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NYPD Sending Teams to Las Vegas in Shooting Investigation; Verdict Reached in Protein Shake Murder Trial; UN Aid Groups: Time is Running Out as People in Gaza Starve. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired July 30, 2025 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: We are hearing new calls to action today as New York mourns the loss of four lives taken in a Manhattan shooting spree. In the last hour, New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani gave his condolences to the victim's families, also issuing a call to action for more gun regulations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZOHRAN MAMDANI, NEW YORK MAYORAL CANDIDATE: And I echo the call from Governor Hochul for a nationwide ban on assault rifles. As it is horrifying to each and every one of us in this room and beyond that a man with such documented mental health struggles was able to purchase a weapon, leave alone a weapon of such devastating capability.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: We also learned today that the NYPD is sending investigators to the gunman's hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada. Police say he drove cross-country in an attempt to access NFL offices. And in a note, he blames CTE, a brain disease that is often associated with mental -- or rather with head trauma and has been attributed in part to playing football for his own mental health issues.

With us now, CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller. John, police just gave an update on how the shooter was able to obtain the weapon. What have you learned?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: So, the update filled in some of the blanks as the investigation has gotten to a richer picture of the gunman, his past and what brought him to New York City.

They did a search of his studio apartment yesterday in Las Vegas. They recovered what they believe is another suicide note. That's the note, Boris, where he says, writing to his mom and dad, when I look into your eyes and dad's eyes, all I see is disappointment. I'm sorry. I love you, mama.

They also had the interview with Rick. Now, we've talked about Rick a couple of times over the last two days. Rick is a colleague in the security department at the Horseshoe Casino, where the gunman worked as a security officer as well. And Rick is also the purchaser of the weapon that was used in the New York shooting. He buys that gun in August of 2024, and he sells it, according to investigators who interviewed him. He sells it to the gunman for $1,400, fully assembled. The lower receiver he purchased, the stock he added, the barrel he added, the magazines, the flashlight, the scope. He built this out to be a tactical assault weapon and sold it.

Now, we also know from the briefing and information we reported yesterday, in June, the suspect buys the .357 Magnum, the one he did not use in the shooting. It was found in the car, that black BMW. Incidentally, the black BMW was also sold to him by Rick.

At the end of the note that was found on the gunman's body, one of the last lines is, tell Rick, you know, I'm sorry for everything. Probably an indicator that he knew that the gun and, you know, the car eventually would trace back both to him.

Investigators are telling us so far, as far as New York City goes, Rick is being cooperative. He has not committed a crime here. And our efforts to reach out to him, which were renewed again today, have not been responded to.

SANCHEZ: And John, take us through some of what we've learned regarding the gunman's mental health history.

MILLER: Well, it appears he was suffering from depression in that they found Zoloft prescribed to him in the car. It appears he was suffering from migraines in that they found Zolmitriptan also prescribed to him in the car. He was using cannabis.

But his notes basically say he had CTE. He blamed the NFL for basically stifling progress on research and protection against CTE, which is, in his mind at least, what brought him to New York.

[15:35:10]

The autopsy where they're going to examine his brain, and one of the things he said in the note that was found on him is, please examine my brain, may tell us whether he had it or not, but it isn't really going to give us a window into why he did this terrible crime to put that spotlight on this.

SANCHEZ: John Miller, thank you so much for the update -- Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: We have some breaking news into CNN. A verdict has been reached in the James Craig murder trial. He is that dentist in Colorado accused of poisoning his wife's protein shakes.

Let's go to CNN's Whitney Wild. Whitney, get us up to date here. We do not know at this point what the jury has decided, but they were not deliberating for all that long.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: No, in total it was about eight and a half hours, Brianna. He was initially facing six charges. Seventh was added late, actually at the request of the defense.

So let me walk you through the counts that he's facing. The first one is count -- the count one is murder in the first degree.

Count two is solicitation to commit tampering with physical evidence.

Count three is again solicitation to commit tampering with physical evidence.

Count four is solicitation to commit perjury in the first degree.

Count five solicitation to commit murder in the first degree.

Count six solicitation to commit perjury in the first degree.

And the seventh charge -- this is the one that was added late, Brianna -- is manslaughter, intentionally aiding or causing someone's suicide.

So there are three sort of theories here, and I'll quickly walk you through them. The first is that he intentionally killed Angela Craig, his wife, because he wanted to carry out an affair with a woman named Karen Kane.

