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CDC Director Nominee Grilled on Capitol Hill; Trump Orders ICE to Resume Vehicle Stops; Todd Blanche Faces Confirmation Hearing. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired July 15, 2026 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:02]

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Now, we know that the White House has been trying to get away from these vaccine headlines, Dana, as they have heard it's potentially damaging for the midterms, that clearly with RFK Jr. in this post as HHS secretary not going anywhere.

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: That was really something, Meg. Thank you so much. Appreciate your reporting.

Thank you for joining INSIDE POLITICS on this very busy day here in Washington.

"CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Facing off with lawmakers, three key nominees are on Capitol Hill, one of them, Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, saying the nearly $2 billion anti-weaponization fund is -- quote -- "dead."

Public health officials now investigating thousands of cases of cyclosporiasis. We're going to speak with someone who is infected by the parasite and lived through it.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: And a spot in the World Cup final is on the line today in Atlanta. Two teams who have been beefing for decades really take their historic rivalry to the pitch.

We are following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KEILAR: Right now, President Trump's nominee for attorney general, Todd Blanche, is facing a confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill that has at times grown quite contentious.

Senators on the Judiciary Committee have grilled Blanche over controversial moves by DOJ during his tenure as second in command and more recently as acting attorney general, including on the now-defunct 41.8 billion anti-weaponization fund and over the department's handling of the Epstein files.

JIMENEZ: In his opening statement, Blanche argued that he is -- quote -- "restoring American trust" -- end quote -- in the department. But Democrats on the panel disagree. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE (D-RI): You have refused to exclude January 6 rioters from your anti-weaponization fund. You have refused to put in writing that the slush fund is dead. Indeed, you signaled to allies that payouts are still on track. You have vacated seditious conspiracy convictions against members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers.

You hired January 6 rioter Jared Wise, who had urged the mob to kill police officers. You scrubbed press releases about January 6 prosecutions and called the releases partisan propaganda. You denied that Trump encouraged any violence on January 6. You have cleaned house of every attorney who worked on a case related to Trump, and you have bragged that bringing justice for violent rioters meant that every one of them was either pardoned or had their sentence commuted.

TODD BLANCHE, ACTING U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Almost everything the senator just said -- and he's protected. He's allowed to lie, but almost everything he just said was absolutely false.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: CNN senior justice correspondent Evan Perez is on Capitol Hill.

So, Evan, what's standing out to you so far from what we have heard?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, one of the things, Omar, that we're paying close attention to is a couple of Republican senators who have been noncommittal about whether they're going to vote for Todd Blanche.

Of course, one of those is John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. And both of them have had questions for Todd Blanche about this $1.8 billion weaponization fund. Now, Blanche, before this, has tried to reassure senators that that idea is dead, that the department and the administration is not going to go forward with this fund, which at the time was envisioned to try to compensate some of the rioters that attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6.

And so part of his job today was to try to bring that home, to try to reassure those senators. I will tell you this, that, with John Cornyn, his answers appear to not have done the job, because Cornyn spent most of his time asking questions about exactly the terms of that agreement that Todd Blanche signed, that the department signed.

And even though they say it's done, Cornyn was homing in on the fact that there is still this agreement, this settlement agreement that Todd Blanche signed, which essentially gives the president, his sons, his family members, his companies immunity from any prosecution, for any audits, for instance, by the IRS.

And the language in that agreement appears to say that the -- that they're protected from being investigated by any part of the U.S. government. Now, in questioning -- under questioning from Cornyn, Blanche did say that that agreement only binds the IRS, which is language that they have previously not said. We do know that, outside of the hearing, Cornyn says that he's still noncommittal about that.

[13:05:06]

But one of the things that looms large over this is whether Blanche is sufficiently independent from the president because he is -- does have a personal relationship with him as his former lawyer. Here's an exchange with Senator John Kennedy that kind of illustrates that problem.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): Are you and President Trump friends?

BLANCHE: I'm his lawyer, was his lawyer, and now I'm the deputy attorney general.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREZ: And you can see there he had a little bit of a slip-up there in the language.

But that is the thing that Democrats are trying to drive home, which is President -- that Todd Blanche is still behaving in his current job as if he is President Trump's personal lawyer. The hearing is continuing behind me.

