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Trump Low-Keying Negotiations with Iran; Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) is Interviewed about Iran; Captain Charged in Boat Accident Deaths; Tupac Shakur Murder Trial. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired August 10, 2026 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Driving things very far. Upper-level winds more of the same. So, it's kind of stuck in the same zone for the next foreseeable future. So, it's not great news for Spokane, to Boise, to Reno. Not much rain in this forecast to help extinguish any flames either. So, really, we need to see a change in the weather pattern to see any real remarkable change in the fire outlook.

Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Truly. And speaking of the smoke, I know that people were trying to go back to their home in Spokane. They are still in an evacuation zone. And what they are telling them is, it's not just the smoke, it's that it's toxic. There are so many things like plastic that was burned, it could really --

VAN DAM: Yes. The chemicals, right, is the byproduct.

SIDNER: Yes. Yes. Really dangerous.

Thank you, Derek Van Dam, for giving us a sense of the trouble that we are in until we see the patterns change.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The breaking news this morning, oil prices on the rise after President Trump said the U.S. is now only semi negotiating with Iran. Iran says there are no negotiations at all, issuing a list of demands for reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

A federal investigation underway after a boat capsized in New York Harbor, killing a mother and her five-month-old. The captain of that boat now faces charges.

And move over Jimothy (ph). There is a new raccoon stealing hearts. This one rescued after roaming around with a jar stuck on her head. If I had a nickel for every time.

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

SIDNER: Instead of new military attacks, President Trump is betting economic pressure will force Iran's hand, for now at least. In an interview with "Axios," the president said, quote, we are low keying it with Tehran, adding, we are only semi negotiating with them. It's yet another new shift in tone after the president signaled last week that the U.S. and Iran were close again to a deal. It turns out they're not that close. And it comes as the Pentagon is pushing defense contractors to ramp up weapons production after CNN reported that the U.S. had burned through nearly 80 percent of its stockpile of interceptors for a key missile defense system.

And overnight, oil prices rising again as Iran takes a harder line on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, calling for the U.S. to lift its naval blockade, pay for war damages and lift all sanctions before it reopens. Some of those new demands.

CNN's Kevin Liptak is live this morning at the White House.

Tell us more about this president's approach here and why that is happening, where he's talking about being low key about it, which he has not been throughout this entire war.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Right. And I think it's clear the president wants to put this conflict on the back burner in a lot of ways, to wait it out, to try and allow some of the economic pressures to mount on Iran, and so that they will essentially cave to what he is asking them to do in terms of the Strait of Hormuz and in terms of their nuclear program.

When he says, we are only semi-negotiating with them, though, that is very different from what we heard last week. You know, the president and other senior administration officials all saying, on multiple days, that a deal to reopen the Strait was just a day away. Of course, that didn't happen. Now, the president saying that Iran is, quote, "in bad shape economically" and hoping that he will be able to see those economic pressures mount, declare victory and just try and move on.

But what we saw Iran do over the weekend was essentially the opposite of caving. They're issuing new, fresh demands to try and reopen the Strait. In a lot of ways they're moving the goalposts beyond what they had been demanding before. They include the U.S. ending threats and insults to Iran, lifting the naval blockade and moving U.S. troops that are positioned in the region. They're also asking for compensation from the U.S. for damages inflicted by the war, and they're asking the U.S. to lift sanctions and unfreeze Iranian assets.

Now, that last point, I think, will be a nonstarter for President Trump, who has said repeatedly that any financial relief for Iran will only come after they have abandoned their nuclear program. At this point, talks over the nuclear program don't even appear to be happening. It's all about the Strait of Hormuz.

And of course, President Trump is facing his own pressures to get this war wrapped up. You mentioned the price of oil. Brent crude now hovering back around $80 a gallon. You also have questions about the U.S. munitions stockpile. The Pentagon, just this weekend, sending a memo to defense contractors asking them to surge production. You also have events in the region, the Houthi rebels in Yemen, that Iran- backed group, firing at an oil refinery in Saudi Arabia. Just showing how this war could escalate and expand, even as the president tries to wind it down.

[09:05:02]

That's part of the reason you hear now of President Trump's advisers, including the Joint Chief's chairman, General Dan Caine, talking privately about trying to find an off ramp to this conflict.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, Kevin Liptak, thank you for all of that. There are so many complications here. We will see what happens next.

