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Attorney General Bondi Makes Highly Anticipated Visit to Alcatraz; Maurene Comey, Federal Prosecutor in Epstein Case, Fired; Senate Passes $9 Billion in Cuts to Foreign Aid, Public Broadcasting. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired July 17, 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, a CNN worldwide exclusive. Two weeks after the deadly July 4th floods, I'll speak with the owners of Camp La Junta about the moment they jumped into action to save every camper from the rising waters of the Guadalupe River. A Situation Room special report straight ahead.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Looking forward to that. Plus, she prosecuted Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and is the daughter of the former FBI director, James Comey. So why was Maurene Comey fired at the U.S. Justice Department and what's going on? New questions this morning, new reporting as well. Stay with us for that.

We want to welcome 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.

We begin this hour with the major breaking news. This morning, the attorney general of the United States, Pam Bondi, and other Trump administration officials are about to visit Alcatraz, just off the coast of San Francisco. Their visit comes two months after President Trump called for the reopening of the prison, which once housed some of the most dangerous criminals in the country.

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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Nobody's ever escaped from Alcatraz. And just represented something strong, having to do with law and order. We need law and order in this country. And so we're going to look at it. Some of the people up here are going to be working very hard on that. And we had a little conversation. I think it's going to be very interesting. We'll see if we can bring it back in large form and a lot.

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BLITZER: All right. Let's go live right now to CNN White House Reporter Alayna Treene. And, Alayna, you have new reporting about a possible announcement taking place over at Alcatraz this morning. What can you share with us? ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right, Wolf. So, I spoke with the source of Miller with the plans for Attorney General Pam Bondi and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum have to travel to Alcatraz today and make some sort of announcement. Now, another source would not give me the specific details, but we did also hear from Nancy Pelosi's office, the congresswoman's office, who essentially said that they had been advised that both Bondi and Burgum were not only going to be visiting Alcatraz today, but also had this formal announcement that they were be going to be making.

Now, of course, the timing of this is interesting because, you know, we hadn't really heard more about Alcatraz ever since the president had posted about it back in May, but he has, and I've been trying to catch up with my sources here at the White House about this this morning, he has continued to argue that he believes it should be rebuilt and reopened.

Of course, it's a controversial prospect. It was very expensive to keep Alcatraz open. It closed roughly 60 years ago, but was closed because of the high maintenance costs and the way that it was operated.

So, definitely a lot of questions about why they're doing this now and, you know, how they're going to move forward with this. But as you mentioned, this would be a huge move, and it did used to house some of the most notorious criminals, people like Al Capone, as well as George Machine Gun Kelly. So, interesting to stay tuned to what exactly they have to say when they visit today.

BLITZER: You know, Alayna, many will, of course, attempt to see this as an attempt by the Trump administration to change the conversation from -- to change it away from Jeffrey Epstein. Is the White House commenting on that?

TREENE: Yes, it's very unclear. I mean, obviously the timing is interesting in anything now that the attorney general, Pam Bondi, is doing is getting far more scrutiny than normal. But, look, I think the big picture with the Epstein case is so many people in not just, you know, MAGA world, but the president's fiercest supporters, and even people here at the White House and inside the Trump administration are continuing to be frustrated with how all of this was handled.

And one of the key questions, of course, has been, why aren't we not only seeing these files be published? We're seeing so many people, particularly a lot of high-profile MAGA influencers, argue that they should be published, but why aren't they addressing this in a more transparent manner? Because, of course, the president has really -- part of the reason he was elected and he's so beloved by his base is because he's a speaker of uncomfortable truth. He's someone who normally would draw light to these types of controversies.

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And they feel he's being uncharacteristically quiet about all of this, all to say a lot of questions. If she -- if Pam Bondi -- it's unclear if she's even going to take questions today when she visits Alcatraz, but, of course, that would probably be one of the number one things she's asked. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. Alayna Treene reporting for us, thanks very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: All right, Wolf. Let's talk more about the Jeffrey Epstein case. One of the main prosecutors who worked the case against Epstein and former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, has been fired. She's Maurene Comey, the daughter of former FBI director, James Comey, who was fired during the first Trump term. Comey also worked on the P. Diddy case, Maurene Comey, we should clarify.

