Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Now: Senate Judiciary Convenes Ahead of Blanche Vote; Michigan Senate Battle Tests Democratic Party's Direction. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired August 04, 2026 - 09:00   ET

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

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Of course, ducking under that sign structure, probably the best miss of the day.

[09:00:07]

And I want you to listen now to the composure of the pilot, radioing the tower, the Pensacola International Airport. They were losing oil pressure, and that's critical for keeping the engine running. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PILOT: We are not making the airport we're going down on I-10.

PILOT: Tower can you still hear for 1622?

ATC: Number 62 I got you loud and clear, what do you need?

PILOT: Just want to let you know we are lined up with I-10, trying to avoid the cars.

ATC: 1622, roger, we're going to get everybody over there as fast as they can to help you out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: Federal Aviation Administration now investigating this. Unclear if the National Transportation Safety Board will get involved, since there was no serious damage to the plane, no injuries to the pilot and instructor on board, according to the FAA. The truck driver who shared that amazing dash camera video said this was incredibly lucky. He said he did not see the plane, the shadow of the plane. He would not have slowed down. It's one extra risk of landing on a highway, John.

A small plane's landing speed can be quite different than highway speed, which creates this whole other risk of collision on the ground, and people and cars have been hurt or killed by highway landings. In this case, luck was on the side of the student and instructor a better than textbook execution. Really, really well done.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, they're fine. No damage to the plane. No damage even to the sign structure there. Just some extraordinary.

MUNTEAN: Yeah, that's important, too, I guess. BERMAN: Pete Muntean, thank you very much for that.

Brand-new hour of "CNN News Central" starts right now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, we are standing by this hour for a big vote on the Hill. Todd Blanche's nomination, much discussed, much put off, and now it could be happening for him to become permanent attorney general. A big moment and a big vote in committee is about to happen.

A man now charged with arson in connection with one of the three wildfires just devastating Spokane, Washington. Entire communities, we're told, have just been ravaged, zero percent contained, and the fires are growing.

And a second bison encounter in Yellowstone National Park, this time the close call with a child.

I'm Kate Bolduan with Sara Sidner and John Berman. This is "CNN News Central."

BERMAN: All right, happening right now. The Senate Judiciary Committee scheduled to go into session. They were supposed to be in at 9:00. It's 9:02. So it could be happening to vote on the nomination for Todd Blanche to become attorney general.

Oh, I understand these are live pictures you're looking at right now of said committee. The chairman, Charles Grassley, there. The only piece of business we know they're talking about today is Todd Blanche, so this could move very quickly, and he is expected to get through committee.

Now, the two Republican holdouts, John Cornyn and Thom Tillis, signal support. This after Blanche released two pieces of paper that he says rescinded President Trump's anti-weaponization fund.

Now, I should note, many if not most legal analysts note that this paper is not really legally binding and doesn't change the situation. I want to get right to CNN's Katelyn Polantz, who is watching this committee vote and his progress through the Senate.

Katelyn?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: John, Todd Blanche, an enormous day for him. This is the former personal lawyer to Donald Trump in the two cases where Trump became a criminal defendant and won those cases. Blanche, his first foray into the Trump world, it was representing a guy named Paul Manafort, the former campaign chair in a state case.

He came out of the general large amount of big law opportunities and found his way into the Trump inner circle. He's been leading the Justice Department since the beginning of the Trump era of this presidency in a way where he's been managing day to day. He led the redaction process on the Epstein files, the release of those. He's also been managing the day-to-day business of the department as deputy attorney general, as there have been a number of cases against Trump's political enemies. The White House likes him quite a lot, so much so that Blanche in recent days did whatever he could to make this nomination go through to become the formally the attorney general. He no longer wanted to be just the acting attorney general, nor did Donald Trump, his former personal client, want that.

What he did to achieve this now to get through this committee vote. Now, this isn't the full Senate vote, but this is the crucial vote here in committee. He won over two Republicans who were holdouts for him. Those two Republicans, John Cornyn and Thom Tillis, both senators on their way out.

They had an issue with something Blanche did in May in line with Donald Trump. That was sign off on the anti-weaponization fund that would establish a $1.8-billion-dollar pot of money for people that supported Trump, including potentially January 6 rioters.

