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Three Dead, Several Injured After Shooting at Seattle Food Festival; U.S. Signals Pause in Iran Strikes, Will Allow Talks to Progress; Midterm Season in Full Swing With Elections Less Than 100 Days Out. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired July 27, 2026 - 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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[10:00:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, caught in the crossfire. Three people are dead after a shootout at a Seattle food festival. We are live at the scene.

Plus, happening now, opening statements are underway for the mother accused of killing her three children back in 2023. The key to her defense and how it could shape other cases.

And 100 days from the midterms, a look at the issues voters care about the most.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Also happening now, strikes paused. New CNN reporting shows growing concerns about the ongoing war with Iran coming from two of President Trump's top national security voices.

Plus, CNN is in Berlin after a deadly attack at the city's Pride celebrations. Why investigators are calling it a, quote, Islamist terror attack.

And wildfires rip through Spain and France. Officials warning the blazes may take months to extinguish. We're live in one of the hardest hit areas.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around, around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in The Situation Room.

And we begin this with some horrific breaking news and the urgent manhunt underway right now, a deadly mass shooting in Seattle just one block away from the iconic Space Needle at a food festival that attracts thousands of families. Dramatic video shows the moments gunfire erupted, sending people running for their lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shooting. Shooting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shooting? Oh, (BLEEP). Oh, (BLEEP), right here. Get down, get down, get down, get down. Yes, just get down. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Machine gun just went off. I saw -- oh my God.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come, come, Dustin (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's get the heck out of here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw families, kids, everyone just, like, running out of the, out of the fair, and he had told me, like just run, just run, active shooter. Someone was yelling, active shooter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At least I would say 15 shots total to 20 shots total fired, two separate rounds. We took off running.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Police say three people are dead and four others were rushed to the hospital. Among the wounded, a two-year-old toddler. We have heart-pounding audio of the first responders racing to save lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anyone have a small, a child tourniquet size?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) a tourniquet?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For a small child. Small child arm tourniquet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Investigators believe two suspects were shooting at each other. One is now in custody. But this morning a massive manhunt is underway for the second suspect who fled the scene.

Let's go live right now to CNN's Julia Vargas Jones. She's at the scene in Seattle for us. Julia, what's happening on the ground now?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's an eerie scene, Wolf. Right now, we just spoke to one of the organizers here. He said that they're getting people, those vendors who are here to provide a good, happy time for all these families coming in and taking what they had left behind, clearly a scene that has been frozen in time.

And like you said, we're just steps from the Space Needle, this iconic location. 12 million people come through this area every year tourists, locals alike, to be -- have a good time together. You cannot fathom what that means, the fear that that puts in the people that were present here when those shots first rang out.

I want to just play for you one more witness who was here when that horrific scene took place.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was about 20 feet or less maybe from one of the people who was shot, and I really I couldn't really clearly see what was going on, but I ran toward the gunfire, and there was a, I would say, at least two dozen shots.

[10:05:00]

It was multiple. It sounded like an automatic weapon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And, Wolf, two weapons were recovered here on the scene, and one, that one suspect was taken. Unclear if he is cooperating with authorities on finding that second person who they say was involved in the shooting. This is the very area where that that person was described and what all of that took place.

Now, a little bit just about the victims. We just heard from the hospital that all of the people who were wounded now have been discharged, except, Wolf, for the two-year-old, but that he is in stable condition at this time. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. Julia Vargas Jones on the scene for us in Seattle, thank you very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: All right, Wolf. Happening now, strikes between the U.S. and Iran appear to have paused after nearly two weeks of nightly attacks. This as CNN has learned that Vice President Vance as well as the Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Caine both raised concerns about escalating the war in Iran.

So, let's go live now to CNN Senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak. Kevin, General Caine specifically raised concerns about U.S. munitions and the stockpile that's currently available. What more are you learning?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Right. And according to the sources that we've been talking to, General Caine did say that the U.S. could carry out some of the options and be successful but did raise these concerns about the potential for continual dwindling of the stockpiles, and in particular of air defense interceptors.

You know, we've known that the U.S. has been watching this for quite some time with a degree of concern, and that appears to be part of what the president discussed with his national security team on Friday as they weighed this potential escalation. You know, the president had sounded publicly as if he was poised to order up an intensification of the conflict.

And we saw the president threatening civilian sites like bridges, tunnels, and power plants. But in this meeting, both the vice president and General Caine are raising some of their concerns with that course of action. We also know that the president, in addition to the stockpiles, was also warned about the potential for civilian deaths inside of Iran if he were to go in that direction.

