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Lasting Impact of Trump's Attempted Assassination; Flash Flooding, Rivers Rising in Central Texas; Colorado Dentist on Trial for Wife's Alleged Murder; Gaza Peace Talks Stalled; Trump Faces Backlash Over Epstein Case; Andrew Cuomo to Run as Independent in NYC Mayoral Race; "Superman" Movie Soars to $122 Million Opening. Aired 6- 7p ET
Aired July 13, 2025 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:28]
JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jessica Dean in New York.
And what a difference a year makes. This was President Trump just minutes ago at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. You see him there in front of thousands of fans in the stands at the FIFA Cup World Cup Final, cheering with players on stage.
It was one year ago today that the attempted assassination of then candidate Trump happened in front of a crowd of people at a campaign rally at a wide open field in Butler, Pennsylvania. And tonight we have new details about the shooting and the Secret Service's failures that day. The Senate Homeland Security Committee has released a report detailing some gaps, some security gaps, and arguing there has not been enough accountability in the agency.
Former Secret Service director Kimberly Cheadle saying today, quote, "While I agree that mistakes were made and reform is needed, that fateful day was literally a perfect storm of events."
CNN White House reporter Alayna Treene was in Butler that day covering Trump when this happened on this program, and she looks back at that defining moment one year later.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: A year ago today, I watched as an attempted assassin opened fire on then-candidate Donald Trump, and the scene was, it was chaotic. There was so much fear. You could hear people screaming. It was so unclear in the moment if, one, Donald Trump was safe. That was one of the first questions I, of course, had. But also, you know, how that was going to impact the rest of the campaign and the president's ambitions of becoming president yet again.
And the answer to both of those questions was yes, you know, the campaign completely changed after that day in Butler. I would argue it's actually the most defining, pivotal moment of the entire general election campaign. And the days that followed, that following week was the most important week of the entire 2024 year. I mean, less than 48 hours after the shooting had happened, you saw Donald Trump announce then Senator JD Vance was going to be his vice presidential running mate.
Just three days after that, Donald Trump triumphantly took the stage in Milwaukee at the Republican National Convention. He was wearing a bandage on his ear, something that has really become a symbol after that bullet had hit his ear. And he talked about Butler and really went into detail about how he felt like he was changed because of that day. Days after that, then the former president, then President Joe Biden, announced that he was withdrawing from the race. All of that really creating an entirely new dynamic that had not existed in the campaign thus far.
Now, I've actually talked with some people, including one White House official who's currently serving in Trump's second administration, but he was also an adviser on the campaign in 2024 to Donald Trump as well. And he told me that after Butler, it became so much more personal, the campaign, not only for his team but for the president himself, that the sense that if someone was going to try to do this was going to try and attempt to assassinate Donald Trump, the election became so much bigger and that they were going to be even more dug in on ensuring that he won in November.
And one thing that really strikes me still a year later is how that powerful image of Donald Trump. You know, he raised his fist in the air. He had blood on his cheek. His clothing was rumpled, and he screamed, fight, fight, fight. That image is one that has really become a symbol in the MAGA movement, but also a symbol of strength and defiance for the president himself. It's currently hanging in both the East and West Wings of the White House, and it's also something that is still hung up at many of the president's private events. One that he looks back on often.
And I think, you know, something that was really interesting about that photo as well, in the weeks after Butler, I caught up with a lot of, of course, the president's closest allies and some of his team, and they told me that that was all Trump. He decided in that moment that he needed to project this potent image to show that he wasn't weak, that he wasn't vulnerable, despite what that attempted assassin had tried to do. And I do really think it speaks to Trump's mindset.
Another important thing I think as well is particularly after what had happened on that fateful Saturday, July 13th, 2024, is the president felt like there was divine intervention at play. He felt that God really had a hand in saving his life. And it's not just something that he felt in the immediate aftermath of what happened in Butler, but it's something he still talks about I know privately.
[18:05:09]
And you heard him as well at his inauguration in his address, he said that God saved his life and put him there. And so it's something that has continued to really shape not only how he views his role in the White House, but also how many of his team views his role as well. Just recently, Susie Wiles, the president's White House chief of staff, on the campaign, she was Trump's 2024 campaign manager, she said the same thing.
She believed that God had a hand in saving his life. And so a year on out, I think what -- when you look back on what happened in Butler, it has completely shaped the way that Donald Trump views his role as commander-in-chief and how many of the people around him have really looked back on Butler as something that has strengthened the movement and his supporters in a way that never really had previously.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DEAN: All right, Alayna Treene, thank you so much for that reporting and looking back.
