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Trump Official Meets With Ghislaine Maxwell; Hulk Hogan Dies. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired July 24, 2025 - 13:00   ET

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

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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: We have breaking news. The biggest wrestling star of all time, Hulk Hogan, dies at the age of 71. We will have much more on his passing and his legendary career that spanned decades.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: Plus, sources telling CNN the deputy attorney general is set to meet with Jeffrey Epstein's close associate and confidant, Ghislaine Maxwell, today. We're going to have a preview of this potentially critical meeting as the White House wrestles with the fallout from the controversy surrounding the Epstein files.

And the United Nations warning Gazans are now starting to resemble -- quote -- "walking corpses," as the starvation crisis gets worse by the day in the enclave.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KEILAR: We do start with breaking news.

Hulk Hogan, the legendary professional wrestler, has died. He was 71. Hogan, of course, larger than life, both inside and outside of the ring, beloved by wrestling fans around the world for his dazzling feats of athleticism and his flashy, charismatic style.

DEAN: Hogan spent decades duking it out for fans around the world and starring in TV shows and films like "Rocky III." And along the way, he earned the status as a Hollywood icon.

CNN's Andy Scholes is here with us now.

Andy, he really did become a pop culture phenomenon in the '80s, and that really carried on for decades. How is he being remembered today?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Well, I mean, if you're like me and you were born in the '80s and grew up watching Hulk Hogan, I was a Hulkamaniac as a kid. I mean, today is just super, super sad. Hulk Hogan, he put wrestling on the map. In 1987, many people remember that moment at WrestleMania III when he picked Andre the Giant and slammed him down. He, I mean, he made wrestling mainstream. And we have all -- we have all heard the sayings. He was such a powerful speaker.

What you going to do when Hulkamania runs wild on you? Eat your vitamins, say your prayers. And whenever he was doing interview, he said, let me tell you something, brother. I mean, he was so charismatic and then obviously he always talked about the 24-inch pythons and whenever that -- his song to go out to the ring, "Real American" hit, it almost would just give you chills.

And it certainly did for me as a kid growing up. And you can count Vice President J.D. Vance. He was a fan. Hulk Hogan, of course, speaking at the Republican Convention on the last night. J.D. Vance tweeted just a little while ago, posting on X: "Hulk Hogan was a great American icon, one of the first people I ever truly admired as a kid. The last time I saw him, we promised we'd get beers together next time we saw each other. The next time is going to have to be on the other side, my friend. Rest in peace."

And the condolences just pouring in around the sports world and anyone who's just a sports fan, guys, or anyone who's just a fan of entertainment, because one thing Hulk Hogan could always do, it was entertain. You could see him there at the Republican National Convention just ripping his shirt off. He certainly fired up the crowd that night, and Hulk Hogan, one of a kind, and sad to see him go at 71 years old, because there's never going to be anyone like Hulk Hogan.

KEILAR: Yes, just a ubiquitous figure for us children of the '80s, for sure. And, as you said, he just carried on after that.

Andy Scholes, thank you so much.

Let's bring in Dave Meltzer. He's an editor for Wrestling Observer.

Dave, you write that Hogan was probably the most famous pro wrestler who ever lived, I mean, certainly. What was the thing that just set him aside?

DAVE MELTZER, WRESTLING OBSERVER: Right place, right time, but he had incredible charisma. I mean, that was the thing very early on. I mean, he had a good break getting in the "Rocky III" movie, but I think he still would have been as big a star as he was.

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I mean, it was -- I think that it was the physique at first. I mean, he was 6'5 and 300 pounds, big muscular guy like few people were in that era. And the presence and the tan and the blonde hair, he did an act that was very much copied from a guy named "Superstar" Billy Graham, but he did it on a national basis.

And Vince McMahon was expanding. He was the face of the company during the expansion. And he changed the entire history of professional wrestling. There's no doubt about it. I mean, it changed -- it just changed the entire nature of the game. It's a completely different industry because of Hogan.

DEAN: And I know you believe he wasn't in good health as of late. What do we know about his final days and the last several months?

