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4 Killed in NYC Mass Shooting, Including NYPD Officer; Trump Says He Cut All Ties with Epstein Over Business Dispute; Interview with Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL): Demands Tapes of Ghislaine Maxwell DOJ Interviews; Trump Disputes Netanyahu's Claim of No Starvation in Gaza. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired July 29, 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]

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: ... the future of this funding for him is unclear, and he's just one of thousands of scientists who've had their grants terminated by the Trump administration, amounting to $4 billion by some estimates, even more in research funding lost. And there are a lot of warnings about what's going to happen to scientific progress as these grants are getting cut -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The science caught right in the middle of politics. Meg Turrell, thank you so much for that this morning.

We have a lot of news developing. A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts now.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: The breaking news this morning, new details about the deadliest shooting in New York City in decades. A gunman brazenly walking into an office building in the heart of midtown Manhattan with an M4 rifle, opening fire, killing four people, including an NYPD officer.

In Scotland, a frustrated President Trump attempting to distance himself from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, revealing new details about their relationship as lawmakers weigh in on the possibility of Trump pardoning Ghislaine Maxwell.

And a deadly collision off the coast of Miami Beach. Two children are killed when a sailboat and barge slam into each other.

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

The breaking news this morning, new details on the mass shooting in the heart of New York City that left four people dead, including an NYPD officer.

The gunman was caught on surveillance images walking into an office tower carrying, as you can see in that video, an M4 assault style rifle. Police say he immediately opened fire inside the lobby and then moved to the elevator bank, went up to the 33rd floor where he continued firing before ultimately taking his own life. This is the deadliest mass shooting in New York City in 25 years. Investigators have identified the gunman as 27-year-old Shane Tamura of Las Vegas. They've tracked his movements over the last few days as he drove from Nevada to Manhattan, parking just outside, double parking really, just outside that building. Inside the building, the NFL's corporate offices, along with a number of other businesses.

And a source does tell CNN the gunman had a suicide note in his pocket, which expressed some grievances with the NFL, also claiming to suffer from CTE and asking for his brain to be studied. Police, however, has stressed that at this point, any motive is still under investigation.

As for the officer who was killed, he has been identified as 36-year- old Didarul Islam, a three-and-a-half-year veteran of the department. He leaves behind a pregnant wife and two sons. Overnight, officials lining the streets outside a Manhattan hospital as his body was transferred. New York City's mayor, Eric Adams, has ordered all flags on city buildings be flown at half staff in tribute to the slain officer.

Here's what he had to say last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS, (D) NEW YORK: 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)

HILL: CNN's Omar Jimenez is at the shooting scene for us this morning. Omar, what did we learn overnight?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so we learned a few details overnight, but I want to start with what I'm seeing this morning because obviously we're heading into a new rush hour the first morning since this happened during evening rush hour last night.

And as you mentioned, flags at half staff, we are seeing that outside the building here. We also walked up to the entrance or got as close to it as we could. Police are out front, barricades, as you can imagine, guarding the entrance and sort of the block perimeter around it. But you can actually see the glass cracked, sort of the introductory glass panes, windowpanes as you walk in, cracked with what appear to be impact points on one of the windowpanes, but also on the lower portion of a revolving door as well.

Remnants of what happened here and what unfolded in just a few minutes as this gunman walked in, started opening fire on the lobby, killing three people in the lobby, including a New York police officer before heading up to the 33rd floor and killing a fourth person.

That police officer killed 36-year-old Didarul Islam, an immigrant from Bangladesh, father of two, expecting a third.

But we also just got in a statement that one of the other people killed was an employee for Blackstone. This building holds a number of different companies, Blackstone included the NFL as well.

But this statement saying, we are heartbroken to share that our colleague Wesley LePatner was among those who lost their lives.

So we're continuing to learn more about the victims in this as well. And all of this as police are trying to push forward to some sort of motive to figure out what may have driven this person to do this.

We're appearing to get a few clues.

[15:35:00]

A source with knowledge of the investigation says that this person had a suicide note that talked about CTE, the traumatic brain injury that is typically brought on from playing high impact sports like football.

