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What We Know with Max Foster

Trump: "Great Progress" In Talks Between U.S. Envoy & Putin; Top Trump Officials To Hold Epstein Strategy Dinner; HHS Slashing $500 Million For mRNA Vaccine Development; Gaza Health Ministry Warns Of "Hiroshima Of Our Time"; Apple To Launch U.S. Manufacturing Program; Update On Shooting At U.S. Army Base In Georgia. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired August 06, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:24]

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: The crunch meeting in Moscow between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump's envoy.

This is WHAT WE KNOW.

U.S. President Donald Trump is calling today's meeting between Steve Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow highly productive. A

short while ago, the president posted this online saying, "Great progress was made".

And European allies were updated on the discussions, too. Russian state media, describing the talks as constructive and useful. Mr. Trump says

Moscow will face new economic sanctions if it doesn't begin negotiations to bring an end to the fighting in Ukraine by this Friday.

CNN's Kylie Atwood joins us from the U.S. State Department.

I mean, it is all positive vibes from all sides, but obviously, we need to see the detail here.

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That's right. I mean, President Trump saying it was a productive meeting. A White House official

also saying it went well and that Russia continues to remain eager to continue engagement with the United States. We'll have to see what that

continues to look like.

But the other point here, which is critical, is that it's clear that the Trump administration at this point does not believe that Russia is going to

move to end the conflict in Ukraine without substantial pressure applied to them. With the White House and executive order announcing earlier today

that the president that Trump is going to move forward with 25 percent tariffs on India, in addition to the 25 percent tariffs that they're

already moving forward on this week. These tariffs are going to be as a result of India importing Russian oil and gas.

And the White House also said that on Friday, those secondary sanctions that President Trump had said he was considering would go into effect. We

have to see where that all lands if those sanctions do indeed go into effect on Friday, if those 25 percent tariffs on India go into effect 21

days from now, which is when the executive order laid out there implementation date.

But it is important to note, I was speaking with a source who was familiar with the conversation that President Trump had with President Zelenskyy and

European leaders following this meeting between Steve Witkoff and President Putin. And at the top of that meeting, President Trump, apparently,

according to this source, did say that they would move forward with those sanctions on his own. He didn't need to be prodded into that decision.

So, we'll watch and see where all of this goes. But the White House simultaneously, as you said, casting this as productive. And we'll have to

see if that productive nature that they are saying is actually going to be useful in pushing an end to the Ukraine war that the Trump administration

has been trying to do eight months into its administration.

FOSTER: It's delicate, isn't it, because the Russians aren't going to want this to be seen as them being pushed around by the Americans. So, there

will be some compromise here. Do you think this deadline could move forward if Witkoff has managed to get some progress that they can announce on

Friday?

ATWOOD: It's always possible that that deadline moves. It was one that was imposed by no other person other than President Trump himself. So, we have

seen him impose deadlines and then move them before as sort of a negotiating tactic, if you will. It is noteworthy, though, that the White

House is saying today that for now, it is expected that those sanctions will go into place on Friday. So, they are still keeping to that commitment

for the time being.

But listen, the time between now and Friday is quite long in terms of time in Washington and President Trump's decision making. Steve Witkoff is on

his way back to the United States right now. So, we'll watch and see what more is to come from this when he is able to brief President Trump in

person, we know that he had a phone call following his meeting with President Putin with the Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President

Trump. After that three-hour meeting took place today.

FOSTER: Well, let's see what we get today. Thank you, Kylie, for that.

Meanwhile, President Trump spoke by phone with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and other European leaders as well after Witkoff's

meeting there in Moscow. A source familiar with the call says Mr. Trump had already made up his mind on secondary sanctions on countries importing

Russian oil, the beginning of that call.

Kevin joins us from the White House. I mean, just the fact that there's been a call to Kyiv and to the European capitals is interesting, isn't it,

Kevin?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah. And this is actually the second phone call that President Trump had with Zelenskyy this week.

[15:05:00]

He also spoke to him yesterday ahead of that critical meeting in Moscow between Steve Witkoff and Vladimir Putin. And so, clearly, the president is

intent on trying to keep the Ukrainians up to date on these efforts to bring the war to an end.

We are just getting a new statement just now from the White House that I think is pretty notable, Max, about this meeting.

It's from Karoline Leavitt. And she said that in that meeting, the Russians expressed -- expressed their desire to meet with President Trump. And the

president is open to meeting with both President Putin and President Zelenskyy. President Trump wants this brutal war to end. So, I think

opening the possibility that there could be some face-to-face diplomacy very quickly here as the president tries to end the conflict in Ukraine.

