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White House Tries to Deflect as Calls Grow to Release Epstein Documents; Colbert Fires Back at Trump, Go F**k Yourself; Air Force Shifts Blame to Air Traffic Control Over Close Call. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired July 22, 2025 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: They want witnesses, they want hearings, and they want a vote. And these are Congressional Republicans on the Jeffrey Epstein case. New signs that a seeming White House distraction and deflection campaign is not working.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Stephen Colbert with a blunt message for President Trump, go F yourself. The late night show -- late night -- the late show host's response to the president celebrating the cancellation of his show.

And Hunter Biden speaking out for the first time since the 2024 election, who he blames for his father's political undoing, and he also has a message, this one for George Clooney.

Sara is out. I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman. This is CNN News Central.

BERMAN: So, at the White House this morning, they want to turn the page. They want a new focus, they want anything but Jeffrey Epstein, what is notable, even remarkable in the Trump era, they're not getting it even from their strongest supporters. White House officials are waking up to Congressional Republicans calling for hearings, calling for witnesses, and in some cases, calling for a vote. 11 House Republicans have now signaled support for a bipartisan bill calling for the release of the Epstein files. But House Speaker Mike Johnson, feeling pressure from the president, is now shutting down the idea of any vote until September. That's after the August recess.

The president has tried to push the idea that he is for transparency. He directed the attorney general, Pam Bondi, to ask a judge to release grand jury testimony and said he is okay with Bondi releasing other, quote, credible information. But who gets to decide what is credible? Why hasn't she released that information already? And why lead into the grand jury testimony when that is some of the only information that Pam Bondi does not directly control?

Republican Senator Josh Hawley says the grand jury testimony is not enough. He wants a hearing on Capitol Hill. Congressman Warren Davidson wants testimony from Pam Bondi herself. And Senator Tommy Tuberville says he wants to hear what Epstein's convicted co- conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell has to say. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TOMMY TUBERVILLE (R-AL): I don't think they're hiding anything here. I think they're just trying to do their due diligence and make things as vanilla as possible and so, you know, we don't do the wrong thing.

We got to trust this administration that they're doing the right thing. And if there's anything to release it, they'll release it, where somebody, people can get satisfaction. I would love to see Maxwell testify. She says she wants to, because she didn't get the deal she was promised.

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You want her to testify in the Senate?

TUBERVILLE: I'd love to hear her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Let's get right to CNN's Lauren Fox in Washington this morning for the latest.

A lot of Republicans just don't seem satisfied this morning, Lauren.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. There's so many moving parts to this story on Capitol Hill because last night in the House Rules Committee, they essentially decided to just adjourn rather than have yet another vote on this Epstein issue in that committee.

Now, it might sound kind of arcane. It might sound like it's in the weeds, but the House Rules Committee is so important. Because if you can't get a bill through the Rules Committee, you can't bring it to the floor and pass it with just Republican votes. Everything after that would have to be passed with Republican and Democratic votes under suspension with a much higher threshold.

So, last night, House Democrats signaled that they were going to put forth the Massie proposal once again in committee, force Republicans on the Rules Committee to vote for it. And Republicans, rather than take that vote once again, decided essentially just to adjourn the committee so that they didn't actually have to take that vote once again, and there's a reason for that. These Republicans are getting so much pressure back home. So many of them are being signaled out because of these votes that have been happening in this committee, and they didn't want to do it again.

So, they essentially decided to just adjourn. Then they decided that perhaps they will have another vote later today on these suspensions in the House of Representatives.

[07:05:02]

But it's very possible that the House could leave earlier than expected this week if they cannot unstick the rules committee because of this issue. So, that is one piece of this dynamic that's playing out on Capitol Hill.

Then you have some of these senators who are saying, we want more information. We think that there should be testimony. We think there should be Congressional hearings. That is obviously the opposite of a message that the president is signaling to his allies on Capitol Hill that he wants to move on. But I think this is putting so many conservatives in a really tough place between a president that they're loyal to, constituents who are still clamoring for more information, and this just doesn't seem to be going away.

Now, Republicans are signaling that when they get back in September, that is when they can deal with this issue on the floor. That is when this Massie proposal will be at a place where it's ripened and it can come to the House floor. But, again, it's a huge question mark, because you have a long August recess. Is this still going to be something that people are talking about? The sponsor of this bill says it certainly will be and that this is not going away. That's what Thomas Massie, the top conservative who is putting forward this resolution, is saying.

BERMAN: Yes. It's really interesting. They don't want to cross the president, Republicans, but they also don't want to vote no on releasing Epstein files, so it puts him in a bind this morning.

Lauren Fox, great to see you. Thank you very much. Kate?

BOLDUAN: So, Stephen Colbert is hitting back now at President Trump and sounding off after CBS canceled The Late Show. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT: On Friday, Donald Trump posted, I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings.

