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Lawmakers Debate Trump Agenda Bill After All-Night Session; Special Agent in Charge of Search of Combs' Miami Home Testifies; Manhunt for Escaped New Orleans Inmates Now in Sixth Day. Aired 10- 10:30a ET

Aired May 21, 2025 - 10:00   ET

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

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PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, debate-a- thon. A key House committee is now in hour 10 of discussing President Trump's sweeping agenda. So far, still no sign of a deal to get that bill over the finish line.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And preparing for a possible strike. New CNN reporting shows that U.S. obtained intelligence suggesting Israel is making preparations to potentially hit Iranian nuclear facilities. What that means for the Trump administration's efforts to pursue a diplomatic deal with Iran.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in The Situation Room.

We begin with breaking news up on Capitol Hill where all-night negotiations are dragging on and on right now. Republicans are scrambling to shape President Trump's agenda in his second term. Since 1:00 A.M., lawmakers on the House of Rules Committee have been debating the president's sprawling spending bill with tax cuts and they're still going at it.

This morning, House Speaker Mike Johnson says he's hoping for a floor vote later tonight. But with a razor thin majority, Republicans are trying to bridge deal-busting divisions within their own party between hardliners and moderates.

CNN's Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju is at his usual post, up on Capitol Hill. Manu, where do things stand at this hour?

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, frantic negotiations behind the scenes happening right now, the speaker of the House trying to lock down these final deals, particularly with those conservative hardliners who are concerned about the bill, the impact on the deficit in their belief that it does not cut spending enough.

Now, the speaker has had to manage concerns on the both the moderate wing of his party and the conservative wing in the party. But he seems to have alleviated some key concerns among the more moderate members who have been pushing for a greater deduction of state and local taxes, that voters can deduct from their annual taxes. They were able to appear to have reached an accommodation, a deal with that group of members.

But by allowing for a greater deduction of the so-called SALT taxes that people pay, that has led to an increase in the price tag of the overall bill and caused concerns on the right. Just moments ago, one of those hardliners, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, just told our colleague, Sarah Ferris, that, quote, things are not going well.

And at the moment, the speaker also talking to other key conservatives, including Congressman Chip Roy, someone who had raised concerns about the deficit and told me just last night that this bill needs to do far more to cut spending.

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REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX): I have expressed my concern, which is real, that the first five years, first four years in particular, you end up with significant deficits in those first years. And my experience in this town is that when you're banking on savings in the back half, they don't, they don't materialize.

RAJU: Coming from a swing district, are you worried about the political blowback of endorsing some of these pretty controversial proposals?

REP. JUAN CISCOMANI (R-AZ): Well, the bill's going to look the way it's going to at the end, get finalized. We've been very clear on where we stand on this. I think we've gotten the bill to a place could have looked much different, had myself and others and I been advocating for specifically in the Medicaid area.

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RAJU: And that last comment coming from Juan Ciscomani, a vulnerable House Republican, indicating he seems to be okay with the direction of the bill right now, but it's that conservative wing, Wolf, that is causing some concerns, including a new analysis by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office last night that estimated the cost of the most recent version of this bill to be at $3.8 trillion in adding to the budget deficit. And that's one issue that members are raising concerns about behind the scenes, Wolf.

BLITZER: I know they are. All right, Manu Raju up on Capitol Hill, thank you very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: Well, happening now, Wolf, day eight of testimony in the Sean Diddy Combs trial. And right now, Special Agent Gerard Gannon is on the stand now. He was in charge during the search of Combs' Miami home in March of last year. Prosecutors also plan to call Kid Cudi to the stand in the coming days.

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Cassie Ventura testified last week that her relationship with the musician prompted Combs to threaten both of them.

Let's go live now to CNN Chief Legal Analyst Laura Coates right outside the courthouse in New York. Laura, what are we learning from the special agent's testimony?

LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: This is increasingly becoming the quintessential case about drugs, sex, and rock and roll. This agent is a part of the human trafficking division down in Florida. They searched his Star Island home, Star Island, a place where the wealthy elite are able to have these very luxurious homes, very lavish lifestyles.

What we saw yesterday at that gate that entered that particular home had been battered down essentially by an armored vehicle because they anticipated the level of security that might be at that home. 80 to 90 agents arrived. That was atypical for something like this based on security concerns. And what they've recovered, the jury is now seeing baby oil, lubricants, drugs, including ketamine, cocaine, MDMA. The list truly goes on. Guns were located there as well, parts of AR-15s with the serial numbers scratched off.

