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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

More Americans Giving Up Pets Amid Financial Hardship; Source: New York City Gunman Who Killed Four Had Grievances With NFL; Trump Opening New Golf Course In Scotland Today. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired July 29, 2025 - 05:30   ET

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

[05:30:00]

MJ LEE, CNN ANCHOR: And also, when the pets are turned away from shelters like this and the owner really, really can't keep them, where do they typically end up?

KATY HANSEN, DIRECTOR OF MARKETING AND COMMS, ANIMAL CARE CENTERS OF NEW YORK CITY: OK. Well, so just to be clear, we never turn away an animal --

LEE: Um-hum.

HANSEN: -- which is probably why we're at 1,000 and we have crates set up in offices and hallways. So we don't turn away any pets. We actually still took in 403 animals since we've put the sign up.

What we're really trying to do is get to those people that are sort of on the fence about surrendering their animal and ask them to just try other things. If you claim you don't have enough time for your animal try and make the time because this is not the right time to be surrendering your animal. And as you said, it's not great for the animals and the care too or the staff. We have a lot going on right now.

Luckily, we are partners with the ASPCA, and they've actually sent workers on the ground to help with boots on the ground. So they're helping our staff. They're helping with transport. So New Yorkers are really coming together and that's really what we need. But we aren't turning anyone away. I just wanted to be clear about that.

LEE: Yeah -- no. Thank you for clarifying that.

When you do have so many pets that are coming in though and it is starting to get crowded or maybe the resources are running low, how do you make space for the extra animals that are coming in more than the usual amount?

HANSEN: So we have pop-up crates. At one point we had over 50 dogs in pop-up crates --

LEE: Um-hum.

HANSEN: -- and obviously that's not ideal. We have them in offices and hallways. But we also work with about 250 rescue partners and so we're able to transport some of those animals to our rescue partners and that frees up space.

We're also doing a big promotion with the ASPCA. It's called "The Rescue Effect" and it's -- and it's adoption fee waived. And it's basically like adopt an animal and you are going to free up space and that saves another animal. So it's sort of like a ripple effect. So we're really encouraging people to adopt as well as foster.

LEE: Yeah. And, you know, we've got a rescue dog at home and I'm a big supporter of adopting rescues whenever that's possible.

One thing I'm curious to ask you about is how much are breeders contributing to the current problem? Breeders are often vilified by their rescue community but I'm genuinely curious to ask you whether there is some other way of looking at it.

HANSEN: I mean, I would say backyard breeders. I wouldn't necessarily say, you know, qualified and reputable breeders are adding to this, but I would say that hobby breeders and backyard breeders are definitely contributing to this. And the way we know that is because many of the animals that are coming in are not altered. So any reputable breeder or rescue is going to alter their animals before they're placed. So we know that there's a lot of backyard breeding.

LEE: All right, Katy Hansen. Thank you for having this discussion with us.

HANSEN: Thank you so much.

LEE: And we'll be right back after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL)

[05:37:58]

LEE: Welcome back. I'm MJ Lee. Here are some of the stories we're watching today.

Authorities believe the gunman who killed four people at a New York City skyscraper on Monday had grievances with the National Football League. That's according to a law enforcement source who says documents found with the shooter indicated he was upset with the NFL's handling of CTE, a brain disease linked to repeated head trauma.

President Trump returns to the U.S. today from Scotland. He's opening a new golf course near Aberdeen this morning.

On Monday he announced a new 10-12-day deadline for Russia to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine, and he promised to open food centers for starving people in Gaza.

And Major League Baseball is mourning Ryne Sandberg. The Chicago Cubs' beloved second baseman died at age 65 after a battle with metastatic prostate cancer. Sandberg won nine Gold Gloves and the National League MVP award in 1984. "Ryno," as he was known, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005.

As police look for more clues on the mass shooting in Midtown Manhattan, they're investigating the gunman's recent travels as well as an apparent suicide note found at the scene.

It's now believed he chose 345 Park Avenue for his attack because the NFL has corporate offices there. A source close to the investigation says the shooter's brief suicide note claimed he, himself, had suffered from CTE and that he wanted his brain to be studied. We've learned the gunman, identified as a 27-year-old from Las Vegas, had played youth football years ago.

An off-duty police officer is among the four people killed in the shootings. The gunman also took his own life.

The NFL's commissioner says one of their employees was seriously injured but is now in stable condition in the hospital.

