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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Trump Fires Senior Labor Official Who Oversees Jobs Reports; Ghislaine Maxwell Moved From Florida To A Lower Security Federal Prison In Texas; Manhunt After Four People Killed In Montana Bar Shooting; Man Accused Of Killing Couple On Hike Appears In Court; Smithsonian Exhibit Removes Reference To Trump's Impeachments. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired August 01, 2025 - 17:00   ET

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

KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: Thank you guys very much for being here. Thanks you at home for being with us today as well.

And of course, if you miss any of today's show or yesterday's show, you can always catch up by listening to our podcast. Just scan the QR code before. You can follow along wherever you get your podcasts.

And I am working this weekend. I will be back Sunday at 9:00 am and noon Eastern hosting State of the Union in for Jake and Dana. Among my guests this weekend, the EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and Colorado Governor Jared Polis will also be our guest.

But right now, Phil Mattingly is standing by for "The Lead." Hi, Phil.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kasie. We will see you on Sunday and back in "The Arena" next week.

HUNT: Thanks. Have a great show.

[17:00:38]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN BREAKING news.

MATTINGLY: Welcome to The Lead. I'm so Mattingly in for Jake Tapper.

We start with breaking news on a number of fronts. The Dow finishing its worst week since April. The S and P posting its worst day since May. And the NASDAQ having its worst day since April as well. Before the bell, well, the numbers, they were already down on the heels of that massive sweep of tariffs President Trump announced to be implemented in a week.

And on the news of the weaker than expected jobs report that came out this morning. But then a stunning twist from the president. This afternoon, he fired the person who oversees those jobs reports, Dr. Erika McEntarfer, nominated by President Biden, overwhelmingly confirmed by the Senate last year. Trump wrote on Truth Social, quote, "I've directed my team to fire this Biden political appointee immediately. She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified.

Important numbers like this must be fair and accurate. They can't be manipulated for political purposes."

And then there's the breaking news in the law and justice lead, a new prison address suddenly for Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted sex trafficker and Jeffrey Epstein accomplice, she had been serving a 20 year sentence in Florida, but without any explanation, she was moved to a lower security federal prison camp in Texas. Now, this move comes just one week after Maxwell's two meetings with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who previously, of course, served as President Trump's personal attorney. The Justice Department has yet to reveal any details of that meeting, though Maxwell's lawyer said she, quote, "honestly answered every question that Mr. Blanche asked."

Now, just last night, before the news of Maxwell's prison upgrade, family members of the late Epstein accusers -- the late Epstein's accuser, Virginia Giuffre, told CNN's Kaitlan Collins exactly what they think of Maxwell.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SKY ROBERTS, BROTHER OF VIRGINIA GIUFFRE: She deserves to rot in prison where she belongs because of what she's done to my sister and so many other women. And it's absolutely a pure sense of evil.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: This afternoon, Giuffre's family and other victims of Epstein and Maxwell released a new statement saying victims were given no notification of this move and saying, quote, "It is with horror and outrage that we object to the preferential treatment convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell has received. This move smacks of a cover up. The victims deserve better."

Well, we've got all of it covered, but let's start with the breaking news in the money lead and President Trump's firing of the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. CNN Richard -- CNN's Richard Quest and Jeff Zeleny are standing by.

Jeff, I want to start with you, didn't see this one coming. Know how the president feels about these things in general, but this is tangible action here. Do we know how this played out behind the scenes?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Phil, we do know that President Trump has long been suspicious of some of these jobs numbers when they don't look favorable to him. When they do look favorable to him, he of course, says nothing at all. But he just told reporters moments ago on the South Lawn as he was leaving the White House for a weekend at his Bedminster Golf course, he said that he had been thinking about this before. He said that he had been concerned about these revisions and that what he really is focusing on, not the July report, but the revisions from the May and June report down some quarter of a million jobs.

I asked the president what evidence he has to say that the jobs numbers were rigged. That's of course, what he was saying on Truth Social. He repeated it again to us just a few moments ago, of course, he said, today's jobs numbers were rigged. We -- in order to make Republicans and me look bad. I asked what evidence he had of that, he did not offer any evidence of that, Phil.

