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The Situation Room

Trump Lashes Out at DOJ Over Dropped Reflecting Pool Charges; Hackers Target U.S. Water Systems; Iran Talks Resuming?. Aired 10:30a- 11a ET

Aired August 03, 2026 - 10:30   ET

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

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WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Happening now: Fire containment efforts are under way in Greece today, just a day after two firefighting helicopters collided in midair. Two people died in that accident.

Meanwhile, easing winds are helping in the firefight, but the risk remains high. This is new video of horses running from the flames just northwest of Athens. More than 1,000 people have been evacuated from the region.

And Texas is now mourning a trailblazer. Kay Granger, the first Republican woman from Texas to be elected to Congress, has died at the age of 83. Granger served for nearly 30 years and was also the first Republican woman to chair the House Appropriations Committee. May she rest in peace. May her memory be a blessing.

And, in El Paso, Texas, right now, police body camera video captures the moment a distracted driver crashes into a traffic stop.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will use a card. Oh, shit.

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BLITZER: The driver narrowly misses the officer, but barrels into the stopped vehicle. The officer was injured, and the driver of the stopped car was taken to the hospital. No one was seriously injured. The other driver was cited for a failure to control speed, causing a collision.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Wow.

We have exclusive new reporting this morning. Sources tell CNN that an officer in the U.S. Central Command's intelligence branch sent an e- mail last week asking a broad group of military analysts for -- quote -- "new creative and unconventional ways to pressure and punish Iran."

A second source says CENTCOM is looking at everything, acknowledging it needs to reevaluate its strategy.

So let's go live now to CNN national security reporter Zachary Cohen.

Zach, how unusual is this kind of request?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Pam, it's certainly unusual, based on what me and Katie Bo Lillis are told from our sources, to see this sort of crowdsourcing effort being pushed via e-mail.

But it does -- it is one example, though, of the limited options that we have seen, the military options that are currently available to President Donald Trump, as far as using the military to try to force Iran the negotiating table on his terms.

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We have seen this conflict over the course of the last six months play out in a way that has frustrated the president, because he has systematically attempted to try to force Iran through bombing to agree to his terms.

And to date, obviously, it's gone the other direction. Iran is continuing to resist any sort of negotiated agreement with the United States. And, again, the core problems that exist now are even beyond what existed before the war.

The Strait of Hormuz remains an incredibly urgent problem for President Donald Trump. And that is one of the focal points of this crowdsourcing effort by U.S. Central Command asking military analysts, military planners for creative and unconventional ways to ramp up the pressure on Iran, hoping to get some sort of a negotiated deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Now, we're also told that the U.S. military is -- has been preparing options to potentially escalate the war. We saw that this e-mail went out to analysts just days before President Donald Trump issued that threat of new strikes against Iran.

Obviously, one of the options for escalating, we have heard is that potentially targeting energy infrastructure, which would likely carry significant consequences if the U.S. were to take that route. So there is this reluctance to escalate, while also this push by the president to finally find some sort of a way to end the conflict.

And we brought this reporting to U.S. Central Command, and they said in a statement to us: "U.S. Central Command has a long history of thinking and working in innovative ways. Admiral Cooper in particular reaches out to members of our great team, regardless of rank, to achieve the highest levels of operational performance possible."

So we will have to see if this effort does yield any sort of fresh ideas, but obviously the conflict, still a lot of uncertainty hanging over it.

BROWN: All right, Zach Cohen, thanks so much for the latest there -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Pamela, happening now: President Trump says talks with Iran will begin today. That's what he says.

Over the weekend, the president canceled what he called massive new strikes after an appeal from Saudi Arabia's crown prince to hold off on a new offensive.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We were all set to go. But when the allies ask to call it off, you got to sort of say, well, let's see. And the reason they ask is, I think there's a deal. There's a deal on Hormuz, and then there will be a deal on the nuclear -- or you might call it the denuclearization of Iran. I call it the denuclearization of Iran.

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BLITZER: Iran hasn't publicly said it would be part of any talks today.

