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CNN Headlines: Senate Committee Postpones Vote On Blanche Nomination; U.S. Forces Launch Attack Following Trump's Promise Of Retaliation; Father Of Georgia School Shooter To Be Sentenced; Fauci Invokes Fifth Amendment 100+ Times At COVID Response Hearing. Aired 5- 5:30a ET
Aired July 30, 2026 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:27]
BRAD SMITH, CNN ANCHOR: A major vote postponed, and now a major showdown. The nomination of Todd Blanche as the next attorney general is hanging in the balance.
Plus, President Trump promised retaliation, and now it's happened. New strikes in Iran overnight. We've got the latest developments there.
Plus --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PATRICK CLANCY, EX-HUSBAND OF LINDSAY CLANCY: I said, where are the kids?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And what was her response?
CLANCY: She said, they're in the basement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: A father's emotional testimony as he faced his ex-wife, who was accused of killing their three young children.
Plus --
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
SMITH: Trapped in the snow. The scary moments for these tourists on top of a mountain. Well get to that a little bit later on.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Brad Smith, this is CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS. Glad that you're with us today.
Let's get this started.
A major showdown is shaping up on Capitol Hill. The Senate Judiciary Committee has postponed today's vote on the nomination of Todd Blanche to become the next attorney general. His approval is in jeopardy over concerns about the Justice Department's $1.8 billion anti- weaponization fund, and a deal that would give President Trump, his family and their organization immunity from IRS audits for prior tax issues.
A no vote from Republican John Cornyn or Thom Tillis would keep Blanche's nomination from moving to the full Senate.
Here's what Cornyn had to say about his position.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): Maybe they think I'm just going to give up or, you know, go along, but they're mistaken.
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Why do you think they're not getting the message from you?
CORNYN: Maybe they think they can roll me.
RAJU: Can they roll?
CORNYN: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Blanche, who previously served as Donald Trump's personal attorney, has insisted the anti-weaponization fund is dead. But he's refused to put that in writing.
President Trump says there may be another reason for Senator Cornyn's opposition
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Todd Blanche is outstanding, and I thought he -- I thought it was pretty routine because he's so good. He just wouldn't find a better person. So, I don't know, maybe John Cornyn is upset with me because I didn't endorse him. I don't know what it is, but I haven't heard that there's a problem. I heard he's going through quite nicely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Our Capitol Hill and White House teams are all over this developing story, so you can keep it here on CNN for the latest.
We do want to take you now to the Middle East. That is where U.S. forces delivered the retaliation that was promised by President Donald Trump yesterday
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're going to be hitting them very hard because it's our turn to hit them. They know it's coming. They're asking us not to do it, but they nevertheless took a shot. So, it's our turn. We're going to hit them very hard.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: All right. So, you can see here images from CENTCOM just hours ago striking several sites.
Iranian state media is reporting dozens of explosions across southern Iran. This video geolocated by CNN. It shows smoke rising after a strike in western Iran. State media also reporting a U.S. strike on a home seen here. Officials say the two children have been pulled from the rubble and the search is on for three other family members.
The U.S. maintains it is only struck military surveillance and defense sites.
Now, meanwhile, in Jordan, reports that the military intercepted five Iranian missiles this morning. That's what's playing out there.
CNN's Eleni Giokos has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We've seen some of the images, and it just shows how the United States has made good on its word in terms of retaliating after what CENTCOM described as a surprise attack on U.S. assets in Jordan on Tuesday. President Trump coming out with very strong language, speaking to other networks, saying that they plan to strike back. And you heard him there saying, it is our turn to strike. Various explosions heard across southern Iran.
And importantly, you mentioned the port city of Bandar Abbas, Qeshm Island, where you see rescue workers. According to Iranian state media, working through rubble, multiple injuries reported there, according to Iranian state media.
But also importantly here, when I look at Qeshm Island, this is one of the islands that has been a focal point by CENTCOM and U.S. strikes, because this forms part of the northern route when it comes to the Strait of Hormuz. We heard from CENTCOM saying it's a heavy wave of strikes, and they targeted military command centers, missile and drone facilities, coastal surveillance and defense sites, as well as military capabilities.
Other areas of southern Iran that heard explosion the island of Kish, as well as Khuzestan province, which is a province that borders Iraq as well. In retaliation this morning, Iran strikes Jordan once again. Five missiles, Polo, were intercepted. Now, this entire week, we've seen escalation, not only because Iran has activated its proxy network, specifically targeting Saudi Arabia, but overall, there's a very big concern that the window of opportunity that had opened up because the U.S. had paused strikes against Iran for several days, has come to an end. And what we're seeing right now is a potential for even more escalation.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: Eleni Giokos reporting from Dubai.
