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Democrats Ahead in New Polling; Todd Blanche Hits Senate Roadblock; U.S. Launches New Strikes on Iran. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired July 30, 2026 - 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: Breaking news: regional escalation. The United States unloads a wave of strikes as Iran issues a new warning to European countries hosting American bases.

And who's really holding up the Blanche nomination? We're live from the halls of the Capitol, where lawmakers are trying to save President Trump's choice for attorney general.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. Pamela Brown is on assignment. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BLITZER: We begin this hour with the breaking news, the United States launching what U.S. officials are calling a heavy wave of strikes on Iran overnight in retaliation for its targeting of U.S. positions in the Middle East.

The U.S. military Central Command says it hit Iranian command centers, missile and drone facilities. Iran state media reports explosions in multiple locations in the country's south and that three people were killed when U.S. missiles struck a home on an island near the Strait of Hormuz.

For more perspective, I want to bring in the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander retired General Wesley Clark.

General Clark, thanks so much for joining us.

How are these renewed U.S. strikes fitting into this overall picture right now? CENTCOM, the Central Command, is not saying it's a full return to war. But what's your take?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: So, Wolf, I believe that most of these strikes are still continuing the pattern of taking out Iranian military capabilities, especially those associated with the ability to interdict shipping on the Strait of Hormuz or in the Gulf. And so those are very, very appropriate targets. The problem with it

is that it's on and on and off, on and off. And so if you really want to take out these targets, you have to have continuous strikes on them. You have to hit them so they can't rebuild, can't put another system in place and whatever.

And we learned in Vietnam, and I'm going back now to the 1960s, when I was a cadet at West Point and a junior officer, that when you're going to do an air campaign, if you start it, you need to finish it. You don't want to end up in a case where you stop it, say, hey, can we have a talk? Can we have a talk?

Because they rebuild and take advantage of it. When we did this to the North Vietnamese in the 1960s, they just thought our air campaign was ineffective. It didn't -- it didn't really change the outcome. We hit a few targets. They say, oh, gee, that's bad. We didn't want to lose that warehouse, but then they make it up.

The other thing, Wolf here, is that China and Russia are actively supporting Iran. And so we're not going to make headway in negotiations or in really eliminating their capacities unless we stop that reinforcement coming in.

Now, what's public is the 400 Chinese surface-to-air handheld missile launches. But there's a lot more than that coming in, not only targeting information, but drone motors and rocket fuel, and there's no telling what.

If you're going to win a campaign like this militarily, you have got to seal the borders of Iran, not just put a blockade around the seashore about oil. It's about military support and hardware. And this also is what happened to us in Vietnam in the 1960s and early '70s.

We didn't want to pay the price of talking to Russia and China, and being strong. So we let our troops suffer. And in this case, this campaign's dragging on and will continue to drag on until we isolate Iran. You have to isolate the theater of operations.

BLITZER: Egypt now says a drone struck one of its energy facilities yesterday. No party has claimed responsibility for this incident, but do you see this as a potential widening of this conflict with more countries being pulled in?

Because the suspicion is, Iran launched this drone to target this place in Egypt.

CLARK: Yes.

And what I was reading online is, it probably came from Hezbollah. But the point is that, yes, Iran is going after horizontal escalation, because that's the way they're dealing with the threat of the military strikes. They want to make it so uncomfortable for the neighboring countries that they won't host American forces there. It's a form of pushing us back, keeping us away.

[11:05:08] And, of course, the further our aircraft are based away from Iran, the more difficult it is to maintain continuous air campaign over them. So it's a military strategy. It's also a political strategy.

BLITZER: Would Hezbollah, an Iranian terrorist proxy group, launch a strike against this target in Egypt without getting permission from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran?

CLARK: Absolutely not.

In fact, as we understand it, the IRGC is now in charge of Hezbollah. The Israelis were very effective in taking out a lot of the top leadership, so I think Iran has just put its own officers in there to keep it going. It is an arm of the IRGC now. It has to be looked at as that.

BLITZER: That's what -- a lot of suspicion, and I totally agree.

I want to pivot to the Russia-Ukrainian conflict today while I have you, General. Poland is blaming Russia for firing a missile into its territory. How do you interpret this incident? And could this be another provocation by Putin, the Russian president, to draw NATO into this conflict?

CLARK: I think it's a test of NATO response. I don't think this is a mistake on the part of the Russian military, that it just got off course.