So we will see how much more of that they can get to -- guys.

JIMENEZ: All right, Evan Perez, appreciate you staying on top of it. We will get back to you soon.

I want to bring in CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig as well.

And, Elie, I know you have been watching this as well as we have,you much more closely, because, I mean, you have gotten to know Todd Blanche over the last 20 years or so. And at points, I know you have defended him and his ability to do his job, but just tell me what has changed, in your view.

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, Todd is a different person now. Todd Blanche is a very different person now than the one I knew and grew up with as a prosecutor in the Southern District of New York.

He was trained in the same tradition of DOJ that I was trained, that thousands of others have been trained, that you value independence from politics, that you tell the truth unvarnished no matter what, and that you do the right thing, whether you like it in the moment, whether it's politically expedient or not.

I defended Todd, and I stand by this, when he was under attack for defending Donald Trump in the criminal cases. There was a lot of hand- wringing, how dare he defend Donald Trump? And my point, which I made publicly, was, he has every right to -- A, Donald Trump has every right to hire a lawyer he wants, and Todd Blanche as a lawyer has every right to defend Donald Trump. I have been very critical of Todd Blanche over the last year-and-a-

half since he's been deputy A.G. and now acting A.G., for reasons I think we see on display today, that he refuses to stand up for DOJ's independence.

At bottom, he's going to do what Trump says when it comes to prosecutions. At bottom, he's going to do what's necessary to support the political agenda of the president. And I don't think he said anything today to walk back from that or to distance himself from that.

JIMENEZ: You see him as sort of contradicting those principles, kind of, yes.

HONIG: I do, yes.

I think -- look, let's take one example, the slush fund, right, which everyone -- everyone hates the slush fund. Everyone recognizes that it was a ridiculous, self-serving, collusive use of government power, an effort to pay out $1.776 billion primarily to January 6 rioters.

And what Blanche has basically said is, well, it's gone, it's gone, it's gone. But he has not owned any acceptance of responsibility for putting it together in the first place. He's not shown any acknowledgement of understanding why everyone, Republicans and Democrats alike, rejected that as an improper use of DOJ's power.

In his view, it's just this is something the president wanted then. Now we don't want it now. It was good then. It's bad now. It's very transactional.

JIMENEZ: You know, when Pam Bondi was running DOJ, she also faced her fair share of criticism. Obviously, Todd Blanche has been in an acting role to this point. That's why we're going through these confirmation hearings.

During his acting tenure, have you gotten the sense that he's run the DOJ any differently than Pam Bondi did during her tenure?

HONIG: It's one of the great mysteries that someone's going to solve one day, one of our reporters. How did Pam Bondi end up getting fired after 14 months? I understand that part. But how does that person get fired and her deputy, who was as involved or sometimes more hands-on than she was, came through it not only unscathed, but now apparently on the doorstep, certainly nominated and potentially about to become the A.G.?

It's remarkable how so much stuck to Bondi and so little has stuck to Blanche. I think a lot of that is just in communication style. If you remember the hearing where Pam Bondi testified a few months ago, it was a debacle. She was screaming at senators. She had insults, personal insults.

What Blanche is doing here is strategically, I think, trying to keep the volume low, trying to avoid any errors, do no harm, as a doctor would say. And I think, by and large, he's kept the temperature low, and that's going to be to his benefit here.

JIMENEZ: And, as we watch, we were listening to Evan talk earlier,there are still some questions over some key senators, even Republicans. He mentioned senator John Cornyn of Texas, Thom Tillis, North Carolina.

Based on what we have seen so far, I mean, do you think Blanche will be confirmed here?

HONIG: Well, it is going to all turn on the two of them.

JIMENEZ: Sure.

HONIG: Tillis, at the end of his questioning, he did say something like good job today to Blanche. So I thought that was a little bit of a tell.

I also think Blanche -- Cornyn's primary concerns is with the slush fund. And Blanche basically said, look, I'm out, I will work with you, I will do whatever needs to be done to kill it altogether.

I will say the thing that's not really come up, and to me should be the first issue, is the political weaponization, the use of DOJ to pursue the president's enemies. Some of the Democrats have brought it up. Cory Booker, I think, just brought it up quite effectively.