The firing comes as President Trump faces angry supporters who demand the Justice Department deliver on its promise to reveal more details in the case, including potential clients. Comey's dismissal with no public explanation is raising deep concerns in legal circles.

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ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: If, and I want to underscore that word, if a bunch of times, if this is some effort to strike at Jim Comey, it's an absolute act of cowardice. It's a low blow. It's absurd. If this is the beginning of some sort of effort to turn Maurene Comey into the scapegoat, to say, well, she handled the Epstein and Maxwell prosecutions, she screwed it up, and she's the cause of all our problems, that's a travesty. That's nonsensical. She prosecuted these cases four years ago. What does that have to do with all the hypocrisy about production of these documents now?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: All right. So, let's bring in CNN Chief Legal Affairs Correspondent Paula Reid. Paula, what more can you tell us about Maurene Comey and her firing?

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, a source familiar with this situation suggests that the Justice Department believed it was untenable to continue to keep Ms. Comey on because her father continues to go after the administration.

Now, I think we need to unpack that in the context of the unfolding Epstein scandal and the timing here. But, first, I will note that this Justice Department does have a history of firing people who have been involved in investigations into President Trump or who they believe are not loyal or in line with their political agenda.

But that being said, I mean, James Comey has been going after the Trump administration since he was fired by President Trump in the first term, this is nothing new, even though this all kind of bubbled up again in recent weeks when James Comey posted a social media photo was spelled out in seashells, 86 47.

Now, he insists that was not a threat against the president, but he has been interviewed by law enforcement and is under investigation for that posting. But the timing of Ms. Comey's firing, we know this comes amid really the biggest controversy, I think, this administration has seen so far, calls from their own supporters to release more information connected to this case. And as Elie was pointing out, there is a fair question to be asked here if they are trying to set up some sort of scapegoat.

We've seen the president lay the groundwork for this in Truth Social posts where he has suggested this was all sort of concocted by Hillary Clinton, Comey and Obama, when the facts are that it's been his own supporters who have been amplifying the Epstein issue, raising some legitimate questions, and also raising some conspiracy theories. Even his own attorney general in recent weeks has promised new documents and then said she would not be releasing anything else.

So, it's unclear if this can really be passed off to anyone or if this was a factor in Ms. Comey's firing.

BROWN: Yes, I mean some of his supporters who are currently in this administration, several of them.

Paula Reid, thank you so much. Wolf?

BLITZER: Also breaking overnight lawmakers in the US Senate approved the $9 billion in cuts as part of President Trump's campaign against what he calls wasteful spending. It targets things like public broadcasting and U.S. foreign aid and claws back money, which had already been approved by the U.S. Congress. The bill now heads back to the House with a deadline bearing down tomorrow.

Let's go live right now to our Congressional Correspondent Lauren Fox. She's, of course, up on Capitol Hill. Lauren, only two Republicans voted against the cuts in the Senate. Does this face an easy pass in the House?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Those two Republican senators, Senator Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, voted against this legislation. But, largely, it was smooth sailing in the Senate after a marathon vote series that went until about 2:30 A.M. Now, this does go over to the House of Representatives because of some changes to the funding cuts, specifically when it came to international programs that support combating AIDS.

Now, there's a huge question mark right now on the timing of this in the House of Representatives, despite the fact that there are many conservatives who are arguing that, yes, they are willing to support this even though it is only $9 billion in cuts, rather than $9.4 billion in cuts, which they passed a short time ago. They say they're willing to back it, but there's an issue over the fact that they have a lot to do in the House of Representatives today.

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They have three cryptocurrency bills currently on the schedule right now. It's unclear how quickly they can move forward with those. And this is a race against time because there is a Friday deadline. Now, I just want to play for you some of the conservatives who are arguing, they wish this cut was larger, but they're willing to back it anyway. Here they are.

