Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Witkoff Expected in Russia this Week; Trump's New Global Tariffs to Take Effect Thursday; Interview with Rep. Mike Quigley (D- IL): Texas Dems Leave State to Block Vote on GOP-Drawn Congressional Map and Trump Firing Labor Statistics Chief; Harrowing Moments Inside NYC Building as Mass Shooting Unfolded. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired August 04, 2025 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

ADM. JAMES STAVRIDIS (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: ... pleasantly to President Trump, and then he doesn't give an inch. He won't come to the table. He won't negotiate.

Recently, of course, he sent his lackey, former president, incredibly out to talk about the nuclear arsenal of Russia. This led to President Trump talking about our own nuclear capabilities. I think President Trump should send Mr. Witkoff there, stay with the pressure campaign on Putin, and he ought to put secondary sanctions on China and Russia who buy Russian oil. That's what's keeping Russia afloat, no pun intended. President Trump ought to continue his policies of now providing significant weapons to the Ukrainian people.

Last thing, John, President Trump ought to say to Vladimir Putin, your last chance is 10 days from now. And if you don't come to the table, I'm going to start by taking $300 billion in Russian assets that are in Western banks. It's going straight to the Ukrainians to help them in this fight.

We have tools. We have cards to play. I hope the talented Mr. Witkoff, who also has Iran on his plate, let's not forget, can say those words to President Putin in a way that will cause him to get to a negotiating table. That's our president's desire. It's the right path forward.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, we'll see if he's carrying the carrot or stick when he arrives in Moscow. Admiral James Stavridis, great to see you this morning. Thank you very much.

A brand new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, the clock is ticking for Texas Democrats who fled to Illinois to try and block the GOP's new redistricting proposal. The new threat from Texas Governor Greg Abbott, if they don't return to the state by 3 o'clock this afternoon.

And new details this morning about the horrifying minutes inside a Manhattan office building as a mass shooter made his way through the halls. How the suspect was able to get around highly trained personnel? And an intense manhunt in Tennessee as authorities search for the man

who they say killed four people, including two young parents, and then dropped their infant daughter at a stranger's house.

I'm Omar Jimenez with John Berman. Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner are out. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BERMAN: Developing this morning, the power struggle in Texas that could have a major impact nationwide. Dozens of Democrats in the state legislature aboard that plane right there, leaving the state to block a Republican-led effort backed by President Trump to redraw the Texas congressional map.

And the Republican governor has issued an ultimatum. Get back by this afternoon, or he says, you, those people who were on that plane right there, will be removed from office.

Republican leaders in Texas, they wanted to vote today on a new map that could potentially eliminate five Democratic seats in the U.S. House of Representatives ahead of the 2026 midterms. But by leaving, Democrats are denying the statehouse the minimum number of members needed to advance the plan. They're breaking quorum.

Many of them have traveled to Illinois, where the state's Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker, who has been mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2028, he is offering them kind of an asylum of sorts amid threats of arrest. The governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, a Republican, says those Democrats have until 3 p.m. this afternoon to return, or he will vacate their seats, remove them from office. It's unclear whether he actually has the authority to do that. Which is why Politico, their headline this morning, is "The Mess with Texas."

Let's get right to CNN's Ed Lavandera, who is in Austin with the very latest on everything that's going on there. Ed, what are you seeing?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, John. The fight here in Texas over redistricting is only going to intensify throughout the day. As you've laid out there, the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, threatening these Texas Democrats with removal from office. And as you mentioned, it's not clear whether he even has the authority to do that. Democrats clearly don't think so.

Congressman Joaquin Castro of San Antonio described the governor as, quote, drunk with power.

After all of this, there are other, the attorney general is threatening to arrest the Texas Democrats who have left. They also, these Texas Democrats do possibly face a daily $500 fine for leaving the state as well. There has been talk of donations helping to cover the cost of that, depending on how long these lawmakers are out of state.

The attorney general and other Republicans also saying that they could be facing bribery charges if they were to accept donations to cover these fines as well.

[08:05:00]

So, all of this really kind of pointing to the intensifying rhetoric surrounding all of this, while Democrats who landed last night in Chicago and in Albany, New York, know they are trying to get out the message that they have the moral high ground in this redistricting fight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GENE WU, (D) CHAIR, TEXAS STATE HOUSE DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS: We will not be complicit in the destruction of any communities in Texas. We will hold people accountable.

