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Trump To Hold Cabinet Meeting Amid Iran War, GOP Revolt Over Blanche; Fake AI Influencers Flooding Socials With Unverified Medical Advice; FIFA Says "Nobody Is Selling Football" After UEFA Boycott. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired July 31, 2026 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:32:10]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Hours from now President Trump will leave the White House for Camp David and convene a special cabinet meeting. He is weighing whether to ramp up attacks on Iran again.

Overnight there were no reports of new strikes inside Iran but Iranian state media reports that Iranian forces attacked an air base in Kuwait. And Egypt was attacked this week for the first time since the war began.

All of this raising fears that the war could be expanding across the Middle East.

Joining me right now are CNN global affairs analyst Kim Dozier and CNN national security analyst Alex Plitsas. Great to see you both.

Kim, to you first. I mean, right now it appears Iran is absorbing strikes even though it knows it won't defeat the U.S. militarily. Iran, though, has this will seemingly to endure.

Are these, in your view, the makings of a deepening and widening conflict?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, the strike on Damietta, which hasn't been claimed by Iran but it's unclear who else it would be, is a sign that the types of targets seem to be widening and that Iran maintains the will and the capability to harass ships and cause damage to U.S.-owned property and U.S. bases throughout the region.

So that is a headache that still exists with no sign that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is backing continued negotiations with the United States.

WHITFIELD: And Alex -- I mean, with this kind of elevation of conflict, you know, is diplomacy getting even further away? I mean, what are the options that President Trump will be hearing and considering while at Camp David today? ALEX PLITSAS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST, DIRECTOR, ATLANTIC COUNCIL'S COUNTERTERRORISM PROGRAM: I've spoken to sources in the region as well as U.S. Central Command and unfortunately it seems that diplomacy seems to be stuck at this point. The Iranians have dug in their heels, and we've seen a couple of things happen.

As Kim, you know, correctly noted, they've expanded targets in the region, which appears to be an escalation; not a constraint. So it appears that they were again targeting more than beforehand. So strikes to date haven't been working in that sense.

We also had reporting come out from colleagues here at CNN that we've severely depleted some of our missile interceptors to shoot down incoming missiles that they fire. And then they've also, you know, continued to push back against civilian negotiators -- they being the IRGC -- again, that Kim just correctly mentioned.

So when you put all of that together it leaves you in a position of wondering whether additional military strikes are possible. So the second part is that then what would those military strikes look like. What we're hearing is that there could be a several weeklong campaign designed to degrade the rest of the remaining missile stocks, which would then degrade Iran's capability to pose threats to U.S. forces in the region and then potentially open up the avenue for additional military strikes afterwards if they continue to push back on negotiations.

[07:35:00]

WHITFIELD: Hmm. And Kim -- I mean, trying to add all this up -- you've got Kuwait and now Egypt in the crosshairs. Then, of course Saudi Arabia, number one, being targeted by Iran earlier and then Saudi Arabia engaging in Iraq, especially after, you know, recent U.S.-Saudi Arabia nuclear enrichment talks.

I mean, how do you see all of this intertwined?

DOZIER: It does seem to be widening. Now, Saudi Arabia has announced this new plan with 14 other nations to try to police the strait which -- that goes into the Red Sea, which the Houthi rebels from Yemen have been threatening. Now the Houthis are allies of Iran, but the Houthis also have a beef with Saudi Arabia, so they have their own reasons to threaten traffic through this strait.

But when you look at the combination of traffic threatened through this strait into the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz what it spells for President Trump and what he'll be discussing at this cabinet meeting is the likelihood of rising oil prices and a worsening situation which, as Alex was saying, will likely lead him to conclude that another military uptick is the only way to stop this or at least look like he's doing something ahead of the midterms.

WHITFIELD: Hmm. Alex, I mean, you know, this war, you know, is putting the U.S. credibility, you know, further on the line as well. You've got the Strait of Hormuz closed, Red Sea, and also Suez Canal concerns and interruptions. I mean, the U.S. is going to be blamed by both allies and adversaries for continued global economic and oil disruptions that, you know, Kim was just underscoring there.

So what could possibly be next?

