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The Situation Room

New Conservative Pentagon Press Pool; Interview With Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY); Gambling Arrests. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired October 23, 2025 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:02]

REP. STEVE WOMACK (R-AR): But we have three bills.

Three of the 12 appropriation bills, Ag, Leg Branch, and MilCon-VA, we have three bills that are in conference with the Senate. Those are very close to the finish line. I'd like for us to come back to work, reopen the government and put those three bills on the floor, maybe take the Jen Kiggans bill that guarantees the payment to our troops and put that with it, and then once again send that over to the Senate.

I think it would be difficult for Senate Democrats to vote against the veterans, to vote against paying our troops, and voting against reopening the government. Like I said, the only way we're going to be able to get to the structure of the issue that they have dug in on, Obamacare enhanced subsidies, is to get the government reopened, get Congress back to work, and then have those conversations.

Right now, their answer is, we want $1.5 trillion of more spending without so much as a witness or a hearing on the matter. That is just unconscionable. That's not going to work. The only way it's going to come to fruition is if we get back to work.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: All right, Republican Congressman Steve Womack of Arkansas, thanks very much for being patient with us. Thanks very much for joining us. We will continue this conversation down the road to be sure. Appreciate it very much.

WOMACK: My pleasure, Wolf.

And coming up in just a few minutes, the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, standing by to join me live here in THE SITUATION ROOM as this federal government shutdown hits 23 days.

The next hour of THE SITUATION ROOM starts right now.

Happening now, breaking news -- quote -- "Your winning streak has ended." That's the message from federal officials as they announced a truly historic sports gambling crackdown involving the mafia and 31 defendants. We have all the breaking news.

We want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer, Pamela Brown is on assignment. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BLITZER: We begin with the breaking news, a truly historic and massive federal gambling probe, a yearslong investigation across 11 states, more than 30 defendants involving tens of millions of dollars, two of those charged basketball Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, among many, many others.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH NOCELLA, U.S. ATTORNEY, EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: But my message to the defendants who have been rounded up today is this. Your winning streak has ended, your luck has run out. Violating the law is a losing proposition and you can bet on that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Strong words from the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

Officials say some defendants allegedly exploited inside information to bet on NBA games, while others allegedly participated in a nationwide mafia scheme to rig illegal poker games.

Joining us now once again, CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig, a former federal prosecutor.

Elie, explain to us the scope of this investigation. Just how big is it?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Wolf, it's a massive case. It's a massive takedown. There's really two cases, two separate indictments here.

And this goes to the heart of what the mafia does very much, not the heart of what the NBA tries to do, the opposite of what the NBA tries to do. So the bigger of the two indictments charges 31 defendants with running a fixed illegal poker ring. They ran games in various cities around the United States.

And apparently they used very high technology in order to cheat. They had people who were planted there who were working with the mafia and others in order to cheat ordinary players out of in some instances over a million dollars. That's the case where Chauncey Billups is charged.

Chauncey Billups is currently the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers. He was a 17-year player in the NBA. He's in the Basketball Hall of Fame. That is a very big deal for the NBA itself to have a current head coach and a sort of legendary player linked up to an illegal gambling operation run by the mob.

Also of note, Wolf, we heard in the announcement last hour that not only were these participants cheating, certain players, but there were using threats, threats of violence and extortion, and those are among the federal charges, in order to enforce this ring.

So that's the first case. Separately, there's a smaller case in terms of the number of defendants, but maybe bigger in terms of impact. This is what Kash Patel called the insider trading case. And this is the one that involves the current NBA player Terry Rozier.

The allegation in that case is that Rozier and others were sharing inside confidential information about who would be playing that day, who might be injured in order to feed that information to bettors so that they could bet on certain prop -- what we call prop bets, meaning, will a certain player score more or less than 20 points, or a certain player have fewer -- more or less than eight rebounds, et cetera?

[11:05:14]

And the most worrisome allegation, I think, from the NBA's point of view, is that this player, Terry Rozier, actually at one point in 2023, essentially tanked a game, that he took himself out of a game or faked some sort of injury or illness so that people who bet those under numbers would win those bets.

