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The Situation Room

"Worst-case Scenario of Famine" Unfolding in Gaza; Four Killed in Mass Shooting in Midtown Manhattan; Russia Strikes Hit Prison in Ukraine; Trump Admin. Vs. Duke University. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired July 29, 2025 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR:

YECHIEL LEITER, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: That means 90 percent was diverted by Hamas. Now, you want to blame us for that too?

I mean, for crying out loud. You want to blame us for conducting a war while we're providing as much humanitarian aid as possible? Hamas is using this propaganda to score points in the international community. And like a social contagion, everybody is picking this up. Israel is starving a population. We are not starving a population. We will never starve a population. We will continue to flood Gaza with humanitarian aid as we conduct the war to destroy Hamas, period

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: About having said all that, Ambassador, I just want to point out that support for Israel among Americans is declining big time right now. Our most recent polls and other polls show more Americans are now actually sympathizing with the Palestinians than sympathizing with Israel. And they say that the support for Israel has declined dramatically, especially since the October 7th Hamas massacre in Israel.

You know, I've covered US-Israeli relations, as you know, Ambassador, for a long time. I don't remember a time when support for Israel has evaporated like this. It's really a major problem in U.S.-Israeli relations. What are you going to do about that? Because especially younger Americans are increasingly anti-Israel as opposed to what has been the tradition over many, many years.

LEITER: Wolf, look, I know how long you've been covering Israel, American relations. I know you were stationed in Israel for a long time. I remember incidents throughout history where there was a dramatic dip in support and we were able to stage a comeback. I mean, you remember, for example, the picture of the baby without arms on in Beirut in 1982, which caused President Reagan to pick up the phone and demand from Prime Minister Begin to end the war. And it turned out two weeks later that the baby had arms. It was a completely fictitious, doctored picture.

We're going to get beyond this. The people of America identify with the values that we identify with. We have interests together and we have a long history of partnership. You saw the partnership come to play recently in our battle together against Iran, which is really at the end of the day responsible for all of this having supported Hamas to the tune of $350 million a year.

Iran was responsible. We acted together with the United States. We'll continue to act together with the United States. And I can tell you, Wolf, that, as ambassador, I'm working 24/7 on a bipartisan level. I've spoken to many of my colleagues in Congress on the Democratic side of the aisle as well. I'm constantly informing them of the facts on the ground.

I hope and pray that people become a little bit more levelheaded about what's going on. Place less emphasis on propagandizing pictures coming across through the media. Look at the facts. Look at the 636 trucks sitting there as we speak. How much more can we send into Gaza? We're sending it in. We can't distribute the food. It's the U.N. that's supposed to be distributing the food. If it's not getting there, then it's the U.N. that's responsible for cooperating in tandem with Hamas.

So, we're going to do what we have to do. We may take some criticism for a while. We're going to get beyond this, and the relations between the United States and Israel are going to be rock solid as they've been since Israel was created in 1948.

BLITZER: Ambassador Yechiel Leiter, thank you so much for joining us.

LEITER: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: And we'll be right back.

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[10:35:00]

BLITZER: All right. Back to our breaking news. The New York City mayor, Eric Adams, now says investigators believe the man who killed four people in the Manhattan skyscraper took the wrong elevator bank while trying to reach the NFL offices in that building. The source has told CNN he'd expressed grievances with the NFL.

Monday's shooting was the deadliest in New York City in some 25 years. Police say the gunman had documented mental health issues, but was licensed, actually licensed to carry a concealed weapon in Nevada. Officials say he drove to Manhattan from Las Vegas. The governor of New York are ordering flags to fly at half-staff across the state. You can see flag -- this flag lowered outside the Park Avenue building where the shooting actually took place. President Trump says he has been briefed on the shooting and expressed his condolences to the victims.

CNN Sports Correspondent and former NFL player Coy Wire is joining us right now. Coy, I know you played in the NFL for my favorite team, the Buffalo Bills, but what can you tell us about the League's role in all of this?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is an absolute gut-wrenching story, Wolf, especially for those who got news that one of their family members or friends are part of it. NFL employees got a memo from Commissioner Roger Goodell last night stating that one of their own, an employee, has been seriously injured in the attack.

