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U.S. Announces New Trade Deals Ahead of Tomorrow's Tariff Deadline; Interview with Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY): DOJ Not Expected to Comply with Senate Demands for Epstein Files, ICE Restrictions on Detention Facility Visits; 25 Hospitalized After Significant Turbulence on Delta Flight; NTSB Public Hearing on Deadly D.C. Midair Collision. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired July 31, 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]

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: ... or the final sentencing, would you like to speak? Just like Brian Kohberger, he did not say a word with all of his children there and his family members there. He was sentenced to life in prison plus 33 years for those other crimes that he was convicted of.

And the prosecutor said at a conference afterwards that as they kept revealing this evidence, it became surreal. This is real life, and that's the thing that's shocking about it.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: It absolutely is. Is that I just can't imagine what their children have been going through. I mean, she died in 2023. And what they've been going through since, and then to hear this play out in court as they did, and the strength of having to confront their father then. Oh, my God. Jean, thank you so much.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking this morning, the countdown is on. The deadline less than 24 hours away for when the president claims he will impose new tariffs on countries. What major partners are reaching deals? Much might not.

More than two dozen passengers taken to the hospital after significant turbulence forced a Delta flight to make an emergency landing.

And a $100 million crash. A fighter jet pilot ejects from his F-35 just moments before a crash landing.

Sara is out today. I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BOLDUAN: This morning, the clock is ticking on President Trump's trade war. In less than 24 hours now, new tariffs are set to kick in on dozens of America's trading partners who've yet to lock in new trade deals with the Trump administration. And after repeated pauses and repeated extensions on this deadline, the president now says there will be no more, just ahead of now, tomorrow's deadline. The president announced an agreement with South Korea, which includes a 15 percent tariff on goods from there. But that is down from the 25 percent threat that he made back in April. And it also comes on the heels of other deals announced in recent days with the EU and Japan.

But on the, let's just say, the flip side of this trade coin, negotiations are still ongoing with many other countries, including major U.S. trading partners, Canada, Mexico, Taiwan. Within the last 24 hours, the president announced he's also imposing steep new tariffs on India and Brazil, though he openly acknowledges it has less to do with trade and everything to do with politics.

CNN's Alayna Treene is at the White House. There is a whole lot to be following on this today, Alayna. What are you hearing there ahead of this deadline?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, that's right. And I think, Kate, a key thing to keep in mind is that a lot of people had thought that perhaps this August 1st deadline tomorrow, of course, would actually be pushed, because that's exactly what we've seen happen when the president set similar deadlines over the past several months.

But in my conversation with Trump administration officials -- we've obviously seen the president say this publicly as well -- this time, they want it to hold firm. And part of that is because they have seen some of the urgency that that deadline has made for a lot of the United States trading partners to actually come to the table and get these deals done. And I can tell you as well, I think the president's post this morning, kind of just celebrating some of these trade deals, is proof of this.

The president is feeling more vindicated now. You know, after months and months of a lot of people arguing that the tariffs were going to upset the economy, I would argue we still actually don't know what the impact of these are going to be because they haven't gone into effect yet. But they're arguing that they have been able to finally get deals on the table as a result of it. And they're trying to celebrate that behind the scenes.

Now, we kind of heard the Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick reference that yesterday when he was talking on Fox News. He essentially said a lot of people on Wall Street had been calling him up saying, what are you doing? You're going to wreck the economy. And he said, look, we got deals in place. Take a listen to how he put it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD LUTNICK, COMMERCE SECRETARY: I got all these phone calls from my Wall Street buddies, and they were going crazy. They're like, you don't know what you're doing. You're going to destroy the market.

And let me tell you who the experts are. Donald Trump and his trade team have proven the EU pays, Japan pays, Korea pays, Vietnam pays, the Philippines pay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, Kate, in the last week alone and even in the last 24 hours, we've seen fresh deals being struck. You know, we saw some with Japan and the European Union over the last several days, but then also just in the last 24 hours, a deal with South Korea, Thailand, Cambodia, although the latter two, we're still waiting for more of the firm details on.

But as you mentioned, there are still a lot of countries, major United States trading partners that don't have deals. That includes Canada, Mexico, Australia.

[08:05:00]

I think India was a very surprising one when we saw the president this week post that he was going to be putting a 25 percent tariff on the country, one of America's largest trading partners.

But also one of the deals that many of the president's top officials on economics had been saying would be one of the first deals to be struck. As you put it, a lot of the reasons there are political and also the president pointing to their purchasing of Russian oil and other things.

And similar with Brazil. I mean, Brazil has really surprised a lot of people because, you know, the United States has so much trade with Brazil and they haven't been one of the biggest offenders like many of these other countries. But the president now saying 50 percent on Brazil, citing in part the prosecution of one of the president's allies, Jair Bolsonaro, and what he's been facing back home.