So, just like the drones that were sent into Romania a few days ago, this is a way of -- the way Russia pushes. This is part of hybrid warfare. When this missile lands in Poland or the drones go to Romania, people get concerned. They say, oh, my goodness, are we going to have to have war? Oh, no, please, we don't want war.

It puts pressure on the government. It affects the defense budget. It creates an alternative to NATO, an alternative of fear and reluctance to confront. And that's part of the hybrid warfare strategy that Russia is using against NATO.

BLITZER: And Poland, of course, a key NATO ally.

As the former NATO supreme allied commander, General, I want to read to you this language directly from Article 5 of the NATO charter, which states specifically -- quote -- "An armed attack against one NATO member shall be considered an attack against all members and triggers an obligation for each member to come to its assistance."

Given that, General Clark, if Russia is indeed responsible for this attack on Poland, does that violate Article 5? Does that suggest Article 5 must be implemented and all NATO allies must come to Poland's defense? Would the U.S. be expected to militarily defend Poland right now?

CLARK: Well, when I read Article 5, it says as appropriate. It says as appropriate. So maybe the appropriate thing is to go to Russia and say, what are

you doing with this? So it's not necessarily a trigger to start a widening of the conflict, but it does put an obligation on the United States to recognize that this is an obligation to deal with this. It just doesn't -- it doesn't prescribe how you deal with it.

BLITZER: All right, General Wesley Clark, thanks very much for your expertise.

CLARK: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: And we're following more breaking news right now.

The acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche's path to lead the Justice Department permanently has hit a major roadblock and is now in jeopardy before the senators depart for their August recess in about a week. GOP leaders were forced to postpone a vote to advance his nomination late last night.

A key Republican on the Judiciary Committee, John Cornyn of Texas, is now refusing to back down in a weeks-long battle over the Trump administration's so-called anti-weaponization fund and that controversial IRS settlement at the same time.

CNN's chief congressional correspondent, Manu Raju, is up on Capitol Hill.

I know, Manu, you have been speaking with some of these senators. Do you have any update right now on where this confirmation process stands?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is on the brink of collapse, Wolf, because of the -- in the view of the Republican holdouts here, the refusal of the Trump administration to give in to their chief demands.

There were two key demands that both senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis had in order to move forward with the Todd Blanche confirmation as the next attorney general of the United States, one, to have in writing that the so-called $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund that people like January 6 rioters could have access to, taxpayer dollars, that that is dead once and for all.

They wanted that in writing. And they also wanted to make sure that there was language to ensure that a separate settle settlement that was reached between Trump and the IRS that shielded the president and his family from being charged with possible tax crimes, that that would not affect any possible tax crimes in the future.

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In other words, he could be -- he and his family, his organizations could be subject to IRS audits. Neither of those were resolved. In fact, there was a back-and-forth written the proposal sent last night from John Cornyn to the Justice Department. And then Cornyn came back this morning and he said he got word that

they were -- the administration was not going to go forward, was not going to bless his plan, and they both believe, both Tillis and Cornyn believe that there's opposition from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): I thought we were pretty close to landing the plane last night, but this morning there's been some more complications.

I think, if this were just between me and Todd Blanche, we would have worked this out, but apparently he's getting some pushback from higher-ups at the White House.

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): What we said in the hearing is what we're consistent with. We just want to end the fund. And this is not about Blanche. Blanche is negotiating in good faith. We have somebody else in the way, and I don't believe it's the president, and hopefully we can resolve it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: So someone else in the way, referring to somebody else in the White House.

And I don't know that they are exactly sure if it's President Trump himself. As you heard Thom Tillis said, he doesn't think it's President Trump, but no one exactly knows who is stepping in the way and preventing the Justice Department from going ahead.

So here's where things stand, Wolf. The Senate leaves for a more-than- monthlong recess at the end of next week until after Labor Day, which means that this nomination could continue to languish. And when things don't have momentum in Washington, they often collapse, and that is the view here on Capitol Hill, that if they're not making progress towards reaching a deal, then that means that this nomination could effectively be dead.

BLITZER: All right, Manu Raju up on Capitol Hill, thank you very much.

I want to bring in CNN political commentator S.E. Cupp. She's the host of "Off the Cupp" podcast. Also joining us here in THE SITUATION ROOM, T.W. Arrighi. He is a former aide to Lindsey Graham and Mike Pompeo.

