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The Situation Room

Starvation Crisis in Gaza; NYPD Officer Funeral; Epstein Scandal Escalates; Trade Deadline. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired July 31, 2025 - 11:00   ET

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

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WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Happening now: President Trump's fast approaching tariff deadline. In just 13 hours, tariffs on multiple countries will surge if they haven't reached a new trade deal with the United States.

We want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. Pamela Brown is off today And you're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

We begin this hour with President Trump's looming tariff deadline. The clock is ticking for countries to make a trade deal. The Trump administration still has not made agreements with some of the U.S.' biggest trading partners, including both Mexico and Canada.

Overnight, the president announced a trade deal with South Korea, which includes a 15 percent tariff on imported goods from there. The Trump administration also announcing deals with Cambodia and Thailand. And although many of these deals have been announced, only two have been finalized.

Joining us now in THE SITUATION ROOM, CNN's chief national affairs correspondent, Jeff Zeleny.

So, Jeff, what's the latest on these trade deals?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the latest is, time is running out for these countries to negotiate with the U.S.

We have seen so many of these deadlines come and go from April to July. But now August 1 is the latest deadline. And the president has said that he is not going to extend this deadline. That has been one of the consistent points he made. You can see there on screen. These are the major countries that have not yet reached a deal, Canada, Mexico, Taiwan, India, Brazil.

So those are potentially coming in the coming hours or not. We shall see. Mexico is very important here, obviously Canada as well, big allies, some of our biggest trading partners here. But on the heels of the E.U. deal on Sunday, I was traveling with the president in Scotland, watching that meeting very carefully.

And that 15 percent baseline across the board is sort of the new floor for so many of these deals. We have seen it with Japan and some of the others recently inked. So this is a moment for the president. But it's also really a -- beginning of a chapter of his remaking global trading policies here.

And other countries are far more willing to negotiate now than they were in the springtime, when a lot of countries were sort of thumbing their nose and laughing at the U.S. That is not the case anymore.

BLITZER: Not anymore.

There's also, Jeff, as you well know, an ongoing legal challenge to President Trump's tariffs. Where does that currently stand?

ZELENY: Actually, right now, this is being argued in the U.S. Court of Appeals. And this is the central question. Did Trump exceed his authority by implementing all these are tariffs under his Emergency Powers Act? Was there truly an emergency for him to do this?

This is a major case happening right now, this 1977 law that is justifying country-specific tariffs.That's one of the things at question. But this is not going to be the end of the discussion here. But he has to justify, the government has to justify this emergency powers. Was he exceeding his authority?

It's one of so many examples that we have seen throughout the first 6.5 months of this time in office. Did he exceed his powers? Did he not? And it's being decided or at least heard right now in court.

BLITZER: And this court, I assume, if the president loses in this court, it'll go up to the Supreme Court.

ZELENY: Yes, it absolutely will.

BLITZER: We will see what happens. All right, we will watch it together with you, Jeff Zeleny.

ZELENY: Right.

BLITZER: Thank you very, very much.

I want to bring in CNN anchor and chief domestic correspondent Phil Mattingly right now. He's also here in THE SITUATION ROOM with us.

Phil, the president appears to be embracing his position of leverage in these trade talks. Why does he feel so much more emboldened right now?

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PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it's fascinating.

I actually want to jump off a really great point that Jeff Zeleny made, which is the timeline from 120 days ago, when foreign trading partners were laughing or thumbing their nose or threatening the U.S. with retaliatory tariffs, to now tells you everything about the moment and the leverage that the president has.

Those retaliations or threats of retaliatory tariffs, with the exception of China, nobody has at all. So why? Well, the U.S. market is so important to each of those countries' economies that they weren't willing to actually pull the trigger on retaliatory tariffs, which also makes another point.

The president -- I was talking to an E.U. official a couple of days ago and asked what shifted in their dynamics as they worked towards a deal, where the E.U. moved very much in the president's direction. And the diplomat said, look, it becomes a very different negotiation when you realize someone is willing to shoot the hostage.

And what was meant by that is the president is totally OK with those higher tariff rates going on. He likes tariffs. He's made clear he likes tariffs. And so if there's no deal, the president is quite content with that, which creates a very different dynamic, particularly when the U.S. economy has remained resilient, financial markets have settled down.

That's why the president right now is very comfortable in the position that he's been in.

BLITZER: You mentioned India as one of the countries who still -- that still doesn't have a deal with the U.S.

But President Trump's threats are hurting months of dealmaking with New Delhi right now. What kind of message is that sending about his approach and his goals?

MATTINGLY: Open markets.

The message from the president -- and I think you have seen it. Japan thought for a pretty significant period of time over the last couple of months that they were nearing a final agreement that never actually came to fruition. Now they have one. They opened their markets more. They added investment to the deal as well.

