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Georgia Teen Is Sentenced To Life For Deadly School Shooting; Israeli Officials Call Trump-Netanyahu Meeting Very Positive; Iran Grieves Children Killed In U.S. Strike On School; CEO Of LVMH Responds To Family Succession Feud Reports; UEFA Slams FIFA President's Plan To Sell Stakes In World Cup. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired July 29, 2026 - 04:30   ET

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

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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPODNENT: Welcome back. The teenager who carried out the deadliest school shooting in Georgia's history has been sentenced to life in prison without parole. Colt Gray killed two teachers and two students and wounded nine others at Apalachee High School nearly two years ago. His defense attorney had requested life in prison with the possibility of parole, saying that due to his young age, he was not irreverent, was not irrevocably broken.

CNN's Michael Yoshida reports.

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MICHAEL YOSHIDA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Georgia school shooter Colt Gray in court for sentencing after pleading guilty to 55 charges, including four counts of murder. Gray was 14 years old in 2024 when he brought an AR-15 style rifle to his high school and opened fire, killing two teachers and two students and injuring nine others. It was the deadliest school shooting in Georgia history. Gray's defense pointed to mental health issues, troubled home life and difficult childhood.

CANDICE BROCE, GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES: Inadequate supervision, inadequate food, shelter, medical care, educational neglect, domestic violence.

YOSHIDA (voice-over): Prosecutors counted with evidence they said showed Gray exaggerated his mental health claims, wanted fame and was obsessed with other school shooters.

UNIDENZTIFIED FEMALE: Someone did a drawing of you, Eric Harris, Nick and Dylan Claybold.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, wow, I need that printed out and brung up here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, and it's really awesome. They drew it as a Weezer album cover. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A Weezer album cover? Wow.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it's awesome.

YOSHIDA (voice-over): In court, victims, families and survivors describing the pain still felt.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hate everything about you. I hate the scars you left on my body. I hate that you took innocent lives in front of innocent people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want it to be very clear that I do not forgive Mr. Gray. Mason was kind, compassionate, funny and fiercely protective of others. That is a legacy that he should be remembered for.

YOSHIDA (vice-over): I'm Michael Yoshida reporting.

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SANDOVAL: Gray's father was found guilty of murder and manslaughter charges earlier this year for buying his son the AR-15 style rifle that was used in that shooting and also leaving it unsecured in their home. He had been warned that his son was a danger to others. Colin Gray sentencing is set for Thursday.

After U.S. President Donald Trump's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, an Israeli official called the partnership between the two countries, quote, stronger than ever. But Prime Minister Netanyahu is facing some criticism from the U.S. presidents and from voters in Israel. Here's CNN's Nic Robertson to explain.

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, look, his bit, part of his unpopularity and it has been increasing is because when the war ended, President Trump ended it and Israel. Many commentators here felt like the prime minister was had lost the ear of President Trump and his ability to influence him and the war wasn't done. And that's part of the prime minister's point in the meetings today, is that Iran is still a threat, its nuclear capabilities are still a threat, that it's a job undone.

Although what we're hearing from senior Israeli source here is that this was an excellent and comprehensive meeting, how it's being described, essentially a meeting of minds that on the issue of Iran, where they're both in lockstep, they both reiterated ironclad commitment that Iran will never have nuclear weapons.

So, you know what's being projected from around the prime minister here is a positive meeting. It belies the tone that the president gave on that Fox and Friends interview. However, we've also heard from the defense minister, Israel Katz, speaking of on TV here a little earlier this evening, saying that, yes, there are differences between what the United States and what Israel wants in the war with Iran. And absolutely, they do see Iran still as being a threat. He also said something we haven't heard Israeli officials put on the record before, and whether this was to sort of try to show a U.S. audience how much Israel is helping the United States at the moment, even though it's not engaged or hasn't been engaged over the past few weeks in strikes on Iran. He said that U.S. fighter jets have been taking off from Israel for their strike missions on Iran.

