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Trump to Hold Cabinet Meeting Amid Iran War, GOP Revolt Over Blanche; GOP Senators Cornyn and Tillis Block Blanche's Nomination; 30 Plus Minnesota Water Systems Targeted in Cyberattack; Nolan Wells' Family Asks Friends, Strangers to Come Forward with Information. Aired 8:00-8:30a ET

Aired July 31, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: ... Senators might end up costing them the White House in 2028. That's clearly of course not that these, many of these younger activists believe. So we'll see it all play out these next couple of years.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, I like how you call it veteran Democrats. I mean, Carville, he's the OG for sure, OG. All right, Donie O'Sullivan, thank you so much.

And be sure to tune in, the "WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER." That's airing Sunday at 8 p.m. right here on CNN and the next day on the CNN app. A new hour of the CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Very soon today, the president is going to hold a meeting of his cabinet while one of his cabinet members is facing a standoff over his nomination. The Republican revolt on the hill over Todd Blanche becoming the next and permanent attorney general.

And the rescue effort underway right now to find missing climbers, including a world-renowned mountaineer following a horrible avalanche. We've got new reporting on that.

And we have new reporting about the rise of AI health influencers, flooding social media feeds, getting millions of views and pushing some questionable products and medical advice. And you might not even know.

John and Sara are off today. I'm Kate Bolduan with Fredricka Whitfield. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

So President Trump is about to leave the White House, heading to Camp David today to convene a meeting of his cabinet. Comes at an important moment. The president's facing down a revolt among Republicans on The Hill over one of his cabinet posts, his cabinet members, his attorney general pick, Todd Blanche.

And this morning, Trump is up and angry about it. The president just going off on his social media over -- on Senator John Cornyn. He's one of the two senators that are holding up the Blanche nomination over serious concerns about the weaponization fund and more.

And while even Republicans have called the $1.8 billion fund that's at the center of this controversial slush fund, the president now this morning is back defending it. It could use taxpayer money to pay out Trump supporters who claim that they have been wronged by the Justice Department, including January 6th defendants. Now, Todd Blanche, in testimony and publicly, has said that the fund is not happening, that the fund is dead and buried. John Cornyn, he wants it in writing.

Donald Trump making clear maybe this morning why he wants it in writing because he's making, seems to be suggesting he'd like to see it resurrected. CNN's Betsy Klein live at the White House. What's going to happen today, Betsy?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's anyone's guess, Kate, but this is a rare offsite retreat for President Trump's cabinet, convening at Camp David a few hours from now at this moment of uncertainty for the president's agenda and strategy, both abroad and here at home. And that includes, as you mentioned, brand new uncertainty this morning for the nomination of Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to serve in the Justice Department's top role permanently. At issue here are two members of the president's own party, Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas.

President Trump, you may recall, endorsed his primary opponent, Ken Paxton, who ended up winning that primary, ending Cornyn's long career in the Senate, as well as Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, another Republican who is retiring.

Now, at issue is this controversial settlement that President Trump struck to give him immunity from tax audits. It also created a $1.8 billion taxpayer-funded fund for people who believed that they had been unfairly targeted by the Justice Department. Now, Trump said yesterday that he was open to pulling Blanche's nomination and waiting for both Cornyn and Tillis to be gone from the Senate in January.

But that is a big gamble. It assumes that Republicans will control the Senate after these November midterm elections and that there will be enough votes to get Blanche's confirmation through.

The president today now defending that fund and also pushing for Blanche to be immediately confirmed. He says in this new post, quote, "I will always feel that these victims of government abuse should be paid back for what they were forced to endure. Their lives have been ruined. Millions of people agree with me, as was proven in my landslide presidential win, where this was a major subject of debate. And so did John Cornyn until he lost his election to an opponent that I endorsed. Todd Blanche, a good man, should be immediately approved as U.S. Attorney General."

Now, this comes after administration officials, including Blanche himself, had said that this fund was not going to move forward. Both Cornyn and Tillis wanted written assurances that that was indeed the case. And the president injecting new questions as to whether this might be alive.

[08:05:00]

But both Cornyn and Tillis met privately, one-on-one with Blanche yesterday. Officials said that there was some progress, but a deal not struck just yet -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: I mean, John Cornyn's also said if it was up, if it was just up to him and Todd Blanche, they would have had this figured out. So the progress that needs to be made is it seems to not be between those two men right now. Let us see.

Thanks so much, Betsy. It's great to see you. Much more to come on this -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, joining me right now is Andrew Desiderio, a senior congressional reporter for Punchbowl News. Andrew, I mean, great to see you. You got actually a new piece out, Trump's Senate versus the Senate that exists.

And what did you learn after discovering there are indeed fissures, very deep ones?

ANDREW DESIDERIO, SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, PUNCHBOWL NEWS: Well, look, the president's expectations for the Senate are not in line with the realities of the Senate that he has to work with and the Senate that he helped mold and create in many ways. I'm, of course, referring to the fact that the president endorsed against Senator Cornyn. He helped push out Senator Tillis.

