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Giuffre's Posthumous Memoir Heaps Fresh Scrutiny on Prince Andrew; Politico Report on Racist Texts Appears to Derail Trump Nominee; Demo Begins at White House to Replace East Wing with Trump's Ballroom; Man Arrested for Allegedly Threatening to Shoot Up Atlanta Airport. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired October 21, 2025 - 08:00   ET

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

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SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Even after her death, Virginia Giuffre's fight for justice, accountability and truth today continues, perhaps reaching its pinnacle with the publication of this book, this memoir, Nobody's Girl, which is now available in British bookstores as of today. And while many of the accusations in it, of course, against Jeffrey Epstein, the accusations of sex trafficking, are accusations we have heard before, it is the harrowing detail book -- in this book, Kate, that just really sends shivers down your spine. She has these blow by blow accounts that are extremely difficult to read.

And of course, we were thumbing through this book and found what she describes as her first interaction, her first conversations with Prince Andrew, where she says that he was asked to guess her age. And she says he did accurately guess her age at the time as of being 17 years old. I then want to pull up a quote from the book as to what happens next after he guesses her age accurately.

This is what she writes. "My daughters are just a little younger than you, he told me, explaining his accuracy. As usual, Maxwell was quick with a joke. I guess we will have to trade her in soon, Jeffrey recalled."

And it is those tiny moments that tell you this much bigger story in this book that I am sure is going to only draw more attention, more scandal and more controversy to a royal family that is trying to distance themselves from a Prince Andrew.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, Prince Andrew has two of these allegations. Prince Andrew has vehemently denied what Virginia Giuffre alleges. It is good to see you, Salma. Thank you so much for laying that out for us.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts now.

A mass shooting that police say was potentially minutes from happening, thwarted at America's busiest airport. A suspect arrested, a gun found in his truck parked right outside the terminal, a police tip from his family and the police body camera capturing it all. Plus, the White House begins demolition on the historic east wing of

the White House, paving the way for the president's 90,000 square foot new ballroom, why the Treasury Department is reportedly telling staff to not share pictures of the demolition.

And the startling spike in fatal bear attacks in Japan. What is happening there and what climate change may have to do with it?

I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman. Sara Sidner is out today.

This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: We are standing by to see if a key Trump nominee lasts the morning. It comes after Politico reported that Paul Ingrassia sent racist text messages in a group chat with Republican operatives. Ingrassia has been nominated to lead the Office of Special Counsel, basically the internal government watchdog.

It is a job that requires Senate confirmation, but when asked if the White House should pull Ingrassia's nomination, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said, quote, "I hope so. He's not going to pass." So far, at least one Republican senator has confirmed he will not support Ingrassia.

This appears to be why. In one message that Daniel Lippman from Politico reported on that Ingrassia allegedly says. He says that "Martin Luther King Jr. holiday should be tossed into the seventh circle of hell where it belongs." Someone in the chain responds, "Jesus Christ."

At another time, someone in the chain said, "Ingrassia belongs in the Hitler Youth with Steve Bannon." Ingrassia responded, "I do have a Nazi streak in me from time to time. I will admit it."

With U.S. now, CNN senior political commentator David Urban and Democratic strategist Meghan Hays. I just want to read a few more of the texts that Daniel Lippman reported on here because what we said there only scratches the surface.

In January of 2024, Lippman reports that Ingrassia allegedly wrote of former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, "Never trust a Chinaman or Indian, NEVER."

And then discussing why Republicans feel Democrats make Black people into victims. The text show Ingrassia remarked, "Blacks behave that way because that's their natural state. You can't change them."

Another one, according to Politico, "Proof all of Africa is a shithole and will always be that way."

I'll read a statement from Ingrassia's attorney in just a moment. But first, David, to you, based on this reporting, why hasn't Ingrassia's nomination been pulled yet?

DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, John, I suspect that it will be today at some point. You know, interestingly, the president is having Republican senators to the White House to thank him, to thank them for helping him get his nominees through so quickly. And obviously, this will be a topic of discussion.

