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House Dem to Push Resolution Opposing a Ghislaine Maxwell Pardon; Top Biden Aide Testifies Before House Oversight Committee; NYPD Sending Teams to Las Vegas in Shooting Investigation; Three People Missing After Blast at Nebraska Pellet Plant; Chile Gives Luxury Watches Stolen From Keanu Reeves to the FBI; YouTube Included in Australia's Social Media Ban; Thousands of Fans Honor Ozzy Osbourne at Funeral Procession. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired July 30, 2025 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Happening today, there is a new effort on the Hill that's seeking to ensure Jeffrey Epstein's convicted associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, will not receive any form of clemency, including a potential presidential pardon, in exchange for testimony. With me now is Democratic Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois. He's a senior member of the Oversight Committee and he is leading this resolution.

Congressman, thanks for being with us. You're introducing this on Friday to oppose clemency for Maxwell. Do any of your Republican colleagues support the effort?

REP. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI, (D-IL): We just started to talk about this today, and once we introduce it, we'll socialize it with our Republican colleagues. But I think a lot of them, the majority of them, would be supportive. If you look at American public sentiment, the vast majority of Americans don't want Ghislaine Maxwell to receive a pardon or a commutation or a clemency of any kind because she's a hardened criminal who committed heinous crimes against children. And so, given that fact, I'm very hopeful that we can get some bipartisan support.

KEILAR: But what do you want to hear from her? She is an indicted perjurer who is, it appears to be, clearly angling for a pardon, very likely has motivations beyond just getting the truth out there. What can she provide that victims and documents cannot?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Well, first of all, I don't think that we should interview her or depose her or bring her in for testimony unless and until we get the documents, because of her credibility problems that you pointed out. We need corroboration for anything that she says, and that's why I'm glad that on a bipartisan basis, the Oversight Committee successfully is subpoenaing those documents, the Epstein files.

That being said, I think that she can give additional color as to the nature of the scheme behind the sex trafficking ring that Epstein conducted. There were more than a thousand victims, according to the DOJ. Many of those victims are speaking out now, and they've suffered unspeakable crimes at the hands of these two. So, that's one thing. And then another issue is, how did the president of the United States have such a close relationship with maybe the most infamous pedophile of our time? I don't know the answers, but that's what those documents might show.

KEILAR: A lot of these victims have been speaking out for years, certainly. I know there's a huge interest right now, but they've been talking for years. You mentioned the subpoena of the documents. Do you know when the chairman will actually be signing that and sending that over to DOJ?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I don't. I'm hopeful that it's going to be done with all deliberate speed here because we need to get those documents ASAP. I think our constituents, the vast majority of them, believe that those should have been disclosed yesterday. And the second part of this is --

KEILAR: Can I ask you -- sorry to interrupt you because we only have so much time, Congressman, but is there consensus? When you say you want to hear from Maxwell after you get the documents? Is that the consensus in the committee that that's the order of things?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I don't know that there's consensus on it. That's my personal opinion, just because of the credibility problem that she has.

KEILAR: OK. And Democrats right now, people in your party, are publicly asking what is the Trump Administration -- what are Republicans hiding for Trump? Have you seen any evidence beyond what's already public that leads you to the conclusion that there is some sort of cover-up here to support that claim that some Democrats are making, because that's a pretty serious accusation?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I haven't seen any concrete evidence. I think we need to see the files. We need to understand what's in them. The fact that the Trump Administration doesn't want to disclose any part of it is very troubling. And the fact that it appears that the president is dangling a potential pardon or leniency to Ghislaine Maxwell in return for what we don't know. And when they interviewed her for two days, we don't know about those interviews either. I'm glad that Senator Durbin has asked for the transcripts of those, but the fact that they're not being released is further raising questions about this whole episode.

KEILAR: Turning to the Biden aides before the committee, two key ones very close to the former president, Steve Ricchetti and former Senior Advisor Mike Donilon, sitting for interviews with the Oversight Committee this week, starting today. Have you heard anything notable in the interview today?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: No, I have not. And I think that this is, again, an attempt to distract away from the large lousy law, which he calls the Big Beautiful Bill, as well as the Epstein affair right now.