What Putin is bringing to the table in order to do that remains entirely unclear. And it's not exactly clear that Zelenskyy or the other European

leaders who spoke to President Trump earlier today got a clearer picture of how this will all wrap up.

What we do understand is that the president made a very clear on that call that he intends to go forward with those secondary sanctions. On Friday, we

saw the start of that today with the sanctions on India.

It's an open question of whether the president also plans to include China in that list of countries. The Chinese are the number one importer of

Russian energy. The president is still pursuing a trade deal with Beijing, and it's not clear that he wants to disrupt those talks by applying these

new secondary sanctions. We'll have to see what he ends up announcing on Friday on that front.

But this new statement, I think, makes very clear that the president does see an opening here to try and make some progress with Putin. Obviously,

we've seen him be very frustrated with his Russian counterpart over the last month or so. Now, I think you're hearing at least some openness on the

part of the president to try and sit down and come up with a solution.

Clearly, some evidence in his mind coming from this meeting with Witkoff earlier today that there might be something to pick on there, that there

might be an avenue that could potentially be fruitful in bringing this war to an end. So, I think this meeting, we're seeing some evidence of some

movement, whether or not it ultimately results in the end of this war I think an open question.

FOSTER: Yeah. A peace deal would just be extraordinary, wouldn't it? A huge triumph for Donald Trump and a moment for him to really mark and go down

into the history books. But, you know, you know, you've reported on Putin, as I have for many, many years.

It's just, you know, there's got to be something in this for him as well. There's got to be some big compromise here. It's not just going to sign up

to a peace deal on Friday like that.

LIPTAK: Yeah. And there's no evidence that Putin has backed off any of the maximalist ambitions that he has had for this conflict, whether it's taking

Russian control over those four Ukrainian regions, saying that Ukraine's military must be limited, saying that Ukraine must never join NATO. These

are all positions that he had on the onset of the war. They're positions that he has today, and it's not entirely clear that President Trump is just

going to go along with those in order to bring the war to an end, and it's certainly not clear that Zelenskyy and the Ukrainians will agree to have

these four regions be sort of given over to Russia as part of some peace deal.

And so, I think how exactly those talks proceed, if they actually happen, remains very unclear. And nothing that we've seen from Putin up until this

point suggests that he's ready to back away from his war aims. You know, everything that we've heard from the kremlin over the last month or so has

been that despite these conversations that Putin has been having with Donald Trump, that its ambitions for this war have changed at all, it says

that they will continue to pursue this conflict while they can -- while they -- while these objectives remain unanswered.

And so, I think we'll have to see how this all happens. But obviously, President Trump has heard something from Witkoff today that leads him to

believe that there is an opening here.

FOSTER: Yeah, very interesting. Kevin, thank you.

Some more breaking news this hour. We're about to get an update on a mass shooting at a U.S. Army base. At least five soldiers have been wounded at

Fort Stewart in the state of Georgia. According to a law enforcement official, the shooting suspect is an army sergeant. He's now in custody.

The wounded have been hospitalized. Officials are due to give an update on the situation this hour. We'll, of course, bring that to you live.

Our sources are telling CNN that Vice President J.D. Vance is set to strategize with top officials tonight over a unified response to the

Jeffrey Epstein fallout.

The likely discuss whether to publish an audio recording and transcript of the deputy attorney general's recent meeting with Epstein's accomplice,

Ghislaine Maxwell.

The family of Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide earlier this year want to know why survivors of the late sex offender were not invited to the

strategy dinner?

Stephen Collinson joins us now from Washington.

[15:10:01]

How do you read all of this? What's going on, Stephen?

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Max, every attempt that the administration has tried so far to make this go away has only

succeeded in making it worse. And the interest around this dinner and now the involvement of the survivors of Epstein's abuse, leads me to think that

the same pattern may be reasserting itself.

If you think about it, the thought of releasing this transcript of an interview with Ghislaine Maxwell is pretty extraordinary, because President

Trump had his deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, who also happens to be his former personal lawyer, go to speak to her for two days. They made a

tape of it. They are now making a transcript, and they may release it publicly.

That is an extraordinary use of government power to try to spare the embarrassment and to advance the personal and political aspirations of a

president. We've never seen the Justice Department used in quite that way before. It's just another one of these remarkable things that were seeing

in the second Trump administration.

