Diddy Trial Twist About One Juror, Kohberger Plea Deal, Free Speech Under EU Threat？： AM Update 7⧸1
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
156.51193
Summary
Verdict Watch begins in the Sean Diddy Combs criminal trial. On Monday evening, News Nation correspondent Brian Enten reported that Idaho murder suspect Brian Kohlberger has accepted a plea deal in the November 2022 killing of four University of Idaho students.
Transcript
00:00:00.000
Good morning, everyone. I'm Megan Kelly. It's Tuesday, July 1st, 2025, and this is your AM
00:00:08.340
Update. Verdict watch begins in the Sean Diddy Combs criminal trial. Jewish and Israeli students
00:00:14.040
were assaulted and spit on. They had their kippahs for fear of being harassed. The Trump
00:00:19.080
administration finds Harvard University violated the federal civil rights of its Jewish and Israeli
00:00:24.520
students and threatens to pull all federal funding from the Ivy League school. It's a huge, huge risk
00:00:31.140
if the European definition of hate speech becomes the American rule for hate speech. A deep dive into
00:00:38.360
a new European Union regulation taking effect today that could force American companies to
00:00:43.160
censor American content that has nothing to do with the EU. All that and more coming up in just
00:00:54.520
It's time you've heard about Riverbend Ranch. Riverbend Ranch is located just a few miles
00:01:00.480
from West Yellowstone, Montana, and is known as one of the most respected Angus ranches in the
00:01:05.660
nation. Angus beef is known for its great flavor and tenderness, but the cattle at Riverbend Ranch
00:01:11.360
are not your average Angus cattle. 35 years ago, using ultrasound technology, the owner of Riverbend
00:01:17.180
Ranch began scouring the nation to identify specific purebred Angus cows that genetically produce a higher
00:01:23.900
level of marbling and tenderness than normal Angus cattle. After over 30 years of careful selection
00:01:29.640
and breeding, Riverbend Ranch developed beef that has superior flavor and tenderness. They take great
00:01:35.280
pride in the humane treatment of their herd. The cattle spend their days in lush mountain meadows of
00:01:40.380
Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, and they're raised without the use of artificial growth hormones or
00:01:45.100
antibiotics. This is real American beef, born in America, raised in America, and processed in America.
00:01:50.800
And the beef is shipped directly from the ranch to your home. Go to riverbendranch.com,
00:01:56.480
use promo code MEGAN to get $20 off on your first order. It's absolutely delicious. You can taste
00:02:03.260
the difference. Riverbendranch.com, promo code MEGAN.
00:02:10.380
On Monday evening, News Nation correspondent Brian Enten reporting Idaho murder suspect Brian
00:02:16.220
Kohlberger has accepted a plea deal in the November 2022 killing of four University of Idaho students.
00:02:25.020
Enten reporting and Howard Bloom confirming to The Megyn Kelly Show that prosecutors will drop the death
00:02:30.780
penalty in exchange for Brian Kohlberger pleading guilty to committing the quadruple murders and serving
00:02:37.600
life in prison. The trial was set to begin in Idaho, August 18th. This Wednesday now, Kohlberger expected to
00:02:44.960
plead guilty to slaying 20-year-old Ethan Chapin, 20-year-old Zanna Kernodal, 21-year-old Madison
00:02:51.260
Mogan, and 21-year-old Kaylee Gonsalves as they slept in their beds. The Gonsalves family posting to
00:02:57.940
Facebook, quote, it's true, we are beyond furious at the state of Idaho. They have failed us. This was
00:03:04.300
very unexpected. Adding later a statement that reads in part, quote, prosecutors vaguely mentioned a
00:03:11.040
possible plea on Friday without seeking our input and presented the plea on Sunday. Lataw County
00:03:17.020
should be ashamed of its prosecutor's office. The victims' families were treated as opponents from
00:03:22.220
the outset. We weren't even called about the plea. We received an email with a letter attached. Adding
00:03:28.540
insult to injury, they're rushing the plea, giving families just one day to coordinate and appear at the
00:03:33.180
courthouse. Who do they think they are? After more than two years, this is how it concludes. With a
00:03:39.520
secretive deal and a hurried effort to close the case without any input from the victims' families
00:03:45.000
on the pleas details. As of late Monday night, none of the other victims' families had publicly
00:03:50.780
responded to the news. We are officially on verdict watch in the trial of Sean Diddy Combs. On Monday,
00:03:59.360
the judge providing instructions to the jury before beginning deliberations. The judge laying out
00:04:04.180
eight alleged acts for the jury to consider relating to count one, racketeering conspiracy. In order for
00:04:10.140