That's a major problem for the integrity of the NBA's games, for the competitiveness of the league. And I should note, Wolf, it's a recurring problem. There was a separate player, Jontay Porter, who has pled guilty to a crime for doing the same thing last year.

So I assure you the NBA -- the NBA commissioner has already voiced concern about this. We heard from the FBI that the NBA was cooperative here, but this is going to rock the league and the mafia as well.

BLITZER: What's the significance, Elie, of the mafia crime families allegedly being involved in these crimes?

HONIG: Yes, so you heard some terminology from the FBI officials in the prior hour. They kept referring to La Cosa Nostra. That is Italian for This Thing of Ours. It refers to the five New York City mafia families.

Three of them, the Gambinos, Genovese, and Luccheses, were apparently involved in this case. Now, Wolf, the mafia family has long controlled and run illegal gambling operations in New York City and elsewhere, but this is a next evolution in that type of crime. First of all, they're enlisting and working with apparently, maybe indirectly, but working with a current NBA head coach, Chauncey Billups, a very prominent person.

Second of all, the evolution in technology, I mean, these devices that can secretly read cards. There was reference to they used special contact lenses and glasses that could read marked cards. I mean, none of that existed five, 10 years ago when I was charging the mafia with running illegal gambling operations.

So, look, these are big-money operations. They generate millions or tens of millions of dollars for these illegal organized crime enterprises, and we can see the next evolution in today's indictment.

BLITZER: We heard the federal authorities announce that there were two indictments and 34 defendants, 34 defendants. Can we assume that some of those defendants were not necessarily NBA-related stars, current or former players, but also mafia leaders?

HONIG: Oh, I'm sure.

I mean, only a handful of the defendants appear to be NBA current or past players. There's the three who we know of. There's Chauncey Billups. There's Terry Rozier and then there's Damon Jones, a former player.

I would -- according to what we just heard from DOJ and the FBI, many of the other defendants are not at all affiliated with the NBA. They are perhaps members or associates of the mafia or just other people who were involved in these rings. That's what makes this case so remarkable. This is such a sprawling enterprise.

And to see prominent members of the NBA working with, dealing with illegal gamblers, in some cases perhaps mobsters. I think that's going to send shockwaves through NBA's headquarters in Manhattan.

BLITZER: I assume you're absolutely right. Elie, I want you to stand by.

I want to bring in our CNN's sports anchor, Coy Wire, right now.

What do we know, Coy, about the players and the teams involved in this current investigation?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: All right, Wolf, we will start with Chauncey Billups. He's been the Trail Blazers head coach since 2021, following a legendary playing career. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame last year, famously led the Pistons to the '04 title over Kobe, Shaq, and the Lakers, named finals MVP.

The team retired his jersey. After six years in Detroit, he went to the Nuggets, where he made a formidable duo with Carmelo Anthony. In all, he was a five-time All Star. He retired just over a decade ago before taking up coaching in 2020, first as an assistant with the Clippers, before taking the head job with Portland.

As for the 31-year-old Rozier, he was the 16th overall pick in 2015 by the Celtics. He was a role player for four seasons there before getting an elevated role, traded to Charlotte, where he averaged more than 20 points per game three times.

Now, Rozier has been with Miami since January of last year, and he was in uniform as the Heat played the Magic in Orlando last night, though he did not play due to a coach's decision. According to the AP, he was taken into custody in Orlando early this morning.

The other former NBA player being charged, Damon Jones, left the league in 2009 after 11 seasons in the association. He was on LeBron's Cavaliers team that reached the finals in 2007. He was also, Wolf, an assistant coach on the 2016 LeBron-led Cavaliers who won the title.

BLITZER: Yes, shocking developments indeed.

Coy Wire and Elie Honig, to both of you, thank you very, very much. We will stay on top of this story.

And, by the way, we have just received just now a statement from Rozier's attorney, Jim Trusty, that reads this. Let me put it up on the screen: "We have represented Terry Rozier for over a year, a long time ago. We reached out to these prosecutors to tell them we should have an open line of communication. They characterized Terry as a subject, not a target. But at 6:00 a.m. this morning, they called to tell me FBI agents were trying to arrest him in a hotel."