Now, the administration has been pushing back very forcefully against the suggestion that U.S. munition stockpiles are declining. What Mike Waltz, who is the American ambassador to the United Nations, said yesterday was that the U.S. military, quote, has everything that it needs to conduct this campaign as effectively as it needs to be. He also said anyone leaking information about the weapons stockpiles needed to go to jail.

Here's more of what he said about this pause in the fighting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE WALTZ, U.S. ABAMSSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: The president is keeping all options on the table. I've spoken with the negotiators, I've spoken with Secretary Hegseth. What the president is doing right now, as we've seen all along, is giving some talks some space. Talks are ongoing. They're happening at every level from the more technical aspect of it all the way to the highest levels, of course, within both the Iranian government and the U.S. government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIPTAK: So, you hear him discussing those diplomatic conversations. That will continue as well. At the White House tomorrow, the president planning to speak in person with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be in town for the late Senator Lindsey Graham's funeral. Israel has made pretty explicit that it does not think the U.S. has finished its business up in Iran.

BROWN: All right. Kevin Liptak live for us from the White House, thanks so much, Kevin. Wolf?

BLITZER: Also happening now, oil prices are down this morning as fighting between the United States and Iran appears to have paused.

With us now is Clayton Siegle, the senior nonresident associate with the Energy Security and Climate Change program over at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

According to the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Clayton, we're talking about Mike Waltz, the ambassador, the president is giving talks with Iran at least some space, some pause right now. Oil prices jumped after nearly two weeks of nonstop strikes between the U.S. and Iran, but they're down this morning between 5 and 6 percent as the fighting appears to have now paused at least a little bit. Why do oil markets seem to have such a reaction to a ceasefire or peace?

CLATYON SIEGLE, SENIOR NON-RESIDENT SCHOLAR, ENERGY SECURITY, CSIS: Well, Wolf, we're really experiencing kind of the oil market rollercoaster ride of 2026. And just to recap where we've been, over substantially five months of war with Iran, remember, in March and April, prices really surged as the war was in effect. In May and June, they had a chance to moderate as we had a ceasefire and then a memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran that allowed some of those stuck oil shipments behind the Strait of Hormuz to get out to world markets.

[10:10:04]

But in the last couple of weeks, the fighting flared again. We saw oil prices above $100 a barrel last week, and that's an indication that inventories are becoming very tight, and the market has these concerns. You're right, the latest move this morning is good news for consumers because prices have moderated a bit. We're under $100 a barrel, but still very volatile in the oil markets this week.

BLITZER: Clayton, last month, the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the world's largest publicly known supply of emergency crude oil, fell to more than a 40-year low. How long can we keep this up?

SIEGLE: Well, we can keep it up for a matter of a few more months. But as those inventories drain from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and remember, at just above 300 million barrels on hand, that's less than half full. And so that means that the cushion for a future oil market supply disruption is very thin.

There are also questions within the marketplace that as that reserve gets lower and lower, can all of those barrels that are left at the bottom of those salt caverns really be recovered and brought to market? Eventually, those concerns have to make their way into a premium for oil prices.

BLITZER: According to AAA, the national average price for a gallon of regular gas this morning is $4.11, $4.11. That's up 23 cents from only a month ago, and $1.13 since the start of the war. The average price of gas before the war was, what, $2.98 a gallon. When will we see gas below $3 a gallon again?

SIEGLE: Right now, we have really tight supply-demand conditions. As long as the Mid East Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz remain throttled, we're going to see an elevation in oil prices, and that makes its way to gasoline prices.

There's a real concern now for people buying gasoline, regular consumers, that the war is spreading. And over the last week, we saw it spreading from the Mid East Gulf down to the Red Sea, which has been the other outlet for barrels, for example, from Saudi Arabia. If the Red Sea now also comes under continuing attack, we have to wonder if another 5 million barrels a day can come off the market in addition to the 10 we're already missing in the Mid East Gulf.

BLITZER: All right. Clayton Siegle, good explanation. Thank you very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: All right, Wolf.

Still ahead here in the Situation Room, restoring the casualty count. The Pentagon adds back the four soldiers killed last weekend, and also adds 140 more new wounded.

BLITZER: And next, the key race in Michigan rounding out primary season, and what this means for Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections.

Stay with us. You're in the Situation Room.