Now, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard says that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed as long as U.S. threats continue, and that the U.S. and its allies will be, quote, "punished today". Let's turn back to the U.S. here, where proceeding is playing out. The
father of a Georgia school shooter is expected to be sentenced today. The potential to spend decades in prison. Colin Gray was convicted on multiple counts, including two second degree murder charges, after his son, Colt, shot and killed four people in 2024. Nine others were wounded.
It was Gray who purchased his son that AR-15 style rifle used in the attack. The shooter, Colt Gray, pleaded guilty last week to 55 charges, including four counts of murder. He has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
And in a separate case, emotions were high during the triple murder trial of Lindsay Clancy on Wednesday. Lindsay is accused of murdering her three young children in 2023. Her defense argues that she should not be held criminally responsible due to her mental health.
We do want to warn you that some of her ex-husband's testimony is disturbing.
Sherrell Hubbard has the details for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHERRELL HUBBARD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a Massachusetts courtroom Wednesday, a tearful Lindsay Clancy reacted as prosecutors played the 911 call of her ex-husband, Patrick, for the jury.
Clancy is accused of killing her three children in January 2023 at their home, ages five and three years old and eight months.
Patrick Clancy described the day the children were killed.
PATRICK CLANCY, EX-HUSBAND OF LINDSAY CLANCY: The house was really quiet.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is that unusual?
CLANCY: Yeah.
HUBBARD (voice-over): Patrick Clancy testified he was out running errands and returned home to find his children in the basement, strangled with exercise bands right after finding his wife in their backyard following a failed suicide jump.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What did you see when you opened the door and went in?
CLANCY: I just saw blood everywhere, and the window was open.
HUBBARD (voice-over): Lindsay Clancy's attorney says she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and extreme mental illness when she killed her children, and she should not be held criminally responsible.
Prosecutors have painted the crime as premeditated, but her defense attorney pointed out other times, Patrick Clancy left the kids with his then wife the months preceding the killings.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you'd be out with your friends. If she wanted to kill the kids, she certainly could have done it at that time when you're out, right?
CLANCY: In theory.
HUBBARD (voice-over): Patrick Clancy, the prosecution's first witness, wrapped up his testimony Wednesday. Under cross-examination, he outlined his ex-wife's struggles with mental health and said he believed she always took her prescription medication as directed and kept track with the journal.
I'm Sherrell Hubbard, reporting
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: Thank you, Sherrell.
America's former top infectious disease expert invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times during a contentious Senate hearing. Dr. Anthony Fauci refused to answer questions Wednesday at the hearing on his role leading the country's COVID-19 pandemic response, using his constitutional right against self-incrimination. He argues that Republican Senator Rand aul has a, quote, "obvious obsession" with calling for his prosecution. So, he had nothing to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, FORMER NIAID DIRECTOR: I respectfully decline. I respectfully decline. I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: The hearing did little to advance claims by Senator Paul and other Republicans that Fauci covered up the origins of the virus. Senator Paul is now vowing to force a vote next week on holding Fauci in contempt of congress for refusing to testify. Republicans vented their frustration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RICK SCOTT (R-FL): You force people to watch their loved ones die alone over the phone. It's disgusting.
SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): During the pandemic, you got rich, didn't you? You got rich while people were dying.
SEN. BERNIE MORENO (R-OH): Here I am sitting in front of you six years later saying, who the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) do you think you were for doing that? It is a total disgrace what you did to this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: In one extraordinary confrontation, Fauci's attorney was escorted from the room after he tried to repeatedly interject on his behalf.
[05:10:12]
We take you now to the Northeast. That's where severe flooding has claimed the life of a 10-year-old boy. Officials say that his body was found near the Passaic River in New Jersey last night. That's about 20 minutes north of Newark, and divers are still searching for a 10-year- old girl who was with him at the time.
It comes as millions of people in New York and across the Northeast are bracing for another round of torrential rain. The National Weather Service issued flood watches for the area as record breaking rain and severe flooding is expected to continue today.
This was the view yesterday in Fishkill. This is about 60 miles north of New York City. The streets look like raging rivers. Now, some parts of the state saw record rainfall on Wednesday, with the highest total hitting nearly a foot in southern New York. That is more than twice the amount of rain some areas see in the entire month of July.