[11:10:18]

The statement goes out to say: "It is unfortunate that, instead of allowing him to self-surrender, they opted for a photo-op. They wanted the misplaced glory of embarrassing a professional athlete with a perp walk. That tells you a lot about the motivations in this case. They appear to be taking the word of spectacularly incredible sources, rather than relying on actual evidence of wrongdoing" -- end quote.

We will, of course, continue to follow the story and bring you all the latest developments. Stand by.

And there's other news we're following as well. Still ahead, we will speak live with the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, the minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, about the political deadlock that still has much of the federal government completely shut down and millions of federal workers not getting paid.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:15:48]

BLITZER: Happening now: The United States government is shuttered for a 23rd day. There is still partisan gridlock here in Washington, with no off-ramp in sight to end the shutdown any time soon, Americans suffering, as more workers miss paychecks, key government programs that the most vulnerable people rely on for basic necessities also in jeopardy.

Here's what the House speaker, Mike Johnson, told my colleague Kaitlan Collins last night. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): No, we're not going to allow Chuck Schumer to play selfish political games and hold the American people hostage. We will not negotiate with legislative terrorists. We're not going to let them do that. We can't. We owe it to the people to get this government operating again.

Republicans have now voted 12 or 13 times, counting the House and Senate, 13 times to open the government, and the Democrats have voted 13 times to close it down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And joining us now to discuss this and more, the House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, of New York.

Leader Jeffries, thank you so much for joining us.

I want to get your reaction to what we heard from the speaker and talk about the shutdown, which is so, so critical right now. But, first, let me quickly get some reaction from you following this FBI U.S. attorney news conference in your home state of New York about this federal gambling and sports-rigging program probe involving the New York mafia that led to the arrests of Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups.

What's your reaction to what we heard? To me, it was very shocking, especially as a longtime NBA fan.

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): It's a stunning development. The indictment seems very wide-ranging. Of course, every single one of the individuals charged are entitled to the presumption of innocence. But it was a development that I think shocks the conscience of a lot of folks, particularly those who follow the NBA closely.

BLITZER: Yes, well said, indeed.

All right, as you know, House Republicans, including the speaker, they pass what they say as a clean short-term funding bill, a C.R., a continuing resolution. But most congressional Democrats have refused to support it. I know you and other Democrats want to address the Affordable Care Act subsidies set to expire at the end of the year. You want to make sure that doesn't happen.

But why not vote to fund the government right now and then negotiate the coming weeks on the subsidies once the government is open and people are working, they're getting paid and all of that?

JEFFRIES: We want to reopen the government, and we want to do that immediately. We want to find a bipartisan path forward toward a spending agreement that actually meets the needs of the American people.

We will continue to stand by hardworking federal employees who've been targeted by this administration from the very beginning of Donald Trump's presidency. In fact, Wolf, more than 200,000 federal employees have been run out of their jobs prior to the start of this Trump government shutdown.

But at the same period of time, we do need to decisively address the Republican health care crisis that is devastating the American people in so many different ways all across the country, including in rural America. And one of the things that we need to do with urgency is to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits.

BLITZER: You heard the speaker suggest you guys, the Democrats, are acting like terrorists, holding the American people hostage right now in order to get what you want. You want to just quickly respond to that?

JEFFRIES: Well, that type of language is reckless, is irresponsible, and it's going to get someone killed.

What do these folks not understand as it relates to the language that they continue to use? We should be able to battle it out in the contest of ideas, as opposed to trying to use these extreme terms that have been unleashed on the American people from the very beginning of this presidency and, matter of fact, for a long period of time by the current president and those sycophants who continue to do nothing more than rubber-stamp his extreme agenda and hurt the American people.

These are folks in the House, in terms of the Republicans, they have been on vacation for the last four weeks. They have actually canceled votes four consecutive weeks in a row.

