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Uvalde School Officials Hold Back Key Emails Despite Court Order; Netanyahu Signals He Will Approve Plan for Gaza City Takeover; Answering Your Questions About Managing Heart Health. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired August 21, 2025 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: This just in, CNN has exclusively learned that school officials in Uvalde, Texas, are holding back key documents despite a court order for their release following the May 2022 shooting. Nineteen students and two teachers were killed. More than a dozen others were injured.

And the omission of key documents is stirring some new pain among survivors and the family member of victims.

CNN's Leigh Waldman is part of the team that broke this news. This is a bombshell, Leigh. What are you learning about what's in these documents that are being withheld?

LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're absolutely right. This is a bombshell. And it comes more than three years after this tragedy took the lives of 19 children and two teachers at Rob Elementary in Uvalde, Texas.

We're learning our team combing through some of these unreleased, never before seen e-mails, finding that in one e-mail, the principal, the former principal of Rob Elementary, raised concerns about the safety and the security of Rob Elementary. The fact that doors could not or were not locked that coming nine months before this tragedy. And while those families of those children and those teachers were petitioning the school board there to release the information to hold people accountable.

[14:35:00]

We're also learning from some of these unreleased e-mails that there was conversations between the former UCISD police chief, Pete Arredondo, his attorney and the school board talking about settlements.

Now, we did press for clarity and for reasoning why these e-mails were not included in a data dump from the school district after a three year long court battle between a media coalition and the school's attorneys. We asked them, why was this information not released?

They said they needed more time. It was a complex matter that they were looking into it but failed to provide any further clarification. Our team getting a chance to look at some of these unreleased documents.

We are learning also that a link was shared with the school board entitled Uvalde board member access to media coalition lawsuit. In that link, there was 541 megabits of data, e-mails, text messages, things like that. What was released to us now more than a week ago was only 439 megabits of data.

A lot of that not being -- not sent to the media coalition despite this court order to release such documentation.

KEILAR: Yes, raising big questions about whether this is a miscarriage of what they should have been doing. Leigh, thank you so much for staying on this story. Leigh Waldman, we appreciate it.

Still to come, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approving plans for a military takeover of Gaza City. What that means for the humanitarian crisis.

[14:40:00]

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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is instructing talks to begin immediately on the return of hostages still being held in Gaza and to end the war on, quote, conditions acceptable to Israel. It's unclear exactly what those terms may be. Hamas this week accepted a ceasefire proposal put forth by Egypt and Qatar.

Meantime, Israel is pushing ahead with its plans for a military offensive on Gaza City. The Israeli military says it has begun warning medical officials and international aid organizations to prepare for a mass evacuation. A move that risks making the already desperate humanitarian crisis even worse.

We're joined now by the co-founder of the Gaza Soup Kitchen, Hani Almadhoun. He's also the Senior Director of Philanthropy for UNRWA USA, which supports the work of the United Nations Relief and works for the Palestinian refugees in the Middle East. Thank you so much for being with us.

As Netanyahu is talking about a military plan to take control of Gaza City, what have you heard from Gazans on the ground, whether they are planning to evacuate?

HANI ALMADHOUN, CO-FOUNDER, GAZA SOUP KITCHEN: It is an unfortunate situation. My family actually is under those forced removal conditions and they're really worried about their safety and there is no more place they can go. They've been sheltering in a place for months now because they came from further north and it continues to drive about a million people crazy because they don't know whether to buy a box of food because they may have to carry it to the next town over.

Everybody's on edge. Unfortunately, our family is trying to disperse food boxes on people and they don't know if this is a good idea, if they're going to have to be forced to remove north of Gaza. It is a choice of the Israeli prime minister when they say they want to have the talks.

They've already been talking for 20 months. The deal is a deal. They've agreed on it before.

Now they're moving the goalposts. Unfortunately, my family and so many of my colleagues at UNRWA and other aid agencies can be threatened. I've just read the report that they're going to cut the water, reduce the water to north Gaza and that's what happens when you want to drive the population out of an area.

You just take away the hospital and the water and then people will self-evacuate and unfortunately many people will die and many people we know will not be living with us if the offensive takes place.