I would suspect that he would have his nomination or be told to have his nomination withdrawn or have it withdrawn himself before that event occurs or right afterwards.

[08:05:00]

Look, John, there's clearly no justification for having this individual out there. I mean, it is, you know, he's claiming and his attorneys are claiming, well, it's AI. We're not we're not owning up to this.

You know, that's convenient to do. But it's just despicable. It's insane that somebody who's vying for a position of trust and integrity within the government would be so callous and just insane about these very sensitive topics. The guy should -- he should be gone.

Plus, I do believe that, you know, Senator Thune is right. There are three, what I recall is three Republican members of the committee on the committee saying they'll vote against him.

So he's not going to make it out of the committee to even begin with. So he's a -- he's a dead man walking at this point. Quicker they turn the page on this, the better for the White House.

BERMAN: Maybe let me read the statement David was talking about from the attorney, from Paul Ingrassia.

"In this age of AI, authentication of allegedly leaked messages, which could be outright falsehoods, doctored or manipulated, or lacking critical context is extremely difficult. We do not concede the authenticity of any of these purported messages."

What issues do these texts raise for you, Meghan?

MEGHAN HAYS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I mean, just sort of like what David said, he's not qualified to be serving in a government position. They're disgusting and gross. And I think that we're learning through this administration, when people show you who they are, we should believe them.

And I would imagine that the White House withdraws its nomination rather quickly, as David pointed out.

BERMAN: And Meghan, you've worked in a White House. I'm just curious how it got this far, right? Administrations for nominations vet candidates here.

And yes, Daniel Lippman is a terrific reporter and there's some great reporting here, but this doesn't seem that deep under the surface.

HAYS: No, absolutely not. But sometimes private chats are not -- they don't come out in a vet. I think sometimes people have a, you know, across the bear somebody and they leak these chats to the media. It gets more play if it's leaked to the media than they find it in a vet. Clearly, this goes past what they want to happen in a nomination hearing. They don't want this person to work in the administration at all because he is dead man walking, as David suggested.

So I just think that there is a lot more internal politics at play here with some folks who go up for a nomination. But when people -- these texts are disgusting and people should believe that this is who he is and not -- it shouldn't go any further.

BERMAN: And David, if you were crafting the statement from the White House or J.D. Vance, for instance, right, the vice president of the United States, who of the young Republicans, when some racist text messages came out of reporting last week on that, he basically said, oh, these were just jokes. Their lives shouldn't be ruined based on this. These were young people.

Would that kind of statement go far enough here?

URBAN: No, John, look, clearly Meghan's the expert on communication, but you simply say, you know, this kind of this kind of rhetoric will not be tolerated in this administration and therefore withdraws. We respect everybody withdraws nomination. Pretty simple.

BERMAN: OK, to you, David, I want to put up some of the pictures of the demolition at the White House. President Trump building this big ballroom, largely with private funding. But when these pictures came out yesterday, I think anyone who has covered the White House, worked in the White House, walked by the White House, I think everyone just paused.

It just what did you feel, David, when you saw walls coming down at the White House?

URBAN: So I, John, I was thinking, I'm hope I hope they're selling those -- the White House Historical Society is selling some of those fixtures, right, to make some money to raise this.

But look, you've been there. Meghan's been there. The building is old in certain places. I think adding a ballroom like the president's doing is a great idea.

There is no big space to gather in these in these buildings. You have to go to the South Auditorium and in the old executive office building if you want to have a big group of people together. There are some East Wing spaces, but they're kind of small.

State dinners are held in tents out on the lawn. So this is the United States of America. This is the White House.

This is a place of grandeur and of great historic significance. So I think it's it's long overdue. And I applaud the president for doing this move.

This isn't one you're going to find any daylight between me and the president on. BERMAN: Meghan, very quickly, what do you think?

HAYS: I mean, it's really jarring to see. I think the more jarring thing is that the government is shut down and we're spending 250 billion -- million dollars to build a ballroom. Yes, I agree with David that it is needed and there needs to be a bigger space.