[09:05:12]

Also, that settlement between Donald Trump and the government that Blanche signed off on gave Trump sweeping immunity like we have never seen before for a president from any sort of scrutiny in the future by the U.S. Government.

Blanche now in writing, though, to get to this moment in this vote after it's been on and off, he agreed to rescind formally the anti- weaponization fund and also has said at the Justice Department that that contract on immunity for Trump, it is limited. It is only limited to past issues of tax for Trump. So, now we do see him getting the votes.

But Donald Trump, he says he didn't know exactly what was in the deal. He really didn't see it himself, though. The White House has been in support of this deal that Blanche has made.

There could be more turns in this as he goes to a formal vote in the Senate, in the larger Senate. But this is an enormous day for Todd Blanche, a man who has long wanted to do this and stood by Donald Trump even when things looked the bleakest for the president between terms.

BERMAN: We're noting President Trump still says he likes the idea of the anti-weaponization fund. We'll see how that lands going forward with the full Senate.

Katelyn Polantz in Washington for us monitoring this, thank you so much.

Let's go to Kate?

BOLDUAN: It's me. It's me. Thanks, J.B. These cameras are so big.

Let's keep a close eye on the live picture from the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing meeting. You see Chuck Grassley, the chairman right there. He's -- they're going through -- they are going through some -- it's called executive time, executive meeting. They are going to continue to do that. But this we are standing by because then the senators will be voting and we are keeping a close watch and we'll bring that to you. But keeping a close eye on that.

As we keep a close eye on that, I will turn my eyes to CNN Senior Legal Analyst Ellie Honig, who's standing by with me.

Katelyn laid out kind of the road to here really well. And where we are in this moment is, according to Todd Blanche and according to, I guess, agreement from the White House, the fund that Democrats and Republicans have called a slush fund is gone and dead.

Is it fully dead, though? Because there's real questions around this still.

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Right. It's not fully dead. There are actually ways that January 6 rioters can still get paid. So, first of all, Todd Blanche has made clear that for his part, as far as DOJ is concerned, the fund is dead.

However, remember, there were two parties to that agreement. The way this agreement came about is it was a lawsuit, Donald Trump, private individual, against DOJ. And as of this point, only one side, DOJ, has said it's dead. Donald Trump publicly has said he wants it to survive.

So, --

BOLDUAN: And publicly said yesterday he doesn't even know really what they're talking, like really what was discussed in this memo. I haven't seen it.

HONIG: Exactly.

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

HONIG: And to that point, theoretically, Donald Trump could send his lawyers into court and say, hang on a second. We don't agree this thing is dead. We were part of the original agreement. Hold them to their original agreement. That has not happened, but the door is still open for that to happen.

Separate and apart from this whole fund, Kate, any person can still apply for what's called the Federal Tort Claims Act, can say I was wrong by the federal government, therefore I deserve to be paid. It's up to DOJ in the first instance whether to settle or whether the person can go ahead and sue.

And so, there is nothing at all stopping January six rioters, people convicted of violent crimes, from putting in, forget about the fund, just putting in through normal channels, in which case the decision whether to pay them will be up to Todd Blanche. He's been asked, will you pay these folks? And he has said, well, we'll take each case as it comes. He has not written it off.

BOLDUAN: And this is with or without the Anti-Weaponization Fund. HONIG: Right.

BOLDUAN: This was before the Anti-Weaponization Fund even, this avenue was there. So, that's why the two aspects of this, the audit immunity, the tax audit immunity, and this are both important aspects, because the Weaponization Fund got a lot of focus, but the tax immunity is a big part of this too.

HONIG: The tax immunity lives on unchanged. So, Blanche issued another document over the weekend clarifying what's in the tax immunity deal, but not rescinding it at all. And really all he did was say what was already in it, just in sort of more plain English.

So yes, Donald Trump will continue to get the benefit of this deal. Blanche clarified, and we knew this from the start, that it only provided coverage immunity for Trump up to the point of its signing, not moving forward. But still, that's a very big deal for anyone, anyone who's involved in business, anyone who has pending audits or disputes with the IRS.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, absolutely. All right. We're going to keep a close eye. Elie is here with us watching the Senate Judiciary Committee as they're going to be moving towards this critical first vote, first step for Todd Blanche to take on that permanent role as Attorney General. And we'll keep an eye and bring you the news when it comes.

