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Tupac Shakur Trial Continues; Navy to Rename Carrier to Honor Trump?; New Letters From Trump Aide Revealed; Trump and Vance Hit Campaign Trail. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired August 21, 2026 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:00]

STEVE HILTON (R), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: There's regulations that mean that rate changes that are supposed to take 60 days by law in California often take a year.

We have got to have sensible fire prevention methods, defensible space around homes. You can treat roofs. A lot of these fires spread when embers get into the eaves of properties. There's good paint technology that can protect against that, just pragmatic, commonsense things. And we have got to be doing that now, because the risk is obviously serious.

And that's part of why insurance rates are so high. So, again it's just being prag -- one last thing. There's a real problem with lawsuits, private equity-financed litigation, that's actually raising the cost of insurance for everyone. That has to end.

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: Steve Hilton, thank you so much for being here. Appreciate it.

HILTON: Thanks.

BASH: And thanks for joining INSIDE POLITICS.

Don't miss "STATE OF THE UNION" this Sunday. Education Secretary Linda McMahon is on the show with me, along with author Jonathan Haidt and former Vice President Mike Pence. See you at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Sunday.

"CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Hitting the campaign trail. On the same week the national debt hits a new record, Vice President Vance heading to the Rust Belt to tout the administration's economic policies.

And in her own words. New letters published by The Daily Beast from close Trump aide Natalie Harp reveal her total devotion to the president, as the relationship raises concerns about her role within the White House.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Plus, the Navy is working to change the name of a new aircraft carrier that was set to honor a black war hero. The potential new name? It could be Donald J. Trump. We're following these major developing stories and many more all

coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

HILL: Happening now, Vice President J.D. Vance on the campaign trail ahead of the upcoming midterms. Any moment now, he's set to speak at a steel factory in his Ohio hometown, where he will tout the Trump administration's economic agenda.

The president, meantime, also hitting the trail. He's set to stump for Senator Darline Graham in her run-off to replace her late brother, Lindsey Graham. It will be yet another test of the president's endorsement power as Republicans face headwinds moving into the November midterm elections.

The president's low approval ratings continuing to drop amid the war in Iran and affordability concerns. And, this week, of course, the national debt passed $40 trillion. It has actually doubled in just the past decade over the Trump and Biden administrations.

CNN's Kevin Liptak joining us now with more.

So, set the stage for us in terms of what we can hear, expect to hear from the vice president today. Republicans are a little on edge heading into the midterms.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, I think they are.

And Democrats, conversely, feel pretty good about where they stand now many months before the November elections. I think when you hear the vice president speaking today, he will try to be reinforcing the administration's economic message, but also I think hearkening to his ties to this region. This is his hometown.

He's also speaking at the very same steel plant where his grandfather worked for 40 years. Back then, it was called the Armco Steel factory. He has written, he wrote in his memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy," about how this plant helped propel his family into the middle class.

And so, certainly, you could expect that to be sort of a through line of his remarks today, really trying to reinforce the administration's economic message, but also its efforts to bolster manufacturing in places like this.

In a lot of ways, this has been a message that has had some difficulty breaking through over the last several months, in part because of the war in Iran because of what it has done for prices at the pump, but also the general messaging that has been sort of waylaid by the war. It's kind of consumed the White House's attention for the past year.

But, certainly, for the president and the vice president, it will be of the utmost imperative to try and break through some of the widespread voter dissatisfaction on the economy and really try and reinforce what they think that they have done for the American public.

Now, Ohio, of course, has become a pretty reliably red state, but there are some competitive races. The Senate race, Senator Jon Husted, who was appointed to Vance's seat, facing Sherrod Brown, who was in the Senate, but was voted out two years ago.

Now, the president will also be in a reliably red state today, South Carolina. He's campaigning for Darline Graham a couple days ahead of her run-off election. It's not clear exactly how much we will see the president on the midterm trail this year, but certainly he's aware and his staff is aware of how difficult it will be in the final two years of his term if Democrats take control of the majorities in Congress, Erica.

HILL: All right, Kevin, appreciate the preview. Thank you -- Boris.

[13:05:02]

SANCHEZ: "My guardian and protector."

President Trump's relationship with White House aide Natalie Harp under fresh scrutiny today after two of her letters to the president were published in The Daily Beast. Harp's intense devotion to President Trump has been under a microscope this week after Senator Jon Ossoff mentioned her by name in a viral campaign speech.