With us now, Aaron David Miller. He's a former State Department Middle East negotiator, a senior fellow over at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Aaron, thanks very much for joining us.

How much leverage or credibility does Trump have with Iran at this point?

AARON DAVID MILLER, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE: I think he's really come up short, Wolf, in both departments. I just don't think there are happy endings here.

I mean, I'm old enough to remember Vietnam. This is not Vietnam, but I remember what LBJ said about Vietnam. He said he felt like a hitchhiker in a Texas hailstorm. He couldn't run, he couldn't hide, and he can't make it stop.

And, basically, that is the president's predicament, two unpalatable options, massive escalation against energy, civilian infrastructure -- does not want to do that -- or to accede to Iranian demands and concerns and accept a significant amount of leverage and control that the Iranians want to impose on the Straits of Hormuz.

It is their new nuclear weapon, Wolf, and I don't think they're prepared to give it up.

BLITZER: The Saudis, we're told, pressured President Trump not to resume U.S. attacks over concerns their oil facilities would be targeted by Iran.

How much sway do they have, the Saudis, with President Trump right now?

MILLER: Oh, I think they have an enormous amount.

And geography is destiny, right, Wolf, in the Middle East. I mean, they're so vulnerable. Even though they're exporting, what, three to four million barrels of oil a day through their East-West Pipeline into the Red Sea, the Houthis are now blocking and imposing serious constraints on the passage of that oil, which is where their Asian markets -- Asian markets are.

And look, there's also financial concerns on the part of the president. I mean, his son-in-law, his best friend, Steve Witkoff, they all have business ventures there. For the Trump administration, Saudi Arabia is like an ATM machine. So they want to keep the Saudis as happy as they possibly can.

BLITZER: Certainly by delaying what Trump had said would be the biggest military assault since World War II -- now the president has decided to delay any such military assault. That presumably makes the Saudis happy.

Let me turn, Aaron, while I have you, to the sensitive issue of Gaza. An Israeli official tells CNN that Israel won't withdraw from its current lines in the Gaza Strip, the so-called yellow line. Why is that so significant?

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MILLER: Look, Wolf, let's be clear.

The shadow of October 7 hangs heavily and darkly over Israelis. That's factor number one. There will not be any Israeli concessions on Gaza, particularly -- and that brings me to factor number two, which is the political future of one Benjamin Netanyahu.

Unless the 90 days, October 27, he faces the most critical election of his political career. If he loses power, Wolf, it's possible he could be indicted. He's on trial for bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in a Jerusalem district court.

Ehud Olmert, you know him well, as do I, one of his predecessors, served 17 months for only one of the charges that Netanyahu's accused of. So he could be convicted or cut a plea deal that would force him out of politics. So he must remain in power.

And part of that is keeping control over a right-wing coalition. Hard to imagine any flexibility, Wolf, on Gaza in the next three months.

BLITZER: So would the hard-liners in Israel, Aaron, actually give way not only to this Gaza deal, but also have the Israeli forces get out of Lebanon and not attack Iran again?

MILLER: You know, of the three fronts, I think that Netanyahu probably has the most flexibility in Lebanon.

You have a million Israelis in the north who probably are angry at him who are watching this war against Iran, which have exposed them to Hezbollah missiles. I don't see the Israelis withdrawing, again, in the next three months.

There is this pilot project. You have got six, potentially seven rounds of really quite unprecedented negotiations between the Israelis and Lebanese. You have a Israeli -- Lebanese government that's more risk-ready than any in the past.

But, again, we're talking about transactions here, Wolf, on these three fronts, Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran, not transformations.

BLITZER: Very quickly before I let you go, Aaron, have you ever seen U.S.-Israeli relations as strained as they are right now?

MILLER: No.

Jimmy Carter to Bush 43, I worked. No. You have a rare coincidence of public pressure, of congressional pressure, particularly from Democrats and an increasing number of Republicans, and even executive pressure on Israel. It's unprecedented, Wolf.

