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CNN This Morning

International Crew Lands At ISS For Start Of Longer Mission; Ghislaine Maxwell Moved To Federal Prison Camp In Texas; Trump Says He Wants To Release Everything On Epstein; Air Quality Concerns Expand Across Northern U.S.; U.S. Stocks Slump On Latest Tariffs, Soft Jobs Data; Manhunt Under Way After 4 Killed In Montana Bar Shooting; Corporation For Public Broadcasting Will Shut Down After Trump Funding Cuts; Manhunt Underway For Tennessee Quadruple Murder Suspect. Dow Sinks 500-Plus Points, Global Stocks Drop As Trump Unveils Tariffs; Heavy Rain Floods Part of Grand Central Terminal; National Guard Deploys Cyber Forces to St. Paul After Minnesota Cyber Attack. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired August 02, 2025 - 06:00   ET

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

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[06:00:28]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to CNN This Morning. It's Saturday, August 2nd. I'm Victor Blackwell. Here's what's happening this morning. The International Space Station has a few new folks on board.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Endeavor crew, welcome on board. We are so happy and excited to see your smiling faces.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: We'll tell you what's interesting about this crew and this mission. Also, Ghislaine Maxwell, she's waking up in a minimum security prison camp in Texas. This is after she was moved from Florida yesterday. Jeffrey Epstein's accusers call this part of a cover up. Plus, President Trump is again weighing in on the possibility of a pardon.

Police in Montana are on the hunt for a man they believe killed four people at a bar. They say he's armed and dangerous. The new details we're learning about him, that's coming up.

St. Paul, Minnesota, still trying to restore its systems after a major cyberattack. The National Guard has now been called in to help get things back up and running. The head of that unit is here live.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And it has been a very soggy summer across much of the southeast and we're going to be adding more rain on top of it. We'll detail the timeline coming up. BLACKWELL: First up, this morning, SpaceX Dragon capsule docked just a

few hours ago with the International Space Station. They are embarking on the first of what NASA hopes will be longer routine missions.

This is a four-person crew on Crew-11 on board. It's an international crew made up of two NASA astronauts, a Russian cosmonaut and a Japanese astronaut. For NASA astronaut Zena Cardman and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov. This is their first space flight. Here's what astronaut Cardman had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZENA CARDMAN, ASTRONAUT: This has been the absolute journey of a lifetime. We are so incredibly grateful to be here. Thank you so much for this warm welcome. It was such an unbelievably beautiful sight to see the space station come into our view for the first time, especially with these wonderful crewmates. Oleg and I both for the first time. And of course, Mike and Kimi Esson (ph) have so much experience that they bring to this team with deep gratitude to everyone who got us ready for this moment. Thank you so much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Now the Falcon 9 blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center Friday just before noon. Normal crew rotation missions last about six months, but NASA says they want to start making these missions last at least eight months. That's the better align U.S. mission schedules with Russia's missions. In a matter of days, Crew-10 will return home.

New this morning, Jeffrey Epstein's conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell. She's waking up in a federal prison camp in Texas. Maxwell, as you might remember, was sentenced in 2020 for carrying out a years long scheme with Epstein to groom and sexually abuse underage girls. The prison is minimum security marks an unusual move for the Bureau of Prisons.

For an inmate like Maxwell to be transferred to a prison like this, a top official would need to conclude that her risk to public safety has lowered based on recommendations from prison staff for good behavior. But family members of Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein's accusers who died by suicide earlier this year, they say the move smacks of a cover up. CNN's Ed Lavandera explains what Maxwell can expect at this prison.

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ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: One of the first things you notice when you arrive here at the federal prison camp in Bryan, Texas is that much of it is not surrounded by tall fencing with razor wire. Most of it is surrounded by a simple black metal fence that you would see in many residential neighborhoods across the country. And that kind of gets to the point here that this is a minimum security facility.

