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New Photos Show Handgun, Ammunition Found In Shooter's Car; NYPD Sending Teams To Las Vegas In Shooting Investigation; NYPD Officer, Blackstone Employee Among 4 Killed In NYC Shooting; Trump: Epstein Hired Away Young Female Workers From Mar-A-Lago Spa; Maxwell Demands Immunity, Other Conditions To Testify To Congress. Aired 3- 3:30p ET

Aired July 29, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Jeffrey Epstein's co-conspirator, convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell offers to testify on Capitol Hill. She's been subpoenaed by the way, but her lawyers say her cooperation comes with lots of strings attached.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Plus, investigators searching for answers in a deadly mass shooting in New York City and a look at the extensive security measures inside the high-rise that the gunman was able to avoid.

Plus, the starvation crisis in Gaza now being called a worst-case scenario. A major American ally now threatening new pressure on Israel to end the conflict.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KEILAR: Today investigators are learning more about the gunman who killed four people and seriously injured another in Midtown Manhattan. Police say he drove all the way from Las Vegas with an apparent grudge against the NFL and its handling of the trauma-induced brain disease CTE. Just a short time ago we saw the first images of what the gunman left behind in his car. Medication, another gun and more ammunition. Let's bring in CNN Chief Law Enforcement Analyst and Intelligence Analyst, John Miller.

John, what else was found in the car and what is this telling investigators?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, the contents of the car tell us about a cross-country journey with an individual who was suffering. What you see there is a bag filled with ammunition. There is the case for the rifle as well as a backpack. There are bullets for a 0.357 Magnum. A revolver was recovered from the car. There was ammunition loaded into magazines for the rifle that he took with him when he walked into that building. But they also found Zoloft, a medication for depression. They found

Sumatriptan which is a medication for migraines and they found an amount of cannabis or weed which is sometimes just weed but also sometimes used by migraine sufferers for relief. So, he was supposed to show up for work at the Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas Sunday. He didn't show up. It appears that that's when he started his cross- country trip.

And we're learning a little bit more about the shooter. Things that are different and surprising. His father was an LAPD officer, apparently, for 18 years before retiring and moving to Las Vegas. He worked as a security guard and an armed security guard which is why he obtained that - not just a concealed weapons permit for Nevada, but also a private investigator's license which is required if you're going to work security armed. Worked for two different casinos, the Horseshoe and before that Caesars.

And had two encounters, Brianna, with the Las Vegas Metro Police in 2022 where they - and this is what they talk about when they say documented mental health issues. They encountered him in the street acting in a way that exhibited to them that he might be a threat to himself or others. They took him to a hospital. They checked him in for psychiatric observation.

And how those things usually go and we don't know what the records were in this particular pair of instances is, they'll evaluate you if you say you're not thinking about killing yourself or you've thought about it but you don't have a plan to do it.

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They may medicate you, prescribe something and typically release you after a short period. Again, we don't have the specific details on that but it happened twice in the same year.

KEILAR: That's a really interesting detail. John Miller, thank you for the latest there. Boris.

SANCHEZ: With us now to discuss retired NYPD detective Michael Alcazar. He's an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

Michael, thank you so much for being with us. Take us inside this investigation. What comes next?

MICHAEL ALCAZAR, RETIRED NYPD DETECTIVE: Well, right now they're processing the crime scene. They're canvassing for any video surveillance. They're interviewing, of course, the witnesses and victims. They're going through his electronic history, you know, through his computer, his personal computer. They're executing search warrants at his residence or residences and potentially at his place of work. And again, they're reviewing like he had a suicide note to see if maybe he has any social media footprint. It's a lot of moving steps to this.

SANCHEZ: Help us understand how shaping a theory of motive comes together because you mentioned the suicide note. You also have the NYPD saying that he has a mental health history. You also have, I should note in the mention of his suicide note, the claims that he had a CTE which are, of course, difficult to verify when someone is alive. But then you also had medications that were found in his vehicle that address migraines and that sort of thing.

How does all of that get processed by investigators to shape a theory of motive?

ALCAZAR: So, I'm sure investigators are talking to his family members, perhaps conferring with medical staff that have seen him in the past as John had mentioned. I know in the note that he left, he talked about an NFL career and apparently he didn't have an NFL career. So, he seems unstable mentally. So, he might have some delusions that he's acting on.

