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Firefighters Battling Flames In Southwestern France; 63,000 Plus People Evacuated As Fires Rage Near Madrid; Trump: U.S. Halted Strikes After Iran Asked "Very Nicely"; Oman Launches Diplomatic Push Aimed At Ending Iran War; Burnham Reaffirm British Commitment To Ukraine's Defense; Trump, Zelenskyy To Discuss Ukraine-Russia Peace Process; Massachusetts Mother Accused Of Killing Her 3 Children; Colt Gray's Messages Show He Wanted Infamy, Attention. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired July 28, 2026 - 04:00   ET

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

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[04:00:33]

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN HOST: Hey, everybody, thank you so much for being with me. I'm Polo Sandoval, live in New York, and this is CNN Newsroom.

Deadly wildfires scorched France and Spain as officials warned that the flames could spread for months to come. Plus, Ukraine's President arrives in Washington for talks with Donald Trump. We'll discuss what to expect as Volodymyr Zelenskyy tries to secure more support against Russia.

And later, Today Show host Savannah Guthrie with a new and heartbreaking plea to whoever kidnapped her mother.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from New York, this is CNN Newsroom with Polo Sandoval.

SANDOVAL: Right now, parts of Europe are facing another heat wave that could make the wildfires raging in Spain and France even worse with no rain in sight. Spain's prime minister calls it a climate emergency. The capital city of Madrid expected to see high temperatures around 38 degrees Celsius. That's about 100 degrees Fahrenheit, temperatures that should likely linger for the rest of the week.

And so far, the fires have forced more than 63,000 people from their homes near the Spanish capital. Southwestern France will also see some similar temperatures, with authorities warning that the fires could burn for months there. Already more than 220,000 people have been evacuated from the region.

And French President Emmanuel Macron says that the fires have been stabilized in the Gironde region and that they are now contained in neighboring land. The French prime minister says that more than 160 people have either been -- I should say, that more than -- yes, more than 160 people have either been questioned or detained since July 6th about deliberately starting these fires. And President Macron also says that the situation is unlikely -- it's unlike anything else that the country has faced in years past.

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EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translation): We must understand that we are facing a completely unprecedented wildfire. The situation we are dealing with today is the most severe we have ever recorded, the toughest since the Second World War. More than 160,000 hectares have already burned and the season is far from over.

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SANDOVAL: Our Melissa Bell is in Gironde with the latest developments from France.

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MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An inferno raging beyond all control. Five days in, the Gironde fire keeps growing despite the rotations day and night of 2,500 firefighters. Plus the civilians who've been drafted in to try and tame a blaze that seems to have taken on a life of its own, creating its own winds.

BELL: This is what the firefighters are dealing with. Even in those parts of the forest that the fire has gone through that have been ravaged, where the pines have been destroyed, as you can see, the ground, the soil, the nature of the vegetation are such that it is so hot, that flames are constantly popping up from it again. The other challenge is this westerly wind that's been driving this monster fire always further to the southeast, where the biggest flames continue to progress.

BELL (voice-over): And ever closer to Bordeaux and its satellite towns, forcing over the weekend an extra 55,000 from their homes. Overall, the number evacuated so far, 220,000, according to authorities.

Wendy and her family fled in the early hours of Saturday morning.

WENDY, WILDFIRE EVACUEE (through translation): It's really not knowing why we're here in the first place, whether it's because the fire is approaching our home or because of the ash that was blown our way by the strong winds. And in the end, not knowing when we'll be able to go back home.

BELL (voice-over): Christophe wouldn't leave without his neighbors, both in their 90s and diabetic. The hard part, he says, was getting them out of their homes with their medicine in time.

CHRISTOPHE, WILDFIRE EVACUEE (through translation): We never knew the war, but we have known calamities. Nothing like this, though, this type of fire.

BELL (voice-over): Spain, too, is battling several wildfires, one on the outskirts of Madrid, another in the east of the country. Authorities say that 60,000 people have now been displaced.