But the president went on to say this, "I think the numbers are phony, so I fired her." So that's how he boiled this down, I think the numbers are phony, without offering any evidence at all, so I fired her. But it certainly underscores one point that the jobs numbers have gotten under the president's skin, that the economic indicators below the economy, if you will, are showing signs of weakness. And that is something that is frustrating to the president and worrisome to other officials who are studying the economy a little bit more closely. So he said he has long been concerned about her.

We've not heard him mention this out loud, at least recently. But we should note, as you said, she was appointed by President Biden, but she was confirmed by an 86 to eight vote in the U.S. senate back in January of 2024. That is almost unheard of in today's polarization. She's a longtime government official. So the president is saying you need to take politics out of the jobs numbers.

[17:05:20]

What he has done is injected politics directly into them. Phil.

MATTINGLY: And one of those yes votes, Jeff, then Senator J.D. Vance. I think he's got some current role as well, close to the president.

ZELENY: He does.

MATTINGLY: Richard, the resiliency of the markets, the U.S. economy in general, but markets in particular the past few months has been a huge story, despite the tariff uncertainty. That also changed today after the latest round of tariffs, that jobs report. What are you hearing right now from investors?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR AT LARGE: Oh, it's really quite simple, the reality has set in. Until now there's always the will he, won't he? What will he do with the whole tacker mentality? And -- but now we've actually got hard numbers. We've got real data that shows what's going on and we can now start to make some projections because the tariffs that have been put in place most certainly will slow down economic growth, maybe less than people think.

And it may -- inflation may not ramp up as much as others believe, but it will have a downed effect on the economy. And the market, having been off to the races for so long, has priced that in and that's why we're down so far today.

In addition to, I think that later in the day, although not direct reflection, the firing of the BLS head is going to be a concern because the simple fact is there's never been a suggestion that there's been anything wrong with these numbers. This is out of the blue and there's going to be great concern. We rely on accurate data. To the best of everyone's knowledge, that's what's had so far, not so anymore.

MATTINGLY: Yes, and it's revised by design, which is actually a positive element of the process. Willing to acknowledge that things --

QUEST: Completely.

MATTINGLY: -- changes, they get better data. And to just point earlier, there's a reason the president didn't provide evidence. He doesn't have it, like let's not even try and act like he does at this point. Richard, I do want to ask before I let you go because it's been a super slow news week on the economic front, a member of the Fed board announced a resignation this month. What does it mean?

Did we expect it? What's happening here?

QUEST: No, it's Adriana Kugler, she's resigned early to go back to academia. She was going anyway in January. She's a Biden appointee. So we've always known that the job was coming up that the president will now have a chance to appoint earlier. But it takes months for this to happen unless he rushes it through before the end of the year.

The big one, of course, still remains Jerome Powell, whose term as Fed Chair is up spring of next year. But of course he can stay on as a governor for many more years. This particular thing, this particular resignation, no real significance, but it does give the president an earlier opportunity to appoint.

MATTINGLY: Something I think he will enjoy quite a bit. Jeff Zeleny, Richard Quest, great reporting as always, my friends. Thanks so much.

Well, now I want to take a step back and dive a little bit deeper because this has been a massive, massive week for economic news and I cover the stuff on a daily basis and it's been a little tough to get my head around. Can't imagine what people at home are thinking right now. Let's start with kind of the big picture items and why they actually matter. Richard did a great job of laying out the president's tariff plan. It's a new tariff plan on some level, but it's also very reflective of that April 2nd Liberation Day tariff proposal that he laid out, a universal tariff, reciprocal tariffs.

And as you can see, the universal tariff now for countries with a trade surplus with the United States, 10 percent, there are no zeros, everybody's paying something and that is a significant jump up for many countries. For those with a trade deficit with the U.S. 15 percent, unless they have a significant deficit with the U.S. which goes back to those Liberation Day countries, 60 plus countries have significantly higher tariff rates, 26 of those countries higher than 15 percent.

Now, keep in mind, this is all coming as the thoughts of tacos and theater and transitions and trade and tariffs. Yes, it turns out he actually meant what he said and he's implementing it and that implementation will be finalized on August 7th. Worth noting, obviously, several major trade outlines of deals that the president locked in over the last couple of days. What about that July jobs report that Jeff was talking about, that Richard we're talking about, this is what we saw this morning, 73,000 jobs added. That is a slight miss, wasn't a huge mess. But this right here was the major issue. Those revisions over May and June, 258,000 jobs, that's what the president has locked on to. Even White House advisers saying, look, that's not great, trying to figure out what happens going forward. That is what the market has reacted to.