He endorsed against Senator Cassidy. I mean, these are senators who are now becoming problems for his own agenda because they are now political free agents, essentially. They don't have to worry about political consequences for going against the president.

And now President Trump has to deal with that. And he seems to be acknowledging that in these Truth Social posts, but at the same time, he's still pushing for an outcome that he knows is probably not possible, which is this idea of Senator Cornyn just folding, Senator Tillis just folding on this. And I will say they are speaking for more than just themselves on this.

There are other Republican senators who feel like they don't have the ability or don't want to speak out right now because they're on the ballot this year, because they want a future in the Republican Party and don't want a negative tweet or Truth Social post from the president. So again, I think it's an example of the president's expectations not being in line with the reality and also just the president viewing Congress, and in this case, in particular, the Senate, as kind of a nuisance.

WHITFIELD: I mean, what more did outgoing Senator Cornyn say to you about his thoughts on Trump understanding or the lack thereof of understanding about the consequences of his political activities over the past year and his choice not to back Cornyn?

DESIDERIO: Well, Senator Cornyn tried to get me to repeat the question for effect, essentially, because I asked him and he started to smile and he was making the point that the president has to deal with the consequences of his own actions. And in this case, his own actions were to force out Senator Cornyn and now deal with the fact that he is a free agent who has the ability and the desire, really, to put himself out there like this. He's on the front lines of this in the Judiciary Committee. He just happens to be.

But again, he is speaking for other senators in this case. And just to underscore another point as well, he is saying that Todd Blanche is an impressive lawyer, a smart lawyer, I think he's a great guy for the job.

He's not saying that this is an issue between him and Todd Blanche. He's saying someone above Todd Blanche's pay grade, essentially, he's referring to the president, obviously, because the president is a party to the lawsuit that ended up resulting in this settlement that created the Weaponization Fund and set up that audit immunity deal as well. And so the president is trying to have it both ways.

He wants his audit immunity deal intact, but he also wants his attorney general confirmed. And John Cornyn and Thom Tillis and others are making clear that you cannot have both.

WHITFIELD: All right, all right, Andrew Desiderio, thank you so much for that really fascinating read.

All right, questions still swirling around the death of Mississippi teenager Nolan Wells. Now attorneys for his family are taking new steps to preserve potential evidence.

And a nationwide warning after a cyber attack hits 30 water facilities in one state, the latest on the security threat.

Plus, a very substantial sandwich sets a new world record, what it took to make this meaty giant and what it takes to eat it too.

[08:10:00]

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BOLDUAN: This morning, cybersecurity experts are raising fresh alarm over potential cyber threats against U.S. critical infrastructure, urging local communities to take their water system controls offline. And here's why. Word out of Minnesota of a massive and coordinated cyber attack, officials there are now saying that hackers targeted more than 30 local water systems in Minnesota over the course of two days this past Sunday and Monday, hacking them through the online systems that manage operations.

Now, officials say the hackers went so far as to change passwords and lock out official personnel. They even disconnected the systems by changing IP addresses. The New York Times is reporting that local officials have said that the well and treatment plant in at least one city was temporarily offline on Monday.

[08:15:00] But the state says at this time, they are not aware of any active requests from Minnesota cities to have their residents modify their drinking water usage, meaning no reports yet that there's, you know, anything dangerous or unsafe about the water because of these hacks.

Joining us right now, CNN Senior Law Enforcement Analyst, Andy McCabe. Andy, this is something that you can be sure that Minnesota says they're in touch with all relevant authorities, especially the FBI for sure, to investigate this. What concerns you when you hear this about just, again, reminding us of the vulnerability of critical infrastructure in the United States, like when it comes to our water?

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Yes, so this is a really serious reminder of why we've been spending so much time and effort over the last decade trying to secure these elements of our critical infrastructure. So what's happening here is something they call programmable logic controllers have been targeted. These are essentially the kind of computer-driven brains that monitor the very physical aspects of a water system.

So they can actually change the flow rates, they can open or close valves, they can raise or lower the temperature, they can add or subtract or reduce chemicals put into the water. Those things are all monitored by these logic controllers and the logic controllers can make those changes in the system. Those controllers are, of course, connected to the internet so that they can be monitored and adjusted by water system administrators.

What the attackers have done here is gotten into the controllers through those internet connections. So CISA is advising all the cities to go back and check their systems to make sure that they are appropriately secured from that sort of intrusion. You can see the kind of chaos that could result if an adversary focused on really imposing costs and harm on American citizens.

If they were successful in an attack like this, we could be in for some serious trouble.

BOLDUAN: Yes, the fact that it happened over the course of two days, it means it wasn't a quick in and a quick out. I mean, this happened in 30 communities we're talking about. Are there immediate suspects here when something like this happens?

MCCABE: Well, you know, I guess the past is our best guide as to what might be happening now or in the future. And we do know one of the most likely suspects here is the government of Iran. We know this because they have a history of targeting water treatment, critical infrastructure facilities.