John.

BERMAN: With us now, Congresswoman Judy Chu, a Democrat from California, on the House Ways and Means Committee.

Congresswoman, thanks so much for being with us.

The president says he's low keying it now in negotiations with Iran. How successful do you think this new strategy will be?

REP. JUDY CHU (D-CA): As successful as his past efforts have been, which is that they have resulted in nothing. Each time he says that we're close to a ceasefire, but then it's turned around. And this is despite the fact that we, in the House, voted twice for the war powers resolution, which would end his intervention in Iran. And so, we are upset that not only that, he is asking for $73 billion more for this war in Iran, which Republicans voted on and voted out of the House.

BERMAN: The new jobs report came out showing the U.S. economy lost some 23,000 jobs in July. After that, this is what White House Economic Adviser Kevin Hassett had to say about the state of the economy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN HASSETT, WHITE HOUSE ECONOMIC ADVISER: Is that if you look at the overall economy, then things are really, really booming. As an example, there are 83,000 construction workers building factories right now. That's a number that we've never seen before. Initial claims for unemployment insurance are the lowest they've been since World War II. There are more job openings than there are unemployed workers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: How booming do you see the economy right now?

CHU: I think that life is very unaffordable for Americans all across this country. Since Trump took office, Americans have been paying $3,500 more for their basic living expenses. Gas prices, of course, are at the highest level because of the Iran War. It's a dollar more than it was before. And, in fact, in Pasadena, in my district, I just went to a gas station where the gas was $6.58 a gallon. But actually, mortgage rates are at their highest level in the year and inflation is up. So, we know that it is difficult for Americans. And I certainly see the opposite of the economy booming. I see that it's going to be more and more difficult for Americans to be able to afford everyday living.

BERMAN: We should note that gas prices in California are always much higher than the national average, for a variety of reasons. So, $6 in California, similar to, you know, $4 and something in the rest of the country. But I get your point there.

So, if the economy is not doing well, what would be -- and you sit on the Ways and Means Committee, the powerful Ways and Means Committee that deals with spending and taxes there, what would be the first thing you would want Democrats to do, the very first thing, if they take control of Congress?

CHU: Oh, clearly, I would reverse the cuts to health care. The big, ugly bill, which they called the big, beautiful bill cut 15 million people off their health care from Medicaid and, of course, the ACA, the Affordable Care Act subsidies, were not renewed. As a result, people are paying two to three times higher for their Affordable Care Act insurance premiums. That is the thing that is causing people to suffer the most, because health care is the most precious thing that people have and need. And the fact that people are currently now being cut off is alarming. In fact, eight million people are already cut off from their Medicaid.

BERMAN: So, Pasadena is a long way from Michigan or Wisconsin, but there are battles going on within the Democratic Party for which direction the party will move. We saw the Democratic Senate primary in Michigan last week. We have the gubernatorial primary tomorrow in Wisconsin. What concerns, if any, or what lessons, let me put it that way, what lessons have you learned so far about what Democratic voters say they want?

CHU: What is very clear is that people want change. They are alarmed by the lack of affordability in their lives.

[09:10:00]

They want somebody who will speak up and stand out against these kinds of actions that are being taken. And that is what the change is all about. So, I think that more than anything is the reason for these election results.

BERMAN: Let me put it in a little bit of California terms. You have one measure which does look like it will appear on the November ballot, which is the so-called billionaire's tax, this referendum, you know, this one-time measure for that. How do you feel about a one-time tax on billionaires in California?

CHU: Well, of course, it -- considering the fact that it's just a one- time tax, it's not a solution overall. On the other hand, I do support the measure because it does provide income for something that is being hurt just enormously right now, which is our health care that -- I mean this Republican administration cut $1 trillion from our health care system. And already we're going to see hospitals and clinics close. One hundred and four hospitals and other health entities are about to close. And that is something that will hurt so many Americans. So, this is a very, very short-term solution, but it is a solution.

BERMAN: Congresswoman Judy Chu from California, thanks so much for getting up early for us. Appreciate it.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you, John.