Let's bring in former deputy director of the FBI and CNN senior law enforcement analyst Andrew McCabe.
Thanks so much for being here with us. You know, I am struck by the fact that one year later, there are a lot of questions that do remain unanswered. What exactly motivated this shooter, really tying up the loose ends around why he did this. Is it possible we may never know exactly why?
ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: That's definitely possible, Jessica. It's never the outcome that anyone is hoping for, right? The public always wants to know. Anytime we have a mass shooting or certainly in this case an attempted assassination, we want to know why this person did what they did.
From the law enforcement side, it's helpful to know those things because it helps you protect other people in the future. It helps you change the way you execute these protective operations to be better in the future. But there are some events that just defy any clear, solid, evidence based conclusions.
Stephen Patchett was the shooter, the notorious shooter in the Las Vegas shooting years ago when he shot up that country music festival, we've never really been able to determine a conclusive motive for him there. And I think that Thomas Crooks may be another one of those individuals. There are all kinds of conflicting pieces of information in his background. It appears that he researched both the campaign events of Joseph Biden and Donald Trump.
He, I think, had indicated some like left-leaning political motivations, but also had donated to the opposite candidate. So he's kind of all over the -- all over the map in terms of the very scant information that the bureau has about him. So it may be that we never develop a very clear picture of exactly why this young man did this.
DEAN: Yes. And CNN spoke to a dozen current and former federal law enforcement officials, as well as lawmakers and all of them described an overall lack of accountability within the Secret Service over the security failures that day. Obviously, you know, they're trying to make changes, but what do you -- from what you know, what more do you think should be done at the agency?
MCCABE: Well, you know, there's been a lot of work looking into it. The service has done their own series of reviews. The House conducted a review that they published a report of -- a damning report on last December. And then, of course, just yesterday, we got another report from the Senate Homeland Security Committee that was equally as damning. And I think what all those reports are consistently calling out is the thing that dooms almost every operational failure.
And that is communication, a failure to adequately receive and disseminate information among the partners that are working the event or the crisis or whatever that may be. In this case, you had the Secret Service operating out of their command post, and all the locals who they were depending upon operating out of a separate command post. There was not a single means of communication across the entire team.
Some Secret Service people didn't even have radios, or they had ones that weren't working. So when Thomas Crooks was spotted in the crowd 25 minutes before the attack, walking through the crowd outside the perimeter, but with a rangefinder in his hand, this was clearly suspicious activity. The local police saw it and they were stuck with just putting that out over informal group text chat functions with their colleagues rather than disseminating it to everybody who needed to know that information.
I'm not saying that that was their fault, but the overall security plan, lacking a competent, clearly defined communications channel that was available to everybody, that was a mistake that really cost them a lot down the line.
DEAN: It was interesting to hear in a written statement from the former Secret Service director, Kimberly Cheadle, who said in her words that this was a -- she said that mistakes were made, but she described it as a perfect storm of events that day. Do you agree with that?
[18:10:00]
MCCABE: Not entirely. I understand why she would see it that way, but when you look at the -- all of the kind of mistakes that are called out by these reports, it's really a perfect storm of mistakes. I talked about the communication issue. There was a failure to disseminate very relevant intelligence so intelligence provided by the FBI about an ongoing plot from the Iranian government to assassinate President Trump made its way to some higher up people at the Secret Service, but it did not make its way to, for instance, the counter sniper guys on the scene or the people who are working the event.
There were -- there were, you know, numerous problems like this that really show a lack of squared away leadership and execution on the part of the service. That's a tough thing to address. Nobody likes to hear those words, but it's been a long time. Very, very few people have been held accountable for these mistakes. There's only six people so far that have received any sort of disciplinary action, and I think that's also stands out as curious among those who are looking closely at this situation.
DEAN: Yes. All right. Andrew McCabe, thanks so much. We appreciate it.
MCCABE: Thanks, Jessica.
DEAN: Let's go now to Central Texas, where some people are evacuating their homes to get away from the threat of dangerous new flash flooding there. This latest band of storms coming as Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem pushes back against reports that cost cuts slowed down federal resources. For instance, search and rescue teams from across the country tell CNN FEMA did not deploy them until at least Monday evening, days after any victim had been found alive.