And even if they did publish this transcript, would Ghislaine Maxwell, who is convicted sex trafficker, be seen as a reliable witness, given the fact

that she has a huge incentive to say things that would help President Trump, who has the power, incidentally, to pardon her and the transcript

would have to have significant redactions to spare the names of witnesses and victims that I think would set the conspiracy theorists that started

this whole thing off again, because they would be saying, why has the government not telling us everything that's in the transcript? So, this is

a vicious political circle, which the administration seems to make worse when it tries to make it better.

FOSTER: Okay, Stephen, thank you.

The USA -- the U.S. health secretary slashing funding for mRNA vaccine development. mRNA vaccines were particularly useful during the COVID 19

pandemic, but Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has a long history of anti-vaccine claims, says they'll fail to effectively protect against COVID and flu.

Evidence shows mRNA vaccines, in fact, do protect against severe disease and death from COVID 19 and show promise against influenza as well.

Biochemist Katalin Kariko won a Nobel Prize for her work researching and developing mRNA vaccines. She says Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s decision will

hurt future American generations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATALIN KARIKO, 2023 NOBEL LAUREATE N PHYSIOLOGY OR MEDICINE: Obviously, he's misinformed and do not understand that, you know, science is

knowledge, which was, you know, around the world and we collected those with the observation, experimentation, measurements and all of these

scientific evidence. And you know, when you just reject and rely on misinformation, then you make a decision like he made, which is, you know,

false.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Yeah. Let's get some more then from CNN health reporter Jacqueline Howard.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: The Department of Health and Human Services says it is slashing funding for mRNA vaccine contracts,

specifically in a news release. Here's what HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has to say, quote, "BARDA is terminating 22 mRNA vaccine development

investments because the data show these vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu. We're

shifting that funding towards safer, broader vaccine platforms that remain effective even as viruses mutate," end quote.

And when Kennedy's referring to BARDA, he's referring to the agency that supports advancing research and development.

So that's what we have heard directly from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. himself.

In response to that statement, we are hearing from some public health experts who argue that mRNA technology has been used and studied for

decades, way before the COVID-19 pandemic. And there is this concern among some public health experts that these attitudes against mRNA may impact

other ongoing research looking into using mRNA for certain therapeutics, like, we know cancer therapies is an area where we're seeing some of this

research being done.

So this is an interesting conversation and development that's happening here in the United States.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Now, Gaza's health ministry calls it the Hiroshima of our time. But the worst of the war may still be to come as Israel considers a full

military conquest.

New aerial pictures show the extent of the devastation some communities flattened by Israeli attacks.

The health ministry says 138 Palestinians have been killed in the past 24 hours alone. Thats the highest death toll in weeks. It says 87 people were

killed whilst waiting for humanitarian aid. Israel's aid blockade has deprived women of essential supplies like sanitary pads and soap, whilst

access to clean water remains scarce.

[15:15:07]

Women in Gaza say they feel embarrassed and degraded by the dire hygiene situation in the enclave.

CNN spoke to a mother of six in Gaza about her family's life and how it's changed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GHADEER NASSER, MOTHER OF SIX IN GAZA: My daughter is embarrassed in front of her father and brothers. Before the war, no one in the house even knew

when she had her period. Now, it's like a public scandal.

REPORTER: Ghadeer Nasser is one of thousands of mothers in Gaza struggling to help their daughters maintain personal hygiene.

Too embarrassed to face the camera, Nasser has been doing everything she can to help her teenage daughter manage her period.

NASSER: Sometimes I can buy my daughter sanitary pads, and sometimes I can't. I end up cutting pieces of cloth, washing and disinfecting them, and

telling her to use those.

REPORTER: Over 700,000 women and girls in Gaza are experiencing their period in these kinds of challenging conditions, often without clean water

or soap, according to the United Nations. After months of severe restrictions from Israel, supplies of sanitary pads and tampons are now

running extremely low.

NASSER: The whole situation in the camp is embarrassing. Hanging underwear outside is distressing. If someone saw them, my daughter would be

devastated. We're crammed together, surrounded by people. It's overwhelming.

REPORTER: United Nations health experts have warned these short term sanitary solutions may end up causing long term health problems for women

and girls.