GOV. JB PRITZKER, (D) ILLINOIS: Let's be clear. This is not just rigging the system in Texas. It's about rigging the system against the rights of all Americans for years to come.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: John, so far, Republicans have been relatively quiet, no big press conferences to push back on the Democrats, some statements here and there. The House is expected to reconvene at 3 o'clock Central time today. The speaker of the House, John, could issue civil arrest warrants.

Now, whether or not those could be carried out in places like Illinois and New York seems very unlikely at this point. But Democrats also know that they eventually do not have the votes to stop this redistricting effort here in Texas. This particular vote is coming in the middle of a 30-day special legislative session.

So there are about two weeks left in this session. They would have to stay gone that long. But the governor can simply just call another session, you know, session after session, until this redistricting bill is passed -- John.

BERMAN: Yes, and things could escalate very quickly over the next few hours, with threats of arrest and vacating seats and whatnot. CNN's Ed Lavandera, great to have you there. Thank you -- Omar.

JIMENEZ: Well, this morning, the White House is reiterating that the newest wave of global tariffs issued by President Trump should be set in stone. Now, the message comes after the president announced a sweeping new tariff plan just hours before delaying his initial deadline of August 1st. Those tariffs on key trade partners around the world are now set to take effect later this week.

Many deals the president touts also have yet to come to fruition and are still being worked on, including current conversations surrounding the looming August 12th deadline to strike a deal with China, one that the top U.S. trade representative is warning may also be delayed.

I want to check in with CNN's Alayna Treene, who joins us from the White House now. So, Alayna, what are you hearing from the White House on the latest status of some of these deals? ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Omar, I think it's clear and reasonably so that people are questioning whether or not these tariff rates are actually going to stick and if we'll see more delays, because we have now seen repeated number of times these different delays from the president pushing back that deadline.

Now, from my conversations with officials here at the White House, Omar, they tell me that they do believe in these tariffs. They do plan for them to stick, mainly because the president is much more emboldened than he has been after reaching a lot of these different trade frameworks. Of course, we're still seeing many of the specifics come together.

But we did hear, you mentioned the U.S. trade representative, Jamieson Greer. We heard him kind of addressing some of these questions yesterday, and he argued that essentially these tariff rates are going to stick at least for now.

I want you to listen to how he put it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIESON GREER, U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE I don't think they will be in the coming days. I think a lot of these -- well, I know a lot of these are set rates pursuant to deals. Some of these deals are announced. Some are not. Others depend on the level of the trade deficit or surplus we may have with the country. So these tariff rates are pretty much set.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So that was him responding, Omar, to the question of whether we could see some of these tariff rates come down, because, of course, we know a lot of these different countries, many of the United States trading partners are still trying to figure out what they can do to try and bring some of these rates down. I mean, even some of the countries that have struck deals with the Trump administration, from the European Union, Japan, South Korea, they are still facing a 15 percent tariff.

All to say, we do know that many of these different countries, particularly those who have not made deals like Canada, Mexico, those negotiations are still ongoing as they try to reach a deal and lower the impact that some of these tariffs will pose.

JIMENEZ: And on a separate front, President Trump is also defending his firing of the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. What more do we know on that front? Any word of any potential replacement?

TREENE: Yes. Well, we actually did hear, Omar, the president yesterday, he essentially said that he's going to announce a new head for the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the next three to four days, essentially putting that decision around somewhere midweek. Of course, it comes after the widespread criticism we've seen the president face after announcing that he was going to be firing the current head on Friday over, you know, in response to and criticism of some of the weaker-than-expected jobs reports.

Now, I will tell you, Omar, from my conversations with people here at the White House, I mean, they believe they kind of were encouraging the president, telling him, yes, you are able to fire her. I mean, it's very different from the advice I know they've given him when it comes to, for example, the Fed chair, Jerome Powell. She does serve at the pleasure of the president.