[11:20:05]

And, as Democrats, we have been here, Leader Schumer, Senate Democrats, House Democrats, making clear we are ready, we are willing, we are able to sit down with anyone, any time, any place in order to reopen the government, enact a spending agreement that actually improves the quality of life of the American people, that lowers costs for the American people, because this country is too expensive, and also does the things necessary to ensure that tens of millions of Americans are not going to experience dramatically increased health care premiums that for many may increase by $1,000 or $2,000 per year.

That is unsustainable. And the average income for folks -- or, in fact, more than 90 percent of the people who receive Affordable Care Act tax credits make around $63,000 per year. We're fighting for working-class Americans, for everyday Americans, and for middle-class Americans, while Republicans continue to do the bidding of their billionaire donors.

BLITZER: As you know, Leader Jeffries, the White House and the Republicans, they are seizing on this clip -- and I will play it -- from your fellow top House Democrat, Congresswoman Katherine Clark. Listen and watch this. This is what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KATHERINE CLARK (D-MA): I mean, shutdowns are terrible, and, of course, there will be families that are going to suffer. We take that responsibility very seriously. But it is one of the few leverage times we have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Republicans say this is an ambition that Democrats are using the American people as political leverage during this shutdown. You want to respond?

JEFFRIES: Donald Trump is the president. Republicans control the House and the Senate. They have made the decision to shut down the government.

And they are the ones who consistently have taken adverse actions, made clear that they want to hurt the American people during this shutdown that they have created, and they refuse to reopen the government because of their unwillingness to provide affordable health care to everyday Americans.

BLITZER: On another very sensitive issue involving your home state of New York, specifically New York City, we're now learning that the New York city mayor, Eric Adams, will endorse former Governor Andrew Cuomo in the mayoral race.

You recently said you will have -- quote -- "more to say about the mayor's race and about our" -- in your words, "our Democratic nominee prior to early voting beginning."

Early voting starts in just two days. Will you finally make an endorsement, Leader Jeffries?

JEFFRIES: Well, as you indicated, Wolf, early voting starts in a few days. And I look forward to saying much more about the mayor's race, as I have promised, in advance of that moment.

I haven't gotten a chance to actually review the debate clips from last evening, but I will say that I think it was an important step that our Democratic nominee took when he indicated that he will retain the current police commissioner, Jessica Tisch. She's doing a tremendous job. She's well respected in the communities that I'm privileged to represent.

And we will have more to say about the mayor's race some time soon.

BLITZER: I know you're a very strong supporter of Israel, the U.S.- Israeli relations. I know you're also a strong supporter of the Jewish community, large Jewish community in New York, as we all know.

What do you say about the criticism that Mamdani is getting from the Jewish community, specifically a lot of rabbis signing documents saying he is a potential threat to the Jewish community in New York? What's your reaction to that?

JEFFRIES: Well, I'm going to continue to stand up strongly for the Jewish community, of course, to uplift the special relationship that the United States and Israel continue to have with each other and lean in on supporting hopefully a path toward a just and lasting peace in Israel.

I'm thankful that all the hostages have been returned. I'm thankful that humanitarian assistance is being surged into Gaza. We have got to get to reconstruction. There's been far too much suffering in the region, and that needs to be dealt with and dealt with decisively.

And, of course, all of us should recommit to finding that path toward a just and lasting peace. And, at home, all of us need to make sure -- and I'm certainly committed to it -- to making sure that every single community remains safe and that we address some of the issues and the challenges that the Jewish community has faced with the stunning rise of antisemitism that has occurred all across the country.

BLITZER: On another important topic while I have you, Leader Jeffries, a Trump-pardoned January 6 rioter was recently arrested and charged with threatening to kill you.

Do you feel safe? Have you spoken to President Trump or Speaker Johnson, for that matter, about your concerns?

JEFFRIES: Well, not a single Republican has reached out to me since that incident occurred.

And that's no surprise, because they cannot defend the fact that Donald Trump pardoned hundreds of violent felons who brutally beat police officers on January 6 and then released them back in communities all across the country.

[11:25:08]

I'm just thankful for our state and local law enforcement partners, for the work that they continue to do each and every day on behalf of the American people. But they have been put in a situation all across the nation where these violent felons have been released back into communities and many of whom have already reoffended. And that's a shame.

