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Russia Launches 400 Drones on Key Regions of Ukraine; Israel Strikes Syrian Capital Damascus; Trump Calls Epstein Scandal Bullsh*t, Calls Supporters Weaklings. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired July 16, 2025 - 10:00   ET

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

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PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, powerful airstrikes rock, the Syrian capital of Damascus. We have late reporting coming into The Situation Room. State media there blaming Israel.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, growing calls for an investigation into the death of a Palestinian American beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the West Bank. The new push this morning from the United States ambassador to Israel.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in The Situation Room.

And we begin with the breaking news, overnight, Russia launching another massive bombardment of Ukraine. Officials there saying Russia launched 400 long range drones. This is the latest escalation from Russia, and comes amid a shift in tone from president. On Monday, he announced that the United States will send Patriot air defense missile systems to Ukraine through NATO allies and threaten tariffs if Russia does not work toward ending the war right away.

Joining us now, the former NATO Supreme Allied commander, the retired U.S. Army general, Wesley Clark. General Clark, thanks so much for joining us.

Do you see these large scale attacks by the Russians on Ukraine since Monday as a possible response to what President Trump said about his 50-day deadline?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), U.S. ARMY: Well, yes, they can be interpreted that way, Wolf, but they're actually just a continuation of Russia's campaign for 2025. Russia wants to seize Odesa by the autumn of this year. And obviously, they're (INAUDIBLE) off the threats by President Trump. They're not listening to that.

But I do think the provision of additional military assistance to Ukraine, which President Trump has touted, is really, really important, especially the Patriot missiles. But for the drones, it takes a lot of other technology. And we can't forget the ground war that's going on in Ukraine along the front. That's where Russia is really putting the effort now.

BLITZER: But despite his wish now to start sending these Patriot air defense missile systems to Ukraine, he says he doesn't plan to send long range missiles to Ukraine, missiles potentially that could strike deep inside Russia. How does that impact Ukraine's war effort?

CLARK: Well, I'm sorry that that's been ruled out because Ukraine really needs to strike this. As some of my military friends say, you got to shoot the archer instead of trying to shoot the arrows when they come in. And so this ability to strike deep into Russia to take out the missile-launching, missile construct building facilities, the infrastructure, the fuel depots all the elements of the Soviet -- Russian military industrial complex, they're critical. If you want to stop what's going on in Ukraine, you can't just fight it with defensive weapons.

BLITZER: Good point. If Russia continues, General, it's massive bombardments of Ukraine, and I say massive, they are indeed very massive, how much could they be able to achieve during this 50-day window that President Trump outlined?

CLARK: Well, certainly, the attacks on the cities in Ukraine, on Kyiv and other places, they really have an impact on civilian morale and on the government in Kyiv. But the real effort that Russia is putting forth is the breakthrough on the frontline, to draw Ukrainian forces east and north and then put a big offensive in in the south to take the north shore of the Black Sea and aim toward Odesa. That's the decisive move that Russia will be attempting to make, I believe.

BLITZER: All right, lots going on. General Wesley Clark, thanks as usual for joining us. Pamela?

CLARK: Thank you, Wolf.

BROWN: And, Wolf, we are following some more breaking news this hour. A series of airstrikes has struck Syria's capital of Damascus. We have some new video that captures the moment. Syria's Ministry of Defense building was hit on live T.V. forcing the anchor to run for cover.

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Take a look.

Syrian state media is blaming Israel for the attacks. And moments after the strikes, Israel's defense minister post a, quote, the painful blows have begun.

So, let's go live now to CNN Jerusalem Correspondent Jeremy Diamond. He joins us there from Jerusalem.

So, Jeremy, Israel has been carrying out these strikes in support of the Syrian Druze and Arab community. Tell us what's going on here. Why is Israel supporting them?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Israel says that there are a couple reasons why they're carrying out these strikes. Not only near the city of Suwayda, which is a Druze stronghold in Southern Syria, but also several airstrikes hitting the Syrian capital of Damascus, including the military headquarters there.