But these newly published letters offer insight into just how close the pair have become. In one instance from 2023, Harp wrote -- quote -- "I never want to bring you anything but joy. I'm sorry I lost my focus. You were all that matters to me. I don't want to ever let you down. Thank you for being my guardian and protector in this life."

We should note CNN is not independently confirmed that Harp wrote these or sent these to President Trump. The White House has continually defended her, saying in a statement that she is one of the most loyal and hardest-working aides on President Trump's team.

Now, Harp joined Trump's staff in 2022 and was a permanent fixture with him in his reelection campaign, despite having no formal title. Notably, in the book "Regime Change," authors Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan report that Trump had taken to telling his staff that Natalie was the only one who loved him as much as his wife and kids.

Quote: "All of you will go off and make money," he would say. "She will never leave me."

With us now to discuss, "Vanity Fair" writer Chris Whipple. He authored the seminal "Vanity Fair" profile of Susie Wiles and he wrote the book "The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency."

Chris, thanks so much for sharing part of your afternoon with us.

Have you ever been aware...

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Have you ever been aware of this kind of bond between a president and an aide? How unusual is this?

CHRIS WHIPPLE, "VANITY FAIR": It's really unprecedented, I think. No, I have never been aware of this kind of relationship.

In some ways, this is a silly story in the context of war and peace and affordability. But, for me, that the key thing about Natalie Harp is that she perfectly symbolizes the cultlike devotion that Donald Trump loves in his -- to see from his inner circle.

I mean, every West Wing is a bubble, but this West Wing, Trump's West Wing is exponentially more so. And so she's the sort of pluperfect representation of what that is. I mean, she is the one -- she's the one who brings nothing but good news to the president.

SANCHEZ: You know, obviously better than most, given the research you did for your book, that the inner workings of a White House, of an administration often define the output, right?

And so I wonder what you make of the reporting that places Harp as an intermediary, as a conduit between President Trump and important officials and global leaders.

WHIPPLE: Well, look, I think it's overwrought.

I think that the truth is that, in five months of talking to Susie Wiles for my article for "Vanity Fair," Natalie Harp's name came up. I think that that will give you some idea of just how influential she is. I don't think she has any ideological influence certainly on Donald Trump.

But the danger here is that she reinforces that alternate reality, this kind of artificial bubble that Trump inhabits. And, over time, I think that's just a danger to any presidency, and particularly this one, which is often just not living in the real world.

SANCHEZ: I mean, to that point, there was a moment that was really notable to me from "Regime Change," that Haberman and SWANSON: book, where they report that, during a presentation from Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, Trump rejects numbers that he's presenting to him on tariffs, and he demands that Harp find him the real numbers.

Understandably, she was unable to find the better numbers. And the episode I think speaks to his reliance and trust in her, even beyond his own Cabinet secretaries, who are supposed to be the experts in the categories that they oversee, right?

WHIPPLE: Well, look, I mean, this all goes back to Kellyanne Conway in the opening days of Trump 1.0 and alternate facts. We all remember that. Trump loves alternate facts, and he demands that people produce them for him. There's just no question about it.

And, as I say, there she's perfected this. She's made it an art form, even evidently climbing into the Trump of an SUV when she was left behind on one of their trips. So there will always be people like this. And, clearly, she is so devoted to him that she will tell Trump anything he wants to hear.

[13:10:08]

SANCHEZ: Wow.

As we look forward, given your coverage of the administration and getting into the thinking of Susie Wiles and others, I wonder what you make of Karoline Leavitt departing as press secretary, given the oversized role that she has played, not only in communicating the White House's message, but also apparently as a counselor to President Trump.

What is the next White House press secretary walking into?

WHIPPLE: Well, it's hard to know, because, of course, Trump is always his own comms director. Everything emanates from him and what he wants to hear behind that podium.

I think -- I have read accounts that Karoline Leavitt was effective and credible as a communicator, which I found really kind of preposterous, to be honest. I think she did serious damage to the credibility of anybody in that role with her machine gun-like delivery of misinformation, to the point where it became so much more difficult to get to the truth.

So, her shoes will be tough to fill. But that's not a legacy that I think anybody would really want to continue.

SANCHEZ: Chris Whipple, we have to leave the conversation there. Appreciate you sharing your point of view.

WHIPPLE: Thanks for having me.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

Still to come: A new aircraft carrier was set to honor a black hero of Pearl Harbor. Now new CNN reporting says it could be named after President Trump instead.