the prosecution to secure a guilty verdict on that count, the jury must find that Combs, with at least
00:04:15.380
one member of his alleged enterprise, committed at least two predicate criminal acts in a 10-year
00:04:21.040
period. The eight possible acts the jury was offered are kidnapping, arson, bribery, forced labor,
00:04:28.320
transportation to engage in prostitution, sex trafficking, witness tampering, and possession
00:04:33.500
with intent to distribute drugs. To find Combs guilty of racketeering, the judge instructing the
00:04:39.580
jury, they must find the enterprise impacted interstate commerce. Jurors must also find that
00:04:45.040
the criminal enterprise continued in a substantially similar form from 2004 through 2024, and due to the
00:04:52.500
five-year statute of limitations on RICO charges, the criminal enterprise must have continued past
00:04:57.980
2019. The judge elaborating on each predicate crime, explaining, for example, that kidnapping only
00:05:05.060
occurs if the victim does not consent, but consent, if given, can also be withdrawn. Former Combs
00:05:12.000
assistant Capricorn Clark previously testifying to being kidnapped by Combs in 2011 prior to a
00:05:17.980
confrontation with musician Kid Cuddy. Counts two and four charging Combs with sex trafficking by force
00:05:24.280
fraud or coercion. Counts two relating to star witness and former girlfriend Cassie Ventura from
00:05:29.920
about 2009 to 2018. The judge instructing the jury they must be unanimous on at least one specific
00:05:37.260
instance of sex trafficking in order to convict. The judge also telling the jury they can choose how long
00:05:43.040
they would like to deliberate each day, allowing them to stay later than 5 p.m. if they so choose.
00:05:48.420
Not long after deliberations began, the foreperson sending a note to the court raising concerns about
00:05:53.920
juror number 25. The quote, we have a juror, number 25, who we are concerned cannot follow
00:06:00.800
your honor's instructions, end quote. Juror number 25 is reportedly a 51-year-old Hispanic man,
00:06:07.460
a veterinarian, who said he has a PhD in molecular biology and neuroscience. He told the court during
00:06:14.540
jury selection that he likes nature documentaries, operas, and hiking. He has a domestic partner,
00:06:20.500
he said, who is a male graphic designer. The judge granting each side 10 minutes to formulate a
00:06:26.380
response, remarking on each proposal, saying, quote, in large part, they are the same. The judge
00:06:31.220
then sending a reply to the jury, quote, I remind every juror of their duty to deliberate and their
00:06:36.500
obligation to follow my instruction on the law. With that instruction in mind, please continue
00:06:41.280
deliberating. It remains unclear how the juror was unable to follow the judge's instructions.
00:06:46.860
Then, just prior to 5 p.m., the jury's sending two more letters to the judge, one alerting the judge
00:06:53.160
that deliberations would end at 5 p.m. that day, the other reportedly asking the judge if it counts
00:06:59.340
as drug distribution when an individual asks for a controlled substance and the person hands it over.
00:07:06.660
This lawyer's answer? Yes, it counts. While no one knows for sure, the question suggests the jury did
00:07:13.000
not check not guilty on the racketeering count, at least not yet. The judge announcing that he will
00:07:19.320
respond to their question after attorney input tomorrow and dismissing the jury for the day.
00:07:24.520
We will bring you the verdict and all updates as soon as we have them.
00:07:30.160
The Trump administration on Monday announcing Harvard University violated its students' civil rights.
00:07:36.520
This, the latest move in a months-long effort by the Trump administration to crack down on illegal
00:07:41.480
displays of on-campus anti-Semitism and on-campus ideological indoctrination. A Health and Human
00:07:48.040
Services Office for Civil Rights investigation concluding that Harvard failed to address harassment
00:07:53.200
of Jewish and Israeli students on campus in violation of Title VI of the Federal Civil Rights Act,
00:07:59.020
which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin. Press Secretary Caroline
00:08:04.580
Leavitt on Monday describing some of the investigation's findings.
00:08:08.140
The majority of Jewish students reportedly experienced negative bias or discrimination
00:08:13.860
on their campus while a quarter of Jewish students at Harvard felt physically unsafe. Jewish and Israeli
00:08:20.640
students were assaulted and spit on. They had their kippahs for fear of being harassed and concealed
00:08:25.880
their Jewish identity from classmates for fear of ostracization. Harvard campus was wracked by
00:08:31.420
demonstrations, as you all know, violent protests that violated the university's rules of conduct.