CNN's Julia Vargas Jones is in Kerr County, where at least 140 people are still missing.
Julia, now more rain moves in and the search crews are still trying to find so many people who remain missing.
JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jessica. So many people still missing. What the search crews are telling us today is that they have had to put all of their operations on hold. It's just too difficult and too dangerous to go out there when this river is still expected to crest today.
I want to show you a photo that was shared with us from earlier this week here in Kerr County. What that shows is a vehicle that's completely submerged, not just in water, but in debris and gravel. That just goes to show the level of difficulty of those searches going forward and why those numbers of people missing really have not gone up as, gone down, I should say, as quickly as they had in previous days.
It's just become that much more difficult to find people. And that image, we were told by the Unified Cajun Navy is not a unique image. They have found vehicles in that state, Jessica, up and down the river over here. This of course as there are growing questions about the response and how FEMA reacted, as you mentioned, in the first few hours. CNN reporting that those 72 hours wait time was because of some internal red tape and a new measure from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem where she needs to personally approve any expenses that go above $100,000.
In essence, people from inside FEMA told CNN that they had their hands tied. They really couldn't do what they usually do, which is to pre- position teams in locations where a disaster could occur for that rapid response to just actually be a rapid response and take place.
Now, what we're seeing, Jessica, is Congress members starting to ask those questions. Democrats have asked -- sent letters to at least three different government agencies asking for answers, as well as calling for an investigation. Now what's new today is that we're hearing from a Republican for the first time asking some questions on that FEMA response as well, and what accountability could look like. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. TONY GONZALES (R-TX): What can we do in order to prevent this from happening again? To me, that is a level of accountability that we need to have going forward. We can't just allow girls to drown in the middle of the night.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: And Jessica, we are standing here in front of this memorial, makeshift memorial for so many of these victims. That is one of the questions that is at the top of people's minds here is what can we do to prevent this from ever happening again.
DEAN: Certainly. All right. Julia Vargas Jones, thank you so much for that reporting.
Still ahead this hour, killed while collecting water. Multiple children in Gaza have died in an Israeli strike as hopes for a ceasefire fade. What sources say is behind the holdup in those talks. Plus, it's poised to be the next headline grabbing murder trial that a Colorado dentist poisoned his wife. We'll go inside that case.
Plus later, is President Trump underestimating Americas interest in the Jeffrey Epstein case? We're going to take a look at the data.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:15:00]
DEAN: Tonight, President Trump's Middle East envoy says he remains hopeful about a ceasefire in Gaza. However, sources tell CNN those talks appear to have stalled. Meanwhile, the situation in Gaza grows more dire by the day as more people are killed by Israel's military strikes.
CNN's Nada Bashir has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, despite days of proximity talks in Doha around a proposed 60-day ceasefire and hostage release deal, negotiations appeared to have stalled yet again, with both sides accusing each other of putting up new obstacles.
[18:20:12]
On Saturday, an Egyptian source with direct knowledge of those indirect talks told CNN that negotiations were deadlocked as a result of additional demands put forward by Israel, with a senior Hamas official telling CNN that talks had faltered as a result of new conditions introduced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, including new redeployment maps for the Israeli military in Gaza.
Those reports come after an Israeli source also told CNN last week that the key outstanding issue on the table was at that point the terms around where the Israeli military would redeploy in Gaza once the ceasefire takes effect. But on Sunday, Netanyahu claimed Israel had accepted the latest proposal put forward by the U.S. and instead accused Hamas of rejecting the deal on the table. The Israeli prime minister is facing growing pressure at home in
Israel for a deal to be struck to secure the release of the remaining hostages held captive in Gaza. And on the ground in Gaza, the humanitarian toll continues to rise, with growing international calls for an immediate end to the war as Israel's attacks on civilian areas continue. Sunday, several children were killed in an Israeli airstrike at a water distribution point in central Gaza, according to health officials in the strip.
Distressing video from the scene showed multiple casualties amid buckets and makeshift water carriers. The Israeli military later acknowledged the airstrike, claiming it had targeted an Islamic jihad terrorist, but that the munitions had landed dozens of meters from the target. This attack came shortly after Gaza health officials reported that 139 bodies were brought to Gaza's hospitals in the space of just 24 hours, with many more victims feared to be buried under the rubble of destroyed buildings.
All this as families in Gaza continue to face crippling shortages of humanitarian aid and medical supplies.
Nada Bashir, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DEAN: Nada, thank you.
