Diddy Denied Bail, Kohberger Sentencing Ahead, and Deep Dive on Biden's Autopen: AM Update 7/3
16:21 Share

Life insurers put life into the things you live for. The new factory that's hiring your neighbors. Maintenance on the bridge that keeps traffic flowing. The paycheck that puts pizza night on the table. Life insurers contribute $8 trillion to the U.S. economy through bond purchases and other investments. And protect the financial security of 90 million American families, like yours. See how life insurers put life into America at acli.com. Paid for by the American Council of Life Insurers.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Megyn Kelly. It's Thursday, July 3rd, 2025, and this is your AM Update. I kid you not. People are pouring baby oil on one another outside this courthouse. A big win for Sean Diddy Combs as the mogul is found not guilty on the most serious charges he faced, but he remains behind bars for now. Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty?

Yes. Brian Koberger pleads guilty on all counts in the vicious slaying of four University of Idaho students in exchange for not facing the death penalty. And a closer look at former President Biden's frequent use of the auto pen. Who was really in charge of running the country? All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM Update.

One in two adults have high blood pressure and many don't even know it. That's a ticking time bomb. But here's the good news. You have the power to take control naturally with 120 Life. 120 Life is a blend of great tasting super fruit juices that can actually help lower your blood pressure naturally. 120 Life is formulated with ingredients that have been shown to support healthy blood pressure levels. It's trusted by hundreds of health professionals and people have seen real measurable results.

You can try it yourself, risk-free, with our two-week trial. Just go to 120life.com and use the code MK to save 15% and get free shipping. You can track your progress with a simple blood pressure monitor, watch your numbers drop, and feel the difference. They are so sure that 120 Life can noticeably lower your blood pressure in two weeks that they will give you your money back if you're not satisfied. Go to 120life.com. That's 120life.com. And remember to use code MK to save 15% off your order.

The judge in the Sean Diddy Combs criminal trial denying the defendant's request for bail Wednesday evening following his conviction on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. Combs' mouth reportedly dropping at the no bail announcement.

Earlier in the day, the jury acquitting the mogul on the three more serious charges, one count of racketeering and two counts of sex trafficking. The jury returning the verdict shortly after beginning deliberations on Wednesday. In total, the deliberations lasting about 13 hours across three days. Upon hearing the verdict, Combs pumping his fist, mouthing, thank you, thank you to the jurors. Then I'm going home to his family.

The defense asking for $1 million bond with travel restrictions while Combs awaits sentencing. Lead prosecutor Maureen Comey requesting Combs remain in custody, saying, quote, there is a real risk that he will flagrantly disregard orders from this court.

A lawyer for Cassie Ventura, one of Diddy's victims, submitting a letter to the judge requesting Combs not be released. Quote, Ms. Ventura believes that Mr. Combs is likely to pose a danger to the victims who testified in this case, including herself, as well as to the community.

Deontay Nash, friend of Ventura who previously testified, submitting a letter to the judge, reading in part, quote,

The defense arguing the government failed to prove its most serious charge and pointing to Combs' young child and elderly mother needing him at home. The judge citing Combs' past violent behavior, noting the defense attorney, quote, full-throatedly in your closing told the jury there was violence here, end quote, concluding, quote, prior to the trial, the court denied bail and sees no reason to reverse that now.

Combs now faces up to 10 years for each count of transportation to engage in prostitution. As the prosecution and the defense debated sentencing terms, a newly emboldened Combs requesting to speak to the judge directly. No such exchange took place. A remote hearing is set for Tuesday next week to address the sentencing scheduling.

Brian Kohlberger accepting a highly controversial plea deal on Wednesday, pleading guilty to all five counts against him, one count of burglary and four of first-degree murder. Kohlberger admitting to entering a rental home near the University of Idaho, stabbing 20-year-old Ethan Chapin, 20-year-old Zanna Kernodle, 21-year-old Madison Mogan, and 21-year-old Kaylee Gonsalves to death.

Throughout the pretrial process, Kohlberger refusing to speak, remaining silent even at his own arraignment. Wednesday in court, Kohlberger speaking publicly for the first time and in a tone better suited for a trivia contest. Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty? Yes. With respect to count one burglary felony, how do you plead, Mr. Kohlberger, guilty or not guilty? Guilty. As to count two...

