Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Gunman Killed Four in New York City Mass Shooting, Then Fatally Shot Himself; Trump Opens New Golf Course in Scotland, Plays Round; Trump on Ghislaine Maxwell, I'm Allowed to Give Her a Pardon. Aired 7- 7:30a ET

Aired July 29, 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]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, new details on the deadly mass shooting in New York City, a police officer and three others were dead after a man walked into a busy midtown office building with an assault-style rifle opening fire.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The president says he was invited to Jeffrey Epstein's, infamous Island, where the sexual abuse of minors allegedly took place, this as senators want transcripts of the meeting between the deputy attorney general and Ghislaine Maxwell convicted of conspiring with Epstein.

And closing arguments set to get underway in the trial of the Colorado man charged with fatally poisoning his wife with protein shakes.

Kate and Sara are out this morning. I'm John Berman with Erica Hill. This is CNN News Central.

HILL: The breaking news this morning, new details of the deadliest mass shooting in New York City in 25 years. Security images show a gunman with an M4 assault-style rifle walking into a skyscraper in busy midtown Manhattan. This is near some of the city's most iconic venues and tourist attractions.

Police say he opened fire inside the lobby, the elevator bank in the 33rd floor, ultimately killing four people, including an NYPD officer before taking his own life. Investigators have identified the gunman as 27-year-old Shane Tamura, who drove cross country from Las Vegas to that scene.

Here's what else they revealed about the shooter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSICA TISCH, NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: According to our law enforcement partners in Las Vegas, Mr. Tamura has a documented mental health history. His motives are still under investigation, and we are working to understand why he targeted this particular location.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Now, the building where the shooting occurred houses a number of businesses, including corporate offices for the NFL. A source telling CNN the gunman had a suicide note in his pocket, which expressed grievances with the NFL and also that he claimed to suffer from CTE, asking that his brain be studied.

The NYPD officer who was killed has been identified as 36-year-old Didarul Islam, a 3.5-year veteran of the department. He leaves behind a wife and two sons. The couple also had another child on the way. Overnight, officials lined the streets outside of Manhattan Hospital to pay tribute as his body was transferred.

CNN's Omar Jimenez is at the scene of that shooting this morning. Omar, more details coming out overnight. What more you're learning?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, right now, we walked over to try to see the exact entrance of this building. Officers regarding the entrance, there are barricades in front of it as well, on this first morning since this deadliest shooting in New York in at least 25 years.

You can see some of behind me. This happened on the tail end of rush hour. This is sort of the scene here that is where this gunman walked in, armed with a rifle, went into the lobby of this building and started opening fire, hitting and killing a New York City police officer, killing two others in the lobby before getting in an elevator, going to the 33rd floor, killing a fourth person there before turning the gun on himself. This police officer, 36 years old, father of two, expecting a third. Here's New York Mayor Eric Adams.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS, NEW YORK CITY: He was saving lives, he was protecting New Yorkers. He's an immigrant from Bangladesh and he loved this city and everyone we spoke with stated he was a person of faith.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: Obviously people continuing to mourn this morning over what happened.

As for the shooter, we are learning new details about this person who was living in Las Vegas prior to driving across the country to this block where I'm standing and carrying out this shooting. And while we still don't know a motive at this point, a source with knowledge of the investigation tells CNN that there was a suicide note in his pocket alleging that he suffered from CTE, the brain disease linked to head trauma, and the offices here do hold the NFL, but we are still trying to figure out if that was a potential motive or instead a piece of the documented mental health history, which we have heard from the NYPD at this point.

According to a memo, staff memo sent to staff by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, a fifth person was shot here, an employee of the NFL.

[07:05:01]

That person is in stable condition. But this office also holds the companies like Blackstone, an investment firm, and this predominantly corporate part of Manhattan here near, as you mentioned, many popular tourist attractions.

And as people walk by, people are -- we're heading into another rush hour here on the morning side, and people are headed to work in the surrounding areas, obviously, looking to see and asking questions about what happened here. But to give you an idea of what we might see ahead, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in that memo to staff said that they will see increased security at that building in the days and weeks to come as they piece through the latest on this investigation, the deadliest in New York City history in at least 25 years.

HILL: Yes, absolutely. Omar, good to have you there on the scene. Thank you. John?

BERMAN: All right. With us now, CNN Law Enforcement Analyst Jonathan Wackrow. Jonathan, great to see you this morning.