But there's so much focus on the slush fund that I think it's actually overwhelming the even more important point of the aggressive offensive weaponization of DOJ. He hasn't really had to answer for that yet.

[13:10:11]

JIMENEZ: So it's too close to call just yet on your prediction.

HONIG: I'm making no predictions about what the Senate will do.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Yes.

HONIG: That's...

(CROSSTALK)

JIMENEZ: I was going to say, that's probably safe. That's probably safe. We can't make any predictions on what Congress does these days.

HONIG: No.

JIMENEZ: Elie Honig, appreciate you being here, as always.

HONIG: Thanks, Omar. Thank you.

JIMENEZ: Still to come: President Trump overturns his administration's own policy, as he orders ICE to resume traffic stops, despite deadly shootings just days apart.

KEILAR: Plus: in the hot seat. A hearing for Trump's new pick for CDC director turns surprisingly contentious.

And then, later, an outbreak of a -- I hate to say it, but this is the hallmark of this condition.

(LAUGHTER)

KEILAR: It's a diarrhea-causing parasite. And this is a problem that is growing. We're going to be joined by one of the unlucky people who has contracted it and can tell us what it's all about.

We have that and much more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:15:06]

KEILAR: Major whiplash for ICE policy. President Trump just overturned the temporary pause on vehicle stops.

JIMENEZ: This was less than 24 hours ago ICE agents were directed to suspend those stops until further notice after two fatal shootings by federal officers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS HOMAN, WHITE HOUSE BORDER CZAR: It's not a policy change. It's a temporary pause. It's a short pause just to make sure we're doing the right thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is following all this.

So, Priscilla, I mean, look, DHS is saying one thing. The president seems to be saying another. It's all kind of happening pretty quickly. Just what are you learning about what's going on here?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, here is what happened.

Yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security, or, more specifically, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, released guidance to its officers who handle the arrest of undocumented immigrants and essentially said to suspend temporarily initiating vehicle stops unless there was a criminal warrant, in which case they should work with their partner agencies.

The reason for that is because there were two fatal shootings over the course of a week that involved vehicle stops. So, officials were using this as a moment to briefly assess what was going on. They were not going to end it altogether, but, rather, take a beat.

And that is also what White House border czar Tom Homan had told reporters yesterday. Fast-forward to this morning, where the president is watching the coverage of this, and he puts on TRUTH Social that that is not going to be the case, that vehicle stops are going to be used. You have it there where he calls it one of their critical tools for immigration arrests.

So now this guidance that went out just yesterday is reversed, for these agents to continue the vehicle stops. I think the part to stress here is, vehicle stops are incredibly important for the administration to reach the numbers it wants to reach. They want to be at 2,000 arrests a day.

And when I was talking to sources yesterday, frankly, that was not going to happen if you take away vehicle stops. That is a tool that they have used often and have leaned on more because what they usually used to do with door knocks just isn't yielding results because people are not opening their doors to these agents.

And so while the administration is trying to forge ahead on their deportation agenda, and while they're getting a lot of heat from the MAGA base to deliver on that, they have now opted, or the president has decided to overturn this so they can use those vehicle stops to arrest undocumented immigrants.

KEILAR: And we're learning more about the man who was shot in Maine.

ALVAREZ: Yes, we -- she posted on her TikTok account. Karolina Rojas is her name, and she posted -- I'm just going to read you a snippet of what she said -- quote -- "My soul aches. I have so many questions. I wish it were all a lie, that you would come and hug me and tell me that everything is all right."

And she had a photo slide of her daughter and the couple. We are also learning from the neighbor who saw some of what unfolded after the shooting. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Suddenly, there's a lot of commotion in my apartment complex. And in my apartment complex, there were people who are coming out and behaving hysterically. And I was -- I thought I should be behaving hysterically, because this is horrible.

But I couldn't get away from the fact that there were people who were just collapsing in front of me. And one young woman kept coming up to the window and putting her hands up against the window, saying: "No more. No more."

And I thought you, this is just one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: So, as you can see there, a lot of grief in that community and still a lot of questions. There are multiple investigations open on this, and no answers quite yet on what unfolded in the moment that he was shot.

We have been asking the Department of Homeland Security for more information, but you can see there a community still roiling over what occurred.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

KEILAR: I think a lot of communities feel like, this can't happen here, but I think that is definitely a strain that we're seeing in Biddeford, for sure.

