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Trump To Axios: "I Am Considering A Massive Attack" On Iran; Secret Service Prepares For 2nd WH Press Dinner After Attack; U.S. Measles Cases Hit 35-Year High. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired July 24, 2026 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer, Pamela Brown is off, you're in The Situation Room.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

BLITZER: We begin this hour with the breaking news. President Trump saying he's thinking about escalating the war with Iran to an unprecedented level, his words. He tells "Axios," and I'm quoting him now, "I am considering a massive attack, bigger than ever before."

The President says he's close to a final decision. The U.S. has carried out 13 straight nights of attacks on Iran. "The New York Times" is reporting that Iran rejected a ceasefire deal from the U.S. Tehran is calling that report misleading.

I want to bring in CNN's senior White House reporter, Betsy Klein. Betsy, the president says he's considering a major, very dramatic escalation in combat operations against Iran. What else can you tell us?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Wolf, President Trump has been threatening a major escalation for weeks now. It's unclear if he's going to follow through on that threat or if he views this as a negotiation tactic. But it's been 13 straight nights of strikes from the U.S. on Iran and really no clear sense that there is going to be any de-escalation anytime soon. This as we are learning that U.S. intelligence agencies have recently assessed that the strikes that the U.S. is currently carrying out at this pace are unlikely to shift Iran's negotiation position, that according to two sources familiar with the matter.

And it also comes as we are seeing this new reporting in "The New York Times" that Iran rejected a ceasefire proposal that was carried to Tehran by Iraq's prime minister who recently met with President Trump here at the White House. Iranian officials telling "The New York Times" that they were not interested in what they said was a temporary deal that did not resolve this question of who controls the Strait of Hormuz.

But Iranian state media pushing back strongly on that "New York Times" reporting. They call it diversionary and misleading. A U.S. official similarly says that it is not accurate. So unclear what the path forward is here. But President Trump saying that he in his view does not believe Iran is ready to come to that negotiating table yet. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're doing very well against the Islamic Republic of Iran. We're doing extremely well. They would like to do something, but I say they're not ready yet. They need more of the same.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: Now the President has limited options here. He can escalate and follow through on those threats or he continue the status quo strike campaign. It's unclear what he's going to do. But as we consider this, some notable comments from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt to "The Wall Street Journal." She said that the U.S. will continue to hit Iran until, "they come to the table in what President Trump deems a meaningful way." Wolf?

BLITZER: Betsy, the Pentagon website, meanwhile, is tracking casualties of war. And that website removed four U.S. soldiers recently killed in the Iran war from that site. The Pentagon says it was a mistake. It blames a glitch in the computer system. You're doing some reporting on this. What else can you tell us?

KLEIN: Yes. So we saw on that website it moved from 18 U.S. troops killed during this conflict to 14 U.S. troops. And "The New York Times" was the first to report this in their story. They heard from three military officials who said that there had been sensitive discussions around why -- whether those four service members that were killed over the weekend should be included in that count because they were killed after President Trump signed that ceasefire deal. Ultimately, a Pentagon official said that this was an accounting error and it will be updated and resolved shortly.

BLITZER: Yes, there's 18 names. So that would be 18 confirmed deaths. Betsy Klein, thank you very, very much.

I want to bring in CNN global and political affairs analyst, the Axios correspondent, Barak Ravid, who's had that news-breaking conversation with the President. Also with us, CNN national security analyst, Alex Plitsas. He's also the director of the counterterrorism program at the Atlantic Council and an Army veteran himself. Barak, let me start with you. Take us inside your conversation with the President of the United States yesterday.

BARAK RAVID, CNN GLOBAL & POLITICAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, Wolf, the President, I think, was very clear on the one hand that he's seriously considering going back to major combat operations in Iran and launching an operation that would be bigger than Epic Fury. And I think this is very meaningful.

At the same time, he said several times during our conversation that he hasn't made a decision yet and that he is aware that taking such a decision for, you know, starting Epic Fury 2 will have major consequences on the region and on the U.S. and on the global economy. And so I think that the President is still undecided as far as I know, including last I checked was last night.

[11:05:12]

He still hasn't made a decision to escalate, to go on an all-out war. And I think what the President wants to see still is if there is some kind of diplomatic off-ramp. And I'll point out two significant issues.

Number one, for four days now, there have been no attacks by Iran on ships in the Strait of Hormuz. One reason for it is the fact that the Iranian capability to attack ships has been significantly degraded. Another reason is that there are diplomatic talks over this issue.

And this brings me to the second point. An Omani delegation is going to hold talks in Tehran today about arrangements in the Strait of Hormuz. This is very meaningful because what Omani and Iran will agree could be the diplomatic off-ramp that would de-escalate the situation.

BLITZER: But what would a major escalation of this war, the U.S. combat operations, what do you think, Alex, that would look like?

ALEX PLITSAS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, so at this point, we don't have any mass mobilization of ground forces. So there's been conversations in Washington, people making really politicized statements that they're going to go, "finish the job." You can't really do regime change from the air.