We were told that there are more than 600 female inmates at this facility. And it's also, we should point out, very unusual that Ghislaine Maxwell was transferred here. This is a facility, a prison camp that usually houses inmates that are considered to be low risk, not a flight risk and also being nonviolent. But there are a number of high profile inmates at this particular location in Bryan, Texas.

One of them including Jen Shaw, who was a cast member of the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. And also Elizabeth Holmes, who was executive in the blood testing company Theranos and part of a high profile criminal trial just a few years ago.

[06:05:02]

But you know, this facility has areas for outdoor recreation. There's an area underneath some oak trees in the shade where inmates can sit in benches and chairs. There simply surrounded by one chain with signs that say out of bounds if you go beyond that area. And it literally sits right at the entrance into the prison camp.

Federal prison officials have not explained the details and the specifics of how Maxwell was transferred from a facility, a more secure facility in Tallahassee, to this one here in Texas. They have not explained that. But for the moment, Ghislaine Maxwell is one of the most high profile inmates here at this prison camp. Ed Lavandera, CNN. Brian, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: All right, Ed, thank you very much. President Trump, he appears to be reversing course in the Epstein case. Now he says he wants to release everything. When he was asked about the Department of Justice's interview with Ghislaine Maxwell, here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just wondering when the American people get to hear what she said during that interview.

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Well, I don't know because I haven't spoken about it. But he's a very talented guy, Todd Blanche, and a very straight shooter.

UNDIENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

TRUMP: And I think he probably wanted to know your, you know, just to get a feeling of it because we'd like to release everything, but we don't want people to get hurt that shouldn't be hurt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Now, President Trump has left the door open for pardon for Maxwell, but a senior Trump administration official says this week that he is not considering clemency for her. The family of Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre spoke this week. They say the government and the president should never consider that chance.

This morning, smoke from wildfires in Canada is making it hard to breathe across much of the northern U.S. hazy skies are reported from Minnesota to Ohio. The air is especially bad in cities like Minneapolis and Chicago, which recorded some of the worst air in the world yesterday. That haze and poor air quality are expected to hang around throughout the day.

Right now, more than 660 wildfires are burning in Canada and more than 15 million acres have already gone up in flames. And after a week of really brutal heat and humidity, some much needed relief. Finally, finally on the way. CNN's Allison Chinchar is here with what to expect and where. We need a break.

CHINCHAR: Yes, and I wouldn't say that it's not exactly like a teaser for fall. It's not quite that cool yet, but it is at least several degrees cooler than it has been, which will feel amazing for so many places.

BLACKWELL: It's like 98.

CHINCHAR: It was like 80.

BLACKWELL: OK, I take it. I take it.

CHINCHAR: I think anything is better than what we've been having. Absolutely. Yes. We are going to start to see those temperatures dropping back and it's all because of a cold front here. You can see the cold front is also bringing some showers across some of these areas. Again, you can see we've got a lot of these rain showers pushing down along portions of the Southeast. This is going to continue. It's why you have the potential for a lot of those very heavy showers, especially in the Southeast.

It's been very soggy cities like Nashville, New Orleans and Houston. It has been a very soggy summer. Very much average in terms of rainfall for a lot of these areas. That's going to continue as we make our way across much of the Southeast.

As we go through the day today, you can see a lot of those showers and thunderstorms firing up this afternoon. And as we continue off towards the south and east, even into the central U.S. you're going to be looking at some of those stronger showers to come later on today and also into the day on Sunday.

Now one of the things we've talked about again is this area is just saturated. The ground is. So even getting an extra 2 or 3 inches of rain is enough to trigger some flooding. You can see that here, especially along places like Florida, Georgia and even into Alabama. And it's all because of this cold front here. And again see all of those cooler temperatures that are dropping back down behind it.

So areas of the Northeast, the Midwest and yes, even places like Atlanta finally getting some of those temperatures back down, say about 5 to 10 degrees cooler than they would be again. It's not much, but I think we'll both take what we can get.