NASSER: Sanitary pads are outrageously expensive. Doesn't my daughter deserve them? Isn't that one of the most basic human rights? Our lives

weren't like this. My daughter has been robbed of her girlhood, robbed of normal life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Coming up, Apple's new $100 billion bets on the U.S. and why Trump is calling it a victory for America first.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:20:28]

FOSTER: Apple making a massive new investment in the U.S., $100 billion to expand their domestic operations.

President Trump set to formally reveal the plan today, framing it as a win for American manufacturing. The plan includes a new program to shift more

of Apple's supply chain to the U.S., a move the Trump administration hopes will inspire other firms to follow suit.

Lisa Eadicicco is the tech editor for CNN Business.

Thanks for joining us.

I mean, they've still going to have a lot of manufacturing outside the U.S., right? Because it's going to be pretty impossible to make all

iPhones, for example, in the U.S.

LISA EADICICCO, CNN BUSINESS TECH EDITOR: Yeah, absolutely. From what I've heard, based on the analysts and experts that I've spoken to and people who

follow these supply chains, there's really only two places Apple can make iPhones at scale, and that's China and India.

And so, in terms of iPhones that are sold in the U.S., a lot of those phones are coming from India now. And there's a few reasons why it's so

difficult to move out of those manufacturing hubs. For one, you're moving across the world, away from a lot of where these critical components that

are needed to make these devices are located. But also, we just don't have the skills technical workforce, we don't have the labor required to build

those devices.

Building a smartphone it's not like other types of manufacturing. There's a lot that goes into it. A lot of mounting chips and small components on

different parts that kind of differentiate it from other manufacturing jobs and what people really think of when they think of a manufacturing job.

And I actually spoke with the former CEO of Motorola that tried to do this more than a decade ago. Motorola tried to make one of its flagship phones

in the U.S., specifically the devices that were sold here. And he cited some of those challenges, specifically not having the talent to do that

here.

So, I think this investment will be interesting. I don't think we're going to see iPhones made in the U.S. anytime soon, but it does seem like this is

a really big sign for Apple that it's willing to play ball and kind of boost its footprint in the U.S. and boost manufacturing in the ways that it

can, the ways that are feasible for it to do here.

FOSTER: And, you know, to give Donald Trump a win. You know, he likes a win, doesn't he? But do you think Donald Trump is going to be a bit more

flexible with some tech companies and not expecting them to bring everything back to the U.S., but perhaps to bring them bring back as much

as they can?

EADICICCO: I think it really depends. I think Apple is a unique circumstance because when you think of Apple as kind of this American

success story, the story of Steve Jobs starting Apple in his garage in California, that's kind of what people think of when they think of American

entrepreneurism. And also, you can't deny that Apple is one of the largest companies in the world and is really one of the factors that kind of drives

the markets here.

So I do think it's kind of a mutual relationship here. I think President Trump to some degree knows that Apple is really important for America. And

of course, Apple knows that it needs to work with the Trump administration in certain ways.

FOSTER: Okay, Lisa Eadicicco, thank you for that.

Donald Trump's latest round of tariffs due to come into effect on Thursday. Whilst Mexico has been granted a temporary reprieve, the economic

uncertainty is already having a ripple effect on trade between those two countries.

Valeria Leon has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALERIA LEON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the first time in recent history, Mexico is exporting more computer equipment to the U.S. as auto

exports start to show signs of decline.

We've seen an average production drop of 8.5 percent, Francisco says, after a strong spike in November and December.

According to U.S. Department of Commerce data, in the first five months of the year, Mexico's computer equipment exports to the U.S. doubled compared

to the same period last year. In contrast, car exports have remained stable since 2017, with an average growth of just 8 percent.

As Mexico's computer manufacturing industry eclipses car exports, investors have had to catch up with the quickly changing commercial landscape.

In 2024, Mexico reported one of the highest inflows of foreign direct investment in computer hardware manufacturing, $1.83 billion. This makes

Mexico the second largest supplier to the U.S. market, just behind China.

Trump has gotten more radical, Gabriela says. He has nothing to lose. Since there is no upcoming term or election, this could put pressure on the

exchange rate and create uncertainty for the Mexican economy.

That uncertainty is already affecting consumer behavior in Mexico. A Nielsen survey found that 73 percent of consumers in the country's largest

cities are willing to pay more for locally made products in response to the new tariffs from Washington.

[15:25:09]

Consumers are changing their habits, Eduardo says, looking for lower prices. Shopping at cheaper places, using social media and e-commerce to

inform their decisions.

As consumer habits change, a new trade agreement between Mexico and the U.S. is in the works, meant to replace the trade deal from the Trump

administration.