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REP. ERIC BURLISON (R-MO): I mean, at the end of the day, I'll take a base, a base hit, right? It's better than nothing. So, I think that at least we're able to make some spending reductions.

REP. RALPH NORMAN (R-SC): From what I understand is, is instead of $9.4, it's 9 billion. The 400 was for the AIDS that was put under the Bush administration. If it comes back $9 billion, I'm fine with it. If it had come back much less, no, we're going to fight it. It's a teardrop in the ocean compared to the debt we have. So, 9 billion, I'm fine. With much more, I'm not.

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FOX: Now, again, that deadline for passing this is tomorrow evening. But this also sets a stage for questions over how this is going to affect the appropriations fight that comes when lawmakers return in September. Democrats already warning that this rescissions package puts for them in jeopardy whether or not they can work with Republicans to fund the government, if they're just going to pull back that funding later on. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. Lauren Fox reporting, Lauren, thank you. Pamela?

BROWN: All right, Wolf. Turning now in the Middle East, the Syrian government says it has withdrawn troops from a flashpoint southern city after days of deadly clashes with an Arab minority group there. Those clashes triggering yesterday's deadly Israeli airstrikes in Damascus and prompting directing intervention from the Trump administration. But it's not clear just how long this continuous ceasefire will last.

Let's go live now to CNN Jerusalem Correspondent Jeremy Diamond. Jeremy, what more do we know about this ceasefire?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, indeed, Pamela. We saw images overnight of Syrian troops leaving the southern Syrian city of Suwayda. That is where earlier this week clashes broke out between that Druze minority and Bedouin tribes in the area.

This ceasefire came after U.S. intervention, speaking with relevant parties and brokering this ceasefire ultimately. The Syrian president is also addressing the nation saying that Syria is not afraid of war, but that he chose to put Syria's people, quote, above chaos and destruction, and he accused Israel of trying to destabilize the country. And so divisions following a day during, which we saw intense Israeli airstrikes in Syria, including in the Syrian capital of Damascus, one of which targeted Syria's Defense Ministry. The Syrian president also vowed to protect the Druze minority in his country.

As for the Israeli prime minister, he took credit for the result here of Syrian forces withdrawing from Suwayda, saying it was a result of Israel's strength and its military intervention in this case.

And now the question is will this ceasefire last. We have seen previous ceasefires quickly collapse, and already we are seeing reports of attacks on the Bedouins in the city of Suwayda and Bedouins being forced to flee the city.

The other question here is whether or not this ceasefire will ultimately put those nascent Syrian-Israeli talks brokered by the United States to try and reach some kind of a security agreement, whether this will put those talks back on track. That was clearly the U.S.'s primary concern yesterday. And we will see whether that goes forward. The Israeli prime minister has vowed that, if necessary, Israel will strike again. Pam?

BROWN: All right. Jeremy Diamond, thanks so much. Wolf?

BLITZER: New this morning, the U.S. Commerce Department announcing that retail sales we're stronger than economists projected, rising by 0.6 percent in June. Today's announcement was a significant bump from last month. We saw a 0.9 percent decline. All eyes are on consumer behavior right now as President Trump's tariffs could drive up prices and consumer spending powers about two thirds of the U.S. economy.

Joining us right now is CNN Business and Politics Correspondent Vanessa Yurkevich. Vanessa, what more did we learn from today's report?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, Americans really started spending again in the month of June after pulling back for the previous two months in April and May. Retail sales were much better than expected, retail sales up 0.6 percent in the month of June. And just look at that stark turnaround to the month of May when retail sales were down, 0.9 percent.

And what this tells us is that the consumer, the American consumer, is in good shape. But in the month of June, we may have seen people spending a little bit more because they were worried about higher tariffs to come. But also look on your screen there, from January to June, there's really no trend. So, this one month does not signal a trend in retail spending or consumer behavior, but it certainly is a good sign in the face of tariffs.