Plus, how Trump's immigration crackdown is affecting families and businesses. We will take you to one town where advocates say some people are afraid to leave their homes.

And, later, Washington, D.C., is going to add some major P.R. RPMS this weekend. A look at how IndyCars are going to take over the streets of the nation's capital when we come back on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:16:27]

HILL: We're back with new CNN reporting.

Sources telling CNN the Navy is working to rename an aircraft carrier that's currently under construction. The new name, potentially, it would be named after President Trump. So, keep in mind, here when this ship was first announced during President Trump's first term, it was announced that it would be named for Doris Miller, a World War II hero, a black mess attendant 3rd class who jumped into action during the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Now, despite having no training, Miller manned an anti-aircraft gun,

helped save his wounded commanding officer, along with several other shipmates. He was even portrayed by Cuba Gooding Jr. in the 2001 movie "Pearl Harbor."

CNN's Haley Britzky is with us now, who helped break this story along with Pamela Brown.

So, I mean, even when this was announced, right, what, six years ago, President Trump was fairly complimentary of Doris Miller.

HALEY BRITZKY, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes.

HILL: So what has changed?

BRITZKY: Right.

So there's a group of people within the Navy, certainly, who think that carriers should only be named after presidents or senior ranking officers. That's not a hard-and-fast rule for these carriers. So, as you said, I mean, this name was announced during the first Trump administration to honor Doris Miller, this hero from World War II.

That clip of the movie, Cuba Gooding Jr., very well known, very respected, hailed as a hero. And so now the Navy seems to be trying to update that guidance, looking at how named -- ships are named, who ships can be named after. We don't know exactly why they're looking at this for the Doris Miller specifically, or if they're looking at it for other ships necessarily.

But we've reported that the Navy is looking at naming a different ship after Miller instead of this carrier, that they're looking to upgrade his Navy Cross to the Medal of Honor, of course, the highest recognition for military valor, but certainly something that is still under consideration.

They have not decided yet on a new name for this carrier.

HILL: And, just to be clear, it would also be the first time that a carrier would be named after a sitting president, correct?

BRITZKY: That's right, yes. It's unprecedented.

I mean, there are carriers, of course, named after other presidents...

HILL: Sure.

BRITZKY: ... the Abraham Lincoln, the George Washington, but not after a sitting president. So that would -- this would be the first time that that were to happen, which is causing a lot of uproar and concern in the Navy community.

HILL: Yes, understandably.

Doris Miller's family, as I understand it, had been pushing for some time. They would have liked to have seen, right, that medal. But I'm not sure they wanted it to come in this way. What is their reaction then?

BRITZKY: Yes, so I spoke with his great nephew yesterday, who said that the family had not heard of this yet. Certainly, as you said, they've been pushing for this Medal of Honor, that they see that as a very positive step.

But his nephew had a little bit more to say here, saying that this isn't just about a name on a ship. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS BLEDSOE, GREAT-NEPHEW OF DORIS MILLER: But it was also shocking that we found out from a news outlet, comparably from the Navy. And so it caused a lot of concerns and uncertainty.

This isn't just about a name on a ship. It's about an opportunity and a goal. It's about a significance in what it means to be an American. And it's also about how we as a community can grow as one and become one towards one goal as a nation. It's so important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRITZKY: Yes, so this is something that's very important to the Navy community.

Doris Miller, of course, important, first African American recipient of the Navy Cross. So we're seeing a lot of reaction to this story. It's going to be interesting to see how the Navy responds and sort of navigates this going forward.

[13:20:00]

HILL: His story too was important even back then, right? The Navy took him out. I think he was only black sailor, right? Who was brought cross-country as sort of a part of an effort...

BRITZKY: That's right.

HILL: ... to talk about the efforts of these different war heroes, so clearly an important story for so many. It's such a -- it's such great reporting, Haley. Thank you.

BRITZKY: Thanks.

HILL: Still to come here: Jurors in the Tupac Shakur murder trial hearing the defendant's own words about the night of that shooting, plus a shocking claim involving Sean "Diddy" Combs. And now Diddy's team is responding.

And how about this? Rescued from a floating cooler. We have the details for you on the survival story of these fishermen who were stuck 150 miles out at sea.

That and much more ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [13:25:13]

SANCHEZ: Right now, in the Tupac Shakur murder trial, jurors are hearing from witnesses who were there at the time of the shooting.