[05:40:00]

And joining me now to discuss is retired FBI supervisory special agent Jason Pack who is in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Jason, you just heard some of the details that have emerged about the gunman and how they carried out this horrific shooting. Tell me what most stands out to you. And certainly, that image of the gunman brazenly walking in broad daylight through Midtown Manhattan carrying a long gun is quite shocking.

JASON PACK, RETIRED FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT: That's definitely not something you see every day in New York City. MJ, good morning.

And first of all, our condolences to Officer Islam and those other victims that were murdered. Certainly a rough day for NYPD as they have to deal with that and also investigate the motives of this case.

So what stands out is this person was determined. If you look at the Luigi Mangione case from a few months ago he was hiding. He disguised his identity, and he was waiting on someone to come out. This is just the opposite. This person got out of his car, double-parked in Manhattan, and walked straight into the building with a rifle, not attempting to hide his identity at all. So that tells you right there he had no escape plan. He wasn't worried about someone seeing him.

And the fact that overnight the work by the NYPD to determine that the possible reason is this NFL connection with the CTE. We've heard about that over the past several years, MJ, with all these players coming and talking about concussions and how that's really been a problem for them.

So something -- and this is the key question for investigators to determine -- something must have led to the last straw that said now I've got to go do something about this. There's something in this background -- something that investigators will look for and find to determine what actually caused him to drive all the way from Las Vegas to New York City. LEE: Yeah. And in a situation like this how would investigators

typically go through the process of trying to find out the gunman's likely motive? And also, just how their mental health may have been a factor in all of this. What are the processes that they would go through to get as much information about those factors?

PACK: Well first, MJ, they're going to create a timeline and so they'll be able to document his entire travels into New York City from the two hours from the last point where he was sighted. His vehicle was sighted in New Jersey to come all the way into Manhattan and backtrack all the way to Las Vegas.

From there the NYPD will work with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police to probably get a search warrant for his residence if they have not done that already. They'll look for his electronic devices -- his computers -- but also the human side of it. They'll interview his relatives, his friends, any people online he was chatting with to see exactly what they discussed and also what kind of search history -- looking at what he was looking at on the internet and who he was in contact with behind the keyboard.

LEE: And we have to assume that this is going to prompt some serious questions across Manhattan about security protocols not only at an individual building like the one that the gunman entered but across the city more broadly.

What do you expect those conversations to look like? You know, do you think that an institution like the NFL will have to change up its security protocols as a result of this shooting?

PACK: Well, it's certain that some companies take a look at that and businesses after each situation unfortunately that we have to go through here in the United States. Companies and businesses take a look at their security postures and what are some tweaks we can make.

And we saw on some of the social media posts, MJ, that some companies in that building were barricading themselves in their office, putting every piece of furniture in that office between them and the doorway to make accessing that office super hard.

So usually in these active shooter situations -- people who are doing these types of things -- we've seen in our experience in law enforcement if a door is locked or hard to go, they just keep going and go the path of least resistance. So the more you can do to put things between you and an active shooter is going to help and save your life in most cases.

LEE: And talk to us too about the unfortunate concern about the possibility of a copycat shooter. How do authorities stay vigilant about that concern, and what kinds of red flags would they be on the lookout for?

PACK: Well, there are threats that come in to the FBI and to law enforcement every day around the country. I know in New York the squad CT26 is the FBI squad that's comprised of NYPD and the FBI and every other federal law enforcement agency and New York City agency and state agency. They're all working on the same team, so they're used to working together.

They probably have 15 or 20 threats a day that they look at. Most of them turn out to be nothing. So they'll keep a closer eye on that, and they'll be looking for signs maybe that some copycat person will -- hopefully will not do it. But they'll be ready should that happen.

LEE: Jason Pack, thank you so much for bringing your perspective to us this morning. I really appreciate it.

PACK: Thank you, MJ.

[05:45:00]

LEE: And President Trump is wrapping up his visit to Scotland today, opening a new golf course near Aberdeen. Let's take a look and listen in.

(President Trump walking on golf course).

LEE: All right. Let's bring in our colleague Jeff Zeleny who is in Scotland traveling with the president. Jeff, we're just watching the president walk over I think to a mic or the ribbon-cutting ceremony that we expect to take place. Do we think this will be just a purely ribbon-cutting ceremony or can we expect him to take questions from reporters and make any more news?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: MJ, this is about the Trump family business. This is about golf. We are told the president is going to have a very large pair of golden scissors and is going to cut that red ribbon you can see on screen there.