PLITSAS: So there's a couple of things that could happen in addition to missile strikes, so it becomes a question of whether or not additional decapitation strikes are necessary to take out the players who are sort of stalling the negotiations. That's easier said than done.

There was a question as to whether or not the head of the IRGC himself, Vahidi, was the problem. And speaking to folks in the region I'm told he is not the only one digging in his heels. There's a number of members of their national security apparatus who are pushing back against the notion of returning the Strait of Hormuz to pre-war conditions and allowing freedom of travel.

I'm also told that Gulf allies are extremely frustrated with Iran at this point given their pushback and some fair deals that they've been given. I'm also told that they've been given a pretty in no uncertain terms threat behind closed doors from Gulf States about continued attacks that have taken place. That they were spooked by the joint U.S.-Saudi strikes against the militias in Iraq that fired on them and that the Saudis have approved a pretty significant military operation against the Houthis in the region.

So unfortunately it does look like there could be expansion -- an expansion of military activity there. Now who gets the blame for that? It's an interesting point. It looks like at this point the Gulf allies may -- are, you know, pointing fingers back at Iran. But as the global economy comes to continue to constrict, we'll see who ends up getting, you know, the blame in the end.

WHITFIELD: All right, we'll leave it there for now.

Kim Dozier, Alex Plitsas, great to see you both. Thanks so much -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: As the war with Iran drags on there are now new warning signs for the U.S. economy. Inflation taking a real bite of people -- out of people's paychecks. And there's new data showing economic growth in the U.S. is slowing.

A CNN poll this week also shows that just 30 percent right now approve of how President Trump is handling the economy. Yet, the president continues to try and paint a rosy picture about the state of the economy. At a rally just this week he touted the falling price of eggs. They are down nearly 33 percent since he began his second term.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These eggs -- you remember eggs. Eggs were, like, four or five times higher than they were a few years ago. There was -- you couldn't get eggs. They wanted me to use plastic eggs for the Easter egg hunt because they were unable to get eggs. And I said we'll take care of it, and we got it taken care of quickly. Now eggs are much lower than they were when we first started, and that's true with everything else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: This grabbed the attention of CNN's Daniel Dale who is joining us right now. Daniel, the president talking about eggs but it's also the -- as well as everything else that grabbed your attention. What do you see in the data?

DANIEL DALE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER (via Webex by Cisco): The president's claim that everything else is down is absolutely, unequivocally false. Far more products have increased in price than have decreased in price since President Trump returned to office in January 2025.

In fact, when my colleague Matt Stiles and I went through 332 products and product categories for which those Consumer Price Index data online, we found that about five times as many products and categories had gone up than had gone down.

Now, I think a lot of average Americans could basically do this fact- check without doing any research. People know that eggs are a special case. People know that most prices are up. It's also mathematically obvious when you look at the overall price increases. So overall, prices are up 4.3 percent since January 2025. Clearly then, not everything could be down.

[07:40:00]

But nonetheless, even though it's pretty obvious, it is striking when you go through the data of just how many kinds of products are up. So I went through category after category and I have some of them in front of me here. Food up 4.2 percent. Shelter up 4.6 percent. Energy up 13.1 percent. Medical services up 4.9 percent. Apparel up 4.5 percent. Tuition, school fees, childcare up 3.8 percent. The list goes on and on.

Now, Matt Stiles made a really handy interactive chart that's on our website and I encourage people to check it out. And he put the categories that have price increases in orange and categories that have price decreasing blue. And it's just like orange -- as far as the eye can see orange -- increase after increase after increase.

So no, this president's claim that everything else is down, like eggs is down, just not even close to correct.

BOLDUAN: Look, I mean, this president and the -- and the last president, and every president when the economy is not fully working in your favor they -- it is hard to make the case even though they try to make the case that things are -- the data is better than the way you are feeling.

But on the wall right now we've got overall consumer prices and the prices being up. But talk specifically about what you found in grocery prices.

DALE: Yeah, eggs are a massive outlier there too. So overall, grocery prices are up 3.4 percent since President Trump returned to office. There are some particular grocery prices that are down, mostly some other poultry products and some dairy products. But five out of the six overarching categories of grocery prices that the CPI tracks, including the category that eggs is part of, are up -- five out of six.

