federal work force.

Now, I will say it's not entirely clear, this argument that this is something that they could only do in a shutdown. I remind you that we saw a lot of these kind of layoffs earlier this year, particularly under DOGE and under Elon Musk, when he was still working within the administration. So that part's not -- not totally clear why they're framing it like that.

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But I think a lot of this is, of course, politics. They're trying to argue that this is only happening because the government is shut down. But I can say they do view this as an opportunity. They have been talking about this for some time. They also see political benefits to this potentially in the future. We will see if that actually pans out, again, given so many Americans do not like shutdowns, and they tend to say that they are blaming both parties, as recent polls have shown.

SANCHEZ: Alayna Treene live for us at the White House, thank you so much -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Police in the U.K. are now investigating the deadly stabbing attack at a synagogue in Manchester as an act of terrorism. At least two people were killed, and another four are in the hospital as they were gathering to mark the holiest day of the year in Judaism, Yom Kippur.

Police say they shot and killed the suspect, who appeared to be wearing an explosive device.

CNN's Nic Robertson is in Manchester for us.

Nic, give us the latest.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, the police have also said that the toll could have been and the bloodshed could have been much higher, but for the selfless act of the security staff around the synagogue.

They say that they acted quickly to stop the attacker from getting inside the synagogue, which would have been -- which was busy at the time, and the police are saying that really did prevent the situation being much worse than it was.

Talking to people around here, there's a lot of fear, a lot of concern, a lot of anger. For some people, really, there's a sense as well, because of an increase in antisemitic attacks in the U.K., particularly since October 7, but particularly rising this year, that this was something, a tragedy, an event that there was always a possibility.

So, their worst fears are realized. The police, however, are stepping up security and presence at Jewish -- at synagogues and Jewish community centers, museums across the country. This is what they're saying.

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LAURENCE TAYLOR, HEAD OF COUNTERTERRORISM COORDINATION COMMITTEE: An attack on our Jewish community today, on Yom Kippur, is devastating. U.K. policing is mobilizing, and it's mobilizing fast. Police forces are stepping up patrols across the country at synagogues and Jewish sites and more widely to provide reassurance to all those communities who have been affected by this incident.

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ROBERTSON: This was a message from the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, earlier on in the day as well. He cut short a trip to Denmark, where he's meeting with European leaders, came back to the U.K. to hold his most top-level Security Cabinet briefing, they call it here a COBRA briefing, to make determinations on how to set the security levels.

Safe to say there are a lot of police officers in this area, more than most of the people in this community have ever seen.

KEILAR: Yes. Nic Robertson, thank you for the latest from Manchester. We appreciate it.

Coming up: at least one person hurt after two regional Delta jets collide at La Guardia Airport, one of the plane's wings slicing into the nose of the other plane, striking a cockpit window. We will see how that happened.

Plus, could a letter up end Sean "Diddy" Combs' sentencing. Here what an ex of the music mogul just told the judge overseeing the case. And then, later, in a rare interview, Prince William opens up about

his famous family and reveals why 2024 was the hardest year of his life.

These important stories and more all coming up this hour on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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SANCHEZ: Happening now: Federal officials are investigating an incident at La Guardia Airport in New York after two Delta regional jets collide on the taxiway.

In this photo, you can see big cracks on the nose of the inbound jet. The accident happened around 10:00 p.m. local time last night. Officials say a plane was preparing for takeoff for Roanoke, Virginia, when it slammed its wing into the nose of that aircraft that was arriving from Charlotte, North Carolina.

Here's one pilot talking with air traffic control right after the incident.

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GROUND CONTROLLER: You guys did clip, correct?

PILOT: Yes, we did. Their right wing clipped our nose and the cockpit. We have damage to our windscreen.

PILOT: Endeavor, 5155, we have one injury on board.

GROUND CONTROLLER: Roger.

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SANCHEZ: And we have learned that injury on board was a flight attendant who was hurt in the collision. This is a passenger describing what that moment was like.

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WILLIAM LUSK, PASSENGER: We were taking right off of the main runway, and all of a sudden you feel the breaks go on and you see this object turn across the left side of the plane. And you feel the front of the plane just kind of get dragged to the right. And you can physically feel like in your seat you moving to the right.

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SANCHEZ: Joining us now is CNN transportation analyst Mary Schiavo. She's a former inspector general for the Department of Transportation.

Mary, great to see you, as always.

I wonder what you make of the details we're starting to get about this collision.

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN TRANSPORTATION ANALYST: Well, the details are going to be very instructive, and they will be able to quickly resolve it, because one plane, apparently the Virginia plane that was going to take off for Virginia, was told to hold short.

You know, there are very clear markings on the taxiways where they were supposed to hold short. Were they both on the taxiway lines? Did the plane that was told to hold, did that plane get the transmission? Did they confirm that transmission? Or did someone step on that transmission and they didn't get it? Or were they still rolling?

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So that's the pilot aspect and the ground control aspect of it. The other thing that they should use this as an opportunity to look at is the new equipment, because Secretary Duffy of the DOT has announced there's about to be big expenditures on our air traffic control. And that's something called the airport surface detection equipment.

La Guardia has this. It's called ADS-B and -- or ADS-B Ex. And if it was working, if it could have been working, if it would have helped, if it didn't help. And so this and many others like it -- there's about four taxiway runway incursions every day somewhere in America. And so it's a good opportunity to look at what would have happened with this equipment if it was being used and, if it was being used, why it didn't work.

