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Autopsy: Malcom-Jamal Warner's Death Accidental; U.S. Man Among Druze Executed During Syria's Sectarian Violence; Israel has Killed More than 1,000 People Seeking Aid Since Late May; Barack Obama Responds to Trump's Accusations of Treason. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired July 22, 2025 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: ... another tragic death. It's death of the actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner. We're going to have those coming up.

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SCIUTTO: Well, officials in Costa Rica have just released the autopsy report for Cosby Show star, Grammy Award winner Malcolm-Jamal Warner. His death classified as accidental as a result of asphyxia by submersion, drowning. Warner's body will remain at the judicial morgue in Costa Rica until arrangements can be made to release his remains to his family.

[15:35:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: The Associated Press reports that Warner was swimming off the coast in Costa Rica when a current pulled him deeper into the ocean.

Local authorities say witnesses tried to help him, but he died on the scene. Another man who was also pulled into the same current but survived is in critical condition.

Bruckner Chase is an EMT ocean lifeguard and coastal safety expert. He's also the host of Noah's Wave Safe with Bruckner Chase and Blue IQ and the founder of the Ocean Positive Foundation.

Bruckner, thanks for being with us. Can you talk to us a little bit about the dangers of this specific beach, Playa Grande, and whether the dangers there actually apply to many other beaches as well?

BRUCKNER CHASE, EMT OCEAN LIFEGUARD: Well, they really apply almost to any beach. I mean, and what we talk about with Noah is respecting the ocean. And when you go to beaches like that that are in remote areas, and you can find unguarded remote beaches even where I am here in South Jersey. And having a respect for the ocean and recognizing those dynamic conditions that are unfamiliar to many people that don't live at the shore like some of us can create dangerous situations and things that you are just not used to and not prepared for.

And the stuff that we can learn from this tragic death in Costa Rica really can be applied to anyone's favorite beach or coastlines that they may visit.

SCIUTTO: So listen, I have some personal experience. My sons and I were caught in a rip current a few years ago. We were rescued by lifeguards, right? And if we weren't, it might have been something really, really bad. We go to beaches now. We deliberately look for signs of a rip tide. We ask the lifeguards, etc.

But can you remind our viewers what you need to do if you find yourself caught in one? Because the cardinal rule, of course, is do not swim against it.

CHASE: Well, one of the things that we really want to do through the work with the Blue Light, Cue and Wave Safe Series is we'd like for people to not end up in a rip current in the first place. If there are beautiful days on the beach where the best place to be is on dry sand. I mean, even conditions here behind me, we're at an inlet where there is a really strong tidal current that can pull you into really dangerous situations.

But if you are caught in a current, whether it's moving cross beach or rip current pulling you out, what you want to remember is stay calm. If there are professional rescuers around like you had, give them time to rescue you or to get out to you and help you. But if you can tell the direction that you're moving by the current or being moved, you want to move perpendicular to that current.

That might be parallel to the beach. It might be perpendicular to it. Where he drowned, there was an outcropping that might have been changing the contour of the way that current moved where he was.

Also keep in mind that according to the American Red Cross, many Americans can only swim about 50 meters in a pool. To get out of a rip current, conditions where he was, surf was three to four feet. And swimming almost four times that 50 meters distance to get out of a rip current and safely back ashore is going to be really daunting, if not impossible for most people.

And so what we really want to do is give you the tools to recognize dangers like you mentioned and not get in one in the first place.

KEILAR: Yes, it's such good advice to keep in mind, especially at this point in the year. Bruckner Chase, thank you for taking the time for us. We appreciate it.

CHASE: Thank you.

KEILAR: Still ahead, an American citizen from Oklahoma killed in sectarian violence in Syria. One of eight family members rounded up in an execution style attack. We'll have details next.

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KEILAR: In southern Syria, a fragile ceasefire appears to be holding after an eruption of sectarian violence, but tensions remain high in the region. Charred buildings and damaged cars are what's left of a village in Suwayda province, which following clashes there between Druze and Bedouin forces last week that killed hundreds.

We are now learning that one of the casualties was an American citizen killed execution style along with several of his family members.

Thirty five year old Hosam Saraya from Oklahoma, identified by a friend and an American relative as one of eight men whose killing was captured on a video that was seen on social media over the weekend.

We're joined now by retired Army General Wesley Clark. He's a former NATO Supreme Allied Commander.

General, at this point, what should the U.S. be doing in response to this killing of an American citizen? Just so horrible, so tragic.

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: It really is terrible. But the fighting seems to have stopped at least temporarily. The U.S. ambassador to Syria has been there. The Israelis and the Syrian government have agreed on a ceasefire. The Syrian military has pulled back. I think the best that we can hope for is that the U.S. ambassador in Syria will go down and hold the Syrian government accountable legally, financially to help the family and to get to the bottom of what started this.

I think it's a local investigation run by the Syrian ambassador. There are big stakes on this. The Abraham Accords is hanging on there. People want Syria to be a democracy. President Trump's already released the sanctions. The Israelis aren't so sure.

So there's a lot of uncertainty. There's scores settling going on inside Syria. But we've got an ambassador who speaks Arabic. He's got to be there and do his work.

KEILAR: And CNN can't independently verify the identity of the gunman. In the video, a friend of the family said he believed they were militants aligned with the government.

