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Trump Calls Rep. Miller A Good Person Amid Abuse Allegations; Trump Give Iran a Last Chance to Sign Agreement with U.S.; Iran in Talks with Oman to Create Temporary Strait of Hormuz Route; Winds Ease in Spokane, But Dry Heat Keeps Fire Risk High; Furious Trump is Considering Removing Pirro Over Reflecting Pool Filing. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired August 03, 2026 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: ... saying he's going to look into it. That they were just accusations. He made it fairly clear that he does not want to be involved in anything going on with these accusations against Miller or anything between Marino and Miller. Just take a listen to what he said here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's a very sad thing. I know Max, he's a good person. I mean, I always thought he was a very good person.

And I'm going to let the families figure that out. You know, those families, I know they're working on it. It's a very sad thing, especially when you know somebody so well to be going through that.

But it's accusations. And I'm going to let them figure that out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, that answer alone is going to be very disappointing to several of Trump's allies who are trying to push the White House, push President Trump to get involved, to actually ask Miller not to run in the race. He would have to withdraw his name by Wednesday. It doesn't sound as though President Trump has any inkling to do that right now at all.

BRIAN ABEL, CNN HOST: All right, Kristen Holmes for us at the White House on some of the comments made in the Oval Office. But there was also a lot of talk about Iran. And we want to break that down as well.

Kristen Fontenrose is joining us, former senior director for the Gulf National Security Council. And Alan Eyre, former member of U.S. negotiating team with Iran under President Obama. And, Alan, I'll go to you first. We heard in the Oval Office there the president say this is a last chance for Iran. I feel like we've heard similar rhetoric before.

Are we getting closer at this point to that being truly a last chance? ALAN EYRE, MEMBER OF U.S. NEGOTIATING TEAM WITH IRAN UNDER PRESIDENT OBAMA: No, I think we're caught in a doom loop. We've heard this many times before. President Trump has repeatedly threatened to annihilate Iran, to expand into civilian infrastructure.

And then he says, oh, in fact, we're on the verge of a great triumph. So I'm going to stand down for the moment. So I think this is just like every previous time.

And it's indication that the U.S. administration really is at an impasse and doesn't know what to do next.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: He is saying it's the last chance. I think a lot of people watching this completely agree with what you're saying, Alan. There's a feeling that what he's threatening doesn't really carry that weight, Kirsten.

He threatens these massive attacks and then pulls back on them. We saw that over the weekend. I mean, how are you seeing this moment and where we're actually headed and the kind of leverage that he has or does not have?

KIRSTEN FONTENROSE, FORMER SR. DIRECTOR FOR THE GULF, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: Remember that the strategy is to economically squeeze Iran with the naval blockade, not to necessarily arrive at a deal immediately and not necessarily to demolish them militarily. So he has to buy the time to apply that squeeze. And what you're watching happen is less about the mediators activity behind the scenes, which is significant.

It's about what each side is intending through their messages right now. The president needs oil prices to stay low. He's under domestic international pressure to do that.

That buys him time. As long as oil prices maybe rise a little, come down a little, markets maybe get a little upset, then they calm. That buys him that economic squeeze time.

Iran knows that. They know about the pressure he's under. So for them, they want to issue these ultimatums.

We are not negotiating. There are no talks happening. They're trying to scare the markets.

They're trying to spike oil prices. They're trying to panic economic markets because they know that makes that pressure on him worse. They think that will drive him to a deal.

He thinks the ultimatums about the military end is coming are what will drive Iranian leaders to a deal because they are not concerned about the welfare of the country or the people. We've established that through ongoing operations. They're really concerned about their hold on power and their ability to leverage it.

And so if he erases all of their military power or he goes in after things like the electricity grid, then they no longer have the reins of power. They can no longer exert pressure on their populations. So they're both saying we want a way out of this.

But we think the way out is to make the other one bend the knee economically.

ABEL: And who has the top there? Because Iran also strategically is not willing to let go of control of the strait, it seems. Although there's that conversation between Iran and Oman, it's unclear whether that conversation is truly going to be fruitful, especially for other U.S. allies in the region who allegedly called the president asking for him to not attack Iran again this time around over the weekend. So where does that stand? Does Iran basically have hostage of U.S. allies right now with the strait?

FONTENROSE: Not necessarily hostage. Remember, it's not necessarily in the U.S. disinterest of the administration to have them call and make that request, because being able to say you backed off of a military operation to buy time for a deal gives you more time when that economic squeeze is taking place, is exerting its impact on the Iranian economy.

ABEL: Makes you look diplomatic.

FONTENROSE: Makes you look diplomatic. Well, now he is. He's saying we're open to this deal.

We want the negotiations to happen this afternoon. Is Iran willing to do it?

[14:35:00]

So it puts them in that seat where they are now under international pressure to continue those talks, because if they decide not to, the U.S. can say we were pushed to this military decision because they would not make a deal. And they were continuing to suffocate the international economy with their insistence on controlling the strait.