[13:35:00] KEILAR: So, do you believe what you've heard so far, because a number of aides have testified that he was mentally sharp enough to serve as the president. Ron Klain, Chief of Staff -- former Chief of Staff to Biden said that last week. Do you believe what they're saying?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I have no reason to question them, except that I know (inaudible). I'm glad that he -- that the president made his decision not to run again. On the other hand, I question like what's happening right now with President Trump and his own cognitive state sometimes. All that being said, I think the policies are the most important thing to judge the president, whether it's Trump or Biden. And I think right now, for instance, with the Big Beautiful Bill, which I call the large lousy law, the fact that he would leave 17 million people uninsured across the country causes great consternation among my constituents, and really calls into question his policies and his positions more than anything else.

KEILAR: I do want to ask you about Ashley Williams, who was Deputy Director of Oval Office Operations for Biden, who according to a source familiar with her interview, did not recall whether teleprompters were used for cabinet meetings. Did not recall if there were discussions about Biden using a wheelchair. Did not recall if there were discussions about him undergoing a cognitive test. Did not recall if she ever discussed his decline. Did not recall if she ever had to wake Biden up and did not recall how she got involved in his 2020 campaign according to that source. Do you think you would remember if you ever had to wake a president up?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I've never been in that position, so I couldn't -- I wouldn't even know how to answer that question exactly. But, what I'm confident of is, again, I think that the president enacted policies that were the right ones. And at the end of the day, we didn't hire him to -- we didn't hire him to win jeopardy. We hired him because of his character. He took us through a period of chaos. He handled his job with humility, and then he ultimately, decided not to run again when he decided he wasn't necessarily the right person to do it. And I think that, to me, passes the test of character more than anything else.

KEILAR: Yeah, deciding quite late, very potentially costing Democrats the election, as many consider that. Congressman Krishnamoorthi, thank you so much for being with us.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Thank you.

KEILAR: Still ahead. NYPD detectives turning their attention to Las Vegas. That's where the gunman from Monday's mass shooting in Midtown Manhattan lived. We'll have new details on the investigation next.

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[13:42:11]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": We're getting new details about the investigation into that deadly Manhattan shooting. The NYPD says it's now sending investigators to the gunman's hometown of Las Vegas. Police believe the shooter drove directly from Vegas to New York City in search of the NFL's offices, which were located in the building that he attacked. In a note, the shooter claimed that he suffered from CTE, a brain disease linked to repeated head trauma and often associated with football players.

We've learned that he played the sport in high school, though confirming a CTE diagnosis is typically only done after someone dies. Notably, the New York Medical Examiner's Office now says they will test the shooter for that disease. CNN Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst, John Miller, joins us now with the latest. So, John, what are investigators hoping to find in Vegas?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, you've got two teams there. One from NYPD Homicide, the other from the Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is NYPD and FBI working together. They'll probably be joined by ATF because a couple of things they want to look at is, going into the suspect's residence, getting into those computers. He actually provided at the bottom of his suicide note, the computer password. So one of the things he apparently wants them to do is to get into his computer.

What they're looking for is, how long was he planning this? The experts say the active shooters are not people who just snapped. Most of them are a long arc of planning involved in this. They want to know not just how long he was planning it, but did anybody else plan it with him or even have knowledge of it. And in that regard, they're looking at an individual who he worked with at the Horseshoe Casino, another person who was part of the security team, according to him, who supplied the main part of that rifle he used.

Now, that was bought by an individual named Rick on August 29, 2024. And Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch in a video statement yesterday said that the gunman himself assembled the rest of the gun, the barrel, the stock, adding tactical pieces like a scope and a flashlight on the front of the gun to turn it into a combat weapon. So they want to talk to Rick about that. Interestingly, at the bottom of the suicide note, right before he has the password to the computer, he writes these words, tell Rick I'm sorry for everything. They want to know what does Rick think he meant by that? What is he sorry for?

SANCHEZ: Wow. Really stunning details. And John, talk to us about the significance of the medical examiner now examining the shooter's brain for possible signs of CTE.

[13:45:00]

Does that help investigators shape a motive?

MILLER: It could, on one hand and it -- Boris, this is a fascinating question because it has these strange angles. On one hand, you don't want to reward bad behavior by saying, OK, we're going to make you a poster person for this disease. We're going to test your brain, and if we find that, we're going to blame -- we're going to blame your terrible actions, your murderous crime on CTE. On the other hand, in the suicide note, he says please test my brain. He shoots himself with a rifle in the chest, which is an awkward kind of thing to do, unless you're using a handgun. And he did that basically to preserve the head, so that these tests could be done.

