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Interview with Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD): President Trump, Prime Minister Starmer Respond to Question About Gaza Humanitarian Crisis, Trump's disappointment with President Putin; Ghislaine Maxwell Appealing to Supreme Court to Overturn Conviction; Third Court Blocks Trump's Attempt to End Birthright Citizenship, 11 People Stabbed in Attack at a Michigan Walmart. Aired 8:00-8:30a ET

Aired July 28, 2025 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: ... second this happened on American flight 3023 as it was accelerating for takeoff. You might think more landing gear issues happen during landing, but they often happen on takeoff too. And you can see in the video that Boeing 737 Max 8 was leaning to the left a bit to screen right.

And the airport fire crews in Denver tell CNN that a tire burst causing the brakes to catch on fire, though other reports say the left main landing gear collapsed totally. American Airlines right now calling this a maintenance issue. Either way, we know that this plane was lined up to take off on Denver's runway 34 left, accelerated to about 130 miles an hour according to publicly available data from ADS- B Exchange.

That's pretty fast, just shy of the speed to pull the nose up and depart the ground called rotation speed. That's when pilots on board the plane radioed that they were aborting the takeoff. Now, Denver Tower radioed the crew to say they -- that the plane was stopped on the runway, but they did see visible flames.

Either way, this led to a very smoky, very dramatic evacuation. Here is the key takeaway. And you can see it in this video there. You can see the folks taking their luggage with them. That only slows the evacuation down in a fire situation like this, especially seconds count. This is the second incident this year involving an American Airlines 737 on fire in Denver.

They remember back in March there was that dramatic evacuation under the wing at the gate and now there is this new incident from Saturday, John. Pretty incredible stuff.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Again, good work by the pilots and flight crew and the passengers, but Pete, I knew you were going to say that. The minute I saw people taking their luggage down those chutes, I knew you were going to say it's just not worth it. Leave it behind. It's safer for you and everyone.

Pete Muntean, great reporting. Thank you very much.

We've got a lot of new information coming in, a brand new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

All right, breaking just moments ago, new comments from President Trump. He speaks on the starvation, reports of starvation in Gaza and gives a new timeline to Vladimir Putin on Ukraine.

A man facing terrorism and assault charges after police say he stabbed 11 people at a Michigan Walmart. And a manhunt for a suspect in Arkansas after a couple was killed while hiking with their two young daughters.

Sara and Kate are out. I'm John Berman with Erica Hill today. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Well just moments ago, President Trump welcoming British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to his golf course in Turnberry, Scotland. The two leaders speaking about the push for a ceasefire in Gaza, where there are growing concerns about mass starvation and malnutrition.

The president also making news as he took just a few questions there. About the 50-day ceasefire deadline that he had set for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny joining us now from Edinburgh, Scotland. So Jeff, the president and the prime minister just speaking, taking a few questions, addressing, as we noted, the issues in Gaza and also what's happening in Ukraine.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Erica. Gaza, Ukraine, front and center in this meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, meeting American President Donald Trump. A bit unusual, even though we are on the soil of the United Kingdom here in Scotland.

It is the American president who's effectively playing host to the British leader on the Trump Turnberry golf resort there. But as they were walking into what is expected to be a bilateral meeting on any number of subjects, they did certainly draw a focus on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, both leaders addressing it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Based on television, I would say, not particularly, because those children look very hungry. But we're giving a lot of money and a lot of food, and other nations are now stepping up. I know that this nation is.

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: It's a humanitarian crisis.

TRUMP: Right.

STARMER: It's an absolute catastrophe. But nobody wants to see that. And I think people in Britain are revolted at seeing what they're seeing on their screens.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ZELENY: So the Prime Minister is expected to pressure and ask Mr. Trump to apply more pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a broader ceasefire. So when they are holding their meeting, they will certainly talk about this in greater depth.

But it was on Ukraine, certainly an interesting comment from the president, talking about how he is frustrated once again with Vladimir Putin. He, of course, has said that before, but it was about two weeks ago that he set a 50-day deadline for Putin to effectively withdraw forces and stop firing on Ukraine. The president now says he is going to diminish that, shorten that time frame. No details on how long he would shorten it to.

[08:05:00]

But clearly, another sign of his frustration with Russia, that certainly is something that European leaders are eager to hear the president siding more with the Ukrainian President, Vladimir Zelenskyy, on this.

So Gaza, Ukraine, front and center, as well as trade deals also being discussed here in Scotland at a meeting the American president seems to be hosting -- Erica.