The president has made clear the frustration with India, when you talk to White House officials, has been they have a very closed marketplace to U.S. producers. They have not been willing to open, at least not on a widespread basis, those markets. And therefore the president has responded.

And, again, the president willing to put 25 percent tariffs into place and is OK with that. Whether or not that changes, I think, is an open question. The overlap of the Russia-Ukraine issue and India's purchases of Russian energy was definitely a new element. But it's another point of leverage that the president's attempting to utilize.

BLITZER: Phil Mattingly, thank you very much. Excellent explanation, as always. The family of one of Jeffrey Epstein's most high-profile victims is

speaking out. Virginia Giuffre publicly said Epstein trafficked her and forced her to have sex with his friends when she was 17 years old. She died by suicide earlier this year. And now her family is responding to President Trump's recent comments that she was -- quote -- "stolen" by Epstein while working at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort.

It's important to note that President Trump has not been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein. Speaking exclusively to the "Atlantic" magazine, Giuffre's two brothers and sisters-in-law said this.

And I'm quoting now: "It makes us ask if he was aware of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's criminal actions, especially given HIS statement two years later that his good friend Jeffrey 'likes women on the younger side, no doubt about it' -- close quote. We in the public are asking for answers. Survivors deserve this."

Statement from the family: "The government and the president should never consider giving Ghislaine Maxwell any leniency" -- close quote.

A Trump administration official is now telling CNN the president is not currently considering clemency for Maxwell, a convicted sex trafficker and Epstein's accomplice. And we're also getting new details about the grand jury testimony the U.S. Justice Department wants unsealed.

For more on all of this, CNN crime and justice correspondent Katelyn Polantz is here in THE SITUATION ROOM with us.

Katelyn, what more do we know?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, Wolf, what's happening in federal court in Manhattan is, the Justice Department pushing for some transparency. It's grand jury records. They would be just a sliver of the whole pie of what the Justice Department, what the court system, what the FBI has as far as information in their investigations of Jeffrey Epstein.

These grand jury records, the Justice Department disclosed in a filing this week that they are the transcripts of the two witnesses that testified to the grand jury before the indictments of both Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein. Those two witnesses, they're both law enforcement. One's an FBI agent and another one's a New York Police Department official.

What those people would have told the grand jury is what they had gathered from victims. But, Wolf, the Justice Department says a lot of this is already public. It's already come out in civil litigation. And the witnesses, the victims who would have testified publicly at trial, that's what these agents before the grand jury were summarizing. That's what's in these still secret grand jury records.

It's up to judge if they will be released. But, Wolf, there's also not just the court dispute over whether records around Epstein will be released. We're waiting to see what the judge does there. [11:10:06]

House Speaker Mike Johnson, speaking to Jake Tapper yesterday on CNN, he's highlighting how Congress wants transparency around the Epstein records as well. Here's a little more from him.

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REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): I want everything to come out about the Epstein evils that is possible to be released, because the people that were involved in those unspeakable evil acts should be punished with the greatest severity of the law.

And it should have happened a long time ago, so I'm fully in favor of that. And, by the way, so is the president. He has said the same thing. We're using every mechanism within our power to do that and to do it as quickly as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POLANTZ: Also on the table, Wolf, there's an offer from Ghislaine Maxwell's attorney that she may be willing to testify to Congress, provide more information that's ever been out there before.

But, of course, there's a negotiation at play, her attorney suggesting nothing short of a pardon as well as possible immunity for her if she testifies.

However, a senior Trump administration official told our White House reporting team just this morning that President Trump is not considering leniency at all for Ghislaine Maxwell, who's serving a 20- year prison sentence after her trial and conviction on these sex crimes, and that Trump himself has said clemency for Maxwell is not something he is thinking about at this time.

BLITZER: Yes, these sex crimes were committed against young women, young girls...

POLANTZ: Girls.

BLITZER: ... 14, 15, 16 years old, et cetera.

POLANTZ: Yes.

BLITZER: So it's an awful situation.

Thanks very much, Katelyn Polantz, reporting for us.

Also happening now, the New York City police officers are coming together to mourn one of their own. The funeral for NYPD Officer Didarul Islam is set to begin at noon. He was killed along with three other people when a gunman opened fire at an office building in Midtown Manhattan on Monday.

CNN's Omar Jimenez is in the Bronx right now, where Officer Islam's funeral is about to take place. Omar, tell us about this moment of reflection.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so as we understand right now, it should be viewings that are under way that actual funeral service is expected to start, as you mentioned, around midday or so here.

What you can see essentially behind me are the number of officers that are, one, preparing the area, the location where the service is happening is just a little bit further down the road, but also here to honor one of their own killed in the shooting, 36-year-old Didarul Islam.