Murder in the first degree as it relates to the murder of Madison Mogan. How do you plead guilty or not guilty? Guilty. As to count three, as it relates to murder in the first degree for the murder of Kaylee Gonsalves. How do you plead guilty or not guilty? Guilty. As to count four, the first degree murder of Zana Cronodal, pardon me, a human being. How do you plead guilty or not guilty? Guilty. Guilty.

As to count five, the first degree murder of Ethan Chapin, a human being, how do you plead? Guilty or not guilty? Guilty. Kohlberger avoiding the death penalty, according to the terms of this deal, the outcome shocking and outraging many, including the father of Kaylee Gonsalves, who wanted a jury to decide Kohlberger's fate after a public trial and with the death penalty on the table.

Mr. Gonsalves releasing a statement after the plea that reads in part as follows. The plea began with the defendant claiming responsibility for his actions with one word responses. All were sufficient for the court and the prosecution team because that is what this plea was about today, the court and the prosecution.

a plea that makes everything go away for them and lets them get back to their normal routine. This plea did not represent the victims' families. It represented an easy way out and no answers.

Former homicide prosecutor Matt Murphy Wednesday on The Megyn Kelly Show. I'm kind of frustrated, actually. I sat on our death penalty special circumstance committee for 15 years in Orange County. And essentially what you do in a special circumstances murder is you go through the law piece by piece and you weigh the aggravating versus mitigating circumstances.

And from that, we would make a recommendation to the elected DA, who then makes a very somber decision whether or not to seek the death penalty or life without possibility of parole. This case screams out for the death penalty. So my big question here is what changed?

Because it's unethical to file a death enhancement or to seek the death penalty with the idea that you are extracting a plea. And when you hear the evidence, for me, listening to the fact that he got a K-bar on Amazon before he moved out, this is an overwhelming case.

So again, what changed other than him deciding, other than Koberger asking to plead guilty, that changed the assessment that this was a death penalty case? The big winner today, I hate to say it, is Brian Koberger. And I am just as frustrated listening to that. Author Howard Bloom, who has diligently covered this case with many exclusives, also criticizing the prosecutors over the plea deal on The Megyn Kelly Show. Well,

It is such a cynical decision on the part of the state to make this plea bargain. And during the course of the recitation by Thompson, he kept on saying things, so many things we don't know. He said, for whatever reason, we don't know exactly why he did this. The evidence suggests these are answers that we will never get, that the families, more importantly, will never get. The state

The town, the surviving families, they will never forget this. And I think they've done a real injustice by the state. Many family members of the victims appearing in court today visibly emotional in the presence of their loved one's murderer. NBC reporting Christy Gonsalves, mother of Kaylee, sobbing at the mention of her daughter. Ben Mogan, father of Madison Mogan, looking agitated, breathing heavily.

The families split on the plea deal. Steve Gonsalves accusing prosecutor Bill Thompson of making a deal with the devil. The Mogan family releasing a statement saying they support the agreement 100%, believing it to be the best possible outcome. The Chapin family too supported the deal.

Kohlberger, now a convicted murderer, will not be allowed to appear in civilian clothes for his sentencing hearing on July 23rd, as now he's lost the presumption of innocence. Families of the victims will be allowed to make impact statements on that day. Kohlberger will receive four consecutive life sentences for the murders, plus 10 years for the burglary charge. Somewhat incredibly, he was not given life without the possibility of parole.

Coming up, who was really running the Biden White House? A look inside the investigation of who controlled the auto pen. It's time you've heard about Riverbend Ranch. Riverbend Ranch is located just a few miles from West Yellowstone, Montana, and is known as one of the most respected Angus ranches in the nation.

Angus beef is known for its great flavor and tenderness, but the cattle at Riverbend Ranch are not your average Angus cattle. 35 years ago, using ultrasound technology, the owner of Riverbend Ranch began scouring the nation to identify specific purebred Angus cows that genetically produce a higher level of marbling and tenderness than normal Angus cattle.

After over 30 years of careful selection and breeding, Riverbend Ranch developed beef that has superior flavor and tenderness. They take great pride in the humane treatment of their herd. The cattle spend their days in lush mountain meadows of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, and they're raised without the use of artificial growth hormones or antibiotics. This is real American beef, born in America, raised in America, and processed in America. And the beef is shipped directly from the ranch to your home.

Go to riverbendranch.com. Use promo code Megan to get $20 off on your first order. It's absolutely delicious. You can taste the difference. Riverbendranch.com. Promo code Megan.