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Now, in terms of the categories where we saw increases and decreases, very few decreases, declines in sales. We saw it, yes, in furniture, electronics, two heavily imported products, but we saw increases in clothing stores, apparel by 0.9 percent, a lot of those products coming from abroad, a rebound in car sales up 1.2 percent. And, Wolf, right there in the middle, food services, that is spending at bars and restaurants, this is usually where consumers pull back first. This is discretionary spending. But in June's report, Americans were certainly still spending there.

And as you mentioned, why we look at these reports so closely, consumer spending, retail sales make up two thirds of the overall economy and are very important for U.S. GDP. We need to keep an eye on this, Wolf, though, because, as I noted, June is not a trend. It is one month. We'll see how those tariffs affect consumer spending going forward, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, good point, significant numbers indeed.

Vanessa Yurkevich, thanks very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: All right, Wolf. Happening now, millions of people along the Gulf Coast are preparing for potential flooding as a sprawling tropical system heads their way. If the storm stalls near the coast, parts of Louisiana could see more than a foot of rain, a worst case scenario that could overwhelm storm drains in the flood prone New Orleans.

All right, let's bring in CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar. What more do we know about the storm and we, when we can expect it to hit land, Allison?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. So, I think the big concern here is that it's really going to be in prolonged nature of moisture. We're not just talking a day or two, but a lot of these heavy rain is expected to last through the weekend. So, we're talking days of the rain. Right now, you can see some of those heavier bands right there along the coast, even as far north as Baton Rouge, getting some pretty strong thunderstorms at the moment. You've got a flood watch in effect for all of the southern coast of Louisiana, but also the southern coast of Mississippi as well.

And this is expected to continue over the next few days because it's all thanks to this system right here, this tropical disturbance that's just kind of meandering right there along the coast. And what it's doing is it's pulling up all of that moisture and really just kind of inundating these areas with heavy rainfall.

Here's a look at the rest of today, but even notice as we head into Friday and into Saturday, we're going to be looking at additional rainfall on top of what they've already had leading to that flooding concern.

BROWN: All right. Allison, thank you so much.

Well, we have a really special report coming up in The Situation Room. For the first time, the owners of Camp La Junta are showing us the devastation left behind now that the Texas flood waters have receded, and they are opening up about that night.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Water was rushing by with huge force and was about chest-deep on Scott then when we came down.

We were on the high ground screaming at the counselors to get their kids in the rafters.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BROWN: How the devastation and loss are being felt by the entire community. My Situation Room special report is later this hour.

BLITZER: Looking forward to that, Pam. Well, thanks very much for that report.

And still ahead, should psychedelic drugs be approved to treat mental health conditions? The Trump administration now seems to think yes. The new reporting coming up in The Situation Room.

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BLITZER: This morning, there are mixed messages coming in from the White House on the future of the Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome Powell. President Trump now says it's unlikely he'll fire Powell, that after Trump met with Republican lawmakers Tuesday, telling them he'd likely remove Powell. But the president isn't closing the door to the idea completely, signaling yesterday he's unhappy about Powell's management of the Federal Reserve's headquarters building, the renovation that's ongoing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I don't rule out anything, but I think it's highly unlikely, unless he has to leave for fraud. I mean, it's possible there's fraud involved with the $2.5, $2.7 billion renovation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: I want to bring in Republican Congressman Pete Sessions of Texas right now. He's a key member of the Financial Services Committee. Congressman, thanks so much for coming in. I appreciate it very much.

First of all, do you think -- and there's several subjects we want to go through with you, but do you think the President should fire the chair of the Federal Reserve?

PETE SESSIONS (R-TX): Wolf, I think the president's trying to influence the chairman of what he believes are vast in instances of how the economy is doing well. You just heard on this show that retail sales are up. You have heard that the economy is adding jobs, adding jobs. That is the goal of this administration. I think that it's, to me, a matter of politicians, members of Congress, the president, live off the American dream. Chairman Powell lives off the economy, ups and downs and preparing us for tomorrow. And I think the president's message is that he believes that first time home buyers and people who are taking loans are paying more than what they need to, which is inhibiting further growth.

