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CNN This Morning

Nolan Wells Family Subpoenas Tech Companies; Blanche Nomination in Jeopardy; Muck's A.I. Company Sues Minnesota. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired July 31, 2026 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: It can happen, Ralphie. It can happen.

Ralphie Aversa, thank you so much for being with us.

Lots of big movies this year. Also a big year for sports. Knicks win, World Cup, the Olympics, keep it going with a dive into the defining moments, amazing athletes and cultural shifts that have shaped sports across the decades. The new CNN Original Series, "Decades in Sports," premieres with back-to-back episodes Sunday.

Here's a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: While in the air, Ray Lussier of "The Boston Herald" snapped the most single, iconic hockey photo of all time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was almost like the world stopped. It's like he's suspended in air. Two years later, after the first cup, they win another one. They should have won three or four or five, but everyone was aware of Bobby Orr's knees and his injuries.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bobby Orr announced his retirement today at the age of 30.

BOBBY ORR: If I had to do it all over again, I know I would do it the same way.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In today's world, with all the medical advancements we have, he would have injured his knee, he'd be out for eight months or ten months and he'd be back and he'd play another eight years. And I think that's the tragedy of it. It leaves you wondering, what if.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His skills transformed the game. Defensemen after Orr will try to be like Orr. In sports, that's what makes a superstar a Hall of Famer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Watch "Decades in Sports" this Sunday night at nine on CNN, and Monday on the CNN app. Straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, a family devastated and demanding

answers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINE WONSLEY, NOLAN WELLS' MOTHER: We are begging because I'm not too proud to beg.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: As the search into what happened to Nolan Wells continues, his lawyers are now turning to big tech.

And as we go to break, we want to update you on a situation unfolding right now in Spain. The military has been called in after an estimated 49,000 migrants have crossed into the country from Morocco in the past 24 hours. At least nine people have died. It's still unclear what caused the sudden rush across the border.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:36:46]

BLACKWELL: Good morning. I'm Victor Blackwell. Thank you for starting your day with me.

Twenty-four minutes till the top of the hour. Here's what's happening right now.

Anthropic just announced its A.I. models hacked into three organizations without anybody knowing. The company says the models broke out of a testing environment, accessed the open internet, and that led to the hack. You'll remember another A.I. company, OpenAI, says some of its models did the same thing.

Today, a judge is expected to rule on Live Nation's motions to reverse a verdict. The jury found Live Nation and Ticketmaster operated as a monopoly, driving up fees for fans. The DOJ reached a settlement with Live Nation back in March, but more than 30 states pushed for the trial. Despite the legal problems, Live Nation reported a nine percent increase in ticket sales.

This morning, Seattle has a new interim police chief. Chief Shon Barnes resigned last night. He's been under scrutiny over his department's response to the mass shooting at a food festival last Sunday. Two victims, plus a 15-year-old suspect, died. Police are still searching for at least one suspect.

The family of Nolan Wells, they're doing everything they can to get some answers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Their legal team is now subpoenaing big tech companies. Attorney Ben Crump tells CNN, they want to preserve social media and phone records from several platforms. Eighteen-year-old Nolan vanished during a July 4th boating outing with his friends. They came home. He did not. His body was found days later. We're awaiting the results of an official state autopsy report. Wells' family commissioned an independent autopsy earlier this month, which did not rule out foul play. Despite no cause of death yet being determined, Attorney Crump says that he feels they are closer to getting answers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN CRUMP, NOLAN WELLS FAMILY ATTORNEY: We're consulting with audio engineering experts. We're consulting with oceanography experts. We are still asking everybody who has a video, photograph, any kind of communications on Snapchat to call the tip line. We're very grateful that so many people have called, and we believe we're starting to get a more clear picture of what happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: The group chat is back.

Elliot, let me start with you on this.

There's some news outlets that are reporting that this autopsy is complete. We're still waiting for confirmation from the Mississippi Department of Public Safety. But what is the protocol here? What's typical? Once that is complete, will the family at least get the headlines of manner and cause of death, or will they hold it until the investigation is fully completed?

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I mean, I think they would typically make that available to the family. But in general, authorities have an interest in keeping things held from the public until investigations are complete, only because, particularly in this climate, the risk of something taking place that jeopardizes the investigation is pretty great.

[06:40:01]

If they start releasing the names of people who are being investigated but not charged with crimes, if they start implicating witnesses, that actually can harm evidence. You can get people to flee or actually just get the public to turn on someone who hasn't committed a crime. Even in a case like this, in which there's tremendous public interest and, quite frankly, public emotion around it, there's still a degree of caution that I think ought to be exercised by the public only because if you want somebody to go to jail and if you want answers, you got to let the police do their work.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

What I find interesting here is that it's become controversial that these parents are out asking for answers. That there are people who say that they just want to be in the spotlight. Who would want to be in front of the camera weeks after their child washed up onto a shore? I mean, they have been getting threats. Also some of the boys, the families of those boys that are in the photograph with him, have been getting threats as well. But I'm sure that they just want to know what happened.

