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Hunter Biden Blames Ambien For His Father's Debate Performance; Ex-Cop Gets 33 Months In Prison For Role In Breonna Taylor Raid; James Craig Accused Of Killing Wife And Plotting To Kill Four Others. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired July 22, 2025 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So this morning as calls for transparency grow along with more demands that the Trump administration reveal more about the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, one of Epstein's earliest known accusers is speaking to CNN.

Maria Farmer worked for Epstein in the 1990s and she says she was sexually assaulted by him and Ghislaine Maxwell.

And she says that she met Donald Trump in Epstein's office in -- back in the '90s and told the FBI about it twice. Now, she is not accusing Donald Trump of wrongdoing, but she does say she's always been troubled by their encounter that night.

Here's what she told Erin Burnett.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIA FARMER, EPSTEIN ACCUSER: Epstein walked out from the offices on this side. Trump's standing here and I'm here. And he walks out of his office, and he goes "Oh, no, no, no." He was laughing at me. And he goes "She's not here for you. Follow me, right?" And he escorts him into this other room. And I always wondered who was "she" in there?

It wasn't like he was aggressive after that, but he made a really vulgar comment following. And I don't know if it was like -- you know, like locker room talk in the '90s -- the way men were, but he made a joke to Epstein -- "Oh, I thought she was 16."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Hmm.

CNN's Alayna Treene is at the White House this morning for us. Alayna, what are you hearing from people around the president about this right now?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, and I do just want to go directly to some of what Maria Farmer said. As you pointed out, Kate, she did not accuse President Donald Trump of any wrongdoing, but she did say, and you could hear it in that interview with Erin, that something felt very off about that encounter.

Now, the White House is pushing very harshly back on her story. I just want to read for you what we heard from White House communications director Steven Cheung. He said this is in a statement to CNN. "The president was never in Epstein's office -- and, in fact, the president kicked him out of his club for being a creep." So again, trying to argue that what Maria Farmer was saying is false.

But all to say a lot of what's going on right now with this broader Epstein case, a lot of this is out of the president's control and the White House control despite their best efforts to really try and convince some of his fiercest supporters and, of course, the broader American public as well, to move on from this.

And I think we -- you had Lauren on earlier and she was talking about how some conservatives -- very conservative lawmakers on Capitol Hill -- people like Josh Hawley and Marjorie Taylor Greene -- they're also saying that they're getting calls from their constituents about this. That they are calling them up saying you need to do more to make sure the White House is being transparent on this.

It's not just a few of the president's fiercest supporters or a few of random Americans, or as the president likes to argue, Democrats who are trying to make this all a "hoax" in his words. I mean, this is a widespread effort and desire to get the Trump administration to release more of the information in this case.

And look, I think what we're seeing from the White House -- to answer your question, Kate -- is they are doing everything in their power to try and change the subject here.

You saw the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt yesterday. She came out and spoke to reporters. She also did some media interviews. She was trying to talk about immigration and marking the president's six months of his second term.

President Trump, for his part -- I mean, he's been posting up a storm. You know, one post was about trying to change the name of sports teams.

They are really trying to do what they can to move on from this but, of course, it's not working.

And I can also tell you in my conversations I think they had really hoped that his call on the attorney general Pam Bondi, telling her to unseal some of the grand jury testimony -- of course, that is up to the courts. It's not necessarily the Justice Department's decision there. He was hoping that would deflect from some of this, right, and give some of his supporters and some of the people who have really been eager for more information maybe settle some of those concerns and ease some of the pressure off of the White House.

But then you heard, of course, from different lawyers, from experts. You even heard from Alan Dershowitz, who was previously Jeffrey Epstein's lawyer, all saying that testimony -- those grand jury transcripts really weren't going to go far in the way of giving the people what they want here.

