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The Situation Room

Some Young NFL Players Returning to College?; Trump Targets NBC Anchor; U.S. and Iran Trade Strikes. Aired 10:30a-11a ET

Aired August 31, 2026 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

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[10:32:15]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Happening now: The Trump administration is facing fierce backlash over a plan to hand over part of the Yosemite National Park to a private developer. The National Park Service is reportedly considering a land swap.

Also, a developer can build an access road right through the Parkland to reach a new neighborhood of homes and shops. Critics say it's just the latest move to put federal property into private hands.

Also happening, new warnings in North Carolina, where a mobile petting zoo is at the center of a rabies scare. Officials say four baby goats from Farm Adventures petting zoo had the virus and were euthanized. The goats were at a nearly -- were nearly a dozen community -- near a dozen community events in multiple counties over the last month, including one at an assisted living facility and a back-to-school event.

Officials are asking anyone who may have pet these goats to contact them immediately and to immediately get tested.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five, four, three, two, one, ignition, and liftoff. Go Falcon Heavy and go Roman Space Telescope.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: NASA launched a massive telescope that scientists say could answer questions about some of the biggest mysteries in the universe. It's called the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, named after NASA's first chief astronomy -- astronomer.

The telescope is equipped with a 300-megapixel infrared camera with a field of view of 100 times larger than Hubble's and can survey the sky 1,000 times faster. The first images from the telescope are expected in January.

And happening now: The United Arab Emirates is condemning an Iranian drone attack on the country, labeling it a dangerous escalation that justifies a response. It comes as Iran and the United States traded strikes overnight for the first time in over a month, ending weeks of relative military calm.

Joining us now here in THE SITUATION ROOM, the former Trump campaign adviser and Republican strategist David Urban and former senior adviser to the Clinton 2016 presidential campaign Karen Finney. They're both CNN political commentators.

David, let me start with you.

The president this morning posted that Iran is -- quote -- "a failed nation," his words, a failed nation, and that all of it is -- quote -- all it has is -- quote -- "fake news, fake news from the USA, a willingness to kill their protesters, and a good line," in word his words, "bullshit."

[10:35:05]

If that's true, why is the U.S. military still attacking Iran?

DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Wolf, I think that they were responding here.

They -- what had happened is in this kind of latest give-and-take is, the Iranians were going to launch a missile which then would deploy mines in the Straits of Hormuz, further blocking -- further blocking the straits. The United States took out those missiles.

And in retaliation for that strike, which would have then -- which would have somewhat closed down the straits again, the Iranians responded to that. So the president and the administration made clear, I think, at this point that the straits need to remain open for the international flow of commerce.

And I think that the Iranians just don't care. They don't care, and so they're going to be swatted down. I think that the economic sanctions, everything that I read, not just from the administration, but third- party sources, some of our contributors, some of the folks showing up on this network, the Iranians are in a tough spot economically.

And I think this is a game of let's see who can outwait one another, and I think Donald Trump can wait very long. Unfortunately, does -- it is taking a toll on the American people in terms of gas prices, fertilizer, and other things.

KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You knew what I was going to say.

URBAN: But, at the end, listen, I think that we need to continue to push on with this. We cannot allow this regime to exist in any form, shape, in any way. I mean, we got it strangled.

FINNEY: But, David, you know, and, Wolf, the politics of this are such that, I mean, the Iranians understand that it's not in their interest to end this any time soon. They would rather use the pressure of the midterm election that is coming, because they know it's harmful to Donald Trump. They know it hurts the United States.

Nor, frankly, is it in Netanyahu's interest to end the war, which is another problem we have, because he's who got us into this. For him, he needs a win going into the fall elections as well. So we're in a very precarious position.

I think the other thing that it -- the message it sends to the American people is, it just undermines -- Trump is just not credible, because he keeps saying they're destroyed, they have nothing, it's over, but then we see things like this over -- we saw over the weekend, or we see reports that absolutely challenge the idea that the Strait of Hormuz is open.

And it is putting a strain on the American people. And so I think one of the things that Democrats need to be talking about is how important it will be when we are back in control that we are a check on Trump and that we bring the administration back in to explain, what is the plan, what are the goals?