We have a note. We have a weapon. There is a suspected gunman who is dead. Given all of that, what's happening in the investigation this morning?

JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Yes. Well, John, actually I want to just reframe the incident just slightly before getting into where we are with the investigation, because, you know, from our reporting, you know, this, you appears to be a case of a grievance-driven attacker who arrived to New York with the targeted violence intent, most likely directed towards the NFL.

However, he was either disoriented or unprepared as he entered into this large commercial building and trying to navigate it is very complex. So, I assessed that he was probably unable, upon entry into the building, to really identify his actual target. Thus, I assessed that there was a shift from his additional intent of targeted violence to really indiscriminate violence.

And this shift probably stemmed from either confusion or frustration, making the situation even more, you know, volatile for responding, you know, police and fire department who, you know, immediately went to this location.

So, where are we with this investigation, right? So, the question is, why did this happen? We believe that, you know, based upon items found on the suspect's body, as well as items located in his car, that this individual did have a grievance towards the NFL. They're going to look into how deep did this grievance go. Where -- how long was it you know, sort of metastasizing in the threat environment? Were there directed or veiled threats made previously, you know, to the NFL by this individual?

So, investigators in New York will be working with their law enforcement counterparts in Las Vegas to actually assess really in the totality of the pathway to violence, really. And when you think about that is we believe that there, this started with a grievance. And did this individual have violent ideations over time? Did he, you know, telegraph his intent to cause harm towards the NFL as an entity or individuals? And then, you know, what led him to actually launching this attack?

BERMAN: Jonathan, you spent a lot of time in security planning here. This attack obviously could have been much worse if not for the heroism of the now slain officer, Islam, but what questions does this raise for you about security? And, you know, in buildings in Manhattan, this guy drove his car up, double parked on Park Avenue, which ended of itself is sort of an extraordinary action, but just walked into a lobby with an assault rifle.

WACKROW: Yes. And let's just talk about how he walked into that lobby. From the moment that he arrived, you know, on Park Avenue, the shooter really entered the building and his posture really conveyed this chilling level of determination. He wasn't rushed, he wasn't looking around and he wasn't panicked. He really had tunnel vision. He was locked in on carrying out this attack, immediately keying in on the uniformed NYPD officer in assassinating him in that moment, and then launching his attack from there.

Again, when you think about corporate security and how do you protect these, you know, commercial buildings, it's a multi-layered you know, security strategy.

Now, we saw some aspects of that you, know, may have delayed him in terms of, you know, turnstiles going into elevators that may have caused some of his confusion. But there does need to be an after- action to understand how does somebody with a long rifle who has now attacked individuals in the lobby actually then be able to get onto the elevator? What was the active shooter protocols that were in place?

Typically, in commercial buildings, you have an active shooter alarm that would go off very similar to a fire alarm. Did that happen? Did occupants of the building know that this attack was ongoing and what protocols were immediately put into place as the NYPD was arriving?

BERMAN: These are all good questions. Jonathan Wackrow, great to see you this morning. Thank you very much. Erica?

HILL: Well, very soon President Trump will head back to the United States. The Epstein controversy, of course, had followed him on his trip overseas.

[07:10:00]

It's also the controversy that podcasters like Joe Rogan won't let go of. Why that could be a big problem for the president.

Plus, the very latest in the search for a suspect accused of murdering a mother and father on a hiking trail in Arkansas.

And a dramatic new video shows the moments of boat explodes into flames near hundreds of other boats in the harbor.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:15:00] BERMAN: All right. New this morning, Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois has written a letter to the Justice Department demanding recordings and transcripts of the discussions between Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Ghislaine Maxwell, convicted of conspiring with Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse minors.

The senator and others are seeking a promise that the president will not pardon Maxwell. In addition to that, the president aggressively refuses to rule out pardoning Maxwell traveling in Scotland. He also shed new light on his friendship with Epstein saying he broke with him after Epstein stole his employees. That's the first time we've heard that explanation. The president also said he had been invited to Epstein's infamous Island, where abuse allegedly took place.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: By the way, I never went to the island. I never had the privilege of going to his island. And I did turn it down, but a lot of people in Palm Beach were invited to his island. In one of my very good moments, I turned it down. I didn't want to go to his island.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The president is wrapping up his visit to Scotland with a round of golf before coming back to the United States.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny in Edinburgh with the very latest this morning. A beautiful background there this morning. What's the latest, Jeff?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: John, good morning. A beautiful day here in Scotland, perfect for the president to open one of his golf courses. This is actually the central purpose of this trip that really has been scheduled for months and months, opening a new golf course named after his late mother who, of course, is from Scotland.