All of this is coming in before the jury. In fact, the jurors actually saw parts of those AR-15s, parts of those drugs, some of which apparently looked in the shape of drugs that were seized in the New York hotels and beyond. This is a very important day.

We are not going to hear, we're told, from Kid Cudi today. He will be an important witness. But we will hear from a very important witness, a criminal clinical psychologist whose job it will be to talk about the mentality of a victim who has alleged abuse and their potential motivations or reasonings for staying in those lengthy relationships. She has not treated either Cassie or Sean Diddy Combs. She would be limited in what she can say, but this witness might give a lot of clarity for a juror who might be wondering why.

BROWN: All right. Laura Coates, thank you so much. Make sure to tune into Laura's show, Laura Coates Live, airs tonight and every weeknight at 11:00 P.M. Eastern. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, Pamela, soon President Trump will welcome South Africa's president to the White House. The meeting comes after months of criticism from the Trump administration over a new law in South Africa, attempting to reverse historic racial inequities.

Just a little while ago, over a week or so ago, the first group of white South Afrikaners arrived in the U.S. after being granted refugee status.

Let's go live right now to CNN White House Reporter Alayna Treene for us. So, what's at stake in this important meeting with the visiting South African president?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, Wolf. I mean, I think a lot is at stake. This meeting today between President Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa could either improve these really frosty relations between these two countries, or we could see them further deteriorate.

And that's really a key question because since the president's inauguration, we've seen him now cut all aid to South Africa. He's threatened to boycott the G20 summit that South Africa is hosting. And he's also accused, falsely accused, in this case, Ramaphosa, of conducting a genocide in the country.

And so, right now relationships between the two countries are very poor. And so the goal today of him coming here, and really what the South Africans want is to, of course, try and smooth this all over.

Now, a lot of this is related to this ratcheting up of racial tensions that the United States believes that South Africans are carrying out against. White South Africans in their country, specifically those who are descendants of apartheid.

And a lot of this also has to do, I'd remind you, of what we've seen the president do in the nation itself, which is try to cut back on diversity, equity, inclusion, and argues that there is an overcorrection of trying to address for historical wrongs. And so it's very interesting to see what will happen today.

But two things I think that are also very notable as well is Elon Musk, someone who was born and raised in South Africa, he is going to be joining this meeting today, we're told. And then we also know that pro-golfer Ernie Els is also set to join, someone who Donald Trump knows very well. He is South African himself. And he's going to be there and kind of helps put this meeting together. So, standing by to see what we can learn from that, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Alayna Treene at the White House for us, Alayna, thank you very much. Pamela?

BROWN: All right, Wolf. New this morning, the intense manhunt for inmates who escape from a New Orleans jail, and now in its sixth day, five inmates are still on the run. And we're also learning more about a maintenance worker at that jail who was now charged with allegedly helping the men escape.

So, let's go live now to CNN Senior National Correspondent Ryan Young in Atlanta. Ryan, what more are you learning about this jail maintenance worker?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Pamela. That maintenance worker telling authorities that he was threatened and he was going to be shanked if he did not go through with cutting off the water. By cutting off the water, that was the way that the inmates were able to break out a certain part of the wall and make it through. If the water wasn't cut off, that cell would've flooded with water and it would've stopped this whole escape from even happening.

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But I like to talk about the fifth suspect who was caught. We've also learned that one of the suspects that's still on the loose has done this before, back in 2019 when he escaped. And so authorities are desperately looking for him still, if you think about this, Crime Stoppers has been really helpful in terms of getting some of these suspects off the street, but the scrutiny of the sheriff's department is ongoing. And there was some tense moments during a council meeting that just happened yesterday. Take a listen.

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JEAN-PAUL MORRELL, NEW ORLEANS CITY COUNCILMEMBER AT LARGE: The problem is your position is you run your jail. You tell us you need money. We give you money. That's the same position that the D.A. has, same position that the criminal court has. And the reality is this, you don't get to tell us it's this amount without us kicking the tires and doing our own investigation as to that's the amount.

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YOUNG: The sheriff has now suspended her campaign for reelection. We also were told that the governor is sending in auditors to that jail. Ten seasoned auditors are going to arrive. This investigation's far from over, but we know the manhunt still continues.

BROWN: All right. Ryan Young, thank you so much. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, Pamela, thank you.

Still ahead, under investigation, the US Justice Department is now looking into former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. We'll talk to a legal expert about the timing of all of this.

