Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Trump: Could Pull Blanche Nomination Until Tillis, Cornyn Leave Office; Egypt Struck for First Time in U.S.-Iran War; Defense: Post- Partum Psychosis Led Mother to Strangle Her Children; Day 3 of Trial of Mother Who Admitted Strangling Her 3 Kids; U.S. Strikes Iran as War Widens to More Countries 3-3:30p ET

Aired July 30, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

JACOB WARD, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: ... seeing such a push toward wanting some kind of federal regulation is because in the United States that would in many ways wipe out the state laws that already are beginning to do -- at least create some -- some real concern on the part of these companies, Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Jacob Ward, always great to have you take us through this. We appreciate it.

WARD: Appreciate it.

KEILAR: A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

A tug of war over Todd. Todd Blanche's nomination for Attorney General President Trump says he is open to withdrawing it until next year when the two Republicans holding it up are out of office.

Plus, U.S. forces hitting Iran with a heavy wave of strikes as the war expands. A drone attack appearing to have targeted an Egyptian port.

KEILAR: And first responders describe the crime scene and their attempts to revive Lindsay Clancy's three children during the third day of testimony in her murder trial.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

New developments today in the confirmation battle over Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. President Trump digging in after the Senate Judiciary Committee was actually forced to postpone a vote to advance his nomination amid resistance from outgoing Republican Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis.

Trump posted this on Truth Social, quote, "I have no objection to temporarily withdrawing Todd's name if they do not do the right thing and putting him back after Cornyn and Tillis are out of office."

SANCHEZ: Senators Cornyn and Tillis are also digging in. They're demanding written assurances that Trump's $1.8 billion anti- weaponization fund is dead and clarity on a deal that potentially could shield the Trump family from future IRS tax audits. Let's go live to Capitol Hill with CNN's Lauren Fox. Lauren, what are officials there telling you?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, right now, Republican senators not backing down in their quest to get some of these promises in writing. And obviously, they had to postpone this hearing because as of last night, that had not come together. Nothing has changed today, except it appears that both the President and these Republican senators are each retreating to their own sides.

You saw President Trump posting earlier that essentially Blanche was a star, that he believes he should be confirmed, but that he was willing to even temporarily pull back his nomination and try to re-nominate him once Tillis and Cornyn leave the Senate. That obviously doesn't do a lot in terms of trying to move this nomination forward before the August recess. But I would just point out that there's also no guarantee that after January, Republicans maintain of Senate majority that they currently have. It's also possible they lose a couple of seats and those margins get even tighter.

Right now, it is not clear that there's any imminent resolution to this. Instead, both of these senators saying this isn't Blanche's fault. There's someone in the administration standing in the way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): I thought we were pretty close to landing the plane last night. But this morning, there's been some more complications. I -- I think if this were just between me and -- and Todd Blanche, we would have worked this out. But apparently, he's getting some pushback from higher-ups at the White House.

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): What we said in the hearing is what we're consistent with. We just want to end the fund. And this is not about Blanche. Blanche is negotiating in good faith. We have somebody else in the way. And I don't believe it's the President. And hopefully, we can resolve it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOX: Of course, John Cornyn and Thom Tillis aren't returning to the United States Senate next year. Cornyn actually lost his primary challenge to Ken Paxton, who was backed by Donald Trump. But Cornyn says this isn't retribution at the President. This isn't him trying to win one on the President. He said he would still be fighting for this, even if he were still running for the United States Senate. He said it has nothing to do with what happened in his primary.

Obviously, there's a lot of questions right now over what happens next. I would also point out that it's not just Cornyn and Tillis who have issues with this weaponization fund. Yes, they're on the Judiciary Committee. Yes, they're on the front lines of this. But if this nomination went to the Senate floor, there potentially would be a number of other Republican senators, including Senator Bill Cassidy, who may have some concerns with this weaponization fund. So, that's something else to keep in the back of your mind.

SANCHEZ: Lauren Fox live on the Hill, thank you so much.

Let's bring in CNN Senior Justice Correspondent Evan Perez.

Evan, put this in perspective for us. What would change if Trump temporarily withdrew Todd Blanche's nomination?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Nothing really. I mean, the -- the -- the fact is that the deputy attorney general, who is Todd Blanche, he was confirmed last year. And so, he would, under those, you know, under the -- if -- if his nomination got pulled, would essentially be the deputy attorney general acting as attorney general, has the same powers.

[15:05:04]

And the administration interprets the law, the vacancy reform act, to mean that they can do that for however long Trump wants. And so, you know, obviously, there's some ways people could challenge that and all that. But the issue is that for now, Todd Blanche would essentially remain on a tight leash for the President. And we've seen some of the effects of that, right?