BLACKWELL: I think I'm going to need like a cardigan. I hear boot season not yet close.

CHINCHAR: Not yet. Close, not yet.

BLACKWELL: Allison Chinchar, thanks so much. So investors and everyday Americans are trying to figure out what a slew of major economic news this week means for their pockets, their portfolios. The financial markets are all closed down with the Dow dropping more than 500 points. Tech heavy NASDAQ finished down more than 470 points.

Friday started with a disappointing jobs report. Significant downward revisions to May and June jobs as well. It was those revisions that prompted the president to fire the person who oversees those reports, the Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner. CNN's Chief National affairs correspondent Jeff Zeleny explains the implications of this unprecedented move. Jeff, good morning.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Victor, President Trump going to the extraordinary length of firing the commissioner of Bureau Labor Statistics.

[06:10:00]

The person who oversees the monthly jobs report that shows you the White House clearly not pleased with the July report that showed about 73,000 jobs were created, about half of what analysts have projected. But also the downward revisions for May and June showing deep signs of potential challenge, perhaps even worry in the economy.

The president was silent after the report came out for a few hours, but then he decided to dismiss the head of the BLS. We asked him about it as he left the White House on Friday evening.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Said the jobs report today were rigged?

TRUMP: Oh, yes, I think so. And if you look at before the election, the same kind of thing happened. And I think you'll see some very interesting information come out. But we got rid of. You have to have honest reports now that you stick with the numbers for a long time. But today we're doing so well. I believe the numbers were phony, just like they were before the election and there were other times.

So you know what I did? I fired her. And you know what? I did the right thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: But President Trump giving absolutely no evidence that Erica McIntyre had phony numbers as he suggested. She was appointed by President Biden, but confirmed by the U.S. Senate on a vote of 86 to 8, a wide bipartisan vote back in 2024. J.D. Vance, then a senator from Ohio, Marco Rubio, then a senator from Florida, both voted to confirm her. There have been no suggestions in her long service in the government that she has rigged any numbers as the president suggested.

What it does underscore is the president is seeing the economy and trying to change the narrative around it. Now there are calls to investigate her. Members of Congress will weigh in on that. And former members of the BLS, even Trump appointees are raising concerns about this, saying that if you can't trust the jobs numbers, if they become politicized, what does that do to the bottom line. Victor?

BLACKWELL: All right, Jeff Zeddly, thank you very much. Let's hit your headlines. Now this morning, investigators are searching for Michael Paul Brown is the suspect he suspect accused of shooting and killing four people at a bar in Montana. He's considered armed and dangerous.

Now the shooting happened yesterday in Anaconda. That's a little over an hour from the state Capitol. Authorities found the truck Brown was believed to be driving. He was not inside. That search is now focused in the mountains of West Anaconda. People are being told to stay out of the area. If you see him, do not approach him.

The man convicted of killing four University of Idaho students is now in solitary confinement at Idaho's only maximum security prison. Bryan Kohberger. He's being held in a unit where inmates are kept alone, which limits recreation and shower time. He was sentenced to life without parole last month.

The NTSB says a final report on the deadly midair collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is expected in January. And that announcement follows this three-day hearing into the January crash over the Potomac River.

Investigators pressed the FAA and military officials on safety failures before the collision between this Black Hawk helicopter and the regional jet. 67 people were killed. The FAA faced criticism over leadership changes, communication breakdowns as well. Next hour, we'll talk to the former head of the NTSB about his main takeaways from the hearings.

This morning thousands of Deadheads are in San Francisco for The Grateful Dead 60th anniversary celebration. Two original members performing as Dead and Company. They kicked off a three-day concert series at Golden Gate Park's Polo Field yesterday.

The weekend includes live music, citywide events and a street naming in honor of Jerry Garcia on what would have been his 83rd birthday. It's their first show since 1991.

Still to come, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting says it's winding down its operations after the Trump administration's funding cuts. The reaction coming into that this morning.