So, again, good detectives will just interview, again, the family members, where the medication was issued, why was it issued, and the kind of history, again, like John mentioned with the police, with medical staff. So, it's going to be daunting, but the investigators in the NYPD are very accustomed to sifting through a lot of information. And they're going to rely on tips coming in, any kind of information that they can vet will be helpful.

SANCHEZ: Are you confident that there will be some kind of analysis through autopsy of his brain to determine if he had CTE?

ALCAZAR: You know, that's beyond my purview. I'm not really sure what the doctors will do. When they do an autopsy. I'm not sure what they can determine through that autopsy.

SANCHEZ: Understood. And lastly, I wanted to get your thoughts on building security, just the fact that he confronted some security guards in the lobby, but then was able to access an elevator. When you're talking about a high rise like that there are multiple points in which you have to have a badge just to access certain elevators. I wonder what you make of what you've learned and what more could have been done potentially to prevent access?

ALCAZAR: Well, most of the security guards that work in these Manhattan buildings, you know, they're unarmed other than the, you know, the paid detail police officer that was there that lost his life. Sadly, many of these departments, these buildings hired NYPD for this paid detail, which is an off-duty employment.

I think - and, you know, I've gone through these buildings several times, once you pass security, there's really no key card per se like to get in the elevator. And this perpetrator went up the elevator. Apparently, he didn't realize that, you know, there's different elevators that go to different floors, which was fortunate for, you know, those people that he was targeting. And then he eventually took his life.

SANCHEZ: Yes, our thoughts are with the family of that off duty officer that lost his life. Michael Alcazar, thank you so much for the time. Brianna. KEILAR: Let's talk about this a little more now with New York State

Assembly Member, Alex Bores. He represents the area of Manhattan where the shooting happened.

Can you just tell us a little bit about what you're learning about the victims and what more you can share about who they were?

ALEX BORES, (D) NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY: Well, our community is reeling. The fourth victim was just publicly identified. There is obviously the police officer who everyone heard about. There was a 32BJ (ph) member, a security officer. There was an employee, an executive at Blackstone and an employee of the Rudin company, the manager of the building, just 27 years old and starting her career.

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KEILAR: And that's the latest person who was identified, someone who's 27. That's - it's horrible. And there was one person who was significantly injured. Do you know anything more about them?

BORES: There was also an employee of the NFL significantly injured in critical. But last I heard, stable condition and expected to survive, thankfully.

KEILAR: And you said your community is reeling. Specifically, can you talk about what you're hearing about safety? Is this shooting raising concerns for them about issues that maybe they didn't think about before that now maybe need to be addressed?

BORES: Of course, anytime you have just shocking and sudden attack like this one, everyone's going to look over their shoulder. Everyone's going to want to know what can we do to make sure this never happens again. And the laws in New York state are quite strong. New York has the fifth lowest rate of gun violence. We've had a historic low in New York City.

But there's not much that New York laws or legislators can do for someone who buys a gun in Nevada and drives it into the state. That really requires a federal solution. And while there'll be a lot that needs to be discussed on this issue, whether that's the mental health services, whether that's background checks, a big part of the conversation will be should these military style weapons be available, or is it time for the nation finally to ban them.

KEILAR: And you just mentioned that the fourth victim in this was an employee of the NFL. Investigators had believed the shooter was headed to the NFL offices, I believe, on the fifth floor, but got in the wrong elevator, ended up going to the 33rd floor, where the company that manages the building is located. I don't know if you have any insight as to whether the shooter even knew that they were targeting someone who worked for the NFL. What more have you learned about the - that and the motivation here?

BORES: Well, the NYPD is still doing its investigation. As you mentioned at the top of the hour, they're sending two teams out to Nevada to speak with people there. And I expect we'll learn more as the investigation continues. But what we know now is that this person drove from Nevada with an intent, with a loaded weapon, with a weapon that could fire very quickly and very powerfully, and used it to inflict mass casualties on New Yorkers. And that demands a national response.

KEILAR: And what do you think that response should be?

