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Trump Speaks Aboard Air Force One as He Heads to Michigan; U.S. Strikes in Iran on a Hold After Nearly Two Weeks; NYT Reports That Bryan Kohberger Says He Wants to Withdraw His Guilty Plea; Sentencing Hearing for Georgia School Shooter, Colt Gray, Underway. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired July 27, 2026 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00]

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: -- I think even more than that. No, Venezuela, we paid for that war many times over. And that will happen with Iran also. We paid for the war many times over.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where is that money going?

TRUMP: Which, by the way, no other president can say that for a long time. OK? When was the last president that could say that? So we had a cost of Venezuela, we paid for it many, many times over. And now, as you know, we have a very good relationship with Venezuela.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where does the money go right now?

TRUMP: It goes toward running the country.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible).

TRUMP: From Venezuela, it goes toward running the country. It can go to the military, you know, Congress has to approve it. Congress doesn't like approving money for the military. They like giving it to things that shouldn't be done. But we're taking in a lot of money, billions and billions of dollars from Venezuela. That'll happen with Iran too.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With the Iranian assets, you said that Iranian assets will be used to pay for damages to ships that were hit in the Strait of Hormuz.

TRUMP: That's right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would the U.S. pay shipping companies directly?

TRUMP: No, no, we're going to use Iran's money to pay for the damage they did. In other words, the Iran money that we control will be used to pay for damages. Sound good? Not bad, right? He should be a reporter. OK, any other questions?

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (inaudible).

TRUMP: And by the way, we're going raise (ph) again. The car companies are doing better than they've ever done. Many, many plants are being built all over the United States. They'll be opening them over the next year. Toyota just agreed to come and move its entire operation out of Mexico and into the United States. They'll be opening, I guess, the largest plant in the world, somebody said, but because -- all because of tariffs and because of me, all because of Trump.

So it's been pretty amazing, actually.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).

TRUMP: A very good inflation report the other day. Costs are going down rapidly. Don't forget, I inherited these. I haven't been here very long. I inherited the worst inflation in history from Biden. But costs are going down rapidly, and as soon as the war is over, you're going to see a big drop.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you worried that the Fed is going to rise (inaudible)?

TRUMP: Well, they have a board, and Kevin is fantastic, but he's got a board, and the board members are very political, I would say. So we fight our way through the rates because we're doing so well, but no, he's got a board.

He wants to do the right thing. I know what he wants to do. But you need the consent of some people that have perhaps bad intentions. Rates should be lowered. This country could be at eight percent, nine percent, 10 percent, 12 percent GDP, that's what it should be.

We have other countries that are paying less interest rates, and if it wasn't for us, they wouldn't even exist. It's ridiculous. And they call them elite. We have other countries. I don't want to really mention names of countries, but I could give you plenty. They take money out of the U.S., and because of that, they get a lower interest rate than we do, and it shouldn't be that way.

We should have the lowest interest rate in the world. I could take the money that these countries are making, put it into our portfolio, and we should have the lowest interest rate in the world, like it used to be 30 years ago. We always made the lowest rate.

If you take a look at, like, Switzerland, where we have a $30 billion deficit, I could wipe out that deficit overnight. Overnight. That'd be money that would actually indirectly come to us. So, we've got a lot of interesting things going. But our country is the strongest we've ever been. It's the hottest country anywhere in the world.

And frankly, it would be very nice for a lot of countries that would not survive without us. And you know who wouldn't survive without us? Israel. Bibi is coming, he'll tell you. If I didn't get involved and if I didn't blow up those nuclear -- essentially, soon-to-be nuclear weapons, the dust, as they call it, Israel would have been terminated months ago and years ago if I didn't terminate the Obama-horrible agreement.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible)?

TRUMP: No, look, Turkey's been a great ally for me. You know, I think he's done a very good job. He did a good job with Syria. He's a friend of mine. And nobody tells me what we should be selling or not. Turkey has been a tremendous ally for me. It is up to Turkey. Turkey would -- Turkey is not a big fan of Israel. You know that, right? And not a big fan of Bibi. But he is -- they've been great for me. Turkey has been great. Very powerful country, by the way.

[13:35:00]

Tremendous military. Very big military. Very powerful country. Has a lot of great equipment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does Netanyahu want to strike a deal (inaudible)?