So meat, poultry, fish and eggs up 3.6 percent. Fruits and vegetables up 5.2 percent. Non-alcoholic beverages up 5.2 percent. Cereals and bakery products up 3.1 percent. What they call other food at home down -- up three percent. Only one category, dairy and related products, is down and that's down a meager 0.1 percent.

So look, eggs was a special case. We know there was an Avian flu outbreak in the fall of 2024. It continued into early 2025. So eggs skyrocketed and then plummeted back to mostly normal levels. Meanwhile, pretty much everything else just kept rising.

So the president, again, not telling the truth about prices, inflation, and the cost of living.

BOLDUAN: Daniel Dale, always good to see you. Thank you very much -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. New this morning tech giant Anthropic now says some of its most powerful AI models accessed the open internet and hacked into three separate organizations. The company says safety guardrails were removed for cybersecurity evaluations but a "misunderstanding" between Anthropic and one of its testing partners accidentally gave the open -- the AI open internet access.

Rival company OpenAI reported an incident last week where two of its AI models went rogue and hacked into another company. That is what prompted Anthropic to take a closer look at their own tests. Anthropic has now suspended all cyber testing.

And later on this morning we'll speak with the CEO of Hugging Face, the major AI platform that was hacked when OpenAI's models escaped their test environment -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: So when -- staying with AIs, when you're looking at your socials today you may want to look with an extra critical eye. Those doctors or herbalists promoting new and novel health solutions and products -- they might not even be human.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (AI-GENERATED): Blood sugar through the roof and nothing is bringing it down, stop what you're doing right now. Your kitchen already has the fix. Big pharma doesn't want you to know about, baby.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Fake AI health influencers flooding social media feeds. Some are getting millions of views and promoting unverified claims and products.

CNN's Clare Duffy has been combing through it all for you. What are you -- what are you seeing here?

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: Yeah, Kate. I mean, look, there has always been wacky health information online --

BOLDUAN: Yes.

DUFFY: -- but what's different here is that AI has made it so much easier to create these really realistic looking videos with potentially credible looking figures like doctors or herbalists to promote false health information or push these scammy products.

In some cases we are even seeing influencer accounts being created where one AI character is pushing repeated health misinformation. And in other cases we're actually seeing real doctors without their consent have their likeness used to create AI versions of them to push fake health information. That's actually happened to CNN's own Sanjay Gupta.

Now I want to play you just a couple more examples of what we are seeing across the internet. I found these ones on Facebook Reels.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (AI-GENERATED): If your blood sugar is high, listen. Six food combinations drop your blood sugar fast. Number six was proven in a real clinical trial. You should watch this video two more times, like it, save it, and share with someone who needs it.

[07:45:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (AI-GENERATED): I have one more trick to enhance the effect of this drink 10 times more and I always recommend this to my patients here in California for over a decade now. Follow me and comment the word "true" and I'll send it to you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DUFFY: Now there are some clues that those things might be AI- generated but you have to really be looking closely. That last doctor had University of Harvard degrees behind him.

I plugged those videos into an AI detection tool created by the company GetReal Labs. I also talked with their co-founder Hany Farid. And those videos actually had a hidden watermark showing pretty easily that they were created with Google's AI. And yet, they were running on Facebook Reels without Facebook's made with AI label. And it got thousands --

BOLDUAN: That's the key, right? That's --

DUFFY: -- of views.

BOLDUAN: And that's the key. It's like yes, there's AI-generated content. We're not necessarily saying generating AI content is bad. It's not knowing what's real.

DUFFY: Exactly.

Now when I asked Facebook about this, they removed these videos. They also removed the related accounts where, again, these AI characters were repeatedly posting health information. And Facebook told me that they are continually working to improve their systems to detect these AI -- the AI-generated videos.

But again, these videos had the watermark from Google --

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

DUFFY: -- on them.

I also spoke to experts about why the bad actors were behind this and might be doing it, and there are a couple of reasons. Mostly it's probably financial. Many of those videos linked out to supplements that people could purchase online. Sometimes they're also looking to drive traffic to scammy websites where they can earn ad dollars.