[17:10:00]

What about inflation? This has been the issue that people who oppose Trump's tariff regime have said, look, this is coming. There are going to be a jump in price increases. And White House officials have been able to say, week after week after week, you are not telling the truth on this. That has not been borne out.

There was a warning sign, though, that I think market participants have been reacting to over the course of the last couple of days, and that's right here, 2.6 percent, the PC Price Index. This is an inflation gauge that the Fed really relies on as they think through how to operate with rates. And on a month by month basis, that jumped up a little bit, not a ton, but it was one of those things that investors said, OK, maybe there's something else here.

Well, we mentioned the Fed, the Fed of course, this week, much to the president's chagrin, it held rates steady, 4.375 percent. No indication whether or not they will consider rate or cutting rates in September as the president wants. We'll have to see how that plays out. The jobs report kind of -- kind of intuitively for the president's sake, actually helps in his case if he wants to get a rate cut.

But one of the most interesting parts about this actual meeting behind the scenes is, for the first time in more than three decades, it was not a unified vote of the 12 voting members of the Fed board. The 11 who were present, two of them cast dissenting votes, laying out a very real economic argument that's taking place underneath the president's rhetorical attacks on Fed Chair Jay Powell and saying that they believed rates should have been cut. In that meeting, we'll see if that grows heading into the months ahead.

So, OK, it's been a crazy week and a crazy, frankly, last couple of hours. What's next? You need to watch China. As all of the tariff action has been playing out over the course of the last couple of days, you may forget that on Monday and Tuesday of this week, there was actually the third round of U.S. China trade talks. We are still waiting for President Trump to announce whether or not he's accepted a deal that has been long standing to continue that deal for another 90 days.

When investors started to get a little bit more sanguine about those Liberation Day tariffs, it was because the biggest, biggest battle that was happening after them was between the U.S. and China. Tariffs are still very high, but there has been a de-escalation of sorts that needs to be extended. The president needs to weigh in on that. He's got about a week to do. So there's your economic news.

All right, let's get back to the breaking news in our law and justice lead and that surprising move. Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell transferred out of a Florida prison and into a lower security Texas prison shortly after her meetings with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. Let's bring in CNN Chief Legal Affairs Correspondent Paul Reid.

Paula, you've got brand new reporting about the White House strategy for handling the Epstein scandal even in the wake of this bombshell news of Ghislaine Maxwell being transferred. What is it?

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: So, Phil, over the past month since the administration announced that it wasn't going to have anything else to say related to the Epstein investigation, our colleague Alayna Treene and I have been speaking with sources to figure out, OK, what is the next step here? Because clearly that decision did not sit well with many members of the president's base and there has been such an enormous push for additional transparency.

Now, we've learned the administration is watching coverage of this issue very closely and weighing next steps and the different options that they have before them. And there appears to be an acknowledgment, at least privately, that they will likely have to release additional documents.

But part of the problem there is, Phil, that if they are to release additional materials, there are going to have to be substantial redactions to protect the victims in this case. And as you know, rarely do pages with a lot of black all over them or redactions tamp down concerns about conspiracy. So they know even if they do release additional documents, that is not necessarily going to solve the problem they have here.

Now, they do have a couple irons in the fire. We know that, of course, the deputy attorney general met with Ghislaine Maxwell down in prison, her original prison, not her new one today, had conversations with her. She answered questions about roughly 100 people. We don't know what she said. We also don't know what the administration is going to do with that information.

Now there's also this court battle over potentially releasing grand jury material that continues to go on. There's no decision there. But, Phil, that's considered a real long shot. This is confidential material. And even the administration has acknowledged that there isn't a lot of there there.

There were just two witnesses. And even if that was to be unsealed, it's not going to tamp down this controversy. It still appears that the administration thinks their greatest option is to just give this as much time as possible. They are hoping by the time it gets to next year, more of President Trump's supporters and Republicans will see that his policies are what he promised they would be, that he is delivering for them, and that this will still not be a political liability. It's unclear if that will work, Phil, but that's the latest on their strategy.

Small S.

MATTINGLY: It's a box canyon that they're in. We'll see how it plays out. Paula, that's great reporting. Stay with us.

I want to also bring in CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig.