Because the goals have shifted over time. It's been six months. We talked about that on Friday, and here we are, and it's still unclear, what's the endgame?

BLITZER: The president posted on his TRUTH Social site, he said: "Iran is officially a failed nation. It is dead. They have no navy, they have no air force, they have no currency," and then he went on and on and on.

But they're still launching missiles and rockets against U.S. installations in Jordan, United Arab Emirates, against various targets in the Strait of Hormuz, so they still have military capabilities.

URBAN: Yes, two things can be true at the same time. The president's exactly correct in terms of their military. Their overall military capability has been severely degraded. Their economy is in shambles. Inflation there is out of control.

The only thing, listen, Karen, her party, if they do take over the House or maybe even the Senate this fall, is not going to do anything different when it comes to Iran. If they think -- if the Democrats think the Iranians are somehow going to be nice to them because they're a different party, Democrat -- the theocracy, the regime that currently is in Tehran responds to one thing, and one thing only, a two-by-four across the forehead, right?

And whether it's Hakeem Jeffries, Donald Trump, Speaker Johnson, that's the only message they're going to understand. And so I think we need to keep going and doing what we're doing until it ends, because I want to ensure that my son and my grandchildren at some point never have to face the fear of export of terrorism from this incredibly terrible regime.

FINNEY: Well, we find ourselves in a situation very similar to 20 years ago in 2006 with the Iraq War, where the administration seems to have no plan. We don't know what is a win. Again, that has shifted. We are seeing our men and women in uniform put in precarious

positions. Thank God the USS Lincoln is on its way home after the reports there. And so it's not about -- we all agree we do not want Iran to have a nuclear weapon.

But the question from the beginning has been, is this the way to achieve that goal? And, if so, what is the plan? Why not get our allies on board? And there was a better way to do it. And so I think the difference is, can the Democrats put some pressure on the administration to say, you can't just keep acting on your own without some accountability?

Particularly -- also, let's not forget the cost that this is in terms of our own reserves, in terms of the dollar and blood and treasure that we're spending. Again, there needs to be some accountability for that.

[10:40:12]

URBAN: Yes, I would just say, listen, I think the administration has gone to our allies.

FINNEY: After the fact.

URBAN: After the fact.

FINNEY: Not -- they didn't build a coalition.

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URBAN: No, listen, I don't disagree with you. If it was me, I would have gone -- if I was the president, I would have said to the American people that we -- this is going to be a one-or-two-year event, right, like George Bush in the first administration -- first George Bush and the first Gulf War, which I participated in.

We built this big coalition. We went. We took out -- we had very limited objectives.

FINNEY: That's right.

URBAN: We accomplished that. I think we could have done that with NATO, with our GCC allies and really taken out this regime, a terrible regime. But we are where we are at this point.

The president has gone to other four nations, asked them to step up. Famously, the Brits refused him.

(CROSSTALK)

FINNEY: He doesn't have the credibility anymore with that. It's part of the problem.

URBAN: But, I mean, I think it's not just credibility. I think the rest of the civilized world, the Western world, needs to realize that this terrorism is going to be exported to their shore. They're directly impacted.

India, some of our other allies really benefit much greater than we do. And I think they need to step up and help in this situation.

FINNEY: I don't disagree with that potentially, but, again, when you go to them after the fact -- and let's not forget, I mean, we're also losing credibility with our allies. Think about Canada.

He started a new trade war with Canada. Canada, like other countries, is now trying to figure out, how do we get along without the United States? That doesn't put us in a strong position to try to negotiate when it comes to Iran.

BLITZER: All right, guys, David Urban, Karen Finney, to both of you, thank you very, very much.

URBAN: Thanks, Wolf.

FINNEY: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: Also happening now: Americans searching for Lake Ontario on Google Maps won't find it. That's because the company has now changed it to Lake America, following President Trump's executive order on Thursday.

Several other companies, including Apple Maps and Waze, haven't followed Google's change, at least not yet. MapQuest quickly put out a statement following the executive order saying -- and I'm quoting now -- "We're not changing the name of Lake Ontario. Name it whatever you want at your leisure" -- end quote.