And this place, this office does house the NFL. And we do understand from the NFL, an employee was shot here. But that's just one piece of what is going to be a larger investigation, again, to zero in on a specific motive here.

This shooter lived in Las Vegas prior to carrying this out before driving across the country to this block where I'm standing and walking into that building and doing what they did. But bottom line, as security is beefed up at this building over the next weeks and potentially months, families will be mourning those lost in just a matter of minutes.

HILL: Absolutely. Omar, appreciate it. Thank you -- John.

BERMAN: Right with us now, John Miller, senior chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst. And John, you were doing real time reporting on this throughout the evening, late into the night. I'm sure you didn't get much sleep.

But what's the very latest you're learning now?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, we're learning bit by bit what his targeting was and how he ended up where he ended up. So as Omar told us, you know, we see from that picture, he's walking up with a, you know, an M4 rifle into the lobby and then he opens fire. But he's he wants to get to the elevators.

And this is one of those moments where he sees an elevator open. He walks into the elevator. A woman has heard the shots and sees the man with the rifle walking in.

She walks off the elevator, which undoubtedly saved her life. He doesn't attempt to shoot her, but he takes the elevator to where it's going. It's one of those buildings like this one where you get in the elevator and the elevator is already programmed to your destination.

He doesn't know what his destination is. His target, we believe, is the NFL. He has written this note about CTE. He's talked about how it's the NFL's fault. The NFL is on the fifth floor. We don't know this. He may have believed that that was the NFL building. Very much like so many of the floors are occupied by Blackstone. He may have thought, whatever floor I get out on, it may be the NFL.

But the door opened and he walked off into the 33rd floor, which is the headquarters of Rudin Management, the company that runs that building and so many other buildings in Manhattan, and shot apparently the first person he encountered, a woman who was a long time and cherished employee of the Rudin's.

So that gives us a little bit of a window into a lot of the questions that were coming up yesterday, which was, what was his target? Why did he end up there? Was that his target or was that happenstance? And some of those questions we'll never know because we obviously can't talk to him, but it's coming together.

BERMAN: A somewhat haphazard route from Las Vegas by car all the way. And we were on together last night when you reported the information about the car that they found. It's because he double parked on Park Avenue outside the building, which in and of itself is, you know, highly unusual and erratic.

But to double park there and just walk casually across that plaza with the assault weapon.

MILLER: It tells us a few things. It at least suggests a few things strongly, which is, you know, he never stopped driving, you know, once he, you know, we have him crossing through New Jersey, you know, by way of Nebraska, Colorado, you know, driving straight across the country. He crosses New Jersey at 4:34, license plate readers have him entering New York shortly thereafter.

He double parks that car. Now you can double park on Park Avenue and get towed away in five minutes --

BERMAN: Yes.

MILLER: but he knows I'm not coming back. I'm not coming back to this BMW.

And I would suggest based on the past cases we've seen, which are too many, that he wasn't coming back anywhere. I think the reason he did nothing to conceal that rifle was he knew I'm walking in. I'm opening fire when I get there.

I'm going to get as close to my target as I can and I'm going to keep shooting. And when it's over, I'm going to take my own life, which is what he did.

BERMAN: Obviously, those are the questions being investigated right now. I expect we will learn more in the coming hours, largely because you were reporting on this. John Miller, thank you very much -- Erica.

HILL: President Trump is preparing now to return to Washington, wrapping up his visit to Scotland, where he touted a new trade deal with the European Union, of course, met with the British prime minister and also opened a new golf course today.

The president, though, still continuing to face questions about the Jeffrey Epstein case, all those questions following him across the pond. Yesterday, he voluntarily shared some new details, noting that he had never visited Epstein's private island and explaining why he decided to cut ties with the financier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Very easy to explain, but I don't want to waste your time by explaining it. But for years, I wouldn't talk to Jeffrey Epstein. I wouldn't talk because he did something that was inappropriate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:40:03]

HILL: The president went on to say Epstein had stole his employees away. CNN's Jeff Zeleny joining us now from Scotland. What more are we hearing from the president today, Jeff?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica, on Jeffrey Epstein, that was a new explanation from the president. So certainly that is likely to fuel even more questions when the president gets back to Washington later this evening.