BLITZER: Yes, that's a serious, serious development. I want you to stay safe.

Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of the House of Representatives, thanks so much for joining us. We will stay in close touch with you, for sure.

JEFFRIES: Thank you.

BLITZER: I want to go live right now to CNN's chief congressional correspondent, Manu Raju, up on Capitol Hill.

Manu, I know you have been covering this shutdown nonstop. You have basically been living up there on Capitol Hill.

What stood out to you there from what we just heard from Leader Jeffries?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it just looks like, Wolf, that this shutdown is not ending any time soon because of the positions that the leader has laid out there, has drawn this very, very deep red line, which is to -- for an extension of those subsidies under the Affordable Care Act or a direct negotiation with the Republican leadership on this issue.

And that is exactly the polar opposite position of the speaker of the House, as he's laid that out from day one, that there will be absolutely no negotiations whatsoever here unless Democrats first vote to reopen the government. And that is simply not going to happen, Democrats say, and Leader Jeffries reiterated that to you, until that happens. And you really heard the -- how -- the coarsening questioning of the

rhetoric here, Wolf, the comments of the speaker suggesting legislative terrorists, they're not going to negotiate with legislative terrorists, Jeffries there pushing back on that terminology,saying that that kind of language needs to be ratcheted down.

Of course, Democrats have their own -- have leveled their own accusations against the way the Republicans have been handling this. So the back-and-forth has just been intense for days and days and days, and that -- your interview there just revealed how little has changed now that we are heading into the fourth week of the government shutdown.

The Senate is expected to leave town this afternoon after failing to pass a Republican bill Democrats plan to block to pay only employees who have been working. Democrats want to pay a larger subset of those furloughed employees. Republicans say that is too many. So there's another stalemate on that issue.

And, as a result, we're going to see the Senate leave town. The House has been out of session until -- since September 19, them not to come back to town next week, and this painful shutdown only bound to drag on for even much longer, the second longest in American history, poised to be the first longest.

It eclipses 35 days, which happened from 2018 to 2019. And many, Wolf, expect that that will happen here, and Jeffries indicating there nothing has changed from the Democratic position -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, it's so painful to see what's going on right now, especially here in the greater Washington, D.C., area. You see federal employees who've worked in the federal government and done great jobs for many, many years now laid off, not getting paid, waiting in long lines at food pantries simply to get a little food, so they and their families can eat.

It's hard to believe this is going on right here in the United States of America.

Manu Raju, thank you very, very much, as usual.

Also new this morning, there's a new Pentagon press pool. The new corps is made up of groups and individuals who agreed to a new press policy put in place by the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth. Nearly all longstanding news outlets, including CNN, rejected the very restrictive policy and turned in their press passes.

I want to bring in CNN's chief media analyst, Brian Stelter, and former CNN Pentagon correspondent, our good friend Barbara Starr.

Brian, let me start with you.

Take us through the outlets who have now -- who now have access to the Pentagon. BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is all about

publicity, Wolf, as opposed to real journalism, as you see the Pentagon's press office trying to bring in MAGA media influencers in an apparent bid to replace the journalists that had been at the Pentagon before.

But, of course, those journalists from CNN and "The New York Times" and AP and Reuters and dozens of other outlets, they are still on the job, still covering the Pentagon, just from outside the building's five walls.

Some of the new outlets, some of the MAGA media outlets that have been invited in by Pete Hegseth and his aides include Gateway Pundit, National Pulse, Just The News, Frontlines and LindellTV. That's a streaming service from the MyPillow CEO, Mike Lindell.

When you dig a little deeper into these outlets, you see they are almost entirely right-wing, but, more importantly, they're better known for commentary than straight news reporting. They're best known for their pro-Trump talking points and not actually for investigative reporting.

And some of the outlets acknowledge that up front, that they exist to be partisan media outlets supporting the president. Gateway Pundit, for example, has faced defamation lawsuits involving 2020 election lies. There are still appeals under way. LindellTV, that's Mike Lindell's channel.