Coming up next, accusations of poisoned protein shakes and affair and a jailhouse murder-for-hire plot. We're going to take you inside America's next headline-making trial.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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[18:26:52]
DEAN: More than two years after a dentist in Denver was accused of fatally poisoning his wife, the murder trial of James Craig is finally about to begin. Jury selection started this week. Craig has pleaded not guilty to six felony charges, including first-degree murder. He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted of that murder charge.
CNN's Jean Casarez has more on the text message and Google searches that prosecutors hope will lead them to a conviction.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
JAMES CRAIG, ACCUSED OF KILLING HIS WIFE: My name is Dr. Jim Craig, and I practice at Summerbrook Dental Group.
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Craig and his wife, Angela, had all the appearances of a storybook life. The couple lived outside of Denver where they were busy raising their six children. Craig ran a seemingly successful dental practice. But prosecutors will soon paint a very different picture of what was going on behind the scenes.
On March 6th, 2023, Craig made Angela's daily protein shake. But after drinking it, she didn't feel well. She texted her husband, "Have you eaten anything?" "I had my protein shake and magnesium makes me weird. This is not hungry." "Are you nauseous?" "No, I feel drugged."
Over the next 10 days, she went to the hospital three times, but they couldn't figure out what was wrong. On March 10th, she texted her husband, "Everything was negative or normal. They just did an ultrasound of my heart." Investigators believe she continued to drink protein shakes at home.
As his wife was fighting for her life, investigators say Craig had a girlfriend come visit. She spoke out to ABC News after his arrest.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think that James Craig allegedly poisoned his wife to clear the deck so he could be with you?
KARIN CAIN, DATED MURDER SUSPECT: There's no way I'm motive. There's been no planning a future.
CASAREZ (voice-over): News of her poisoning and the arrest of Craig rocked this small community.
MICHAEL LUCERO, FRIEND: It just makes me sick.
KAREN LUCERO, FRIEND: It didn't seem real.
M. LUCERO: Yes.
K. LUCERO: It didn't seem like something that he could ever do to her.
CASAREZ (voice-over): But prosecutors will point to computer searches allegedly made by Craig weeks before the murder on February 27th, 2023, the day he ordered arsenic metal, and days later, potassium cyanide.
"How many grams of pure arsenic will kill a human?" "Top five undetectable poisons that show no signs of foul play."
Craig has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder as well as other charges. His defense? He claims his wife was depressed and had been suicidal for some time. Court documents say James believed that Angela was intentionally overdosing on opioids and another unknown substance, and he was sure Angela's toxicology would come back positive. Her autopsy report showed she had lethal concentrations of cyanide and arsenic poisoning in her system.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
DEAN: That was Jean Casarez for us. Thank you so much for that reporting.
And CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson joins us now.
Listen, Joey, when you -- when you listen to what Jean was reporting there, it certainly seems like there is a lot of strong evidence against Craig.
[18:30:01]
Do you think his legal team will be able to fight back against that and stick with this defense that Angela Craig was suicidal?
JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes. Jessica, good to be with you. I think they certainly stick with that defense. The issue is going to be how successful it will be. Now let's make clear that before they get into what the wife was doing, they will first target the issue of reasonable doubt. The fact is defense will argue, was it and should it point to him?
Yes, there are these Google searches. Is he the only one who was allowed access? Is there someone else who means him poorly such that they could fabricate these issues? Did the police have tunnel vision with respect to only focusing on him with regard to the affairs? OK, our client is a cheater. He's not a murderer. And by the way, she had a history and so did he, right? With respect to bankruptcies and other things that were happening in their life.
And so they will first, Jessica, attack the issue of probable cause and reasonable doubt, saying, hey, you know what? There is doubt in this case, and certainly then they'll pivot to the fact that she could have done it to herself. The issue is there certainly is compelling evidence and there's an uphill battle to be sure with respect to that defense and with regard to saying that there's reasonable doubt here.
DEAN: And also in those text messages, you see James Craig referencing the couple's history with drugging, and he talks about that being triggering. Investigators say he had drugged his wife several years prior. How does that fit into this? Is that admissible in court? How might it be used?
JACKSON: Yes, without question. I mean, there'll be certainly issues as to whether that should come about. And prosecutors will say, absolutely it should. It goes to a prior plan of scheme. It goes to something relevant with this particular case. And certainly the jury should hear it. However, there's an explanation for it. And that explanation is those drugs were used to ensure that he didn't, right, she didn't prevent him from harming himself.