And Minnesota's governor has called up the National Guard after a major cyberattack. We have details of what they're doing.

And torrential rainfall and flash flooding slammed the Northeast this week. A look at the chaos and the damage caused.

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[06:19:06] BLACKWELL: Communities across the country will now have access to millions in FEMA money to help prepare against disasters like fire, wildfires and flooding. The timing is notable because it comes after CNN reported that nearly $1 billion in grants were on the verge of being cut at the direction of the Department of Homeland Security. FEMA's own memo warned that axing one program would create a less secure nation. It's unclear why FEMA decided to release the funds this week, but it is dismissing the notion that it reversed course.

The company that helps pay for programming like "Sesame Street" or "Finding Your Roots" is shutting down after being defunded by Congress. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting says it will wind down operations that will impact local PBS and NPR stations across the country.

And the cuts were the result of years of Republican opposition to public broadcasting, with a final push from President Trump.

[06:20:02]

CNN's Camila DeChalus is with us. So what happens now to CPB?

CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN REPORTER: Well, the group is arguing that this move will drastically change the landscape of local news stations and TV and radio across the country. And they argue that without federal funding, it will force smaller news stations that serve rural and smaller communities to ultimately shut down.

Here's what the CEO of the group, Patricia Harrison and president had to say. She said, despite the extraordinary efforts of millions of Americans who called, wrote and petitioned Congress to preserve federal funding for CBP -- CPB, we now face the difficult reality of closing our operations.

Now it's important to note that President Donald Trump is declaring this a major victory because as you mentioned, for decades Republicans have really tried to push to withhold federal funding for public broadcasting. They've argued and accused stations like NPR and PBS of having alleged liberal bias. And they say that federal funding should not be going towards them.

But advocates of public broadcasting say that rural communities in particular really rely on public broadcasting to receive their news about the weather, natural disasters and what's actually happening in their community.

Now, Victor, it's also important to note that some local stations across the country really anticipated some of these changes and on their end they have looked and actively searched for other avenues of financial support.

BLACKWELL: We know that there's been some strong reaction from families that rely on that programming for children, but also the news element. So what's been the reaction from journalists?

DECHALUS: Well, journalists across the country have really criticized this decision, saying that especially advocates of public broadcasting say that this move and this decision is ultimately a direct reflection of Congress and their failure to properly invest informing the American public.

And it's just pretty notable just to see everything changing in real time. And that's why there's a lot of local news stations across the country that have tried to anticipate what the reaction or what the changes will be and on their end really try to support themselves by finding other avenues of financial support so they didn't have to rely so heavily on federal funding.

BLACKWELL: Camila DeChalus is for us in Washington. Thank you so much. So we're learning some new details about the Manhattan shooter and his mental health history, raising concerns about how he was able to obtain multiple firearms in a state with some of the toughest gun laws in the country.

Sources tell CNN that 27-year-old Shane Tamura had a license to carry a concealed weapon in Nevada. He also had been placed on a psychiatric hold in 2022 and 2024. Now that may not have kept him from obtaining his license or buying firearms. He also had a previous misdemeanor arrest in 2023.

On Monday, he used an M4 style rifle to kill people -- four people before he died by suicide. Police are on the hunt for a man they believe is connected to the deaths of four people in northwest Tennessee. A seven-month old baby related to a group was found alive abandoned nearly 40 miles away in the sweltering summer heat. CNN's Marybel Gonzalez has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARYBEL GONZALEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An infant was found alive Tuesday nearly 40 miles from where the bodies of the girl's parents, grandmother and uncle were found.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lake County, their unites advised the mother of the mother of the babt, the found their vehicle at 620 Carrington Road.

GONZALEZ (voice-over): Investigators from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation are looking for 28-year-old Austin Robert Drummond. He's wanted in connection with the deaths of 21-year-old James M. Wilson, 20-year-old Adriana Williams, 38-year-old Courtney Rose and 15-year- old Braden Williams. Investigators believe the suspect knew the victims.