We heard from the Israeli foreign minister, Gideon Sa'ar, today, who said that, first of all, Israel wants to -- is acting out of national security interest, to prevent certain militant forces from being on its border in Syria very close to Israel. But then secondly, he also cited the strong bonds that Israel has with the Druze community in Syria.

And what's important to understand about this Druze religion, which is an Arab sect throughout the Middle East, throughout this region, is that there are Syrian Druze, there are Israeli Druze, there are also Lebanese Druze, they're all part of the same religion, but they have different interests but they are connected. And in particular the Israeli Druze here in Israel have felt a strong connection as they have watched attacks that have been carried out against the Druze community in Syria, calling for government action, at times arguing that they should go into Syria themselves to be able to defend their Druze brethren in Syria.

And over the weekend, we saw clashes breaking out between this Druze minority in Suwayda and Bedouin tribes in the area. Syrian government forces then began approaching and entering the city in a bid that the Syrian government said was to stop these clashes from happening, and Israel has now begun to carry out these airstrikes. The Israeli governments has maintained that the Syrian government is not improving, but rather worsening the situation for the Druze in parts of Syria, like Suwayda. And so we saw Israeli strikes against tanks, against trucks carrying machine guns and other weaponry that was headed for Suwayda.

Now, in addition to those strikes, what we've also seen today is really startling scenes along this frontier between the Israeli- occupied Golan Heights and the Syrian side of that border fence. And that is hundreds of Druze, either Israeli Druze or Syrian Druze who live in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, flowing into this buffer zone in Syria that is now controlled by the Israeli military, but crossing what is very much a military controlled fence line going into Syria, trying to be able to go and help their Syrian brethren in that southern part of Syria. The Israeli military has been trying to repel those advances, deploying tear gas and the Israeli prime minister himself has urged these Druze, Israeli Druze not to go into Syria saying, let the Israeli military handle this situation. Pam?

BROWN: All right. Jeremy Diamond in Jerusalem, thank you so much. Wolf?

BLITZER: And this morning, outrage and demands for an investigation. The United States government wants Israel to investigate how Israeli settlers beat a Palestinian American man to death in the West Bank.

Sayf Musallet was a few weeks short of his 21st birthday. Witnesses say he was driving when he and others were overrun by settlers brandishing rocks. The U.S. ambassador of Israel, Mike Huckabee, posting this on social media, and I'm quoting him now. I have asked Israel to aggressively investigate the murder of Sayf Musallet, an American citizen who was visiting family in Sinjil when he was beaten to death. There must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act. Sayf was just 21 years old.

CNN National Security Reporter Kylie Atwood is joining us right now. She's here with me in The Situation Room. Kylie, will U.S. pressure force an investigation of what sounds like a horrible murder?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It certainly has the capability to do that, right? And this language from Ambassador Huckabee is incredibly noteworthy because it's harsh, it's direct, it comes from the ambassador who has, in the past, actually supported these Israeli settlers. And despite the attacks that they have been carrying out against these Palestinians in the West Bank, with him calling this a terrorist attack, it's very clear that this incident has struck a nerve with U.S. officials.

So, what we're watching to see now is would the United States provide any support to the Israelis as they, you know, carry out an investigation here?

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How long will an investigation take? All of these questions yet to be answered?

But this is a flashpoint and this is a specific incident, this awful incident of this 20-year-old Palestinian American who was killed by Israeli settlers that opens up questions about what Palestinians have been saying is an issue that they face in the West Bank on a daily basis. They say these daily assaults, they have only increased from these Israeli settlers as the war in Gaza has continued. So, we're going to watch and see how the Trump administration fully responds to this awful incident.

BLITZER: And you make an important point about Ambassador Mike Huckabee, very, very pro-Israel, a strong defender of Israel, yet very, very tough in saying there has to be a full scale investigation by the Israelis of what he describes as a terrorist incident.

ATWOOD: And we should also note that Sayf's family spoke with Jeremy Diamond and called for a U.S. investigation. So, Ambassador Huckabee is committing that the U.S. will push the Israelis to do an investigation, not committing that there will be a separate U.S.-led investigation on this.