But this morning here in Scotland, he was doing what he set out to do on this trip. One of the central pieces of the original agenda was to open a new Trump family golf course outside of Aberdeen, Scotland. And we saw the president on the links doing the official dedication of that.

But of course, so much else has hung over this trip as well. A trade deal with the EU, a new deadline for Russia. But it is the humanitarian crisis in Gaza that is so searing. And the president had some strong language on that yesterday.

He said he intends to speak with Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu coming up. And he was asked about that on the golf course.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What will you say next to Benjamin Netanyahu?

TRUMP: We're working together, we're going to try and get things straightened out for the world. Thank you very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So get things straightened out. The question is, does that include more of a permanent ceasefire? Does it include more aid going into Gaza?

The U.S. is intending to set up food centers. The president described that as a way to allow the Palestinians to have access sort of unfettered to food. But the crisis clearly is deepening.

So that is one of the issues awaiting the president when he finishes up on the golf course here this morning. He'll be spending most of the day flying back to Washington returning this evening -- Erica.

HILL: Jeff Zeleny, good to see you this morning. Thank you -- John.

BERMAN: All right, new this morning, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Dick Durbin, is calling on the Justice Department to release the recordings and transcripts of the meeting between Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse minors. And Senator Durbin joins us now.

Senator, thanks so much for being with us. Why are you asking for these recordings and transcripts?

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL), RANKING MEMBER, JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: You're hearing from both political parties that the American people deserve a full disclosure as to what is happening with the Jeffrey Epstein case. This idea that they're going to visit with his former girlfriend who's facing a 20 year federal sentence and make some kind of a deal would be absolutely intolerable and unacceptable. That's why I think there should be full disclosure.

Trust the American people with the truth.

BERMAN: Do you know for a fact that there were audio recordings or even transcripts made?

DURBIN: I don't. We're considering that as a very real possibility. It's hard to imagine that anyone of that stature in the Department of Justice would meet with a convicted federal criminal and not have some record of the meeting.

We want that meeting made public to the American people.

BERMAN: What's the line of propriety in your mind of what could have taken place in that meeting? Senator, I see you putting your earpiece and I'll ask it again, just in case you didn't hear the question.

DURBIN: I heard you.

BERMAN: Yes, so what's the line of propriety there? What would be proper to ask in a meeting like that with a convicted -- someone convicted of conspiring to sexually abuse minors?

What would be inappropriate in a meeting like that?

DURBIN: Well, this is unprecedented. I mean, what we're talking about here, I can't recall ever occurring before. Maybe it did in one or two circumstances, but certainly not in a national case.

Understand that the bottom line of this is the trafficking and exploitation of children. That's the bottom line. And the second point is this is a situation where this man committed suicide, supposedly. We have a gap in the videotape and a lot of public interest. Trust the American people. Tell them the truth. Don't conceal it. And don't for a minute consider giving a pardon to his girlfriend.

BERMAN: What does it tell you that the president refuses to rule out a pardon?

DURBIN: I'm not sure what they're looking for. Is she supposed to exonerate him in some way or another? The fact that he was mentioned in the documents of the FBI or Department of Justice in years gone by does not implicate him directly in this.

I can't understand why they haven't just done what they promised they would do. Do you remember when the attorney general said, I have the evidence on my desk. I'm going to go back and take a look at it.

We've never seen it. What intervened there? What is a concern?

Trust the American people. Tell them the truth.

BERMAN: You sent the letter, I think, just yesterday. Have you had any response yet from the Justice Department?

DURBIN: No, and believe me, they're famous for not responding to letters from members of Congress, but still at all, they know that they face this responsibility to explain what they're doing.

[15:45:00]

BERMAN: As you noted, the president himself has not been implicated in any way in anything connected with Jeffrey Epstein and the presence of his name in the files doesn't implicate him. We have reported that the president was told his name was in the files.

But yesterday, for the first time -- and I'll play the sound here -- he revealed that he had been invited to Jeffrey Epstein's island. I want to play that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Again, nothing in there necessarily implicates the president in any way, and he may not have known --

DURBIN: Of course not.

BERMAN: -- what allegedly went on on that island. But the fact that he was invited, what questions does that now raise for you?