The second theory presented by prosecutors, and this is accounts for some of these other charges, is that once he was arrested on that murder charge, he then concocted a plan to try to solicit someone to kill four other people, including a lead investigator and a police officer investigating the case.

And then finally, Brianna, he was also trying to, according to prosecutors, generate evidence that was totally fake, that would have supported this idea that his wife, Angela Craig, had committed suicide.

This idea that Angela Craig was potentially suicidal, it was a central part of the defense here. And so that accounts for the seventh charge, which is, again, manslaughter, intentionally aiding or causing someone's suicide.

Again, this was an account that was added by the defense, the defense really leaning into this idea that this was a broken marriage, that Angela Craig was suicidal. However, prosecutors said plainly she was not suicidal.

The ultimate betrayal was by her own husband, who killed her -- Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, Whitney, we will be tracking this to see if we know what the jury has decided here in this protein shake murder trial. Whitney Wild, thank you.

We'll be right back.

[15:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SANCHEZ: International pressure on Israel is mounting to end the food crisis spreading across Gaza and to open up entry points as well. Calls are also growing for Israel to agree to a ceasefire, as Britain warns that it will recognize a Palestinian state in September unless a deal is reached. France has said it will do the same.

There were more critical food drops over Gaza yesterday, but humanitarian aid groups stress it is simply not enough and that time is running out because, quote, Gaza is now on the brink of a full scale famine.

The Palestinian Health Ministry says that in the last day, another seven people have died from starvation and malnutrition. According to the World Food Program, one in three Gazans are going days at a time without eating.

Let's discuss the humanitarian crisis in Gaza with Ambassador Richard Haass. He's president emeritus of the Council of Foreign Relations and the author of The World, a brief introduction.

Ambassador, thanks for being with us.

So I wonder what you make of, on one hand, President Trump recently saying that addressing starvation is his number one position, saying that it's his top priority in his meeting with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. But as recently as of a few days ago, he argued that Israel should just finish the job in the enclave. Isn't that a contradiction?

AMB. RICHARD HAASS, PRESIDENT EMERITUS, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: In a word, yes. The job can't be finished if the job is the elimination of Hamas as a military entity. Israel has reached the point of diminishing returns on the use of force.

It's killed on the order of 60,000 people. 20,000 were Hamas members. That still leaves 35,000, 40,000 who were not.

Plus you've also got, as you've talked about, the limitations on the flow of food and other humanitarian supplies. Plus you've got, what, three-quarters or so of the people of Gaza -- I'm sorry, all the people of Gaza being forced into about a quarter of the territory. So you've got 2 million people who are already living in a crowded area are now living in 25 percent of it.

So you really do have a humanitarian crisis. And while Hamas is directly and indirectly responsible for some of it, Israel is also increasingly responsible and is losing the fight, if you will, for international public opinion here.

SANCHEZ: I also am curious to get your thoughts on the division, the apparent division, between President Trump saying that this is starvation, that he and the first lady have been deeply affected by the images of famine, and then the ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, suggesting that this is all being blown out of proportion, questioning the veracity of not only reporting on the ground, but also images that the world is seeing of people starving. I mean, it seems like there's daylight between the president and his ambassador. [15:45:00]

HAASS: Well, if there is daylight, I would bet on the president. This is an administration which works from the top down. And I think the president in this case is more right in talking about the consequences of what's going on, where I would fault the president, though, as not doing more about it. He has tremendous standing in Israel, particularly after what he did vis-a-vis Iran.

And I would think and I would hope the president could do a lot more to put pressure on the Israeli government to agree to a ceasefire, to get its forces out of Gaza, to put on the table a plan for what comes next with Palestinians. The president keeps talking about how much he wants to see peace in Gaza and more broadly between Israel and its neighbors. Well, this is a chance for him to help bring it about.

He is uniquely positioned to do that if, and it's a big if, he's willing to draw down his political capital.

SANCHEZ: The president has also notably downplayed the idea that the U.S. would take the step that Britain and France have said that they would in recognizing a Palestinian state, at least Britain saying that they would if there wasn't a ceasefire by September.

Trump has actually talked about quite the opposite, removing Palestinians from Gaza, saying that they would be accepted in neighboring countries or that they would find another place to go, essentially.

Is there anything that you could see, any scenario that you could see in which this administration would alter course and support the establishment of a Palestinian state and a two-state solution?

