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Soon: Senate Panel Votes On Holding Fauci In Contempt Of Congress; El-Sayed Fires Back After Trump's Attacks; Trump Denies Munitions Shortage Despite Reports Of Depleted Stockpile. Aired 7:30- 8a ET

Aired August 06, 2026 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:30:20]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: One hour from now a Republican-led Senate committee is set to vote on whether to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress.

And there's a new twist in this drama. Senator Ron Johnson now says that he has obtained a copy of Fauci's phone as part of his subcommittee's investigation into the doctor who helped lead the nation's response to the COVID pandemic. It's apparently a copy of the data on the phone that Fauci used during his time as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. And Republicans think it could offer new evidence for their investigation into Fauci's actions during the pandemic and the response, of course.

This is also separate from the doctor's diary (audio gap) to accuse Dr. Fauci of using his position to enrich himself during the pandemic. Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right more than 100 times during last week's Senate hearing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, PHYSICIAN, FORMER DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Under the advice of my attorneys, I will invoke my right under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution to refrain from answering your questions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Joining me right now is CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig for more on this.

Elie, Sen. Paul says his position is that because Dr. Fauci got a preemptive pardon from President Biden on his way out that he does not have the right to invoke the Fifth Amendment as he did more than 100 times.

Is there anything to that?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR, FORMER ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: So here's the problem with Sen. Paul's position. Doctor Fauci or any person can still take the fifth for any exposure they might have outside of the scope.

I think there's a couple of things. It only covers one federal (audio gap) crime. There have been various state level attorney general investigations of Dr. Fauci.

The other thing is that pardon was issued on January 19, 2025. It only covers any potential federal crimes from 2014 up until that date in January 2025.

BOLDUAN: Um-hum.

HONIG: And so if Dr. Fauci can say well, I have a legitimate fear of being prosecuted for something I did after that date, January 2025, then he can take the fifth on that basis too.

So I think Sen. Paul -- he's sort of obfuscating here. He's being very general. But if you look at it more specifically, Dr. Fauci, I believe, definitely does have exposure outside of the pardon and therefore he can take the fifth on that basis.

BOLDUAN: What then are you expecting to see in this hearing and to have happen today?

HONIG: Well, there will be a show for sure. I think --

BOLDUAN: Welcome to Capitol Hill.

HONIG: Right, exactly. Welcome to the U.S. Senate.

I think Sen. Paul is going to stress the need for Dr. Fauci's testimony but, of course, that doesn't overcome the Fifth Amendment.

Another point that Sen. Paul has made in his resolution is he argues Dr. Fauci has waived -- given away his right to take the fifth because he made that introductory opening statement before he took the fifth.

BOLDUAN: Um-hum.

HONIG: It was about two minutes long.

BOLDUAN: Um-hum.

HONIG: And there is law saying that if you directly address a topic, you can't then take the fifth when you're questioned on that topic. I don't think that's going to apply here, however.

If you look at Dr. Fauci's statement it was two minutes long. It was very general. It was about the reasons he's taking the fifth. It wasn't about any of the substance that he is being questioned on.

So again, watch for Sen. Paul and others to argue that Dr. Fauci, even if he does have some Fifth Amendment right, they'll argue he's giving it away. I think that's wrong but that'll be the argument you hear today.

BOLDUAN: What happens if this goes to the Justice Department? Do you think there is a chance of a successful prosecution on this issue?

HONIG: It's a great question. I would never prosecute it because you have to prove your case as a prosecutor beyond a reasonable doubt. So even if there is some gray area, even if it's 60-40, 50-50, whether he could take his Fifth Amendment rights, you're not going to win a criminal prosecution 60-40 or 50-50. You need to show beyond a reasonable doubt that he had no right to take the fifth.

What will this DOJ do is a separate question. We've seen time and again they've brought politically motivated cases and lost --

BOLDUAN: Um-hum.