DURBIN: Well, I think we know from the evidence that has been disclosed that they had a friendship of some measure that had a falling out over a business deal, a real estate deal, and they stopped communicating with one another. That is innocent enough. I don't know why the president wouldn't want the details to come out on that.

But I'm exactly where you said earlier. I'm not presuming that he is criminally liable in any way, shape or form. And I think he has the benefit of the doubt going in.

Let's do a full disclosure and make the record clear.

BERMAN: Senator, a lot going on in front of the Judiciary Committee now. Of course, the Democrats walked out of the committee vote on Emil Bove to be an appeals court judge. His confirmation will go before the full Senate shortly.

The Washington Post is reporting that a new whistleblower has come forward with information about Bove. And of course, we don't know what that whistleblower said. Can you reveal any details about what this person is saying?

DURBIN: Well, understand what's happened here. We've had not one, not two, but three whistleblowers, people within the Department of Justice who are ready to risk their careers in public service to tell the truth as they saw it with Mr. Bove. They have offered to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The Democrats sent a letter to Chairman Grassley and said, bring them in, put them under oath at the risk of perjury. Let them tell their story. You can't ask for more than that.

And the Republicans have turned it down consistently. They do not want any obstacles to putting this man into a lifetime appointment in the second highest court of the land. I'm troubled by that.

We know the things that he has done that are very clear in my mind. When you consider this deal with Mayor Eric Adams, for God's sake, and people -- professionals in the Department of Justice, giving up their careers in public service in protest to that. The second thing to prosecute the prosecutors who went after January 6th insurrectionists, to fire them from the Department of Justice. I mean, it goes on from there.

And to say to the attorneys at the department, if you have to face a judge who's not going along with the Trump administration on immigration, don't be afraid to say F- you.

BERMAN: Any sign he won't be confirmed by the full Senate?

DURBIN: Well, you never know at the last minute, but it appears that even if they have to bring in the vice president, which they'll do, of course, they're going to really put it to all the chips on the table for this nominee. He's a terrible choice for one of the second highest courts in the land. And I think it's a mistake and I hope some Republicans come to their senses.

BERMAN: Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, we appreciate you being with us this morning. Thank you. All right, President Trump breaking in a way with the Israeli prime

minister on the starvation crisis inside Gaza. What these new comments might mean for next steps.

A sailboat collides with a barge, leaving two children dead and several injured this morning.

And a town that voted for President Trump says they have been left in the lurch over disaster relief.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: President Trump in Scotland, of course, this morning, where he's opening the new golf course before returning to Washington. The president has said a number of things of note during this trip abroad, including a significant break from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the situation in Gaza and the visible signs of starvation among so many on the ground.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, Prime Minister Netanyahu said there's no starvation in Gaza. Do you agree with that assessment?

TRUMP: I don't know. I mean, based on television, I would say not particularly. Those children look very hungry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: He then later in the day, of course, said that you can't fake those pictures. That is exactly what he was saying.

Harry Enten with me now. These pictures, this story is really resonating in a way. Over the last several days, we're seeing it's having a real impact as well on some of the key players.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yes. You know, Benjamin Netanyahu, if you look at polling in the United States, he is lost in the court of public opinion. I want you to take a look here at his net favorable rating.

It is the lowest on record, according to Gallup. And they have records going all the way back since the 1990s. What are we talking about here?

Well, in April of 2019, before, obviously, Israel in Gaza and the latest war that's been going on for a long time, Benjamin Netanyahu was on the positive side at plus 13 points. Look at where he is today.

Minus 23 points. My goodness gracious. You look at those under the age of 35. His net favorable rating at this point, get this, 53 points underwater.

[15:55:00] My God. And this, of course, has everything to do with Israel's actions in Gaza. The American people at this particular point, not exactly liking what they're seeing. And they believe that Benjamin Netanyahu is in large part responsible.

HILL: So to that point, how do Americans feel about Israel's actions in Gaza right now?

ENTEN: Yes. So let's take a look at this. I mean, net approval.

Israel's military acts in Gaza. You go back to November of 2023, was on the positive side of the ledger, plus five points. I bet if you can go back a little bit further, be a little bit higher.