MARIA ANGELES SERRANO, WILDFIRE EVACUEE (through translation): More than anything, I'm afraid because of what is being lost, nature itself. Material damage is one thing, but that can be repaired, so to speak. What really hurts is emotional loss.

[04:05:01]

BELL (voice-over): A loss that will only be measurable when the fires are finally contained.

Melissa Bell, CNN, in the Gironde region of France.

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SANDOVAL: And now to the conflict between the U.S. and Iran. President Donald Trump says that the U.S. halted its strikes over the weekend because Tehran wanted to resume peace talks, though Iran now says that there are no current negotiations underway with the United States.

Listen to some of the latest remarks from President Trump.

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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Iran took a beating over the last 14 days, and they asked us very nicely, please stop. Let's meet. And that's where we are right now. We'll see what happens. If we don't make a deal, we go back to the same thing.

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SANDOVAL: In the meantime, Oman has launched a regional diplomatic rush in hopes of finding a political solution to this conflict. Oman's foreign ministry says that ensuring safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and restoring the flow of trade, that they are all key topics of discussions.

CNN's Eleni Giokos is following developments from Dubai. Eleni, so here we are again seeing some of these Gulf allies and other regional partners hoping to try to sort of fuel some sort of forward momentum and install diplomatic talks.

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. And again, the flashpoint is the Strait of Hormuz. And I have to say that when we look at the Omanis and Iranians coming together, talking about the Strait of Hormuz, we've seen joint statements being released around a mechanism in terms of controlling the Strait of Hormuz. But it's very evident, and I have to say when I look at the Strait of Hormuz marine traffic right now, that the Iranians want to control the northern route and want vessels to pick the northern route.

They are not willing to allow vessels to use the Omani route. And if you look at the traffic over the last three days, 78 vessels transited since Saturday. 58 of those vessels were non-Iranian flagged, and they all opted for the northern route. So whether we could see a breakthrough through the Omani diplomatic push remains to be seen, but Iran is continuing to use the Strait of Hormuz as leverage.

In the meantime, 13 days of continuous strikes against Iran came to an end on Friday. And really important here, because this has resulted in perhaps some kind of window of opportunity. President Trump says the Iranians and the Americans are talking. Iran contradicting those narratives and saying that they are not talking to the United States.

They also said that the U.S. is not going to dictate the timeline for war or for peace. And importantly, President Trump, according to sources, had huddled with advisers over the weekend. And one of the big outcomes was that the U.S. has an issue with depleting munitions. President Trump says that they have enough munitions, but they would like more superior munitions. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And we're in very good shape. But for some of the more sophisticated stuff, we'd certainly like to have more. Biden gave a lot of it away.

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GIOKOS: So if we don't see a breakthrough, as President Trump says, that they'll go back to striking Iran once again. And of course, President Trump saying that they have enough to do what they need to do. We are also focusing on the fact that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is going to be meeting with President Trump today. That is going to be very telling. Priority on that agenda is Iran.

SANDOVAL: Yes, one of two key meetings expected in Washington today.

Eleni Giokos, thank you so much for bringing us up to speak from Dubai.

President Donald Trump, as you just heard, will be hosting Ukraine's President and Israel's Prime Minister. These are going to happen in separate meetings at the White House today. Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Benjamin Netanyahu, they will also attend the late Senator Lindsey Graham's funeral.

A White House official tells CNN the President Trump's conversation with Ukraine's leader will likely revolve around the ongoing efforts to end Russia's war in Ukraine. And the U.S. President is downplaying Zelenskyy's allegation that Moscow is providing Iran with intelligence on U.S. military bases in the Middle East. Trump said, quote, "I don't think they've been doing that. Certainly not at a high level," said the commander in chief.

Meanwhile, new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham now voicing his steadfast support for Ukraine. And this follows his meeting with President Zelenskyy on Monday. Here's CNN's Clare Sebastian with more.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was a ceremonial welcome and a clear signal of the U.K.'s ongoing commitment to Ukraine as President Zelenskyy kicked off a critical week of diplomacy at Portsmouth Naval Base in southern England, becoming the first foreign leader to visit the U.K. since new Prime Minister Andy Burnham took office a week ago.