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BROWN: Happening now, midterm season is in full swing with November's elections less than 100 days out. And perhaps unsurprisingly, polling shows that voters most want candidates running for Congress to talk about economic issues, like prices and affordability. A new survey from the Pew Research Center finds Americans are almost evenly split over which political party they most agree with on economic policies. 37 percent side with Democrats. 36 percent back Republicans.

Democrats also have a slight advantage when it comes to Congressional candidate preferences and engagement among their coalition.

BLITZER: And joining us now here in the Situation Room, CNN political commentator and former senior adviser to Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign, Karen Finney, and former aide to Republicans Lindsey Graham and Mike Pompeo, T.W. Arrighi.

Karen, let's talk about what's going on right now. The veteran Democratic strategist, a man we all know, James Carville, he came up with that famous declaration. It's the economy, stupid.

KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes.

BLITZER: It's the economy -- I'm not saying you're stupid.

FINNEY: No, no. I remember -- oh, no. That's how he used to say it to us.

BLITZER: Yes.

FINNEY: Trust me.

BLITZER: Remember, it's the economy, stupid, he would say. It still seems to be holding true, according to all the polls right now. But Democrats don't seem to have a larger advantage right now given the GOP's unilateral control of Congress and the White House. Why?

FINNEY: Well, look, actually, in some polls I have seen we are leading on the economy, and I think even the fact that we're even is really important given that historically part of the reason James used to say that is Republicans traditionally have enjoyed an advantage on the economy, on the debt, on a number of issues.

And I think you're seeing so many concerns with -- you know, people had so much hope that Trump was going to improve the economy then -- and it's not happening. And not only is it not getting better, it's getting a lot worse. And I think, you know, adding to just people's everyday anxiety about just affording their lives.

So, again, I think that creates an advantage for Democrats.

BROWN: How much do you think, T.W., that hurts Republicans, the fact that Trump campaigned on bringing prices down, but we're not really seeing that happen across the board?

T.W. ARRIGHI, FORMER AIDE TO LINDSEY GRAHAM AND MIKE POMPEO: Yes, well, a lot of that has to do with, and we saw that in the previous segment, to do with gas prices. And gas prices are dependent a lot on what's going on in the Middle East. The president, unfortunately, doesn't have the luxury of picking what one crisis he wants to pick at each given time.

I think the president has got a lot accomplished on the economy in his time in these four years, avoiding the largest tax cut in United States history, no tax on tip, no tax on Social Security, no tax on overtime. There's TrumpRx bringing prescription drug prices down, but we don't talk about it enough. He doesn't talk about those victories enough.

And we also need to be forward-looking. What are we proposing to the American people that we're going to do differently, and juxtapose it with the far left lurch that the Democratic Party has taken in recent months that have people questioning whether they can even trust another political party in this country to do the work?

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BROWN: But just to follow up with you, I mean, it's not just the Iran war, right? It's also the tariffs and other policies that have impacted the prices and have not brought them down.

ARRIGHI: You're right. Although there are quite a few decent studies that show that the tariffs that Donald Trump has put in place have not increased prices as much as one would think. But I do think there is work to be done. I do not think this is some sort of victory lap we need to do, but we need to tout our successes and also give an optimistic version of how we're going to improve it moving forward.

FINNEY: Can I just say, though, I think Trump is in the very same position that Biden found himself in, which is people don't feel it. People in their everyday lives, and particularly here we are in the middle of the summer with gas prices going back up, and I think the uncertainty of what's happening in Iran adds to it. We were doing a little better a couple weeks ago, then all of a sudden we're no more ceasefire. I guess we're back at war. I thought we ended the war.

I mean, that rolling uncertainty does not help, particularly for families where you're trying to plan your summer vacation and maybe you're driving, and then that means you're paying attention to gas prices. So -- and also energy costs writ large are going up. And if people don't feel it, it doesn't matter what you tell them.

BROWN: Yes. And I want to just follow up with you. And there's this new CBS/YouGov poll that shows Americans h- were asked, who has a better approach to Iran? 32 percent said Trump and Republicans, 30 percent said Democrats, 22 percent said neither, and 15 percent were not sure.

What do you make of that? I mean, this is an unpopular war overall according to the polls. Americans are not happy with the way Trump has handled this overall, the majority. And yet you see those polling numbers that they don't have more confidence in Democrats. FINNEY: Yes, it's interesting. You know, in 2006, as you'll remember, one of the ways that Democrats actually won so handily is we didn't just criticize the war in Iraq, we actually put forward ideas about here are some of the things we believe need to happen, and I think that's part of what Democrats need to do if we're going to take any kind of advantage.