Back in 2016, the Justice Department indicted a number of Iranian hackers who had conducted all sorts of activity. But one of those hackers was specifically charged with unauthorized access to a protected system. He actually hacked his way into a dam in Rye Brook, New York and attempted to control what they call the sluice gate, which is essentially the controller of how much water comes over the dam. Now, in that case, that particular gate had been taken offline years before, so he wasn't able to accomplish his goals. But this is a pretty consistent issue for Iran, so I think they're probably the most likely suspect at this point, although we haven't heard a conclusive attribution from the government just yet.

BOLDUAN: Yes, definitely, I mean, so many questions raised. But what's happening in Minnesota is just one, you know, 30 communities, one state, and so quickly it can become such a scary situation. Andy, thank you so much.

Your perspective on this is so important, thank you -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Kate. Calls for a congressional investigation after the chilling allegations against Ohio Congressman Max Miller, what his ex-wife is saying he did to her and how he's responding.

And could we see a World Cup without Europe? Maybe. The new boycott after FIFA announced plans to inject private money into its tournaments.

[08:20:00]

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WHITFIELD: This morning, a team of lawyers for the family of Nolan Wells has subpoenaed multiple tech companies with hopes of preserving any social media and phone records possibly tied to the teen's death. Wells was found dead along the shoreline of Mississippi's Horn Island, nearly one month ago after a boating trip with friends. Yesterday, Wells' parents joined two other families who were also seeking answers in their son's deaths.

CNN's Ryan Young reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINE WONSLEY, NOLAN WELLS' MOTHER: It has been 27 days since we have been able to talk to our son, to hug him, to tell him we love him.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As Nolan Wells' family mourns, many questions are still swirling around their son's death. The 18-year-old went on a Fourth of July boat trip with friends to Horn Island in Mississippi. He never made it home. Wells' body was found two days later, faced down in the water near the shoreline of the island.

His friends say he stayed behind to talk to a girl, but his phone and keys were not found with him. His phone was later recovered at one of his friend's homes. Nolan Wells' parents, along with the families of two other young black teens, who say they died under suspicious circumstances, asked for more transparency.

ELMORE WONSLEY, NOLAN WELL'S FATHER: If Nolan was really your best friend or for the people who said that he was their friend, please come forward.

[08:25:00]

YOUNG (voice-over): The initial comment from the sheriff on July 6th said, quote, "No foul play was suspected" in Wells' death, which fueled anger on social media.

Initial results from an independent autopsy conducted by the family was deemed inconclusive because portions of Wells' body are still with the Mississippi State Medical Examiner's Office and toxicology reports are still pending. Investigators are also examining audio of an emergency call Wells' friends made while heading back to the mainland by boat, a recording that has gone viral.

RESPONDER: It looks like you're on Horn Island, correct? Are you on Horn Island?

CALLER: Yes, we are on Horn Island. Yes.

RESPONDER: All right. Is the both sinking or you have it aground?

CALLER: We are sinking, yes.

RESPONDER: Is it aground is the question.

CALLER: No. We're not aground. We're in --

RESPONDER: OK.

CALLER: -- at 17-foot of water. We are in 31-foot of water.

RESPONDER: All right. Have to ask. Where do you -- and what do you want to do? Do you want to be towed back?

CALLER: I want to get this boat unsank and towed back, yes.

YOUNG (voice-over): And Ben Crump said today they hire their own experts to review the background audio to see what might be useful to their investigation.

In addition to suffering a loss of their child, Wells' parents have been the targets of threats.

C. WONSLEY: At this point, we refuse to allow that negativity to come into our home, to come into our hearts, our minds. We will not pay that back to the people who are giving it to us.

YOUNG (voice-over): Then a heated moment when a reporter asked if attorney Ben Crump was just looking for money and fame.

MARC MORAL, PRESIDENT OF URBAN LEAGUE: That accusation doesn't deserve a response.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.

MORAL: It is -- it has no dignity -- UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.

MORAL: -- associated with someone standing up for children who have died. We fight for justice and someone suggests all we want is publicity.

YOUNG (voice-over): For Nolan's parents and the other parents that spoke out today, they're asking for just one thing.

C. WONSLEY: We need people who are there, right? We need people who are there who actually witnessed it. Those are the people we need to call.

But all we want are answers. That's it. We just want answers. That's all we've ever wanted. That's all we've asked for this entire time.

YOUNG: And Nolan Wells' family has been dealing with threats and online harassment. They're saying they're staying strong, especially for their two younger boys that they have still at home.

But you can only imagine what these three families are going through, hoping to get more publicity and hoping to get more answers from authorities as they continue to search for what they say hopefully is the truth.

Ryan Young, CNN, Nashville.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Yes, unimaginable. All right, up next, a major shakeup in Seattle's law enforcement leadership after facing scrutiny over their response to that mass shooting at a food festival last Sunday. Details straight ahead on what we're learning this morning.

Plus, new CNN reporting this morning on how the Trump administration says it plans to rebuild the system designed to protect U.S. elections after the Trump administration dismantled it.

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