So, we saw the president on the golf course earlier this morning talking about the challenges ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And then I go back to D.C. and we put out fires all over the world. We did one yesterday. As you know, we stopped a war, but we stopped about five wars. So, that's much more important than playing golf.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: But the President is playing a few holes of golf, at least, on that new 18-hole golf course. But as he flies back to Washington today, the questions of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal and saga are still weighing over him and the White House. There is no doubt about that. The questions that he answered here yesterday in Scotland sitting alongside the British prime minister were actually quite extraordinary, giving a new reason for why his friendship fell apart in the early 2000s with Jeffrey Epstein. The president said that Epstein tried to hire some of his staff members from Mar-a-Lago.

He also suggested that some of his political adversaries may have been trying to put his name in the files, almost trying to get ahead of the eventual suggestion that the Trump name will come out in the files, as his own attorney general has suggested. So, for all of this, John, for all of the deals here that were conducted, the trade deals, obviously, the very important discussions on Gaza, giving Russia a new shorter deadline on the Ukraine war, this was a weekend of golf, blurring the lines of the family business and the official government one.

BERMAN: Yes, no question about that. Interesting also, a lot of the Epstein comments he made, he volunteered. He wasn't asked specifically exactly, you know, why he and Epstein stopped being friends. He was never asked specifically about being invited to the island. All of that volunteered in a way that was odd, as you're watching it.

Jeff Zeleny in Scotland, great work over there. Thanks so much.

Hall of Famer Deion Sanders reveals a cancer diagnosis that he kept from his own sons.

And he was born with hearing loss and turned that challenge into groundbreaking research, but now a scientist's journey is being silenced by politics.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

HILL: The University of Colorado's head football coach and former NFL Superstar Primetime, Deion Sanders, says he has fought and beaten bladder cancer.

CNN's Coy Wire joining me now. Coy as came as is such a surprise to so many people. What more did we hear from him?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: It was a big shock, Erica. Deion Sanders says he has lost 25 pounds, but he has fought and beaten cancer after having his bladder removed, shedding more light on his recent absence from the Colorado campus. Coach Prime known for his flashy fashion, even flashier plays as a player, spoke yesterday about the latest of a plethora of health struggles that have plagued him recently and he had a strong message for all of us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEION SANDERS, UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO COACH, PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAMER: Men, everybody, get checked out, because if it wasn't for me getting tested for something else, they wouldn't have stumbled up on this. And make sure you go to the -- get the right care, because without wonderful people like this, I probably wouldn't be sitting here today because it grew so expeditiously, I could say. But please get yourself checked out.

And I know there's a lot of people out there going through. What I'm going through and dealing with what I'm dealing with, and let's stop being ashamed of it and let's deal with it and let's deal with it head on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Coach Prime is 57 years old. He said he has had 14 surgeries, Erica, from multiple health issues since becoming a college football coach five years ago. But in his always entertaining and optimistic outlook on things, he joked yesterday about how he can't go to the bathroom like he used to. It's a big life change, he said. He said, I depend on depends.

All right, now we go from one legend to another with a heavy heart. We take time to remember Chicago Cubs Legend Ryne Sandberg. Baseball fans around the globe mourning the passing of the Hall of Famer who had been battling prostate cancer. Ryno, as he was affectionately known, is arguably the greatest second baseman of all time, an MVP award, nine gold gloves, and seven silver sluggers.

[07:25:00]

But beyond the numbers, it was his unwavering dedication, his humble hustle and his stoic strength that truly set him apart. Ryne Sandberg was 65 years. and his family said in a statement at the time of his passing, he was surrounded by his loving wife, Margaret, their children and grandchildren.

Erica, he wasn't flashy. He was fundamentally fantastic, a great family member, friend and teammate. He famously said at his Hall of Fame commencement speech that it, the name on the front of the jersey is more important than the one on the back.

HILL: Wow. Coy, I really appreciate it. Thank you.

WIRE: You got it.

HILL: Still to come here we are following developments on that deadly shooting here in Manhattan, the new information on the note, which was found on the suspect and how it could potentially help the investigation.

Plus, the urgent manhunt for the man who killed a couple when they were on a hike, the critical new clue about that suspect and a first look as well at the sketch of a person of interest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:00]