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ANDY BURNHAM, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We are with Ukraine 100 percent. I am personally with you 100 percent, Mr. President. And I will honor every commitment this country has made to Ukraine in full.

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[04:10:04]

SEBASTIAN: Burnham also announced a new deal to give Ukraine British- made jamming technology to help protect its drones. Will this stop off in the U.K.? A prelude, really, to what for Zelenskyy will be a much more consequential visit to Washington, D.C., to meet with President Trump. The backdrop here is that Ukraine is facing the prospect of what Zelenskyy says will be another mass mobilization of Russian soldiers in the fall.

It's facing mounting ballistic missile attacks and dwindling air defense supplies and desperately needs to fast track a promise from Trump to hand over the licenses to produce U.S.-made Patriot missiles in Ukraine. Well, Kyiv isn't waiting around, though. Over the weekend, Ukraine claimed it had struck several cargo ships in the Caspian Sea involved, it said, in carrying military equipment between Russia and Iran.

Iran says an Iranian civilian ship was hit, killing one, and warning that it could retaliate. Well, this may have been a calculated risk by Ukraine. The timing here is critical to help convince Trump, perhaps, of the danger posed on multiple fronts by Russia's military alliance with Iran and the need for tougher action towards Moscow.

Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.

SANDOVAL: Joining me now from Odesa, Ukraine is Global Affairs Analyst Michael Bociurkiw. He's the founder of World Briefing Report on Substack. He's also a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.

Michael, it's always great to see you. Thank you for joining us.

MICHAEL BOCIURKIW, FOUNDER, WORLD BRIEFING REPORT ON SUBSTRACK: You're welcome.

SANDOVAL: Let's dive right in. In your view, how does President Zelenskyy effectively reboot stalled peace talks when he arrives at the White House in a few hours?

BOCIURKIW: Well, not easy. I mean, the good news, if there is any, is that Mr. Zelenskyy appears to be coming to the White House on much, much different ground than, you know, more than a year ago when he was humiliated in the Oval Office. I think Mr. Trump and many members of his kind of inner circle are looking at him and Ukraine as more as winners. And we all know that Mr. Trump loves to back a winner.

So that is probably going to give Mr. Zelenskyy more leverage. Having said that, we all know by now, especially us Canadians, that Mr. Trump has difficulty even remembering what agreements he's made, honoring them if he does remember them, and following through. I mean, look at how he's treated Canada, traditionally America's best friend, with big, big tariffs threatening to take it over.

So a warning to Mr. Zelenskyy, be careful who you make friends with, because if Mr. Trump treats Canada like that, how can he be expected to honor any security agreements with Ukraine?

SANDOVAL: And I'm glad you hit on that too, Michael, on this sort of shifting in chemistry between these two leaders. As you point out, the relationship was quite complicated. Over a year ago, we saw that first Oval Office meeting. It does seem that --

BOCIURKIW: Yes.

SANDOVAL: -- Ukraine projecting this kind of strength, this could favor the Ukrainian leader when he's in the Oval Office again or speaking with President Trump, hoping to gather more support.

BOCIURKIW: Yes. You know, it could be that Mr. Trump noticed the shift in the NATO language. They were both at that NATO summit in Ankara. And, you know, Ukraine is now being described as a contributor to democratic defense rather than a dependent -- rather a dependent nation.

So, you know, it has one of the biggest, most modern industrial defense bases, military industrial defense bases in the world. It's actually testing technology live on the battlefield, and that was connected to the U.K. visit. The U.K. giving Ukraine jamming equipment that it can test on the battlefield.

And we're hearing that Mr. Zelenskyy has a bit of a shopping list. Sanctions, remember Senator Lindsey Graham, the late senator, had that mega sanctions package that is awaiting approval on the Hill and by Mr. Trump. Drone deal, also Patriot missiles and peace talks.