But what does it mean? If they find it, does that mean CTE brings a tendency to violence in people? If they don't find it, what it tells us is something we already know, which is active shooters, these spree killers, they have a tendency along with a long planning arc, of blaming all of their problems on someone else. In this case, the NFL, which he was never a part of. If he doesn't have CTE, it just means he had found the disease as a scapegoat and the NFL as his target.

SANCHEZ: John Miller, appreciate the expertise. Brianna?

KEILAR: Now to some of the other headlines we're watching this hour, three people are missing and presumed dead after an explosion at a pellet manufacturing plant in Fremont, Nebraska just outside of Omaha. Fremont's mayor says the three victims are an employee and two children who were inside the building when the explosion happened. Officials say first responders have not been able to get inside because of all the damage. It's not clear what caused the explosion.

And Chilean authorities say they have given the FBI six luxury watches that were stolen from actor Keanu Reeves. The watches, which included an engraved Rolex, worth at least $9,500 were recovered from a police raid months ago. The watches were stolen from the actor's home in 2023 as part of a string of high-profile burglaries. The FBI will arrange for the watches to be returned to Reeves.

And YouTube will now be included in Australia's social media ban for children under the age of 16. The move is a big break from an earlier promise by the Australian government to exclude the platform from the ban. A YouTube spokesperson says this move "reverses a clear public commitment from the government to treat the site as an educational tool." Under the new law, websites including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X must block underage users from having accounts on their sites or face fines up to $32 million.

The government says the move is to protect children from harmful content. Notably, YouTube Kids will not be included in the ban. That new law comes into effect in December.

Up next, thousands of fans paying their final respects to the godfather of heavy metal, as Ozzy Osbourne's funeral procession passes through his hometown in England. Stay with us for that.

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[13:53:02]

SANCHEZ: Rock icon Ozzy Osbourne has taken one last ride through his beloved hometown. His funeral procession took place in Birmingham, England with his wife Sharon there, along with his children. A band played some of Osbourne's most famous songs as thousands of fans paid their respects to the legend. Osbourne, of course, passed away last week at the age of 76. CNN Entertainment Correspondent, Elizabeth Wagmeister joins us now. And Elizabeth, you've been following the funeral procession today. Talk to us about some of the most moving moments that you've seen. ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Look, of course, this is a sad and somber event with the loss of Ozzy Osbourne, but also really a great moment for the fans that they could have this funeral procession to honor Ozzy Osbourne. The family actually paid for this funeral procession. You see Kelly Osbourne there and Jack, his two kids, along with Sharon Osbourne. They were visibly moved. Sharon crying at many points.

But just look at this, this is Ozzy Osbourne's hometown in Birmingham, England. There are thousands of fans lining the streets, Boris. And there's actually this park called the Black Sabbath Bridge, which has been there and it was covered with flowers and memorabilia. Now, the Lord Mayor of Birmingham said that Osbourne was "more than a music legend. He was a son of Birmingham." And he said that this moment would mean so much for the fans.

SANCHEZ: And Osbourne was able to perform one last time before he passed. It was this summer. It was highly anticipated. There was an awareness from his fans that it would be the last time that he would be with them live, right?

WAGMEISTER: That's right. So we see it right here. This was actually on July 5th. So just this month, weeks before he passed. Now you see him there, Boris. He is sitting on the stage.

[13:55:00]

They constructed a chair that looks like a throne, very fitting for Ozzy Osbourne. But, the reason why he was seated is because he could no longer walk. Ozzy had -- he had revealed that to his fans that he was not able to walk back in 2020. He revealed his Parkinson's disease diagnosis. He had also been through a series of spinal surgeries. So his health issues were well documented, but he just wanted to be able to perform one last time. In fact, in 2023, he spoke to Rolling Stone U.K. And here is what he said. He said, "If I can't continue doing shows on a regular basis, I just want to be well enough where I can do one show where I can say, "Hi, guys, thanks so much for my life." That's what I'm working towards (inaudible). And he did get that wish to perform one last time in front of all of those adoring fans, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Yeah. A fitting farewell for the Prince of Darkness. Elizabeth Wagmeister, thank you so much. So just minutes from now, the Federal Reserve is set to announce its latest decision on interest rates. Will the Central Bank hold rates steady despite pressure from President Trump for a cut? We'll bring you their decision live in just moments.

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