Now, second point, you had to have been around Washington. Jay Powell and the Fed listened very carefully under the influence of the Biden administration and took out loans for $3.2 trillion. They took out loans that caused interest rates to rise dramatically with government loans that were taken on. That was influence of an administration, and perhaps Jay Powell saw the need because of COVID or other matters.

I think that Jay Powell is flexible enough, and I think the president has facts on his side. I think that they could find a way to accommodate each other.

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I think that they should come down. I think they're too high, but this is their job, not us.

BLITZER: You know, one of your fellow Republicans Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana, I assume you know him, he's predicting economic catastrophe if the president fires Powell. I want you to listen to what the senator said. Listen to this.

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SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): If you fire the, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, you will see the stock market crash and you will see the bond market crash.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Are you concerned about what he's predicting if he were to fire Chairman Powell?

SESSIONS: I am, but I've suggested there's a compromise there. There's a compromise for the Fed to look at several months worth of data and to bring down those numbers, and that is what the president wants. We want our economy to be built around the strength of the Fed, good, common sense practices. But I'm simply saying the way a conservative Republican looks at it is the Biden administration had great latitude with the Fed. We would like that same latitude, even if it's short-term. You see, this is on Donald Trump's scorecard.

BLITZER: We'll see what he does.

SESSIONS: And he knows that.

BLITZER: I want to turn to the fallout over the Jeffrey Epstein files. President Trump is attacking your Republicans -- a lot of your fellow Republicans who are upset by his administration's handling of all of this, calling them stupid and foolish, his words, stupid and foolish, even saying he doesn't want their support anymore, his words again. What do you make of the president going after his own Republican supporters?

SESSIONS: Well, for several months during the campaign, Republicans did believe and still do believe that the evidence should be brought forward. The actual evidence, names, yes, the events, yes. There are thousands of hours of videos that are maintained by the Department of Justice.

I believe it is entirely up to right now, not the FBI, but rather Pam Bondi, who people do believe, and I have great confidence in her also. She needs to give, unless she already has a final statement about the disposition of that data and information.

It's hard to think that all of a sudden it does not, that someone could not put together a full list of all this and chronologically put it in order from the thousands of hours of tapes. Pam Bondi needs to be the closer on this. I trust her and I would hope and think that she would be the final answer.

BLITZER: this week there was a new polling coming in on CNN that showed just what 37 percent of Americans say. Trump is concentrating on the right issues right now. That's down six points from March. Do you think the president needs to redirect his focus to the issues he ran on and away from things, like the Epstein files?

SESSIONS: Well, let's just face it here. The president has his hand in every single bit of government that's running right now. He not only has an idea but he has an influence. And I believe it is time for our secretaries to begin doing their jobs in a more judicious way, but we also need the Senate, Senator Schumer, to approve all of these assistant secretaries so the government can be up and working.

Transportation is one of the key areas that we have and other areas, the Senate needs to move on their job instead of being obstructionist. It is difficult for a secretary to get the advice they need and to run the way that they would want. And I will tell you, as chairman of government oversight for government operations and federal workforce, our federal workforce is still not back at work. But that requires more than just a secretary or a president's directive. And I believe that for the government to work effectively, Senator Schumer needs to give them that leverage and opportunity.

BLITZER: Congressman Sessions. Pamela Brown, my co-anchor is here. She has a question for you. She's just back from your state of Texas.

SESSIONS: Yes.

BLITZER: Did excellent reporting there.

SESSIONS: And has been to our camps.

BLITZER: She did amazing reporting while she was there.

BROWN: I went to two of the camps there in Hill Country impacted by that devastating flooding.

So, I wanted to ask, as you mentioned, you were chairman of the health subcommittee on government operations. There has been plenty of scrutiny, right, on the emergency management and what could have been done differently to save lives. And I'm wondering if you've learned anything else about what actions officials did or did not take in those critical overnight hours when waters were rapidly rising.

SESSIONS: Pamela, in fact, these are good questions and questions that will be answered. The state of Texas has, taken under Lieutenant Governor Patrick, the ability where they are going to start next Monday these hearings where they will call people who are not federal employees, they are state and local employees, to make these determinations.

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