MELIK ABDUL, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Yes. Well, Nina Simone said, Alabama got me so damn stressed. Tennessee makes me lose my breath. And everybody got me talking about, I think, Mississippi, goddam.

So, as a Mississippi native, you know, I've seen this many times before is that Mississippi is the interest. It's either Mississippi south or racial. There's a racial component to this. So, that's why the nation is now watching this. And because it's Mississippi, the last time there was a Mississippi story, it was the Jackson water crisis. And for many people outside of the state, they wanted to use this to push a certain narrative.

I actually take the sincerity of the parents themselves, because I've been watching the interviews. But I did see one of the first interviews that they had with Ben Crump. And towards the end of the interview, Ben Crump said something like, and we know the history of Mississippi. And I saw the mother kind of just a bit. She kind of, you know, you saw the expression on her face that she wasn't comfortable with that.

I believe that there are people -- if there should be any criticism, not of the parents, I do believe that people like Ben Crump, Al Sharpton and a number of them are fomenting this solely because of the racial issue, not because they're so concerned about the death. Yes, the family wants to know this, but this is what Ben Crump does.

And I think you can speak to this. People need to understand that Ben Crump is a civil attorney. I don't think he's the defense attorney or something in this case. He's looking for to see if they get some type of civil judgment.

Parents are sincere. I do believe that. But bringing on Crump, I think that just colors the whole thing for a lot of people.

WILLIAMS: I don't know. I mean, I -- look, he's a skilled, high profile attorney. But I think one can't deny that there's a racial element to the case. Like, I mean -- and I think -- I don't think we should gloss over that point.

You know, I -- that is how the country sees this. And I think it's entirely fair to say that when a black kid disappears in the company of white kids, certainly people are going to think, wait a second, let's just at least answer the unspoken question that everybody's asking, right, which is, is there a racial element to it?

I don't know, you know, that -- it's a great -- it's a great point, Melik. I just don't know how people see the inclusion of Al Sharpton and Ben Crump other than the fact that, yes, they do turn up a lot when there are racial incidents in the country. But this is another one. So, what do you do?

BLACKWELL: I mean for some people it is a Rorschach test.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

BLACKWELL: How do you see their inclusion in this may lead to also some insight into your political leanings when you see Al Sharpton or Ben Crump. But I will say here is that I had a conversation with Nolan Wells' parents. I had them on my weekend show. And the question I asked for them was, did you ever question that if your son went out with a group of friends and he was the only black person with them, did you question whether the loyalty would be there if something went down? And her answer quickly went to your point, I would hope that any parent, regardless of race, would want to know what happened to their child.

So, I think there is some of both of these perspectives that's part of this story, but I don't think it's appropriate to ignore the history of Mississippi. The question is --

ABDUL: Or any other place in the country.

BLACKWELL: Or -- I get that as well, Melik. Let me ask you --

WILLIAMS: Yes, it's a great question. It's a great intellectual exercise. If this happened in New Jersey, what would the public outcry be? And, you know, it might be the --

ABDUL: (INAUDIBLE).

WILLIAMS: You know, maybe or not. I don't know. And I -- and I guess I would be open to either answer. Like maybe, yes, no, the country is alarmed when a black kid disappears in the company of white kids or, no, it's Mississippi and people are reacting because of that. I just don't know the answer to that.

BLACKWELL: Let me also ask you, as we wrap up here, the new element here is this request to preserve the social media and the photos with big tech.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

BLACKWELL: Is that likely?

WILLIAMS: Absolutely.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

WILLIAMS: And the one thing in this legal climate or this world we live in is that metadata does not lie.

[06:45:05]

The things that are on your phone, the websites you go to, the text messages you might send or receive are the one thing that a subpoena can get ahold of that will tell the truth. And I think people have an interest in saying, well, I wasn't there. I, you know, I, you know, I'm not involved. Please don't send me to jail. But at least when attorneys can get access to electronic data, they're immensely valuable evidence. And I'm not surprised that they're going after it here.

BLACKWELL: All right, next on CNN THIS MORNING, one state taking on A.I. Can the government ban an A.I. tool because of how people might misuse it?

And as we go to break, a look at the massive crowds from day one of Lollapalooza in Chicago. More than 115,000 fans packed out the park for the first day of the four-day festival. Lulu says she's not into this type of crowd. Too many people. Lorde headlined last night. Today, Charli XCX.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:08]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Your reaction to the president saying he may withdraw Blanche and put him back after you're gone?