BLITZER: That was a very strong piece that Jeremy Diamond did for us yesterday here in The Situation Room. Kylie, thank you very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: All right, Wolf. Turning now to the battle over Jeffrey Epstein, this morning, President Trump is facing, if not a Republican revolt, that at least some fear cracks in his Congressional coalition. Some of his most loyal allies in the House are pushing back on the president and calling for more information on the sex trafficking case against the late disgraced finance year. They're calling for more transparency after the Justice Department reversed itself and now says there's nothing of interest in the investigation's files.

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REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX): I do think there needs to be more transparency. I do think that all needs to move forward. And I think the administration needs to address that.

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: But you don't believe what the Justice Department is saying?

REP. TIM BURCHETT (R-TN): I don't know. No, I don't. I don't. I think I don't. I don't trust them.

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): You should put everything out there and let the people decide.

Pam Bondi, I don't know when she originally made the statement, I think she was talking about documents. As I understood it, they were on her desk. I don't know that she was specific about a list or whatever, but she needs to come forward and explain that to everybody.

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): I fully support the transparency on this issue.

And it's okay to continue to push for it. It's great.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Well, let's go live now to CNN Senior White House Reporter Kevin Liptak. Wow, Kevin, the president just posted some very strong words about the Epstein controversy targeting some of his allies, supporters, saying they're weaklings.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes.

BROWN: Tell us more about that.

LIPTAK: Clearly, this is not dying down in the way that the president had hoped. We heard him yesterday saying this was uninteresting, but what we're hearing from today is far harsher, the president accusing, on the one hand, Democrats of manufacturing this, saying that it's a Jeffrey Epstein hoax, but then going very harshly after those very Republicans who are his supporters and are calling for more transparency, saying that his past supporters have bought into what he calls B.S. He uses the actual word. He calls it, hook, line and sinker.

The president going on to say, let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats work, concluding, I don't want their support anymore.

So, the president, I think his harshest words yet about the very base of supporters who have been calling for more information on this. The president really not mincing any words, saying that they're not spending enough time focusing on the successes of his administration, instead, in his view, they're being distracted by all of this swirl of controversy around Jeffrey Epstein.

But we should say that the conspiracies and the controversy have not actually been started by Democrats. They were started by some of President Trump's own advisers, people like Kash Patel, people like Dan Bongino, who, in their previous life before they entered the administration, fueled a lot of these conspiracies and have led to many of Trump's supporters thinking that there could be more information to be had.

And so President Trump clearly frustrated that this is not dying away. You are starting to hear calls on Capitol Hill for potential hearings into this matter. You've heard Democrats say that they want Justice Department officials to come and testify. You also have heard Republicans, including Tim Burchett, who you just saw in that clip, say that they want to hear from Ghislaine Maxwell, the one-time associate of Jeffrey Epstein's. They want to hear her testify in public.

Now, she's in a federal correctional facility for 20 years in Tallahassee, so it's not exactly clear how that would happen, but it's very evident that despite all of the president's calls for his advisers to drop this, they still remain very intent on learning more about this matter. Pam?

BROWN: Kevin Liptak live for us from the White House, thanks so much. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. Let's go to Capitol Hill right now where two tie breaking 51-50 votes in the U.S. Senate have pushed the country one step closer to living with DOGE cuts that would drain foreign aid and devastate public broadcasters.

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Our Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju is joining us live from Capitol Hill right now.

Manu, the vice president, as we know, J.D. Vance, had to step in to advance these cuts, break that 50-50 tie. Are Republicans confident they will have the votes for final passage?

RAJU: They are, Wolf. And they expect it to actually be likely a 50- 50 tie. Vice President Vance may have to come into break that tie to push this over the finish line. But, remember, Wolf, this is essentially the low hanging fruit in terms of cuts that the Republicans had planned to advance. DOGE, when they came in, had promised more than a trillion worth of spending cuts. This is a roughly $9 billion package.