Now, the problem quickly with the Patriots is, as you know, the stocks have been depleted quite badly because of the Iran war. There's something like a dozen other clients as well waiting for them. So, again, whether Mr. Trump is in a strong position to help Ukraine right now is questionable.

SANDOVAL: Yes, right. It's not an endless supply of Patriot missiles with the United States. In the last few days, it really highlighted that.

I'm wondering if we could expect President Trump to bring up Ukraine's recent escalation of long range air attacks against Moscow, as well as Russia's escalation of its own that has targeted air Ukrainian regions that have, unfortunately, you know, even targeted Ukrainian civilians. Do you think that President Trump could seek to reduce those kinds of attacks or maybe even bring a temporary stop to them?

BOCIURKIW: Well, we understand that U.S. intelligence is part of this complex picture, helping Ukraine pick targets in Russia. [04:15:06]

And what's really, really important here on the ground is giving Ukraine intelligence. So that can give -- it can give advance warning to civilians here on incoming Russian drones and missiles, of which we had a few this morning here in Odesa and also in Kyiv.

But I have to say, though, because there is this caveat, I mean, Mr. Zelenskyy is coming a little bit on one weak leg, and that is he's left a burning political crisis here at home. He has no confirmed defense minister. He has no confirmed minister of foreign affairs. He doesn't have a replacement for the U.S. ambassador to Washington.

And there are protests two weeks on after he fired the very popular defense minister happening here in Odesa and elsewhere in Ukraine. So, you know, I got to say, some Ukrainians would rather see him stay here at home and fix things rather than going abroad. But let's hope it works out, because we are at a very crucial juncture right now in this war.

It's going to get a lot worse before it gets better, especially with reports from the Ukrainians that North Korea is planning to send as many as 30,000 troops, not on Russian held territory, but in occupied territory, which could, in a way, symbolize North Korea also being a co-belligerent invading Ukraine, too.

SANDOVAL: Michael Bociurkiw, thank you so much for that analysis. Really appreciate your time.

BOCIURKIW: You're welcome.

SANDOVAL: Now to a gruesome drama that's unfolding in a U.S. courtroom, we'll be hearing testimony in a few moments from the ex- husband of Lindsay Clancy, the mother accused of killing her three young children.

Plus demands for answers after a deadly attack on one of Europe's largest pride celebrations. We'll have the latest on the investigation happening in Berlin.

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SANDOVAL: Now to some new information on the deadly shooting in Seattle, Washington, that happened late this weekend. According to the Associated Press, a 15-year-old has been detained in connection with Sunday's deadly incident. Court documents revealing the police believe that the teen is one of at least three shooters who may have engaged in some sort of gang-related clash at a popular food festival.

At least two people were killed as a result. And one of the suspected shooters among the dead, four others were wounded, including a two- year-old child.

Court will resume on Wednesday in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy. The Massachusetts mother is accused of killing her three young children in 2023. Jurors heard from her ex-husband on Monday.

CNN's Jean Casarez report. But first, a warning, some of the content you're about to hear, it is graphic.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Who is defendant Lindsay Clancy? The prosecution told a jury on Monday that with deliberate premeditation, this mother of three killed her children on January 24th of 2023. And she is only blaming it on her mental state.

Through witness testimony, they showed that the defendant did go to doctors in the months before the killings. And she got prescriptions. But they also show that the many prescriptions she got, she only consumed three, four, five pills out of a 30-day supply. They also say that she was blaming the medications for a psychotic mental break. But that she was actually researching on the computer ways to commit suicide before she took any of the medications.

Here is part of the prosecution's opening statement.

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SHANAN BUCKINGHAM, PLYMOUTH COUNTY ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY: We are here, ladies and gentlemen, because they are not. They were strangled deliberately and meticulously. Killed by this defendant on January 24th of 2023.

One by one, she wrapped exercise bands around each one of the kids' necks and pulled until their little bodies were limp and lifeless. First Dawson, then Cora, and finally Callan. Your job, ladies and gentlemen, is not easy in this case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: The defense theory is that Lindsay Clancy was suffering from postpartum depression. And because of medication that was out of control with various doctors giving her various amounts, that that led to a mental break. And that led to hallucinations where she heard a voice telling her to kill her children.