Elie, Maxwell suddenly finds herself transferred to a, I guess we'll quote here, nicer prison is kind of my shorthand to this. In your experience as a prosecutor, what does this tell you?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, I guess I would say a less bad prison, Phil.

[17:15:01]

MATTINGLY: Yes.

HONIG: Look, there's an outside chance, a minuscule chance that this is a coincidence, but I highly doubt it. BOP, the Bureau of Prisons, does occasionally move prisons around. But look at the timing, I mean, just days after that meeting, Paula talked about, face to face with the deputy attorney general. And so what this tells me is really a couple of things. First of all, clearly DOJ, Todd Blanche, the Deputy Attorney General, were at least satisfied with what Maxwell told them.

If they believe she lied, it's hard to believe they'd be giving her a benefit. And that's sort of the second thing here. They are giving her a substantial benefit. I promise you, every one of the tens of thousands of current federal inmates would love to be sent to a lower designation prison. And that's what happened here.

She was at low security, and now she's at what we would call a camp, which is the lowest possible security. So clearly DOJ is delivering her some benefit, and clearly they have some faith in what she told them. The question is, will this be the only benefit she gets or will they deliver further benefits as we move along?

MATTINGLY: And, Paula, what Elie saying kind of dovetails really well with how you were laying out the thinking right now inside the White House. Let's hope that this kind of time will help us here. Virginia Giuffre's family accused President Trump of sending a message that, quote, "pedophiles deserve preferential treatment and their victims do not matter." This move doesn't seem like it's going to help tamp down anything in the near term.

REID: That's right. It does appear something nice that the Justice Department could do for her potentially in exchange for her cooperation, though we don't know the exact reason. I've actually been to this camp. I was there in 2016 with then Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates. Look, as prisons go, it's not so bad.

It's certainly a place where you would want to serve out an extended sentence like the one that she has. But they still have this issue. Anything you do for Maxwell, people who care about this case, people who care about the victims, they know she's a convicted sex trafficker. Witnesses testified at her trial that she recruited them, she groomed them, and in some cases, sexually abused them. So to give her any leniency or to appear to reward her in any way for helping them out of what is clearly a political jam, that is not going to solve the larger problem that they have here.

So we'll continue to ask our sources exactly why they made this move. But there is no doubt that if you had to serve an extended prison sentence, a federal sentence, this is exactly the kind of place you would want to be. This is clearly a benefit to her, but it is unclear why she has received this benefit. And if it's a precursor to anything more like clemency, commutation or a pardon, but things like that, again, a massive political liability for President Trump.

MATTINGLY: And a massive unanswered question.

Elie, because there's no shortage of news on this Friday. Just moments ago we learned the House Oversight Committee, which wants Maxwell to testify formally, rejected her bid for immunity. But it is delaying the August 11 deposition until the Supreme Court weighs in on her conviction. What does a delay tell you?

HONIG: Yes, let me give you the bottom line here. Congress can have Ghislaine Maxwell's testimony if they want it, if they grant her immunity, which by the way, does not undo her conviction or reduce her sentence. It just means whatever she testifies to cannot be used against her. If they want her testimony, they can get it by immunizing her. The fact that Comer is confirming we will not immunize her means Congress knows they're never going to get her testimony unless they change their position.

MATTINGLY: Elie Honig, Paula Reid, really, really great reporting conversation. Thanks so much.

Well, how unusual is this kind of prison transfer for Maxwell? It's a huge question, right? How different are the conditions? We're going to get into that next.

We're also following breaking news. A manhunt in Montana after a mass shooting at a bar. Four people were killed. We're going to get the latest on this as well. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:22:32]

MATTINGLY: Back now with our law and justice lead, Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Glenn Maxwell has been transferred out of a Florida prison and in to a lower security Texas prison. That's just after she met twice with Deputy Attorney general Todd Blanche. Let's discuss this with Holli Coulman. She's a prison consultant whose work prepares women entering federal -- into federal custody. And how did she get into that line of work?

Well, Holli herself served 21 months for embezzlement.

Holli, I really appreciate your time because I have a ton of questions about this and admittedly don't have a great understanding of how the system works in this case. The idea of somebody who's serving a 20- year sentence convicted of sexually grooming children for Epstein, sometimes participating in the abuse herself, is an upgrade like this normal?