HONIG: -- many of them. But important to know the decision whether to bring this charge falls to the D.C. U.S. attorney -- right now is Jeanine Pirro who is in a tough spot with the president after the reflecting pool debacle. So what will her incentive be? Will she feel incentivized like I have to bring this to please the president -- I don't want to displease him again -- or will she look at the law as it is?

BOLDUAN: Or will she bring a stack of evidence like she did to say there's no case here, so I can't bring a case here?

HONIG: Perhaps. We'll see.

BOLDUAN: Let's see.

It's good to see you, Elie.

HONIG: Thanks, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Much to come in, like, one hour from now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Abdul El-Sayed, a lovely gentleman. He's a man of hate and now he's going around saying no, I love everybody. I love -- he doesn't love everybody. Put him in office and you're going to find out what he loves. When I watch Abdul, he's full of shit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:35:05]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, you heard it there yourself. President Trump commenting on Abdul El-Sayed after he won Michigan's Democratic Senate primary. Overnight, right here on CNN to Kaitlan Collins, El-Sayed responded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ABDUL EL-SAYED, (D) MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: So at the end of the day, you know, I invite the president to focus on what I'm saying. I want to get money out of politics and put money in your pocket, and pass Medicare for All. I'm looking forward to tying Mike Rogers to Donald Trump all day, every day. But I do agree with the part where he says I'm a lovely gentleman.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: With us now is Spectrum News political anchor Errol Louis. Great to see you, Errol. Also, USA Today White House correspondent Francesca Chambers. Great to see you as well.

Errol, you have the president and others calling Abdul El-Sayed an extremist. You have some Republicans starting to use his full name, Abdulrahman, you know, El-Sayed like they do Barack Hussein Obama.

What do you see shaping up here?

ERROL LOUIS, POLITICAL ANCHOR, SPECTRUM NEWS, HOST, "THE BIG DEAL WITH ERROL LOUIS": Well, if you are going to try and pit prejudice versus the pocketbook, the pocketbook is exactly where El-Sayed wants to be. He wants to talk about the dollar concerns that are motivating voters and have been for the last couple of cycles. I think we're going to see it play out again in the midterms. It's exactly where he wants -- he's getting the race that he wants, and Donald Trump seems unaware that he's playing right into the strategy of the Democratic nominee.

BERMAN: And -- but, Francesca, there are reports overnight that AIPAC spent a lot of money to defeat Abdul El-Sayed in the primary and may spend in the general election to defeat him as well. And he's just happy to say whenever asked that he does not support selling arms to Israel. He does not support the Israeli government.

How much of an issued do you think that will be in a general election?

FRANCESCA CHAMBERS, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, USA TODAY (via Webex by Cisco): He's been a vocal critic of the Israeli government. I mean, that's widely known and that's well-known. And he's called the attacks that President Trump and others have launched as Islamophobia, in his words, in another interview yesterday.

Look, Republicans are certainly concerned about this race. You had Vice President JD Vance say that he could even be the next President of the United States as Republicans attack a broad range of Democrats who are running this cycle as democratic socialists, whether they identify that way or not in these races.

And when you look at Michigan, Cook Political Report rates this as a toss-up race at this point in a cycle where Republicans are facing increasing heat to maintain the majority as Democrats, you know, have more and more opportunities across these battleground states to pick up seats.

BERMAN: So Errol, overnight, Sen. Katie Britt from Alabama came out and said she thought that Republican Congressman Max Miller should drop out of the race and should resign. He's running for reelection in Ohio and he's been accused of domestic abuse. He denies that. He did that remarkable interview with Jake Tapper, which has been -- you know, a lot of -- even Republicans behind the scenes will say it was a crazy interview.

But there aren't that many Republicans who have come forward -- elected Republicans -- and publicly said he should drop out, including -- you know, Mike Johnson hasn't said it. He's basically said, "I haven't spoken to Max about this in the last few days. Of course, I will. There's all sorts of domestic events going on with 435 members of Congress all the time. It's not my business to get engaged in it."