[04:35:03]

Now, it was common knowledge that the U.S. refuel tanker aircraft, the Strato Tanker KC135, were being based here in Israel and were being used to support that military operation. But here is putting on the record the defense minister here saying that actually US Fighter jets are taking off from here, which in a way puts Israel in some level of jeopardy from response from Iran, which has not done that and has been seen as a signal of Iran not wanting to escalate so far.

So the messaging I think here is very much around the prime minister to project a positive image of a relation, a positive relationship with President Trump because Prime Minister Netanyahu needs that in the polls here and reaffirming here in Israel for a U.S. audience and a domestic one, of course, that Israel is doing everything to support the United States in its war with Iran.

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SANDOVAL: All right, so let's talk about all this and head over to Danny Citrinowicz. He served in the Israel Defense Intelligence, including as head of the Iran branch in the Research and Analysis Division. He's now a senior fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies. He joins me from Tel Aviv.

Danny, it's great to see you again.

DANNY CITRINOWICZ, SENIOR FELLOW, INSTITUTE FOR NATIONAL SECURITY STUDIES: Thank you for inviting me.

SANDOVAL: Welcome back. So let's look back at the meeting from Tuesday in the Oval Office. Again, no cameras at least no press allowed inside. But it's being touted as a success, as a positive meeting, I should say.

Do you ever see -- do you see any substantial progress though or deliverables that came out of said meeting?

CITRINOWICZ: Well, definitely, we have to wait and see. We don't know what happened in the White House. Netanyahu said it was an amazing meeting or the best meeting that he had with President Trump. But obviously, regardless of the content, he would say that anyhow because of the fact that he need to show that he has good cooperation relation with President Trump after all the criticism that he suffered and Israeli suffered because of the flawed campaign against Iran.

So we don't know yet. I think that we have to be very cautious. Obviously, the sense is that Netanyahu came weaker to this meeting. A lot of people around surrounding the president that feel that Netanyahu wants to push the U.S. against another war against Iran.

So I think he was very cautious in pressuring President Trump and definitely not showing that he's pressuring President Trump. But we don't know. We have to wait and see. I think that the U.S. is still in a dilemma strategic crossroads between escalation and returning back to negotiation.

Definitely Netanyahu wants escalation, but I think that he wants to show himself that he's also in favor of diplomatic route as long as President Trump support that route. So we have to wait and see.

SANDOVAL: Unfortunately, Prime Minister Netanyahu's spokesperson touted what he described as close ties with President Trump. In your opinion though, is this ongoing war with Iran straining the relationship between these two leaders, between President Trump and Netanyahu?

CITRINOWICZ: Well, definitely spoke when he said that because again, Netanyahu has a complex situation domestically in Israel, according to the polls, in a very tough spot and he needed the support of President Trump. So definitely spoken said that. But I agree with you that eventually their relationship are very strained. President Trump said numerous times in recent weeks very negative things about Netanyahu himself even before the meeting itself. I don't need Bibi to know what's happening in Pickaxe Mountain.

So I think in that regard, definitely the relationship are not like they were before the war against Iran. Having said that, I think Netanyahu still know which kind of bottom to pressure on President Trump and, you know, bringing the internet (ph) information.

So maybe yes, you were able to persuade him that negotiation with Iran is futile and there is a need to return back to the war. But generally speaking, definitely the relationship as not as they were before the war itself. And even more than that, I have to say that the Israeli stand within Washington, within the Congress is definitely weaker given the fact that most of people in Washington believe that Israel pushed the U.S. to this futile war.

SANDOVAL: Do you think that strained relationship was probably one of the considerations that the White House made or at least took into account when they decided to not make that meeting open press?

CITRINOWICZ: Definitely. And I think it goes also to the fact that Trump didn't want to be seen as someone that is waiting for Netanyahu to explain to him what's happening in Iran and even Bibi was OK because of the fact that again, he's very cautious how he's perceived right now in the U.S. public. But again, they had the picture. He had the spokesman saying about the amazing election that they have.