And so all to say, still unclear if there'll be more deals before this August 1st deadline. But of course, it's very rapidly approaching.

BOLDUAN: Yes, and last year, the United States had a trade surplus with Brazil, which is the opposite of what the president says he's always targeting. So that just adds to it.

Alayna, thank you so much -- John.

BERMAN: All right, this morning, the family of Virginia Giuffre is speaking out. She's one of the most prominent victims of Jeffrey Epstein. She died by suicide at her home earlier this year.

The new statement from her family to the Atlantic comes in the wake of the president's comment that she was, quote, stolen by Jeffrey Epstein from working at his Mar-a-Lago spa.

Giuffre's two brothers and sister-in-law told the Atlantic an exclusive statement, quote, It makes us ask if he was aware of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's criminal actions, especially given his statement two years later that his good friend Jeffrey likes women on the younger side -- no doubt about it. His family also said, We in the public are asking for answers. Survivors deserve this.

Now, it is important to note that President Trump has not been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.

With us now, Congressman Dan Goldman, a Democrat from New York. Congressman, thanks so much for being with us.

You worked as a prosecutor and in part of investigations for a long time. Virginia Giuffre's family is saying, you know, it makes us ask a lot of questions. Based on the president's statement that Giuffre was stolen from the spa at Mar-a-Lago, what questions would that raise if you were investigating this now?

REP. DAN GOLDMAN (D-NY), HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE: Well, this is a totally new swing on this issue, John. Virginia Giuffre was a victim, a minor victim of Jeffrey Epstein's horrific child sex trafficking ring. If Jeffrey Epstein stole her from the Mar-a-Lago spa, then she was working at the Mar-a-Lago spa when she was underage.

And it begs the questions, given Donald Trump's other statements about how much was he knowing what was going on with Jeffrey Epstein and how much was he potentially involved? He has used other excuses for why his falling out with Jeffrey Epstein occurred, but there's no question from his comments that he knew that Jeffrey Epstein liked younger women. And now we have this new allegation that he stole a younger girl from his spa.

This is not like spa to spa here. Jeffrey Epstein had a child sex trafficking ring.

BERMAN: House Speaker Mike Johnson -- well, first of all, Vice President J.D. Vance has claimed the president is for full transparency. House Speaker Mike Johnson was talking to our Jake Tapper about this.

Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), HOUSE SPEAKER: I want everything to come out about the Epstein evils that is possible to be released.

We have to do it in a in a responsible manner. But look, I'm pushing for aggressively for the full release of everything that is possible.

And by the way, so is the president. He has said the same thing. We're using every mechanism within our power to do that and to do it as quickly as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: How close are House Speaker Johnson and the president's actions toward full transparency?

GOLDMAN: Mike Johnson shut down Congress because he did not want the Epstein files to be released. That is what happened last week. He refused to bring a vote to the House floor that would require the release of the full Epstein files that would have passed because many, many Republicans and Democrats want this true transparency. Donald Trump and J.D. Vance and Mike Johnson keep couching all of their language about transparency into what is credible. Well, who's making the decision as to what is credible as it relates to Donald Trump. Apparently, his former defense attorney, Deputy Attorney Todd -- Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who runs 115,000 person department and yet spent two days with Ghislaine Maxwell asking her questions, certainly without any of the prosecutors who know the facts of the case.

And it's unclear whether there were any other witnesses in there at all, which is always the practice.

[08:10:00]

So they are totally skewing this notion of transparency. Transparency would be to release the files with the victim information redacted. They've already done that.

FBI agents have spent thousands and thousands of hours doing that. That is finished. They are ready to be released if they want them to be released.

BERMAN: Congressman, you were part of a number of members suing the government to get access to ICE facilities. Why?

GOLDMAN: Well, we are getting report after report and there's now video of horrific conditions in facilities that ICE is using to detain immigrants that they are arresting, many from straight out from court when they're going to try to pursue legal pathways to immigrate here. And they're not giving us access. They're not allowing us to conduct oversight.

They're not allowing Congress under -- which is statutorily required, to be able to conduct oversight, observe and inspect ICE facilities where they are keeping detainees and housing immigrants. And they have refused to do that by putting up obstacle after obstacle. And so we have filed a lawsuit to hold them accountable, to make sure that the American people have full transparency.

If this truly is the most transparent administration, why are they violating the law and not allowing myself and 11 others of -- members of Congress who are on this lawsuit to go into those facilities to just take a look at what's happening? The conditions are reportedly horrific. No showers, no beds, very little food, completely inhumane treatment.

And we want to see what's going on for ourselves. We have a statutory right, a legal right to do that. And we are filing suit to make sure that the administration allows us to do that.