He had an issue with respect to committing suicide, did not want her to stop him. And as a result of that, he drugged her. Did he kill her at that time? Defense will argue no, he didn't. Did he kill her this time? Defense will argue no, he did not. So that's how it'll play out. Always two sides of a coin.
DEAN: Yes. And what about this extramarital affair? How does that play with the jury?
JACKSON: Well, I think prosecutors will always want to show motivation. You never have to prove that, Jessica, with respect to proving your case if you're prosecutors. But inquiring minds always want to know what would be the motivation as to why he would have killed his wife. Prosecutors will set it up to say that, hey, they were having marital discord. The fact is, is they had financial problems and other things, and he was done and wanted to start a new life, and therefore to clean the slate and to begin this new life, he wanted to kill.
Defense will argue that this was a short-term relationship that he was having. The other woman was interviewed and there was no indication that they were planning to ride off into the sunset. And defense will also argue that he was a serial cheater, right? The fact is, is he was with other women allegedly. That didn't cause him to kill his wife. Why should this particular affair have caused him to kill his wife?
Always, as you know, Jessica, two battling narratives in the courtroom. Which one carries the day depends upon who is more compelling, reasonable, rationale, relatable, and who the jury ultimately believes.
DEAN: Absolutely. And then there's this last piece of it, too. There's a lot of layers to this case with prosecutors saying that Craig has tried to have four people killed, including the lead investigator in this case, while he's been behind bars. How does that play into all of this, especially knowing that the lead investigator is still going to be probably very, you know, involved or even testifying.
JACKSON: Yes. So (INAUDIBLE), obviously, the prosecutors amended the charges to include, right, the issue of solicitation, that is, you're trying to persuade someone else to conduct this murder. They'll talk to the jailhouse informant with regard to what he did that is allegedly did the defendant in this case to commit the murder against the lead investigator. They'll talk to the jailhouse informant and that informant's wife, by the way, who the defendant, the dentist accused in this case allegedly wrote.
So they'll get all that information out. The fact is it's going to be a credibility assessment. Do you believe this jailhouse person? And by the way, ladies and gentlemen, I should add that both this inmate, right, the informant and his wife, with whom our client, the dentist, reached out to, they have a prior history themselves, and it relates to fraud. That means they told something that wasn't true in the past, therefore, defense lawyers will say they're doing the same thing to you now. They can't be believed.
And so, again, it's always a question of fact. That's why we have juries, right? 12 of them have to make a decision as to guilt or lack thereof, and there'll be plenty for them to cipher through in this case, consider and everything will be challenged to be sure.
DEAN: All right, Joey Jackson, more to come on this. Thank you so much. We appreciate it.
JACKSON: Thanks, Jessica.
DEAN: Well, don't count him out yet. Sources telling CNN former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has found a way to stay in the race for New York City mayor. Our reporting right after this.
[18:35:04] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DEAN: New tonight, sources tell CNN Andrew Cuomo, the former governor of New York, is planning to run as an independent in the race for New York City mayor. Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic primary ranked choice voting, beating Cuomo by 12 points and sending shockwaves through the New York city Democratic establishment.
CNN's Gloria Pazmino joining us now with more details.
[18:40:02]
Gloria, what are you hearing from sources?
GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jessica. In fact, much of that Democratic establishment here in New York City has been lining up behind Zohran Mamdani after that resounding win in the June Democratic primary. But we are now learning from two sources close to the campaign of Andrew Cuomo that he is expected to make an announcement next week. And the announcement is likely going to be that he will continue to campaign.
Now, this is important because Cuomo made a decision earlier on to run as an independent, which gives them the ability to continue to stay in the race through the general election, which is held in November. And the sources confirming to us that that is exactly what he is planning to announce.
Now after election night, a primary night a few weeks ago, Cuomo said that he was going to be taking a look at the numbers to see whether or not he has a path to victory. Clearly Cuomo and his team seem to believe that there's something they can do between now and the November election to close the gap between him, Mamdani, and the incumbent mayor, Eric Adams, who is also running as an independent in this race.
So for now, it doesn't seem like the former governor is going anywhere. He is still trying to make this political comeback. He has said that he believes Zohran Mamdani does not have the experience to run a place like the city of New York, and he made a bid as a more experienced candidate to run the city of New York. But we should mention that several of the polls that have been released so far since the primary show Cuomo finishing last and show Mamdani with a significant win.