New details just in to CNN on that deadly boat accident near the Statue of Liberty this weekend. We are now finding out about the reason so many people were on that small boat, which authorities say may have overwhelmed the boat's capacity. A mother and her five-month- old baby were killed. They were among the 14 people on the boat that had to be pulled from the water. The U.S. Coast Guard is now looking into whether the captain was illegally operating a charter boat service.

Joining us now, CNN's Mark Morales, who is getting new details as we speak.

What have you learned this morning?

MARK MORALES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTER: So, this was all part of a birthday party. And as we know, that's a very celebratory event. But in this case, things have gone very, very wrong.

As we've been talking about, federal charges are going to be filed. This actually makes a lot of sense because those waterways, they're run by the U.S. Coast Guard. So those -- that's federal territory. So, they would be the ones that would be -- it would be their jurisdiction. They would be enforcing the laws out there.

The other important aspect to this is, the U.S. Coast Guard is very focused on maintaining security, meaning that they're -- if there's any boats or any -- anybody that's out there has to make -- has to meet their actual guidelines for safety. So, in this case -- in this case, when you have a commuter vessel that has over six passengers. They have to meet those requirements. And anybody that doesn't is considered an illegal vessel. So, that's what they're looking into right now.

And, of course, you can imagine what kind of a chaotic scene this was with the boat immediately filling with water, capsizing, them flagging down a good Samaritan who came by to help them. And then the deployment of the FDNY, NYPD vehicles, Coast Guard, because you know that once they're responding and the divers are going into water, they all know a couple of things about a rescue effort so complicated they have minutes to get all the -- all the people out of the water, and they have to get them to safety and medical attention before it's too late.

SIDNER: Yes. I mean when you look at these pictures, it was in the evening, you see all of the things that are happening with the boat completely capsized where it is upside down in the water, and that a mother and a baby ended up losing their lives.

You said this was a birthday party. So, is there some sense that this might have been a chartered vessel? And when you do that, as you said, there are rules governing how many people you can have. Your boat, I suspect, has to be inspected.

MORALES: Right. And that's the central question here that investigators are going to be tearing through. They're going to be looking at this vessel. What was the -- what was going on around it? What was the scenario? What was it, a charter? Were there security up to snuff? And this is something that the Coast Guard has already said. They're very careful about credentialing some of these vehicles because they want to make sure that they can all handle capacity and that they're all regulated. So, that's a very, very big piece of this. The boat operator could be -- could be going to and facing these federal charges as early as today.

SIDNER: All right. I know you're sticking on it. You've been getting new details throughout the morning and we do appreciate it. Thank you, Mark.

MORALES: Sure thing.

SIDNER: John.

BERMAN: All right, we are standing by, just moments from now, jury selection gets underway in the trial of a man accused of organizing the murder of Tupac Shakur 30 years ago.

A new warning to swimmers along the Gulf Coast. Several killed by exposure to a deadly flesh-eating bacteria.

And a soccer celebration goes terribly wrong. Like, incredibly wrong. Like, where did that guy go? That's one of the craziest videos you will ever see.

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[09:19:28]

SIDNER: The long awaited and much talked about trial for the murder of Tupac Shakur is finally getting underway in a Las Vegas courtroom. Jury selection set to begin this morning, in just a bit of time here. Tupac Shakur was killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas nearly 30 years ago, at the height of his career. Duane "Keffe D" Davis is the only person ever charged in connection with his death. He has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder with the use of a deadly weapon.

Now, Davis, who was arrested in 2023, is not actually being accused of pulling the trigger. He's not considered the gunman.

[09:20:00]

Rather, prosecutors say he helped orchestrate the shooting, providing the gun to the gunman. Davis, as we mentioned, pleading not guilty now. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OFFICER: So what they got you for, man?

DUANE "KEFFE D" DAVIS: Biggest case in Las Vegas history.

OFFICER: Oh, yes.

DAVIS: Yes.

OFFICER: Like, recent?

DAVIS: No. September 7, 1996.

I ain't worried about. I ain't did (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Joining me now, CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Joey Jackson.

That is one of the examples, before we get into this, one of the examples is whatever you say to the police can be recorded and used against you if you're red your Fifth Amendment rights. But before all that, they can use this if they wanted to, right?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Oh, without question, Sara. Good morning to you.

And interestingly enough in this case, he is the best witness. He is the star witness in the case. Why? Because of the various statements that he's made regarding the case.