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): My reaction is, the president's getting bad advice. He should listen to Blanche and others who think, if it's dead, it should be rendered completely dead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: President Trump has a plan to get his A.G. across the finish line, but it is risky. Senators Thom Tillis and John Cornyn are the two Republicans blocking Blanche because he refuses to put in writing that President Trump's $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund is dead. The president posted, "I have no objection to temporarily withdrawing Todd's name if they do not do the right thing, and putting him back after Cornyn and Tillis are out of office."

Senator Cornyn and Tillis are leaving office at the end of this term, but the president's plan to re-nominate Blanche after they're gone, that's a gamble. A shift in the makeup of the Senate could kill his chance at confirmation altogether.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Do you think it's risky to wait for January to try and get Blanche through as a permanent A.G.?

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): Do I think what?

REPORTER: Do you think it's risky to wait until January for the 120th Congress?

KENNEDY: Well, duh. Yes. Yes. This place could be very different.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Oh, Senator Kennedy, we can always rely on you.

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes.

BLACKWELL: Group chat is back.

Melik, what does this tell us about the options the president believes he has if all he can do is take it off the table and hope that he's got a majority that sides with him in January?

ABDUL: He doesn't have many options at all. And this is one of the things that many Republicans have been talking about during the primary, when Donald Trump went after like Cassidy, Cornyn and a number of other senators, that, you know, you have a rest -- you know, at least through the rest of this year that you have to get through. And what are those people are going to do?

And so I do think that you're seeing some of that tug now. And if you listen to some of the senators there, it's probably not just one or two senators who have some legitimate concerns about Todd Blanche. And this is mainly what this is about. And it seems as if that the Trump -- that Trump himself probably realizes that he can't get through this and -- without some additional support from Republicans.

So, I think the big lesson out of this for Trump is that, for one, you know, you do need allies. And I don't know if waiting until January is a good idea and if they would even get in, because if the -- if Democrats end up winning, then the only person that you would be able to get in is someone that Democrats can approve. And I don't think that that's something that's going to be good for the administration.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: No. I mean, Todd Blanche, I think it's -- I think it's dead. I mean, never say never. Obviously, we'll wait and see what happens after the midterms. But let's just think about what President Trump did here. He took a stand against a very popular senator, John Cornyn of Texas. Really pissed off his caucus, the Republican caucus, because he's a big fundraiser. People like him.

He backed up Ken Paxton. Not a popular guy. Lots of baggage. And in a tough race in Texas. Might win it. Might not. John Cornyn was seen as a safer bet.

So, now he's gambling all of that on someone who he backed in a race that he might not win. And so, what you look at this, any strategist will tell you, this was really dumb. I mean there are maybe gambles you could have taken to back people in certain races, but the Texas race really shows the limits of Trump's ability to manufacture the kind of things that he wants.

BLACKWELL: And to that point, Cassidy, also who was the subject of the president's ire, is also noncommittal now on Blanche. It could be the third vote in opposition, unless he gets this confirmation on the statement.

Let me ask you this element, because Cornyn and Tillis want this in writing.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

BLACKWELL: Because, obviously, they believe that the White House and the then A.G. would renege on this promise not to move forward.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

BLACKWELL: What's the virtue of the written statement once it happens? Is there a way around it even if he puts it in writing?

WILLIAMS: Oh, I don't think there's a way around it even if he puts it in writing because he's on the record and multiple people were on the record under oath saying that it's not coming back. So, they create legal problems for themselves if they don't.

You know, Victor, the administration could end this today with a signature. It is literally the easiest thing they could fix. You listen to the comments of Senator Cornyn or whoever else and they want to get to yes on this nomination. They want to vote for this person. And I will note, having this fight actually launders the idea that this is actually someone who shouldn't be attorney general of the United States to begin with. He's the former personal attorney of the president. We are not having that debate right now because of this enormous distraction of this fund that is legally suspect and politically unpopular.

So, I don't think it was sleight of hand by the administration. I don't think they're trying to distract from Todd Blanche not being able to be confirmed in any other administration.

[06:55:05]

But this has been a big distraction from the core point about whether he actually should be A.G. And I don't think he should.

BLACKWELL: But is the tell here that the White House absolutely intended to revive the anti-weaponization fund because --

WILLIAMS: Well, maybe.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: It's not just the anti-weaponization fund, though.

BLACKWELL: Yes, it's also the immunity.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: It is the -- it's the immunity.

ABDUL: Yes, (INAUDIBLE). Yes.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: That, I think, is the thing that really Trump doesn't want to get rid of.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

ABDUL: And it seems like that's what they're actually (INAUDIBLE) is that one right there. GARCIA-NAVARRO: That's the sticking point.