00:08:37.720
The demonstrations called for genocide and murder denied Jewish and Israeli students access
00:08:43.320
to campus spaces. These are all facts that Harvard cannot dispute, and that's why the administration
00:08:49.060
has found them in violation of Title VI and has threatened to withhold their federal funding.
00:08:54.400
The Trump administration accusing Harvard of acting, quote, deliberately indifferent toward Jewish
00:08:59.320
and Israeli students facing harassment. In March, President Trump's Department of Education announcing a full
00:09:05.100
review of more than $255 million in contracts and more than $8.7 billion in grants. Since that review,
00:09:12.860
the administration has cut off more than $3 billion, with threats of more on the way. It has also revoked
00:09:18.580
the student visa certification, barring the school from enrolling foreign students. Harvard in return launching
00:09:24.700
two lawsuits, one relating to funding cuts, the other relating to the visa program. Trump officials now
00:09:30.580
warning, Harvard's failure to institute adequate changes immediately will result in the loss of all
00:09:36.620
federal financial resources. A Harvard spokesman on Monday rejecting the Trump administration's findings,
00:09:42.700
saying the school has taken steps to address anti-Semitism by strengthening policies and encouraging
00:09:48.360
open and respectful civil discourse. Harvard University and administration officials have been
00:09:54.400
engaging in direct negotiations as recently as this month. A formal notice of a civil rights
00:10:00.280
violation like this typically precedes a lawsuit from the Department of Justice and could force a
00:10:06.600
settlement agreement. Coming up, a new law taking effect in the EU today posing a significant threat
00:10:13.820
to American free speech, even if you have no plans of ever crossing the pond.
00:10:18.820
If there's something all of us can believe in, it's hard work, self-reliance, and showing up for the
00:10:28.600
people who can count on us. And I want to tell you about Beam's Dream Powder. Beam is proudly founded
00:10:35.660
in America. It's run by people who value hard work, integrity, and delivering results. It's a healthy
00:10:42.260
nighttime blend packed with science-backed ingredients they say improve your sleep so you can wake up and
00:10:48.820
refreshed and ready to take on the day. Dream is made with a powerful blend of all natural
00:10:54.100
ingredients, magnesium, melatonin, and more. Dream is made right here in America, supporting jobs,
00:11:01.160
quality, and the principles we stand for. And Beam is giving you the ultimate Patriot discount of up to
00:11:07.140
40% off your order. Try their delicious best-selling Dream Powder and get up to 40% off for a limited time.
00:11:15.560
Go to shopbeam.com slash Megan and use the code Megan at checkout. That's shopbeam.com slash Megan
00:11:23.400
and use the code Megan for up to 40% off. Sleep better, wake up stronger, show up ready for your
00:11:30.160
family, your work, and your country. Because when you're well-rested, you're unstoppable.
00:11:34.940
Beginning today in the European Union, a new, sweeping set of regulations takes effect under the
00:11:43.140
Digital Services Act. These rules could force tech companies to censor content posted anywhere in the
00:11:49.360
world, including from Americans with no connection to the EU. We spoke with senior counsel at the
00:11:55.400
Alliance Defending Freedom, Jeremy Tedesco, about the threat posed to free speech in America.
00:12:00.640
The Digital Services Act is a clear and present threat to Americans' free speech rights. It takes
00:12:06.240
the EU's speech standards, which are very draconian, related to hate speech and misinformation,
00:12:12.500
and it applies them to American companies that run online platforms. And it backs up those standards
00:12:19.040
with billions of dollars in fines if the companies do not comply with the EU's perspective of what is
00:12:25.780
disinformation, what is misinformation, what is hate speech. So now, with the code of disinformation
00:12:30.920
becoming mandatory July 1, that means these companies are facing the actual consequence of
00:12:37.620
6% of their global revenue being fined if they don't comply with the Digital Services Act and what
00:12:43.180
the EU bureaucrats want them to censor online. And so it's a huge problem. It's really a tax on American
00:12:49.300
companies, and a tax that is in existence to censor speech. Violations of the act carry up to a 6%
00:12:57.180
penalty on global revenues from companies like Meta, Apple, and X, potentially amounting to billions of
00:13:03.200
in fines. In January, free speech defenders rejoicing at Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's announcement
00:13:09.400
that the social media giant was canceling its brigade of so-called fact-checkers.