ALVAREZ: Well, actually, and the mayor, I just want to note, said that there had been no fatal shootings over the last nearly two years, and this was the first.

KEILAR: Yes.

JIMENEZ: Wow.

KEILAR: So it really stands out.

Priscilla, thank you so much for the great reporting.

And next to Capitol Hill, where the doctor picked by President Trump to lead the CDC was asked what she'd do if she received directives that could harm Americans' health. Hear her answer right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:24:07]

JIMENEZ: Today, it was an unexpectedly confrontational hearing for the nominee to lead the CDC.

Dr. Erica Schwartz, she went before the Senate Health Committee seeking confirmation. She is President Trump's third nominee, by the way, in this term to lead the CDC. The health agency has faced mass layoffs, major budget cuts, and just overall turmoil over changes to vaccine policies.

So Schwartz was the deputy surgeon general leading vaccine programs during Trump's first term. She frustrated some senators from both parties in exchanges like this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): Will you commit that you will report to Congress if you receive directives from Secretary Kennedy or any other individual in the Trump administration to implement policies that are unscientific and could harm the health and well-being of the American people?

DR. ERICA SCHWARTZ, CDC DIRECTOR NOMINEE: Senator, I do not believe that the president or the secretary would ever do what you just mentioned.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[13:25:02]

KEILAR: CNN medical correspondent Meg Tirrell is joining us on this story. Meg, tell us more about this hearing.

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Dr. Schwartz was asked that question repeatedly, mainly by Democrats, but also by Republicans, including Chairman Bill Cassidy.

And, really, they were responding to her with growing incredulity as she kept saying that she didn't believe that President Trump or Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would ever ask her to do something that went against the science.

And, now, there's a lot of history to why these senators are asking this question of the nominee to run the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and that's because the former director, who has -- was ousted from that position almost a year ago, Dr. Susan Monarez, said that she was removed from the position after clashing with Secretary Kennedy after he asked her to preapprove essentially vaccine policy recommendations from his outside handpicked group of vaccine advisers.

Now, he disputes that account, but that is the background with which these senators were coming into this hearing and asking this of this new nominee, while widely accepting that her credentials and her background make her extremely qualified for the role. Here's another exchange with Senator Bill Cassidy.

And I'm -- I think you just said we didn't have the sound. So, essentially, what we heard from Cassidy was, he was asking her to pledge also that if she was asked to do something in terms of vaccines in particular that she didn't agree went along with the science that she would stand up. And he asked her this question repeatedly, and he did not appear satisfied with the answers.

Guys, we have heard that the White House is trying to pivot HHS away from talking so much about vaccines and away from a lot of this chaos that we have been hearing about because they have had polling data that tells them that this is an unpopular issue for them heading into the midterms.

I'm hearing now we have that sound. Let's take a listen to Bill Cassidy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R-LA): Not betraying science, standing on science, speaking the truth, even in difficult moments, do you have -- will you have the ability to do that free of political interference?

SCHWARTZ: Chairman, the secretary absolutely will allow me to be the CDC director. That is why I'm sitting here before you. The secretary knows that I...

CASSIDY: Yes, but I almost feel like I'm having to go after this question a little bit more firmly than I feel like I should.

But will you have the ability to say no to junk science and to say yes to that which has been firmly established, and to stick up for what is actually right and true, as opposed to that which is superstition and prejudice.

SCHWARTZ: Chairman, I have always stood up for what is right and what is true, and I believe that I will continue to do that. You have my assurances that I will do that. I will never betray this the science ever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TIRRELL: So, really pointed questions there from both sides of the aisle. We're going to have to see how this vote goes to get out of the committee -- guys.

JIMENEZ: And Senator Bill Cassidy among the key votes to confirm RFK Jr. when that process went through, and he's criticized some of what we have seen from HHS since.

So, a lot of pointed questions. We will continue to monitor.

Meg Tirrell, appreciate the reporting, as always.

Another confirmation we're watching, attorney general nominee Todd Blanche facing lawmakers and says the anti-weaponization fund is dead, in his words. But will that be enough for the senators who will vote on his nomination? At least one Republican says he's unsure.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)