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The Situation Room

Doctors Who Tried to Revive Kids Testify in Clancy Trial; Washington Wildfire Disaster; Tomorrow: Voters Head to Polls in Michigan Senate Primary; Trump Lashes Out at Iran Ahead of Talks to End War; Data Centers Have Become Major Targets in Iran War. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired August 03, 2026 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: -- a little bit of what he said.

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DR. MICHAEL SNYDER, EMERGENCY ROOM PHYSICIAN: Initially when she had come in, you know, some of the things we noticed is sort of a blue tint to the skin, which typically, you know, we can see when there's less oxygen or lack of oxygen. And then the other things on a quick survey is there was some areas of bruising on the neck and around the eyes called petechia, kind of little bleeding, episodes of bleeding under the skin, and I believe a small amount of blood coming from the nose.

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KAYE: And the eight-month-old was eventually transferred to the ICU, where he was eventually taken off life support. He wasn't responding at all to light or touch, and they realized that he had a very severe brain injury. It's also worth noting this very important moment from last week.

At the end of last week, the jury actually went on a field trip. They went to the house where all of this happened in Duxbury, Massachusetts. They spent about 40 minutes there. They weren't able to touch anything or open any drawers, but the lawyers were there. They were able to point out key locations in the house, and that would be certainly the basement. That's where the children were found in two different locations. They had been strangled with exercise bands. So, the jury was able to see it. They were able to see the backyard where Lindsay Clancy had jumped out the second-floor window into her backyard.

And then they also drove by the CVS, where Patrick Clancy, her husband at the time, had been running errands. He went to the CVS to get pediatric medicine. Then he went to a restaurant to get takeout food. He was only gone about 15 minutes when this happened. So, the jury was able to see just how short of a time he was gone. And, of course, the prosecution says that the errands were just a ruse to get him out of the house. But Patrick Clancy himself testified last week, saying that he had left the house many times before. He had gone away with guy friends for a weekend. He had gone on business trips. And she never did this before.

So, coming up more today and this week, we do expect we will hear much more from these medical professionals who treated the children, also much more about Lindsay Clancy's injuries after jumping out that window. She's now paralyzed from the waist down, and also her behavior that day. She was out building a snowman with the children in January of 2023 and sending her husband pictures of that. So, what went wrong that day? Certainly, a lot of questions still need to be answered.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Randi Kaye, thank you so much. You can watch the Lindsay Clancy trial on CNN All Access. That's at CNN.com/watch or on the CNN app.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And just ahead, the disaster unfolding right now in Washington state. Wildfires burning out of control as the Pacific Northwest battles its worst fire season in decades.

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BROWN: Happening now, a nightmare is unfolding in Washington state where more than a dozen wildfires are raging there. Three are in Spokane County and could burn for several weeks. Around 65,000 families have been forced out of their homes. Officials say the fires have destroyed more than 700 homes. The fires have also given Spokane the unhealthiest air in the country, and it could get even worse.

Well, Cuba has been plunged into darkness for the fourth time in the last few weeks. A massive grid collapse has knocked out power to the entire island of 10 million people. Officials blame the U.S. oil blockade that has choked off fuel shipments and pushed Cuba's dated energy infrastructure past its limits.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I promised you that I would keep you safe. Please, you just have to trust me. Come on.

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BLITZER: "Spider-Man: Brand New Day." Breit swings into theaters with one of the biggest openings of all time. The movie raked in nearly a billion dollars worldwide over the weekend, and North America had hauled in $355 million in ticket sales. It is the second-highest debut in movie history, only behind "Avengers: Endgame."

Well, voters in Michigan head to the polls tomorrow for a marquee Senate primary. Democratic Congresswoman Haley Stevens facing off against Abdul El-Sayed in what has become a bitter and contentious race that Democrats across the nation are watching very closely.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is in Detroit. So, Arlette, this race has huge implications for the Democratic Party out of the midterms. How do we expect it to shake out? ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pamela, this Democratic primary here in Michigan really encapsulates the debates not just playing out in Michigan, but also within the Democratic Party on the national level. This contest has really laid bare the party's progressive versus establishment divisions, also the debate over what it means to be electable, and also how the Democratic Party views the U.S. handling and approach to Israel.