You know, it's going to turn a lot on this 2008 proffer session that he had with law enforcement.

SIDNER: Right.

JACKSON: What is a proffer session? You usually go into those and law enforcement asks you questions. Prosecutors do. And it doesn't see the light of day. You're given immunity. But in this instance, the argument is that he waived that immunity because he's made so many public statements with regard to his involvement, not only on podcasts and other areas of media. He's written a book with regard to that. And so, the defense said, no, no, no, no, we don't want to let this in. But the judge said it can be let in, and it will be let in.

And it's important, Sara, because what he said to the police, they're going to argue, prosecutors, that it corroborates his involvement and it corroborates his guilt. And as you noted at the outset, they didn't say he pulled the trigger, but you don't have to establish that, just that you aid -- aided, you abetted, you counseled, you encouraged. And that's what they're saying he did here.

SIDNER: And, look, the other people who were under suspicion by police, one of whom was his relative, have all passed away. He is the only person sort of left in this scenario who's accused of being there that day and taking part in all this.

I do want to ask you about the bigness of this case, because he is not wrong, that this is one of the biggest cases ever in Las Vegas because of who was killed and because of all of the rumors around who was responsible, there was this big feud going on between East and West Coast rappers, and that has just taken on a life of its own. Finding these 12 jurors, especially if they're of a certain age, they would know about this case. How difficult do you think that will be?

JACKSON: So, always challenging, but certainly there are mechanisms in place for that. And what are those mechanisms? Remember, Sara, that you can challenge -- they'll probably get, I'm thinking -- you need 12 jurors, of course, to sit in the box, but they'll likely get between four and six alternates in case someone gets sick. So, when you're picking a jury, what happens is, you're asking them questions. Do you know about the case? Do you have any opinions about the case? Do you know who Tupac was? Did you really admire him as a rapper? Do you think someone should be held accountable, even if the evidence doesn't established it? You're going to ask all those questions.

But when you're actually picking a jury, if a jury says -- a juror says they're bias, you can excuse them. It's called excusing for cause. And that's unlimited. But then there are these other challenges called peremptory challenges.

SIDNER: Right.

JACKSON: In the weeds a little bit, but each side gets eight of those. And you could excuse someone for any reason, or no reason, as long as it's not predicated upon some type of racial reason, et cetera, for which you're excusing them.

And so, therefore, yes, of course it will be a challenge. I think they could get it done because the main question is, even if you heard about the case, can you base a decision on the facts and the evidence of the circumstances in the courtroom, not what you read in the paper or saw anywhere else? So, it's on and it starts today.

SIDNER: Lastly, this happened almost 30 years ago. How difficult is it to bring a case like this with the idea that there is a book out there published by the person on trial, and there's a lot of comments, which a lot of people say, well, that's the reason why this is happening in the first place because Duane Keffe D kept talking about it.

JACKSON: Yes. So, I think it's very challenging, right? I know we're in a day and age certainly where there are cold cases, and that's why there's no statute of limitations on murder. You can bring it 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, like here, or even more. And I think from a defense perspective, they're going to argue, you don't have a weapon. You don't have the car. Ballistics wasn't done on that. There's no forensics. There's no DNA. There are no living witnesses. What are we doing here?

But remember, we'll end where we began, the statements of Keffe D. That's what we're doing here. We'll say prosecutors. And if those statements are credited and believed, then the defense has a problem in the event that that's all they got, which the defense will argue, then that creates another story, perhaps reasonable doubt.

SIDNER: The judge letting it in because he kept talking about it.

JACKSON: That's right.

SIDNER: As people say in the streets, talking smack. And then this ends up being part of his case.

[09:25:02]

It will be interesting to see if he himself testifies, because in some ways he's already testifying with the words that he has already used in public, right? There is a lot --

JACKSON: Exactly. Exactly. He says he's not going to testify, but we'll see what happens.

SIDNER: Right. Yes, we'll see. We'll see.

All right, Joey Jackson, thank you so much. Appreciate you.

JACKSON: Thanks.

SIDNER: All right, coming up, a local official is warning about experiencing modern warfare as federal authorities are investigating cyberattacks on water systems in multiple states.

And a tour boat turns into a high-speed escape because that guy was following them. He's not happy.

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