HAASS: Well, I would hope it would, but not in the way the British and the French are going about it. To simply say you're going to recognize a Palestinian state takes all the pressure off the Palestinians to meet legitimate Israeli requirements. Any support for a Palestinian state ought to be conditional.

And what the French and British are doing, quite honestly, is discrediting the idea. It needs to be negotiated between Israel and a responsible Palestinian leadership. And that's where Europeans and Americans have a role to play.

But again, simply asserting this is truly counterproductive. And again, I would hope the United States would do more to bring about a Palestinian state and a two-state solution but make clear what it expects of the Palestinians in addition to what it expects from the Israelis.

SANCHEZ: Ambassador Richard Haass, so great to get your perspective. Appreciate you joining us.

HAASS: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Still ahead, more on the afternoon's breaking news. A verdict in the trial of the Colorado dentist accused of murdering his wife with tainted protein shakes. We're following the latest there.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: We have breaking news out of Colorado where a verdict has been reached in the murder trial of the dentist accused of poisoning his wife. The prosecution argued James Craig tainted Angela Craig's protein shakes, fed her pills that he had refilled with cyanide and gave her a lethal injection while she was hospitalized. He's facing a first degree murder charge.

He's also facing solicitation to commit murder, solicitation to commit perjury and solicitation to commit tampering with physical evidence.

SANCHEZ: Let's go to CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson, who joins us live. Joey, the jury deliberating for just about eight hours. Is there much to be read into that?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, so there's not. Boris, Brianna, nice to be with both of you. I mean, jurors have a job to do.

And it's just you just noted what the charges are. They have to sift through and determine whether this was a premeditated act of murder. That would be count one.

And then as to the other charges, solicitation, what does that mean? And it means that you sought the aid of someone else to assist you in that regard, such that you offered and otherwise suggested, recommended and sought the participation of another party in terms of the murder, in terms of fabricating evidence and in terms of lying for you. So jurors have a lot to sift through.

Remember, they heard from 48 witnesses. The defendant did not testify in this case. The defense did not put on a case, but certainly the prosecution offered substantial evidence as to the guilt of the dentist in this case.

We'll see whether or not the jury bought the argument that prosecutors were making, and that is that he intended to kill his wife, notwithstanding the fact that they had six children, two of which testified.

KEILAR: What did you make, Joey, of his argument, his defense argument that he was assisting in her suicide and that he was basing it on her journal or diary, his defense, where she was talking about and he was sort of a known philanderer, right, that he had cheated on her many times and she was talking about whether to give in or not, which I think some people might read into. As she talking about getting a divorce or is he was trying to argue that she was talking about actually killing herself over it and that he was merely assisting her in her wishes? And tell me if I got that right or not, as I'm paraphrasing this.

But what did you think about that defense? JACKSON: Not much, actually. I will be curious to know what a jury thinks about it. I mean, there was a lot of compelling evidence here. I'll get to the defense momentarily.

But the evidence when you have searches with regard to how do you develop poison such that they're not traceable, looking at lethal poisons, having poison cyanide specifically delivered to your dental office with no explanation and no use there.

[15:55:00]

When you have your two children, one testifying, one daughter saying that he did not want an autopsy, another daughter giving the indication that he said, hey, would you tell a lie for me in terms of saying your mom is suicidal? A number of other witnesses coming forward, you know, just with respect to what he was up to.

Look, he was having these affairs. Apparently the defense's argument with the affairs is, hey, well, this is what my client does all the time. You didn't want to run off with anyone. I'm certain that didn't make him sympathetic.

But it's not only the affairs, it's the relation to the affairs and what he was saying in the text message to one woman specifically while his wife was dying in a hospital.

So it was a lot of compelling evidence here. But again, Brianna, the defense certainly said, look, she was in a tough way. There was a journal that she had of several years ago which indicated that she was broken in some respects. And so the defense seized upon that to make the suggestion that, hey, perhaps she killed herself and he was not the party to do that.

Last point and that's this. Remember, it's not only him being on trial for her murder, it's that he solicited, according to prosecutors, the murder of others, specifically the lead detective in the case, in addition to another law enforcement officer, in addition to two people in custody. That's inmates. So we'll see what the jury has to say with regard to that.

KEILAR: Joey, thank you so much. We'll continue to follow this.

And THE ARENA with Kasie Hunt starts after a quick break.

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END