MELTZER: I don't know details, but he had neck surgery recently and he'd been in and out of the hospital. And I had heard that he had been in pretty bad shape.

It's kind of like there was an ex-friend of his saying that he was on his death bed. And then all of his current friends were saying, oh, that's not true. That's not true. And then I kind of heard from somebody just yesterday who said, it's a lot worse than his friends are making out to be, but it's not as bad as Bubba, who was the -- said it was going to be.

But, yes, that's when I heard that he was in pretty rough shape. I mean, it'd been weeks and weeks since this story from his ex-friend came out that he was on his death bed. So yes, but he -- it was a heart attack this morning.

KEILAR: There was, of course, the match. We have been...

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KEILAR: Sorry. Go on. So go on, Dave. What'd you say?

MELTZER: No, no, no, go ahead, go ahead.

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MELTZER: He had had the surgery, the neck surgery. Yes.

KEILAR: So it was -- we have been playing some video of him and there was the match with Andre the Giant, which was so memorable. But talk to us about some of the other of his very memorable matches.

MELTZER: You know, that was pretty famous. It was the biggest event in wrestling history up to that point in time. They had a rematch on NBC that did legitimately about 28 million viewers, which actually is not as impressive then as it sounds today, but it's still 28 million viewers.

And he was -- everywhere he went, though, I mean, during that, during that '80s run, he drew big crowds everywhere, Paul Orndorff match in Toronto, all the WrestleMania matches. It's an endless list. And then in the '90s, he played heel in WCW and had a super successful run there.

He was an enduring, top-drawing card for two decades in pro wrestling.

KEILAR: Yes.

DEAN: And his career wasn't without controversy. He made racist comments. He was caught on tape using the N-word. He apologized. He begged for forgiveness. The WWE fired him, removed him from the Hall of Fame. He was later reinstated. But how does that factor into his legacy as well?

MELTZER: I mean, it's a polarizing legacy. He went very, very -- I mean, and that's the big thing. And a lot of fans, the last time he was at a pro wrestling show, he was booed pretty heavily. And I think that that was the reason, the lingering effects of saying that it's hard to walk that one back.

I mean, it was -- he was taped without his knowledge and said things. And then the tape got out. And it was -- it made him rich beyond belief, because he sued the people, Gawker, and put them out of business and everything like that. But at the same time, I mean, it badly, badly damaged his reputation.

KEILAR: And, more broadly, we think of the kind of big figures who came in his wake in professional wrestling, the Rock, John Cena. But he sort of set this bar and maybe not only for wrestling. Just can you talk broadly about how he shaped the world of sports entertainment?

MELTZER: Yes, I mean, it was -- again, he opened the door to wrestling as a mainstream activity in a lot of ways on a national basis, being covered, being like a real -- like, wrestlers were regional celebrities, but they were not national celebrities or worldwide celebrities, as far as from this country.

And he made -- he was the first one probably since the '20s and '30s that was really a national celebrity, I mean, maybe in the '50s, to a degree, because wrestling was on network television. But Hogan was -- it was just -- man, like, he opened the door for going into Hollywood, even though he was not a successful movie actor.

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But he did his own television shows. He tried to transition out, but wrestling was his calling. He was the perfect -- it was like he was the perfect person for that time and place in pro wrestling. I mean, I think people wanted a bodybuilder. Vince McMahon wanted a bodybuilder larger than life. He could talk, had the look, understood how to wrestle and worked for the crowd, very good promo guy.

It just clicked like nobody's business. I mean, I went to see him live so many times, and the roar of the crowd when he would do his comebacks and we would come out and we would pose after the match, it's loud as anything I have ever seen at a concert or anything. It was really phenomenal to watch live.

DEAN: Yes, certainly one of a kind. There's no doubt about that.

Dave Meltzer, thank you so much for being here with us. We really appreciate it.

MELTZER: You're very welcome.

DEAN: And still to come this hour, CNN visits the border crossing where aid trucks are heading into Gaza, but medical officials say it's only a drop in the bucket, as that area faces a starvation crisis.