I just don't think that now is the right time to be doing this when there are so many things that are at stake with people not getting health care that they can afford. And so it's bad optics at play here.

BERMAN: Meghan --

URBAN: Yes, but it's private money, though. Private money, John.

HAYS: I'll believe it when I see it.

URBAN: Radicalist and radical agreement between Meghan and I this morning, John. Radical agreement.

BERMAN: In soccer games, we call this afters, right? After the whistle blows, when people get those punches in. David Urban, Meghan Hayes, thank you very much -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: I kind of want an entire segment of just like bumper stickers slogans like that. Like, I believe when I see it, shut your mouth. I know David didn't say that. I was just saying.

[08:10:00]

Anyway, coming up for us, police body camera footage of the moment that police take down a potential mass shooting suspect already inside of the terminal at Atlanta's airport. You've got to listen to the details of how this all went down.

Plus, the wildly popular game Roblox now facing fresh scrutiny. Why Florida's Attorney General is calling it a breeding ground for child predators.

And a rookie with Atlanta Pacers chased down by police on the freeway. Arrested for erratic behavior and the excuse he gave for why this all happened.

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BOLDUAN: So this morning, Atlanta police say a man's family is to thank for alerting them that he planned to possibly, quote unquote, shoot up the airport in Atlanta. Just take in these details.

[08:15:00]

The family of Billy Joe Cagle called police to report he was armed, live streaming on social media, and headed to the Atlanta airport. Then you have surveillance video showing Cagle walking around a crowded terminal before he is confronted by officers. And police say when they approached him he was not armed when they found him, but they did find his truck parked right outside the terminal and inside an AR-15 with 27 rounds in there.

CNN's Isabel Rosales has more detail on how this all played out.

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ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This started at 9:29 in the morning where Billy Cagle, he's on video arriving there at the south terminal. Two minutes later, he leaves his car outside and then goes inside of the airport. The police chief here in Atlanta saying that he was very interested in the TSA check-in area that was heavily, heavily crowded with travelers.

Now, by 9:40 a.m., this is when Cartersville Police Department, an hour north of Atlanta, alerts APD that there's a potential threat because they were hearing from the family of the suspect that he was on social media streaming, that he was armed, that he was headed to the airport to, quote, shoot it up. Cartersville Police saying that he had, quote, intention to inflict harm to as many people as he could.

Now, by 9:54, he was arrested there on the ground, not armed. This would have been 15 minutes since that first call came into APD.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: And joining U.S. right now, CNN's senior national security analyst, Juliet Kayyem. Juliet, seeing that timeline is something. It's quite terrifying what all -- how this was averted.

You've got 9:29 is when he arrives. 9:54 is when he's taken into custody. Almost 30 minutes that man was in that terminal.

And you think of what could have actually went down. What do you see here? What do you see went right?

And do you see holes in this? And what also could could be done better?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes, well, let me start with what was right. And we are constantly urging this, which is obviously the family assessing the risk, knowing the risk, seeing the risk and then acting on it. Too many times we hear of families sort of knowing or suspecting or worrying about a family member who is going to do a mass shooting and doing nothing.

So their phone call, he's clearly being performative, you know, live streaming this. He wants people to know. And so that was the good news.

The the the bad news is, of course, one is that truck. I don't -- I know Atlanta Airport very well. I don't know how long the truck was there.

Look at how it's parked. It is an impediment. Why?

I'm just curious. And they'll examine it, sort of nine to ten to fifteen minute delay. No truck should be there for that long. And why aren't why isn't it surrounded? What's going on there?

The last piece I would say is just this is the nature of complex security. We can we can fortify the TSA line. We can fortify the airplanes. We can fortify the cockpit.

At some stage, there's a soft area. And of course, that's outside in the public areas where there's lots of people waiting to get into the hardened area, though it's almost impossible to secure. And it requires lots and lots of investment by law enforcement as well as as notification in this case by the family.