HOLLI COULMAN, CO-DIRECTOR, PINK LADY PRISON CONSULTANTS: No, this is absolutely unprecedented what it transpired. So everybody is completely shocked. Within the Bureau of Prisons they're under the DOJ and she was at an FCI in Tallahassee. And with an FCI, there's really two types of prisons for women, and it's more egregious crimes. She was behind what we call the razor wire.

And for her to be transferred to Bryan, which is a camp, which means no razor wire, you can literally walk off the property. And the custody level of these women, usually at a camp, are 10 years and less, and again, low level nonviolent crimes. Hers is an egregious crime. She had what we call a management variable assigned to her, which means she is not to be moved anywhere because of the nature of her crime.

So by being transferred to a camp, ordered by the DOJ to the BOP to do this, again, you never seen this in my life. Never seen it by women that I've either served time with, clients, never have seen this. This is unprecedented.

MATTINGLY: To that point, and I suspect this is tied to kind of what you're laying out right now and the lack of precedent for it, the transfer being carried out by the Bureau of Prisons, not the U.S. Marshal Service. Does that tell you anything?

COULMAN: Oh, it does. Huge. Most -- all federal inmates are Transferred by the U.S. Marshals Service, whether it be Con Air, they're shackled, their belly chained, and they're transferred. By her, under kind of the dark of night or the early morning, being put in a van and driven, very, very highly unusual. They wanted complete control of this.

[17:25:00]

They did not want to put it out to the U.S. Marshals. So, again, very unusual.

MATTINGLY: What do you think -- I guess could you explain to people kind of your sense of what a day to day would look like now for Ghislaine Maxwell?

COULMAN: OK. This is going to be so much easier on her, so much. It's going from like more timed movements. Everything in an FCI, it's scheduled. When you get up, you go with a group of people and it's timed movements all day long. Going to a camp while it's still prison, she's going to have much more freedom.

She's going to be able to get up. And if she wants to go to the dining hall, she can walk to the dining hall. It's not timed movements. She wants to go walk the track, she can go walk the track. It is completely different.

It's more relaxed atmosphere now. By no means there's this camp cupcake, but this is going to be definitely much more posh for her. So she's going to be able to get more items on commissary, she's going to be able to get makeup, she's going to be able to get hair dye, she's going to be able to do those types of things. So this is -- this is a very big move.

With people at a camp, again, I told you 10 years and lower low level nonviolence. Seeing somebody like this with this particular crime, though, I do believe that some of the women, because of the visibility of this, are really not going to appreciate it.

MATTINGLY: Just real quick before I let you go, because you keep making this point, but I think sometimes we get into a path of making something that it's not and then it turns out there's more context or there's more -- there's something to it that maybe we don't know and I want to be careful about it. But you're being very clear here, you don't know of any precedent for this.

COULMAN: I don't. There is -- there is none. There is -- there are no other people that I know who have been moved by the Bureau of Prisons, not the U.S. Marshals, and being taken with an egregious crime like this because of the management variable, meaning you can't transfer somebody to a camp. It's just you've never seen it before. So to me, there's a deal that was made.

MATTINGLY: It's --

COULMAN: Sorry about that. There was a deal that was made.

MATTINGLY: And what those conversations have been to reach this point, we just don't have any answers at this point, but that context is invaluable. We really appreciate perspective. Holli Coulman, thank you so much.

COULMAN: Thanks for having me.

MATTINGLY: We also need to get to the breaking news in Montana. Investigators on the scene of a deadly shooting at a bar. We're going to have that and more coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:32:01]

MATTINGLY: We're back with the breaking news. This just in, authorities in Montana just released a photo of the man they're looking for after a deadly mass shooting. Four people killed. Let's get straight to CNN's Josh Campbell. Josh, what do we know at this point?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Phil, another day, another mass shooting, sadly, in the United States. This one occurring just a few hours ago in western Montana in the city of Anaconda. We're hearing from state police in Montana that, sadly, four people were killed at a bar in this city. A manhunt is now underway for the suspect. Now, the local Deer Lodge County Law Enforcement Agency actually issued a photo of the suspect. They have identified him. His name, Michael Paul Brown. They're pushing this information out there to the public, warning the public that this individual is to be considered armed and dangerous. We've seen this flood of various different law enforcement agencies now involved, including local police, the state police, as well as the ATF and the FBI. Federal resources now coming in as authorities try to identify where this person is.