And so we are seeing this heightened pressure from all sides. Again, Republicans included -- including Republicans on Capitol Hill saying more needs to be done here. It's still unclear though exactly what the White House is going to do because again, despite their best efforts people are not moving on from this, Kate.

BOLDUAN: And that's the thing. If even his biggest supporters are not moving away from this then what is going to be the new approach because the distraction tactics, as you pointed out, have done nothing to this point? So that's kind of a key --

TREENE: Right.

BOLDUAN: -- question today.

Alayna, thank you so much -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, with us now, CNN political analyst Jackie Kucinich, and senior contributor to Axios, Margaret Talev.

And this morning the House of Representatives might be on the very of basically closing up show for the week. Why? Because House Republicans don't want to be in a position of voting against releasing Jeffrey Epstein files. But Margaret, they don't want to cross the president on the other hand. It's just remarkable that as we sit here this morning, they may be going home this week and may be going home for the rest of the summer.

[07:35:05]

MARGARET TALEV, SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR, AXIOS, DIRECTOR, INSTITUTE FOR DEMOCRACY, JOURNALISM AND CITIZENSHIP, SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY: Yeah, that could be a long August recess.

And obviously -- like, Speaker Johnson has shifted in his position from everyone should see everything to this is a Democratic ploy, OK? And the bet is if you slow-walk this -- if you blunt it over the month of August people come back -- the topics have changed. Everybody has maybe moved on.

But look, we've seen this movie before with different presidents in different Augusts. August is a wild and mysterious month and when you're home -- when they are home you can lose control of the narrative, and the actual opposite thing could happen, and steam could pick up over this.

And those photographs of President Trump and Jeffrey Epstein -- photographs -- they may be from 25 years ago -- just keep airing over and over and over again. And that's why you're starting to hear, I think, some Republican strategists saying just get this over with now. Don't wait a month.

BERMAN: Yeah. Home is where the heart is. It's also where angry constituents are at town halls --

TALEV: Yes.

BERMAN: -- and at parades where you may be going to meet them.

And Jackie, it's remarkable to hear from stalwart conservatives -- supporters of the president -- like Warren Davidson talking to Manu Raju overnight -- listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. WARREN DAVIDSON (R-OH): I don't really see why we would do anything other than bring Pam Bondi in and say -- you know, to a committee of jurisdiction and say please explain. I mean --

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Would you want to hear her testify -- Pam Bondi?

DAVIDSON: Yeah. I mean, I'm not on that committee but I really would like the committee of jurisdiction to bring her in and say hey, you start this off. You've got binders. Please explain. We were led to believe there were going to be some prosecutions. If we're going to prosecute, we assume there's going to be convictions. And I think that's really the disconnect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: I mean, Jackie, that's kind of the like the furthest thing from we want this to go away from Warren Davidson. That is why we want to actually get testimony from the attorney general of the United States.

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, THE BOSTON GLOBE (via Webex by Cisco): Well, right, and what this will do in effect is even if they do dismiss for August this will come back in September. Because we know that this discharge position is a procedural motion that's being pushed through the House by Thomas Massie, Republican from Kentucky, could end up being -- it could get enough signatures to end up being forced on the floor after the August recess.

So it doesn't seem like this is going away. And listen, this could not be at a worse time for Republicans because they need to get out there and sell this big, beautiful bill that was just signed into law that they are very proud of -- at least some of them. They need to get out there and get ahead of Democrats on the messaging for that. And instead they're talking about Epstein. But hey, at least something bipartisan is going on, I guess, in the House of Representatives right now.

BERMAN: I guess that's one way to look at it.

Another question could be what or who could possibly change the subject from Jeffrey Epstein right now? Maybe the answer is Hunter Biden who is out doing interviews. I'm sure Democrats in the House are thrilled about this.

Hunter Biden is out doing an interview with YouTuber Andrew Callaghan. And I want to play you what he said about his father's debate performance, which ultimately led to him dropping out of the race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTER BIDEN, SON OF FORMER PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: I know exactly what happened in that debate. He flew around the world basically -- and the mileage that he could have flown around the world three times.