Sara?

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. It is one of Kate's favorite days of the year because it is Election Day in America. Voters are at the polls in five states this morning.

These critical primaries could determine who controls the House and Senate and could have implications extending into the 2028 presidential election.

[09:10:04]

Now, at the center of all of this is Michigan's very heated Democratic Senate showdown. Four-term Congresswoman Haley Stevens and Abdul El- Sayed, a former public health official. They're going head-to-head in a race that's pitting moderates against progressives.

And exposing some deep divisions in the Democratic Party. CNN's Arlette Saenz is in D-Town, Motor City, you name it, she's in Detroit.

Arlette, what are you learning this morning?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, the Michigan Senate primary could soon offer a window into the direction that Democratic voters want to see their party take. Not just in this election, but also potentially for 2028 and beyond.

Voters have been filing into polling stations across the state for a little over two hours. Here at this polling location in Detroit, the voters we've spoken to have really been mixed. There have been several El-Sayed supporters, the more progressive candidate in this race.

And we've talked to a few who are backing the moderate Congresswoman Haley Stevens. But take a listen to one El-Sayed supporter and how he talked about his vote. And also how he would still support Stevens if El-Sayed -- or still support Stevens if she does win the primary despite backing El-Sayed today. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EDDIE HEJKA, DEMOCRATIC VOTER: He wants Medicare for all, so I'll vote for anybody who's in a fight for Medicare for all. Because I don't understand how we can't do it when, you know, dozens of other nations have done so. I mean, if Haley Stevens wins, I'm not going to be heartbroken. I don't like Mike Rogers because I know he won't vote for the -- you know, the needs of the average American, especially healthcare, you know, living wage that I support. I just think Abdul will be a stronger fighter for that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, whoever wins the Democratic primary is expected to face off against former Congressman, the Republican, Mike Rogers. Who actually ran for Senate in 2024, but lost to the Democratic Senator, Elissa Slotkin. And this race in Michigan could very well help determine control of the U.S. Senate next year.

Democrats must hold onto this seat in Michigan. Plus, flip four Republican-held seats across the country if they want to win back the majority. Really highlighting the high stakes, not just of this primary, but also the general election battle to come in November.

SIDNER: We will wait and see what happens today. The first steps towards that. Arlette Saenz, thank you so much.

And tonight, CNN will have all the results from primary races in Michigan and across the country. Coverage beginning at 7 p.m. on CNN and the CNN app.

John?

BERMAN: All right. With us now is Congressman Brad Schneider, a Democrat from Illinois. Thanks so much for being with us this morning.

Look, you talked to "Axios" about this sort of rift within the Democratic Party where you have some progressives running against more moderates. In some cases, you have people primary and sitting incumbents. And you issued a warning based on history. You said, quote, we saw it in Missouri. We saw it in Indiana more than a decade ago, said Brad Schneider, the chair of the center-left New Democratic Coalition.

GOP candidates who were off-putting and held positions that don't reflect the majority of the state helped Democrats win two seats that I don't think we would have won otherwise.

So, what was the message you were trying to send there? REP. BRAD SCHNEIDER (D-IL): Well, I think what we saw a decade ago is Republicans were electing candidates that didn't reflect the priorities or values of the majority of their states at the Senate level. I think, you know, I'm looking at Michigan 7 very closely. We have two great candidates in Bridget Brink and Matt Maasdam.

Will Lawrence is favored this morning to win. I'm hopeful that one of the other two come out because they have a great chance of beating Tom Barrett. I don't think Will Lawrence presents a case, makes the probe or fits the profile that's going to unseat Tom Barrett in a district that is critical for us to flip the House.

What New Dems are doing is trying to elect candidates across the country. And we have 36 or 35 candidates that we've endorsed across the country who are winning or leading in races that Republicans currently hold that we need to get the majority. And that's what I'm focused on.

BERMAN: What do you mean the physical profile for Will Lawrence in that district?

SCHNEIDER: Well, again, he comes from the Sunrise Movement. He is to the far extreme left. The primary electorate is different than the general electorate. And in the general campaign, people are looking for folks who are going to bring real solutions grounded in reality that present the opportunities for them to make their lives better. This is what the New Dems are talking about.