BORES: I think it's - as our governor said this morning, it is finally time for us to have a nationwide ban on assault weapons, on these AR- 15 style weapons. Now, this one was a pistol and a different one. And I expect many of my colleagues in elected office to pick at specific distinctions in weapons. But what's clear is no one should have a magazine that can shoot 30 rounds. No one should have such a high- powered and maneuverable weapon and be able to walk around city streets or drive it into our state.

KEILAR: You said it was a pistol?

BORES: Technically, it's defined as a pistol, though, obviously, it had a shoulder stock. And so, to the eye, many would call it an assault rifle. I think it is technically classified as a pistol and lacked the rifling. But my point is that we shouldn't be in these discussions on the ticky-tacky aspects of the specific guns. We need to be taking action to keep people safe. Exactly where we draw the line on exactly what kind of weapon we can discuss.

But New York has already banned this style of weapon in our state. There's nothing we can do if other states are going to keep selling it.

KEILAR: A very lethal weapon, as we see and as your community is reeling in in mourning today.

Assemblyman Alex Bores, thanks for being with us.

BORES: Thanks for having me.

KEILAR: Still to come, with complaints over the Epstein files not being released, how they've been handled, now coming from influential voices like Joe Rogan. How worried is the White House about the President losing support from his base?

Plus, the jury just now beginning deliberations in the trial of the man accused of fatally poisoning his wife in her protein shakes.

We'll have that and much more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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SANCHEZ: New today, Jeffrey Epstein accomplice and convicted sex trafficker, Ghislaine Maxwell, says that she's now willing to testify before Congress, but with major conditions, including immunity. This is according to a list of her demands that attorneys sent to the House Oversight Committee, which subpoenaed her. A spokeswoman for the committee quickly rejected the idea of giving Maxwell immunity.

Over the past week, President Donald Trump has been asked about potentially pardoning Maxwell and twice the President has not ruled it out. And earlier, while he was traveling back to the U.S. on Air Force One, the President gave more detail as to why he cut ties with Jeffrey Epstein decades ago.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were some of the workers that were taken from you, were some of them young women?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Were some of them?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were some of them young women?

TRUMP: Well, I don't want to say. But everyone knows the people that were taken. And it was the concept of taking people that work for me is bad. But that story's been pretty well out there and the answer is yes, they were. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) ...

TRUMP: In the spa.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the spa?

TRUMP: Yes, people that worked in the spa.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: CNN Senior Political Analyst Mark Preston is with us alongside Charlie Warzel. He's a staff writer for The Atlantic and has extensively covered right-wing conspiracy theories, including those involving Jeffrey Epstein. Thank you both for being with us.

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Mark, first to you with this idea that Maxwell may testify before Congress. There are a lot of lawmakers, a bipartisan group that want answers. We heard from a former federal prosecutor before that they were on the risk, though, of giving her leverage as she now makes demands. And she's someone who's perjured herself. She's not exactly a credible witness.

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: She's not a credible witness. And could you imagine if she comes out with a list of people and says he, he, he, he and he were all on this list.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

PRESTON: However, you go back to when she first testified, what has put her in jail is the fact that she said that none of this had ever happened. So, I don't think that Ghislaine Maxwell is going to be the person that is the Rosetta Stone to figuring out what has happened here with the Jeffrey Epstein situation. SANCHEZ: Charlie, I wonder what you make of the potential for her to

testify before Congress and whether lawmakers can actually rely on her testimony, especially given the appearance of a potential conflict of interest. What many lawmakers have brought up, the fact that you had Todd Blanche, a former personal attorney of Donald Trump, now a DOJ official spending hours with her. I spoke to Suhas Subramanyam, a Democrat on the oversight committee last hour, who suggested that he might be coaching her.

CHARLIE WARZEL, STAFF WRITER, THE ATLANTIC: You know, the purpose of all of this is to try to make this Epstein thing go away for Trump, right? And for the administration, they have been sort of unable to kill this story to get it out of the limelight for them. And frankly, all of the things that would be happening here seem only likely to make this story get bigger. They're going to be fanning the flames of this story, right?