ANDREW CALLAGHAN, YOUTUBER: Yeah.

BIDEN: He's 81 years old. He's tired as shit. They give him Ambien to be able to sleep. He gets up on the stage and he looks like he's a deer in the headlights.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: And Jackie, this interview has much more, including Hunter Biden naming names of Democrats and people he thinks are responsible for his father leaving the race.

First of all -- I mean, how do you think Joe -- President -- former President Biden feels about that this morning? And how do House Democrats and others who like what they're seeing in terms of the focus being on Jeffrey Epstein right now feel about this?

KUCINICH: I mean, I'll take the second question first, which is they're not happy about this. They are seeing Hunter Biden kind of, as you said, nose into what is not a great news cycle for President Trump. I don't know many Democrats that even want to be talking about Joe Biden at this juncture, let alone his son.

But it's something that they're going to have to answer for because he's not going away. I mean, he did that. He did, I think, Jaime Harrison's podcast. It's pretty clear Hunter Biden is angry and no one's telling him to be quiet.

BERMAN: It really is something to see, and we'll play more later on with David Axelrod, who Hunter Biden calls out by name here.

And one wonders what he hopes to get out of this.

TALEV: Presumably, to reset his father's legacy for history. I can't help but wonder watching that why we didn't just hear from President Biden at the time, after that disastrous debate, come out and say wow, I popped an Ambien and I really, really regret it. That's -- I'm mortified to watch that performance.

[07:40:00]

To litigate it now, I don't -- politically, I'm not sure what it accomplishes. But I do think that by the time -- a month from now when Congress is coming back from this recess my guess is we will be talking about President Trump and Jeffrey Epstein and not this interview.

BERMAN: We could know about that. Look, we could know by the end of the day more about where this is headed if the House really does have to go home. That tells you how nervous I think they are about this issue long-term.

Margaret Talev, Jackie Kucinich, great to see you both. Thank you very much -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Also new this morning some good news if you are looking to buy a home -- maybe some rare, good news these days. A new report out from Zillow says that there are more homes for sale now than at any time since 2019, and some hot home markets seeing price cuts.

Matt Egan here and tracking all of this for you. What are you seeing, Matt.

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well Kate, as you know, for years home sellers had all the power in this market, right? Inventory was basically microscopic. There were all-cash offers. People were buying homes without ever stepping foot in them. The housing market was on fire.

But there is a growing of signs that it is cooling off, including the fact that there's more and more for sale signs popping up. Zillow found that the number of active listings increased by 17 percent over the past year to $1.4 million. Now, it's still below pre-COVID levels --

BOLDUAN: OK.

EGAN: -- but this is a five-year high.

And the homes that are for sale -- they're staying on the market for longer. That's because demand has eased.

The other thing that Zillow found is that when you look across the country there's now more of a stalemate between buyers and sellers. They now classify out of the top 50 markets, 22 of them are considered neutral. Those are the blue markets on this map, including Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, San Diego, Charlotte, and Pittsburgh.

And in six markets buyers are now calling the shots. Those are the red markets like Atlanta, Jacksonville, and in Austin. And, in fact, the sellers are increasingly being forced to cut their prices to entice buyers. Price cuts -- there's been more than one in four of the listings. Twenty-seven percent of the listings in June had price cuts, according to Zillow. That is the most since Zillow started tracking back in 2018.

This is most common in the Sunbelt and also out in the Rockies, including Denver where almost 40 percent --

BOLDUAN: Ah.

EGAN: -- of the listings have had price cuts. Phoenix, Dallas, Nashville, and Raleigh as well.

Now, none of this is to say that it's suddenly an easy time to buy, right? It is not. There is definitely still an affordability crisis because not only are prices still high but borrowing costs are elevated, right?