It does cut a number of foreign aid programs, very controversial. There's a pushback of at least from some Republicans and lots of Democrats on that, and more than a billion dollars for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting that would fund public radio stations, public televisions, and the like. That is included in this package.

But they were forced to pull back roughly $400 million that would've been cut from a foreign AIDS program known as PEPFAR. That is something that George W. Bush and his administration advanced. Because of opposition among Republicans, they were forced to drop that measure. But yesterday, there was still more opposition. Three Republicans voted against this plan, Senator Susan Collins, that Senate appropriations chairwoman, and someone who's up for reelection next year, Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, as well as Senator Mitch McConnell.

One of the big criticisms, particularly voiced by Collins, is that they believe that this was not clearly spelled out in the legislation exactly where these cuts would come from. They spell out more broadly, but not precisely, which would give the administration wide latitude to implement these cuts when they -- if and when they go into effect.

But, Wolf, we do expect the Republicans to try to push it through the Senate, potentially into the overnight hours tonight and then it'll go back to the House for final passage as soon as Friday. Wolf?

BLITZER: We'll see what happens there. All right, Manu Raju, thank you very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: Wolf, still ahead, an American Idol executive and her husband shot dead in their Los Angeles home. A 22-year-old man now under arrest. The new details emerging this morning.

You're in The Situation Room.

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BLITZER: This morning, Americans are souring on President Trump's so- called big, beautiful bill. New CNN polling shows roughly six in ten say they oppose the massive domestic policy bill just signed into law by the president. And more than half of those polled, 51 percent say they expect the bill to hurt the U.S. economy rather than to help it.

Let's discuss this and more with the former senior adviser to President Obama, CNN Chief Political Analyst David Axelrod. David, how bad are these numbers potentially for the president, and does that really matter?

DAVID AXELROD, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think it matters most to members of Congress because the midterm elections come up first. The president ostensibly is not going to run for reelection. The Constitution suggests that. But it is going to be a big issue in the midterm elections.

And these numbers have been pretty consistent, Wolf. The public has been opposed to it, but now they're being exposed to more information about it, and those numbers are not changing. And, interestingly, you don't see the president out there plugging it much, which is surprising to me. One of the interesting things about this bill is that some of the most unpopular parts of it are said to hit after the midterm elections. So, those Medicaid cuts go into effect after the midterm election. So, you know, in some ways you're telling people about things that are about to happen, though there are going to be some effects beforehand, but the cuts go in after. And it was done for a reason because they know that these are going to be very unpopular when they're implemented.

BLITZER: Yes, good point. The president is plagued by the fallout, as we all know, from the Department of Justice's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. He just posted this to his Truth Social site just moments ago, writing in part, and I'm quoting him, my past supporters have bought into this B.S. hook, line, and sinker. They haven't learned their lesson and probably never will, even after being conned by the lunatic left for eight long years.

And then he goes on to say this, let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats work. Don't even think about talking about our incredible and unprecedented success because I don't want their support anymore. What do you make of that?

AXELROD: Well, I think it underscores what makes this story so interesting, right? Because there's a movement, this MAGA movement, Trump believes the MAGA movement is his movement and however he defines it, but it's built on deep distrust of government, on conspiracy theories. The Epstein case has fed into that. The pedophilia aspects of it are something that is very inflammatory to that movement. And now you have people, Bongino and others, who are having to choose between fidelity to the president and to their movement, and it's creating a great fissure.

What's interesting to me is that they -- everybody's going after Pam Bondi, the attorney general. Anyone who believes that Pam Bondi is doing what she's doing of her own volition is nuts. She is doing what the president wants her to do, which is why he's defending her. Why does he not want those files released? Well, I mean, there's a lot of speculation about that.

BLITZER: That story is not going away. And another issue, a very sensitive issue, especially for Democrats right now, Zohran Mamdani, the Democrats official nominee for mayor in New York City, is here in Washington today, scheduled to meet with Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

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And he's drawing a lot of controversy from Republicans and Democrats alike.

How should Democrats deal with Mamdani, who is the Democratic nominee to become the next mayor of New York City?