We did hear from local law enforcement that the last known sighting was just about five miles west of where the shooting took place. This in a neighborhood called Stumptown, and authorities are trying to get this information out that this individual is armed and dangerous. They believe they want people to provide any information, but they don't want people to make contact with the suspect, Phil. They want people to call 911.

MATTINGLY: Josh, you -- you noted how often things like this happen. It's -- it's horrifying on some level, but you've covered so many of these. Walk people through the behind the scenes here. You mentioned federal authorities are coming in. How -- what is the interplay? What's happening right now?

CAMPBELL: Yes, so many different agencies. And one thing that's notable about this incident is that they know the identity of the suspect. You and I, Phil, have covered so many of these incidents where there is often a time period in a manhunt where authorities don't know who they're searching for. And so that obviously complicates things.

Here, they determined pretty quickly who they believe the suspect is, and so they're getting that information out. They'd also be, you know, wanting to make contact with any relatives, any friends, anyone who may be in contact with this individual. They haven't indicated yet as far as motive why this individual did this. That will obviously be a key part of this investigation. But that front of mind right now for all of these different agencies first is locating this individual.

We know that they've been sending out broadcast to neighboring law enforcement agencies as well to make them aware of what's actually happening. And we're now in this period that they call mutual aid, where multiple agencies are now assisting regardless of, you know, whether they actually cover this territory. They're coming in in order to provide those additional assets. Again, authorities have an armed and dangerous fugitive now on the loose. They're trying to get him captured, and that's going to require a lot of personnel to do so, Phil.

MATTINGLY: Yes. No question about it. Keep us posted if you learn more. Josh Campbell, appreciate it as always, my friend.

CAMPBELL: Yes.

[17:34:50]

MATTINGLY: Well, today, the teacher in custody in the killing of an Arkansas couple made his first appearance in the courtroom is dramatic arrest in a hair salon. Plus, new details about this horrific murder, that's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MATTINGLY: In our National Lead, the man accused of murdering a mother and father who are on a hike with their two young daughters faced a judge today. Court documents are shedding new light on what exactly happened and how the Children managed to survive. CNN's Dianne Gallagher has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Elementary school teacher Andrew McGann appearing for the first time before a judge, Friday. Police say the 28-year-old admitted to the shocking killings of Clinton and Cristen Brink stabbed as the couple hiked with their daughters at Devil's Den State Park Saturday afternoon.

COLONEL MIKE HAGER, DIRECTOR, ARKANSAS STATE POLICE: It appears to be a completely random event.

[17:40:01]

GALLAGHER (voice-over): The Brinks being hailed as heroes.

HAGER: They absolutely protected those girls to their fullest extent to the point that it cost them their lives.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): Cristen's last moments spent trying to save her family.

MAJOR STACIE RHOADS, ARKANSAS STATE POLICE INVESTIGATION DIVISION COMMANDER: The husband was attacked first. The mother did not return um all the way to the car with -- with the kids. We believe that the mother took them to safety and then returned to -- to help her, to help her husband.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): New court documents revealed the Brinks daughters first reported the attack to another hiker who got them off trail before heading to find the Brinks bodies and then hiking back out to get cell service. Another witness noticed a man with blood on his face drive off in a black car with tape over the tag.

Police believe the attack was planned even though the victims were random and after more than 500 tips from the public, the terrifying four-day manhunt ended mid haircut at Lupita's Beauty Salon and Barbershop in Springdale Wednesday evening.

ADRIANA RUIZ, LUPITA'S BEAUTY SALON: Something fell off about him. He looked pretty scary. He -- he didn't look like he was OK.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): McGann had just moved to Springdale after accepting a teaching position at a local elementary school for the upcoming school year. The district confirmed to CNN. McGann had been hired to work at least four school districts in three different states in just three years. In 2023 in Texas, a parent who described him as cold, told CNN she reported McGann after her son described his fourth grade teacher is touchy and inappropriate with certain girls in class. An internal investigation found problems with classroom management and professional judgment but did not find evidence of inappropriate behavior according to the Louisville Independent School District. It said McGann resigned that May.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GALLAGHER: Now each of those school districts said that McGann passed a background check before being hired. It was determined this morning he will be represented by a public defender. Police say that they have blood, hair and other materials that connect him to the scene. He was injured during the attack and they called him a DNA match. But Phil there is still no motive. Arkansas police say that they fully expect law enforcement in neighboring states to begin reaching out to them about unsolved cases in other jurisdictions.