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

EGAN: You're looking at mortgage rates at almost seven percent. Still, though, in this balance of power between buyers and sellers, buyers do have more leverage than they have had in the past, and that is good news for first-time home buyers.

BOLDUAN: Very, very interesting. Thank you so much, Matt.

EGAN: Thanks, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Jonathan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALCOLM-JAMAL WARNER, ACTOR, "THE COSBY SHOW": Is this my shirt? Is this the shirt I paid $30.00 for? Is this the shirt they are supposed to think as a boarding portrayal?

LISA BONET, ACTRESS, "THE COSBY SHOW": You don't like it?

WARNER: Don't ask me the question again.

BONET: You don't like it?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: This morning an outpouring of tributes coming from co-stars, fans, friends, and family mourning the sudden loss of Malcolm-Jamal Warner. He is best known for his iconic role as Theo Huxtable on "THE COSBY SHOW."

The 54-year-old drowned Sunday while vacationing with his family in Costa Rica. He leaves behind a legacy that stretched far beyond his breakout role at Theo.

CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WARNER: Is this my shirt?

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Beloved actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner, best known for his role as Theo Huxtable on the iconic sitcom "THE COSBY SHOW" --

WARNER: If there's something I want that's not in the refrigerator I say yo, mom, we need some peanut butter.

WAGMEISTER (voiceover): -- drowned while on a family vacation in Costa Rica, a source tells CNN. Investigators say he was swimming on the Caribbean coast on Sunday when a strong current pulled him and another individual out to sea. Beachgoers who came to his rescue were unable to resuscitate him.

The actor, director, podcaster, Grammy-winning musician, poet --

WARNER: I am tired of running for shade.

WAGMEISTER (voiceover): -- and father of an 8-year-old daughter was 54 years old.

Malcolm-Jamal Warner was named after Malcolm X and Ahmad Jamal.

WARNER: Hey, what's happening, Dad?

WAGMEISTER (voiceover): He told CNN more than a decade ago just how much "THE COSBY SHOW" meant to him.

WARNER: This show was really more than a show, clearly. It was -- it was really a social statement.

WAGMEISTER (voiceover): Many echoed that sentiment.

SEGUN ODUL, ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST: To see us represented is so powerful. It's definitely a tragic loss not just for the entertainment community but the Black community as a whole. It's like losing a family member because he -- we grew up with him.

[07:45:03]

WAGMEISTER (voiceover): While much of America watched him grow up on television during "THE COSBY SHOW's" run from 1984 to 1992, Warner had a long and diverse career in television and beyond --

WARNER: I don't want to be known just as Malcolm-Jamal Warner, the kid from "THE COSBY SHOW." I want to be known as Malcolm-Jamal Warner, the actor who can act.

I have always presented myself as someone who wants to do more than just enjoy celebrityhood.

WAGMEISTER (voiceover): -- with roles in "MALCOLM & EDDIE," "SUITS," "THE FRESH PRINCE OF BEL-AIR" --

WARNER: Oh, I don't believe this.

WAGMEISTER (voiceover): -- "THE RESIDENT," and as Al Cowlings in "THE PEOPLE VERSUS O.J. SIMPSON."

WARNER: I think I'm doing alright.

WAGMEISTER (voiceover): Warner's podcast "Not All Hood" highlighted diversity in the Black community, focusing on the importance of representation. And he reunited with Keisha Knight Pulliam, his TV sister from "THE COSBY SHOW" on an episode just last month.

KEISHA KNIGHT PULLIAM, ACTRESS: A lot of people give their power away.

WAGMEISTER (voiceover): On one of many appearances on the red carpet Warner spoke of hope for more uplifting programming.

WARNER: We need more of that positivity, that love, at the risk of sounding corny. But I think we need that again.

WAGMEISTER: It is just so sad and such a sudden and tragic passing, especially leaving an 8-year-old daughter behind.