[15:45:00]

We should note a spokesperson for the country's interior ministry told CNN the government categorically rejects crimes against civilians and said everyone responsible for these crimes will face justice regardless of the ethnicity or sect of the victims.

Is this new government one that can be trusted to look out for all of the groups in this country?

CLARK: Not so far. There's been a lot of sectarian violence. There's been a lot of score settling.

We know this government was formerly an Islamist terrorist organization. And there are a lot of cross-currents between the various terrorist organizations that are in Syria, some of whom have converted, some of whom are waiting to convert, and some of whom want to settle scores.

Turkey's involved, obviously. Iran is still involved or trying to be involved in Syria. And we're involved along with the Israelis. So can the Syrian government be trusted?

Not yet, but hopefully in the future they can prove that they are trustworthy. Let's see how they can handle this case.

KEILAR: While you were here, I want to ask you about Gaza because there have been incredibly troubling developments here recently. At least 1,054 Palestinians have been killed trying to access food aid in Gaza since May 27th by the Israeli military. That's according to the U.N. Human Rights Office. Most of them in the vicinity of this Israeli and U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and their sites. They've really taken over to be the predominant distributors of aid there. And I should mention that CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment. What needs to change?

CLARK: Somehow you've got to set up a security screening point that's far enough removed from the food distribution point and that has protection for the Israeli soldiers so that they can assure that people get into the food point. They're the right people. They're not armed. They can't do anything.

And then the secondary effort here is to prevent Hamas from confiscating the food when they leave. So you need multiple security corridors around this place and a secure checkpoint area.

And you need protection for the Israeli soldiers who are letting people in. They should be showing ID cards. They should be getting retinal scans.

We should know exactly who these people are. And to do this probably takes more manpower than the IDF wants to contribute and commit to it. It probably also puts IDF soldiers at risk.

But I think at this point in the campaign, they should be able to do this.

KEILAR: General Wesley Clark, we appreciate you being with us. Thank you.

CLARK: Thank you.

KEILAR: We'll be right back.

[15:50:00]

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KEILAR: Just into CNN. Former President Barack Obama now responding after President Trump accused him of being a traitor, claiming that he interfered in the 2016 election.

CNN's Kevin Liptak is at the White House. What's President Obama saying?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, and we should note it's rare for Obama's office to put out a statement directly responding to something that President Trump said, especially so quickly.

And remember earlier today in the Oval Office, the president raised these accusations about the investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election, accused Obama of orchestrating a coup, accused him of treason, accused him of sedition.

The office for former President Obama is now responding, saying that out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response. But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction.

And the spokesman for President Obama goes on to say this, Nothing in the document issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes. These findings were affirmed in a 2020 report by the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee led by then chairman Marco Rubio.

Who is of course now President Trump's secretary of state.

So really quite an unusual statement from Obama's office responding very directly to the president's accusations, which I think gives you a sense of quite how striking it was for the president to sit there in the Oval Office next to his Philippine counterpart and lob these accusations, quite serious accusations at his predecessor -- guys.

SCIUTTO: And we should note, I said this earlier in the broadcast, that at the time of Russia's interference and the intelligence assessment of Russia's interference in the 2016 election, there was bipartisan agreement about this and the seriousness of this. And you'll remember too that when President Trump went to Helsinki and stood next to Vladimir Putin and was really alone in questioning that assessment, saying he was taking Putin's word on it, there was again bipartisan criticism of that.

So he is swimming against the current here, is he not, given the facts and given the bipartisan reaction to this at the time.

LIPTAK: Yes, and the Senate intelligence report that Obama's office cites here, which this documents from Gabbard attempts to undercut, was a bipartisan report. It was put out by Republicans and Democrats, signed by every Republican on that committee, including Rubio.

But I do think this is all sort of of a piece of President Trump's longtime sort of obsession with the Russia investigation. It really clouded the first two years of his presidency.

[15:55:00]

He has long considered it an assault on his own legitimacy as president. And so while this remarks are striking, very shocking almost, they're not necessarily a surprise for this president.

SCIUTTO: Kevin Liptak at the White House, thanks so much. And we'll be right back.

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KEILAR: If you feel like today is flying by, well you are not imagining it. Earth is spinning faster this summer, making the days marginally shorter, and I mean marginally, and attracting the attention of scientists and timekeepers. July 10 was the shortest day of the year so far, but you knew that, right. You felt that. And today will be another short day along with August 5th.

SCIUTTO: Don't be misled by that really fast spinning globe. We're talking about 1.34 milliseconds shorter today, 1.25 milliseconds shorter coming up. Why?

Well, the Earth's spin gets influenced by gravitational influence of the Moon, effects of winds, atmosphere, and movements of the Earth's liquid core.

So what are you going to do with your extra 1.35?

[16:00:00]

I think I'm going to blink with that extra time. Yes.

KEILAR: I'm going to sleep.

SCIUTTO: OK, you're going to sleep that extra 1.3.

KEILAR: Extra millisecond and a quarter. But it's actually really important because, you know, time is set to very specific.

SCIUTTO: It's true.

KEILAR: You know, these specific parameters.

SCIUTTO: So does that mean I've got to adjust my watch?

KEILAR: I mean, your watch is just all in arrears is the issue. It's out of sorts.

SCIUTTO: I'll be 1.34 milliseconds late.

KEILAR: "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts right now.

END