Valeria Leon, CNN, Mexico City.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: After the break, we are moments away from an update from the U.S. Army about that mass shooting at a military base in Georgia. That'll come

up, we expect, after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Our breaking news then, U.S. President Donald Trump telling European leaders in a phone call that he intends to meet soon with the

Russian president, Vladimir Putin, potentially as early as next week and wait for this. That will be followed by a trilateral meeting with Ukraine's

president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

That's according to two sources familiar with the call, and would be an extraordinary moment, wouldn't it, in the modern British international

politics, rather. We'll have to wait to see, though, what will be announced, because obviously, it'll have to be something significant and we

haven't actually got the details of that yet.

And other breaking news as well. This hour, waiting for officials in the U.S. state of Georgia to give an update on the mass shooting at a U.S. Army

base today. Five soldiers being wounded. A suspect is in custody, and officials said earlier he's an army sergeant. We've heard as well that he

is 28 years old, according to a source in law enforcement.

[15:30:01]

The update is due any moment. We'll bring you that as soon as it begins.

Isabel Rosales, watching this with us from Atlanta.

What are you looking out for here, Isabel?

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. So, we're expecting to hear now from Brigadier General John Lubas. He's the commander of the Fort Stewart

Hunter Army Airfield.

So we're hoping to get more information as to the extent of the injuries of these five soldiers who have been shot. We know they've been transferred to

area hospitals, two of them to a level one trauma center that's equipped to deal with the most serious of injuries.

Max, remind me if we have the live feed right now, is that something we can go to? Or I can keep going?

BRIG. GEN. JOHN LUBAS, COMMANDING GENERAL, U.S. ARMY 3RD INFANTRY DIVISION: -- shot and wounded five of his fellow soldiers here on Fort Stewart.

Thankfully, all are in stable condition and all are expected to recover.

The alleged shooter is in custody. We have reestablished security. I have lifted all lockdown measures on Fort Stewart and there is currently no

threat to the local community.

I'd like to recognize and thank our army, law enforcement and medical personnel and our partners from local, state and federal law enforcement

and emergency services for their quick response and support.

I would also like to thank the brave soldiers who immediately intervened and subdued the shooter. These soldiers, without a doubt, prevented further

casualties. Our wounded soldiers were initially evacuated to Winn Army Community Hospital right here on Fort Stewart. All arrived in stable

condition, and three of the five required surgical intervention.

Two have been transported to memorial hospital in Savannah, Georgia, for additional care.

We have identified the alleged shooter as Sergeant Quornelius Radford, an automated logistics sergeant assigned to second brigade combat team.

Sergeant Radford has not previously deployed to combat. Sergeant Radford has been interviewed by the army criminal investigation division and is

currently in pretrial confinement awaiting a charging decision by the office of the special trial counsel.

Right now, our primary focus is first on caring for injured soldiers and their families, and also supporting the soldiers of the Spartan Brigade.

All of the families of the victims have been notified, and we're wrapping our arms around them and ensuring we provide them all the support that we

can.

Before I take questions, I want to remind you that this is an ongoing investigation and we're still gathering questions.

And ladies and gentlemen, I'll now take your questions.

REPORTER: General Lubas, can you give us what unit he was assigned to and how long he served in the army, if you didn't mention that?

LUBAS: Yeah, he is assigned to one of our sustainment units here in second brigade combat team at Fort Stewart. And I will have to confirm how long he

served with us.

Yes, sir?

REPORTER: Russ Bynum with "The Associated Press".

As best you can, knowing it's still early. Can you walk us through where this happened? What happened in the shooting and where the victims

subordinate to the sergeants, or were they people over him in, right?

LUBAS: Yeah. Right now, it's premature and we're gathering a lot of the information. What we know is this soldier, the shooting occurred at the

soldier's place of work. It did involve his coworkers. We're still not certain about the motivations, but again, he's been interviewed by army

investigators, and we believe we'll gain more information here shortly.

Yes, ma'am?

REPORTER: Do you know if this was any kind of training exercise? (INAUDIBLE)

LUBAS: No, ma'am, we don't have any reason to believe it had anything to do with a training event. Other than that, I can't -- I can't state the

motivations for this soldier.

REPORTER: We've heard that the shooter may have been from Jacksonville, Florida. Are you able to confirm that? We also heard that he had maybe been

arrested for DUI recently.