TRUMP: He's been fighting (ph). BB is doing great. I'm not going to say it. He was a wartime prime minister. We did very well together. And if you look at Iran now, they're eight percent of what they were four months ago.

They're eight percent of what they were four months ago. So we'll see how this all comes out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On the Senate, on the SAVE Act, why do you want the U.S. Senate to stay in town? Shouldn't they be out across the country campaigning?

TRUMP: What a stupid question for you to ask.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shouldn't they be out campaigning though?

TRUMP: What a stupid question. For Jennifer to ask such a stupid, she's a smart person. I knew her all the way back in the Iowa days when she said Trump's going to win. And boy, was she right. So listen, why do I want -- the SAVE Act has to be done. They shouldn't leave town. I'm not going to stop them from doing it, but they should get the SAVE Act done.

If they don't get it done, it's going to be a very bad thing for the party. And frankly, you know, if you look at it, the SAVE Act is going to be voted against by all Democrats, just so we know. We have some Republicans that I will not comment on, a few of them, probably four, that we probably won't get them out. I'd like to comment on them, but I have too much sense to do it. The Democrats are going to vote a hundred percent against voter identification and proof of citizenship, a hundred percent.

They want your taxes to go up. They want men playing in women's sports. They want open border for the world's criminals to pour into our country. And yet, despite all of that, we have the lowest crime rate in the history of our country, since 1900, with murders. With all of that, with all of the 25 million people, many of them criminals that the Democrats let in. Well, they just announced this morning, they want an open border policy where the world's criminals can pour into our country. I think they're crazy. There's something wrong with them. Any other question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On China, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last week, the administration is going to look into other Chinese A.I. models that they are stealing from U.S. (inaudible)?

TRUMP: Well, you know, look --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is China stealing American (inaudible)?

TRUMP: Well, you know, they're looking at us and we're looking at them, but we're leading now China substantially in A.I., and we're going to keep it that way. We're leading everybody in everything. We have a country that's doing well. Thank you very much, everybody. See you in Michigan.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, Mr. President.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": That was President Trump on board Air Force One. This was on the way to Michigan. He has since landed and we're anticipating that he is going to be giving a speech this afternoon, mostly focused on the economy. The president did make some news there on Iran.

He said, quote, "They asked us very nicely. Please stop. Let's meet." He's effectively saying that that's the message his administration received from Tehran. The reason that after two weeks of fighting following the MOU falling apart, that is why there's now a pause in hostilities between the two nations. Trump's saying, though, is that if there is no deal, we'll get back to the same thing.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": It'll be really interesting to see if his economic message is one that he takes to Michigan, because quite frankly, it's not true. He said that car companies are doing better than they've ever done. No, they're not.

Actually, employment is down in the auto industry year over year, slightly compared to last June. Automakers are up about half a percent. But parts employer -- I should say automakers, they're doing a little better by a smidge of a percent, about half percent. Parts employment, these are parts makers, suppliers, they have seen -- they've really taken a bit of a hit.

And then he's also talking about inflation as well. Right? So he said he inherited the worst inflation in history from Joe Biden. The fact is, he didn't. I mean, we all know that inflation hit nine percent, I think nine point one percent under Joe Biden. But by the time he handed it off to Trump in January 2025, it was at three percent. And the last monthly numbers we have for President Trump, it has been going up. It's 3.5 percent.

Trump had managed to get it down to about 2.3 percent at one point in the early months of his presidency. But with this war, you've just been seeing those inflationary concerns really rising at this point in time. So, again, 3.5 percent for June. Curious to see what it's going to be for July when we do see those numbers. But obviously, it is a big concern right now.

SANCHEZ: Yeah. Also, the Fed is meeting this week and he said that he knows what Fed Chair Kevin Warsh wants to do, but he has to deal with the Fed board. Obviously, the context for that is that President Trump put immense pressure on Warsh's predecessor, Jerome Powell, to lower interest rates. We'll see how he reacts if Warsh does not.

Let's focus on Iran now and what the president just said discussing the war with us, his former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East, Dana Stroul. Dana, thanks so much for being with us.

[13:40:00]

Do you see any significant progress as being possible during this? I'm not sure what to call it. It's sort of a pause in fighting. Not sure it's a formal ceasefire, though.