He said in part, quote, "As has been widely reported, a gunman committed an unspeakable act of violence in our building at 345 Park Avenue. One of our employees was seriously injured in this attack. He is currently in the hospital and in stable condition. NFL staff are at the hospital and we are supporting his family. We believe that all of our employees are otherwise safe and accounted for," unquote.

Like many others, Wolf, League officials will be awaiting answers, the how, the why. Commissioner Goodell went on to tell NFL employees who are based in New York to work remotely today and to take the day off if they need it.

[10:40:00]

Now, Wolf, I have been in the NFL offices for meetings on several occasions. It is a massive building, one of the most highly secured I've ever been in personally. Just to get to the multiple sets of elevator corridors, there is a lengthy check-in process with turnstile gates that remain locked until cleared. It would be difficult to get to any floor other than the one you've been given access to.

I have several friends that work in that building, several NFL employees. I reached out to them yesterday to make sure they were OK. They were scared, they were shocked, and this was before they had learned that someone they knew had been shot, Wolf.

Commissioner Goodell added in the memo that they are deeply grateful to the law enforcement officers who responded to this threat quickly and decisively and to Officer Islam who gave his life to protect others, Wolf.

BLITZER: And we are grateful to them as well. Coy Wire, thank you very much for that update. At the same time, we're learning more about the victims from this Manhattan shooting. Wesley LePatner was a senior managing director at Blackstone, which is in that building. The private equity firm released a statement reading in part, words cannot express the devastation we feel. Wesley was a beloved member of the Blackstone family and will be sorely missed. She was brilliant, passionate, warm, generous, and deeply respected within our firm and beyond. She embodied the best of Blackstone. Our prayers are with her husband, children, and family.

I also want to express my deepest condolences to the LePatner family. May she rest in peace, and as we say, may her memory be a blessing.

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[10:45:00]

BLITZER: New this morning, Ukraine is now assessing the damage after yet another very brutal Russian attack. Overnight, Russia struck several civilian areas, including a prison in Ukraine. Ukrainian officials say at least 17 of the inmates were killed and called the attack, and I'm quoting now, "another war crime by the Russians." Elsewhere, a maternity hospital in Ukraine was damaged and a pregnant woman was killed.

This latest barrage of Russian attacks follows. President Trump shortening his deadline for some sort of peace deal now giving Vladimir Putin 10 to 12 days to end the war. Earlier this month, President Trump gave Putin 50 days to end the war. Moscow had a terse response to the new U.S. deadline, a spokesman saying this, quote, "We have taken note of President Trump's statement yesterday. The special military operation continues as before," close quote, Russia calls its attack on Ukraine a special military operation.

CNN's former Moscow bureau chief Jill Dougherty is joining us right now. She's also the author of the brand-new very important book entitled "My Russia: What I Saw Inside the Kremlin." Jill, the clock is clearly ticking for Putin right now. What's your read on Russia's actions over the last 24 hours in the face of the latest threat from Trump?

JILL DOUGHERTY, FORMER CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF AND ADJUNCT PROFESSOR, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: You know, Wolf, I don't think that they know exactly what is going to happen up to the last minute. It appears that they think things could change. You know, this is -- in fact, they've made mention of this. The foreign minister said, you know, it was a hundred days, it was 50 days, it was et cetera. So, they're not buying into exact timeframes. But I think they're kind of, you can almost say, covering all bases.

So, you have President Putin not saying much of anything about this. Then you have the senior officials continuing to make, I would say, positive noises about President Trump, but lower below that. You have the other group, which is now involved in this -- and it's online fighting back and forth, criticizing the United States, and essentially saying, butt out, don't tell us what to do.

So, I think, you know, the interesting part of this maybe that we could look at is you've got two leaders who depict themselves as very strong men, right, and especially Putin. And then -- and Trump. So, they each want to show that they are not weak. And so, that is another aspect of this negotiating, trying to get to some type of a ceasefire. They can't look weak, so they continue to kind of Play this, I'm telling you what to do, from the American side, and the Russians saying, don't tell me what to do.

BLITZER: The Russian Security Council, deputy chairman, Dmitry Medvedev, has said, Jill, that the ultimatum by Trump could be a step closer towards war. How do you read that?