DANNY GOODMAN, JR., DISTRICT ATTORNEY, DYER AND LAKE COUNTIES: We are dealing with an extremely violent individual.

GONZALEZ (voice-over): The four were found dead in Tiptonville hours after the baby of James and Adriana was found in a car seat in the front yard of a home near the Dyer county community of Tigrit. At the time, the heat index was 116 degrees, but authorities were called shortly after the baby was abandoned. Drummond is wanted on charges including murder, kidnapping and multiple firearm offenses. GOODMAN: We do need the community to be very careful. We do not need

them to try to approach this person.

GONZALEZ (voice-over): So far, investigators haven't revealed a motive for the crimes, how police came to suspect him, or why the baby was left a county away from her home.

GOODMAN: Our heart goes out to the family. He goes out to the family that is going to be dealing with the child and raising a child that has lost both parents.

GONZALEZ: Now I'm Marybel Gonzalez reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Still to come, how President Trump's tariff policy is impacting markets and how could affect you soon.

CHINCHAR: And this cold front is bringing not only cool temperatures but a lot of rain to portions of the southeast, an area that simply does not need the extra rain. We'll detail the timeline coming up.

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[06:29:33]

BLACKWELL: Global stocks dropped Friday after days of terror threats and concerning jobs reports and then announcement of new tariffs. Joining me now to discuss what all this means for you and for your family, the author of POLITICO's "Morning Trade," Ari Hawkins. Ari, good morning to you.

First, talk to me about the confidence globally that the tariffs announced are set, that the up and down now and later ebb and flow that we've seen from the White House since April, that's now a sign, and this is what business owners can bank on or at least use to plan for the future.

ARI HAWKINS, AUTHOR OF POLITICO'S MORNING TRADE: Thank you very much for having me. Uncertainty is very much still the name of the game here, and in various ways, what the Trump administration has done here with signing this executive order, which will put new tariffs in effect to August 7th, is very similar in broad strokes to what was rolled out in April and then delayed.

There isn't a consensus on exactly how the Trump administration will move forward, but a lot of foreign partners are really hoping that there is more room for negotiations. Trump administration officials have already said that talks will continue despite this deadline. But we've also seen that the Trump administration has a pattern of setting up these deadlines, letting them pass to kind of maximize that leverage as a means of negotiation.

BLACKWELL: Yes, speaking of talks continuing, they'll continue with Mexico. The Mexican President, President Sheinbaum actually counted it as a win that the 35 percent tariff will be at least held off for 90 days as they continue to talk. Not so much for Canada. So, what explains if you can help us understand the strategy, the thinking that goes into, was set and settle toward the north. But we still have some room to talk toward this all.

HAWKINS: It's a really interesting dynamic. The Trump administration has framed Canada as one of the primary countries involved with fueling the U.S. opioid epidemic. Now, of course, precursor materials are most commonly from China and Mexico plays a key role in that as well. However, the Trump administration really has zeroed-in on Canada, slapping them with that higher tariff.

There's some discussion also just about the Trump administration's general approach to Mexico, the sort of personality dynamics with the Mexican President, has been seen as closer than some of the longer- term hostility that the U.S. and Canada have shared more recently, particularly if you look at the relationship between Trump and the former Canadian Prime Minister.

BLACKWELL: Before we get to the pockets of the folks watching. The Swiss, they now face 39 percent on their imports into the U.S. versus 15 percent for the EU. Switzerland, not a member of the European Union. What's that about?

HAWKINS: It's a really interesting dynamic as well. It's an indication that the Trump administration's approach here doesn't necessarily have the same level of reason or strategy. Switzerland was slapped with a much higher tariff than it was initially back in April, but we've also seen other countries, particularly those in southeast Asia, be struck with lower tariffs than those April rates.