DEAN: And in the meantime, there's also mayor -- sitting Mayor Eric Adams, who's also running in this race.
PAZMINO: Yes. And he's also running as an independent. And the trouble with all of this, Jessica, is that both Eric Adams and Andrew Cuomo go after the same voters. So having the two of them in the race means that they're going to have to split those voters.
Cuomo is also expected to say that he believes that any of the other candidates who are running to challenge Mamdani should get behind whoever is polling the best come September. But of course, the city has essentially just gone through that process by holding the Democratic primary. So we're going to see just what happens in the next several weeks and whether or not he can eke out any sort of difference between himself, Eric Adams, and the other candidates in this race.
DEAN: Yes, it will be interesting. Also, considering, gloria, that we did just have this primary, what might change in the next few months.
Gloria Pazmino, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
President Trump offering his full support to his attorney general, Pam Bondi, inviting her to attend a soccer match in New Jersey today. All of this amid a MAGA world revolt over Bondi's handling of the so- called Jeffrey Epstein files. A Justice Department memo concluding there is no evidence of a client list for the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender.
CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten is here to run the numbers.
Harry, good to see you.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Nice to see you.
DEAN: I think, I am wondering how much interest is there in the so- called Epstein files?
ENTEN: Well, if my buddy Vin from Jersey is any sign, there's a lot of interest, he won't shut up about it. But he's not the only one who won't keep quiet about it. What are we talking about here? Why don't we take a look at Google searches for Jeffrey Epstein?
Take a look at this. Today versus a week ago, up like a rocket. Up 1900 percent. My goodness gracious. And get this, it is currently the top term topic being searched alongside Donald Trump today. If Donald Trump, who is begging, asking his supporters to drop it, he is not getting his wish whatsoever. His supporters are not dropping it. Interest in this story is at basically an all-time high.
And of course this is such an interesting story because it is one that unites different parts of the far-right. It's one of the few stories that actually brings together folks like Steve Bannon and Elon Musk. They all are wondering what the heck is going on here. And at this particular point, Donald Trump has not figured out a way to solve this problem and quell the problem on the right side of his base.
DEAN: So put this interest into perspective when you compare it to other news stories this week.
ENTEN: Yes. OK. So we're talking about right now Google searches for Epstein. What about some other big stories this week? You know, take a look here. Again we're looking at Google searches today. Get this, searches for Epstein have been, get this, four times higher than they are for Grok. Of course Grok the whole thing, that of course is part of X, went off on its own, the A.I., and started throwing out antisemitic stuff, talking about Hitler and all that jazz. But interest far higher for this particular topic than there is, in fact, for Grok, much higher for, of course Epstein.
[18:45:07]
And then for tariffs, which of course have very much been in the news, get this, searches for Epstein today have been 7.6 times higher. So interest for the Jeffrey Epstein story through the roof -- Jessica.
DEAN: And what's the feeling around if Trump will actually release any of these any more information, any more files this year?
ENTEN: Yes. So, you know, we can go with the conventional wisdom. We can look at the betting markets. And I think this is part of what's going on, is that a lot of folks are saying, you know what, he's not going to release any more files. The Trump administration is not going to release any more files. Get this, Trump releasing more Epstein files in 2025, according to the betting markets, you go two months ago, it was 40 percent. You go a month ago it was 39 percent.
Now it is just 21 percent. So the MAGA base is hoping, is hoping that there will be more files to be released. But at this particular point, neither they -- neither they nor the betting markets in fact believe there will be any more files to be released. And that, of course, is a problem for Donald Trump, based upon what we've seen from the MAGA base over the last 24, 48 and 72 hours.
DEAN: Yes. All right. So you talk about betting. I want to ask you about some questions around how the Republican legislation that was just signed into law by the president might impact the gambling and sports gambling industry. How big is that become here in the United States?
ENTEN: Yes. You know, there was essentially a way that the -- way that you'd write off losses would be very difficult for professional gamblers. They really hate this bill. And more than that, I would say the gambling industry at large doesn't like this because it has become such a big industry.
I mean, my goodness gracious, legal sports betting revenue, you go back eight years ago, it was $261 million. Look at where we are today. It's a $5.5 billion industry, sports gambling alone. So we're talking about a tremendous industry with a lot of money at stake -- Jessica.
DEAN: Yes. And how much of Americans at large embraced gambling?