Plus, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche meets with Epstein's convicted associate Ghislaine Maxwell. This comes amid growing backlash from Trump's own base about what information may be in the unreleased Epstein files.

And a little bit later: The Trump administration seals a deal with Columbia University. We have got details on that.

You're watching CNN NEWS CENTRAL. We will be right back.

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DEAN: We are standing by to learn more about a meeting sources say is happening today between President Trump's Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Jeffrey Epstein's convicted associate, Ghislaine Maxwell.

Blanche traveling from Washington to Tallahassee for the sit-down, Maxwell traveling from the nearby federal prison where she's serving 20 years for helping Epstein groom and sexually abuse underage girls. Now, two days ago, Blanche said he wants to directly ask Maxwell, what do you know?

Let's go now to CNN's Kara Scannell.

Kara, we saw Maxwell's attorney arrive for this meeting a few hours ago. There's not a ton of details about this so far. What do we know?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Jessica.

We saw the attorneys arrive around 9:00 a.m. and we haven't seen them leave yet, so they're still inside that federal courthouse where Ghislaine Maxwell was transferred from the prison where she is serving a 20-year sentence for this meeting. And it's extraordinary for a deputy attorney general to meet with a convicted felon.

But, as you said, Todd Blanche has said that he wanted to meet with her because he said he wanted to know if she knew of any other crimes that were committed by anybody else, this as, of course, the Justice Department and the White House are under pressure to release more information about this investigation in this case.

Now, what we don't know or what the ground rules are for this meeting. Is it a proffer where Maxwell is treated as a queen for the day? She did go to trial. She has maintained her innocence throughout. And she's denied having anything at all to do with Epstein's crime, although she was convicted for sex trafficking of minors for helping recruit young underage girls for Epstein.

She has -- she is appealing the sentence she is serving for 20 years, but it's also unclear what kind of carrot the Justice Department offered her to participate in this meeting, so a lot of questions still to be answered. Hopefully, we will get some of that when this meeting does conclude. Now, her lawyer has said that she will testify truthfully. It is important to remember that she was indicted for perjury charges for testimony she gave in a civil deposition. And at that time, the prosecution, the Justice Department said it was a lie when Maxwell said that she did not know about Jeffrey Epstein's scheme to recruit underage girls and use them for sexualized massages -- Jessica.

DEAN: And, Kara, when DOJ finishes meeting with Maxwell, do we know how they plan to handle their findings or any information that they might get from her?

SCANNELL: Well we are not expecting at this point for there to be any sort of formal announcement from the Justice Department. We will be tracking Todd Blanche's X account. That is where he initially first put out this information about the meeting.

But, so far, we're not expecting a formal response. Of course, as we have seen with this story, anything can change at any moment.

DEAN: That's for sure.

All right, Kara Scannell, with the latest, thank you so much -- Brianna.

KEILAR: As the DOJ meets with Ghislaine Maxwell today, a top House Republican is sounding off on plans to subpoena the Justice Department for the Epstein files.

Oversight Chair James Comer telling reporters he plans to move quickly.

Let's talk about the political fallout from this with Marc Caputo. He covers the White House for Axios.

Marc, being named in the Epstein files does not constitute wrongdoing. Let's be clear about that. But how much of a problem for Trump is this "Wall Street Journal" bombshell that Bondi told Trump all the way back in May that he was named in the files?

MARC CAPUTO, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, AXIOS: I'm not sure how much of a bombshell it is to inform someone about something that they already knew.

Understand that, when Bondi initially released these binders to these right-wing MAGA social media influencers in February or so, maybe it was March, where she called it phase one, Donald Trump's name is in there. Everyone knows Donald Trump's name is in the Epstein files

The question is, what do the Epstein files specifically say? And so at that meeting, she might have mentioned that. I don't have a complete readout of it.

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But I guess the big news here is that she did tell him what he already knew. In the end, when the White House was approached weeks prior to this news breaking about whether Bondi had told him, it had put the White House and what one insider told me was a tizzy, because they just knew that Donald Trump doesn't want his name associated with Epstein's, but that this is just an inevitable thing.