MATTINGLY: Wow. Dianne Gallagher, great reporting. Thanks so much.

Well over to our Politics Lead what seems to be proof of that old saying history is written by the victors or maybe in this case rewritten or maybe just taken down altogether. Here in Washington last month, the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History removed a board that referenced President Donald Trump's two impeachments. And a statement to CNN, the Smithsonian Institution said the decision was made after a review of the museum's, quote, legacy content this year. So let's talk about what's actually happening here with CNN's Tom Foreman.

Tom, I think my initial assumption had been this must have something to do with the executive order in March directing the Smithsonian to remove, quote, improper ideology. There's no mention of that in the Smithsonian statement. What -- what's going on here?

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's not but there often is not in cases like this of political, you know, strong arming. Now we don't have proof that it is strong arming. What we do know is that President Trump expressed concern over this. He put Vice President J.D. Vance in charge basically of saying go talk to the Smithsonian straighten them out on a few things here. And then all of a sudden here's this exhibit which they were changing.

They had this big board in front of everything you're looking at it right there and they were changing the exhibit behind. They say they're updating but look at the bottom two boxes down there, you can't see them that well here. But the bottom two boxes are about Donald Trump being impeached twice. In both cases he was acquitted but that's what happened. And so if you look at it now you see that -- that board has been moved away and this is what you see.

So there is still impeachment and it talks about Bill Clinton and it talks about Zachary Taylor wasn't it a long time ago I can't remember right now. But -- but also the -- the process of impeachment that was underway for Richard Nixon before he resigned. All of that's there but Donald Trump is not. But the Smithsonian says well it takes a while to update things we will get around to updating it and when we do that will be included. The question -- I mean to be real cynical about it the question is will they get around to that before his term is over or will they say well it's just taking a long time. I don't know.

MATTINGLY: I think the cynicism may have some merit to it we don't know. We're -- we're not going to say we don't know. Bigger picture here the E.O., the executive order that I mentioned which in March it criticized, quote, exhibits or programs that degrade shared American values divide Americans based on race or promote programs or ideologies inconsistent with federal law and policy. We're talking in the break that there are just so many different elements culturally almost that the President here in Washington has kind of put -- got involved in I guess to be the way to say it.

FOREMAN: Yes, yes.

MATTINGLY: What is -- what's happening in your sense of this?

[17:45:02]

FOREMAN: Well, if you read through that entire executive order from March, one of the things that really talks about there is the idea of these sort of damaging impressions of America and falsehoods about America. Well bear in mind Donald Trump has always said these impeachments were invalid. They were nothing but political witch hunts. They had nothing to do with the facts nothing to do with what he did although the process was followed properly and just like his felony convictions, that's what happened, is what really happened. But he always says it's invalid.

So in effect he could be saying if we want to straighten out the Smithsonian well we need to remove the things that are invalid. And I and my administration believe this is invalid. So it doesn't belong there. He would argue I'm not changing history, I'm getting it right.

MATTINGLY: He -- this is an important point to make real quick before you go. This is well within his authority, right? Or is it not?

FOREMAN: Is it within his authority. You know honestly I'm getting to where I don't know if I can answer that question. What I will say it is not within the normal purview of what presidents have done just like changing the name of the Kennedy Center or telling the Washington commanders they should go back to the name Redskins or telling law firms they can't come into federal buildings. That's not a normal thing we have seen but it's something this administration has embraced.

MATTINGLY: Yes. And honestly to your point I think I've talked to people at these places and say we don't know if this is supposed to happen or not but he's doing it and it's happening.

FOREMAN: When constitutional law scholars don't know. I absolutely don't.

MATTINGLY: Same, plus one on that. Tom Foreman always appreciates my friend. Thanks so much. Well, up ahead, California dreaming, imagine avoiding the nightmare of congested roads in Malibu. The new blue highway could soon become a reality. We'll explain next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:50:55]

MATTINGLY: In our Health Lead, allergy experts are warning Benadryl might not be the best choice to fight symptoms of food allergies. A review published in February by the World Allergy Organization Journal said diphenhydramine or Benadryl is, quote, outdated, dangerous and eclipsed by safer alternatives. The primary concern Benadryl is drowsiness. In some cases, people who take the medicine actually miss signs that their symptoms are worsening because of how sleepy they are.