In one case an expert told me that it could be state-sponsored disinformation where they're looking to sow distrust in American health institutions. In many of those you hear them saying your doctor won't tell you this. Big pharma won't tell you this.

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

DUFFY: And that is potentially some of the goal behind these videos, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Well, you've got your work cut out for you -- that's for sure -- going through all of this.

It's great to see you, Clare. Thank you --

DUFFY: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: -- so much for your reporting on this.

Ahead for us, the Trump administration just issued a critical warning after hackers targeted water systems in Minnesota. What we're learning about who could be behind it.

And could there be a World Cup without any of Europe's soccer teams? The boycott just announced that is rocking the soccer world all over FIFA's new plan to bring in private investors.

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[07:51:30]

WHITFIELD: All right. Right on the heels of World Cup, are we going to now see a World Cup without European teams? Maybe. Would that be fun? The governing body that oversees European soccer unanimously voted to boycott FIFA events and it all comes after FIFA announced that it plans to inject private money into the tournaments.

CNN's Andy Scholes is here with FIFA's response -- Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yeah, Fredricka. Well, you know, if you're expecting FIFA to just say oh, you don't like the private equity plan -- never mind -- you're going to be disappointed. Because FIFA not backing down despite the fact that UEFA, which is all the teams in Europe, has said they will boycott all future FIFA competitions, including World Cups, until this goes away.

In a statement late last night FIFA said that this whole process -- it's been derailed by erroneous media reports. They added, "We respect the feedback and concern aired in public and reaffirm our commitment to an open and democratic consultation."

They went on to say, "The Future Forward Enterprise has been proposed solely to ensure that all FIFA Member Associations have the opportunity to take meaningful ownership of the commercial opportunity of football in their respective countries, and that this does not come at the cost of either the spirit or the governance of FIFA or football itself. Nobody is selling football. This is not something FIFA would ever entertain."

Now, Concacaf, which is the soccer governing body of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean, and the Asian Football Confederation have both joined UEFA for opposing the private equity plan, but unlike UEFA they did not go as far as saying they would boycott World Cups.

Now, FIFA says they will wait until they hear from all 211 members about this private equity plan. But with UEFA, Concacaf, and AFC all saying no -- I mean, that's 143 countries out of the 211. So the FIFA Forward Enterprise will not be going through if all of these countries are against it. But it certainly still has fired up a lot of people and got them quite upset.

The president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, even one of his senior advisers have quit over this. Carlos Cordeiro -- he put out a statement saying, "As a senior adviser to the FIFA president, a former banker, and a lifelong football fan, I cannot stand by while FIFA considers selling a stake in the World Cup. Let me be clear: I had no involvement in this proposal, and I oppose it unequivocally. It is a bad deal for FIFA's Member Associations, a bad deal for football, and a bad deal for the long-term future of the game."

And Fredricka, keep in mind this is one of Infantino's right-hand men, so he was against it.

WHITFIELD: I mean, what happened to all the harmony?

SCHOLES: It -- this is completely, you know --

WHITFIELD: Gone.

SCHOLES: We'll see what today brings, Fredricka, you know, but --

WHITFIELD: I --

SCHOLES: -- it -- certainly, a lot of people are wondering about the future of Infantino's leadership with FIFA now.

WHITFIELD: Sure. All right. It's just one chapter, right? All right, thanks so much, Andy Scholes. Appreciate it -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, exactly. All the warm and fuzzies --

WHITFIELD: Yes.

BOLDUAN: -- all deleted.

WHITFIELD: It's gone.

BOLDUAN: Welcome to the world today. You're happy and now you're no longer able to be happy.

There's also this.

WHITFIELD: That's right.

BOLDUAN: It's not happy. Terrifying video this morning coming out showing an EF-1 tornado ripping off -- just tearing of the roof of a business in Maryland. The tornado had estimated peak winds of 100 miles per hour. And this was part of a big system of thunderstorms earlier this week. As many as five tornadoes are believed to have hit that area.

[07:55:00]

A Southern California air rescue team helped save a swimmer who was found clinging to rocks in a river. Poor thing. The water rushing all around her. A park ranger alerted the Kern County sheriff that the woman had fallen into the river and was swept downstream. When the emergency crew got on scene and found her, they were able to throw her a life vest and a rope and then eventually pull her to safety, thank goodness.