ENTEN: Yes, I think that this is sort of the key giveaway, right? It's not just gamblers who have embraced gambling. What are we talking about here? Pro sports gambling or betting should be legal. You go back to 2006, it was 42 percent, up again like a rocket, to 58 percent now. So it's going to be very interesting to see how Americans at large react to the big, beautiful bill. We already know approval for it is low.
The more we learn about it, it will be interesting to see how folks sort of feel about it when it comes to pro sports gambling. I'm not sure they're going to like it, Jessica. In fact, I might even bet on it. DEAN: How about that? Harry Enten, good to see you.
ENTEN: Nice to see you.
DEAN: Thank you so much.
ENTEN: Thank you.
DEAN: Up next, "Superman" leaps box office records in a single bound, punching up one of the best weekends for Hollywood so far this year. Our one-on-one with director James Gunn is right after this.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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[18:52:26]
DEAN: It is up, up and away at the box office for the newest "Superman" movie. It comes from our sister company, Warner Bros. And the new film expected to pull in $122 million in its opening weekend. According to "Variety," that's the third largest Hollywood movie debut so far this year, and a promising sign for DC Studios, which has long been overshadowed by its superhero rival Marvel.
CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister sat down with "Superman's" director James Gunn.
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DAVID CORENSWET, ACTOR: Eyes up here.
ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Superman has the weight of the world on his shoulders.
JAMES GUNN, WRITER AND DIRECTOR, "SUPERMAN": My wife, who's sitting over there, tries to calm me down.
WAGMEISTER: James Gunn has the weight of a movie studio on his. Not only does he write and direct "Superman," but he's the CEO of the new DC Studios. This is its first film.
GUNN: I'll try to be as sober as I possibly can. I really try to live with a stoic philosophy about these things.
WAGMEISTER: As an early comic book fan, Gunn was born for this role.
GUNN: I started reading comics when I was very young. I learned to read on comic books and started reading them at three. Looking at the pictures, starting to read it, four and five.
WAGMEISTER: Gunn, who directed blockbusters like "Guardians of the Galaxy," calls "Superman" the hardest movie he's ever made.
GUNN: We had to shoot in extreme cold. We had to shoot in extreme heat. WAGMEISTER: To say nothing of casting the right Superman.
CORENSWET: What is this?
WAGMEISTER: David Corenswet, like Christopher Reeve in 1978, is not a household name. But Gunn's instincts made Chris Pratt a superstar, and he thinks he's about to strike again.
GUNN: Yes, I have a bit of an ego about it. I think I'm really good at finding people who become huge stars. I think David Corenswet is the biggest movie star in the world, and people don't know it yet. And that's what I -- I said that about Chris Pratt early on, too.
CORENSWET: People were going to die.
GUNN: There are very, very few people that have the acting chops, the comedy chops, and happen to be extraordinarily handsome at the same time.
CORENSWET: I wear my trunks on the outside of my pants, like, liberating.
WAGMEISTER: The film reflects today's world, with TV and social media used to sow doubt and fear about Superman's intentions, all for the benefit of political and corporate interest.
GUNN: And the story was, what if Superman really existed in a world that was somewhat like ours?
WAGMEISTER: Lex Luthor is the selfish corporate villain, but Gunn insists he's not a stand-in for anyone in real life.
GUNN: I did want him to have some of this Wall Street machismo. You know, corporations have become so incredibly powerful. They're almost as powerful as governments are now, maybe more powerful than governments.
CORENSWET: Stop it. Stop.
[18:55:06]
WAGMEISTER: Still, this Superman is lighter and arguably funnier than those of the recent past.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We feed the canine but he is unruly.
WAGMEISTER: And with a cute dog in a cape inspired by Gunn's own chaotic canine, how can you miss?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that your Baby Yoda?
GUNN: I don't know about that, but people definitely like Krypto a lot. I'll tell you that.
CORENSWET: Sit, sit. Stay.
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WAGMEISTER (on-camera): Superhero films used to be a sure thing at the box office, with many films in the genre crossing the billion-dollar line. But lately, and particularly in 2025, the two superhero movies to come out have fizzled at the box office. So all eyes are on "Superman." Of course, with nostalgic IP and a big price tag. Back to you.
DEAN: Elizabeth Wagmeister, thank you.
Coming up, we have brand new polling on immigration and it finds the harder the Trump administration cracks down the more support for immigrants goes up. We're going to dig into that data.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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