Why haven't more Republicans come out?

LOUIS: I think this is the kind of thing they want to stay away from. It's almost like a mini version of the Epstein files. You will only get dirt on yourself. You can either be accused of betraying your party at a time when they actually need to pull together, but before a tough midterm, or you'll be accused of betraying all of the values of the people who voted you in.

And this is a case where Max Miller -- I mean, he is trying to do what only Donald Trump prominently --

BERMAN: Yeah.

LOUIS: -- has done over the last few years, which is to get away with outrageous conduct that morally would sink any other politician. Max Miller is not a Donald Trump. I don't know if he's going to get away with it.

BERMAN: What's interesting, Francesca, is I've had Republicans tell me that Donald Trump, himself, has frozen the response here by not coming out and saying Max Miller should drop out. There are Republicans, in a way, who are scared to come out and publicly say he should.

What do you think about that?

CHAMBERS: Well, Ohio is another one of these toss-up states in the United States and this is -- this is very, very important and relevant as we talk about these various races across the country because Republicans down ballot are in a situation where, you know, the House is very close this cycle and the Senate is very close this cycle.

In Ohio, you have this Senate race that's very competitive. It's former Vice President JD Vance's seat on the ballot. You have a sitting U.S. senator whose daughter is involved in these allegations against Max Miller as well. And so it's a very complicated picture --

BERMAN: Um-hum.

CHAMBERS: -- politically for Republicans this cycle and looking to President Trump, as you said, to weigh in here and help them sort it out.

BERMAN: Errol, the subject of the power of the president. There's a report in The Washington Post overnight that President Trump is saying behind the scenes that he wants JD Vance to be the Republican nominee for president next time.

[07:40:00]

The quote from the Post is, "President Donald Trump recently told donors he wants to see his vice president win the 2028 presidential election -- a sign that he is open to publicly backing JD Vance, even as some advisers caution that Trump has yet to settle firmly on a successor."

My question here is if he does back Vance, is this thing just done? Is this a primary of one person? And do Republicans want this when they have a president with an approval rating that's historically low?

LOUIS: Make no mistake, this is going to be a huge fight -- a huge power struggle as we head into the --

BERMAN: Um-hum.

LOUIS: -- the series finale of "CELEBRITY APPRENTICE."

And look, you can ask Mike Pence how far the president's loyalty extends, you know. He started out as a running mate. He ended up with a noose outside the Capitol.

The Vance team I think has probably got to be thinking --

BERMAN: Um-hum.

LOUIS: -- yeah, we want your support but not just yet. The knives are out.

BERMAN: We will see.

Errol Louis, Francesca Chambers, thank you both very much -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thank you, gentlemen.

Breaking overnight, President Trump is insisting despite numerous reports that the U.S. has plenty of munitions and there is no shortage. He posted overnight that the military has "massive amounts" adding that "large amounts are being manufactured and shipped to the U.S. as needed."

CNN and others have been reporting this whole week on dwindling stockpiles of key air defense systems during the war Iran. Sources telling CNN the U.S. military has burned through roughly half of its Patriot interceptors since the start of the war and 80 percent of its THAAD missile inventory.

Joining us now, former U.S. ambassador to NATO, Kurt Volker. It is good to have you with us. Thank you for being here.

When you look at these numbers, the president is publicly denying that there is a major shortage of stockpiles. But the numbers are the numbers, and they're tracked not just by us but by many different organizations, including CSIS who has looked at this. And they are dangerously low.

So what advice would you be giving the president at this moment when you know that so many of these munitions that are being used directly in this war with Iran are on a very, very short scale?

KURT VOLKER, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO NATO, FORMER U.S. SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR UKRAINE NEGOTIATIONS (via Webex by Cisco): Well, the fundamental thing is to make sure that you have an alignment of your goals and your means. So it's OK to use air defense systems if people are sending missiles that are at our allies or at our troops. OK, you have to use them.