But Gallup only measured in November of 2023 at plus five points. Look at here where we are in July of 2025. Way down there at minus 28 points.

Among those under the age of 35, get this, a negative 73 point net approval rating. This is all being led -- all the negative opinions towards Israel and their acts in Gaza are being led by the younger folks in the electorate. Negative 73 points on the net approval rating. You rarely ever see numbers that low. And that is charging up this number, 28 points underwater.

The net approval rating of Israel's military acts in Gaza. The American people do not like what they're seeing and increasingly dislike what they're seeing.

HILL: That is really a shift. And this is leading, too, to a number of other feelings when it comes to Israel in general. I mean, as we look at that, and also questions about Palestinians and, you know, whether to recognize the state of Palestine.

That's back in the news because of Emmanuel Macron. Where do we stand on some of those questions?

ENTEN: Yes. So, you know, for the longest period of time, Americans have sympathized more with the Israelis than the Palestinians. That's still the case.

But it's only by plus five. You go back to May of 2024, it was plus 17. Right after October 7th, look at this, was plus 40. In 2017, it was plus 39 points. That is a dramatic drop. That is, what is that, a 43-point drop since the aftermath of October 7th.

And again, under the age of 50, you look at those younger voters, it was plus 38 Israelis back, all the way back in 2017. You look now, it is plus 19 Palestinians. There has simply put, been a complete change of opinion on this topic.

And it has been at least driven in large part by how Americans view the military actions of Israel in Gaza.

HILL: It was fascinating to see those numbers. Harry, appreciate it, thank you.

ENTEN: Thank you.

HILL: John.

BERMAN: All right, new this morning, U.N. officials are calling the situation in Gaza a worst-case scenario of famine. Video obtained by CNN shows thousands of Palestinians scrambling onto aid trucks as those trucks arrive. Israel has eased some restrictions on food supplies, but more aid is needed as children, you can see, scrape bits of flour from the beds of those trucks.

This comes as the health ministry there just said more than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began.

With us now, CNN Global Affairs Analyst Brett McGurk. He's a former National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa. Brett, great to see you this morning.

So, President Trump created a little bit of daylight between himself and the Israeli prime minister, where he said, the president did, that he sees real starvation in Gaza. And the Israeli prime minister flat out said there's no starvation in Gaza.

So, where does that split, insofar as there's a split, how does that affect the future for negotiations?

BRETT MCGURK, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, John, first, I think the president's right to say that. And I think he's right to just call out exactly what's happening. But this is a shift in the U.S. policy, because if you go back the last six months, John, the Trump administration kind of enabled a lot of things the Israelis did that when I was working on this file, we simply did not permit.

There was a 10-week siege, almost 77 days, a total blockade of Gaza by Israel, which really led to this cataclysmic set of events. And what has happened now, clearly the U.S. has put pressure on Israel to make sure that that U.N.-provided aid is getting back in there with localized ceasefires. That has to happen.

I have to say, every morning at 7:30, no matter what else was happening in this crisis, we had a call on the humanitarian situation and the aid situation. We had a senior coordinator at the State Department work this every single day. We had experts from USAID working this every single day.

Where there was a problem or bottleneck, we would try to resolve it. Often Israel and the U.N. disagree. We try to come in, try to resolve it.

It's hard. I'm not saying that record was perfect, but constant focus. The Trump administration got rid of that senior coordinator position. They abolished USAID, and you really just kind of lost the attention and focus on this. That's returning now.

That's important, because to your question, John, no matter what happens in the talks, the aid has to flow. That's non-negotiable. The aid has to flow. And then you try to get back to these ceasefire talks.

We have to get the ceasefire in place, and it was close. Hamas hardened its demands. You've got to stay at it.

BERMAN: I was going to ask, how difficult is it to separate starvation, food security, from other discussions about hostages and a ceasefire?

MCGURK: John, you know, multiple things can be true. First, Hamas is the main obstacle to a ceasefire deal. We just saw that again last week.

Everybody thought we were moving towards a deal. I'm told, my understanding, the Hamas leadership in Doha was ready to accept a deal, and the guys in Gaza said no. The guys holding the hostages said, no, let's harden our positions.

So Hamas is the obstacle.

[08:30:00]