How dare you, sir? Would an untalented man be able to compose the following satirical witticism? Go (BLEEP) yourself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Colbert also questioned the reasoning offered up by his network for canceling his show, CBS, saying the cancelation was a purely financial decision when his show was number one in the ratings, also sounding off basically all of late night, from Fallon to Kimmel to Jon Stewart. We'll get to more of that.

Joining us right now is CNN Media Analyst and Media Correspondent for Axios, of course, Sara Fischer. Thanks for being here, Sara.

CBS is definitely facing backlash. There were protesters outside the Ed Sullivan Theater yesterday for this decision and for a lot of people saying they don't believe the decision or the reasoning behind it. But then you have all of late night basically showing up in the audience to show their support for Stephen Colbert. What's the message here? What are you hearing? SARA FISCHER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: I think late night is trying to signal to Colbert, don't take this personally. This is something that could have happened to any of us and probably will come at us. Remember the Federal Communications Commission? They did launched investigations into all of these parent companies, right? Comcast, NBC, Disney, for DEI policies.

In terms of CBS coming out and saying this is a financial decision, I think two things can be true at once. The show was losing tens of millions of dollars. And, again, that's something that Stephen Colbert shouldn't be taking personally. The ratings were fine. It's just a matter of linear television is struggling right now with viewership in the streaming era. So, if the show is struggling financially, that could be true.

And at the same time, CBS and its parent company, Paramount, they may want to hedge to get their deal approved. Remember, they're going through a big merger right now. And a way to do that to appease the Trump administration might be to cut the cord on this show. So, I think they tried to take on both problems at once, but the backlash has been severe.

BOLDUAN: Do you think also part of it is it's not just how CBS has acted, CBS's decision when it comes to the late show? There have been story after story. I mean, you look at 60 Minutes and how that went down and how they spoke out. Just it's not the -- this is not a singular correct incident with regard to CBS when you're talking about this merger.

Jon Stewart took it head on and seemed to kind of add it all up together on The Daily Show last night, speaking to -- saying -- I mean really questioning that financial reasoning reason given and more, let me play this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON STEWART, HOST, THE DAILY SHOW: And if you believe as corporations or as networks, you can make yourselves so innocuous that you can serve a gruel so flavorless that you will never again be on the boy king's radar. A, why will anyone watch you and you are (BLEEP) wrong? You want to know how it's possible. And it's true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: This gets a little bit to what you're just saying. I mean, this is not the FCC is looking at all of them.

FISCHER: Yes. So, just a quick thing, death by a thousand cuts, for sure.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

FISCHER: I think that this response is to the entire thing that CBS has done to get this deal approved, people are frustrated by it.

[07:10:03] But it comes down to a fundamental business question, which is, if CBS didn't push and its parent company, Paramount, didn't push to get this deal through, Kate, would they have gotten any other deal approved in the Trump administration? Probably not. And if you look at what --

BOLDUAN: Dealing with the reality with what they're dealing with, right?

FISCHER: Correct. The regulators would've blocked any deal. And so I think what they're thinking is, in four years from now, what would the value of this company be? Be a lot less. You might have to make even more severe cuts to the news division.

So, I think the calculus in their head is, do what you have to do to survive right now, even if it means taking some long-term reputational hits. That's the calculus I think everyone's made here. Are they going to be right? We will see in the ratings.

BOLDUAN: Yes, we will see in the ratings. But last night, there was one resounding message, that is for sure, coming from late night and far beyond.

Thanks for being here, Sara.

FISCHER: Thank you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Great to see you. John?

BERMAN: All right. A Jeffrey Epstein accuser speaking out to CNN, what she says happened one night when she says, President Trump visited Jeffrey Epstein's office.

The Air Force responding this morning, pointing the finger at air traffic control, saying they were never warned that a commercial jet was in the area after a close call between a B-52 bomber and a passenger plane.

And a new investigation after video shows officers smashing a car window and punching a man who questioned why he was pulled over.

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[07:15:00]

BERMAN: New details this morning about the close call between a Delta regional jet and a B-52 bomber. The Minot Air Force base now suggests that any blame should be shifted to air traffic control, saying in a statement that the FAA granted their permission to perform a flyover over the North Dakota State Fairgrounds, and that while in contact with a local air traffic control tower, the pilots of the B-52 were never told about the incoming SkyWest flight.

Let's get right to CNN's Brian Todd, who's got the latest on this. Brian, you've been following this from the beginning. What are you learning this morning? BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, John, the intrigue is really building this morning, as you mentioned, we have now heard from both the civilian pilot and from the U.S. Air Force regarding what happened on Friday evening over Minot, North Dakota. Statements from the Air Force now and from that SkyWest civilian pilot put the focus of questions now on the Air Traffic Control Center, the civilian Air Traffic Control Center at Minot International Airport. The Air Force says a B-52 bomber from Minot Air Force Base did conduct a flyover of the North Dakota State Fairgrounds at 7:50 P.M. local time on Friday night.