So what we're talking about would be sustained air and missile strikes again to a trip, whatever remaining capabilities there are, to conduct defensive operations along the Strait, as Barak just mentioned accurately, they've been degraded, but also more infrastructure targets and other military targets inside the country. Let's not forget that there was a ceasefire in place before U.S. Central Command had exhausted its entire list of targets that have been determined by intelligence operations over the last several decades.

BLITZER: And, Alex, a follow-up, we've seen Iran withstand a lot of punishing airstrikes over these past several months. What would the U.S. have to do differently now to get things going in the right direction?

PLITSAS: Well, that's precisely the question. And so there's been a divide between the civilian negotiators and the IRGC that's been made clear. Again, as Barak just mentioned, the Omani meeting with the Iranians is very important because the last time they met and discussed this, there was a proposal that the Omanis would have their quarter in the south of the Strait of Hormuz free of movement, free of tolls.

The Iranians can sort of do what they want. And when they went back, the foreign minister said to Iraqi, I have to go back and get the National Security Council on board. Less than, you know, three hours later or two hours later, they responded by hitting ships and striking regional countries.

So could you effectively move those National Security Council officials? And I'm told it's not just Fahidi. I'm told it's the IRGC Navy commander and a bunch of others. So it's not just one individual holding this up. They would have to collectively change their opinion. And is it financial? Is it others? You know, there's a bit of face- saving here. It's not really 100 percent clear what the military objectives would be that would be sufficient to move them at this point.

BLITZER: And, Barak, the President, President Trump, told you yesterday that Iran wants to negotiate. So why does the president not take that off-ramp right now?

RAVID: No, so he said that the Iranians want to negotiate. But at the same time, he said that he doesn't think they're ready to sign a deal on his terms. And that's why he said that they might need to suffer some more pain before they agree to his terms. By the way, I think at least what I hear from a lot of people is that the IRGC just does not want a deal at the moment. While some people within the Iranian leadership definitely do, the IRGC at the time doesn't seem to want a deal, regardless of how much pain it is going to suffer.

BLITZER: The IRGC, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran. Barak Ravid and Alex Plitsas, to both of you, thanks very much for your expertise.

And still ahead, the rescheduled White House Correspondents Association dinner is set for tonight here in Washington after a gunman interrupted the last dinner in April, as all of us remember. What the U.S. Secret Service is doing differently this time, we'll share some new information.

[11:09:21]

And the teen accused in a deadly Georgia school shooting changes his plea and faces his victim's families in court. You're going to hear their very emotional words. Stay with us. You're in The Situation Room.

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BLITZER: Happening now, the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, take two, tonight. After a gunman opened fire at the annual dinner back in April at the Washington Hilton Hotel, organizers are trying to do a do-over tonight at the Waldorf Hotel. The White House says President Trump will be there. It will take place at this new location with even more security, we are told.

I want to bring in retired U.S. Secret Service Special Agent Cheryl Tyler. She's the first black woman to serve on a team protecting the president. Cheryl, thanks so much for being here. Thanks so much for your work. You and I go way back to the Bill Clinton administration. You were on his detail, and I was often covering the events. And you saw me at those moments, and you were always so nice to me. Thanks very much for joining us. [11:14:58]

The dinner tonight is going to be at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. You know that hotel. It's right across the street from the FBI headquarters. So give us a little sense of what is going to be different about security tonight as opposed to what was going on at the Washington Hilton Hotel a few blocks away.

CHERYL TYLER, PRESIDENT, CLT3 SECURITY CONSULTING: Thank you for having me on. Tonight is very different. The Waldorf Astoria is a very nice hotel, and not that the Washington Hilton isn't. But it's different. They're very, very different. The size is smaller. The ballrooms itself are off to one location. They're not intertwined with the hotel and residents and patrons coming in and out of the hotel. So that means they have a clear path to just deal with security on one side of the hotel.

BLITZER: So in order to get into the ballroom at the Waldorf, there's just one entrance, whereas at the Washington Hilton you walk in, there's an entrance, then you go downstairs, another entrance. There were multiple entrances. This is a lot different.

TYLER: This is a lot, lot different. I've done a lot of events at the Waldorf Astoria, and whatever door that they use to have the guests come through, the ballroom is right there.

BLITZER: Yes.

TYLER: So everything is self-contained right there.

BLITZER: And there will be intensive security magnetometers and all of that, obviously.

TYLER: I have no doubt.

BLITZER: The President of the United States will be there, so that's obviously another reason why there's going to be a lot of security. The director of the Secret Service says tonight's dinner will bring this heightened security there, including more checkpoints, more road closures in the area. In your view, is that adequate for preventing, God forbid, another security breach?

TYLER: People always look for the absolute. That is not something that is guaranteed. The agents, I have no doubt, will do the best that they can with all the tools and equipment that they have to assist them, along with enough personnel to help them do their job the correct way.