But really, this contest is going to be a major test for the progressive movement, which has seen success in blue areas like New York City and Denver, but now is trying to replicate some of that success here in a battleground state that has flipped between parties in the presidential contest. On the progressive side, you have Abdul El-Sayed, a former state health official who has embraced policy positions like Medicare for All. He has campaigned here in the state with the likes of Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Then you have Congressman Haley Stevens, who had flipped a Republican health seat back in 2018, and she is really the more moderate establishment type of candidate in this race. She has the backing of the retiring Senator Gary Peters, as well as the state's governor, Gretchen Whitmer.

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Both of those candidates spent the past 24 hours campaigning right here in Detroit, which could very well help determine how this primary plays out. Take a listen to a bit of their message for voters yesterday.

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ABDUL EL-SAYED (D), MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: The notion that we've been able to build a movement, not about me, but about what we all want, money out of politics, money in our pocket, Medicare for All, that has resonated with the state, that, to me, is the greatest privilege of all. This is the first time in a long time that we've had a campaign like this.

REP. HALEY STEVENS (D), MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: The GOP should be worried about running against me. Because, friends, I am a tough-as- nails Democrat. I'm going to run through anyone and anything to protect and defend our state.

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SAENZ: Now, the road to the next Senate majority very well could go through here in Michigan. Democrats would need to hold onto Michigan and flip four Republican-held seats. And this primary will provide a window into who the Democratic Party feels should be their nominee to take on what's expected to be the Republican candidate, Mike Rogers, in November.

BROWN: All right. Arlette Saenz, thank you so much. And don't miss our primary night coverage and election results. CNN Election Night in America starts at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Tuesday right here on CNN and on the CNN app. Wolf.

BLITZER: And there's more breaking news right now. President Trump is once again lashing out at Iran just hours before planned talks with the regime. In a new social media post, he called Iran's leadership duplicitous for asking for the talks and then denying the discussions. He said, nothing gets through to Iran unless we want it to, and nothing will get through unless a deal or total surrender is accomplished. He also reiterated his goal of Iran never having a nuclear weapon.

With us here in the Situation Room, CNN Global Affairs Analyst Kim Dozier and Michael Allen. He's a former special assistant to President George W. Bush for national security. Kim, what do we -- what do you make, first of all, of the president's latest social media post?

KIM DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, he doesn't like getting called out by the Iranians who are saying, we're in talks with Oman but not with the United States. This is something that they have consistently stuck to since the Memorandum of Understanding was signed in June, saying that they have not agreed to talks with Washington.

So, what we have is, once again, we're stuck in Groundhog Day, where President Trump threatens massive strikes, and then we hear Gulf allies intervene because they know whatever strikes the U.S. meets out on Tehran, Tehran has promised to do the same to the much closer Gulf allies, and the allies, they don't want their energy infrastructure, et cetera, hit, and their people are tired of this constant barrage.

BLITZER: Does Iran, Michael, have a special, serious interest right now in actually finding a diplomatic solution?

MICHAEL ALLEN, FORMER SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: I don't think they do. I don't think that they feel like they're in a disadvantageous position right now. I think they feel like they control most of the straits. There are other vessels slipping through the Oman side of the Strait of Hormuz. But in general, I feel like they have a pretty good grip on it. They're not going to negotiate away any leverage that they may have.

But there is an X factor, and that is, what is the state of the Iranian economy? We know inflation is 70 percent. We know that they're in dire straits. But are they so bad off, and I'm not sure we know for sure, nor even the CIA and our intelligence communities, how bad off they are, and if they're in a really horrific position, they may want to negotiate over time to get that blockade going back. But it's hard to say. It's kind of the X factor in an assessment of their attitude.

BLITZER: Over the weekend, Trump posted he was going to launch the largest, most serious military assault of any time since World War II against Iran. But now, he's backed off of that once again. The Saudi crown prince, as you know, appealed to President Trump to hold off on new strikes. They're obviously concerned about potential retaliation on Saudi Arabia, including its oil operations.

How much sway do the Saudis and other regional allies have right now on the president at this moment, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait?

ALLEN: I think they have a lot of influence over the president. He puts a lot of stock in personal relationships, maybe too much. But I think what the president's overriding objective is, is to keep oil prices low. That tells me he does care about the outcome of the midterm elections. And so, every time he seems to be thinking, I'm going to go more kinetic or I'm going to do the blockade more than I'm more than I'm currently doing it. He seems to back down a little bit because he wants to be able to press the markets into a more favorable position.

[11:45:00]

It's great for, I guess, our oil prices here in the United States. But it's terrible strategic messaging for our adversary, the Iranians, who just see an irresolute United States lurching back and forth into positions that honestly not many people can understand or track.