HILL: Jeff, appreciate it. Thank you -- John.

BERMAN: All right, with us now is Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland who is on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. We just heard from the president, Senator, as he was meeting or beginning to meet with the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer.

Keir Starmer, the British Prime Minister, called the situation in Gaza a humanitarian crisis. What's the U.S. responsibility for the Palestinians inside Gaza right now, Senator?

SEN. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-MD): John, President Trump has not called upon the Netanyahu government to allow the international organizations that had been providing the food and delivery of humanitarian assistance to resume those efforts. He has not said a peep about that. And the United States is now complicit in this because Donald Trump, President Trump, sent $30 million to create this alternative to the international organization's humanitarian aid delivery, so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has become the death trap.

That's where we've seen these pictures of starving Palestinian civilians crowding around only to be shot by the IDF or these security contractors. Donald Trump is using American taxpayer dollars to fund that death trap. He should stop that immediately.

I just organized another 20 senators to send a letter to Secretary Rubio about that yesterday. And Donald Trump has been completely complicit and negligent. And the United States needs to speak out for once and join other countries in doing that.

BERMAN: So just so I have this clear, are you suggesting the United States cease military aid or the sale of weapons to Israel so long as this starvation in Gaza continues?

VAN HOLLEN: Well, what I was referring to right now, John, was the fact that we're spending money to create this alternative private organization backed by mercenaries that is creating these deaths. I do believe that we should pause offensive military assistance to the Netanyahu government so long as the Netanyahu government is engaged in what is clearly a strategy to use food as a weapon of war and to try to use it for population control. We've heard members of the Netanyahu coalition just in the last couple of days talk about essentially taking over Gaza, pushing the Palestinians out of Gaza entirely.

BERMAN: And again, so we're going to hear from the president again shortly. What would you, if he could say one sentence, come out and say one sentence about Gaza after meeting with the British prime minister, what would you hope it would be?

VAN HOLLEN: He should say, Prime Minister Netanyahu, let the food in, let the international humanitarian organizations resume funding. We used to have 500 trucks a day going into Gaza. The reality is, if the Netanyahu government wanted to, we could quickly get food and nutrition to people throughout Gaza.

BERMAN: Senator, at the end of his statement, he made just a note --

VAN HOLLEN: He should make clear, John, he should make clear that there'd be consequences for not doing that. And again, he should stop funding this alternative organization that's become a death trap.

BERMAN: On Ukraine, the president spoke just moments ago. He reiterated he's disappointed with Vladimir Putin. Do we have the sound, guys? We don't have the sound.

So a moment ago, the president said that he would consider reducing the 50-day period he had issued about a week and a half ago. He said Vladimir Putin has 50 days to move toward making peace in Ukraine, or the United States would push for secondary sanctions.

The president just said he is thinking about reducing that time frame. Your response to that?

VAN HOLLEN: Well, John, I support secondary sanctions. We've got over 80 senators, Republicans and Democrats in the Senate prepared to move forward on legislation to do that. My understanding is the only reason we haven't is that the president Trump and the Trump administration have asked the Republican leader not to move forward on it right now.

Look, Vladimir Putin has played Donald Trump like a violin from the very beginning. As Donald Trump came into his presidency, he threw the Ukrainian people under the bus. That only emboldened Putin further.

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So you know, Putin has been essentially ignoring President Trump from day one, and pretty much without serious consequence. I'm glad, you know, Trump is waking up, appears to be waking up, but it really is very late in the game. BERMAN: But do you think this is, do you believe in the shift you're hearing from President Trump or how much weight do you put in that?

VAN HOLLEN: Well, I can't believe it till I see it. In other words, we've been wanting to move forward on this legislation in the Senate, John. This is the secondary sanctions legislation, and it's the Trump administration and President Trump who've been putting the brakes on it, always trying to give Putin one more chance. And Putin has just been playing Donald Trump for additional time.

BERMAN: Senator Chris Van Hollen from Maryland, thank you for being with us again. We should hear from the president again shortly to see if we get more clarity on this new statement that he's thinking about reducing the timeframe on those secondary sanctions -- Erica.

HILL: Well, new this morning, Jeffrey Epstein's convicted accomplice and former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell may be looking for a presidential pardon. Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse young girls. Last week, she was granted limited immunity to speak with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche about the Epstein files.

Today, her attorneys are making their final pitch to the Supreme Court to try to persuade the justices to consider overturning her criminal conviction.