AXELROD: I think thoughtfully, because he stirred a lot of excitement, especially among young people in the city of New York, and he did it by focusing on an issue that I think is national in scope, which is affordability. It's particularly true for young people, particularly young people in New York. But there's a great concern about that issue, and he wrote it very successfully.

He is a very, very strong political performer. And I use performer not as a pejorative, but he is very, very good, especially using the modern techniques of political communication. And there's much to be learned. And now that doesn't mean Democrats should embrace every position he's taken. But if you're going to be a big tent party, then you got to be a big tent party.

And he's from New York City and he's reflecting what he thinks are the best positions for New York City. Voters in New York will decide that.

BLITZER: But there's a huge Jewish population in New York City too. And he's considered to be very, very anti-Israel in his public statements, global intifada and all of that.

AXELROD: Okay. Well, yes, and, I mean, he's begun to address that. And I think he's going to have to, Wolf, you know, like you, I have a deep interest in this issue. My father was a refugee from Eastern Europe, and these words have great meaning to Jews.

And so he's going to have to square that with voters in that city. And he has to do it in a way that keeps faith with what he believes, which is that the Palestinians have been treated unjustly and they need to be -- and that needs to be reckoned with. So, that, I think, is going to be a challenge for him.

BLITZER: A huge challenge. All right, David Axelrod, thank you very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: All right, Wolf. I want to continue this discussion on the Epstein files with CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig. Elie, good to see you.

So, Attorney General Pam Bondi has come under intense criticism from the president's face over her handling of this, though, again, to reiterate, the president is clearly sticking by her. I want you to listen to what she said yesterday.

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PAM BONDI, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I'm not going to talk about Epstein.

Our memo speaks for itself, and we'll get back to you on anything else.

We're going to fight to keep America safe again, and we're fighting together as a team.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So, this was a press conference about something totally unrelated. Clearly, this is something the administration can't escape right now, even as they want the story to go away. What do you make of how she's handled this whole thing? ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: So, first of all, welcome back to you, Pam Brown. It's great to see you back and thank you for the fantastic reporting you've been doing.

Now, as to this issue, I think David Axelrod makes a very good point. It is almost impossible to believe that Pam Bondi here is acting entirely on her own. That said, she has mishandled this egregiously in a couple respects. First of all, she has completely ignored longstanding DOJ policy, which both sides, both political parties, have observed that you don't turn over to the public closed investigative files. She doesn't seem to know about or care about that policy, and hence, she has walked herself into this corner.

And then she's made matters worse by over representing what is in those files. She has made grandiose promises and then suddenly, as we just heard in that clip, has now had this reversal and now her position is nothing to see here, nothing more coming out, and everyone needs to be quiet and we're moving on.

BROWN: And you have this new article out where you talk about how Bondi has lost the trust of not just Democrats but also many Republicans now. How does this distrust jeopardize the mission of the Justice Department?

BROWN: It's fatal to DOJ's credibility. As I write in the article, Pam Bondi never had the trust of liberals or Democrats or the left largely because she was a 2020 election denier. She claimed Donald Trump had won Pennsylvania. She helped devise his unsuccessful court strategy.

Now, however, she has lost many on the right because she has puffed up what is in these files and then failed to deliver. For example, back in February, she had this much ballyhooed release of the Epstein files. Phase one, she gave out those binders. You remember people holding them up outside the White House, it was all just information that had already come out publicly. It was nothing new. And then she said the other day on Fox News that, when asked about the client list, that she had the documents on her desk.

It's a little unclear exactly what she was referring to, but, again, she promised that she had important documents on her desk. And, again, she then did a very sudden 180 and said nothing's coming out. So, that has now alienated many on the right as well.

BROWN: Yes. And Kaitlan Collins was reporting that sources told her that what she was referring to was something that was pretty much publicly available that was given to influencers. So, there's still lots of questions surrounding all of this.

Elie Honig, thank you so much.

HONIG: Thanks, Pam.

BLITZER: And coming up, an American Idol music supervisor is shot dead in her Los Angeles home.

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Now, a suspect is in custody. The latest on the investigation straight ahead.