Prosecutors spent the majority of court yesterday playing an interview from 2008 of Davis recounting what led up to the shooting. The recording also included a claim that Sean "Diddy" Combs allegedly offered Davis a million dollars to kill Shakur and Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight. Here's a bit of that exchange.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

OFFICER: What did you actually hear? What was the words, the best you can remember, what he says?

DUANE "KEFFE D" DAVIS, DEFENDANT: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) He said he would give us anything for them dudes' heads, you know? Yes.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: In response, Combs' representatives telling CNN -- quote -- "Davis has denied his own claims, maintaining that he made the statements to gain fame and notoriety and that they were not true."

Josh Campbell has been following the trial for us.

So, Josh, what is happening in court right now?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, right now, as you and I are speaking, there is a documentary filmmaker who is on the stand there in Vegas.

And what he's describing was this film that Duane Davis, the defendant in the case, took part in, in which they describe what happened that night 30 years ago in Las Vegas when Tupac Shakur was shot. And it's his own words, saying that, yes, I was there. He described exactly what went down.

This is important prosecution evidence because the defense in this case says that, look, although Duane Davis, who has pled not guilty, although he made all these statements to the media in interviews and to the police saying that, yes, I was there that night, they're now saying he made all of that up, he was simply trying to make some money off of that story.

And that is what -- we will see what jurors ultimately buy. Now, yesterday there was actually an audio recording played where Duane Davis was interviewed by law enforcement officers. And, again, he described what went down there at the scene. Have a listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

OFFICER: You did a U-turn, so then you pull alongside of it. You guys were in the car. So you hand the gun to the back seat?

DAVIS: Yes. I gave it to Dre. Dre was like": "No, no. no."

And Lane's like: "Give it here."

OFFICER: OK. Lane starts blasting. You say Suge looks over, he sees you?

DAVIS: Yes. I seen a bullet going in Suge's head. I thought he was dead. I thought he was dead. It must have scraped him or something in the head or something.

OFFICER: So, Tupac's trying to jump in the back seat. And what's Suge doing, just ducking?

DAVIS: Ducking. He couldn't really duck because he was too big, you know?

(END AUDIO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: Now, Davis has said that the reason for the shooting of Shakur was because earlier that night there was a brawl in which Duane Davis' own nephew was allegedly beaten up by members of Shakur's entourage, that then leading them to try to find him on the Las Vegas Strip.

They ultimately found him. You could hear there in Davis' own words that his own nephew shot and killed Tupac, of course, now there saying, Boris, none of that what he said was true.

SANCHEZ: Josh, prosecutors also called the man who took that last iconic image of Tupac on the Vegas Strip alive in the BMW to the stand. What did he say?

CAMPBELL: This is remarkable, because not only was he there and we believe caught the last image of Tupac Shakur still alive there, but he was also a witness to the shooting itself.

And that's been important because law enforcement is trying to show to the jury that, look, this impacted actual human beings, and there were people there that saw this go down. Have a listen to that witness from just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you see as you're inside your car? Do you look at the BMW at all?

LEONARD JEFFERSON, WITNESS: I look at it, and then I see the -- like, I said, the bicycle cop rolled up. And then he drops his bike, and then I see Suge getting out the car.

And now the officer is yelling commands to him; "Get down. Lay down." And you hear Suge saying: "My man Pac is shot. Pac is shot. We need help. Pac is shot."

And then the cops -- I kind of blanked it. I didn't really hear what he said. And then the cop for -- whatever, walked over there to Suge. Suge got up, and they walked over to the passenger side of the car.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: Now, this trial is just getting going in earnest. We're talking about the first week now, day five of the trial. It's supposed to last several more weeks, Boris, and that's because there are more than 200 potential witnesses that could be called.

Now, we don't expect that all of those people will be called, but there's a lot of work still to do. Again, this all comes down to Davis' own words...

SANCHEZ: Yes.

CAMPBELL: ... admitting taking part, and we will see if the defense can actually convince this jury that, no, that was all nonsense.

SANCHEZ: Yes, and we are watching the case closely. These are actually live images from the courtroom of testimony happening right now. And there you see Duane "Keffe D" Davis.

Josh Campbell, thank you so much for the update.

We will bring you more as we get them from the courtroom.

Still to come: Tonight is the deadline to reach a trade deal with Canada, but not all leaders in Canada are optimistic one is coming, one of them saying they can't make a good deal with a bad person.

We will be right back.

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