During the time that Blanche has been the acting attorney general, where he's been trying to win this -- this nomination, he's trying to -- basically been auditioning for the job. He's been doing a lot of things that Trump wants with the idea of trying to get this nomination. For instance, this very agreement that has now caused a problem, right? This is the -- not only the weaponization fund, which he says is dead, but this addendum that he released shortly after he appeared in -- in Congress, which basically says that, you know, the government is going to make sure it releases him, the President, his family, his entities, people who are affiliated with it for things that are known or unknown.

So, things that the government doesn't even know yet that they may have done cannot be brought up. And that's the issue that Cornyn is really, really focused on. He brought it up at the hearing a couple weeks ago, and he keeps asking them, like, why don't you just withdraw that? Why don't you tear this up? And the President clearly does not want to do that.

SANCHEZ: So, as you were speaking, we got some more news from Capitol Hill, what Lauren Fox hinted at. We've learned that Republican Senator Cassidy will not commit to backing Todd Blanche over concerns about this weaponization fund under the Trump administration. There were also concerns, Evan, about future tax audits ...

PEREZ: Right.

SANCHEZ: ... and the Trump family business being immune from them. Do we have clarity on where that stands? What DOJ has tried to say about that?

PEREZ: Well, yes. So, that's the language that is the sticking point. The DOJ has tried to give him some language, specifically Cornyn, to try to say that it only applies to things that are in the past. SANCHEZ: Right.

PEREZ: But, you know, Cornyn at the hearing pointed out this language right here. It's very broad. And there's a reason why the President doesn't want to abandon it is because it really is valuable for him to have something written by the attorney general that says you can't even look at my kids, my -- my family, my -- my -- my entities, my companies, because we already have this piece of paper that says we're immune and let someone else try to challenge that in court. It's a very valuable piece of paper that they've gotten from the attorney general right now.

SANCHEZ: Evan Perez, thank you so much.

Still to come, the war in the Middle East expanding with major players in the region becoming increasingly drawn in. Egypt now says that one of its ports was struck for the first time.

Plus, should you rely on A.I. chatbots for medical advice? More and more Americans are doing that. What you need to know before you share your health information with artificial intelligence.

KEILAR: And then later, some are calling it the end of an era. Washington Dulles Airport expected to replace its famous "People Movers" in the coming years. I'm conflicted about this, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Not me. No.

KEILAR: No.

SANCHEZ: We'll discuss with Pete Muntean. Evan, what do we do?

PEREZ: No, no. Get rid of them.

SANCHEZ: Get -- wow. Wow.

KEILAR: Evan's a no.

SANCHEZ: Evan's ...

KEILAR: I'm -- I'm mostly a no, but I'm just going to throw a little yes in there.

SANCHEZ: You will see Pete Muntean defend this ...

KEILAR: Yes.

SANCHEZ: ... as an idea, as a concept.

KEILAR: But you will ...

SANCHEZ: Later this hour.

KEILAR: ... all right.

SANCHEZ: Stick with us. KEILAR: Well, that's going to be great. Up ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:12:48]

SANCHEZ: So, the Senate failed to advance a resolution rebuking President Trump over the war with Iran. This was the 13th time the Senate has voted on an Iran war powers measure since the beginning of the year. And it comes as U.S. forces put increasing military pressure on Tehran.

U.S. Central Command said it carried out a heavy wave of strikes overnight, retaliating after Iranian attacks on Tuesday targeting U.S. sites in the Middle East. At the same time, worry is growing that the war is expanding. Egypt says a drone struck one of its ports for the first time, setting fire to two vessels carrying energy supplies. Let's go live to the White House with CNN's Kristen Holmes.

And Kristen, Pakistani mediators say that they're trying to get the US and Iran back to the negotiating table. Is there any sign of that happening to this point?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I mean, right now, no. It seems as though they are working in the opposite direction. Now, of course, that comes with the caveat that we don't always know what these conversations look like behind the scenes. We have President Trump and we have the Iranian state media as well as leaders in Iran talking a big game, lots of bluster. And then, we've heard in the past there are these ongoing conversations behind the scenes.

We know negotiators and mediators are working to try to get everybody back to a better square than where they are now. There is an enormous amount of concern that this war is going to expand. Yesterday, the Saudi defense minister was here in Washington, D.C. to meet with President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance.

This came after joint military strikes on what they called Iran-linked logistics and weapons sites in Iraq. Of course, you mentioned this attack in Egypt now, the first one that we've seen there. President Trump had alluded to that being Iran, although we do not have the evidence to back that up at this point.

And at the same time, you have the Iranians saying that if these threats continue, they're going to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed, which effectively means that nothing is happening in the region, at least nothing in the way that the White House had wanted it to. Just a few days ago, President Trump saying that he had stopped those 14 days of consecutive strikes at the request of Tehran because he wanted to let negotiations happen, he wanted to be able to let those talks breathe.

[15:15:00]

Right now, we're seeing a scramble to try to even get those talks back on at all. But right now, it's really unclear what's going to happen next. You have a lot of threats being leveled on both sides, and it certainly seems like things are escalating.