LUBAS: Yeah. At this point, I can't confirm where he's from. We can follow up on that. I do believe he was arrested locally for a DUI that was unknown

to his chain of command until the event occurred. And we -- and we started looking into the law enforcement databases.

REPORTER: Robyn Kemp (ph) from "The Courant (ph)". Can you tell us whether or not that was a military weapon or whether this was a personal weapon of

the person involved?

LUBAS: Yes, ma'am. I can -- I can confirm it was not a military weapon and we believe it was a personal handgun. Yes, sir?

REPORTER: What does this mean for ongoing security measures? (INAUDIBLE)

LUBAS: Yeah, I'm very confident in the -- in the security of this installation. We've got a great partnership with local law enforcement. As

you can see here at our gates, we have armed guards in protective equipment. This one's a bit difficult. And we're going to have to determine

how he was able to get a handgun to his place of -- place of duty.

REPORTER: Has the suspect had any prior disciplinary or behavioral issues on base?

[15:35:03]

LUBAS: No, ma'am. Not that we're aware of. But again, it's early in the investigation, but not that I'm currently aware of.

REPORTER: Yu mentioned that some soldiers were able to subdue him. Do you know if there's (INAUDIBLE) whether peacefully or what his arrest is?

LUBAS: I don't have the details on that, but I know that his soldiers in the area that witnessed the shooting immediately and without hesitation

tackled the soldier, subdued him. That allowed law enforcement to then take him into custody.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we've got time for one more question.

REPORTER: I know that you can't speak to the motivation. But, you know, if this turns out to be some situation where somebody had extremist beliefs or

maybe classified as a terrorist attack, I mean, how does that change the base's response or the base's investigation moving forward?

LUBAS: Yeah. Currently, we have no reason to believe any of that is the case. However, we continually -- continuously assess the threat environment

both in the immediate area and across our Army and DOD installations, and we will address the threat level accordingly.

REPORTER: Do you have the rank of the shooter?

LUBAS: Yes, sir. He was a sergeant.

REPORTER: Okay.

LUBAS: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your questions. And again, thanks to the local responders and the local community for their help.

Thanks and have a great afternoon.

FOSTER: We have the update then on that incident at that military base. Good news to hear that all the victims are expected to recover. But three

did need surgery.

We've heard that Sergeant Quornelius Radford is the suspect. He was assigned to the -- to sustainment units.

And it's believed, Isabel, that he used a handgun. He didn't use a military weapon. What more did you learn from that?

ROSALES: Right. And it was so great to hear this updated information on the soldiers that were shot, five of them. You mentioned that three out of the

five of them did require surgery, but all of them are stable and expected to recover.

Now, we did hear brand new information. This is from the brigadier general, John Lubas. He's in charge of the army base there of the brigade. He said

that Quornelius Radford, this army sergeant, used a personal handgun. So, this was not part of any sort of training exercise where they would be

using equipment, military weaponry. This was his personal handgun that he somehow got into his place of work. They're investigating how he was able

to get this gun in.

You got to you -- got to think this is an army base. This is a high security area that's gated. They check military IDs. Theres all sorts of

levels of security to prevent this exact sort of thing from happening, not to mention training on how to deal with active threats, even from the

inside.

That brigadier general also mentioned that the shooting involved his coworkers. So these were people that were known to him. This was a targeted

incident.

This army sergeant, Quornelius Radford, had not previously been deployed to combat, and now his status is that he is in pretrial confinement, awaiting

a charging decision. So these would be charges.

They don't have a sense of the motivation yet, although again, these victims were his colleagues. And finally, we had the brigadier general say

that we have high confidence in the security of this installation. But what really stuck out to me, Max, also is how he was apprehended toward the end.

There we heard the brigadier general mentioned that he was tackled by fellow soldiers brought to the ground and subdued. And that is what gave

them the opportunity and police to bring him into custody.

FOSTER: Yeah. We're also joined by Donell Harvin, former chief of homeland security for the District of Columbia. Obviously, the system did work

pretty well here, didn't it? Obviously, there are victims here, but as Isabella was saying, these heroes that tackled this attacker subdued him

pretty much straight away.

When asked about the motive, they said there's no reason to think it could be terrorism, but they will consider the threat level. It's very early,

isn't it, in the investigation.

DONELL HARVIN, FORMER CHIEF OF HOMELAND SECURITY, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: It's incredibly early in the U.S. This happened just about four hours ago.

We don't know if the suspect in this case, an army sergeant, is cooperating with investigators and giving full details.

