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U.S. Launches Strikes on Iran as Widening War Pulls in More Countries; CNN Poll Shows Voters Favor Democrats Heading into the Midterms; Major Blow to Blanche's A.G. Nomination as Key Committee Vote Postponed. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired July 30, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The breaking news, the U.S. unleashed what CENTCOM called a heavy wave of strikes on Iran overnight. More countries are getting pulled into the war, and there's new reporting on a potential two-week plan with the options that President Trump is now weighing.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Also breaking overnight, American voters put Congress on notice, revealing in a new CNN poll that they want significant change, and they clearly favor one party to make that happen.

Plus, a story of survival made possible by a medical pro. A nurse forced to trek more than ten miles down a mountain after being impaled by his own trekking pole.

John Berman off today. I'm Sara Sidner with Kate Bolduan. This is CNN News Central.

BOLDUAN: The war with Iran is now expanding. Egypt says that it has come under attack for the first time since the war began. Those strikes, and the others in the last two days, are now threatening to pull even more Middle Eastern nations into what is already a widening conflict. Overnight, the United States unleashed what it is describing as a heavy wave of strikes on Iran.

CENTCOM saying that it was all in response to Iranian attacks on U.S. forces, and that dozens of targets were hit, including military command centers and missile and drone facilities. Iranian state media reports the explosions the -- reports explosions across the country's southern portion. Video, though, geo-located by CNN, appears to also show smoke rising in the -- as you see there in the distance, in the western part of the country after an apparent strike as well.

There's also new video coming in from an island in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian state media says that rescue operations have been underway after a missile hit a home there. All of this just hours after President Trump said bluntly from the Oval Office that it was, quote/unquote, our turn to strike.

CNN's Betsy Klein is at the White House for us, standing by. Betsy, what's the latest that you're picking up on this, this morning? BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Kate, there are no signs of diplomatic progress, President Trump getting increasingly frustrated with this war that appears to be widening, opening up multiple fronts in this region.

And overnight, the U.S. intensifying strikes after Iran targeted Egyptian infrastructure for the first time in this conflict, really underscoring how challenging it is going to be to get those diplomatic talks back on track. CENTCOM saying in a statement that the U.S. Central Command forces successfully completed a heavy wave of strikes against Iran in response to yesterday's attempted missile attacks on U.S. forces.

CENTCOM assets, they say, struck dozens of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets in Iran, including military command centers, missile and drone facilities, coastal surveillance and defense sites, and maritime capabilities. Iran, meanwhile, says that the Strait of Hormuz is going to remain closed.

And, notably, this comes after on Wednesday into Thursday, the U.S. teamed up with Saudi Arabia to launch joint strikes against Iranian proxies in Iraq. And, notably, Saudi's defense minister, Khalid bin Salman, traveled to the U.S. for a brief visit, meeting with both Vice President J.D. Vance and President Donald Trump.

Now, according to sources who tell our colleague, Jennifer Hansler, over at the State Department, Saudi Arabia's assessment is that Iran is going to seek to create leverage through escalation. Of course, the Saudi stance is they prefer to see this deescalate.

But Iran also still believes that it has political leverage over President Trump with this war just three months away from the midterm elections. And that comes as it remains deeply unpopular with the American people. About 28 percent of respondents to a recent CNN poll approve of Trump's handling of this war.

But many of the president's advisers want him to publicly show that he is focused on the economy. President Trump yesterday spending time revealing upgrades to Dulles International Airport instead. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Betsy, it's great to see you. Thank you so much, much more to come here this morning.

[07:05:01]

Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Thank you, Kate.

Breaking this morning, voters are angry. They are hungry for change in Washington, and more of them are now looking towards the Democratic Party to make that happen. Those are the big takeaways from our brand- new CNN poll that has just come out. It shows Democrats hold an eight- point edge over Republicans among registered voters, and they hold a large 20-point advantage among those who say they are extremely motivated to vote. CNN Washington Bureau Chief David Chalian joining us now. We're less than 100 days away from the midterms now. What else are these polls telling us?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: Yes, Sara. I mean, it is astonishing to see how hungry for change, how dissatisfied the American people are with their leadership. Look at this number. A majority now, 51 percent in our poll, say that the country would be better off if current -- most members of Congress currently were replaced in this next election. I mean, that is literally the throw the bums out mentality.

And also there's very little regard for either major political party. Look at the favorable/unfavorables for the Democratic and Republican Parties in our poll. They're about equally unpopular with the American people. It's at -- that's -- it's 31 percent favorable for the Republican Party, 30 percent favorable for the Democratic Party, you see there.

So, as you noted, Democrats have the advantage because of the political environment right now, on that generic Congressional ballot that was just up, that eight-point advantage there you see, 47 percent of voters tell us they're going to vote for the Democrat for Congress this fall, 39 percent say they're going to vote for the Republican.

Obviously, it's a race-by-race notion, but that gives us a sense that it is a democratically advantaged midterm season that we're heading into, no doubt.