BLITZER: The Secret Service also said this week, and I think this is important, that it has opened more than 10,000 investigations this year alone against people -- against threats against people it protects, 10,000 investigations. That's a 40 percent jump from the same time last year. Is the agency, you believe, set up well enough to handle this enormous level of threats?

TYLER: It's a lot of threats. That's an enormous increase. Can they use more assistance? Most definitely. Are they not capable of doing their job? No. I give them still the credit of the men and women that work there who are doing the jobs that they're supposed to do. There's a lot of people doing a lot of work behind the scenes that the public doesn't know, doesn't need to know. But I wish they did have more help.

BLITZER: And when you were in the Secret Service, you spent years in the President's detail protecting the President of the United States, so this question you will have a good answer for. The Trump administration wants to install what is being described as permanent fencing around Lafayette Park that's located, as you well know, right next to the White House. This is just six years after that fence around the White House was reconstructed and raised. Given the current threat environment, which is intense, do you think that's something that you need, that they need right now?

TYLER: I've been down at Lafayette Park. It's a beautiful park. Historically, the park used to be part of the White House complex years and years and years ago. If they closed it off, it is because the security deems that they need that much more protection. When they closed off Pennsylvania Avenue, everybody squawked about that.

However, it didn't stop the people from being able to come to see the White House. Closing the fence -- putting the fence up and closing the park off, I hope people will still be able to see the White House, which is what people from all over the world come to do.

BLITZER: Thanks very much, Cheryl, for your service over the years. I personally am very grateful because I often covered President Bill Clinton, spent seven years as a White House correspondent. You were in the detail protecting him. But in the process, you were also protecting me and other journalists who were assigned to cover him, and we're grateful to you.

TYLER: Thank you.

BLITZER: Appreciate it very much. And to our viewers, this is important. We will air special coverage of tonight's rescheduled White House Correspondents' Association dinner. It will be hosted by John Berman and Laura Coates, and our special coverage will begin tonight, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN. Let's hope it's peaceful and nice.

[11:19:29]

And just ahead, four new states are now linked to an outbreak that's made thousands of people violently sick. We have new details. That's coming up.

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BLITZER: Breaking news, the latest figures from the CDC now show that measles cases, measles cases here in the United States have hit a 35- year high. There have been more than 2,300 cases this year. That's already more than all of last year. The disease was eliminated in this country more than 25 years ago. But these ongoing outbreaks are threatening that status. Let's go to CNN medical correspondent Meg Tirrell. Meg, what is the significance about these latest numbers?

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, there are a few things. One is that we could potentially be approaching losing that elimination status that the country worked so hard to achieve back in the year 2000. And, of course, as you noted, we're only about halfway through the year. We have more measles cases this year than we did in all of 2025, which itself was a record-breaking year. The most measles cases we've seen since 1991, 35 years.

[11:25:09]

Now, we were in a bad year last year. That has carried over into 2026 with multiple outbreaks still brewing here. So, of course, last year we had that big outbreak in West Texas. Starting in October of last year, we had a big outbreak start in South Carolina. That carried over and was declared ended in April. However, there are current outbreaks still simmering, including along the border of Utah and Arizona.

That one has been going since the summer of last year and could potentially threaten our elimination status if it's deemed to have been continued transmission for at least a year. That's how we define that. You can see here the trajectories of measles cases in the past few years.

Looking back to 2023, that was a more typical measles year for us. When we had more imported cases, only recorded 63. And then you see in the past couple years just this explosive rise in these cases. More cases in the past 18 months, Wolf, than we've seen in the past 25 years combined for measles.

BLITZER: Do we know, Meg, what's driving this?

TIRRELL: Yes, unfortunately with measles, it's very straightforward. If we have people who are not protected against measles, either through prior infection or more safely through vaccination, measles being the most contagious virus that we know about is going to spread in those communities.

And so look at these kindergarten vaccination rates and particularly going back to before the COVID-19 pandemic. Nationally, that rate was above 95 percent. That's the rate where you want to be for something so contagious as measles to reach herd immunity to be able to protect folks around us who may not get enough protection from vaccines.

Now we're down to 92.5 percent in the 2024-2025 school year. So that, of course, is below that threshold nationally. But also there are pockets, there are states, there are communities which have much lower vaccination rates. Particularly in school-age children. And if you look at the age distribution of where these measles cases have been this year, primarily they are in kids. You're looking at almost 70 percent of the cases being in kids under the age of 19.

And if you look at their vaccination status, 93 percent of the people who've had measles this year either were unvaccinated or had unknown vaccine status, Wolf. So what we're hearing from public health folks is that if we lose elimination status, that won't just be a national embarrassment we heard from Peter Hotez this morning, but it's going to put more people at risk. It's going to mean more hospitalizations. And he also says that with these declining vaccination rates, measles isn't the only disease that could come roaring back.

BLITZER: Yes, if you're a parent, make sure your kids get vaccinated to be sure. All right, Meg Tirrell, thank you very, very much.

And just ahead, the new warning to certain voters about betting, yes, betting on their ballots and why it could cost them their votes.

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