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Trump Approves Deal That Could Let Saudis Enrich Nuclear Fuel; Trump Vows Retaliation on Civilian Targets if Iran Hits Strait; Secret Service Holds Briefing on Current Threat Level. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired July 22, 2026 - 11:30   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 ANCHOR: Happening now, a second autopsy on the body of Nolan Wells has not determined his cause of death. Some red discoloration found on the back of the Mississippi teen's head did indicate some bruising, but the team doing that second autopsy did not have access to his throat. Foul play has not been ruled out.

The ousted Venezuelan leader, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife are back in a New York City court right now for a hearing just ahead of their trial. The two have pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges that could send them to prison for life. Maduro claims he and his wife are prisoners of war and that his capture earlier this year was a kidnapping.

The Louvre has officially reopened its gallery to the public, this time with no jewelry on display. More than $100 million worth of jewels were stolen last year in an Oceans 11-like heist. Security has been heightened since that heist with more surveillance cameras on the scene.

And happening now, a major new deal between the United States and Saudi Arabia. Sources tell CNN President Trump has authorized a landmark nuclear pact allowing the kingdom to enrich uranium for civilian power. The deal could let the Saudis bypass tough international safeguards to prevent the development of nuclear weapons. It sparked some new worries in the Middle East of possible nuclear proliferation.

CNN International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson is in Jerusalem for us right now. Nic, President Trump has insisted Iran shouldn't be allowed to develop a nuclear program, but now he's apparently allowing Saudi Arabia to do so. First of all, how is Israel reacting to all of this?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, we've heard from former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, saying that he believes that this type of deal will lead to a nuclear weapon. Former Military General Yair Golan has said that it's a dangerous reality. We haven't heard from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but he is coming under criticism from opposition members of the Knesset here, quite simply because the overall feeling is that this situation, Saudi Arabia getting a deal to be able to enrich its own uranium for a civilian nuclear program, that's unusual. The international norm is to get that uranium enriched outside, bring it into the civilian reactor, generate the power that way. Also, not getting the normal international safeguards known as the Additional Protocols, International Atomic Energy Agency, that watchdog would not get the same inspection rights in Saudi as it gets in other countries.

The prime minister is being blamed for a failing relationship, a weakening relationship with the White House that has allowed Saudi Arabia, that was originally on track under the Biden administration, to get a civilian nuclear deal as long or part of its normalization with Israel, which hasn't happened. So, this is seen and being blamed on Prime Minister Netanyahu as his inability to influence the White House to meet Israel's security needs. Wolf.

BLITZER: In another development, Nic, while I have you, the self- described democratic socialist mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani, is now acknowledging he does not have the authority to arrest the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, if he visits New York during the upcoming United Nations General Assembly session. What more are you learning about that?

ROBERTSON: Yes. Look, I think, from an Israeli perspective, it was always seen as something that was not going to happen, that, A, the White House would never let it happen, and, B, that trying to sort of invoke the International Criminal Court's allegations of war crimes, for starvation as being used as a tool of a war crime for the people of Gaza that was leveled by the International Criminal Court, that Prime Minister Netanyahu, that that was never going to stick.

And the fact that we can see now that the decision has been taken, that that couldn't be applied. And even if you were to sort of try to take this and put it in another context, in another country, that country would have to have signed up to the Rome Statutes to be in a position to enforce what the ICC, the International Criminal Court, has called for. And, of course, the United States is not a signatory to the Rome Statutes.

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So, there isn't even a basis there under that statute for Mayor Mamdani to push forward with an arrest like that.

BLITZER: Nic Robertson, on the scene for us in Jerusalem, thank you very, very much. I want to discuss this and more with CNN Global Affairs commentator, the former deputy Pentagon press secretary, Sabrina Singh, as well as CNN military analyst, retired Colonel Cedric Leighton.

Sabrina, a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia was, at least during the Biden administration, a condition for the U.S. providing enriched uranium for civilian purposes to Saudi Arabia. Do you see any change in the Saudi position on this issue as far as normalizing, establishing diplomatic relations with Israel along the lines of the so-called Abraham Accords? Or are the Saudis going to continue to resist that until Israel accepts what's called a two-state solution, Israel living alongside a new state of Palestine? SABRINA SINGH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR AND FORMER DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: As of right now, and as you mentioned and Nic was talking about, this was something that was discussed under the Biden administration. And one of the conditions was the normalization of ties with Israel and also safeguards and protections put in place on a nuclear program.

Now, I don't -- I mean, Saudi Arabia made it pretty clear after October 7th and Israel's conduct of what happened in Gaza that they were not any closer to normalizing ties. So, I think in answer to your question, no, I don't see Saudi Arabia moving any closer to that anytime soon.