But you have to make sure that what we are doing has a guaranteed end result and that we can achieve what we are trying to do, and that at that end point we will not be in military action anymore.

The problem with the way we've gone about this war against Iran is that we've lacked that. We have constant effort to put pressure on Iran. Never a willingness to go all the way for regime change, which would be one thing, or a willingness to accept that OK, there's a status quo that we're going to live with. So we've been in this in- between and that just creates an unending burn rate for the things that we're doing.

So I think it's really important to decide are we going to let the regime be and then cut a deal with them -- which may involve them having more control over the Persian Gulf, which is a terrible thing -- or are we going to get rid of the regime and then organize that and do what that takes. But right now we're in this constant cycle and that cycle is going to be intolerable for us.

SIDNER: Look, it's been described as a quagmire right now and you're laying out the two things that the president is trying to figure out how to balance -- which way the United States will go.

I do want to ask you about the fact that Iran is dealing with Oman, it says, and not talking to the U.S. -- but is trying to work out a deal that may be imminent to open the Strait of Hormuz.

If the U.S. is indeed sort of being cut out of these talks, what leverage still exists here, and does that concern you?

VOLKER: Well, we have a great deal of leverage in the sense that we can shut down the strait. We can blockade the Persian Gulf. We can prevent ships going in and out. Iran is going to have a very difficult time selling anything, therefore a difficult time getting money for the regime. So we have some leverage.

But the problem is that is not leverage that's going to change the regime, its behavior, its attitudes, its actions. That regime is going to stay in place if we do that.

I should point out that the memorandum of understanding that was signed some time ago and was supposed to result in a ceasefire -- that envisioned direct talks between Iran and Oman. So Iran is actually doing what we said they should do, which is work something out with Oman. The problem is that, as you say, we're not a party to that. It'll be temporary. It's going to involve Iran exercising a large degree of control over the Persian Gulf.

And if I could just add one more thing about --

SIDNER: Yeah.

[07:45:00]

VOLKER: -- the missile attacks as well. We -- we're using very expensive systems -- Patriot missiles -- against very inexpensive drones, and that is an unsustainable position to be in.

We do need to take a lesson from the Ukrainians who have been facing this for over a year now with the Russians -- a couple of years -- where they can shoot down these inexpensive drones inexpensively themselves. That allows them to save the Patriot missiles for what they're really needed for, which is incoming missiles.

SIDNER: Yeah, and there was a backtrack by the president who initially kind of promised that Patriot missile technology would be going to Ukraine. Now he's backed away from that.

I know you have a lot to say about these different things. We are out of time but Ambassador Kurt Volker, I know that we will have you back so we can discuss that and many other things as well. I do appreciate you taking the time with us this morning. Thank you -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: There's video from inside a plane after it suddenly dropped, possibly hundreds of feet midair, due to turbulence. Seventeen people ended up in the hospital after this.

And there's a new poll showing that there is a growing number of Americans that do not want AI data centers, which is also leading to another question in the face of this opposition: How many are actually being built?

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:50:37]

SIDNER: FIFA standing by its man. The governing body of soccer is continuing its support of its president after the plan to sell a stake in the World Cup. That plan was eventually scrapped.

Andy Scholes joining us with all the details. The games were so much fun, but then FIFA gets in there and they always --

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yeah.

SIDNER: -- throw in some dirt.

SCHOLES: It certainly was a firestorm after the World Cup, Sara -- no question about that. And Gianni Infantino -- he's trying to weather the storm after that failed plan to raise private capital for the World Cup. Will he be able to do so with so many calling for him to step down?

So FIFA held an emergency meeting yesterday in Moracco. Afterwards they released a statement saying they apologize for the errors made in the failed plan to sell stakes in the World Cup, but they added that Infantino still has the full support of FIFA's leadership. Now FIFA also said they will no longer tolerate any attacks on its integrity. Infantino is up for reelection come March.