Netanyahu really needed Trump endorsement before the election. When you're looking at the world stage, maybe he's the last leader that Netanyahu can really trust on him.

[04:40:00] And of course, President Trump helped Israel in the past, so he needs the support. Definitely doesn't want to see any support coming from Trump to other nominee for the prime minister office. So I think that this is what we'll see, regardless what will happen after the meeting and whether the U.S. will strike Iran like Netanyahu wants then the day Netanyahu will always say, we had amazing meeting, we had relations, but definitely behind the scenes things are not as they were in the past.

SANDOVAL: And Danny, we'd love to have you back to talk a little bit more also about what that next potential chapter will be in that ongoing war with Iran. But for now, we do have to leave it there. Danny Citrinowicz, as always, thank you so much for all your analysis.

CITRINOWICZ: Thank you very much for inviting me.

SANDOVAL: Of course. Well, after five months, the U.S. government has remained quiet about a strike on a school in Iran.

Coming up, a closer look at the tragic incident as families mourn those who died that day.

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SANDOVAL: Back on February 28th of this year, the first day of the Iran war, a U.S. missile struck an Iranian elementary school, what's now been five months. The Pentagon and the Trump administration have yet to update the public on the circumstances surrounding that attack. At least 168 children and 14 adults were killed, according to Iranian state media. CNN's Jake Tapper has more on some of those victims who were lost that day.

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JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): This is Atema Shamali Nejad (ph) singing a Persian children's poem, smiling and making faces at the camera while her mother fixes her hair. Her family shared these videos to remember her. Atanah (ph) was killed on February 28, one of 168 children, according to Iranian state media, who lost their lives when a U.S. tomahawk missile struck the Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab, Iran on the very first day of the war five months ago.

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In Iran, the parents, the families and the city of Minab still grieve for those who were killed. They call them the martyrs. This is Mahdis Nazari. Mahdis' body and one of her classmates were found in the embrace of their teacher beneath the rubble of school, according to the head of public relations from the Iranian Ministry of Health.

He wrote that the teacher held Mahdis and her classmate tightly in her arms, as if she had tried with her own fragile body to become a shield against the onslaught of stone and iron.

Fourteen adults were also killed that day, according to Iranian state media. For Amarz Pegah (ph) lost both his daughter Adrena (ph) and his wife. He describes how it felt to receive both of their bodies, calling his wife his pillar and his daughter his hope and aspiration.

Adrena (ph) and her mother were together on the stairs of the school when they were killed, her teacher, who survived the strike, told the BBC. In addition to what we gleaned from other news media, our own information sources are limited to the families whose social media posts we found through anti regime human rights activists and Iranian media.

That's because the Trump administration and the Pentagon have revealed nothing about the lives they took, apparently by accident. Critical and costly mistakes happen in war this tragedy happened five months ago, but today the U.S. military and its top leaders and the commander in chief have yet to even acknowledge the errors that led to the deaths of nearly 200 children and adults in Iran on day one of this war.

CNN's Zach Cohen reported earlier this month that according to three sources, senior U.S. military commanders bypassed warnings in critical databases that intelligence about potential targets in Iran was severely out of date and approved some strikes, including the one that hit the school in Minab.

Two of the sources said the decision by senior commanders to ignore the warnings was made for expediency in a rush to provide targets to start the war. Messages indicated the targets for the strike list were based on intelligence that was more than 10 years old. Three sources now tell CNN's Cohen that the investigation into this strike still sits with military command.

The first two stages of the review focused on answering basic questions, including whether the strike hit and damaged the intended target had been completed, indicating that the US Was responsible for striking the Shajareh Tayyebeh School in Minab, the sources said.

The third stage, a more holistic review of what took place and its impact on the overall mission, was not ordered. That review would almost always be conducted in the immediate aftermath of a noteworthy strike, they said, but it had not begun as of early July.