SANCHEZ: You described taking away hospitals and taking away water. Nearly one in three children in Gaza City is malnourished and the reports are indicating that hospitals at this point are barely functioning and further at overcapacity. So if Gazans start to move to areas where there are more resources, what does that look like if resources are already strained and it's hard to access even basic necessities?

ALMADHOUN: Right. See, I don't want to see any forced evacuation or forced removal of my people and my family. And if they were going to do it, I would tell them maybe take them to where their homes are.

In the press, the Israelis have been talking about cleaning the area of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia. These places can receive the people back because they've done what they said they wanted to do. But the problem is they want to force them to go more to the south, driving the stress with Egypt because they will be closer to the borders with Egypt and Egypt is a big ally of Israel and the U.S. and they have real concerns. I just think there's no more room for people to go -- move out to the south. There are not too many resources and by doing that, you're really robbing the population of their any livelihood.

There is no hospitals that are functioning in the north, barely limping. The Baptist Hospital, we've seen it being bombed a few times, the Al-Shifa Hospital. But this is really impacting real people. This is a million people in north Gaza who have gone to hell and surviving an nomination and now we're just waiting.

Yesterday, we just got them food because they were starved and today, like, hey, we're going to reset the headline and move them away from where they are. And that's just unfortunate, especially when we have a ceasefire deal that the Israelis have agreed to weeks earlier and now we see the goalpost being moved again.

SANCHEZ: We've seen over and over the allowance and then the blocking of aid going into Gaza. I believe that something like 400 trucks entered on Tuesday.

[14:45:00]

I want to ask you about an accusation that Israel has repeatedly made regarding that kind of aid and that is that Hamas is stealing it from the people who need it most.

In your experience, is that happening?

ALMADHOUN: That's the lie that would never die because there is why the USAID said in a report that there is no evidence that Hamas steals aid and Israeli generals, they said there is no evidence of the Hamas militants stealing aid. This is a lie that helps Israel to say, hey, we're not giving aid because the militants are stealing it. It is a funny dynamic where, in fact, in Gaza, Israel allows the majority of the trucks you just said.

They're commercial trucks, meaning for sale, and they never get looted. Nobody touches this. And the moment you allow a humanitarian truck, the Israelis will look the other way.

SANCHEZ: You mean that the Israelis don't claim that those commercial trucks are looted.

ALMADHOUN: Correct. When they say the humanitarian aid is allowed, they look the other way so the trucks are looted. In fact, one of our cousins is a volunteer young man. His name is Taha Almadhoun. He was killed because he was trying to be a good Samaritan, not allow the aid to be stolen. Whereas people with armed guns, they take away commercial trucks.

And that just really makes it harder because you see food now in Gaza. You see some food in the market, unlike three weeks ago. The prices are going lower.

But remember, where are you making money? Where are you going to find money in Gaza? And that's why it's important for agencies like UNRWA and other U.N. agencies that really have not seen a lot of aid to distribute to the people. And it's all that engineered suffering. This is not an accident. This is a policy.

You also see the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation that's linked to the killing of more than 1,400 Palestinians. Yes, we give you a food box, but you're playing Russian roulette. You may not go home.

And in fact, my maternal cousin was killed a few days ago in Khan Younis at those sites. And this is serious. These are real people.

This is not fake. This is not AI. And the worst part, these administrations keep defending this murderous cult known as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

SANCHEZ: Hani Almadhoun, we have to leave the conversation there. Sorry to hear about your family members. Thank you so much for being with us.

ALMADHOUN: Thank you for having me.

SANCHEZ: Stay with CNN NEWS CENTRAL. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KEILAR: New satellite images showing this. Just a huge expanse of Hurricane Erin there. You can see the clearly defined eye of this category two hurricane churning north just off the East Coast.

In the last update at 2 p.m. Eastern, a tropical storm warning was issued for Bermuda and beach goers are still cautioned against swimming at most East Coast beaches because of the life threatening surf and rip currents that they're experiencing.

Erin has been a huge disruption for coastal communities this week, especially in North Carolina's Outer Banks, even without making landfall there. The system bringing flooding, strong winds, dangerous surf and rip currents.