DOUGHERTY: Well, Medvedev is a designated hitter for trolling. So, he used to be the president back when, you know, Trump -- sorry, Putin and Medvedev switched positions. So, he's still in a position. He's the deputy head of the Security Council for Putin. So, he goes out there. In fact, he is now, at this very minute, Tweeting back and forth with Lindsey Graham, the senator, and saying -- the quote is fantastic, it's not for you to dictate when to get to the peace table. Work on America first, Gramps.

So, we've got -- you know, I think you have to look at Medvedev as being really far out there and saying outrageous things, but he's just part of the equation. The Kremlin is usually much more careful.

BLITZER: Yes, they are. If the latest ultimatum from President Trump has only further emboldened Putin, are new sanctions or steep new tariffs, secondary tariffs against countries that actually deal with Russia the next step or is he daring Trump to do even more?

[10:50:00]

DOUGHERTY: Well, if President Trump actually followed through on that, it is a very big deal and it could actually kind of boomerang on Americans with increased prices, oil prices, et cetera. So, the -- I think alternately the Kremlin knows that this could be very bad for them, but what they're going to do about it, you know, whether it actually happens, and the Americans actually do this, is another question.

So, I think if you look at what they're saying. I believe that they doubt that the White House will actually do this, but they can't be guaranteed that it won't. So, that's where they stand. They have to kind of, you know, be very prepared for almost anything and it's very interesting to watch. The stakes are very high.

BLITZER: Jill Dougherty, thanks as always for your expertise. Appreciate it very much. And coming up, the Trump administration has a new target in its battle with elite colleges and universities. That's coming up next right here in the Situation Room.

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BLITZER: New this morning, the Trump administration has identified a new target in its battle with elite higher education here in the United States. It's launching an investigation into Duke University and the Duke Law Journal claiming violations of the Civil Rights Act. The Education Department's Office for Civil Rights sending a letter to the private school in Durham, North Carolina, stating this, and I'm quoting now, "This investigation is based on recent reporting alleging that Duke University discriminates on the basis of race, color, and/or national origin by using these factors to select law journal members."

[10:55:00]

CNN Senior Reporter and Writer Betsy Klein is here digging into all of this. Betsy, how did this investigation, first of all, come about and what are we hearing from Duke?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER AND WRITER: Well, this is a new front in the Trump administration's battle with elite higher education, announcing really a two-pronged front in its battle with Duke University. First, the Education Department launching an investigation into Duke and the Duke Law Journal. They say they have violated the Civil Rights Act by discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national origin when they selected members of the Law Journal.

And separately, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. along with Education Secretary Linda McMahon have sent a letter to Duke alleging that they have concerns about race preferences in hiring, admissions, and scholarship decisions. They say there is, quote, "systemic racial discrimination" at the Duke School of Medicine as well as Duke Health more broadly. They want a Merit and Civil Rights Committee to be formed by Duke to work with the federal government.

Of course, Duke has not yet responded to our request for comment here, and this comes just days after Columbia University reached a $200 million settlement with the Trump administration. They are hoping that this serves as a blueprint for other schools. And we've learned that Brown University as well as Cornell are both on the cusp of another agreement with the Trump administration. Now, they also are engaged in legal battles with Harvard University, but remain optimistic that Harvard will come to the table for a deal.

And I've been covering this for several months now. Duke really hasn't been on the radar as one of the schools the Trump administration has been targeting until now. Clearly, they are hoping to put some pressure on the university with these two fronts to get the school to come to the table here.

BLITZER: It's personal for you, you went to Duke University.

KLEIN: Right.

BLITZER: So, you know that school, you know it very well.

KLEIN: Yes. A big Blue Devil fan. But watching this quite closely, along with many fellow alumni.

BLITZER: Really, really significant. He's going after -- Trump -- the Trump administration, all these elite American universities, whether Harvard or Duke, Columbia, Brown, these are all major elite universities.

KLEIN: Yes. And with very big endowments. And it's something that Trump believes he can reach financial settlements. He views that as a win. That's really marked a shift in strategy from really monitoring the ideology of these schools toward wanting a money settlement.

BLITZER: All right. Keep up the good work. Betsy Klein, thank you very, very much. And right now, flags across New York are at half- staff after a deadly shooting at a Manhattan office building. The latest on the investigation, that's coming up next.

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