I think what's interesting here is what the Trump administration has done is essentially they've -- they're trying to bring in American companies to, I think, box out China and Russia from establishing some type of nuclear program with Saudi Arabia. But the problem here, and I think what you're going to hear from many members of Congress as well, that there's concern about that.

I mean, if you're taking away some of those safeguards that we need in place, how do we know that they're not going to enrich and sort of develop their nuclear program over time? And I think Israel, of course, is going to have a big say in that as well.

BLITZER: What do you make of Netanyahu's silence, at least so far, on all of these reports and confirmation from U.S. officials that they are going to go ahead and provide this enriched uranium for potentially peaceful nuclear purposes for Saudi Arabia?

SINGH: I wouldn't be surprised if there are some back-channeling with the White House from the prime minister's side. Sometimes you don't want to say something just yet until it's really final. And I think what I would imagine is the prime minister's team, potentially the prime minister, is reaching out to the president to say, we are deeply uncomfortable with this deal. Can we put the brakes on this a bit?

BLITZER: All this happening as the war with Iran seems to be escalating big time right now. The president earlier today vowing to bomb Iran's bridges and power plants each time the country strikes a ship in the Strait of Hormuz. The Geneva Conventions, as you know, prohibit attacking sites that are essential to survival and daily life. Would strikes like these be illegal for the U.S. to carry out?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST AND U.S. AIR FORCE (RET.): Wolf, it depends on the exact strike and the exact target. So, if there's a bridge going towards Tehran, for example, that a lot of commercial traffic goes on, would that be illegal to strike that bridge? Potentially. But it could also be a dual-use bridge. And if it's a dual-use bridge, meaning both military and civilian entities use it, then it could be struck under the Geneva Conventions.

So, obviously, the Iranians would object to something like that happening. They've already objected to some of the bridge strikes that have already occurred near Tehran. But from a legal standpoint, international legal standpoint and a law of war standpoint, it would definitely be something that would be permissible because if it is a military target, it is a legitimate target in that strict sense.

BLITZER: But do you think this threat from Trump, and he posted it on social media, from this point forward, anytime the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it is by missile, rocket, drone or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy one bridge or power plant, including those located next to or in the capital city of Tehran. Do you think a threat like that from Trump will deter, will stop Iran from attacking ships trying to go through the Strait of Hormuz?

LEIGHTON: I think they'll take notice of it, Wolf, but it probably won't deter them. They're very much bent on achieving their goals and they realize that if they control the Strait of Hormuz, even through threat of, you know, attacking ships or laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz or in the adjacent Persian or Arabian Gulf, it would be something that they could absolutely do and achieve their aims.

So, they're more interested in achieving their political and diplomatic aims, as opposed to, you know, bending their will to what Trump wants. And frankly, the target set that the president was alluding to may be somewhat problematic, given the laws of war and the laws of armed conflict. So, it would have to be a proportional strike, you know, if nothing else.

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BLITZER: Sabrina, as you know, the president is now in Dover, Delaware, getting ready to observe the dignified transfer of U.S. troops who lost their lives in the war with Iran in recent days. The names of those service members, Lieutenant Tyler James Feehan, Private Isabella Gonzales, Sergeant Angel Rampersad, and Staff Sergeant Michael Emmanuel Swinton.

As Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth rolls back DEI policies in the military and blocks the promotions of high-ranking black officers, what does the makeup of these fallen service members say to you about the current makeup of the U.S. military?

SINGH: Well, you know, this is a very solemn day. And it's one of the most solemn responsibilities of the president and the secretary of defense to oversee the dignified transfer of our service members that have fallen. I think what it says, though, is this is an all-volunteer force. And you look at the diversity of those men and women in uniform. I mean, from 19 years old to 30, from Texas, New York, North Carolina, and all the way in Hawaii, I think the youngest service member that was killed was 19. She graduated high school. Private Isabella Gonzales graduated high school last year.

These are people that are volunteering to protect our country, to protect our freedoms. And they made, of course, the ultimate sacrifice. And so, it shows not only just the diversity of men and women, but where they're coming from. And again, this is an all- volunteer force. They're not being forced or compelled to do this. They are choosing to sign up to serve, and in this case, in the Army.

BLITZER: And of the four killed, two women. LEIGHTON: Yes, absolutely. And that really shows not only the ethnic diversity, but also the gender diversity of the service. And you look at the talents of these four fallen warriors. They are true heroes. And all these heroes bleed one color. They bleed red.

BLITZER: Our deepest condolences to their family. May they rest in peace, and may their memories be a blessing. Colonel, thank you very much. Sabrina, thanks to you as well. We'll be right back.

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BLITZER: New this morning, the White House Correspondents Association is set to honor the Secret Service Officer who helped stop a gunman at that dinner here in Washington in April. Victor Gonzales will receive his award Friday night at the rescheduled dinner event. Moments ago, the U.S. Secret Service briefed reporters on the current threat environment upcoming to that dinner.