BERMAN: Congressman Dan Goldman from New York, we appreciate your time this morning. Thanks so much -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: We're getting new details in this hour about the Delta flight that was just rocked by dangerous turbulence. Twenty-five people on board were hospitalized. The flight was forced to make an emergency landing.

Passengers said that people and some of the service carts hit the ceiling because the turbulence was so violent. The plane was flying from, intending to fly from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, but then was diverted to Minneapolis for that emergency landing. Brynn Gingras tracking this one for us, back with us this hour.

Brynn, what's the latest you're picking up?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kate, new details and new video. I want to show you that. This is of the plane landing in Minneapolis.

An emergency crew is actually coming to the plane immediately to try to provide aid for some of those people that, you know, were injured on board. We'll get to that video actually in just a second.

But yes, you're seeing the flight path there, right? This flight was nine hours long. It took off from Salt Lake City, intending to go to Amsterdam. And about 40 minutes in, according to FlightAware tracking, there was some severe significant turbulence that really, like you said, Kate, rocked this plane, basically causing a quick drop in the altitude of this plane and then a quick ascension of about a thousand feet.

Now listen to some of the passengers, how they describe what that felt like.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEEANN CLEMENT-NASH, PASSENGER: If you didn't have your seat belt on, everyone that didn't, they hit the ceiling and then they fell to the ground. And the carts also hit the ceiling and fell to the ground and people were injured. And it was -- and it happened several times. So it was really scary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRAS: Yes. OK, so just terrifying moments on board.

And when that plane landed in Minneapolis, again, there were fire crews, there were emergency personnel that raced to that plane, provided some care to passengers at the gate. And then others, about 25 people were brought -- there you go, there's that video -- 25 people brought to the hospital for care. Delta thanking those first responders for their quick response.

But again, it's just terrifying moments, another terrifying moment that we're learning about, about a plane and all this turbulence that's being caused -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely, Brynn. Thank you so much for that.

Still ahead for us, what led the chair of the NTSB to call out the FAA and say, quote, fix it, do better. We're set to learn much more about the investigation into the tragic midair collision of a passenger jet and a military helicopter next hour.

And a man has been arrested in connection with the deaths of a couple who were killed while hiking with their two young daughters. What we're learning now about the suspected killer.

And President Trump is now targeting one of his own allies in Congress, why he now calls Josh Hawley a, quote, second tier senator.

[08:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: We are standing by for a new day of the NTSB investigative hearing to try to find out what caused the deadly midair collision in Washington, D.C. in January. The collision happened over the Potomac River between a passenger jet approaching Reagan National Airport and a military Black Hawk helicopter. Both crashed into the water, killing everyone on board, 67 people.

CNN's Pete Muntean at NTSB headquarters, you've been monitoring these hearings. What are the revelations and what do we expect today?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, huge revelation so far, John, and even more today. The scope of these hearings are huge and unprecedented.

[08:20:00]

The focus today is really on two major things.

The issues in the air traffic control tower at Reagan National Airport. We know that one controller was operating two different positions broaD.C.asting to commercial flights coming into National Airport and broaD.C.asting to helicopter flights near National Airport. But those pilots of each aircraft respectively could not hear each other transmitting to air traffic control, only the controller.

And then this will go into the in-cockpit collision avoidance technology and the failures of that technology. We know from the Army that they regularly turned off a technology called ADSB that provides controllers better fidelity, better clarity into where helicopters are. Those crews would cite security for that reason.

Three main revelations yesterday, and these are pretty huge, that the altimeters that show the height of the helicopter above the ground regularly had errors fleet-wide.

The National Transportation Safety Board was able to do some tests not that long after the crash. They said that the altimeters in those helicopters would read 80 to 130 feet low, meaning that the crew could have theoretically been higher on that very low altitude helicopter route near Reagan National Airport.

Also, we got the transcripts for the first time from the voice recorder on board the Black Hawk helicopter. It detailed that the crew discussed changing course in the moments before the collision. The instructor who was instructing the pilot on this training flight on this route said, come left for me, ma'am. And only about a second later, that audio recorder captured the sounds of the collision.

And then this other huge revelation from the Army that they admitted in a bombshell admission that the crews of those helicopters near D.C.A regularly flew below flights coming into land at Reagan National Airport.

I asked NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy if that is indicative of a cultural problem in the Army Aviation Brigade, and if the warning signs were ignored. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER HOMENDY, NTSB CHAIR: Warning signs were ignored or just not known or identified or sought, which is quite tragic. So, yes, I'm angry. Upset, actually.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: This has been so technical and so tough. We saw the 11-minute long video recreation of the crash yesterday here in this hearing room. Many family members are in the audience. You could hear a pin drop as the NTSB showed that recreation.