So, lots of things to look at here, but they will have the answers real soon, and I think they probably already do if one plane was told to hold short.

SANCHEZ: And so the point about how those communications came across, whether they were confirmed, how do they go about determining that? I'm assuming that there are recordings obviously of communications.

SCHIAVO: There are.

SANCHEZ: And then there are also pilot interviews as well.

SCHIAVO: That's right. Here, because -- good wishes to the flight attendant to heal quickly.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

SCHIAVO: But the pilots are both -- all the pilots are alive. And, of course, they have got the cockpit voice recording and the air traffic control recording. Those recordings are usually held for a couple weeks if there's no accident or incident.

Here, with an accident or incident, they get pulled, and so they will have a wealth of information to resolve this.

SANCHEZ: I wonder, Mary, if you were leading this investigation, what questions you would start with. SCHIAVO: Well, I would start with, because you want to use this as an

opportunity, because if we're making this big investment in air traffic control, and we -- the president and the secretary have said we are. It's up to Congress to, of course, appropriate the money.

But I would want to look at what the equipment could have done, if it was being used or wasn't being used. And the NTSB often does that. If they have issues that they think must be addressed, they look for accidents and incidents that can be used to help them analyze and put forth good recommendations.

So, a good recommendation coming out of this is, was ADS-B Ex used? If it wasn't used, why not? And what really do we need in the system to make it safe? Because we have already invested in that equipment at 35 airports. That's probably what I would do, is really try to make this help and useful for the future.

SANCHEZ: Mary Schiavo, always great to get your expertise. Appreciate your time.

Still to come this afternoon: Attorneys for Sean "Diddy" Combs want to play a 15-minute video at Friday's sentencing for the rap mogul. What's on the tape that could make the judge potentially feel more sympathetic toward him?

Plus, hope fading in Indonesia, where a school has collapsed with dozens trapped inside. We will get you a report as soon as we come back.

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KEILAR: Tomorrow, rap mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs is due to be sentenced for his conviction on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. Now an ex-girlfriend who is a witness for the prosecution may be turning into a voice for his defense.

Gina Huynh, who is seen on Instagram, says she was not sex trafficked by Combs, a charge that he was ultimately acquitted of. She says she felt pressure from prosecutors to -- quote -- "feel like a victim." She made the remarks in a letter sent to the judge late yesterday.

CNN's -- CNN correspondent Kara Scannell has been covering every twist and turn of the rapper's case.

Kara, tell us about the letter.

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, yes, this letter came in overnight. It was submitted by Combs' defense team, and it's the first time that Gina Huynh has addressed the judge in this case.

And she said she was writing because she had seen all the materials that were out there about Combs' sentencing, and she said no one asked her to do this. But what she did describe to the judge is, she said she met with the prosecution three times during this case, and she was identified as Victim No. 3 in the indictment.

Prosecutors intended to call her, but just days before the trial, they told the judge they could no longer make contact with her. So Gina, now speaking, saying that during these meetings with the prosecution, she said; "I felt pressure to feel like a victim. I told them I was not, but they insisted that I was, even when I expressed my truth otherwise."

She said, "I was not trafficked" and she said she was not forced to engage in prostitution with Combs or with anyone else. She also said no one asked her to write this letter. It is one of more than 70 letters that the judge has received on behalf of Sean Combs, letters from his family and others.

He also is expected to speak before he is sentenced tomorrow. That is a right every defendant has, and a lot of them do take the opportunity to talk to the judge. His legal team also saying overnight that they plan to play a 15-minute video. We have not yet heard from the prosecution if they're going to oppose that. That is a very unusual request. Waiting to see if there's any more details on what is in that video.

At this point, though, it's unclear exactly what they will say.

KEILAR: You have some new reporting about a former employee of Combs?

SCANNELL: Right.

A former employee who testified at the trial under the pseudonym Mia is now allowed to address the judge tomorrow. He signed off on that. The prosecution said she wanted to speak. She testified for numerous days about the abuse that she suffered at the hands of Combs, both physical abuse and sexual abuse. And they asked that she could have five minutes to address the judge.

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Combs' lawyers opposed that, saying she was not part of the transportation to engage in prostitution counts that he was convicted of. They also said that Mia lied continuously throughout her testimony, but the judge saying that victims have a right to speak. So he is going to give her the time tomorrow to address him before he hands down the sentence to Combs.

Now, he could face as much as 10 years maximum on each of these two counts. Prosecutors are asking for 11 years. Combs' team are asking for 14 months. And he's already served 12 of that in prison.

KEILAR: Yes, basically time served.

Kara Scannell, thank you for that -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Elon Musk briefly became the first person worth $500 billion, the first half-trillionaire in history.

According to the Forbes billionaire index, Musk's net worth briefly touched $500.8 billion last night before pulling back, moving in tandem with Tesla's stock price. His wealth surged on the news of record Tesla sales in the last quarter, as many Americans rushed to buy the electric cars before a federal tax credit expired.

Despite the short-term boost, Tesla has been in a long-term slump, losing market share this year partly due to Musk's involvement in the Trump administration.

Up next on NEWS CENTRAL: who Americans say they blame for the government shutdown and where they stand on the issue at the heart of this standoff, the extension of Obamacare subsidies.

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