For - you have Trump sort of running on, you know, (INAUDIBLE) ends up happening is, you know, striking deals with one of the leaders of Epstein's, you know, entire crew, which would, you know, only fan the flames of this. In another way, too, you know, having her testify publicly is only going to, you know, continue to put this into the news. And even if Trump's name isn't mentioned, even if there was some, you know, supposed - alleged deal that was brokered behind the scenes in some way, the Epstein story is linked to Donald Trump because of his long history with Jeffrey Epstein.

So, you have this way in which none of this seems like it's actually going to do what he wants it to do, which is just to make this go away.

SANCHEZ: I want to play a clip for you from Joe Rogan, arguably the biggest podcaster in the world, someone who carries a lot of influence with the Trump supporters, let's listen.

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JOE ROGAN, PODCASTER: When Kash Patel was on here and he was like, there's no - there's nothing. And I was like, what are you talking? Yes, I didn't even know what to say. The whole thing was nuts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

ROGAN: And then they really - he's like, well, we have a film. We're going to release that film. And the film has all (expletive) minute missing from it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

ROGAN: Like, do you think we're babies? Like, what is this?

This one's a line in the sand. When you have this one hardcore line in the sand that everybody's been talking about forever, and then they're trying to gaslight you on that.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SANCHEZ: I mean, how politically potent is this for Trump? Could he lose support over this?

PRESTON: Well, he's already losing support from within his MAGA base. And when you've seen the likes of Joe Rogan go out there and, you know, express anger and disappointment about the lack of information he's seen from not only President Trump, but everyone in, you know, in his administration that would go on Fox News, for instance, and say that they have troves and troves of documents. So, we're going to release them. And, of course, they don't really have them.

The interesting thing about Rogan is, and I will say this, is that he is a free speech absolutist.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

PRESTON: Absolutely. And that is what has driven him and other podcasters towards the right wing because they themselves are free speech absolutists.

SANCHEZ: It's important to note, he used to be a Bernie Sanders supporter, so it's not as though he has some true loyalty to Donald Trump.

Charlie, I wonder when you hear Democrats entertain some ideas about the President's proximity to Jeffrey Epstein for the duration of this theory that Epstein was behind this huge global ring of pedophiles and that he blackmailed leaders at all levels, for the most part, that's a conspiracy theory that has lived and been utilized by the right wing. But it seems like a lot of Democrats are dipping their toes now because they see that the President could potentially lose support with his base on this. I wonder what you make of what that does to this theory around Jeffrey Epstein and the length at which we'll see this theory keep moving forward.

WARZEL: Well, the reason why this is sort of a perfect conspiracy theory is because there are elements of it that where there are questions, right? There are legitimate questions about Epstein's wealth, about some of his connections, whether or not, you know, there was this, you know, alleged supposed intelligence connection.

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There's also this, you know, supposed list. And as long as that stays, you know, as long as that is not out there, in public, there is this notion that anyone could be on it, right? So, it fuels this. It's kind of a perfect theory.

I don't think that's going to go away, even if Democrats don't focus on it. But it is a dangerous game for Democrats to play, right? Because, you know, the group that is not in power at any time can say, well, you know, we would, you know, release this, we would do this. And then you find when you are in power, you know, there may be things about this case that can't be released, whether it's to protect victims or things that are just not known. So, there's always this, you know, you're playing with fire when you're dealing with this. But what I will say is Democrats, the reason why Democrats are

focusing on this and the reason why it might work out for them in the long run is because this is an unusual situation for Donald Trump. He actually seems a little unnerved by his inability to, you know, command and control this media frenzy and media circus. And we don't normally see that for him.

So, I think Democrats are rightly jumping on this because they see it as a real pressure point and a real opportunity.

SANCHEZ: Mark, last word to you.

PRESTON: I mean, look, it's not going to go away. We've seen it not only from the Democrats as they're pushing it, but the fact is this is being fueled by Republicans and the real conservative wing of MAGA. We'll see it come - I mean, look, the next couple of weeks are going to be very important, but I think we'll see something before we hit the fall.

SANCHEZ: Mark Preston, Charlie Warzel, thank you so much for the conversation. Appreciate it.

Still to come, the murder trial of the dentist accused of poisoning his wife's protein shakes could be coming to a quick conclusion. Jury deliberations underway right now. We have an update next.

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