We've heard words like sporadic from trading partners that are very confused about exactly how these determinations are being made. The Trump administration has not released a full textual document of a final for any of the agreements that have been set. So, the exact calculations are unclear, and we frankly, also seen that in addition to the trade deficit, other geopolitical dynamics have come into play.

The Trump administration has pointed to issues concerning geopolitical conflict, particularly Bolsonaro in the case of Brazil.

BLACKWELL: Yes --

HAWKINS: So, there's clearly an all kind of inclusive approach here that really has much more to do with dynamics that the Trump administration is looking at in particular, rather than that traditional trade deficit.

BLACKWELL: So, some companies stockpiled ahead of the imposition of these tariffs. But they're big companies. Procter & Gamble, Hasbro, Hershey, that are now saying the price increases are coming. What should people expect on timing of those increases?

HAWKINS: A lot of the questions on timing really has to do with how firm these tariffs actually are. Remember, they aren't in effect yet. They go into force August 7th, and then most of these major companies do start stockpiling. We've heard inventories of -- for instance, automotive companies. There can be up to a six-month period where those price increases won't necessarily lead to that sort of a longer- term chaos.

However, this is something that has already taken effect. We've seen that particularly mostly with smaller companies, not the major ones that can afford to stockpile for, let's say, six months or longer. But those smaller economies that have razor-thin margins, particularly ones that rely on inputs for products that are manufactured in the U.S., but rely on those inputs from places like China or Vietnam or around the globe.

[06:35:00]

Those are the companies and firms that will feel the most immediate impact. And that's already taken effect.

BLACKWELL: Yes, if they are not here, these companies say those increases are coming. Ari Hawkins; author of "Politico's" "Morning Trade", thanks so much for being with me. Heavy rains flooded parts of New York City this week. Look at this video. This is from Grand Central Terminal. Water is just flooding down inside the station onto the trains.

New York Mayor Eric Adams declared a local state of emergency because of the flooding. Parts of New York saw more than half an inch of rain that day, and some states in the region broke daily rainfall records, and that flood threat has shifted south this weekend, with more rain on the way. Allison Chinchar is back now. So, which areas are you watching?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, METEOROLOGIST: Basically, anything along the southern tier. So, Texas all the way over to the Carolina coast. And the reason for that is you have cities like say, Houston, New Orleans, even Gulfport, Mississippi, that have already had a surplus of rain this Summer so far.

Now, we're going to add even more. And that saturated ground is what really triggers a lot of that flooding, even when you don't have a tremendous amount of rain. So, here's a look at where we're seeing the heaviest rain right now. The good news is the real large section there has finally moved off shore.

But you've still got some lighter showers across the Carolinas, and more is going to develop as we head into the afternoon. And that's really where the big concern is. Now, we've got some threat across portions of the central U.S., but this is really the area of concern here across the southeastern tier, because again, as I mentioned, so many of these cities like Houston, New Orleans, Gulfport, Mississippi, they are already dealing with so much excess rain so far this Summer.

Even simply adding one, two or even three inches to that saturated ground is enough to trigger some street flooding. So, here's a look this afternoon. Again, you can see by about 2:00-3 O'clock, you really start to see a lot more of these showers and thunderstorms begin to pop up, especially across states like Georgia, Florida and into the Carolinas.

But also on into Texas, you're going to start to see some more of that development, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. By the time we get towards a dinner time tonight, there's a lot -- a lot of this rain continues into the day Sunday, so, this isn't just a first-half of the weekend. This is going to be both days where you have the potential for that very heavy rain.

And when we talk about overall totals, again, most areas here, you're going to be looking at about 1 to 3 inches total. But see where you have some of this red and orange color here. This is where you could be talking 4, 5 or even 6 inches of rain just through Monday.

BLACKWELL: That's a lot, and it can be very dangerous as we saw in New York. Allison, thanks so much. All right, still to come, St. Paul, Minnesota, is battling a major cyber attack, and the National Guard has been called in to help. We'll have the latest on this incident.