BROWN: And then later, we're going to speak to a doctor about what the FDA's changes to COVID vaccine approvals could mean for those most at risk for the virus.

You're in The Situation Room.

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BLITZER: There's more breaking news this morning, sad breaking news. The Virginia congressman, Gerry Connolly, has died at the age of 75. According to a statement from his family this morning, Congressman Connolly died peacefully at his home surrounded by family. Just last month, the Democratic lawmaker announced he would not seek reelection, sharing that his esophageal cancer had returned.

He's -- yes, go ahead, Pam.

BROWN: He served as the top Democrat on the powerful House Oversight Committee, unafraid to speak truth to power, including voicing concerns about then President Biden's reelection prospects.

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REP. GERRY CONNOLLY (D-VA): I was hired by Joe Biden to work in the U.S. Senate. I've known him for 45 years. I know his family. I've been to his home. I wrote speeches for him and bills for him, and amendments for him. I traveled with him. This is a man I revere.

At the end of the day, we cannot afford to make a mistake about Donald Trump. We've got to put our best foot forward.

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BROWN: And Connolly condemned violence following the assassination attempt against President Trump.

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CONNOLLY: We can't allow violence to seep into our politics. Decisions are made in America at the ballot box, not at the end of the barrel of a gun.

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BLITZER: Our deepest, deepest condolences to his family. May he rest in peace and may his memory be a blessing.

Up on Capitol Hill right now, the House speaker, Mike Johnson, says he's hoping for a House floor vote later tonight on President Trump's very massive spending and tax cut bill. Members of the Rules Committee have been meeting since 1:00 A.M. as Republicans try to win over their last holdouts. This comes as the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released a preliminary analysis of the bill finding that it would increase the federal budget deficit by a whopping $3.8 trillion.

Joining us now, Democratic Congressman Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey. Congressman, thanks so much for joining us.

As you know, some hardline conservatives are warning Speaker Johnson they still aren't on board. House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris says, negotiations, quote, actually got worse overnight. What is your sense of where this bill stands right now?

REP. JOSH GOTTHEIMER (D-NJ): Well, I think Wolf, there's a reason why there's a war within the Republican Party over this, right? I think you've got a lot of Republicans who realize that this is an assault on our seniors and our children, you know, between gutting Medicaid, which helps our seniors and nursing homes and our children, especially those who are hungry and need help in healthcare. You know, the idea of this bill for a lot of Republicans will be devastating in their districts.

And so I think you're seeing that tension play out, and there's a good reason for it, Wolf. And it adds, of course, you just pointed out to the debt, you're talking about $4 trillion, right? So, not only is it bad economics, but it's bad policy. And I think that's why y'all continue to see a huge fight as this plays out.

BLITZER: And you mentioned the Congressional Budget Office's analysis. It does not necessarily include the latest changes now being negotiated by representatives, but Republicans are already slamming the CBO analysis. Listen to what Congressman Andy Barr said earlier today. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ANDY BARR (R-KY): Well, look, first of all, the CBO score is wrong. The CBO has been wrong repeatedly. It was wrong when they scored the first Trump tax cuts. They were wrong by over a trillion dollars. Why? Because the CBO doesn't do this scoring dynamically.

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BLITZER: How do you respond to that, Congressman?

GOTTHEIMER: I mean, it's an independent analysis, right? And what I think they came out and said, is this going to hurt the bottom 10 percent, the worst, right? It's going to hurt children who are hungry. It goes after school breakfast and school lunch. It hurts our seniors in nursing homes, right? So, you know, they can try to come up with whatever excuse they want about how this isn't bad, but the bottom line is an independent group has said that looks at the analysis, economic analysis, this is going to not only lead to the debt, but it's going to be devastating to our families, to women's healthcare.

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It's going to lose -- as you probably saw also, it's going to gut manufacturing jobs in the United States. So, it's going to cost hundreds of plants to shut down, plus hundreds of thousands of jobs.

So, that every way you look at this, from every angle, this thing is a huge, devastating problem for the country and for the Republican Party. And I think that's why you're seeing such a big fight internally in the Republican Party.

BLITZER: It's a very big fight, indeed. The House Speaker Johnson tells CNN tentative deal has been reached to quadruple the current state and local tax deduction limit to $40,000. You're the co-chair of a bipartisan caucus on that so-called SALT issue. Are you satisfied with that number?