But what we do know are the facts, and the facts are no one was killed. And that's good. Thats unlike several of the other military based shootings

that we've experienced in the U.S., specifically the Fort Hood shooting that took 13 lives and the navy yard shooting that also took 13 lives. In

those instances, we did not have opportunity for heroes like today to tackle the suspect. So that's probably saved a lot of lives.

FOSTER: Yeah, quite incredible, isn't it? I mean, what do you think we can learn from this moment? I guess these incidents can happen. They're trying

to find out more about him, aren't they? But ultimately, when it did happen, the system did seem to work, didn't it?

[15:40:05]

HARVIN: Well, I mean, it all depends on who you ask. So, I mean, once the dust settles and were able to kind of get away from the immediate response,

the reason why there's so many people who did not perish today is because a system of response worked. But the question is, should this have gotten all

the way to the response mode?

And in our business, if you have to wait until first responders or Good Samaritans stop an active threat, then something has failed. I will tell

you that after the Navy Yard shooting that we had and here in Washington, D.C., the army took a real deep introspection and they started a program

internally to the Department of Defense called the insider threat program.

That program is aimed towards detecting, deterring and interdicting just this type of incident. And so, I know that the folks in the Pentagon will

look and do some soul searching and look at this program to see if there was any missed opportunities to stop this from happening and what they

could do better.

FOSTER: Yeah, it's interesting, isn't it? A good point there about this. There will be a big postmortem on this, won't there?

Thank you, Donell. Also, Isabella, for joining us with that.

We'll be back with more breaking news in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Returning to our breaking news this hour, U.S. President Donald Trump has told European leaders in a phone call he intends to meet soon

with Russian President Vladimir Putin, potentially as early as next week, followed by a trilateral meeting with Ukraine's President Volodymyr

Zelenskyy. Two sources familiar with the call have told us that.

Joining us now, Rose Gottemoeller, a former NATO deputy secretary general.

Thank you so much for joining us.

I mean, it would be extraordinary to see the three men together. But do you think it's really going to happen?

ROSE GOTTEMOELLER, FORMER NATO DEPUTY SECRETARY GENERAL: Well, this is a very new news. And Zelenskyy, interestingly, today said in his evening

address to the nation, which he's been doing every night since the war began, said that he sees some indication that the Russians are more serious

about a ceasefire than they've been in the past.

[15:45:09]

So, there do seem to be a few crumbs of good news coming our way. And let's hope this meeting can play out.

FOSTER: In terms of a peace deal -- I mean, how do we define that? It's not going to be a complete peace deal. Presumably, there'll be some level of

negotiation here. What do you think Putin could have agreed to if he has agreed to anything?

GOTTEMOELLER: Yeah, I think and again, these are hints coming out of Moscow. There was some Bloomberg reporting today that the Kremlin is

considering a halt to the aerial bombardments. And if the Ukrainians agree to do so, they would stop these terrible attacks that have been killing

civilians every day and every night in Ukraine. So, I would think that the Ukrainians would be willing to agree to a halt to aerial bombardment. And

that would be the first step.

It's pretty clear to me that that Putin is not going to agree to stop his ground offensive. They will try to continue to push for as much territory

as possible. But an aerial halt would be a step in the right direction. And you're right, peace is not going to happen overnight. We would then start a

very difficult, I think, series of negotiations to get to a full-scale peace negotiation and a process going on.

FOSTER: Yeah, I mean, Donald Trump clearly setting this up already as a win for him, but it's got to be a win for Putin as well, hasn't it? For him to

sell to his people. What do you think he's going to want out of this?

GOTTEMOELLER: Well, to my mind most important is a win for Mr. Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people, to be honest. But I take your point. And I do

think that Putin's survival, in a way, in his position depends on him coming out of this with some progress on, I think, particularly the

forgiveness of sanctions, although he never admits that his people never admit it. The Russian economy is under a great deal of pressure right now.

And so, if he can begin to see a loosening of sanctions, I think that would be beneficial for him politically. It is very interesting to me today that

that Trump signed an executive order that essentially underscored and re- emphasized Biden's executive order that called it a national emergency, this war with Ukraine and the pressure put on Russia. That's what launched

the sanctions back under the Biden administration. So, it's very interesting to me that Trump, for the first time, is endorsing what Biden

did and saying, watch out, Russia. I can get even more serious about sanctions.

So that is an important step that that Trump undertook even in the last day.

