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Homicide Probe Underway After Man Found Dead at Burning Man Festival; Xi Casts China as New Leader of World Governance; Trump Says India Offered to Cut Their Tariffs to Nothing; Russia Suspected of Jamming GPS on Plane Carrying E.U. Leader; Belichick's College Debut Coaching UNC Tar Heels. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired September 01, 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]
ED DAVIS, FORMER BOSTON POLICE COMMISSIONER: -- everyone is leaving. So the very fact that that's the case, you're going to have to travel to interview people when you finally do identify them. I'm sure they're chipping away at it and they've got some people that they can talk to. But leads are going to be hard to come by now. Now hopefully, they'll process the scene and they may find evidence there, DNA evidence of the suspect and the victim, so that they can at least identify him. But I'm sure they've run fingerprints already and the fact that they haven't been able to identify him yet is really troubling in this one.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Yeah, that's a good point. I wonder if someone wants to attend a festival like Burning Man in the future, what would your safety advice be? What kind of plan should you go in with?
DAVIS: Well, certainly to know who you're with and understand the environment, you're in a very kind of loose situation. Although I will say this is the first homicide that I've seen after 25 years or so, even more, of this -- of this event going on. So, there have been crimes there. There's larceny and an occasional sexual assault, but a homicide, there's certainly been deaths there before and a newborn baby came into existence this time. But, a homicide is extremely unusual.
So this is really not the standard, not the norm there. But whenever you are there, any place where there's a lot of drug use, there were a number of arrests for MDMA. This is a drug that can cause all kinds of problems with people's actions. And whenever you're in that type of environment, you have to be extremely cautious.
SANCHEZ: Ed Davis, appreciate the perspective. Thanks for joining us.
DAVIS: Thank you, Boris.
SANCHEZ: A big new -- a big question after a meeting overseas of world leaders not involving the United States, is there a new world order forming? Chinese President Xi Jinping hosting Vladimir Putin and India's prime minister in Beijing, positioning China as an alternative global leader. More on that next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:36:27]
SANCHEZ: China's Xi Jinping today made a thinly veiled swipe at the United States, as he criticized bullying practices and cast his country as the new leader in world governance. Xi is holding a major gathering of more than 20 world leaders, including Russian President Putin and Indian Prime Minister Modi. The Chinese leader saying, "The house rules of a few countries should not be imposed on others while stressing the need to dismantle walls, not erect them." This comes amid President Trump's ongoing tariff war, his soured relations with Modi and Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Let's go to Beijing now with CNN's Marc Stewart. And Marc, lots of world leaders, lots of rhetoric. Was anything actually achieved?
MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you, Boris. I think if you look at this from the perspective of the Chinese government, this meeting is very much going to be seen as a success because of the symbolism. It's become a dominant storyline. We have Xi Jinping at times sharing a smile, sharing lighthearted moments with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Vladimir Putin from Russia, all at a time when the United States has really isolated itself with its America First policy on the global stage.
For China, this was another opportunity to portray itself as the leader of a new world order, an alternative to these established Western alliances such as NATO. China trying to let the world know (ph) it is stable and that compared to the United States, there are no surprises. Let's take a brief listen to some of Xi Jinping's remarks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
XI JINPING, CHINESE PRESIDENT (through translator): We should advocate for an equal and orderly multi-polar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, and make the global governance system more just and equitable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: Obviously, a big focus on politics. Obviously, a lot of discussion on economics. We saw China make a pledge to help form a bank alliance with some of these member states' contribution of around $1 billion. But in the next 24 hours or so, Boris, we're going to see a big shift to China showing its military strength. It will be having a massive military parade here in Beijing, a population of 21 million people. We will see tanks in the streets. We will see new weapons unveiled and expected to be standing side by side with Xi Jinping is not only Vladimir Putin, but also Kim Jong-un, of course, the leader of North Korea, Boris.
SANCHEZ: Yeah, Marc Stewart, live for us in Beijing. Good to see you as well, Marc. Joining us on to discuss CNN Global Affairs Analyst, Kim Dozier. Kim, how is the West watching a meeting like this?
KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: With a certain amount of trepidation because we are seeing a real shifting of alliances. China is on a charm offensive, trying to portray itself to world business as a country that you can rely on in terms of steady rules. They don't have tariffs that suddenly appear and then disappear. And also saying in contrast, look, what's going on with Washington, Washington is trying to bully you. We are just offering you good business practices.