Well, in our National Lead, the Pacific Coast Highway, also known as the PCH, is a vital part of California's transportation system, connecting Los Angeles to the state's coastal cities. But in recent years, a stretch of PCH in Malibu has seen an increase of accidents and fatalities, leaving residents concerned. CNN's Stephanie Elam reports from Malibu, where residents are hoping to create a new kind of highway.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With its stunning rural beauty on the California coast, Malibu is a constant draw. But the Los Angeles wildfires also devastated the enclave, destroying hundreds of homes and businesses along its scenic Pacific Coast Highway.

MICHEL SHANE, FILM PRODUCER AND MALIBU RESIDENT: We're going to be inundated with tourists.

ELAM (voice-over): Malibu resident, Michel Shane, a film producer known for "Catch Me If You Can," expects with the World Cup, Super Bowl and Olympics all coming to L.A. Scores of tourists will pack Malibu as it rebuilds along the compact PCH.

SHANE: There's no space to move. It becomes a situation that's untenable.

ELAM (voice-over): Shane is among those looking to the ocean for a solution in the form of a blue highway, ferries that can run visitors and locals alike in and out of Malibu, easing the strain on the community, reachable mostly by a single road.

SHANE: And we look out in the ocean and there's no one on the ocean. Why aren't we using the blue highway?

ELAM (voice-over): It's an idea that's getting some traction, with a ferry service expected to start later this year.

Joined by a pod of dolphins, we set sail with Harbor Breeze Cruises. PATRICIA KEENEY MAISCHOSS, CHAIR, PIER TO PEIR: We should be spending more time on the ocean and less time in our cars.

ELAM (voice-over): A group called Pier to Pier is organizing the service between Santa Monica and Malibu.

MAISCHOSS: We've got 700 homes to build on that highway. It cuts us off not only from tourism but affects our residents.

ELAM: That is a stretch of coastline that people love to drive in the convertible.

MAISCHOSS: Don't you think you'd rather take this ride? I mean, I said -- I said bumper to bumper and that congestion, I've done it for 20 years, you'd much rather be on this side of it.

ELAM: The hope is that the ferries would also be able to jump into action in case of another catastrophic emergency like the L.A. firestorm. So many of these people that live up in these hills can only get out by getting to the PCH and that is what makes it so dangerous.

ELAM (voice-over): During the raging Palisades fire, dozens of cars were abandoned on the roads as residents were forced to flee on foot. Boat operators say they could have helped.

DAN SALAS, CEO, HARBOR BREEZE CRUISES: Get there to the pier, get them -- get tied up along the pier and then get the people safely during emergency. It's -- it's -- it's incredibly doable.

ELAM: On 911, I evacuated from Manhattan on a ferry. That's how I was able to get away because everything was shut down.

SALAS: It's a must. We are going to have an earthquake someday as well. We have can't leave that out.

SHANE: The whole world is going to have their eyes on us.

ELAM (voice-over): Michel Shane has another reason he wants a safer pacific coast highway. His daughter, Emily, is among 61 people killed on the high speed razor thin PCH since 2010. He welcomes visitors. He just wants everyone to leave this paradise alive.

SHANE: If somebody doesn't do something, the time it takes to do stuff will be forever and the time it takes to kill someone will be instant.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ELAM (on camera): Now, Pier to Pier says they could have this service up and running in 45 days after they take care of some minor adjustments at the Santa Monica pier. I'm standing in front of the Malibu pier. So this is where the folks here would hop on the boats and get on down south and get to the airport, get to where they need to go. But the whole plan is to have the system go wider to other cities here in southern California in time for the 2028 Olympics. But Phil, I can promise you sitting on the PCH, which is right over there, you were never going to have a host of dolphins to lead the way for you like we did on the boat.

[17:55:21]

MATTINGLY: You know, Elam, it was a great piece. No question about that. My sympathy for your traffic -- my sympathy for your traffic given where you're standing right now is waning a little bit.

ELAM: It takes a long time for me to get home. So it takes a long time.

MATTINGLY: Yes. OK. OK. Stephanie Elam, I appreciate you, my friend. Thanks so much.

Well, the breaking news today in the Epstein scandals, longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell was moved from a federal prison in Florida to a lower security facility in Texas. Why? Well, we're asking the same. What we're hearing, next.

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[18:00:05]

MATTINGLY: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Phil Mattingly in for Jake Tapper.