Part of the problem, though, is, and as our own experts keep saying, there are no good options, unfortunately. And so I think Democrats could talk a little bit more about how we could try to bring this to an end and that, I think that would help, but also just to ease people's concerns that we're going to put a check on Trump and reassert the authority of Congress to rein him in. I think that would -- is an important message as well. And you're starting -- you've heard like Leader Jeffries and others talk about that.

BLITZER: Did you want to weigh in on that?

ARRIGHI: Yes. I think the American people need, needed to be sold on the Iran war a bit more upfront, but they know, broadly speaking, that Iran is bad. Iran having a nuclear weapon is not good, and they appreciate Donald Trump's decisive action with Midnight Hammer taking out the nuclear facilities, stuff he's done in Venezuela, quick, clean action.

Now, they're putting a little bit of faith in him to get this done early, but it's going to have massive ramifications in the midterms if this is still a full-blown war and we're having more casualties.

But to Karen's point that I thought was interesting, you said we need to criticize but also have a plan of our own, and I think that's why they're dragging behind, because the loudest voices within the Democratic Party are pushing plans and advocating for things that the American people do not agree with.

Just recently, Jon Ossoff did an interview and went down the list of liberal dream sheet and said no to all of them. Medicare for all, he was a no. Expanding the Supreme Court, he was a no. Green New Deal, he was a no. It shows a shift in this party, and it's a reason why the Republicans will remain competitive and have a really decent shot in November.

FINNEY: He does have other ideas on how to address those priorities. So, it wasn't like he was saying, I'm not -- I wouldn't do any of them. He was saying, I would --

ARRIGHI: But the loudest voices do.

FINNEY: Because they get a lot of air time, but, you know --

BLITZER: One of the last primaries that we're watching is next week in Michigan. As you know, that's where Democrat, where a moderate Congresswoman, Haley Stevens, and a progressive, Abdul El-Sayed, are facing off for the Democratic nomination. It's a very tight race. How does this race reflect the broader debate within the Democratic Party, and what do you anticipate comes of it? FINNEY: I think the most important thing is to pay attention to what voters are telling us. They want people that they believe will come to Washington and fight for them. And look, I, you know, Abdul, who was once a commentator here at CNN, I mean, he's a capitalist and a Democrat. Obviously, he's been supported by the DSA. He's got some work to do, I think, to strengthen his chances in Michigan.

But, again, I think what Democrats are paying attention to is what is the message that voters are telling us. Cost is where I'll end this where we started. The economy and cost are the number one concern, and we're hearing that all across the country.

BLITZER: Who are the Republicans rooting for in Michigan?

ARRIGHI: Mike Rogers.

BLITZER: I know. He's a Republican.

ARRIGHI: That's who, right?

BLITZER: But in this Democratic primary, who would be a weaker candidate against Mike Rogers?

ARRIGHI: El-Sayed would be the weaker candidate, without question. Look, this is, this reminds me, the Democrats are going through what the Republicans went through in 2010 in the Tea Party. While they're with us on low taxes, they're with us on balancing a budget, we're just going to forget about everything else, and then you nominate a witch.

[10:25:05]

That doesn't work.

And so when the Democrat -- what's going to happen with the Democrats is the, their party is being controlled by the DSA wing --

FINNEY: No, it's not

ARRIGHI: -- the communist wing. Right now, it's just like it's a movement party. And what's going to end up happening is they're going to lose races that they otherwise would have won. And when those voices get elevated, then that becomes the brand of your party. We saw that ourselves. So, the further left candidate, I'm always happy to run against, but I like our candidate.

BLITZER: The DSA, Democratic Socialists of America. I don't think the word communist is there.

FINNEY: No.

ARRIGHI: Although they do say that's their ultimate goal, the president of the organization.

FINNEY: But, again, we're talking about there's four candidates who have won races, two of whom in very liberal districts in New York City. So, let's be careful how many -- no, it's not happening.

BLITZER: Karen Finney, T.W. Arrighi, guys, thank you very, very much.

BROWN: All right, thank you all for that conversation.

And coming up, raging wildfires in France are so intense they're creating their own weather. CNN's Melissa Bell is in one of the hardest hit areas.

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Pam. It is a fire so great and so intense that it's creating its own wind, its own tornadoes, its very own momentum for the time being, still not under control.

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