Everyone that I have spoken with in the industry since this sudden news has just been reeling. He really had a stellar reputation in the industry.

And I actually got to meet Malcolm-Jamal Warner a few years ago when he was promoting that TV series "THE PEOPLE VERSUS O.J. SIMPSON," and he was just such a lovely man.

And to the millions of fans around the world who really grew up watching him as Theo Huxtable this is a very, very tough loss. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: All right, our thanks to Elizabeth Wagmeister for that.

All right. We are standing by for new testimony in the trial of the dentist accused of poisoning his wife with protein shakes.

And new video shows the moment a suspect in a high-speed chase walked away from a crash that -- a crash that sent him flying off a motorcycle in interstate traffic.

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:51:47]

BERMAN: This morning a sentence for the officer -- an officer connected to the raid that led to the death of Breonna Taylor. Taylor was shot and killed during a police raid at her Louisville apartment back in 2020.

Former Louisville police officer Brett Hankinson was sentenced to nearly three years for his role -- the first person to receive prison time in the case. This, after the Justice Department recommended he get no time behind bars.

Hankison was convicted on one count of abusing Taylor's civil rights. He fired 10 shots into her apartment. None of them hit anyone.

Breonna Taylor's mother reacted to the sentencing last night to CNN's Laura Coates.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA COATES, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: The federal prosecutors, though -- they asked for him to get one day. The judge gave him 33 months.

Was this justice in your eyes? TAMIKA PALMER, MOTHER OF BREONNA TAYLOR: It wasn't justice, but I got essentially what I started out for, which was jail time. So it's a start.

COATES: When you heard the prosecution say "one day" what went through your mind?

PALMER: Um, I couldn't understand why he was there. I -- from the moment it started I felt as if he should have been sitting next to Brett Hankison.

COATES: The prosecutor, you mean?

PALMER: The whole -- yes, absolutely.

COATES: Is that what you meant? Because there was a moment you said --

PALMER: (INAUDIBLE).

COATES: I'm sorry. To get -- there was moment you said something like outside the courthouse there was no prosecution for us. Is that what you meant? You didn't have an advocate?

PALMER: Absolutely. That's exactly what I meant. He advocated for Brett the whole time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Officials in Jacksonville, Florida are investigating after a new video shows officers punching a driver in the face during a traffic stop. The incident happened back in February, but we are just now seeing the video.

Attorneys for 22-year-old William McNeil said officers told him that he was being pulled over for not having his headlights on in the daytime. When McNeil questioned the reasoning for the stop the officer said it didn't matter in terms of the fact that it was daylight and it was not raining, and they still said that he needed to have his headlights on.

The video was recorded by McNeil from a camera inside his own car. A warning you may find it disturbing. We're going to show it to you. It shows officers punching the driver's side window in and shattering it. Then reaching -- then you saw that -- reaching in and basically yanking him out of the vehicle eventually. Officers then forced McNeil to the ground, hitting him in the face.

And the sheriff's office now says that the arresting officer has been stripped of his law enforcement authority pending an administrative review.

Also, there was a high-speed motorcycle chase through Southern California, and it ends in a crash. And somehow, thankfully, the guy on the bike survived. It happened Sunday in Long Beach when highway patrol tried to pull the motorcycle over for speeding, then a chase ensued hitting speeds of 140 miles per hour even. [07:55:00]

And then the motorcycle clipped a car, and the man flew off the bike. He got up, walked away, and then he was taken into custody -- John.

BERMAN: Geesh -- all right.

Very shortly testimony resumes in the murder trial of James Craig, the Colorado dentist accused of killing his wife by poisoning her protein shakes.

A doctor who treated Angela Craig testified that James Craig had a "lackluster and unusual reaction" when the doctor told him Angela was braindead.

Let's get right to CNN's Whitley Wild who has been covering this case. And Whitney, what are we expecting today?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: We expect more detailed testimony here, John. We expect that this trial will last weeks.