WILLIAMS: And again, the thing that's so remarkable about it is that it's both politically unpopular and legally questionable. This fund, so many things about it are problematic. And it would really only serve to benefit a very small, you know, subset of people, whether it's January 6th people or people who feel they've been wronged in some way. It just -- there's -- they're burning so much political capital on this thing that's just not worth it.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

I also want to turn to this. A new state law that bans nudification technology on websites and apps is set to take effect in Minnesota tomorrow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two years ago I found out that a man I trusted for over 20 years had made pornographic videos and images of me using a family photo. And not just of me, but over 80 women. Every single one of us heard the same story, there's nothing we can do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Elon Musk's company, xAI, is suing to block Minnesota's new anti-nudification law claiming it violates free speech.

Elliot, on this, let's lawyer up.

WILLIAMS: Yes. Yes.

BLACKWELL: The question of where does one person's free speech rights end at someone else's body, their undergarments at least.

WILLIAMS: Right. Absolutely. And this is such a close call and a fraught and painful one. This, what happened to her, to anybody who's been violated in this way, is immensely tragic and they ought to have some avenue for suing and recovering if something's wrong.

When you start getting into banning technologies before entities have used them, you just start getting down a legal, slippery slope. And it just gets tricky. And I'm -- and this is not to condone what are actual crimes. I mean, you know, there's a crime of revenge porn. There's a crime of violating someone's privacy or defamation or, you know, just civil or whatever else. It just gets very risky when you start saying, you, tech company, cannot produce this technology because of the harm it might cause if people misuse it. There's a lot of variables there. And any time you're talking about banning speech before it happens, it's called a prior restraint in the law, it's very, very dangerous.

BLACKWELL: Yes. All right.

Now it's time to talk about what's in your group chat.

Lulu, you're first.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Gen x, baby. Finally, we're having our moment, apparently, at the disco. Gen zers aren't drinking very much anymore. And I read this story in "The Wall Street Journal" that now clubs and bars are focusing on the gen x generation, my generation, the best generation.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

BLACKWELL: OK.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Because basically young people aren't going out to drink anymore, but we're still drinking. I'm not, but --

ABDUL: I was going to say, that's no fun.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yes, so they're targeting gen x. Big, big thing though is that it starts like at 7:00 at night because gen xers are too old to go out at night.

ABDUL: Right. Last call at 9:30.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Last call at 9:30. So, we're getting our drinking in early, but we're doing it.

BLACKWELL: All right. Well, good.

Melik.

ABDUL: Last week I had an article published in "The Washington Examiner" on the Rubio-Pence dynamic. I'm sorry, Rubio -- oh, not Pence.

BLACKWELL: Yes, Rubio-Vance.

ABDUL: Vance-Rubio dynamic in 2028. And I get into basically the argument that I'm making is that what we'll need in 2028 is someone who can not just maintain the coalition that Trump had, but build upon that coalition. And Rubio is, as opposed to J.D. Vance, is the person uniquely positioned to do that.

BLACKWELL: Elliot.

WILLIAMS: A.I. is everywhere. We talked about it a lot on the show this week. And there's a school board in upstate New York that wanted to bring in an A.I. humanoid robot, there it is, named Sally --

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Oh, my God.

WILLIAMS: To be a teacher in class.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: That's horrifying.

WILLIAMS: And parents were up in arms. They were frightened. And part of -- and they've yanked it. Part of the problem is that the company that produces Sally also makes sex robots. GARCIA-NAVARRO: Oh, no.

BLACKWELL: Oh.

ABDUL: Of course. Of course, course.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Of course.

WILLIAMS: And so they had to -- they had to --

BLACKWELL: Oh, Sally.

WILLIAMS: Oh, Sally. Long tall Sally. And they had to issue a statement saying, no, this is different than the sex robots. This robot that is a winsome woman is just here to teach your child about coding.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Oh.

WILLIAMS: And it all fell apart. Big scandal in upstate New York.

BLACKWELL: I could see how that would make the group chat. And she looks a little scary.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: She looks so scary.

(CROSS TALK)

WILLIAMS: And I feel like -- and I feel like -- and I feel like -- I feel like --

BLACKWELL: In a room full of four-year-old.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Oh, no, take it off. Take it off.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: No one needs to see that at this time in the morning.

WILLIAMS: No, no, but real quick. You know the expression, if you're explaining, you're losing.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

WILLIAMS: I would also amend that to say, if you have to explain that the robot you're putting in a classroom is not a sex toy, you're failing.

BLACKWELL: No, no, it's not the sex robot.

[07:00:03]

In my group chat, this new dress code at Tuskegee University, an HBCU in Alabama.

WILLIAMS: Oh. Yes. BLACKWELL: Where they have banned bonnets and sleep -- pajama pants, (INAUDIBLE), all of that, in class and the caf.

ABDUL: Do-rags.

WILLIAMS: And do-rags.

BLACKWELL: It seems like, for my generation, our generations, that makes sense. But for them, we've casualized everything. This is just the expected next step. So, we'll get into that on "FIRST OF ALL" on Saturday.

Thanks for watching. The headlines are next.