We also heard from family member Doug Lane. He lost his wife and daughter in that crash. He said the transparency here will be a victory for those who have suffered an unimaginable loss -- John.

BERMAN: So much new information. Pete, it's great to have you there. Pete Muntean at NTSB headquarters.

Thank you -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: And one of the people who died in that tragedy was Sam Lilley. He was the first officer on the passenger jet that was cleared and coming in for landing at Reagan National that night. His father, Tim Lilley, is a former active duty Army Black Hawk helicopter pilot himself and is attending the hearings this week that will pick back up very soon.

And Tim Lilley joins us right now. Tim, thank you for being here. How are you feeling after everything you heard in that first day of the hearings?

TIM LILLEY, FATHER OF AMERICAN AIRLINES PILOT SAM LILLEY: Look, what we've learned during these hearings kind of points back to what I've been saying all along that we need to make some cultural changes now, both in the Army and the FAA. Chairwoman Homendy called the FAA out on the procedurals, problems that cause known safety issues not to be addressed. And so we need to make some cultural changes, especially the Army.

I was really disheartened to learn that Army pilots thought it was OK to fly underneath jets that were on short flight onto Reagan. This is not something that we would have done when I was flying those routes. We knew better.

And somewhere along the line, that knowledge and experience had been lost there. And so the culture there was like teenagers teaching other teenagers how to drive. They just didn't know better, and nobody stopped to relook at what they were doing.

BOLDUAN: And I mean, General Homendy is saying there she's angry. She's upset. And she did not hold back in her frustration with both the Army and the FAA for, in her view, not taking ownership, not owning up to the failures and not doing more even since the tragedy to learn a lesson.

Let me play a little bit more -- I know you heard it. You were there. But let me play a little bit more of what she said yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[08:25:00]

JENNIFER HOMENDY, NTSB CHAIR: I don't get it. Every sign was there that there was a safety risk and the tower was telling you that what you did is you transferred people out instead of taking ownership over the fact that everybody in FAA in the tower was saying there was a problem. Are you kidding me? 67 people are dead.

How do you explain that? Fix it. Do better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Quite a moment there. What did you think of that?

LILLEY: She's right on target there. She's right on target there. We lost 67 national treasures that day, both in the helicopter and in the jet. And there were so many signs. There were so many things that should have been done ahead of time and weren't done.

And so, after the tragedy, it's taken us six months to even get a meeting with the Army to try to fix some of these problems. Luckily, we have the Secretary of Transportation on our side. He's working with us. And I think we're going to get some of these things fixed at the FAA.

And now we're working -- we're just now starting to get the Army on board. And so, I have some optimism that we can make some changes and make sure that this accident doesn't happen again. That's the legacy of these 67 people.

They tragically and needlessly lost their life, but we want to make sure that doesn't happen to anybody else.

BOLDUAN: What is your message when you're in these meetings or just today? What is your message to the leaders in charge, who are the people responsible for making it and keeping it safe to fly, and making sure that this doesn't happen again? I mean, what do you think Sam would -- your son Sam would be saying today? LILLEY: I think Sam would be really proud of the work we've done. And I've been talking with Army leaders just recently. They've started to re-engage with me.

And we're talking about culture. There's cultural things that have to be changed. This idea that we're above getting down and looking at safety and taking it seriously. Risk mitigation that wasn't taken. And we just have to get back to the basics of flying so that when, you know, every passenger on an aircraft should expect to get there safely, right? These aren't casualties of war.

These were people that were in the right place, on final, lined up with the runway, and on the glide path. There should have been no danger of them there by U.S. military.

BOLDUAN: When the NTSB chair said to our Pete Muntean that warning signs were ignored, not identified, or not sought, which do you think it is?

LILLEY: All of the above. All of the above. So I can specifically speak to the Army side because that's where most of my experience is, but the Army had lost a ton of experience in the last couple of decades.

As pilots left and they had a hard time refilling their roles with pilots, the training standards dropped and the average amount of experience that an Army pilot dropped. And so that dedication and that experience, when it left, a lot of the knowledge of how to fly these routes and how to do it safely left with them. And the new guys coming up, it's like they just didn't know better.

BOLDUAN: Well, you are out there making sure, as you said to me in the commercial break before, to have your voices heard, and we're all very thankful for that. Tim, thank you very much for coming in today.

LILLEY: We appreciate you having us, and all 67 families appreciate having a voice in this thing.

BOLDUAN: Thank you very much.

Coming up still for us, nearly eight million student loan borrowers could see their monthly payment skyrocket starting tomorrow. What to know about changes coming to the popular loan program.

And moments from now, a key inflation report on consumer spending will be released.

See futures, how they're looking this morning. We'll be right back.

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