00:13:14.100
We're going to get rid of fact-checkers and replace them with community notes
00:13:18.180
similar to X. Fact-checkers have just been too politically biased and have destroyed more
00:13:23.440
trust than they've created, especially in the U.S. According to Tedesco, under the Digital Services
00:13:28.620
Act, the EU is employing its own army of third-party fact-checkers to monitor for offending content
00:13:35.520
across the globe. They basically delegate the responsibility for determining what is hate
00:13:43.360
speech or what is disinformation to these third-party non-profits or NGOs. And we've heard
00:13:49.700
a lot in the U.S. about how NGOs have been involved in this censorship regime, this censorship
00:13:55.300
industrial complex. Well, that is exactly how the Digital Services Act is designed. Those trusted
00:14:00.560
flaggers, as they call them, go to the companies and tell them, this content needs to be taken down,
00:14:06.060
this content needs to be taken down, this is misinformation, this is hate speech. And the companies,
00:14:10.420
if they don't comply with the trusted flaggers' recommendations, all those penalties, all the
00:14:15.860
enforcement mechanisms of the DSA can come in and be triggered. Tedesco says the vast majority of the
00:14:21.640
censorship will happen behind the scenes without most people ever noticing. These speech restrictions,
00:14:27.720
you're not going to see them. I mean, every once in a while, you might see the tip of the iceberg where
00:14:31.580
some DSA, you know, takedown mandate has resulted in somebody's account being suspended. Over 99% of the
00:14:40.780
censorship that's occurring is occurring behind the veil. The DSA requires these companies to proactively
00:14:45.580
mitigate against the speech that the EU thinks is problematic. Speech that is, again, fully protected under
00:14:52.220
the U.S. Constitution. Speech they consider to be hate speech or, you know, disinformation. These are, you know,
00:14:58.940
effectively are people's views about contentious issues of the day. And the EU is telling these
00:15:04.580
companies, if you don't proactively mitigate, and what that means is writing algorithms, training their
00:15:10.880
AI, and taking other measures to limit the reach of or eliminate speech from their platforms. But if the
00:15:17.840
companies don't do it to the EU bureaucrats, you know, preferences, they can impose those 6% in fines
00:15:26.820
on global revenue. The EU, Tedesco warns, has a far more expansive definition of hate speech than what
00:15:33.500
Americans are used to, pointing to the case of one ADF client in Finland who was charged with hate
00:15:39.120
speech for sharing a Bible verse on social media. A lot of what the EU thinks is hate speech or
00:15:45.880
disinformation is fully protected speech in the United States under the Free Speech Clause of the U.S.
00:15:51.420
Constitution. One of our cases, Pai V. Reisenden, is a Finnish parliamentarian. She posted a Bible verse
00:15:57.780
about marriage, and the Finnish officials charged her with three hate crimes. And she's gone through
00:16:06.100
two cases, one though, so far. Now she's going through her third case, simply for posting a Bible
00:16:11.180
verse on X, Twitter at the time. And that wasn't a DSA-related enforcement effort, but that demonstrates
00:16:19.140
to you exactly what members of the EU think is hate speech. It's you posting a Bible verse for, you know,
00:16:27.820
all your friends online to see. And so it's a huge, huge risk if the European definition of hate speech
00:16:37.320
becomes the American rule for hate speech when it comes to being able to engage in discourse online.
00:16:44.520
Tedesco describes a number of options the Trump administration has in neutralizing the digital
00:16:48.820
services acts threat to American free speech. Ambassador Andrew Puzder was nominated and
00:16:55.120
recently confirmed as the ambassador to the European Union. So what we'd love to see is that
00:17:00.580
the Trump administration tell Ambassador Puzder, you know, a big priority in your work in Brussels
00:17:07.960
is going to be, you know, eliminating this extraterritorial effort underway in Brussels
00:17:15.400
to regulate speech online globally. That comes in a lot of different forms. It can be diplomatic,
00:17:21.380
it can be trade negotiations, it can be talking with member states who are objecting to the DSA,
00:17:27.380
encouraging them to take advantage of their legal options.
00:17:32.800
And that'll do it for your AM Update. I'm Megan Kelly. Join me back here for The Megan Kelly Show,
00:17:37.420
live on SiriusXM Triumph Channel 111 at noon east, on youtube.com slash megankelly,