The Ontario premier, Doug Ford, quickly reacted to President Trump's move. He unveiled a new sign on the Canadian side of the lake that says, I'm quoting now, "Lake Ontario Now and Forever" -- end quote.

Canadian users of Google Maps will still get results for Lake Ontario.

Coming up here in THE SITUATION ROOM, a new update from the FDA on whether it's safe to eat lettuce again after the deadly cyclospora outbreak sweeping the country.

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[10:46:50]

BLITZER: New this morning: punishing the press. President Trump yesterday says NBC News anchor Kristen Welker will be -- quote -- "reported to the FCC for rebuke or punishment" -- end quote -- for a comment he simply didn't like. Listen to this.

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KRISTEN WELKER, MODERATOR, "MEET THE PRESS": He's going to loom large over these midterms. There's no doubt about that. He, of course, has endorsed a slate of candidates in the primaries. He's had some mixed results, but, most recently, his pick of Senator Darline Graham, of course, the sister of the late Senator Lindsey Graham, was successful in her primary battle.

So now she takes on Dr. Annie Andrews in South Carolina.

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BLITZER: Her analysis saying his endorsements got -- quote -- "mixed results" in the primaries prompted several posts from President Trump, saying something should be done.

This is the first time any sitting president of the United States has asked the regulatory agency to go after an individual journalist.

CNN media analyst and Axios media correspondent Sara Fischer is here with me in THE SITUATION ROOM.

So, Sara, what power does the FCC actually have in a case like this?

SARA FISCHER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: Very little power, Wolf. The FCC regulates spectrum, so broadcast licenses. NBC News has local broadcast licenses, but that's not even the program that Kristen Welker was speaking on.

And so this I see more as a bullying tactic to intimidate reporters from doing quality journalism, not as something that he can actually do to effect change.

BLITZER: And I know Kristen Welker. She's an excellent journalist, host of "Meet the Press," the longest-running TV show, obviously. They say that every week. And she does a great, great job. And this is ridiculous, the whole thing.

Thanks very much, Sara, for that update.

And here's what's coming up all new right at the top of the hour.

A CNN exclusive: We go inside the danger zone just off the coast of Yemen, the strategic waterway being threatened by Houthis and why it could ignite a new front in the overall war with Iran.

Plus, helicopter chases, high-tech lasers, and a rented R.V.? The wild new details on how the U.S. is hunting down suspected Chinese spy drones buzzing U.S. military bases.

And the casino industry now preparing to -- quote -- "an all-out war," to go on an all-out war on prediction markets. New reporting on the multibillion-dollar battle against the online sites letting you bet on real-world events.

That's all new coming up in the next hour right here in THE SITUATION ROOM.

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[10:53:46]

BLITZER: Happening now: The NFL says that any player who leaves the league and returns to play college football will not be allowed to come back to the NFL for the remainder of the season.

All of this comes amid an unexpected surge of pro players trying to return to college.

With us now here in THE SITUATION ROOM, CNN sports analyst Christine Brennan. She's also the sports columnist with "USA Today."

So, what's behind this increase in pro players who are making some money in the NFL now wanting to go back and play in college?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: Wolf, as you know, and as many of the viewers and listeners know, we have seen the Wild West in college sports, especially men's sports, football. Now this is the Wild West on steroids.

What happened was the NCAA decided to give players from the high school class of 2022, the college class of 2026, a fifth year of eligibility in all sports. The NFL draft happened before that decision. It was talked about for a long time, but the players went into the NFL, some of them signing contracts.

We're talking about 30 or so players here at least. And now they have not made NFL teams, but they did sign pro contracts and made some money. Now they want to come back and get that fifth year of eligibility. The NCAA, the big four conferences, including the Big Ten and the SEC, have said, no, you cannot do that.

[10:55:04]

They already have players who are playing. You have young men in football, obviously, if this happens in women's basketball, men's basketball, young men and women athletes, who are already planning to play. You have coaches planning to go on without those players.

And now the idea is that they want to come back and get that fifth year. There's an injunction -- or there will be a hearing on Thursday in a court in Louisiana. LSU is a key factor in this. And it's probably going to go right up to game time. The big college weekend, of course, starts this Saturday, and so that's where we are.