Recently updated blood pressure guidelines from the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology are telling us how to best maintain heart health.

Here now is CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. All right, Sanjay, what do we need to know about managing hypertension and these latest guidelines?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think the headline for me from these guidelines was that we got to start thinking about people actually having hypertension, calling it hypertension, even at lower numbers and we have to treat it more aggressively. Most people know blood pressure numbers, Brianna, so like 120 over 80 below that is considered normal. 120 to 129, that's considered elevated. But if your blood pressure gets to 130 or higher, that is considered hypertension.

I think that was the big headline and you need to treat it. So for the first three to six months, if you have a blood pressure that high, really focus on lifestyle changes and those are obvious lifestyle changes, diet and exercise and really cutting back salt and a big one that they're saying, no alcohol at that point as well as part of lowering blood pressure.

If three to six months goes by and you haven't made enough of an impact, at that point is when you might consider medications.

So, you know, this is the first time, Brianna, since 2017 that these guidelines have been updated and if you look at the numbers, you calculate the numbers like we did, probably about half the country now has hypertension. A lot of people don't know it, so it's important to get your blood pressure checked.

KEILAR: Half, I mean that is crazy. That is a huge number.

It seemed it wasn't that long ago that you would sort of like clink your red wine glass and it was like, cheers, resveratrol, but that's not really what we understand now, right? Take us through this because a lot of people need to hear this. I think they still think that, hey, that's really good.

GUPTA: Yes, I think as long as I've been a medical journalist, there have been these debates about alcohol being good for you or not good for you. In fact, there was these op-eds like going back in the 1800s in the New York Times where people would argue about this. So this is not a new argument.

But I think to your point lately, the evidence has been pretty clear. If you go back to the 1980s, there was an increased risk of alcohol, even smaller amounts of alcohol with cancer, heart disease, breast cancer, stroke, things like that. I think what confused things was the French paradox, which is what I think you're talking about in the early 90s.

Hey, the French are eating fatty foods. They smoke. They don't seem to exercise that much, and yet they still seem healthier. Is it the red wine? That was the French paradox. But I think over the last 30 years now that they have sort of dispelled with that myth.

And the World Health Organization came out a couple years ago and said there is no amount of alcohol that's good for you. And people aren't drinking as much, Brianna. About 54 percent of the country now, Americans, say they actually drink alcohol.

I think it's a lot lower than people realize. It's come down over the years. And about half the country says even a small amount, even a drink a day is bad for you.

So attitudes have really changed on this.

[14:55:00]

You know, I think it's predominately among younger people that's what's really driving this.

But look at that, 53 percent of people now say even a small amount of alcohol, moderate amount of alcohol is bad for your health.

KEILAR: Wow. And I mean, I think with the drinking it's like listen that's the scientific method. And just because you want it to be true that it's good for you doesn't mean it is. Is there anything specific that prompted these new guideline changes?

GUPTA: Yes, this was the part that actually fascinated me the most because I think when you think of hypertension, most people sort of associate that with heart disease, understandably. Could this increase the likelihood I'm going to have some sort of heart event or something like that? But there was a study out of rural China, actually, and it looked at people who had blood pressure of 130 or higher, and they were basically intensively controlled, meaning through lifestyle changes or sometimes through medications, they were able to bring their blood pressure down.

And they found that when they did that, they also lowered their risk of dementia. So about a 15 percent lower risk of dementia, which was really interesting. So there's this really interesting correlation between higher blood pressure and higher rates of dementia. But the good news here, and again, what prompted the guideline change was a lowering of the blood pressure in the ways that we've talked about did lower the chance of improving your brain health as well. So heart health and brain health potentially both benefited by lowering your blood pressure.

KEILAR: It's great information to be armed with. Sanjay, thank you so much for sharing that with us.

And do not forget to scan the QR code on your screen right there and head to CNN.com to send us your questions. We'll have answers for you tomorrow.

By the end of today, a parole board will decide whether Erik Menendez should be released from prison. Tomorrow, they'll do the same for his brother, Lyle.

Next, why recommendations in their favor don't guarantee that the brothers will actually be freed. Stay with us. We'll explain that.

You're watching CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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