Let's talk about this doctor who testified yesterday. This was the final time that Angela Craig was in the hospital. And what he described was a highly unusual reaction from James Craig upon learning that his wife, who had been healthy, had been thriving, was now braindead.

And what he said was when he presented this information to James Craig and asked him if they should continue lifesaving measures, James Craig said no. He said to stop immediately because that's what Angela would have wanted.

He also described being very surprised by James Craig's immediate response when the doctor told him that, again, his healthy, thriving wife, mother of six children, was braindead. He said that James Craig's reaction was basically well, that's unfortunate.

He was extremely surprised by that because normally, he says, in his experience when people learn that their loved one who had been acting normally, who had been healthy, is abruptly taking a turn for the worse, abruptly braindead, it takes families a couple of days to decide what they're going to do, and it takes them a few days to accept that their loved one will die.

And so he described this very unusual moment with James Craig, again, upon learning that his wife Angela Craig was braindead. Effectively, shrugging his shoulders and saying well, you know, it's over. That's unfortunate. Stop lifesaving measures.

John, we also heard yesterday from a toxicologist who described a high number of samples that came in from Angela Craig. You know, shortly after she died prosecutors and investigators began looking into this case. And this lab that he worked for received 67 samples. That is the most number of samples that lab had ever received in a single case. And then finally, some of those samples showed high levels of poisoning in blood. For example, John, one sample showed 330 micrograms of arsenic per liter of blood. Normal people have between one and two micrograms per liter of blood of arsenic, John.

BERMAN: All right. That's just some of the testimony we've heard so far with more coming.

Whitney Wild, thank you so much for that -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Joining us right now to discuss this is defense and trial attorney Misty Marris. Thanks for being here, Misty.

So let's start with the doctor that they were talking about -- the doctor who treated Angela Craig and what they said in testimony.

You think it was very compelling. Why?

MISTY MARRIS, DEFENSE AND TRIAL ATTORNEY: Absolutely very compelling because this is putting the jury in the shoes of somebody who is learning for the first time that their 40-year-old wife who was in the hospital with these vague complaints the doctors are searching for a reason is now, after being there for a few days, declared braindead. And James Craig's response to that, which was described as lackluster and unusual under the circumstances -- that's something really compelling for the jury to hear.

Now, the defense tried to attack that on cross-examination and said well, you don't really know James Craig. Everybody has a different reaction. But the message it seems was received on that direct examination of the doctor who described the way that the message was received and also that he said stop lifesaving measures right away before trying to explore and ask about other alternatives. Just highly unusual and really speaks to the prosecution's case.

BOLDUAN: And also then, the jurors also heard from this toxicologist talking about what substances -- these deadly substances and the levels of them that were found in Angela Craig's system.

What does this do to -- for the prosecution's case? And maybe even the most more important question is how does the -- how does the defense counter that -- counter it?

MARRIS: So what we saw yesterday was a confirmation that there were these deadly substances from blood samples that were taken --

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

MARRIS: -- during her time in the hospital. So that confirms that these substances were in her body when she died. Now that's really important for prosecutors because they're putting together the pieces. This is a case that's built off evidence that needs to be explained to a certain degree.

BOLDUAN: Sure. MARRIS: And so this is going to match up with the package that was received at the dentist's office of cyanide. It's going to match up with the internet searches. So searching about how -- what's a lethal dose of cyanide. Well, now there's cyanide in her blood.

And it also, Kate, speaks to the prosecution's theory of the case, which is that Craig actually administered that last fatal dose while Angela Craig was in the hospital. So it's also putting together that timeline.

Hurt a little bit on cross. The defense was trying to undercut the science.

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

MARRIS: The chain of custody. Where were these samples? How were they transferred from one facility to the next? And also saying well, you can't say how it got in her body.

BOLDUAN: OK. OK.

MARRIS: And trying to raise reasonable doubt on that front.