Joining me now, former Manhattan prosecutor Jeremy Saland. Jeremy, good to see you as always.

So we look at the limited immunity as fairly standard, the way I understand it, when there's a questioning that is happening, like what we saw with the Deputy AG Todd Blanche last week with Ghislaine Maxwell in Florida. Realistically, he said we'll get information on what they discussed, you know, at the appropriate time were his words. What do you expect to learn from those meetings?

JEREMY SALAND, FORMER MANHATTAN PROSECUTOR: I don't think that that is going to be made public. These proffer agreements, which are routine and regular, and that limited immunity. So if you lie, it could be used against you.

But that limited immunity is not atypical. But that's also shared internally and making prosecutorial decisions. And it's up to discretion of the prosecutors what they want to share publicly.

But at the same time, understanding that the public may want to know and Trump's base may want to know that's not the principle that really should be guiding the Department of Justice. It should be what, if anything, should we do with the information that we are given? Should we pursue other people? Is this going to lead to further investigation? Is this going to increase and add to additional prosecution?

We'd like to think that opportunity would have happened a long time ago if there was something to pursue when she was originally prosecuted. But those are the types of questions that they're going to ask internally but not necessarily shared publicly.

HILL: Well, you know, to that point, sort of two questions. In terms of information that was shared previously, to be at this point where she is now, you know, serving 20 years, a 20-year sentence after being convicted, her attorney said she's been cooperative, essentially, but, you know, not saying that, saying, hey, sure, she would love a pardon, right? If that's possible.

I mean, if she had something that she wanted to share, isn't that something that would have come up already?

SALAND: Yes, you would think that at that point in time, when she was initially prosecuted, she would have offered up information, say, listen, save myself, here's what I have, and they would have assessed her credibility, understanding that there's always an agenda to an accused, meaning they could still be honest and upfront, but at the same time, they want to free themselves of incarceration or the stigma, and worse, of a felony conviction on the federal level. But yes, you would expect it to come up before.

And what she may have may be incredibly valuable, but remember, this is a person who is insisting on her innocence and saying, I didn't even do any of this. And to say, as her attorney said, that they're not necessarily looking for something and they're being upfront and honest here, I think that really that defies credibility.

There's certainly an agenda, and whether or not that fits the Department of Justice agenda, I don't know, but you really have to make sure what she says is accurate, because if they, meaning the Department of Justice, are going to pursue new charges or try to shed light on something and point a finger at someone, it better darn be really accurate and be credible and assess for that.

HILL: Given the assessment from the DOJ about her credibility in the past, which is frankly, she's not credible, that you can't trust her to tell the truth. If you are Todd Blanche going into these discussions, how do you approach someone like that?

SALAND: You know, this is something that Todd Blanche I'm sure has done, and it's really basic for all prosecutors, you're trained to assess. But 100 percent, anyone listening to what she has to say understands and should recognize that there is an agenda. She may not be honest. She wants that pardon. She wants to be commuted. She wants something.

But what's critical here is, whatever she says, I want a corroborate. It comes from her mouth, but I also want to look to the files.

[08:15:00]

Is it made out and borne out somewhere else? What other evidence confirms what she's saying is accurate? Because her saying it now, after not saying it for so long, if at all, really gives me pause and concern as law enforcement, because the tools that I have to really come after someone and accuse them of a crime are very powerful. And before I do that, I need to make sure it's accurate.

What's in the file? What's in the search warrant? What did other witnesses say? What did the victims say?

HILL: Jeremy, I appreciate it. Thank you.

BERMAN: Bystanders stepped in to stop a stabbing rampage inside a Michigan Walmart. The charges the suspect could now face.

We're standing by to hear from President Trump, potentially with a new statement about the reports of starvation in Gaza. And this after he just issued a new threat with a new timeline for Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

A manhunt for a suspect after a couple was killed while hiking with their two young children.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right, for the first time, a federal appeals court ruled that President Trump's executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship is unconstitutional and upheld a nationwide block against the policy.

With us now is the Attorney General of Washington State, Nick Brown. Mr. Attorney General, thank you so much for being with us. You were part of this case. Talk to us about the case that you put forth here.

NICK BROWN, (D) WASHINGTON STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL: Well, good morning. Thank you for having me. We filed this case the day after President Trump issued his executive order to reaffirm what has been the law of the land for the last 150 years, that if you were born on American soil, you are an American citizen.