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[06:40:00]

BLACKWELL: The city of St. Paul, Minnesota, under a local state of emergency after being targeted by a cyber attack. Saint Paul's mayor says hackers breached the city's internet-based information system last week, that prompted city services to unplug from the internet. City services are slowly coming back online, but officials have not indicated if they know who is behind this.

The FBI, the Minnesota National Guard, they work to help contain the breach.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN): I think I saw some people misinterpret. We had the National Guard out there in a -- in an armed capacity. That's not it. These are cyber experts. These are security experts that work for the National Guard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: I'm joined now by Lieutenant Colonel Brian Morgan; the director of Cyber Coordination for the Army National Guard. Sir, thank you for being with me. Let's just start with -- and I go into this interview knowing there's some things you just can't tell me because of security. There are some things you're not going to answer, but we get as far as we can. Scope and scale. Help us understand the breadth and the severity of the hack.

BRIAN MORGAN, DIRECTOR, CYBER COORDINATION, ARMY NATIONAL GUARD, MINNESOTA: Sure, so what I can say is that the scope and scale of the incident were sufficient enough to warrant summoning the National Guard, which means it is truly an emergency. The services that the city relies on largely depend on access to the internet or external entities accessing the city's internet. So, when they shut that internet down as a precaution to make sure that the attacker couldn't keep maneuvering within their network, all those services got disconnected. So, in terms of scope and scale, anything that relied on that city's internet has been impacted. And some of those were fairly important.

You know, if you want to go to the library and use internet, well, that could be a challenge for you. Some people don't have internet at their home. So, you know, critical is, I guess, from a frame of reference. But fire, 9-1-1, those absolutely life critical services, those are still operating as needed. So --

BLACKWELL: So, the hack was discovered a little more than a week ago. Is it clear how long the attackers were in the system?

MORGAN: Yes, so, you know, by the time we were activated, they found the initial entry a few days prior. So, what happened was, you know, they discovered the malicious activity, and then they immediately shut down the VPN connection, knowing that this was, you know, significant event.

[06:45:00]

And at that point during the discovery process, realized this wasn't an accident, this wasn't a mis-configuration. This was a legitimate attack by a threat actor somewhere in the world on their network. And then, that sort of scaled-it-up to the -- to when the FBI gets called in, other state partners get called in, and then eventually, once they realize the recovery effort would take more than their internal capacity to handle, that's when they call the National Guard to assist them with the recovery.

BLACKWELL: And so, Governor Walz made it clear that the alliance(ph) standing around with semi-automatic rifles. That's not your role here. What is the National Guard doing?

MORGAN: Yes, that's a good question. So, you know, typically when we respond to emergencies, and most states, you know, they don't think of us as akin to responding to cyber events. They know -- they know it's for flood. They know it's for fire. They know it's for civil disturbance, search and rescue, et cetera.

But the guard in -- when it responds for a cyber capacity, what we really provide are our experience sets and skills. So, a National Guard soldier typically works in the community where they serve. So, the majority of the responders for this mission actually come from the St. Paul twin cities area, working for large companies. Some work for the government as well.

And what they bring to the fight, which is unique, is, you know, there's an operational mindset. There's a surge capacity and coordination experience, which is kind of unparalleled because we kind of do these sorts of things all the time, whether it's -- you know, on state-active duty or federal service. So, we're pretty familiar with the emergency situation mindset. As well, they bring a set of skills and capabilities which are pretty

comprehensive because in addition to their civilian experience they get from their employers over years of service to them, they also get unique military training, which is pretty darn good, if I might say. And that's all across the country and even in the world. So, I think that's the main differentiator we bring.

BLACKWELL: City officials extended this local state of emergency for another 90 days. What's impacted now and how long do you think it will take to get back to normal?