This is the Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeen, Scotland. That's in the very north along the North Sea. It's the land of his mother's ancestral homeland not far from there. She grew up in the Isle of Lewis. But this is a golf course that already exists, but this is a new 18-hole golf course. Eric Trump, the president's son, just described this as the greatest 36 holes on the planet.

What this also is is a giant infomercial for Trump golf and for Trump international golf business. So the President of the United States here on a mix of official and family business now doing the Trump family business here.

And he'll be making remarks as we hear. Let's listen.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And they're going to be -- the younger ones are going to be doing that for 60 years just like the little older ones are doing it. I want to thank them very much. A great group. I heard them last night.

I also want to thank you first minister who is here. John, would you stand up? John Swinney who is a terrific guy and loves golf and loves the people of this -- of this country. And we really appreciate it. You're really a very special guy. Thank you very much for everything, John. My son Eric has worked so hard on this, and it's been truly a labor of

love for him. And we started with a beautiful piece of land, but we made it much more beautiful. And the area has given us -- they've really welcomed us here. You'll remember at the beginning there wasn't quite a welcome, but it wasn't bad. But with time they've liked us more and more and now they love us, and we love them. They've really put it out and they know how good this whole complex is. It's Trump International.

We have the first course, which we call the old course, and the second course, which we call the new course because that's the best way to describe. Anything else gets too complicated. They don't know which is which. But they know the old and the new. And it's going to be something very special.

And the big question is which is going to be better if there's such a thing? Because we've had such great ratings on the first and I don't know if you can match them on the second, but the second should be every bit as good. The land is of equal quality right on the North Sea and it's going to be really -- it's going to be great.

I look forward to playing it today. We'll play it very quickly and then I go back to D.C., and we put out fires all over the world. We did one yesterday, as you know. We stopped a war. But we have stopped about five wars, so that's much more important than playing golf. As much as I like it, it's much more important.

I want to just thank Sarah Malone for having been with us right from the beginning. She was young and not experienced and now she's still young and very experienced. So I just want to thank you.

And my --

(Applause)

And my son Don for being with us all the way. He's always been with us and he's a great guy. And he's got some great golfers in the family -- Kai. And he's got one right over there -- that little one. She may be one of the most talented in the whole family. She's something special, right? So that's Chloe. She's -- you'll be reading about her someday walking down the 18th hole of some great course I think, right? She's very talented actually.

So I just want to thank everybody. This has been an unbelievable development. The land -- they said it couldn't get zoned. It was an impossibility. And Sean Connery said, "Let the bloody bloke build his golf course." Once he said that, everything came into line. John and I were talking about it last night. Everything came into line.

I want to thank, by the way -- the prime minister was here last night and was really very gracious and loves the place and loves the area. So I just want to thank him very much for coming and we gave him a little preview, and it was really very nice.

[05:50:00] And we just signed a very big deal, as you know, with the European Union, but also with the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom was a week before and it's a very big deal and a great deal for the country, and it's a great deal for everybody. So I just want to thank him and everybody that worked so hard on it. They've been trying to get it done for 12 years and we got it done, so somebody did a good job.

So I just guess we're going to be hitting a couple of balls and we're going to play the round. And Lara, I want to thank you, the head of the Republican Party, for during the election, which was the time that counted. And she was fantastic.

And Ron and Larry, thank you very much.

ZELENY: So we are seeing President Trump there at the Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeen, Scotland poised to open a new 18-hole course on an existing course. The president calling it the greatest golf course in the world and others may dispute that, but a beautiful scene no doubt.

The president said he'll be playing a few holes of golf and then heading back to Washington where he has certainly many challenges awaiting him.

But yet another example of the mix of Trump family business blending with U.S. official government business here in Scotland -- MJ.

LEE: All right, Jeff Zeleny. Thank you.

And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL)

[05:55:45]

LEE: And we have just been watching President Trump near Aberdeen, Scotland where he is attending a ribbon-cutting ceremony for one of his golf courses there. There you go. We just heard -- saw him cutting that red ribbon there. He is flanked by his sons. His family members are joining him on this trip.

We heard him earlier talking about his family's heritage. We also heard him talking a little bit about the global conflicts that have been on his mind, saying we stopped a war. We stopped about five wars.

And we will be right back after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL)

[06:00:00]