DANA STROUL, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR THE MIDDLE EAST: They're talking and fighting, fighting and talking. And no, there's not going to be significant progress here on the big issues, which are why Trump went to war in the first place, the nuclear program, the ballistic missile program and the support for terrorism.

But where we could see some marginal progress is on why the MOU broke down in the first place, which was about freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. There was ambiguous language in the MOU, both sides thought they had the upper hand here. The Iranians started shooting and Trump fired back.

So if there is some semblance of freedom of navigation through that critical waterway, then that would be marginal progress and I would say it would be worth it.

KEILAR: What do you think about his argument on munitions and the supply right now? That's a big concern of mostly Republicans. We've heard it from some Democrats too, but the president is blaming Joe Biden. I wonder what is the actual status of that and where does the blame lie?

STROUL: Well, first of all, no one knows the status of our munitions stockpile nor should they in the open source. Classified numbers we wouldn't want our enemies like Iran or Russia knowing those numbers and the reality is the United States military has been helping Ukraine and Israel for years now out of its own stockpile and our own defense industry has been rushing to keep up here.

And the challenge in the Middle East is both the U.S. military stockpiles, but also the missile interceptor stockpiles of our partners who have been on the receiving end of Iranian retaliation and our defense industry right now can't keep up. So these are critical issues not just for how we protect our own forces, but how our partners across the Middle East protect themselves.

SANCHEZ: Do you think Iran is using this time to restock its own arsenal?

STROUL: They're absolutely going to do that. Every time there's a ceasefire, Iran is going to reset its forces. We saw them do it after the ceasefire before this latest flare-up. They're going to do it again. Now, the question is can Russia and China meaningfully help them or are they going to be able to reset just with what they have in country? And I think we're going to see them do that.

KEILAR: All right. Let's take a quick break. We'll be right back with more.

Obviously, we just heard from President Trump there as he's gaggling on his way to Michigan and we have much more to discuss ahead. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:46:55]

SANCHEZ: We have some Breaking News just into CNN. Bryan Kohberger, the man convicted of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students, is seeking to take back his guilty plea. He told this to the New York Times in an interview from prison.

KEILAR: Joining us now is Dave Aronberg. He's the former State Attorney for Palm Beach County, Florida.

Dave, this is really puzzling. As we covered these proceedings and those intense victim impact statements, we talked a lot about this deal that he came to, to avoid the death penalty. And part of it was that he wasn't going to get another bite of this apple. And yet, it appears that he's trying to take us through this and if he really has a shot here.

DAVE ARONBERG, FORMER STATE ATTORNEY, PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA: Very little shot, Brianna. This is a post-sentencing motion to try to undo his plea. You don't get really do-overs in this process. I mean, clearly, he has buyer's remorse. He hates prison. We know that.

And he got a win, in my mind, when he was able to get the plea and take the death penalty off the table. But now, he's facing four life terms in prison. He hates it in there and he wants a do-over. Also, I think part of it is the manipulative person that he is.

Remember, this guy is a criminologist. And so, this to me is one final attempt to manipulate the legal machinery and drag out the process. It's this one last bit of attempted control after which he loses everything.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, I just want to cite something that he told the Times in a statement. He said, quote, "My actual innocence is my truth, and the plea hinged on by false promises and blatant disinformation must be withdrawn. He says he has an absolute claim of innocence, though he actually declined to discuss any evidence or other specific details related to this claim and any specific concerns he had about the plea process. I mean, what recourse would he even have to present a dispute over this guilty plea that he agreed to and then in court, answered a multitude of questions about whether or not he was under the influence, about whether he totally understood the guilty plea, and he said that he did.

ARONBERG: Exactly, Boris. He had a plea colloquy. Remember, the judge asked him a series of questions because judges don't want to be in a situation like this. So the judge affirmed with Kohberger that he was mentally competent, that he was not under duress, and that he understood that he was waiving his right to trial. He was admitting to guilt.

He had all these things that he said under oath. Now, what he would have to prove to get it all undone would be ineffective assistance of counsel, that his attorneys coerced him or grossly misadvised him. That's a lot to try to prove.

Or that he was severely mentally incompetent at the time he entered the plea, or that there was a fundamental defect in the colloquy itself. So I don't see this going anywhere, but you can just tell how much he hates being behind bars. I don't think this was the plan, and I think he's going to try anything to avoid that.