Now, this statement issued just last night by the Public Affairs Office at Minot Air Force Base, quote, the flyover was planned in advance and approved by the Federal Aviation Administration. The B-52 crew contacted Minot International Airport Tower and the tower provided instructions to continue two miles westbound after the flyover. This part is crucial, the tower did not advise of the inbound commercial aircraft. So, now it is the Air Force and the civilian pilot of that SkyWest Airlines jet both saying that their aircraft were never told about the other aircraft by the air traffic control tower, the civilian air traffic control tower, at Minot International Airport.

Here is what the pilot had to say to the passengers after safely landing at the airport. This was recorded by a passenger.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For those of you on the right hand side, you probably saw the airplane kind of sort of coming at us. Nobody told us about it.

Sorry about the aggressive maneuver. It caught me by surprise. This is not normal at all. I don't know why they didn't give us a heads-up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: The FAA now says it is investigating this incident. But it's important to point out that that control tower, that civilian control tower at Minot International Airport is not operated by the FAA, like some control towers are. It is operated by a contractor called Midwest ATC. Midwest ATC so far has declined to comment to CNN when we have reached out to them.

A couple of things, John, to really take note of here and to remember, the things that we don't know about this incident, we do not know exactly how close these two aircraft came to each other, and we do not know whether they were actually on a collision course with each other. Of course, that will come out in the investigation of this.

BERMAN: It will. I mean, important unknowns, but still unanswered questions.

Brian Todd, thanks so much for being all over this. I appreciate it.

All right, just in, we're learning that a second person is in critical condition after the drowning accident that killed the Cosby Show star, Malcolm-Jamal Warner.

And the family of Breonna Taylor speaking out after a former officer involved in the deadly raid of her home was sentenced. Why her mother is saying Breonna, quote, never stood a chance in court.

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[07:20:00]

BOLDUAN: All right. Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani getting it done on the mound and at bat last night.

CNN's Andy Scholes watching all of it for us. Bring me the highlights, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Ah, Kate, you know, one of the most beautiful things in baseball, at least for me, is watching Shohei Ohtani, just hit the ball to the moon. He has such a sweet swing. His night though last night, he actually started on the mound, in the very first batter of the game, Byron Buxton taking Ohtani Yard. I'm sure he didn't like seeing that, but Ohtani would get that run right back himself, bottom of the first, Ohtani absolutely just crushing that ball to center field. It went 441 feet, his 35th homer of the season. Dodgers are going to win 5-2. They now have 59 wins on the season.

But they do not have the best record in baseball. That title belongs to the Milwaukee Brewers. And after they got their 11th win in a row last night, shutting out the Mariners 6-0, the Brew Crew grabbing first place in the N.L. Central for the first time this season with that win. Milwaukee's longest win streak ever, it's 13 in a row. They play again in Seattle tonight.

Now, it was a wacky night in baseball. A couple rare things happened. In Atlanta, Ronald Acuna Jr. just continuing to dazzle this time with his speed. He was on first when Drake Baldwin hits this single up the middle. Now, going first to third on this play would be great. Acuna never stopped running full speed, and he shocked the Giants going all the way home and he beats the throw. That's going to be the only time this season you see someone score from first on a single up the middle. I feel safe saying that. Braves beat the Giants in that one, 9-5.

Meanwhile, in Philly, Phillies and Red Sox tied in extra innings. Phillies got the bases loaded. Edmundo Sosa, he doesn't check swing there, but then he immediately tells the umpire, hey, I hit the catcher's mitt. Phillies' challenge for catcher's interference. And his bat actually did hit the mitt, mainly because he swung so late. Sosa was awarded first base after the review. Phillies' win in a catcher's interference walk-off first time. That's happened in baseball since 1971.

Kate, the Phillies, I mean, they had the bases loaded with no out, so they were likely going to get a run home anyways. But Red Sox fans certainly not happy that the game ended there on a catcher's interference. You can ask Berman.

[07:25:00]

I'm sure he is not pleased.

BOLDUAN: I heard the groaning behind the set as you were talking about it. So, I'm pretty sure we know how he feels. That is wild. Just like on its face.

SCHOLES: Yes, especially because it was a check swing too. So, I mean, getting catcher's interference on a check swing, I mean, come on.

BOLDUAN: Yes. We clearly know that Andy Scholes has some opinions on that as well. Thank you, Andy. Thank you so much.

Coming up for us, Hunter Biden is speaking up for the first time since the 2024 election, how he says he's feeling about Democrats who called on his dad to bow out of the race.

And for the first time in a long time, there is some positive news for potential home buyers. More homes are hitting the market and prices are dropping.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: So, this morning, as calls for transparency grow along with more demands that the Trump administration reveal more about the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, one of Epstein's earliest known accusers is speaking to CNN.

Maria Farmer worked for Epstein in the 1990s, and she says she was sexually assaulted by him and Ghislaine Maxwell.

[07:30:07]

And she says that she met Donald Trump.