And for anyone who's concerned about the future of a reciprocal, healthy U.S. Israeli relationship, it's really as fraught as I have seen it during the course of the last 30 or 40 years.

BLITZER: Yes, good point.

Aaron David Miller, thank you very much for joining us.

MILLER: Wolf, thanks for having me.

BLITZER: Pamela.

BROWN: All right, Wolf, breaking news: Republican Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis are now speaking out about Todd Blanche reversing the so-called anti-weaponization fund. The two senators were holdouts in voting to confirm Blanche's attorney general.

Now they're saying that they're -- quote -- "pleased" to see a written statement rescinding the $1.8 billion fund, adding -- quote -- "We look forward to voting to advance his nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee soon."

And coming up: Hackers target U.S. water systems. Sources tell CNN several states were targeted. We will speak with an expert on the challenges to secure major infrastructure systems.

We will be right back.

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BROWN: Happening now: There are growing concerns about a recent wave of cyberattacks targeting water systems in several states.

The first public sign of the hacks came from Minnesota authorities last week, and the FBI announced it's now investigating reports in Michigan. There are no known incidents of contamination at this point, but, of course, that is a concern.

And CNN is learning that U.S. officials are treating Iran as one of the potential culprits behind the cyberattacks, but they have not made a formal determination of who is responsible.

Joining us now to discuss is Jake Braun. He is the executive director of the Cyber Policy Initiative at the University of Chicago, and he previously served as the White House's acting principal deputy national cyber director under President Obama.

Thanks for coming on.

So, if you would, explain why Iran is a suspect here and why it is so difficult to formally attribute this to Iran at this point.

JAKE BRAUN, FORMER ACTING WHITE HOUSE PRINCIPAL DEPUTY NATIONAL CYBER DIRECTOR: Sure. Well, thanks for having me.

So I think that this is likely a shot across the bow from the Iranians, letting the U.S. know that, as attacks escalate in Iran, reminding us that they can shut off the water.

And I think that what's interesting here is that they attacked a PLC, which is a controller that's used to be command-and-control in pieces of water utilities. And that controller is ubiquitous across the United States.

And so it's -- they're showing us that they can attack us wherever they want. The attribution is really hard because cyber is -- it's kind of hard to follow the dots across all the different cyber connections around the planet, so it could be some entity trying to disguise themselves as the Iranians to make us think it's them.

It's hard to disprove that. But all evidence points to Iran.

BROWN: How concerning is it, though, that they're breaching these water systems?

BRAUN: Oh, it's incredibly concerning, because the Iranians here, they're not just attacking these water utilities. They're really trying to attack basically three things.

One is showing us that they can attack our military installations, because nearly all of our military installations are supported by civilian water utilities. Secondly, and this was true in Minnesota, they're showing that they can shut off the water to our economic -- one of our big economic drivers, which is our A.I. infrastructure.

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And, in fact, two data centers were supported by water utilities in Minnesota that were attacked. And then, third, in a conflict that is -- America is deeply divided over, they're showing that they can undermine trust in our government to be able to do basic things like keep the water running when you turn on the faucet.

And so Iran has some very specific goals with these attacks.

BROWN: And, again, that we don't have formal attribution. It is a key suspect in all of this. But if they're able to break into the water systems, what else could they potentially do? What else is vulnerable with the infrastructure?

BRAUN: Well, I think that's the point they're trying to make.

Similar attacks would be possible with -- on water utilities. Obviously, we have an election coming up, and so the Iranians have been involved in at the very least mis- and dis-information around elections. That could be next.

And the last time we attacked the nuclear infrastructure in Iran with a cyberattack, they attacked our financial institutions and shut down people's access to online banking for weeks. And we never were able to actually stop them. They just kind of got bored of it and stopped doing it.

So there's a lot of places they could go next.

BROWN: All right, let's watch what President Trump said about these cyberattacks during a Cabinet meeting on Friday.