But even if he does succeed, and he won't succeed, then it's game on again for a possible death penalty if they go to another trial.

[13:50:00]

KEILAR: It's interesting, Dave, because some of the families were very upset that the death penalty was taken off of the table by the prosecutor. And I also recall, and I'm trying to find where it was, if it was the judge or if it was one of the victim impact statements. I recall it being the judge, but I'm not completely for sure of that.

Someone said to him at that proceeding that last time, you're going to go through that door and essentially, we're never going to have to hear from you again. Well, here we are, Dave, having to hear from Bryan Kohberger again. And I just wonder what the effect is on these families who have been trying to mourn their loved ones under these circumstances.

ARONBERG: Brianna, that's a great point. Hasn't he put these families through enough? I mean, look what he's done already, now to suddenly claim innocence. The families are right. They didn't want to have anything to do with him ever again. And it wasn't a unanimous choice by the families to give him this plea deal. This was something that the prosecutors did.

And I think they should have gone forward and sought the death penalty, because if you don't seek the death penalty for a guy like this who slaughtered four innocent people, then who do you seek the death penalty for? But he admitted his guilt and now he's back again playing games. This is part of who he is.

He's a sociopath and he's trying to manipulate the whole thing once again and torture these victims' families one more time.

KEILAR: All right, Dave, thank you so much. As we follow this news, Bryan Kohberger saying he wants to withdraw his guilty plea, according to The New York Times, and face trial for murder in the death of those four Idaho college students. We appreciate you being with us, Dave.

Right now, the teen shooter who pleaded guilty to killing four people at a Georgia high school is back in court as he awaits sentencing. We're live from the courthouse next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:57:47]

SANCHEZ: Right now, a judge in Georgia is trying to determine if a 16-year-old school shooter should get life in prison either with or without parole. The sentencing hearing for Colt Gray is now in its second day. On Friday, Gray pleaded guilty to killing two teachers and two students and wounding nine others during his 2024 rampage at Apalachee High. The judge has seen newly public evidence of Gray's notebooks laying out the attack.

Today, a forensic psychologist is detailing Gray's mental illness, describing his loneliness, anxiety and paranoia that his parents failed to address over the years. His father, Colin Gray, is said to be sentenced Thursday after a jury found him guilty of giving his son access to guns despite warnings that he could be a danger.

Let's go live outside the hearing to Winder, Georgia with CNN's Isabel Rosales. So, Isabel, bring us up to speed on the latest.

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boris, on Friday, we were stunned to see and hear Colt Gray's taped confession, admitting that he was behind this attack. And today in court, for the first time, the state laid out a motivation, a possible motivation for this mass shooting.

The district attorney, Brad Smith, he brought receipts from Discord messages to jail calls to medical files. And he laid out a two-part theory for the motivation behind this attack. Part one being to get Nikolas Cruz's attention. That is the Parkland school shooter. He brought up this message from Colt in a Discord chat saying this, "My love for Nik has formed into something, in which I can find no other resort that can prove my love and affection toward him."

And then the D.A. also said this. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRAD SMITH, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, BARROW COUNTY: Mandy, I can't wait. In three days, Nik is going to be in love with us. Surprise, no mention about people at the school, since firing against them, teachers are going to get him on that day. It is all to get Nik Cruz's attention.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: And the second part to the D.A.'s theory here is that Colt Gray did the shooting to leave these coded Easter eggs for people that are obsessed with mass shooters. And part of this nuanced true crime community, this world that he was delving into much more than reality. He was isolated in this digital world.

And he says he did that for fame and status. Things like bleaching his hair blonde akin to the Aurora theater shooter. Or destroying his computer hard drive the same way that we saw with the Sandy Hook shooter. Or even the date that he picked out for the shooting, early on in February, similar to the Parkland school shooting.

On the defense side, meanwhile, they brought in a licensed psychologist who said that he interviewed Colt for over 15 hours. That he was hyper focused on school shooters. But then he also said this, that he believed in his professional assessment that Colt Gray is redeemable, that this is a young man whose brain is still development -- his personality is still developing. And that he believes he can be changed with time and the right medication.

Obviously, this is going to be up to the judge to decide whether he will be eligible for parole. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Isabel Rosales, live for us in Georgia. Thank you.

A new hour of "CNN News Central" starts right now.