You can't be friends with a guy for an extended period of time, a decade or so, and have been so close to him and even had been filmed or caught on video ogling women with him at Mar-a-Lago, and then expect your name not to be in these investigative files in some way, shape or form when the proverbial crap hits the fan. And, boy, the fan has been hit.

KEILAR: So this is the key moment from last week where he is asked about what he has been told about the Epstein files. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: On Epstein, of the review of the files, did Attorney General Pam Bondi brief you on that?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Very, very quick brief.

QUESTION: Did she tell you -- what did she tell about the review? And, specifically, did she tell you at all that your name appeared in the file?

TRUMP: No, no, she's given us just a very quick briefing, and in terms of the credibility of the different things that they have seen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: So we know now that answer was not true.

And, largely, his base has -- that wants to see the Epstein files, Marc, has blamed more of those around him, right, Pam Bondi and others, for the handling of this issue.

Is he in danger of taking blame personally?

CAPUTO: It just depends on how you define blame.

In the end, my best guess is that his hardcore supporters, those who are most vociferous for wanting this information disclosed, are going to be disappointed with him. Yes, some might blame-shift and say, oh, it's because of his advisers and not him.

But Trump has had a very resilient ability to withstand these sorts of criticisms and have his base either forgive him or ignore him -- ignore them. And so my guess is that's going to happen here. The broader question, which you didn't ask, is, what happens in the midterms?

Because there is that sliver of Trump supporter who wanted the Epstein files released, didn't want to see more foreign wars and then was disappointed to see the U.S. drop bombs in Iran, wanted to see a peace deal in Ukraine and didn't want to see more arms for the United States going to Ukraine, only to see Donald Trump announce that. So when you start to combine those things together, there are those in

the MAGAverse or in MAGAville who just don't feel so happy and don't feel so great about what they have seen. And how Trump and the Republican Party react to that going forward is going to be very important to understanding what the midterm elections look like and what turnout is.

KEILAR: And we see House Republicans grappling with that. We're seeing that every day now.

CAPUTO: Yes.

KEILAR: And House Democrats blindsided them in an Oversight Subcommittee yesterday meeting. And the result was that Democrats in that subcommittee came together with Republicans, basically as a coalition, to subpoena the DOJ for the Epstein files, comms between former Biden officials, depositions of major figures, including the Clintons and James Comey.

How concerned is the president, the White House about this?

CAPUTO: I think they're more annoyed about it. But in my conversations with people there, they sort of understand this is the natural course of events.

But there is a bit of a revolt, to your point, happening among Republican lawmakers. And among those Republican lawmakers, there is a feeling that we have gone to the mattresses for Donald Trump. He forced us to do the One Big Beautiful Bill that a lot of people had concerns about, and they did it anyway.

Now the Epstein files have come up, and they sort of don't want to be party to keeping it quiet. That said, I think what needs to be stated in all of these appearances and discussions is, the reason (AUDIO GAP) predecessors since (AUDIO GAP) does not release raw material like this is that there are lots of people who are named in here who are innocent and possibly accused of crimes they didn't commit, or who might be guilty and accused of crimes that they did commit, but there isn't enough evidence to charge them.

And, as a result, it's just been a longstanding policy that you just don't release that information. And that's not even mentioning the victims as well. There are identities of people that -- victims who they don't want to release. And so, up until now, there has never really been a hue and cry to say, oh, release all of the information here, regardless of who it hurts or who it helps.

And so this is sort of a novel argument that we're seeing. We're in uncharted waters. How this plays out going forward, I'm skeptical that a lot of the information is going to be released for that very reason, because you put Donald Trump aside, there are a number of men who have been accused here, some credibly perhaps, and some not credibly perhaps.

[13:25:16] And the -- striking that delicate balance is going to be really hard to see when you start releasing lots of information, and especially sort of raw information, sort of raw intelligence that normally would not see the light of day.

KEILAR: Yes, it's a very good point.

Marc, thank you so much for sharing your reporting with us. We really appreciate it.

Thank you.

KEILAR: When we come back: The head of the World Health Organization warns that Gaza is facing a manmade mass starvation.

Stay with us.

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