Meanwhile, multiple counties have declared states of emergency and deployed rescue teams to help stranded drivers and others trapped by the floods.
Now, meanwhile, other cities in the northeast are also at risk of more flooding today. Stick around because we're going to bring you the latest forecast in the next half hour.
We've got lots more to come on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS, including this, the CDC now saying 18,000 people have gotten ill from that digestive parasite with the state of Michigan having an unusually high number of cases. We've got the latest that you need to know ahead.
And check this out. A dramatic rescue atop a mountain after a man becomes ill during a hike. That story later, a CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS continues.
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[05:16:17]
SMITH: New court filings reveal just how far the government has gone to build another case against former FBI Director James Comey, including interviewing a Gambino family mobster, using ChatGPT and an online dictionary. The case centers on this image of seashells on a beach that spell out "86 47". The government claims it was a threat to President Trump. Comey denies that and requested the case be dismissed earlier this week.
The documents reveal that federal law enforcement secretly tracked Comey's cell phone, despite concerns that doing so might be legally questionable. Now, we've also learned that the Secret Service agents who interviewed Comey were ordered to send their notes to President Trump ASAP. Comey says that he understood 86 as being a restaurant term, but mob underboss turned informant Sammy the Bull Gravano alleged that he knew 86, meant to kill someone. Feds also searched ChatGPT for the term.
Comey's team wants the case tossed on several grounds, including vindictive prosecution.
CNN legal analyst Elie Honig says that they could have a case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Jim Comey, first of all, has an exhaustive record. In fact, he attaches a 77-page appendix showing examples of times when he and Trump have publicly, verbally attacked one another. On top of that, you have the fact that Jim Comey already defeated the first indictment against him, which he got dismissed a few months ago. And now this new revelation shows that Donald Trump was directly monitoring this investigation on a real time basis. He was demanding updates, and he was even planning to use that information for political purposes.
So, I think Jim Comey has about as strong of a vindictive prosecution motion as I've ever seen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Comey is set to be arraigned on these latest charges in September.
All right. In HEADLINE EXPRESS, about one in every 1,000 people in Michigan has had the diarrhea causing digestive parasite cyclospora. That is according to the state's health department. More than 10,000 cases have been reported in the state, so it now has the most confirmed cases in the U.S. Health officials have linked the outbreak to recalled shredded iceberg lettuce. The CDC has identified more than 18,000 cases in the U.S. this season.
We'll continue to track that. We've got much more still to come on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS. A major development from Howard University in Washington, D.C., after hundreds of freshmen were unenrolled, sparking a viral social media outrage. That is coming as CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS continues.
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[05:23:24]
SMITH: New York city is hitting pause on several construction projects after a structural issue threatened a partial collapse at one site earlier this summer. The city has turned to office to apartment conversions to relieve a housing shortage. But now regulators have intensified their scrutiny. Pauses and halts have been ordered for at least three other sites, with issues ranging from missing paperwork to cracked concrete beams.
Office to apartment conversions have been popular after the pandemic, but plumbing and mechanical work can make projects more complicated than building from scratch. There is a free airline report card online that tracks how major
carriers stack up in key areas each month. We're talking on time, performance, baggage handling, and overall customer satisfaction, so you can know before you go.
Maribel Aber has more in money matters.
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MARIBEL ABER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Maribel Aber here at the Nasdaq market site.
Most people have limited vacation time and travel delays can quickly eat into it. Consumers often compare airlines by price. But what about performance? Which carriers lose the most bags or often run late.
You can find those monthly rankings for free at transportation.gov. The airline travel consumer report tracks the information passengers want when choosing a carrier, including on time performance cancellations, mishandled luggage, and customer complaints. It also shows what caused the delays. Was it the airline severe weather security or an air traffic control backup? Being prepared can also save you time.
[05:25:01]
TSA.gov offers travel tips explaining exactly what is and is not allowed, especially helpful if you have not flown recently. For example, travelers without a real ID drivers license or another approved form of government identification may have to pay $45 for temporary verification, and passengers no longer have to remove their shoes at security. If you tend to fly during busy travel times like the holidays, you can get five years of TSA precheck benefits for $85 or less.
It's your time and money. Don't lose either one to avoidable travel delays. Your money matters.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: All right. Thank you, Maribel.
Straight ahead on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS, a delay in the push to confirm Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche to be the permanent attorney general. We've got what you need to know coming up.
Plus, former Dallas Cowboys star quarterback Tony Romo arrested on suspicion of drunk driving or driving under the influence. Details on that and more, coming up.
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