The father of two leaves behind a wife, now widow, expecting a third child. This is someone who had been on the force a little bit over three years, an immigrant from Bangladesh. He was one of four killed. We also saw the funeral service this week of Julia Hyman. She graduated from Cornell in 2020. She was the one working for the real estate firm that owned the building where this happened.

But, of course, the families of Wesley LePatner, the Blackstone executive, along with Aland Etienne, security officer, all part of what is happening parallel to the investigative threads that police officers are working through. These are families and loved ones trying to figure out how to process moving forward.

And at least for those that have showed up here in the Bronx, not just to this service, but earlier this week, when his body was brought here, the community came out as well. The support has been evident and is likely what we're going to see more of in this chance to reflect later today, Wolf.

BLITZER: And our deepest, deepest condolences to those families, very, very sad, indeed.

Omar Jimenez, thank you very much for all of that.

Still ahead: President Trump's Middle East envoy is in Israel right now for urgent discussions on Gaza, where a starvation crisis is getting worse by the day, pushing Palestinians to the brink of famine.

Plus, as the NTSB investigates January's deadly in-flight collision here in the Washington, D.C., area, families of the victims are fighting for change to make sure it doesn't happen again. We will speak with two of them.

That's coming up in THE SITUATION ROOM.

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BLITZER: New this morning, the White House special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is in Israel right now for talks with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in Jerusalem.

Witkoff is also meeting with Israeli leaders to discuss ways to increase aid and alleviate the growing starvation crisis in Gaza.

Budour Hassan is a researcher on Israel and Palestine with the human rights group Amnesty International. She's joining us now from Ramallah on the West Bank.

Budour, thank you so much for joining us. Thanks for the important work that you're doing.

Let's talk about Gaza's Health Ministry. It's now reporting more than 60 people were killed in Northern Gaza after Israeli forces opened fire near an aid site. What are you hearing from people on the ground in Gaza right now? How bad is this humanitarian crisis unfolding?

BUDOUR HASSAN, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: We have been speaking with people in Gaza since the 7th of October 2023.

And, Wolf, what we can hear is absolute desperation and pain from the voice of every single person we are speaking to. We have spoken to a woman who is breast-feeding. She does not have milk. She does not even have food to feed her self, let alone her child.

We are hearing from people who have to walk for hours just to reach one of the aid sides, risking everything, including being shot. We are talking with people who describe to us how they have not eaten flour, bread for days upon days, who have not even tasted one tomato for months. We are talking to people who have lost their entire families.

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We're talking about multigenerational families, fathers, children, grandchildren. And they're left just scouring for something to eat from the rubbish. So -- and this is what we are also noticing, and that this is not changing, despite the cosmetic changes that Israel has pledged under some pressure, pressure from a world trying to appease its conscience by accepting some cosmetic changes.

But the reality on the ground remains grim, because we are talking about a clear and calculated effort to use starvation as a method of warfare.

BLITZER: The international pressure, as you know, Budour, is growing on Israel to try to alleviate this hunger crisis in Gaza. Both Portugal and Canada are now joining France and Britain in announcing plans to recognize formally a Palestinian state in September when the United Nations General Assembly convenes.

Do you believe this will actually motivate Israel to do more to help the people in Gaza?

HASSAN: Wolf, if you may allow me, this is not a hunger crisis.

This is the result of 20 months of relentless bombardment, decimation of Gaza's entire health sector, infliction of bodily and mental harm on Palestinian women, men, and children. And this is not simply a byproduct of the war. This is an intended, foreseen and foreseeable result of Israel's military onslaught on Gaza that has resulted in what we are seeing.

Because, in addition, bringing more food in, which is what Israel claims to have done, will not solve these problems. It's not about number of trucks being allowed and increasing that. It's about allowing safe access, allowing safe distribution, allowing the health care sector in Gaza to rebuild itself, because famine and starvation is not one moment.

It's a process. It doesn't end once you let more trucks in. It needs recovery. It needs working with the -- especially with the children. It needs providing them with nutrition. It needs rebuilding the health care sector. It needs treating the mental scars that arise from that.

Now, all that Israel has done is absolutely not enough, because we're seeing that the genocide continues in Gaza. The killings continue. The pressure, yes, we welcome all kinds of pressure, especially the pressure on Israel to lift its restrictions on aid. But this is not enough.

Food and medicine...

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BLITZER: Yes, go ahead.

HASSAN: This cannot be used as bargaining chips, Wolf. Food and medicine and medical supplies can never, ever, ever be allowed to be used as bargaining chips.

BLITZER: We know that Amnesty International unequivocally condemned the October 7 Hamas terror attack that started this current war, and your group is also now accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.