We rolled out our affordability agenda in January, and that's been one of the leading guideposts as the Democrats have put together our platform going into November, we're taught we rolled out our New Dem American Promise, our governing agenda that talks about giving people a chance to not just make ends meet but to get ahead, to plan for their future, to provide for their families, to secure their retirement.

[09:15:22]

Everyone in this country should have quality, affordable health care. It needs to be a system that ensures better health care for all, more accessible, more affordable, and more sustainable over the long run. And that's what we're working on. Those are messages I think that resonate in general elections, and that's what we have to do to win.

BERMAN: How much will you support candidates like Will Lawrence or other so-called progressive candidates around the country if they do win these primaries? How much will you support them in the general election?

SCHNEIDER: My focus is on flipping red seats blue, making sure Democrats get the majority that we elect Hakeem Jeffries speaker. And everyone who's willing to help us do that, I'm committed to doing -- to achieving that goal. I believe we can flip a lot of seats. I think the American people are frustrated with an administration that has put their own interests ahead of the people's interests, that have lined their pockets with extraordinary corruption unlike anything we've seen, and are leading the country down the wrong path. Just ask anybody about that.

New Dems have laid out our American promise that discusses our governing agenda, sets a course not just for this year but into the future. And those who are willing to support it, we're going to work hard and make sure the Democrats are the majority come January.

BERMAN: Just to be clear though, in some of these races you think there are Democrats who are making your chances worse to do that.

SCHNEIDER: Oh, absolutely. And I think you look where DSA is winning in seats that are deep, deep blue. These are messages that don't carry in the swing districts. In the purple districts like I represent, I won my first race by one, lost the second one to the same guy by two, and won the rubber match by five. We've been governing in a way that I now win by double digits because my district knows I serve their interests.

BERMAN: Congressman Brad Schneider, thanks for coming on this morning.

We want to go back to Capitol Hill. The Senate Judiciary Committee is meeting on the confirmation of Todd Blanche. This is Democratic Senator Dick Durbin.

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): -- telegraph, that's his plan. This is the exact issue that the two senators identified as a basis for their objection to his nomination, Blanche's nomination.

To my Republican colleagues, you gave Mr. Blanche the benefit of the doubt when you supported his nomination to be Deputy Attorney General. Seventeen months later, there is no doubt where his loyalty will lie. Take a look at this promise. Unprecedented, I believe, in the history of the United States. That somehow Mr. Blanche engineered an agreement, an understanding, a settlement, you name it, that said that Donald Trump will never be held responsible for any violations of tax crimes before the date of this document that was signed.

Saying that the President can commit any crime in the tax code and not be held personally responsible? Does that sound like he is being held to an accountability that we all expect of every single American?

Instead of serving the American people and upholding the rule of law and the Constitution, Mr. Blanche has aided and abetted the most corrupt administration in the history of the United States. Prior to this hearing, Mr. Blanche told me he, quote, "made a mistake," close quote, by creating the January 6 slush fund.

Where did he say it? In my office, with witnesses, my staff, to what I'm about to say. When I asked him about this under oath, Mr. Blanche falsely claimed that he never made this statement. That's not true.

Mr. Blanche's willingness to casually lie under oath about a statement he made in a room full of witnesses shows the lengths he will go to avoid offending President Trump. Why doesn't he want to concede he made a mistake? We all do that from time to time, right?

No, no, no. Manly mega-leaders do not admit a mistake or use the word sorry. So, he was held accountable by the President.

Mr. Blanche has claimed he recused himself from matters involving President Trump in his personal capacity. Yet he personally signed the agreement releasing President Trump, his family, and businesses from tax liability.

When asked how DOJ justified the slush fund's outrageous $1.776 billion price tag, Mr. Blanche refused to answer. He shows contempt for this committee and for our history by refusing to admit that the sum was chosen to signal support for the January 6th rioters, and many of us remember when they attacked and invaded the Capitol. Those rioters shamelessly invoked 1776 to compare themselves to American revolutionaries. Give me a break.

[09:20:08]

Mr. Blanche told me that a ruling against the settlement was, quote, "a hit piece" personally directed at him. This is no surprise coming from the man who declared that the Justice Suburban is, quote, "at war," close quote, with the courts.