GOTTHEIMER: Well, Wolf, you know, I've heard three different numbers this morning already that keeps moving around. You know, my position is pretty clear. We should bring the state and local tax deduction back so that hardworking middle class Americans don't get taxed twice on the same income. I've always believed that we should go back to the way used to be in 2017, which would help -- greatly help states like mine, who, as you know, greatly subsidized the red moocher states. We pay a lot more into the federal government than they do, and they get a lot more back.

So, this is just -- this makes no sense what's been proposed. I introduced legislation to actually say, you know what, take the SALT issue out of this. Let it go back to the way it used to be. Let people fully deduct what they pay in state and local taxes so they don't get taxed twice on the same income. I'm talking about cops, firefighters, nurses in New Jersey, teachers. You know, this is about giving relief for teachers in Jersey. And I know these red moocher states, they just want to take from us even more every day. But the bottom line is you got people like me who said, absolutely no way. And you have Republican Congress people from New York and New Jersey in that area who are also saying what they propose is out absolutely outrageous.

BLITZER: As you know, several hard line Republicans have called raising the so-called SALT, the state and local tax deduction, a bailout of Democrats' overspending in blue states. And they say they won't support the change. What's your response to that and how do you see this very sensitive issue of the SALT deductions playing out?

GOTTHEIMER: Wolf, first of all, Senator Thune and the made it very clear in the Senate that this is going to be a big issue on their side, which is why I still think this fight is pretty early on. But what do I say to these folks from these -- Mississippi and Alabama get more than $4 for every dollar they send in federal tax dollars to Washington, and states like mine in New Jersey get about $0.67 to $0.70 back for every dollar sent.

So, these red moocher states, it's nice that they take, take, take and then turn around and want to stick it to people in my district, hard working middle class families, my district, I think it's absurd. And I've always said to them, listen, why don't you not take a nickel more than you put into the federal government and then we can have that conversation?

In the meantime, it is absurd to hurt our cops and teachers and firefighters in Jersey and in and in the tri-state area. So, that's what I say, Wolf. I mean, they should really look in the mirror.

BLITZER: On another sensitive issue, Congressman, the Congressional Budget Office, the CBO, also says the bill would cut an estimated $625 billion from Medicaid largely through new work requirements that, despite President Trump repeatedly claiming Medicaid wouldn't be, in his word, touched. What's your reaction to that?

GOTTHEIMER: Again, I'm very confused by that, right? You got the president saying one thing. He flip-flopped yesterday on SALT, as we were talking about. He's all over the place on Medicaid. Their party is too, which is why they're fighting. I think if you're a senior and looking at this, or you have a child who's on Medicaid and gets healthcare that way, I don't know how you'd ever support what they're doing, which is why they're having such a big fight.

They've got 80,000 people in my district who depend on Medicaid, seniors and children. They rely on SNAP for food and school breakfast and school lunch, and they're going to rip that away from them. I don't understand, again, how they could think that this is going to be good for them. All it does is that with these extremist policies hurt families who need help the most. And I'm talking about seniors, I'm talking about children, I'm talking about women's healthcare.

They're trying to take away, you know, talking about obviously investments and alternative energy. They're trying to take away -- they actually want to raise taxes on people with electric vehicles. They want to take away people who are trained, trying to make their homes more energy efficient. They want to take away support tax credits for that. So, they're raising taxes on people, sticking it to seniors, sticking it to hardworking families, and, of course, really going after children.

Again, this is why they're fighting like they are, Wolf, in the middle all throughout the night. They're screaming at each other, the extremists versus other extremists, because they can't figure out how to move forward.

BLITZER: Before I let you go, I want to get your reaction to the sad news. Your Democratic colleague, Congressman Gerry Connolly of Virginia, passed away this morning. He's been suffering from esophageal cancer. I know you two served together for many years. How will you remember him?

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GOTTHEIMER: I am really glad you asked me, Wolf. I was hoping you would because I love Gerry. If you knew Gerry, you love Gerry. He just had a huge heart and larger than life personality and such a good man and a really good friend. And I can't believe he's gone already. I mean, he just made the announcement a couple weeks ago. You know, I just sent him a note saying just how much I appreciated him. And, you know, we're all going to miss him around here. And I know his constituents will miss him, and our country's going to miss him. He was an amazing public servant and an amazing human being. So, God bless him and may his memory be a blessing.

BLITZER: Yes, may his memory indeed be a blessing. He was a frequent guest here in The Situation Room as well. We will all miss him very, very much.

Congressman Gottheimer, thanks so much for joining us. And we'll be right back with more news.

GOTTHEIMER: Thanks, Wolf.

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