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TRUMP: I blame it on Minnesota because they're grossly incompetent. There was a cyberattack of dirty water plants. And I would blame it on Minnesota and the governor, the corrupt governor of Minnesota. They like to say, oh, it's Iran. Iran should be so lucky. Iran's got bigger problems than worrying about Minnesota.

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BROWN: And, of course, we know it's not just Minnesota. There are other states. And there's no public evidence behind -- that they were behind this hack.

But why does the statement from the president matter as his own intelligence experts investigate this?

BRAUN: Well, I think that what we can get kind of distracted by is the president's predilection for kind of over-the-top statements and so on, but also he's engaging in information warfare with the Iranians.

And so I think he may also be trying to say, hey, we're not going to going to -- we're not going to give you guys the win, and we're not going to say that it was you. I'm going to blame it on some domestic actor. So, I mean, that's maybe giving the president the benefit of the doubt.

But I do think that there's a lot going on here that includes messaging to Iran. But suffice it to say this has nothing to do with the incompetence of local water utilities or any government officials in Minnesota. It's a -- this is not about Minnesota. This is a national attack.

It requires a national security response. We need to get very serious about protecting our small water utilities, which is about 98 percent of our water utilities are small, and most of them don't have the tax base to pay for a cybersecurity professional, much less know what to do with them if they were able to hire one, not because they're dumb, just because their job is to keep the water running, not to do cybersecurity, at least not until now.

BROWN: All right, Jake Braun, thank you so much for coming on to provide your perspective and analysis on all on this -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Pamela, happening now: President Trump is lashing out at his own United States attorney Jeanine Pirro after her department asked a federal judge to drop charges against a former Olympian accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, calling the installation -- quote -- "hasty and botched."

President Trump says they were wrong and it was a clear case of vandalism.

Here in the with me in THE SITUATION ROOM, Washington correspondent Sunlen Serfaty is working on this story.

So what happens now that President Trump has actually called out this Justice Department decision?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, this certainly, Wolf, has turned into a very public spat for the Trump administration, and President Trump has been very clearly he's essentially not backing down from that.

The DOJ now arguing that, based on new information they say that they have received from the Department of Interior, that they believe that the problems with the Reflecting Pool was not due to vandalism, but was due to botched installation from the contractors, and also this rush to get it done before the July 4 holiday that President Trump had wanted.

Now, Trump, again, has doubled down over the weekends. He did acknowledge in his social media post, he did say that there has been -- may have been some contractor difficulty, but said the installation -- the major damage, he says, is caused by vandals.

He says -- quote -- "I disagree 100 percent with Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, on the Reflecting Pool. I don't know what she was thinking. To me, it was a pure case of vandalism."

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And he said this without new evidence, continued to allege that this was -- the majority of the damage was due to vandalism.

And that's something that, Wolf, we also saw the interior secretary over the weekend repeat, saying -- quote -- "The evidence is clear. Vandals have repeatedly caused damage to the Reflecting Pool. Some of these acts were even caught on camera. We are -- provided the U.S. attorney's office expert and eyewitness testimony to the damage done by vandals and provided every piece of evidence they asked for in the requested timeline detailing each area of damage to the pool."

So, again, a lot more to learn here. But as far as what happens next, we could potentially see some focus on the contractors. They, of course, won that no-bid contract. Could we see federal oversight here potentially try to recoup the taxpayers' money?

BLITZER: And Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, has already dropped all charges against the former Olympian who was charged with vandalism as far as the pool is concerned.

SERFATY: That's right. He she has.

And interesting that the attorneys in that case indicated that they could potentially bring a civil suit. We saw the lawyer over the weekend of David Hearn, who was originally indicted, saying, this is far from over yet.

BLITZER: All right, we will see what happens next. Thanks very much, Sunlen Serfaty, reporting for us -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right, Wolf, here's what's coming up all new at the top of the hour.

The trial of a Massachusetts mother accused of killing her kids is under way. Doctors who treated the three young children describe what they saw.

Plus, how A.I. data centers have become sitting ducks in the Iran war.

And slinging into box office history, the records broken by the newest Spider-Man movie over the weekend.

That's all new next hour.

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