[13:40:00]
Now, anyone who has done business in China will tell you that's not the case, but right now, while the U.S. is stumbling, Beijing is taking advantage.
SANCHEZ: Trump said this morning that India recently offered to cut their tariffs to nothing, but it's getting late. Trump, of course, levied these 50 percent penalties on India last month because I mean, they import oil from Russia, essentially was punishment for that. I noted a moment ago that the sort of souring relations between Modi and Trump, what does it mean to have the Indian prime minister there side by side with not only Xi but Putin as well? It seems like he's leaning toward a side.
DOZIER: I mean, Modi is very definitely sending the message to Washington that I have options. You shouldn't mistreat me this way. Modi and Trump apparently had a small falling out over who solved the problem between India and Pakistan. Within India, they will tell you we solved it directly with Pakistan. Pakistanis will tell you that too. But Trump has publicly taken credit for that again and again. So, that really put Modi back -- on the back foot with his own followers inside India. So, this is also about Modi saying I am not Donald Trump's tool or puppet. And pointing out that the tariffs currently levied against India are unfair in that China buys more oil from Russia --
SANCHEZ: Right.
DOZIER: -- isn't facing tariffs. And India refines much of this crude oil and then sells it on to the European Union, which has just about doubled in the past two years, what it purchases from India.
SANCHEZ: Right.
DOZIER: So it's sort of second-hand Russian crude.
SANCHEZ: Yeah.
DOZIER: And the E.U. isn't facing these U.S. sanctions.
SANCHEZ: Right. Yeah. It's a really significant point. Speaking about the European Union, Putin spoke about efforts, ongoing efforts to, as he describes it, solve the Ukrainian crisis. He prefers not to use the term invasion, which we know it is, right? He said that the mutual understanding that was reached at the recent Russia-U.S. Summit in Alaska is something he hopes to share with his counterparts in Beijing. He said he hopes it paves the way to peace in Ukraine. What do you make of that? How should Trump hear that? DOZIER: So Putin paved the way to this sort of messaging in Alaska when he said, we hope that Europe won't prove the spoilers of this because what he is doing is putting out an unreasonable position that Ukraine won't accept, that Europe won't accept, and then say they're the bad guys for refusing to accept that. We basically want Ukraine to have no defenses in future.
SANCHEZ: Notably, it comes as we're learning about Ursula von der Leyen, the E.U. Commission President during a flight home, or rather, I believe she was headed to Bulgaria, right? She was trying to land in Bulgaria. Russia allegedly scrambled the GPS on her plane. The pilots had to use maps, like paper maps to land. I mean that's a pretty serious message from the Kremlin.
DOZIER: That's the kind of thing that does not happen by accident. And it goes along with this campaign that multiple European officials, intelligence officials and agencies have reported of Russia harassing E.U. officials, but also attempts there have been assassination attempts, there have been harassing attacks and fires set at manufacturing companies that produce weapons for Ukraine. A whole gamut of what they call sort of below the threshold of war operations meant to send Europe a message that you're not in charge. And also, to try to win over popular support in Europe for the Russian point of view.
SANCHEZ: Just on the question of sending a message generally, the fact that this is happening in Beijing just weeks, days mostly from the U.N. General Assembly. I mean, that sends a message to the world and to sort of China's ability to draw in these power players on the world stage.
DOZIER: It does that China is setting itself forward as the country that can in future grant you the business you want, the military and political influence you want. And I think you're going to see that theme carry on with the U.N. General Assembly because Chinas has moved to fill some of the spaces that the U.S. has left there, such as the Human Rights Council and some of the other bodies that the Trump Administration has decided to resign from. China has said thank you very much, we'll take a leading role on these various committees and use these levers of power that you are abandoning.
SANCHEZ: It'll be interesting to see how the White House responds to that. Kim Dozier, thanks so much for the analysis. Appreciate it.
DOZIER: Thanks.
SANCHEZ: So, President Trump has made some surprising claims about tariffs from saying they will make the country richer than it's ever been before to arguing that tariffs would've prevented the Great Depression. What does history actually say about this economic sledgehammer? In his latest Documentary Special, Fareed Zakaria looks back at America's past experience with tariffs. Spoiler alert, there are some sobering lessons.
[13:45:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST OF " FAREED ZAKARIA GPS" (voice-over): April 2, 2025, America's so-called Liberation Day. As President Trump unveiled new tariffs on country's spanning the globe.