The first witness of the prosecution was Patrick Clancy, the father of those three children, Lindsay's ex-husband. He testified for the prosecution, part of what the defense theory is.

PATRICK CLANCY, LINDSAY CLANCY'S EX-HUSBAND: She described thoughts of hurting the kids or having -- or them having some sort of ailment. I said, do you have a plan? Is it disturbing to you? And she said no and then she said yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: This case will last weeks and the prosecution must show beyond a reasonable doubt to the jury the elements of murder one in Massachusetts. The defense will assert the defense that Lindsay Clancy bears no criminal responsibility because she did not understand the criminality of her acts. She did not know right from wrong. She was mentally insane when she killed her children. That shifts the burden back to the prosecution. They will have to show beyond a reasonable doubt that she fully well knew the criminality of what she was doing.

Jean Casarez, CNN, New York.

SANDOVAL: A 16-year-old who pleaded guilty to a mass school shooting in Georgia wanted infamy and attention. And that's according to messages that Colt Gray wrote in the days leading up to the shooting at Apalachee High School in 2024. The messages were read out in courts as part of the sentencing hearing. The court also heard from a forensic psychologist concerning Gray's mental health.

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DR. KEVIN RICHARDS, FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST: They can talk about insanity all they want, but my evaluation of him didn't reveal any actual mania and didn't reveal a diagnosis of schizophrenia and didn't reveal sufficient symptoms to warrant an insanity temporary or otherwise finding. They're talking about it. I mean, they can talk about it until the cows come home but there was no evidence for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Gray has already admitted to those 55 charges over the attack that left two teachers and two students dead as well as injured nine other people that day. He will be sentenced to imprisonment for life. The judge must decide now whether to exclude the possibility of parole.

Germany's Interior Ministry is reportedly promising a sweeping security overhaul after the deadly attack on Berlin's pride celebration on Saturday. At the vehicle ramming and stabbing attack, which left one person dead and 29 injured, it's led to calls for tougher security measures and also a debate as to why the suspect wasn't in prison for a prior conviction.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen has more on the investigation.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're actually on the scene where all of this happened. And this is inside a public park, one of the main parks in Berlin called the Tiergarten. This is actually a footpath and and bike path here in this park. It's not a public road. Nevertheless, the attacker drove the car down this footpath, ramming into lots of people.

And I want to show you something here, because it's actually this tree that the vehicle rammed into, which then stopped that driving rampage. If the attacker hadn't driven into this tree, potentially even more people would have been injured and potentially killed. As it stands, the authorities are saying 29 people were injured, one person was killed and afterwards the attacker apparently left the vehicle. And as he made his getaway, started stabbing people along the way. Now, there's several questions that the authorities here are answering. First of all, they say that this is an Islamist motivated terrorist attack, as they put it.

They've named the attacker as a man named Abdul B., who was born in Berlin, is 21 years old, is of Lebanese descent and apparently tried to go to Syria to join ISIS in the past. So he had already been convicted by a juvenile court here in Germany and was on probation, actually, when all of this happened.

Now, the authorities are also questioning how the vehicle managed to get into this park, because, of course, there was that big pride event going on. There were a lot of barriers that were actually set up in the days prior to this event. So that's one of the things the authorities are looking into.

And one of the other things they're also still looking into is whether or not there might have been others who were also involved in this plot. They say right now that's still very much up for investigation. But as you can imagine here, city of Berlin, very much in shock.

Of course, the pride community also very much in shock as well. The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, he came out and he urged people to stay strong in the face of acts like this.

SANDOVAL: Still to come here on CNN Newsroom, dry weather and rising temperatures in Europe. We're going to show you how those conditions have been slowly making the perfect fuel for summer wildfires.

Plus, fighting extradition. What a judge in Miami has to say about the U.K.'s plans to have the Tate brothers sent across the Atlantic to stand trial.

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