BOLDUAN: Yes, I mean, and that is why you can tell police in -- the police chief thanking them, applauding them, saying this is because of them, that they saw something and did something. Because when you think about it, there's -- I haven't seen any indication yet that they had any inkling this was coming without the call from the family, which means what is in what is in place to stop him? Had he been able to go back and get his gun?

KAYYEM: Almost nothing at that stage. Honestly, we at our airports have a have a have a soft area, even if you -- you know, which is basically that area between entry and and the TSA line, it would be almost impossible to completely fortify them. They're commercial activity.

People are coming in and out. Parents are dropping off children. Where it appears that there's a gap. And we just have questions on it. It's here where we're showing right now, which is we do. We're pretty serious about cars near airports. It wouldn't have taken more him more than a minute to leave, get the gun and come back in.

So this is a very lucky as well that the family acted quickly and that they were able to identify him before he returned to the car. So lots to learn. But again, a family that we are completely dependent on family members and the kind of culture and and that we live in to come forward and and assist.

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BOLDUAN: Absolutely. So there is a lot to applaud here and very clearly some very serious lessons to learn on what could be very like possibly a very, very big tragedy averted.

Juliette, it's good to see you. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

So the maker of Tylenol calls in the FDA to reject changes to their products safety label that will link the pain reliever to risks of autism.

And a landmark moment for Japan. The first time ever a woman is Prime Minister.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BERMAN: The east wing of the White House like you have never seen it before. A lot of it in rubble this morning. The building, which houses the first lady's offices, is undergoing partial renovations to make room for President Trump's new 200 million dollar plus ballroom first constructed in 1902.

The East Wing has seen fewer few small scale renovations over the years, but but nothing like this where a big chunk of it was just knocked down. CNN's Alayna Treene at the White House with the latest on this.

[08:25:00]

And again, just in terms of reaction to people who've seen the White House for years, it was jarring to see the pictures of part of the White House literally coming down.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: No, absolutely. I mean, clearly construction is underway, but we have seen, you know, excavators ripping down part of the East Wing, one building kind of tearing in -- or excuse me, one machine tearing into the building to accommodate this massive structure that the president wants to add to the White House.

Now, of course, we know that the president this is a project that he has talked about. He said that he was going to be, you know, finding financing for and whatever else. But this really fulfills a 15-year ambition of Donald Trump's. He actually had first said he felt like one belonged there ever since former President Barack Obama was in the White House.

Now, this structure, you said it, but it's going to be roughly $200 to $250 million to create. The president has been very clear that this is going to be created with private or financed by private donors, not taxpayer money. But it's going to be some 90,000 square feet that they are adding onto this.

That's actually much bigger than the president had initially anticipated, John. It's going to be triple the size we're told, of the East Room. That's really where a lot of the dinner -- the state dinners and other events are held at the White House.

The president argues this is needed because he believes there needs to be more space, have more capacity for guests. Now, one thing that's also come up in all of this over the last 24 hours is there's a lot of White House and Trump administration staff reacting to this as well. The Treasury Building, which is on just the opposite side behind me on the other side of the White House, closer to the East Wing, that is where most of this construction is happening.

A lot of people have been taking pictures and videos of this. And then Treasury sent out an e-mail, John, yesterday, essentially asking people to refrain from taking photos, of sharing photos and videos of this construction. One Treasury spokesperson, though, told me essentially that this is a national security issue. And they said in a statement that carelessly shared photographs of the White House complex during this process could potentially reveal sensitive items. All to say this construction is obviously going to be taking place for a long time and adds to a lot of the other transformations we know Trump has been doing, like gilding the Oval Office, adding those photos into the Rose Garden, paving over the Rose Garden. So stay tuned for this.

BOLDUAN: Going to be loud for a while at Treasury. Alayna Treene, thanks so much for that reporting.

Millions of Americans could be at risk of not knowing where their next meal will come from, a critical timeline just days away on food stamps.

A new video shows the moments a man gets trapped inside of his flooded home as it drifts nearly a mile away from its foundation.

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