As America watched the clear cognitive decline of President Joe Biden throughout his presidency, many wondered who was actually running the White House. A bombshell report by the nonprofit government watchdog, the Oversight Project, finding the vast majority of White House documents with President Biden's signature were signed by Autopen.

An auto pen is a mechanical device used to replicate a signature. We spoke to the president of the oversight project, Mike Howell, about his investigation and what it reveals about who was actually running the Biden White House. We, like the rest of the country, were acutely aware of the fact that President Biden was malfunctioning and not running the White House.

And we were trying to look into the ways that they could run a White House without a functioning president. And we basically centered on how are they signing things? How's the paper moving as one of the ways? And so we pulled the signatures and saw that, you know, a pattern emerged. And it was very clear that there was copy and paste signature and on a pen device.

And so we began pulling the paper to study the usage of it over time. We basically have found that there are at least three, and there's a fourth one that we have found that we're working on now, versions of the signature that were used for various types of documents to include executive orders, pardons, proclamations. And the usage of it picked up over time, particularly in like weird scenarios in which Biden was actually in D.C. and able to sign other things.

Multiple investigations launching in the wake of these findings, including President Trump ordering the DOJ to launch a probe last month. The House Oversight Committee also starting its own investigation last week, summoning former Biden staff secretary Neera Tanden for more than five hours of closed door testimony. Chairman James Comer later revealing Tanden testified she had minimal interaction with President Biden.

Howell describes the role of the staff secretary and just how unusual it is for someone in this role to have limited face time with the president. It is a very important job. It is the person who controls the paper flow from the president and keeps things at the White House legal and organized. Traditionally, you know, a very, very senior staffer.

Neera Tanden famously was, you know, she's a Soros operative. It's her job to basically ensure that the paper moves in accordance with policy procedure and is legally sufficient. When you have White House senior staff that is basically not interacting with the president, but is in charge of deploying his signature and his binding authority on documents,

It's a major, major break in past president and procedure. You shouldn't have someone in that position of seniority that doesn't even speak with the president to know that he actually approves the things that you're putting his name to. She was taking orders via Twitter.

paper decision memos that went up to senior staffers then came back to her. And so the chain of commands was broken in that regard. The signature was being applied without the person applying it, knowing that the president actually signed off on it. Howell says Tandon's testimony raises questions about whether President Biden knew what he was signing off on. She also spoke to a really irregular process.

in which written decision memos would go up the chain of command from her and then would come back with just an initial saying it's good to go. And that raises another major question. Is the decision memo the actual text of the executive order or is it something different? One fact pattern that we could be dealing with is a descriptive memo goes up to the president saying something to the effect of we're going to do a bunch of executive orders that

They will undo Trump's inhumane policies and they will make everything sunshine and roses on the border. Everybody loves it. This is going to make you a hero. And then the executive orders that come out are these really prescriptive and destructive executive orders to undo every last aspect of border security. And so it could be something that is way out of line.

with the presidential intent and dissent as to, you know, what is in the decision memo versus what actually happens. And that's what I'm looking to see. Is there a mismatch there? That's one of the, I think, the big themes we're zeroing in on. Howell describes a number of possible crimes his group is investigating. We think there are crimes that are likely to have been committed. Those would include impersonation. You can impersonate a federal official.

You can't forge a signature. There could be forgery. I think there's a lot of bribery at play. I think the whole story of the Biden family pay-to-play scheme over decades is one of bribery and foreign pay-to-play and failure to register as foreign agents and doing work on behalf of foreign governments. Also secondary to that, like the people who were aware of

That this scheme was underway and that they were functioning the White House out of the constitutional order. And, you know, with all these other crimes that I've mentioned potentially happening could be guilty of misprisonment of a felony, which is basically like a failure to report.

In June, the Biden office releasing this statement attributable to President Biden, quote, Let me be clear. I made the decisions during my presidency. I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn't is ridiculous and false. But for now, the various investigations are ongoing.

And that'll do it for your AM update. I'm Megyn Kelly. Join me back here for The Megyn Kelly Show, live on SiriusXM Tryout Channel 111 at noon east, on YouTube.com slash Megyn Kelly, and on all podcast platforms. Life insurers put life into the things you live for. The new factory that's hiring your neighbors. Maintenance on the bridge that keeps traffic flowing. The paycheck that puts pizza night on the table.

Life insurers contribute $8 trillion to the U.S. economy through bond purchases and other investments and protect the financial security of 90 million American families like yours. See how life insurers put life into America at acli.com. Paid for by the American Council of Life Insurers.