T.W., let me start with you. I want to play a little bit about what President Trump said about all of this just yesterday. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, all I can say is Todd Blanche is outstanding. And I thought he's -- I thought it was pretty routine because he's so good. You just wouldn't find a better person. So I don't know. Maybe John Cornyn's upset with me because I didn't endorse him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: How much of this is about the president's decision to endorse Ken Paxton over Senator Cornyn in the Republican primary in Texas?

T.W. ARRIGHI, FORMER AID TO LINDSEY GRAHAM AND MIKE POMPEO: Well, it surely didn't help. And I think a lot of us saw this coming from a mile away and were saying that when he was in his decision-making process. It's not good to have free agents running around willing to buck the president and the party as a whole to drive home a point, in this case, the anti-weaponization fund, Epstein victims, the IRS settlement, et cetera.

It's a tough lesson the president's learning right now in real time. These are really important issues. I agree with Senator Cornyn that the slush fund is a bad idea. I agree that we need to do more to prosecute the crimes of those in the Epstein files. And I think the IRS settlement's a bad look.

But it's a shame too, because Todd Blanche is qualified for the role. You heard Thom Tillis say he's negotiating in good faith. He knows the nuts and bolts of the DOJ, but he's in a really tough spot with the White House, as you just heard that they don't know who's really calling the shots.

This would be a tough position for any A.G. nominee to be in right now. And we will see if they can hammer out a deal in the coming weeks.

BLITZER: We will see what's going to happen.

S.E., we should note that Senator Cornyn denies that a grudge is driving his resistance to Todd Blanche's nomination. But what do you think about the role of President Trump's endorsement in all of this?

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I mean, I will believe John Cornyn that this is all a principled stand, and it's a good stand that they're both taking. As T.W. said, like, everyone should have problems with the slush fund, the IRS audit, the Epstein files, and that aspect of this.

But, I mean, it's hard to see John Cornyn taking this stand had Donald Trump not endorsed a primary opponent needlessly, and in a seat that would have been safe had Donald Trump early on endorsed John Cornyn. I don't even think James Talarico would have run, right?

So this has really forced Republicans to spend more money in Texas than they wanted to. It unleashed people like John Cornyn and Thom Tillis and Massie and Cassidy out in -- to sort of like stand up to Trump, when maybe they wouldn't have before.

So this was hugely risky of Trump to do in Texas and Louisiana and other places, and it was unnecessary. And I think what you're seeing now are these independent agents who feel like they don't owe Donald Trump anything. And they don't. They're on their way out, and they have nothing to lose here in taking these principled stands.

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BLITZER: T.W., I want to play some more. Here's more of what Senator Cornyn said about his concerns with the Trump administration's so- called anti-weaponization fund and how that is influencing his position on the confirmation prospects of Todd Blanche. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CORNYN: They refuse to commit to writing what he justified to under oath. And it's not a big ask.

QUESTION: Why don't you think Todd Blanche has met your demands as we're in the 11th hour before this vote?

CORNYN: Well, I assume he's getting some pushback from the president's lawyers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Why doesn't the Trump administration just put this whole issue to bed to secure the senator's support?

ARRIGHI: I wish they would. But it does look like they're trying to keep their options open as they move forward with respect to the weaponization front. And I don't think they want to set a precedent to these free agents over the next six months that they need written set- in-stone guidelines for every little policy proviso that they have moving forward.

It's a really uncomfortable position for the caucus. And, right now, whether it's Tillis, whether it's Cornyn, whether it's Massie in the House, these next six months, when we don't know who will be controlling the United States Congress come post-November, this puts us in a really good bad spot.

We only got like three weeks left, and now we have to really bow to the wishes of these few members.

BLITZER: We will see.

S.E., Todd Blanche's handling of the Epstein files is another problem that has dogged his confirmation process. Let's watch what some of the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse told reporters about that. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANI BENSKY, JEFFREY EPSTEIN SURVIVOR: Our biggest point, our biggest takeaway is that Todd Blanche is unfit to be acting attorney general because he is not here for any American -- American people's best interests. We hope that senators will take that into consideration.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: S.E., how much do you anticipate their advocacy will actually influence Todd Blanche's fate?

CUPP: I think it's part and parcel of the whole thing.

Look, I think -- earlier this week, I was on Anderson's show, and I think the latest we were hearing from Cornyn made it sound like he really wanted to get to a yes on Todd Blanche. He really believed that he would get to a yes on Todd Blanche, and I think Thom Tillis did too.