We thought it was important to bring this case. We led a coalition with some other states and some of my other partners in other states brought another case. And every judge that has looked at this issue thus far and every court that has looked at this issue thus far has agreed with us that the president can't simply rewrite the Constitution because he wants to.

And it's a good day to have that ruling affirmed last week.

BERMAN: Now, you know, in the interim here in a separate case, the Supreme Court ruled that district court judges couldn't issue nationwide injunctions specifically about this case. But this is sort of a workaround. How, how is that a workaround on the injunction issue?

BROWN: Well, what the Supreme Court said is that this needed to go back to the lower courts to readdress the issue of whether a nationwide injunction was important. And that's exactly what happened here. The Ninth Circuit looked at the court -- at the case again and affirmed what the district court judge had ruled in the very beginning.

And keep in mind, this was a district court judge appointed by President Reagan. He found that a nationwide injunction was appropriate. And when the Ninth Circuit looked at the case again, they agreed.

And that's because the federal government has never once tried to explain how they could administer a system like this, where your citizenship would depend on what state you lived in. Obviously, nationality is a nationwide issue, not a state issue. And the idea that you could live in my home state of Washington and travel across the border, and your citizenship might be in flux because of that was just absurd.

And never in any of these cases has the government effectively explained how that system would be workable. And so that's what the Ninth Circuit affirmed. It was a very, very lengthy ruling that agreed with the position that the states had been taking.

And we're pretty confident that once this issue substantively gets to the Supreme Court, they will agree with us.

BERMAN: You are confident. Why? Why are you confident, given that this Supreme Court, a lot of the time, has seemed to be somewhat sympathetic to the president's expansion of executive power?

BROWN: Well, you're right. They absolutely have agreed with this president on many issues. And I think it's been really an unfortunate expansion of executive power.

But in this case, it is very well settled. There have been multiple courts that have looked at this, including the Supreme Court itself, in multiple rulings has looked at the question of citizenship. It has been a while since they addressed this issue specifically, but if they were going to change course, it really would be reversing decades of precedent, a congressional review of these issues.

Many academics and other courts have looked at this issue and reaffirmed what the court has said time and time again. So it seems to me, I think everybody who's looking at this with some seriousness would agree that it is very likely the Supreme Court agrees with this on the substantive ruling of the merits.

BERMAN: We will almost see this certainly before the U.S. Supreme Court could learn in due course how they feel about it. Attorney General Nick Brown from Washington, we appreciate your time this morning. Thank you.

Erica.

HILL: We are learning some new details about Saturday's stabbing attack at a Walmart in Traverse City, Michigan. Police say a 42-year- old male suspect attacked 11 people at that Walmart, then ran out of the store, and that's when bystanders jumped into action.

CNN's Ryan Young joins us now with more on that -- Ryan. RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Erica, just a scary story when you put all the pieces of this together. You've got a busy Walmart, you've got folks shopping on a Saturday, minding their own business, when all of a sudden this attack happened, and police and sheriff's deputies do believe this was a random attack.

Now, according to sheriff's deputies and what they've been able to learn so far, the suspect arrived around 4 o'clock and was inside that store for about 35 minutes and then started doing the barrage of attacks.

You can see the mugshot right there. This is the man who's been charged. And then at that point, they believe he used a folding knife to go around slashing people.

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As we've talked to witnesses who were on the inside of that store, they say it was horrifying and people were running around trying to desperately get away from this man. Some folks jumped into action, including a former Marine who tried to use a cart to stop the man from the attack.

But now when you think about it, you have six people in critical condition, five victims in serious condition. And this video right here that we've spot shadowed, you can see a current Marine who had just left a shooting range who had his sidearm with him and he was approaching the man to try to stop him as he was trying to get away from the store.

So these one former Marine, one Marine all jumping into action to stop it. You can see them confronting him. You can see him at gunpoint right there. Sheriff's deputies on scene within three minutes.

Now there's been no known motive for this attack, a very serious situation with families inside that Walmart. As all this starts breaking out, now we know this man has been arrested. He'll be facing several charges, but at the same time, people are concerned and worried. What was the motive for this man while he was in this store just to randomly attack people -- Erica?

HILL: Yes, absolutely. Ryan, appreciate it. Thank you.

Also want to get you now to the breaking news. Former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper is officially running for U.S. Senate. Why Democrats see this race as a key opportunity to flip a Republican Senate seat.

And right now, President Trump in Scotland, where he is meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. We do expect to hear from them soon. Stay with us. We'll be bringing that to you live.

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