All right. Messi, meanwhile, back on the pitch for his first start since the World Cup as Inter Miami took on Mexico's Atletico de San Luis in the Leagues Cup. And Messi picked up right where he left off there, bearing this cross to make it 1-1. Then a little later on Messi, a little give and go action. He would score again in the box for the brace. Miami would win that match 4-2.

All right. In baseball, meanwhile, the two MVP favorites in the National League in a battle yesterday in Chicago. Ohtani homered to lead off the game for the Dodgers for his 25th home run of the season. In the bottom of the inning, Pete Crow-Armstrong does exactly the same thing.

And get this -- according to the Elias Sports Bureau, this was the first time in Major League history that two teams had a left-handed hitter hit lead-off home runs against a left-handed pitcher in the same game. How about that?

Now, Ohtani and PCA -- they were not done. PCA -- he homered again in the fourth. Ohtani homered again in the eighth. But it would be the Cubs winning 7-6 to sweep the Dodgers. L.A. has now lost a season- worst six games in a row.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, just continuing their best stretch in team history. Wilyer Abreu homering for the fourth time in three games last night against the White Sox. Sonny Gray, meanwhile, lights out. He pitched six shutout innings and got his 14th win of the season. The Red Sox would shut out the White Sox 4-0 for their 30th win in their last 35 games.

All right. And finally, Jefry Yan making his Major League debut for the Mets last night. The 29-year-old, an all-time great celebration after getting the first strikeout of his career. Look at that. Yan leaping into the air and then coming down and touching the ground. So this is his signature celebration that he does. He actually did it later on in the inning too.

But, you know, Sara, things have gone so poorly for the Mets this season. I'm glad Jefry Yan is up in the bigs now to give fans something to cheer about and get excited about.

SIDNER: I love it. Listen, the Mets need something. Let me try that jump thing.

SCHOLES: Oh, be careful. SIDNER: I think it just sprained my back. Anyhoo --

SCHOLES: Yeah. He got a little more air.

BOLDUAN: Excuse me, Andy. She is doing it in heels, so you just stop right there.

SIDNER: That is true.

SCHOLES: Which is more impressive.

SIDNER: My sneaker hills.

SCHOLES: That is more impressive.

BOLDUAN: Jump!

SIDNER: Thanks, Andy.

BOLDUAN: I'm just going to stand on a platform, so I look like it.

SIDNER: Now I know why girls don't do it. Do not do it.

BOLDUAN: Sara, I --

SIDNER: I trip walking, so --

BOLDUAN: Yes. We had one -- we, like, basically went rogue because I thought you had a near-death experience.

SIDNER: But it's OK. All is well.

BOLDUAN: Stand by. We still have two hours to go. You never know.

Several bystanders raced to help when a would-be robber tried to snatch a 70-year-old man's backpack out of his walker. It all was caught on camera at a fast-food restaurant in Arizona. The suspect shoves a man down, then customers do run up to chase the man off. Just look at this. This is just atrocious.

Police later said they found the suspect and charged him with attempted robbery. The victim is OK but did, we are told, sustain an arm injury during this struggle.

New video shows the chaos that happened inside an Air India flight as it hits major turbulence midair. It suddenly drops, losing perhaps hundreds of feet of altitude. You can see the door of an overhead bin on the ground. There's a crack in the cabin ceiling apparently caused by a passenger's head.

[07:55:05]

The flight carrying 137 passengers -- it landed safely in Delhi. Air India says all 13 injured passengers are OK. Four injured crew members though do remain under medical care. And something perhaps all of us can relate to, especially if you get up at 0-dark-30 -- anyone, anyone -- especially if you also have been a new parent. A morning news anchor out of Memphis just needed a moment to rest her eyes, guys. Unfortunately, that moment played out in the middle of her live show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHELIA O'CONNER, FOX 13 REPORTER: Just running 465 miles in a matter of days to make all of this happen.