MORGAN: Yes, that's a good question. So, you know, the main things that are impacted now are obviously everything I mentioned earlier with external services touching the city. You know, some of your ability to process, you know, payroll, automated, those kind of things. They've reverted using what's called their business continuity plan.

They reverted back for manual processes to ensure that vendors get paid, to ensure their employees get paid. And so, there's a lot of work to do to recover the network. And in terms of timeline, it really depends because, you know, it's a hard thing to nail down these networks when you have a city like the size of St. Paul, they're very complex.

There's many different servers. There's thousands of endpoints. And, you know, the attacker could have planted what are known as hooks anywhere in the network. So, it really is a delicate process to go through. And you don't want to turn that internet back on until you know that the environment is safe.

Because if you are premature in that, the attacker could come right back in and then you're back at zero. So, you know, it's one of these things where the timeline we expect to be, as long as it takes, and I wish I had more details for you, but that's kind of how these things go.

BLACKWELL: All right, Lieutenant Colonel Brian Morgan, thank you so much for your time, and I'm sure the people of St. Paul are very grateful for the work you are doing. Enjoy this Saturday.

MORGAN: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Still to come, rock star Bob Geldof organized a legendary concert in 1985 to raise money for famine relief in Africa. How it all came about. That's next.

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[06:50:00]

BLACKWELL: Forty years ago this Summer, the biggest rock stars in the world performed together at a landmark music event to raise money for famine relief in Africa. CNN's Bill Weir sat down with Band Aid trust Co-founder and musician Bob Geldof to discuss what led him to organize this legendary concert series and how his activism has continued. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL WEIR, CNN CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In 1985, Bob Geldof sat down to watch the 6 O'clock "BBC" newscast in London.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our correspondent Michael Buerk(ph) has been back to carom(ph) --

WEIR: And little did he know that what he was about to watch would change his life and career forever. His first glimpse of widespread famine in Ethiopia.

BOB GELDOF, MUSICIAN & CO-FOUNDER, BAND AID: These elegant human beings, all that intellect, all that possibility, dying of hunger in biblical numbers. That's what he said. A biblical famine of biblical proportions. My partner began to cry, not sob, I looked around to see and she had just tears, and she grabbed our baby and ran upstairs, almost as if she didn't want this infant --

WEIR (on camera): Yes --

GELDOF: To see the world that she was going to be in.

WEIR (voice-over): The next day, Bob called his friends across the music industry and convinced them to do something, to make a record to raise money for famine relief.

GELDOF: So, by the end of the day, we had The Rats, Ultravox, Spandau Ballet, The Police and probably Duran Duran.

WEIR: Yes --

GELDOF: Everyone felt the shame, the disgust, the rage and the frustration of not being able to do something. It isn't enough just to find a charity box to do that. And so, that Christmas, that 7-inch piece of plastic became the price of a life.

WEIR: They sold over 11 million copies of that record and raised more than 125 million with live aid, concerts that took place across London and Philadelphia, with headliners that included Queen, David Bowie, U2 and many more.

[06:55:00]

And a second charity concert called Live Aid in 2005, Geldof committed himself to a life of activism.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You both have a lot of money, both have a lot of fame, you don't need to be doing this. You don't need to be sitting in these meetings on-and-on-and-on. Having a world leader fall asleep on you. Why in the world are you doing this?

GELDOF: You say he falls asleep --

(LAUGHTER) GELDOF: Because it works. Poco-poco. Those terrible pictures that you

rightly show on CNN. You look at that. The pornography of poverty trolling across America's tea time tables every night. And people say it's hopeless, nothing can be done. Wrong. We've been doing it 20 years. It does change.

(MUSIC)

WEIR: Bill Weir, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: And be sure to watch the final episode of "LIVE AID: When Rock and Roll Took on the World". It airs tomorrow at 9:00 p.m. Eastern only on CNN. Still to come, what Ghislaine Maxwell's moved to a lower security federal prison camp could signal. The latest on the fallout of the Epstein files, ahead.

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