I would also just note, though, that is also due to independents, Sara. If you look at the breakdown of the generic Congressional ballot by party, you will see that independents are breaking by even a wider margin than the overall number, by 11 points, 40 percent to 29 percent for the Democrats.

SIDNER: It is interesting with the polling that you brought us yesterday around the president and how dissatisfied people are in a way that we have not seen before, that the numbers aren't bigger for Democrats in some ways. It -- I found this point really fascinating.

What does it tell us about one particular part of the Democratic Party, which is the Democratic Socialist wing of the Democratic Party?

CHALIAN: Yes, the story, as you know, you've been covering it often in American politics this summer, has been about this insurgent left, the power that is rising for the Democratic Socialist wing of the Democratic Party. And in our poll, we wanted to get a sense, well, how big is that wing of the party? We asked Democrats, do you identify as a Democratic Socialist? So about 34 percent, a third, of Democratic or Democratic-leaning voters in our poll say, yes, they identify as Democratic Socialists. But two-thirds of the Democrats say no, they don't identify that way.

And if you look at our next finding here, you will see that age has a lot to do with this. So, among young people under 45, ages 18 to 44, it's even a bigger number. 40 percent of young Democrats say they align with the Democratic Socialist Party, whereas if you look at Democratic voters over the age of 45, that number drops to 28 percent. So, this youthful energy inside the Democratic Party is part of what is giving the rise to this Democratic Socialist moment that we've been seeing in some of these primaries.

SIDNER: Really interesting polling. And I do need to point out that now over 45 is no longer young. So, apparently, I am ancient.

Thank you so much, David Chalian. It just struck me. I just noticed, I am ancient. I appreciate it. Your polling tells all.

All right, ahead, disturbing new testimony in the trial of a mother accused of killing her three kids. Her ex-husband says she heard voices on the day her kids were killed, telling her to, quote, do it now. Court is back in session very soon. We'll discuss.

Also, new reporting this morning for you, there are far more new cases of that stomach parasite across the country than previously reported. What the CDC is saying about the illness that has made so many sick.

And TMZ's Harvey Levin speaking out and standing up for Dr. Anthony Fauci. Why he says he draws the line at what happened yesterday on Capitol Hill. He used the word McCarthyism. We'll explain ahead.

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BOLDUAN: This morning, President Trump's pick to be the next attorney general may be in real trouble. The Senate Judiciary Committee was set to vote today on advancing the nomination of Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to take on the permanent role, but that's just been pushed off. Texas Senator John Cornyn is the reason, withholding his support, and Blanche cannot afford to lose a single Republican vote here.

At the center of it is the Trump administration's now scrapped $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund that Cornyn, and other Republicans even, call a slush fund that could be used to -- that could use taxpayer money to pay out Trump supporters who claim they've been wronged by the government, including January 6th defendants.

Cornyn wants a written guarantee that that fund truly is gone, buried, dead, and never to return. Blanche has so far, though, and for a while now, resisted doing that, saying basically, trust my word on this one. Cornyn clearly is not.

Joining me right now is CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig for much more. So, now this is postponed, Cornyn wants something in writing saying that this fund is gone and not going to come back.

[07:15:00]

What would that document do? Like what's he waiting -- what is the wait for? ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: It's a great question. I have no idea what this document would already accomplish. That's not already been accomplished. Todd Blanche went in front of that committee two weeks ago, two and a half weeks ago, and he said under oath, the slush fund is dead. I'm not bringing it back. He said it over and over again. Why Cornyn feels like there's some need to have that in writing, it's no different. If you put it in writing and sign it, it's no different than saying it into a mic under oath.

But it clearly shows me, Kate, that there is a level of distrust, even from Senate Republicans, toward Todd Blanche. Because if they trusted the guy, they would say, your sworn testimony is enough. Clearly, he does not have that level of trust, and that's why Todd Blanche will not be up for a vote at 9:00 A.M. today, as he was previously scheduled.

BOLDUAN: Yes. And who knows then what happens here. I mean, we're like stand by to and watch John Cornyn's Twitter feed is kind of how I feel this morning.

Blanche is acting attorney general, obviously, and he has been for a bit. Can he just continue like that?

HONIG: Yes. So, a couple things, if the committee ends up voting him down or not voting him through, there actually is a way, our Capitol Hill people are explaining this to me, that you can bypass the committee and take it to the full Senate, but it's really rare and it's really hard to do. I think the far more likely path, if Blanche does not get through, is he will remain acting A.G. probably for the rest of Trump's term.

You can actually do this. It's a bit of a loophole in the law. The law says you can only be acting for 210 days. However, if there's a pending nomination, you can be acting indefinitely. Biden did this. Biden had a Secretary of Labor for two years who was acting.

So, I think ultimately Blanche will have the job, but there's a big difference between acting and full-time, just in terms of political legitimacy and accountability.