DOMINQUE DILLON, FOX 13 ANCHOR: (Asleep).

Let's turn to the forecast. We have heat advisory for parts of north Memphis this morning. (Laughing) Meteorologist Brittani Dubose -- she shares more.

BRITTANI DUBOSE, FOX 13 METEOROLOGIST: You look like a perfect little angel taking a little nap.

ERNIE FREEMAN, FOX 13 ANCHOR: OK, Sleeping Beauty over here.

DILLON: What are you talking about?

FREEMAN: It is time for sunshine snaps. We love your photos that you send in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Classic newsroom. No one gets a pass. That clearly went viral times viral sauce and Dominique Dillon has been a very good sport about it all. She and her co-anchor -- she posted a photo right here with her writing, "Couldn't even give me a nudge, could you?"

She explained to the "TODAY" show that she has a 2-year-old and an 8- month-old at home. Her husband had just worked a double shift at his job and the baby is teething. So she was up until 10:30 p.m. the night before and her call time at work, guys, 1:30 a.m. So hello, superhero.

Dominique says the interwebz have been incredibly supportive on the whole.

But his one does -- I don't know, hit slightly close to home, J.B., perhaps -- maybe?

BERMAN: I mean, we're all Dominique Dillon, right?

BOLDUAN: Honestly, it's amazing. I love they asked where is the control room in this, and she was, like, they actually couldn't believe that I could fall asleep in one minute. They thought I was just looking down.

BERMAN: The entire union is with her this morning.

All right. This morning a new Gallup poll shows 71 percent of Americans oppose new AI data centers. Several counties and states have proposed or passed laws to ban them but in reality, very few data centers are currently being built.

CNN senior reporter David Goldman joins us now. So what's actually happening?

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah, it's really interesting because I think that most people think that these things are popping up all over the place. Goldman Sachs says 50 percent of data centers will be built on time, between -- 50 percent won't be built on time.

Sixty percent of data centers that are planned for next year -- they haven't even begun construction, according to JPMorgan. And of the ones that have, seven percent are already delayed. So, you know, we're looking at only, you know, around a third of these things are actually on time, according to JPMorgan.

We have a ton of data centers in this country. There are over 5,000 data centers already. Remember, this isn't a new thing. We think of it as a new thing because of AI, but these have been around for a long time. And we're going to almost double that next -- in the next few years -- almost 4,000. Well, that's according to the plan anyway. But actually, only 800 of them are currently under construction here.

What's going on? Well, there are a number of reasons why these things have been delayed. There's just so much demand for this. You can't get the materials. We all know about these chip shortages that's making Macs and iPads more expensive.

Power is a huge issue, and you can't people to actually build these things. Try getting enough construction workers to build thousands of data centers.

You have all of this promise, right? We're going to get 565 gigawatts of extra computing power. We have 50 today. So that's why Columbia thinks -- well, actually, you know, we're not going to grow by 10 times. We're going to grow maybe by three times in the next 10 years. Still, you know, this is not exactly what we had planned for.

BERMAN: And it's still going.

GOLDMAN: It is still going on though, right, because the Census Bureau says data center construction is up 50 percent over the past year. There's quite a bit of money being spent on this and these are expensive endeavors -- $8 billion for a state of the art data center. So there is money happening, there is construction happening, just not at the pace that people think.

BERMAN: I guarantee you'll hear more about this and more about the friction as well.

GOLDMAN: For sure.

BERMAN: David Goldman, thank you very much -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: A new CNN FlashDoc is taking you inside the race to get back to the moon and how billionaires Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are transforming the future of space exploration.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An eclipse is something that has engendered curiosity on personkind throughout history.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seeing the sky go dark, the crickets chirping in the middle of the day, it creates a spectacular phenomenon here on the Earth.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The solar eclipse happening in August 2026 is going to have a path of totality that people will, you know, travel across the world to be able to catch a glimpse of.