BLITZER: And nowadays, if you go back and play in college football, you can actually make some money as well, right?

BRENNAN: Oh, absolutely, because of NIL, name, image, and likeness, as you know. We have discussed this a lot.

There's probably -- well, in this case, since these players have been let go by NFL teams, are no longer playing, they will make more money in college with all the NIL deals than they would, of course, in the pros, especially if their contract is over.

So that's the allure. But the slippery slope here is extraordinary. The idea -- if this is allowed, if you have -- allow a player who's already signed a pro contract, potentially played in the pros, to come back, what's to prevent someone from either, again, the NBA, the WNBA, any pro league, women's pro soccer, men's pro soccer, of course, the NFL and college football, from wanting to come back after, say, playing three years in the pros?

The slippery slope here is a big deal. It's why so many of these leagues and the NCAA are against this. But the courts -- it could happen that a court will rule in Louisiana to allow a football player to play at LSU on Saturday, and yet then the penalties that could come from the Southeastern Conference towards LSU for allowing that to happen could include a half-year suspension for the head coach, Lane Kiffin.

It's really chaos.

BLITZER: I don't know what it says about me, but when I heard some of these NFL players, these rookies, wanted to go back to college to play instead of the NFL, I said to myself, well, maybe they want to finish their degree and get their bachelor of arts degree or whatever.

But I think that says more about me than what's really going on.

BRENNAN: Oh, I think, again, that's an old view. Obviously, we're Pollyannas in many ways. We -- it used to be a college scholarship.

BLITZER: Yes.

BRENNAN: Some of this has been necessary and important. This takes it to a whole new level, but no surprise, considering it is, as I said, the Wild West.

This is what we have -- many have wanted. And now look at the situation that they have.

BLITZER: What's your biggest concern right now when it comes to professional players being allowed back into college sports?

BRENNAN: Well, I think, again, if we want to go the Pollyanna route and the -- kind of the college sports route that we love so much, the idea that you have coaches and players, especially, say, a senior football player, volleyball, men's, women's, whatever, who have been waiting maybe for four years to finally get that starting job.

And now will they find if -- let's say make it an LSU player. Will they then say, OK, here, now this pro player is coming back for that fifth year? I think the idea of the order, the sensibility that this is college, this is not pro, and the idea then of having people who have made money come back into the college ranks, I think it opens a can of worms that will really impact college sports, not just football, not just men's basketball, but all sports, and in a way that I don't think we want to see.

BLITZER: How big of an impact is money having right now on college sports? And I'm specifically asking about football.

BRENNAN: The non-Pollyanna view is, there is so much money in college sports, why not let these athletes have some, which is why name, image and likeness has occurred, which is why we're seeing the push to pay college athletes. And the real concern, frankly -- and I should have probably mentioned

this to you a moment ago, -- about Olympic sports, about men's and women's so-called minor sports, the U.S. Olympic effort moving forward, as well as other nations, if all of a sudden you're throwing all your money into football and men's and women's basketball and other -- anything else that's a moneymaker, volleyball in some cases for women, at some of these universities, what happens to the U.S. Olympic effort, the feeder system?

The pipeline is the college system, say, in swimming or wrestling. And if you now throw all that money at those sports, what do you have? Do you have club sports? Do you have a D3 kind of thing going on with these teams and these athletes?

And that is a problem for the U.S. Olympic effort. It's a problem Congress has talked about. But, meanwhile, as I said, it's just complete chaos out there at this point. But football, absolutely, again, who is running the show? Are the courts going to run it? Is the NCAA, who did not do a good job of preparing for this moment, as you know?

And the conferences, everyone's kind of sitting there looking at each other. Meanwhile, we're talking about 22-, 23-year-old young men who are not getting a great life lesson about how to handle the next stage of life or how to look at leaders and say, are they doing the right thing by me?

BLITZER: Excellent, excellent point.

Thanks very much, Christine Brennan.

BRENNAN: Thank you.

BLITZER: She knows sports.

And the next hour of THE SITUATION ROOM starts right now.

Happening now: high-tech hunt, the growing effort to keep up with drones spying on U.S. military bases and finding out who's sending them.