And up until last night in that meeting with Chuck Grassley, I think he thought we'd get there. Now, hearing John Cornyn and Thom Tillis talk to Manu this morning and Manu's reporting, it sounds like they think this is going to be a no, that the White House is going to stonewall on this, and that they can't back down now from this gauntlet they have thrown down with this request in writing.

They can't just abandon it and say, OK, forget it,just kidding, we will confirm him. So it's a real standoff. And I think the Epstein pressure is going to be is going to be part of that and felt by people like Tillis and Cornyn, but it's also just I think that they're getting frustrated that they can't get to this place that they thought they were going to get to.

BLITZER: S.E. Cupp and T.W. Arrighi, to both of you, thank you very, very much.

And still ahead: a warning for Washington. A new CNN poll reveals what Americans think about the state of our politics.

And the cyclospora outbreak grows and grows, with one state now topping 10,000 cases.

You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

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BLITZER: New this morning: growing midterm warnings for Republicans. The latest CNN polling shows voter enthusiasm leaning toward the Democrats; 47 percent say they'd vote for a Democrat this fall compared to 39 percent who want to stick with the party in power.

CNN Washington bureau chief and political director David Chalian is here with me in THE SITUATION ROOM.

Just how good are these numbers potentially for Democrats?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, they're pretty good. Eight-point advantage, you would rather have that than not heading into the fall campaign season. You noted that 47 percent to 39 percent differential on that generic congressional ballot.

I would say even more promising for Democrats right now is that independents are with them, Wolf. So, you look at this by party, obviously, you see the Republicans are overwhelmingly voting Republican and Democrat. But look at independents. There's an 11-point advantage for Democrats; 40 percent of independents say they're planning to vote for the Democratic candidate; 29 percent say for the Republican candidates.

So the advantage among independents is quite critical as well for them.

BLITZER: Very significant.

How are Americans feeling about who's in Congress right now?

CHALIAN: Not good. This is a real big number in our poll. It's like a throw the bums out election; 51 percent, a majority of Americans in our poll say it would be for the better if most members of Congress were replaced.

Now, that's the kind of number that could potentially impact both parties, not just one. And speaking of that, both parties are in low regard with the American people right now, about equally so. Look at the favorable numbers on the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. They sit at 31 percent and 30 percent favorable respectively. They are each approximately 20 points underwater, Wolf. This is not an electorate that is happy with the system as it is.

[11:25:03]

And we asked this. I find this so interesting. We asked a bunch of congressional leaders, names in politics, big political figures right now, to get a sense of their popularity with the American people. None of them have positive favorability.

But look at this list, Wolf. You will see Zohran Mamdani and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are actually sitting atop the list. I guess we don't have the graphics for this right now, but this -- these are the progressive leaders we hear much about. They're Zohran Mamdani right there. AOC, who you don't see there, is another one.

They're the least unpopular, if you will, right now, compared to the likes of John Thune, Hakeem Jeffries, Chuck Schumer, Mitch McConnell. Those folks are far more unpopular right now than these progressive leaders are in this moment.

BLITZER: As you know, cost of living has been a huge issue in recent elections. It's the economy, stupid, as James Carville used to say. What are Americans saying about that?

CHALIAN: Well, they are saying that you need to be paying attention to cost of living issues, and right now you're not; 63 percent say the Republican Party is focusing too little on cost of living; 52 percent say that of the Democratic Party.

This is a pox on both your houses, yes, perhaps slight advantage here for the Democratic Party, but not much, and this gets at what we would discussed earlier this week, Wolf, when I was on, which is that the polling shows Donald Trump himself is in a deep hole with the American people on being focused on the wrong priorities; 73 percent say that Donald Trump is not focused on the correct priorities.

That is a huge number, and that is a weight around the Republicans heading into the midterms.

BLITZER: On balance, these latest numbers are not good for the Republicans.

CHALIAN: There's no doubt Democrats are sitting in the driver's seat as we head into the fall campaign season. We will see if they can maintain that over the next three months.

BLITZER: We will see what happens. Still some time.

CHALIAN: Yes.

BLITZER: Almost 100 days to go until the midterm elections.

CHALIAN: Yes, a little less, yes.

BLITZER: David Chalian, thank you very, very much.

CHALIAN: Sure.

BLITZER: Still ahead: reliving a nightmare. A father testifies about the moment he came home from an errand to find his three children strangled.

Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

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