SANCHEZ: Kristen Holmes live at the White House. Thank you for the update.

Still ahead, the jury in Lindsay Clancy's triple murder trial. We'll visit the family's former home tomorrow. Several emergency responders testified today about what they saw at the crime scene, too. That story is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:20:07]

KEILAR: Tomorrow, the jurors in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial will visit the home where the Massachusetts mother strangled her three children. And a warning that the images you are about to see are disturbing.

Today, they heard details of what happened there in 2023. First responders describing what they saw when they found the bodies of five-year-old Cora, three-year-old Dawson and eight-month-old Callan, a crumpled onesie seen in the room where bloodstains also mark the floor.

Prosecutors say Clancy intentionally plotted her children's deaths. The defense says that the labor and delivery nurse was in postpartum psychosis, killing her children as she tried to take her own life. CNN's Jean Casarez is following this for us.

Jean, tell us more about what the jurors learned today.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was all about the first responders. You had the firefighters, you had police officers, you had paramedics, you had EMTs. You know, there were so many victims and there were so many first responders that came to the scene, and one by one, they took the stand to describe what they did, what they saw, what they observed.

Now, the defense continually objected because they felt this was cumulative. We don't need the jury to hear all of this. But the judge allowed the prosecution to present their case. Here's an example of one of the first responders of what he observed when he walked down into the basement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OFFICE VINCENT CAHILL, DUXBURY, MASSACHUSETTS POLICE: He was screaming.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And as you came down the stairs, did he point in a direction?

CAHILL: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where did he point to?

CAHILL: To the left side.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And is that where you headed?

CAHILL: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And when you went to the left, did you see two children on the floor in that area of the basement?

CAHILL: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And what did you do?

CAHILL: I checked the pulse of the five-year-old girl and passed that information along. And then when fire came on scene, I then was backing away because fire was going to start taking over, taking care of the five-year-old girl. I then backed into the infant who was on the ground.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you said you started backing up. Is that when you bumped into Callan Clancy?

CAHILL: Yes, ma'am.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And at that point in time, what did you do next?

CAHILL: I checked Callan's pulse.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And did he have a pulse?

CAHILL: No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Now, we're in the prosecution's case in chief and two points that they tried to make today. First of all, reiterating from first responder and first responder kept saying that the wounds that she had put on her wrist with a knife and also on her neck, that they were superficial, that they were not really bleeding. To show, we believe, based on their opening statement, that this was a fake suicide attempt. The defense, of course, reiterated that they were not superficial wounds.

Another thing, fascinating, on the back of the house, underneath the window that she jumped out of, there's shingles. And from the superficial wounds, as she jumped out, there is actually blood on the shingles as you go down. And there were pictures that were shown to the jury of the blood on the shingles. And it's believed that the prosecution may argue that she tried to sort of walk her way down the backside of the house. Something happened, obviously it didn't work out. She is paralyzed from the waist down. But that is something, and the defense will counter it, obviously, but we need to look at that. You know, devil's in the details with a lot of this case.

KEILAR: Yes, and Jean, tell us more about tomorrow and what's expected when jurors are actually going to visit the home.

CASAREZ: Doesn't happen in every case. The prosecution wanted the jury to go to the actual home so they could see the layout, so they could see where the basement is and where the kitchen is and where the two- story home is on the back so you can see that window. Defense argued very strongly against it, and so did the brand-new homeowners because a husband and his wife now own the home. They didn't want a jury to come in, but the judge is allowing that jury view.

And normally what happens is, and there actually is going to be a camera. You can't show the juries with the camera. You can't go inside the home, but the camera, I'm sure -- because I've done this before -- it'll be positioned a ways away, but you'll probably be able to see the house and you'll be able to see probably the attorneys and the judge. They all go. The defendant does not. No one says a word. They just walk through the home silently to see the layout. They get back on the bus, and then they leave.

KEILAR: All right. Jean Casarez, thank you so much for that update.

Coming up, the U.S. and Iran exchanging new strikes and now growing worries of a widening war after Egypt was targeted by a drone attack. We'll have more on that when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:29:17]

KEILAR: After US forces hit Iran with a fresh wave of retaliatory strikes, there's growing concern the conflict is spreading to other countries. A drone targeted a port in Egypt, marking the first time the country has come under attack since the start of the war. As of now, no one has claimed responsibility for the attack. We're joined now by Admiral James Stavridis, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander and CNN Senior Military Analyst.

Thanks so much for being with us, Admiral.

Egypt now pulled into this after this port drone attack. Saudi Arabia joined the U.S. for strikes on an Iranian-linked militia group in Iraq. You have the Houthis in Yemen stymieing transit in the Red Sea as the Strait of Hormuz remains closed. How big is this getting?

[15:30:00]

ADM. JAMES STAVRIDIS (RET.), CNN SENIOR MILITARY ANALYST: Bigger and bigger, and it's moving almost inexorably toward the West. Think of Western front. We talked about that in World War II.