We reached out to the Pentagon with questions about the status of the review. An official told us the investigation is ongoing and there are no updates at this time. Meanwhile, President Trump's own downright refusal to acknowledge the US's responsibility for the strike continues to evolve.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are images from this site that show fragments that appear to be from U.S. tomahawk missiles. Is it possible that old intelligence or a mistake during a very active time in the war led to this event?

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: It is. But it's also possible that those images that you have are AI generated, because a lot what they do is AI generated. They're actually very good at it. So I don't think that anybody. You know, I know we're waiting for a conclusive report. I don't think there can be a conclusive report.

UNIDENATIFIED MALE: We release the report when it is finished.

TRUMP: I guess so. I mean, I have to ask the military people. There might be a reason why they can't.

TAPPER (voice-over): In a statement to the lead this afternoon, the White House said this investigation is ongoing. As we have said, the United States does not target civilians.

For the families of Atema (ph), Mahdis, Adrena (ph) and the nearly 200 others, most of them children, who were killed five months ago, images from before February 28 are now what they rely upon to keep their memories alive. A photo of Atana (ph) and Mahdis holding hands hangs here on a banner outdoors. It reads in Persian, heavenly angels, may your martyrdom be honored.

As of now, the Pentagon and the Trump administration have not come even close to honoring the memories of the 168 children and 14 adults that by all credible accounts were accidentally killed by the Trump administration five months ago. Jake Tapper, CNN, Washington.

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SANDOVAL: I will be right back.

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SANDOVAL: The CEO of LVMH pushing back against a series of articles written about his family and his businesses. Bernard Arnault, he owns a luxury empire that is home to brands like Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Fendi and many more. A recent profile on the billionaire suggested that his family is locked in a battle to decide who will be next in line to take over the company.

CNN's Saskya Vandoorne with details.

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SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN PARIS BUREAU CHIEF: Bernard Arnault is pushing back against reports of a bitter succession battle among his five children, insisting that his family is united. His comments have caused quite a stir here in France, partly because the chairman of LVMH is famously private and rarely speaks publicly about his family.

But he broke that silence with a statement shared by LVMH in which he responded to a major Le Monde investigation into Arnault's influence and the future of the company. In a rare display of his trademark irony, Arnault mocked the idea of a family feud with the Arnaults apparently there is no discussion, only plotting, no deliberation, only rivalry. It's the stuff of novels.

Arnaud appears to be saying that the real life plot of the hit show succession exists only in fiction, not inside the Arnault family.

[04:55:06] The reason the speculation has been so intense is because this is not just a family story. It's about the future of one of the world's biggest luxury empires, whose brands include Louis Vuitton, Dior and Tiffany. All five of Arnault's children hold senior roles within LVMH, fueling years of debate over who will eventually succeed the 77-year old.

And yet Arnault insists there's no drama behind the scenes. He says his children run the group's brands and even call each other on Sundays. For now, Arnault has shown no sign of stepping aside, saying earlier this year that the question should be asked again in seven or eight years when he reaches the company's age limit to be chairman and CEO. Saskya Vandoorne, CNN, Paris.

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SANDOVAL: The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating an extremely close call between two Delta jets. What happened on Monday in Atlanta, Georgia. One Delta plane was trying to land when the pilot aborted the approach as another jet was taking off from a parallel Runway. An air traffic controller then instructed both pilots separately to turn right and climb up to 4,000 feet. Almost immediately, anti-collision alarms went off in both cockpits, warning the pilots to take evasive action.

FIFA's president has announced a plan to create a $20 billion private company to run the World Cup. And it's come under some immediate fire from European football's governing body. UEFA released a statement saying that the tournament is not FIFA's to sell and that the privatization crosses a line not helping the optics.

The potential involvement of President Trump's son in law, Jared Kushner, his brother is among the private investors who want to form this career commercial subsidiary that would be called FIFA Forward Enterprise. FIFA, currently a nonprofit operation that's based in Switzerland.

Thank you so much for joining me the last hour. Our coverage continues with CNN Headline Express in a moment.

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