[08:10:00]

But I would remind you that Dr. Erika McEntarfer, the person who was fired by the president, she was confirmed in the Senate by a vote 86- 8, and that included the then-senators at the time, J.D. Vance and Marco Rubio, who supported her. So, of course, a lot of questions over whether this means that the BLS, which is typically apolitical, is going to become, you know, less impartial because of these moves.

All to say, we'll be watching to see what the president announces in the coming days.

JIMENEZ: All right, Alayna Treene, appreciate the reporting, as always -- John.

BERMAN: With us now is Congressman Mike Quigley, a Democrat from Illinois. Illinois is a state all of a sudden housing many Texas legislators, Congressman. They are there breaking quorum in the Texas Statehouse so that there is no vote on redistricting in that state.

How long do you think they should be willing to stay in Illinois?

REP. MIKE QUIGLEY (D-IL): Look, I'm not in their shoes. I know it's difficult for all the challenges, legal and financial, that they face. I do appreciate our governor offering to help them, and I understand all the legal complexities that go with that. The last time they did this, they had to go back for purely financial reasons.

Bigger picture here, though, is I think what the American people want is nonpartisan map drawing. The Constitution states that this should be one person, one vote. No group should be reduced or eliminated, and that everyone should have fair maps. Well, there's actually a bill in Congress to mandate just that, I'm a proud sponsor of, but it just can't move forward under the polarization that exists now.

BERMAN: So you say you're in favor, big picture of nonpartisan map drawing. Does that mean you -- how would you feel then about California taking action, if Texas does, to redraw its maps? Or your home state of Illinois trying to redraw your maps if Texas takes action?

QUIGLEY: Look, you can't have unilateral disarmament. You have to fight fire with fire. Otherwise, the Republicans will rig the election.

They see the polling that's take place. The reason they're doing this is they don't like the way things look for the midterm elections. So to maintain power, they're trying to draw maps in the middle of the census, which was never anticipated for political reasons.

So how do you respond to that? Well, you have to fight fire with fire. There is an alternative, and that should be our first effort.

That's what I'm offering my Republican colleagues, pass this bill. I've served many terms in Congress in the minority, even though far more Americans voted for a Democrat for Congress than Republicans. We see the results here, the mess that we're in.

It shouldn't be this on either side, but they're forcing the issue now, and we have to react.

BERMAN: Congressman, the jobs numbers that came out on Friday, 73,000 jobs added in July, but the real headline was the enormous downward revisions in May and June. What do those numbers tell you?

QUIGLEY: They tell us our economy is in trouble. I mean, there's early warning signs here, not just of the jobs picture, but the uncertainty of markets. Mondelez, Hershey's, Procter & Gamble are all telling us now that we should see upward price pressures.

That means everyday products to the American people are going to go up in cost, the opposite of what this president has told us that would happen, the opposite of what he's, I think, intended for these tariffs to have the effect. All they're doing is driving up costs, alienating our friends, our closest trade partners and military allies, and creating uncertainty that will dry up investment. It is a real concern for our economy as they go forward here.

We're getting the early warning lights of what it's doing to the economy.

BERMAN: So the president just didn't like the data. He fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. He says he will nominate someone new in the next three or four days.

How much are you going to be able to trust the data that comes out going forward?

QUIGLEY: Look, this is what an autocrat does. If you don't like reality, you try to change it. I was in the room on January 6th, and the president denies that ever took place. He's an election denier.

The American people have to understand the truth has real value. The markets and people who analyze this, and corporations, they have to know that these numbers are real to act appropriately to move forward.

The countries that have done what the president has done here, they had economic crisis that followed this. No matter what the reality is, you have to address it.

[08:15:00]

Otherwise, you're trying to adjust fake numbers, and nothing will work, and you will have the calamity coming forward in our economy.

BERMAN: Congressman Mike Wigley from Illinois, we appreciate you being with us this morning. Thank you.

We've got new details this morning about the harrowing moments leading up to the deadly shooting inside a Manhattan office building.

A manhunt underway in Tennessee for a man police say killed four relatives and abandoned a baby in a front yard.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:20:00]

JIMENEZ: This morning, we're learning new information about the terrifying minutes inside a Manhattan office building as a mass shooting unfolded. Police say 27-year-old Shane Devon Tamura calmly entered the lobby, shot and killed a police officer, then fired at three others and within a minute disappeared inside the massive building. Four people, including an off-duty police officer -- or a police officer working a paid security detail at the time, were killed. An NFL employee was wounded as well.

CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller joins me now. So John, we're learning new details about what happened when the shooter actually got to the 33rd floor.

What are we learning?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: He comes out on the 33rd floor and how does he get there? When he goes into the elevator, the first floor, the lowest floor he can choose is 33 because he's entered the wrong elevator bank. He's trying to get to the NFL, but he hits 33, comes out and sees two glass walls on either side of the hallway, both doors locked.

And then, according to the video, he appears increasingly frustrated. He shoots out one of the glass walls with his assault weapon and then kicks his way through the crystallized glass into the offices of Rudin Management.

Now, Rudin Management isn't just a huge company that manages buildings all over the city. It's the management company of that building, and this is their headquarters.

Once inside, the first person he sees is a cleaning lady who is very far down a corridor, and she yells something to him like, I'm just a cleaning lady, and he opens fire on her and misses. It's interesting because in the video, you don't see him bring the scope up and take careful aim. He's shooting mostly from the hip.

Then he goes hunting through the offices, which are largely empty. You know, at this point, it's after 6:30. Most people have gone home. Two workers, one has heard the shots and run to the men's room. Another is in the ladies' room.

Rudin Management has done active shooter drills with their employees, and the safe rooms in their facility are actually the bathrooms. The thinking behind this was, we'll put Kevlar in the walls, we'll get lead doors, we'll have a dedicated video screen with a panoramic version of the hallway so you can see what's going on outside. So if someone, another employee say runs to the now-bolted door, you can see who it is on the other side to let them in. It has a dedicated phone line.

Interesting for a company that's not high on the threat matrix, that they had gone to so much trouble to plan for an event just like the unlikely one that occurred. And in one of those rooms, an employee, a 27-year-old Julia Hyman, is inside and opens the door and steps out.

Now, we have to pause here to say why. We don't know. It could be because of the heavy insulation of the bulletproof room, the safe room, that she didn't hear the shots going on. It could be that the shots had stopped as he had gone from shooting his way into hunting mode and she was contemplating escape. We probably may never know that, but she gets about four steps out and he's down the hall but behind her and shoots her in the back.

At that point, realizing apparently that there are no more viable targets up there, he turns the gun on himself and takes his own life.

But there are so many scenarios that could have been so much worse had his plan gone as intended, walking into the NFL offices, finding a larger group of employees. It's just a --

JIMENEZ: Or even just showing up an hour earlier than he did, just given the time.

MILLER: Would have been a game changer. That tells us something, by the way, Omar, which is a lot of the planning for this, built through the month of June, obtaining 500 rounds of ammunition, assorted weapons, selecting the target, and, you know, a lack of planning on the back end, you know, contributes to why it didn't work the way he envisioned it, which would have been as terrible as it is worse.

JIMENEZ: Yes. John Miller appreciate the reporting, as always. Thanks for being here.

MILLER: Thanks.

JIMENEZ: All right, quote, there is no hunger strike in Alligator Alcatraz. That is from a senior DHS official after a new report that some detainees haven't eaten in over 12 days. We'll get into those details coming up.

Plus, the watchdog agency that created -- that was created to patrol government ethics is now launching a probe to investigate Jack Smith.

We'll talk about it coming up.

[08:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: This morning, the White House is searching for a new head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics after the president fired the old one because he didn't like the jobs report. National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett was trying to justify that decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN HASSETT, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: When the data are unreliable, when they keep being revised all over the place, then there are going to be people that wonder if there's a partisan pattern in the data.

And so I think what we need is a fresh set of eyes at the BLS, somebody who can clean this thing up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right. CNN's Matt Egan is with us now. What's been the reaction to this?

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, I think it's been alarm, John, right? When you talk to investors and CEOs and former officials, this was stunning, right? Hours after the worst jobs report in years, President Trump fires the person who's in charge of the agency that puts together the jobs report.

This would be like an NFL owner who responds to his team losing big by immediately firing the scoreboard operator, right? It's like you may not like the results, but the messenger is probably not your biggest problem. And we should stress that there's no evidence to support this claim that the BLS was somehow cooking the books here.

[08:30:00]