These are not the words of someone who would serve our nation as a top law enforcement official. One of Mr. Blanche's first acts as Deputy Attorney General was to issue a memo gutting DOJ's crypto crime enforcement, which allowed the President to rake in $1.4 billion in a crypto windfall last year, even as Americans reported billions of dollars in cryptocurrency fraud losses. The President did just fine, thank you.

Meanwhile, Mr. Blanche still has, through his children and grandchildren, $150,000 in crypto assets.

Last year, under Mr. Blanche's leadership, more than 1,000 FBI personnel were pulled off key law enforcement priorities. What was a higher priority than their oath they've taken to uphold the law?

They were directed to flag Epstein records and look for any mention of Donald Trump. Mr. Blanche refused to tell me who gave this order, but former Attorney General Bondi made it clear, saying Blanche was, quote, in charge of the Epstein files.

And when the Epstein Files Transparency Act forced DOJ to release the files, not only did the Department delay reviewing and producing it, it recklessly failed to redact hundreds of survivors' personal information, victimizing them all over again. And they testified before this committee under oath to that fact.

Meanwhile, the names of powerful Epstein cronies remain protected, in clear violation of the law. When scrutiny of the Epstein cover-up intensified, Mr. Blanche participated in secret meetings in the White House Situation Room, of all places, to strategize about protecting Trump, not Epstein survivors.

Mr. Blanche volunteered to interview convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, a transparent attempt to exonerate President Trump. Just days later, she was transferred to a minimum-security camp, which is unheard of, unprecedented for serious sex offenders like her.

Mr. Blanche agreed to meet with Epstein survivors after months of pleas, only when his nomination was in jeopardy and a member of this committee said he wouldn't meet, wouldn't consider voting for him unless he met with these survivors. He finally met with them for almost an hour.

As one survivor, Dani Bensky, who testified before this committee said, the meeting was a box-checking exercise. Mr. Blanche refused to take accountability for redaction failures, and he wouldn't commit to following their suggested investigative leads.

It is clear that Mr. Blanche hopes to sweep the Epstein scandal under the rug. I thank those survivors for the courage they showed in this room, today and around the country, for continuing to advocate for survivors and speak truth to power.

Mr. Blanche has played a key role in terminating thousands of Department of Justice officials. The chairman talked about his law enforcement record.

Let's look at it. The goal is clear. Replace these DOJ officials with unqualified mega-loyalists who will rubber-stamp President Trump's corruption. Under Mr. Blanche's leadership, more than 16,000 employees have left the Department -- 16,000 employees have left the Department of Justice, including more than a fourth of its attorneys. Many have been fired for declining to initiate vindictive prosecutions or refusing to follow unethical orders, like career immigration litigator Erez Reuveni, who refused an order from Mr. Blanche's former law partner, Emil Bove, to lie in federal court.

Mr. Blanche bragged about firing career law enforcement officials simply because they were assigned to investigate President Trump's misconduct. Mr. Blanche is responsible for the Department losing thousands of years of law enforcement and national security expertise. This makes all of us less safe.

Consider this quote: "On Blanche's watch, the Trump DOJ has pursued an unabashedly vindictive agenda of leveraging the government's awesome prosecutorial powers and its public trust against the president's political enemies."

These aren't my words. This is the conclusion of "The National Review," the leading conservative publication founded by William Buckley. This isn't about Democrats versus Republicans. This is about rule of law versus lawlessness.

[09:25:04]

The attorney general --

BOLDUAN: All right, we'll continue to listen right now. The top Democrat on Senate Judiciary Dick Durbin speaking as the debate continues ahead of this key and critical committee vote when it comes to the nomination of Todd Blanche to be the permanent Attorney General of the United States. We'll bring more of this to you as the news happens.

Also ahead, a man under arrest and suspected of arson in connection with one of those devastating wildfires in Washington state. The fires still growing, thousands evacuated. And for hundreds able to return, they're finding ashes where their homes once stood.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: All right, so we want to take you back to the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. This meeting of the senators, this debate that has been ongoing ahead of the vote on Todd Blanche's nomination to be the permanent Attorney General.

John Cornyn, one of the two Republican holdouts that had held up this vote for a week now and has been complaining for weeks, has now just spoken in.