And there is a new cooking show just announced, hosted by HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT KENNEDY JR., HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: I'm traveling across America connected with renowned chefs to show families how to cook delicious, nutritious meals with real ingredients, all at affordable prices. America, it's time to eat real food. Let's get cooking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: The Health and Human Services secretary is launching a show this week on his YouTube channel. It's apparently going to feature, as he kind of mentioned there, recipes that highlight among other things the updated dietary guidelines. The food triangle flipped on its head as they have done since the Trump administration released earlier this year and a focus on preparing meals for less than $5.00 a serving -- Fred. WHITFIELD: OK, eat up.

All right. The battle over the future of the Democratic Party will be on full display next week with primaries in Michigan and Missouri. This Sunday on "THE WHOLE STORY," CNN's Donie O'Sullivan takes a look at the growing power of Democratic progressives, speaking with activists, candidates, and controversial voices online from across the Democratic spectrum.

Here is a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Hogg and Pike are now part of an insurgency.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hogg has pledged to spend millions funding primary challenges to what he calls "Asleep at the wheel Democrats."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hasan Piker, who to quote Politico, is "driving a wedge in the Democratic Party.

O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): An insurgency against centrist Democrat, one that is challenging party norms.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These races do seem representative of just the real struggle the party is going through right now post-2024.

O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): And energizing voters. HASAN PIKER, ACTIVIST, STREAMER: Abolish ICE, free Palestine, and tax the rich.

O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): An insurgency that hopes to spark a revolution in the Democratic Party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. CNN's Donie O'Sullivan joining me right now. So Donie, I mean, progressive Democrats have been winning some pretty major electoral victories across the country in recent months.

So what are you hearing from supports of the movement?

O'SULLIVAN: Yeah. I mean, it's really been the sort of political story of the summer as this explosion of democratic --

WHITFIELD: Yeah.

O'SULLIVAN: -- socialism, far-left candidates.

I mean, as you mentioned, we're going to see the big test of that on Tuesday in Michigan. You heard in that piece there Hasan Pike, who is an activist and streamer on Twitch. David Hogg, who of course is a political activist. Obviously, of course, a survivor of the Parkland shooting. WHITFIELD: Um-hum.

O'SULLIVAN: Guys like those are going all in on these candidates. They're pushing messages. They're -- you know, they want younger people to be elected. They want people who are not taking corporate money. They are also very opposed to U.S. police on Israel. They're opposed to APEC.

But with all of this and among all this excitement there are many people -- many in the party saying that this is the wrong track to go down. Sure, this might work in a place like New York City where we saw in the primary democratic socialists winning across the board. But when it comes to states -- purple states, like Michigan, this might not work out so well in the general election come November and also, of course, 2028.

And one person, a Democratic veteran who everybody is familiar with, that we spoke to was James Carville. We visited him in Louisiana. Have a listen.

WHITFIELD: Hmm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES CARVILLE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: All right. Let's take in Michigan. Al-Sayed is probably competent but he's way left. I see challenges from the "progressive left." And these people are two hardheaded to know that they're not popular. People don't like them. And uh -- but if you get a skewered turnout in a primary, you might end up losing a race that you should have never lost in the first place.

O'SULLIVAN: When you say progressive left, you sort of -- there's a tone of contempt there.

CARVILLE: There is, yeah. So you were very wise. I hope the camera was able to pick up the contempt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'SULLIVAN: By the way, we shared some beignets --

WHITFIELD: Yeah.

O'SULLIVAN: -- as well on the table there, so we had a good time.

WHITFIELD: In New Orleans.

O'SULLIVAN: But actually, he was specifically talking about -- in that instance he was talking about the El-Sayed race --

WHITFIELD: Yeah.

O'SULLIVAN: -- in Michigan. He says look, you put up candidates like that -- left candidates that might not do well in the actual general election and might end up costing Democrats control of the Senate. It might end up costing them the White House in 2028. That's clearly, of course, --

WHITFIELD: Yeah.

O'SULLIVAN: -- not what these -- many of these younger activists believe.