Here's what Amnesty reported on July 3, and I'm quoting now: "Israel has continued to use starvation of civilians as a weapon of war against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip and to deliberately impose conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction as part of its ongoing genocide."

As you know, genocide and starving civilians as a weapon of war, Israel has flatly denied those accusations. What does your group base your conclusion on?

HASSAN: I will give you one example, Wolf, because, especially when we talk about restrictions on aid, you have to see them in the broader context, because not only is Israel imposing severe, sweeping, arbitrary restrictions on the entry of medical supplies, of aid, of food into Gaza.

It has also systematically destroyed life-sustaining infrastructure. So the person who is denied food also cannot go work their land because their agricultural lands have been destroyed by Israel. Gaza's most fertile agricultural land has been razed by Israel systematically, so they cannot get the vegetables they need. They cannot get their food. They cannot get the food supplies from anywhere. So there is a pattern of destroying the group. And in addition to this

pattern there are the statements by Israeli officials since the 7th of October denying that there are civilians in Gaza, equating all civilians with Hamas, calling for the total flattening of the Gaza Strip, saying that there are no, -- describing Palestinians as human animals, calling for a total siege as new as the 2nd of March, when Israeli officials called for an entire siege.

For 77 days, Wolf, Israel imposed a total siege on the Gaza Strip. Not even insulin was allowed in. Like, for sure, insulin cannot be diverted by Hamas, can it? And this continues. Now, as we -- as I speak to you, Wolf, there are those desperate, starved civilians pushed to the brink, trying to access some aid, only to be shot by the Israeli military, the same Israeli military that has claimed to put safe zones for people to seek aid, only for these so-called safe spaces to be turned into death traps for Palestinian civilians.

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BLITZER: But, very quickly, is -- does Amnesty International still condemn Hamas?

HASSAN: Amnesty International condemns any violations of international law, regardless of who commits it, including the taking of hostages -- civilian as hostages including Hamas violations against Palestinians in Gaza, including the arbitrary detentions carried out by Israel.

And I just would like to finish, Wolf, by one last word, because I feel like it's our responsibility to bring the voices of Palestinians in Gaza. We have been -- so many people keep asking us why. Why has my entire family been killed? Why does Israel starve us and then ask us to go to collect aid from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, only to shoot us?

And this question why, to me, it echoes the answer that Primo Levi, a Jewish Italian Holocaust survivor. He asked his guard at Auschwitz, why? (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE) And the guard told him, there is no why here.

In genocide, there is no why. In Gaza at the moment, there is no why. There is only this clear, incontestable fact that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. And we cannot allow this to continue happening. We have to take a stance. Either we are against genocide or we continue to allow Israel to violate international law and to dehumanize and destroy Palestinian civilians.

BLITZER: Budour Hassan from Amnesty International, thanks very much for joining us.

And there's breaking news coming into THE SITUATION ROOM right now. President Trump is announcing that he's extending the tariff deadline for Mexico for another 90 days. It was set to expire tomorrow.

CNN's chief national affairs correspondent, Jeff Zeleny, is back with us. So what more is the president saying?

ZELENY: Wolf, we are learning that the president is giving Mexico more time. He had a telephone call this morning with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. And in that conversation, he's allowing 90 more days for Mexico to reach a deal.

He just announced this moments ago on TRUTH Social, his social media account. Let's take a look at this. He explains, he said: "We have agreed to extend for a 90-day period the exact same deal as we had for the last short period of time, namely that Mexico will continue to pay a 25 percent fentanyl tariff, 25 percent tariff on cars, and 50 percent tariff on steel, aluminum, copper."

"Additionally," he says, "Mexico has agreed to immediately terminate its non-tariff trade barriers, of which there were many,' he says. "We will be talking to Mexico over the next 90 days with the goal of signing a trade deal somewhere within the 90-day period of time or longer."

So, Wolf, the bottom line to all of this is that the president has shown his flexibility when he has a conversation and a relationship with a leader. His relationship with the President Sheinbaum is improving and growing. And he said the difference between Mexico, why he's giving them more time, is because of the unique circumstances at the border, the shared assets of the border, et cetera.

The question I have here now, and we don't know the answer to it yet, is, will Canada also be given an extension separately? As of now, it does not look like is so, but we have seen so many times during these last six months the president has been flexible on these tariff deadlines.

BLITZER: When it comes to Canada, President Trump keeps saying that because Canada has now announced it's set to recognize a Palestinian state, the U.S. isn't going to make a trade deal with them.

ZELENY: He has said that. So, as of now, the deadline is tomorrow. But, again, we have seen his flexibility before. We will just have to wait and see.

BLITZER: Let's see what happens.

All right, thanks very much, Jeff Zeleny, with the latest.

We will be right back.

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