FOSTER: Yeah, these secondary sanctions, particularly we were talking today about India, weren't we? And how they would be punished effectively for

taking Russian fuel. That would have put a lot of diplomatic pressure on Russia, as well as economic pressure, wouldn't it?

Do you think that was -- you know, I don't want to say a smart move, you know, a move that tipped the balance here, this strategy?

GOTTEMOELLER: I don't think it probably tipped the balance with Putin. A number of factors are at play here. But I would say it's a calculated move

because the president left silent whether he will impose secondary sanctions on China. And China's buying just as much gas and oil as the

Indians. But he's got very delicate trade negotiations going with Beijing right now. And he certainly wants to have a big summit with President Xi

Jinping in the not too distant future.

So, he needs a victory with China as well. So that's an important unanswered question. India is taking the hit now. And I guess the hope is

that Narendra Modi, the prime minister, will work with Putin to try to move forward in the peace process as well.

But to my mind, the most interesting thing about what's happening right at the moment is the powerful sanctions that are still left on the table. I've

seen that sanctions against the so-called ghost fleet have been very effective in the past, and Trump apparently is considering joining the

Europeans now in sanctioning those ship going vessels that are carrying Russian gas to these markets.

FOSTER: Yeah, it's interesting. Rose Gottemoeller, let's see what happens with it all. Thank you for joining us.

GOTTEMOELLER: Sure. Still to come, cuts to vaccine research. We get reaction to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s decision to slash $500 million in

vaccine development funding.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:52:15]

FOSTER: We have more now then on the slashing of funding for mRNA vaccine development in the U.S. The Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F.

Kennedy Jr., suggesting mRNA vaccines failed to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections. He's decided to cut $500 million in funding

for 22 programs, despite evidence showing the vaccines do protect people from severe disease, as during the COVID-19 pandemic.

So, what we want to know is how important are mRNA vaccines to global health?

Joining me now, Dr. Peter Lurie, president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Thank you so much for joining us.

So, first question really about this claim that mRNA vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections. Is that true?

DR. PETER LURIE, FORMER FDA OFFICIAL: Well, it's hard to see where a claim like that would come from. I mean, the best evidence is what happened

during the COVID epidemic. Most people believe that certainly a couple of million lives globally and possibly tens of millions of lives were saved by

those vaccines. And that is without doubt an upper respiratory illness. So I just don't understand where a claim like this comes from.

FOSTER: Broadly, how much benefit do they do for public health? I mean, what's the consensus?

LURIE: Well, I've given you an estimate of the number of lives, and I think it's very large.

But that's just in COVID. I think when you cut off research for mRNA vaccines, you know, at the origin, the way they seem to want to do here,

what you're also doing is poisoning the pipeline in all kinds of diseases for years to come. These mRNA vaccines show use a technology that could be

promising and diabetes type one.

It could be promising in certain cancers and then in other infectious diseases like H5N1, the bird flu, or influenza.

So, we're really, you know, cutting off a potentially very important new technology before we even have the chance to use it to the utmost.

FOSTER: It's also the message it sends, isn't it? It's a message that they don't work effectively, which would discourage people from using them,

which is a second layer to this. People will be using them less. So that could cause even more harm.

LURIE: Yeah, that's absolutely right. And of course, you know, this particular defunding is part of a whole family of defunding efforts either

within Health and Human Services, within research on mRNA, and either within HHS, the Health and Human Services Department, or outside of the

department, which the department also funds, as well as many, many statements by the secretary that have undermined vaccines in a number of

different ways by claiming that advisory committees are subject to conflict of interest, on and on, you know, raising questions about the -- that

they're dangerous in a certain way.

[15:55:04]

And with respect to the COVID vaccine, even claiming that more people were killed than saved by the vaccine, which is a completely unsupportable

claim.

So altogether, these things come around the public, I think, integrates them as well. Vaccines might be dangerous, and as you say, that will

ultimately result in less uptake.

FOSTER: Yeah, okay. Let's see the impact on that.

Dr. Peter Lurie, thank you.

Finally, tonight, the Norwegian Red Cross says American journalist Alec Luhn has been found alive. Luhn, who's based in London, had gone missing

while hiking in a Norwegian national park. He was finally found by a helicopter crew. A police emergency manager said he had some injuries to

his legs. He's been taken for medical treatment, though Luhn's wife, who last heard from her husband on Thursday, expressed her appreciation for

everyone in Norway who got him out alive.

I'm Max Foster. That's WHAT WE KNOW.

"QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is next.

END

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