KEILAR: How are you seeing the issue of the strait right now, Alan, where you have Iran denying it was negotiating as Trump is really trying to say, yes, they're spending hours negotiating, but Iran saying they're in talks with Oman to establish a safe temporary route for vessels through the strait. And then you see Saudi Arabia looking for workarounds also to deal with the Houthis. How are you seeing this?

EYRE: Well, I think in this case, Iran is to be believed. They've realized that it makes no sense to negotiate with the U.S. because the U.S., in their mind, can't be counted on to deliver on their commitments. So the main negotiations going on now are between Iran and the Omanis with the Omanis consulting with the other Gulf countries.

But at least what's clear to me is that this administration doesn't do diplomacy. It doesn't have the foreign policy apparatus. It's too internally inconsistent. So it's outsourced diplomacy to others, to Pakistan and Qatar in the beginning. And now it's wanting to see how the Omanis play out in these negotiations with Iran over the strait. But the key issue, the only issue, is getting the strait open as much as possible, as quickly as possible.

Because as Kirsten said, I agree 100 percent, it's a two clocks issue. Pressure on Iranian ports, pressure on the Strait of Hormuz. Unfortunately, this is the one where the alarm's going to go off first.

Pressure on the strait.

KEILAR: Certainly is. Alan, Kirsten, thank you so much to both of you. Really appreciate it.

Still to come, we did just get a new update on those devastating wildfires in the Spokane area in Washington state. Stay with us.

[14:40:00]

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KEILAR: We're back now with the latest on the wildfire emergency in Washington State. Moments ago, officials gave an update on the fires that are raging there out of control, including three that are still at zero percent containment near Spokane. 65,000 families have been forced to evacuate the area.

More than 700 homes have been destroyed. One official just explained how he's working to make sure that everyone got out safe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF JOHN NOWELS, SPOKANE COUNTY, WA: We had about 290 9-1-1 calls, broad ranges, not necessarily missing persons, of people we felt we should try to locate. We got through all but 14 of them yesterday. We were able to locate people by phone.

I do not want people to think that we have 14 missing people. These are people who may have called for help or for help evacuating, and many of them likely did get evacuated. You know, with poor cell phone coverage, people's cell phone batteries die or they get to some place where they do find shelter, and we haven't been able to reach them by phone.

So that's the task for, at least in Spokane County, for those 14 people that we haven't just been able to talk to in person.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: And I'm joined now by Tom Stokesberry. He is the lead spokesperson for the California Complex Incident Management Team 7. He is in Spokane, Washington right now, working on all of these issues that they're having there in the area. Tom, thanks for being with us. Can you just give us a sense of what all of your folks are seeing there on the ground, how much these fires are under control or might come under control soon?

TOM STOKESBERRY, LEAD SPOKESPERSON, CALIFORNIA COMPLEX INCIDENT MANAGEMENT TEAM 7: Yes, thank you for having me. So right now on the Spokane area fires, we have three fires. We have the Fairview, we have the Old Trails, and we have the Autumn Lane.

The Fairview and the Old Trails fire, those increased in acreage a little bit, but that was just due to the more accurate mapping that we had overnight with infrared, so we have a better idea of what we're looking at. We still have some interior heat, but the fire is moderated in those two fires. But we still have resources throughout those perimeters, making sure that those hot spots don't throw embers, get a gust of wind, and impact another structure.

So we have structure protection groups in there, a multitude of resources. We're up to 920 firefighters on this incident, and that number's looking to double in the next two to three days. For the Autumn Lane fire, that fire actually increased about 20 acres overnight, and that was due to the active fire front that we have on that.

We still have an active firefight happening there, but we have some of the most qualified firefighters, hotshot crews, aerial resources engaging in that fire as we speak.

KEILAR: You're looking at almost 1,000 firefighters and looking to double that here soon. Can you tell us where you're drawing resources from? You're pulling in, obviously, from outside of the state.

STOKESBERRY: We're pulling in firefighters nationally. We have a task force from Utah here. We have the El Dorado hotshots from the El Dorado National Forest here.

We have a task force from the Six Rivers National Forest here in California. We have resources from all over the country showing up and more to come.

KEILAR: So this is dangerous. Obviously, it's dangerous for people. You've had them evacuate.

Officials have had them evacuate, and we're seeing the hundreds of homes that have just been decimated here. This is also extremely dangerous for the Wildland firefighters who are there on scene trying to get these contained.

[14:45:00]

Talk to us about the conditions that they're facing and what's being done to manage that issue, that safety issue.

STOKESBERRY: Yes, so our Wildland firefighters train mostly predominantly for Wildland fires, but we do cross-train into the Wildland-Urban Interface. We do that because over the last 10, 15 years, the Urban Interface is starting to encroach into the Wildland, and we have a lot more of those Urban Interface fires.