BOLDUAN: And also, I mean, you have long -- we've talked so many times about the various aspects of what Todd Blanche has pushed for, promoted, fought for, said publicly since he was deputy A.G., then acting A.G., and now as a nominee. What do you make of the fact that this compensation fund is the thing that's holding him up?

HONIG: Isn't it kind of strange? I mean, look, the slush fund was a debacle that I think everybody disagreed with, but it's odd that that has become the only thing, to the largely exclusion of the Epstein files, right? We have survivors on Capitol Hill dissatisfied with Blanche, who felt he was disrespectful when he met with them. That's sort of taken a backseat.

How about the fact that we are using -- Blanche has been using DOJ to try to lock people up based on whether the president likes them or not? That seems like a big deal, too. But it's all come down to this one document where Blanche has to swear, I'm not bringing back the slush fund. It's sort of strange that the whole nomination turns on that.

BOLDUAN: Donald Trump's now suggesting that Cornyn's just, you know, trying to get payback for his non-endorsement and the fact that he's like lost his primary. But Cornyn also said that's not the case. So --

HONIG: The beauty of Capitol Hill politics. Who knows?

BOLDUAN: Just wait for today's chapter. Thank you so much, Elie.

HONIG: Thanks, Kate.

BOLDUAN: So, also this morning, there is new testimony in the trial of the woman -- in the trial of the woman who is now facing a jury for killing her three children. What the father said on the stand that brought her to tears, as you can see.

And a hiker impaled himself with one of his own trekking poles. How he still managed then to climb six hours back down the mountain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was pretty convinced at that point that I was going to get off that mountain, and I was going to do it under my own power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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SIDNER: This morning, the triple murder trial of the mother accused of killing her three young children set to get back underway with key witnesses set to take the stand in just about an hour. Lindsay Clancy's ex-husband, Patrick, took the stand yesterday as the jury heard the 911 call he made after discovering the awful crime scene.

Yesterday, she could be seen sobbing, holding her head in her hands. He testified that Lindsay appeared to take her medication as instructed, and even tracked those medications in a journal. He also described what everyday life was like in their home, and how before the horrific deaths of her children, she went above and beyond as a mother.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK CLANCY, EX-HUSBAND OF LINDSAY CLANCY: she was very dedicated. She did everything. She started reading them books at three months. And she made up songs for them. I remember she used to make Green Eggs and Ham for Cora because she liked that book.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CNN's Jean Casarez has been watching all of this. This testimony is -- it's beyond heartbreaking. It hits you, punches you right in the gut when you hear this father talking about this, knowing his three children killed by his wife, their mother. What did you learn as you're watching all this?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I learned how strong Patrick Clancy was yesterday. I mean, he was just stoic. He answered the questions. He was honest and truthful. You could tell when he didn't remember something. He said that. But he testified that he got home on January 24th of 2023 after going -- getting the takeout food and the CVS that Lindsay had asked him to go get, and the house was so still. There was nothing. There was no noise. He couldn't find his wife, his children.

So, he went upstairs, and the door to their bedroom was locked, but he got it open, and he went in, and he saw all this blood on the floor, and he saw the window of the second-storey home open, and the wind, he said, was blowing into the bedroom. I caught that, Sara, because he just was reliving this.

He went outside, and that's the home right there, and it's the top window on the right side.

[07:25:02]

That was the window that was open, and Lindsay was there face up on the ground, and they actually spoke. And he said, what happened? She said, I tried to kill myself. And then he said, where are the children? And she said, in the basement. He went into the basement and he found them with exercise bands around their neck. And he testified that one-by-one he undid the exercise band.

And he said that -- and then after that, in court, they showed the clothing of the children and they actually showed the exercise bands, which to the layman's eyes looked like bungee cords actually in court. But he says about a week later, he got a phone call from Lindsay from the hospital. And he answered it. And I'm going to let you hear what he testified to that she said to him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: She said she heard a man's voice telling her that if she didn't do it now, she would lose her chance or something like that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And did she also tell you that she had a moment of psychosis?

CLANCY: I don't recall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: The defense focused in on all the medication, and they showed the charts and the diagrams of the medication she took, the notes she took. She went from nurse practitioner to nurse practitioner, different medications, different dosages, many medications, finally went to a doctor, checked herself into a mental health hospital, lasted one day, said, they're not helping me, and she went out. And the culmination was what we are now at trial for.

SIDNER: It is -- frankly, it's hard to watch and imagine that day for him, and he had to relive it as you do when these cases come forward.

Jean, I know you're watching all of this. Thank you so much for bringing this to us. I appreciate it.

All right, just ahead, a dramatic rescue after a Russian strike on a Ukrainian apartment, teams pulling a child to safety. This attack coming as Poland is blaming Russia for firing missiles into its territory overnight. We will discuss all of this ahead.

And we're keeping a close eye on the market futures this morning, things looking up a bit. Wall Street looking for a rebound after the Dow had its worst day in a year.

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