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Jobs and factories will come roaring back into our country.
ZAKARIA (voice-over): He wanted to return America to its glory days.
TRUMP: We're going to produce the cars and ships, chips, airplanes that we need right here in America.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We make steel, we make steel and talk steel.
ZAKARIA (voice-over): Trump was tapping into a powerful nostalgia for an economy that used to make things. And for the bountiful middle- class manufacturing jobs that came with it.
TRUMP: This will be indeed the Golden Age of America.
ZAKARIA (voice-over): A century ago, America had a longing for another lost era. It led to massive tariffs designed to help one industry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Depression, fear and failure stalked the nation.
ZAKARIA (voice-over): -- which then damaged the entire economy. This is the story of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, a law that carries dire warnings for America today.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Be sure to tune in "Big, Beautiful Tariffs," a Fareed Zakaria Special, airs tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, only on CNN.
So one of college football's most anticipated games of the weekend involves two teams that aren't even ranked and one who no one expects to contend for a title. We will explain why next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:51:22]
SANCHEZ: From six Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots to a rookie head coach in college, Bill Belichick is back preparing for his first game as head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels, going up tonight against TCU. The 73-year-old NFL legend is creating a lot of buzz on and off the field since leaving New England for the college ranks. CNN Sports Anchor Don Riddell joins us now. Don, tons of anticipation ahead of kickoff in Chapel Hill. Tell us more.
DON RIDDELL, CNN ANCHOR, WORLD SPORT: Yeah, this really is a fascinating career change. Belichick, an NFL legend as you say, trying his craft in the college game for the first time in his long and illustrious career. As you say, he will be leading the Tar Heels against the TCU Horned Frogs in Chapel Hill. Belichick has created quite a buzz in the college game ahead of his prime-time appearance with many wondering how his professional experience will transfer to the college game.
Now, earlier this year, he said he was introducing NFL schemes and fundamentally trying to cultivate the same culture in Chapel Hill that he did in New England. We will see how that is going to go under the bright lights of a national broadcast audience tonight. And there is work to do, by the way, UNC coming off a losing season in the ACC last season. As you can imagine, celebrities will be expected at the game tonight, including Tar Heel's Michael Jordan, I'm sure you've heard of him, Mia Hamm, and Lawrence Taylor.
SANCHEZ: It should be interesting to watch, especially on the sidelines, college football obviously kicking off with a bang this weekend. The University of Miami and Carson Beck looking right at home in orange and green, Don.
RIDDELL: Yeah, this was incredible theater from start to finish. Number six, Notre Dame; at number 10, Miami in a sensational Sunday night showdown. This might just be the highlight of the whole season in the second quarter of the first game. Look at that, Hurricanes new quarterback Carson Beck finding C.J. Daniels. An unreal catch from Daniels, almost as if he had super glue in his hands. It was jaw dropping, it was an awe-inspiring touchdown. You could just replay this for our entire segment.
Beck went 20 for 30 with two touchdowns. This was a top-10 slug fest. But with the game tied with about a minute to go, Miami kicker Carter Davis became the Hurricanes hero, game winner from 47 yards out. Canes pulling off an upside (ph) win by 27 points to 24, here is an emotional Beck after the game.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARSON BECK, MIAMI HURRICANES QUARTERBACK: I mean, the pass eight months have been so hard. Whew, sorry. And I'm just so blessed to be out here to have an opportunity to play again. Man, I love these guys. I'm so proud of the way we played. We played so hard. In the face of adversity, we got it done when we needed to. Oh man, I'm just so blessed and so thankful to have an opportunity to play this game I love.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIDDELL: Just amazing stuff. Boris, back to you.
SANCHEZ: Don Riddell, it's all about the you (ph). Thanks, Don.
(LAUGH)
SANCHEZ: Today marks the unofficial end to summer. Ahead, how airports are holding up as millions of Americans head home after a busy holiday weekend.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:59:25]
SANCHEZ: Chicago bracing for the Trump Administration's immigration cracked down, which is expected to happen within days. The city though remains defiant, already taking steps to resist the move. Plus, a prank that ends in tragedy, after someone opens fire on a group of kids playing ding-dong ditch, one of those kids winds up dead. Now, police say the shooter could be charged with murder. And a terrifying moment at a theme park in Pennsylvania, a lost child wandering along a monorail track before a bystander comes to the rescue. We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to "CNN News Central."