So the dangers that the firefighters face from Wildland to the Urban Interface are vastly different. When you're in an Urban Interface, you're talking about different types of fuel types, and when I say fuel types, I mean what is ready to be consumed by the fire. So depending on what the house is built out of, that could be a hazmat, are there propane tanks in the area, any other kind of hazmat that might affect the firefighters.

So a lot of different dangers when it comes to the Urban-Wildland Interface. It just makes it a more complex fire for us to engage, but we're trained and we're here, and we're ready to support this community and get them back on the path. It's going to be a long path but get them started back in the right path.

So our primary function right now and goal is fire suppression, full suppression strategy, and then we're going to move into helping this community rebuild.

KEILAR: Yes, I mean, just the pictures that we're seeing coming from Spokane and what folks are dealing with, it's hard to believe there. We're also learning, Tom, that at least 26 times unauthorized drones have flown into restricted airspace over the wildfires, and this has actually forced firefighters to ground critical aerial resources firefighting aircraft, helicopters, air tankers, things that are so important right now. Can you talk more about the issues that you're seeing there and who might be behind this?

STOKESBERRY: Yes, right now we have a lot of aircraft available to us to use, and that aircraft, that aerial resources that we use, work in conjunction with our firefighters on the ground. It's really an effort, and they really complement each other. So when we put a VLAD in the air, which stands for very large air tanker that drops the retardant or the super scoopers that we have access to, we were flying them yesterday, we're going to fly them again today, or even our helicopter taking the bucket drops, the more precision drops down in the ravines.

These assets cannot fly when we have a drone incursion over the -- what we would call a TFR, which is a temporary flight restricted area. So those are put in place to protect our firefighters in the air. If you recall just last year on the Palisades fire, we had a multitude of incursions, including one that struck one of our tankers and put a very large hole in the wing.

So we're going to make sure that our aerial firefighters are safe. So again, I asked all day yesterday, I'm going to ask again, please reframe from flying your personal drones in the temporary flight restricted area. It's really hindering the fire suppression efforts.

KEILAR: Yes, that needs to be heard loud and clear. Tom Stokesberry, thank you so much for being with us. We wish you and all of those who are out there on the lines fighting these fires a lot of luck and some improved weather to deal with this.

Thank you. STOKESBERRY: Thank you.

KEILAR: Still to come, President Trump pushing back on his own pick to prosecute alleged reflecting pool vandals. Inside the rift between the White House and Jeanine Pirro.

[14:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ABEL: Moments ago, President Trump lashing out at U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro after she asked a judge to drop vandalism charges against a former Olympian and the DOJ admitted that the reflecting pool's peeling liner was not the result of vandalism but instead of a, quote, hasty and botched renovation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Frankly, I think she choked because the judge was really vicious. Instead of going after the people that did it, the judge went after her and went after her department. And I guess she choked.

I don't know what the hell happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: CNN's Alayna Treene is live at the White House and he was not mincing words saying that Jeanine Pirro choked, Alayna. So this divide seems to be getting further and further between these two.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Oh, absolutely. Brian, I've been speaking with different officials today including -- two people who are familiar with many of the conversations he's had about Pirro throughout the weekend following that court filing. And I'm told, actually, by two people familiar with these talks that the president is seriously considering removing Jeanine Pirro from her post as the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. Of course, this comes, as you mentioned, Brian, after the Justice Department had said in a court filing on Friday that they believe that the flaws to the renovation that happened at the reflecting pool was the result of, as you mentioned, a hasty and botched renovation rather than vandalism as we have heard from the president himself and the Secretary of Interior, Doug Burgum. Now, I'm told that the president is absolutely furious with Pirro. You could actually see that during his comments in the Oval Office.

I was told this morning that he was furious all weekend with Pirro. But it really, I think, spilled into public view just moments ago when he said that he believes she choked.

[14:55:00]

He also said that she, quote, folded like an umbrella when it came to this case. Now, I'm also told that the president felt that he was blindsided by this court filing on Friday. The sources I spoke with told me, essentially, that he was not given a heads-up prior to this filing.

I'm also told that the president spoke with Pirro about this on Saturday. One of the officials I spoke with, a senior administration official, they said that their conversation wasn't pretty. So this all comes, as we know, that the president has really been heavily fixated, Brian, on everything that's been going on with the reflecting pool at the Lincoln Memorial and, again, really coming out over and over to assert that there was vandalism that destroyed it.

It had nothing to do with the construction efforts to redo the lining on that pool. I'd remind you, we also heard the president shortly after this filing saying that he 100 percent disagreed with Pirro. That was something he said over the weekend.

So very strongly upset about what had happened with Pirro with that court filing, and I'm told so much so that he is considering removing her from her role -- Brian.

ABEL: All right, Alayna Treene for us at the White House. Alayna, thank you.

And a new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts after a quick break.

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