BLITZER: Kim Dozier, is it possible that Iran could be overplaying its hand?

DOZIER: At this point, you know, Iran has several weeks, if not months, before it's going to feel the same kind of economic pain that forced it into signing that memorandum of understanding. At this point, it still has capacity to fill up its oil storage areas. It's still getting some oil out. And unlike Donald Trump, it doesn't care about how the public reacts to rising prices, et cetera.

And most of all, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps does not want to hand Donald Trump a win, especially ahead of the midterms. They know how important that is. And that's why I think you're going to see them draw this out at least through that time period. They can go for a while before they start having trouble buying new ammunition, et cetera.

BLITZER: You know, Iran has continued to strike against U.S. and ally targets in the region big time. Are they getting fresh supplies of weapons from somewhere or do they still have a deep stockpile?

ALLEN: I think they have some, but I think they also use the pauses in fighting to restock their arsenal. I think we're pretty confident that the Chinese are absolutely sending them at the very least dual use products, probably actual military equipment. And we saw recently that the Russians still have a healthy relationship with Iran. Of course, Ukraine sunk a ship.

So, we all looked at that and that reminded us of that relationship. But there's other equipment that gets through. They have a very thick relationship. So, I think that not only do they have drones and ballistic missiles buried somewhere that they can use more or less on demand. I think they have more stuff coming in.

DOZIER: And to Michael's point, they also they don't have to hit with conventional military capability. They are masters at the asymmetric attacks with. We don't know what that explosion was in Damietta in that Egyptian port. There was another explosion near a ship in the Strait of Hormuz today. Nobody claimed that. Probably Iran.

They only have to do these minor attacks to frustrate major shipping because insurance companies aren't going to ensure traffic through something so dangerous because even one strike has the potential to take out a multimillion-dollar vessel. That is an advantage that the U.S. does not have.

BLITZER: Kimberly Dozier, Michael Allen to both of you. Thank you very, very much. And coming up, a new target emerging in the war with Iran. Why certain data centers are now suddenly in the crosshairs.

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BLITZER: New this morning, the war with Iran has exposed a major vulnerability in one of the world's most vital interests. A.I. data centers.

BLITZER: CNN business senior reporter David Goldman joins us now for part of our "Decoding A.I." series. So, David, how vulnerable are these data centers?

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: They're very vulnerable. And I think Iran is proving that over the course of this war. There were attacks in Bahrain. There was attack in Tehran. There were attacks in the UAE. Five confirmed data center attacks just over the course of the last few months. And this exposes these data centers as sitting ducks in a war.

I mean, just look at Bahrain. This is the Amazon data center that was attacked twice. First, on April 30th, we had that initial attack. And Iran said, we're not done. We're going to hit it again. And then just a few weeks ago, there was a second attack on these facilities. Amazon now has a basically destroyed data center in a region that is increasingly critical for A.I. We'll get to that in a minute.

But, you know, these targets aren't exclusive to Amazon. Also, Google, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Palantir, all of these are targets, according to Iran. They actually said that there are 29 different targets around the region for U.S.-backed data centers. This is becoming an increasing problem. The reason that Iran says that these are all targets is because they are doing business with the U.S. military.

So, a number of these companies, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, they are all part of a $9 billion military contract that goes through the end of 2028. And they're saying, well, you don't differentiate between military data that's stored in these data centers and commercial data like A.I., you know, ChatGPT, that kind of thing, in the data centers. And they make them legitimate targets. That's according to Iran.

Now, the Gulf states have a say in all of this, too. They have invested $2 trillion in U.S.-backed data centers in this region. Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Oman, all of those countries have said that they want U.S. data centers. They have a lot of money to spend on this. They want to become a kind of third choice between Silicon Valley and China.

[11:55:00]

As this develops, this is going to be an increasingly important situation to watch, because if these data centers are sitting ducks and they're just attacked, well, then there's a new front in the war that needs protection, because these are critical infrastructure not only for the Gulf region, but also for the United States.

BROWN: All right. David Goldman, thank you so much.

GOLDMAN: Thank you.

BLITZER: And to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us this morning. You can always keep up with us on social media @wolfblitzer and @pamelabrowncnn.

BROWN: And we'll see you back here tomorrow morning and every weekday morning at 10:00 Eastern. Inside Politics Today with our friend and colleague Manu Raju starts after a quick break.

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