CNN Correspondent Brian Todd is here with me in the Situation Room. Brian, as a reminder to our viewers, I was in pretty close proximity to the gunman at the original White House Correspondents Dinner. That was at the Washington Hilton Hotel. This one is the Waldorf Hotel. He was apprehended, the original shooter, by officers not far from the ballroom where so many high-profile members of the government, including the president of the United States, were actually dining. All of them jumped down, got underneath the table as the shots were being fired. What did the Secret Service say this morning about the Friday night upcoming dinner?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They gave a lot of reassurances, Wolf. They are handling this as a different event. And just to point out, when Wolf talked about him being right there, also, we should point out, Wolf Blitzer gave us some of our first and best original reporting from that moment that evening in late April when the shooting took place.

Just to remind everyone about that. Now, as for the upcoming event, as Wolf pointed out, this is a redo of the dinner. But as far as the Secret Service is concerned, this is not a redo of the actual security event itself. We had a rare on-camera, on-the-record briefing from Secret Service Director Sean Curran and the Deputy Director Matthew Quinn just a short time ago here in Washington.

They stressed a couple of things that they really want to get across here. Number one, this is not a redo of that security event. This is its own individual entity, this event and this location. They have an advance team there at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel for Friday night's event. This is the redo of the dinner again.

But this is not a redo of the security event. They were confident that the measures they took at the original White House Correspondents' Dinner worked well. They are confident that the measures they're taking at this dinner on Friday evening are going to work very, very well. They are confident that the previous security apparatus worked well because the shooter was stopped, that the magnetometers were there and that the layers of security did work at that event despite the fact that shots were fired and that the event had to be, of course, shut down after that. But again, they are very, very confident that this event will come off very safely. And they say they treat each and every one of these as an individual security entity.

Now, they were specifically asked about whether the previous shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner in late April might inspire copycats to act at this particular event. Here is the Secret Service Deputy Director Matthew Quinn in his response to that.

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MATTHEW QUINN, SECRET SERVICE DEPUTY DIRECTOR: Could it influence others? That goes back to advanced threat interdiction, like what is putting people over the edge? We learn every single time. In graduations, we like to say, you know, the difference between professionals and amateurs are amateurs examine their successes. Professionals examine everything we do.

So, we examine every single site and we change things and get better every single time. We're not looking at this as a redo of a dinner. We're looking at this as a presidential site with cabinet members and other protectees there, just like every site we do everywhere we go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:50:00]

TODD: And it was interesting to hear him say that they examine, you know, the potential threats for all this and the potential people who might pose threats. They do a lot of that vetting beforehand, Wolf, as you know, and they had one of their psychological experts there as well, talking about the kind of people who commit these kinds of acts.

It was fascinating to hear that. I mean, she talked about people who had grievances, people who, of course, have depression, suicidal thoughts, things like that. They go through profiles of potential people and what people are saying online, on social media as well. There's a lot of that vetting that's going on right now ahead of this dinner on Friday.

BLITZER: I'm sure security will be intense indeed.

TODD: Absolutely.

BLITZER: Still, it's pretty scary stuff. All right. Thanks very much, Brian Todd, for that update.

Coming up, a nearing landfall. People along the Gulf Coast are now already feeling Tropical Storm Bertha's impact. The latest update from the National Hurricane Center, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: We're tracking the breaking news in the south right now. Tropical Storm Bertha is making its way along the Gulf Coast and could make landfall off southeast Louisiana by this afternoon. This is only the second named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season at least so far. It's off to a relatively slow start compared with recent years. Let's go to CNN meteorologist Chris Warren. Chris, what can people in the Gulf Coast expect from this storm?

CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And, Wolf, right now, what we're looking at is the storm with the latest here. Tropical Storm Bertha, 65 mile per hour storm. It's gusting to 65 miles per hour. Winds at 50. Those are sustained in some of the stronger winds that we are watching here. With rain still moving onshore, it's really the way we look at it now. There's no way it's not going to go over land.

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But it could be a lot worse. The worst of the weather is well offshore and the blue where we're expecting tropical storm conditions. Tropical storm conditions are expected in some of these areas. Not necessarily all of these areas. Winds gusting up to 37 at times in Pensacola. And as we look at this, the circulation does take it closer and closer to Louisiana. And eventually, the latest track here, a little bit farther to the north.

So, Wolf, it does look like all indications point to us that it will be weakening as it moves over land overnight tonight and into tomorrow.

BLITZER: Chris Warren helping us. Thank you very, very much. And to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us this morning. You can always keep up with us on social media @wolfblitzer and @pamelabrowncnn. We'll see you back here tomorrow morning, every weekday morning, 10:00 a.m. Eastern. Inside Politics with our friend and colleague Dana Bash starts after a quick break.

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