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Trump Claims Intel Reveals Vulnerabilities In U.S. Elections; This Morning: New Flash Flood Warnings In West Central Texas; Co-Host Craig Melvin Returns to "TODAY" After Intruder Scare. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired July 17, 2026 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Overnight, President Trump delivered a primetime White House address to sound an alarm on U.S. elections. The president made several wide-ranging claims, saying newly declassified documents can back up allegations that China carried out an influenced campaign in the 2020 election. He also claimed that more non-citizens on voter rolls are known than previously. CNN analysis has found both of these claims to be false.

Notably, the president also sowed doubt in our elections, claiming that some systems in place are vulnerable ahead of the midterm in November.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our elections were left vulnerable to being rigged and stolen, and the trust of the American people was lost. This cannot be allowed to continue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. With me now is Republican election lawyer and CNN contributor Ben Ginsberg. Ben, always great to see you.

So last night, just reiterating what you just heard from the president saying elections were -- I'm quoting him -- "left vulnerable to being rigged and stolen." But he did not produce any new evidence, instead focusing on intelligence reports that he said were withheld from him as president and from the public in 2020.

So what's your assessment here? Are you U.S. elections dangerously vulnerable?

BEN GINSBERG, CNN CONTRIBUTOR, REPUBLICAN ELECTION LAWYER (via Webex by Cisco): Well, no. I think given that the president has had all the powers of investigation for the last 18 months -- the FBI, the intelligence community -- to not have any specifics and to have a session where the rhetoric is strong but the facts are weak should give the American public confidence that our election results are accurate. In terms of vulnerabilities, we have a system that's very decentralized and with so many different voting places it's not consistent, so we have a system that can be improved. And so I don't think it's vulnerable, but it needs improvement. So it would be good if we want to get rid of, whether he thinks there are vulnerabilities or not -- to actually do some studying of what those vulnerabilities are and most importantly, to provide funding for the very underfunded elections infrastructure and community.

WHITFIELD: Until that were to happen, what are these assertions, in your view, from the president doing to the confidence of voters or even impacting election workers?

GINSBERG: Well, I think that the charges have come for so long that they're having sort of a diminishing effect on people really thinking elections are inaccurate. I mean, we have recounts every cycle. We have contests. They've been able to bring an unlimited number of court cases and so far, proved nothing. So I think in that sense it's fine.

I also think it was an interesting raising of the vulnerability question. If the president saw something that China did wrong in 2020 and worries about it happening in 2026, then he's the -- his administration is in charge of keeping our elections safe, and so it is on him.

But the actions of the administration have unfortunately been to strip away the powers of our cybersecurity agencies, whether in homeland security or in the Justice Department. All those agencies that actually help the states protect against cyberattacks have been peeled back. So that's a contradictory note about vulnerabilities exist but, in fact, weakening the agencies that protect against it.

WHITFIELD: Aside from potentially now fraying already frayed relations between the U.S. and China, I wonder if you're a Republican and you're running for office if you feel like these accusations potentially undermine you and the entire party.

GINSBERG: Yeah, I think it's demoralizing for Republican candidates. As I was listening to the speech, I kept thinking first of all, I wish the president would concentrate on the issues people really care about like pocketbook issues or the war in Iran. But more than anything else it sort of puts Republican candidates out there and in a bind.

I think that one thing that President Trump has done well is to get a lot of low-propensity voters to vote Republican. And all the talk about elections being inaccurate do have the effect on some people of keeping them home. So I think it is a strategy that is actually self- defeating for Republicans to be putting up all these warning signs and barriers for low-propensity voters.

[07:35:00]

But the country is also so politicized that as I travel around the country talking to election administrators, I find that there is a greater enthusiasm for voting by the people who are not Donald Trump supporters. And so I think this rhetoric of his is actually being counterproductive for the rest of the Republican ticket in 2026. And plus, if the goal of this was to motivate the MAGA base of voters, then it's also important to realize that in 2026 the districts that are -- that are up for contests are not MAGA districts.

WHITFIELD: Um-hum. All right. We'll leave it there.

Ben Ginsberg, always a pleasure. Thank you so much.

All right, Kate, you've got next.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yeah, and let's get the view from Capitol Hill now as one of the big takeaways from the president's remarks is that he is clearly using this argument to try to convince Congress to pass the election overhaul bill that he has been pushing for months.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Most importantly, addressing this crisis of election security demands that Congress must pass the Save America Act. How easy is that to do unless you want to cheat? The only reason you wouldn't do it is you want to cheat because your policies are so bad and your candidates are so pathetic that you can't get away or can't get elected any other way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: A note on that though. Republicans continue in Congress -- continue to tell the president they do not have enough support -- enough votes among Republican lawmakers on the Hill to pass this bill.

Joining me right now is Democratic Congressman Mike Quigley of Illinois. He's a member of the Intelligence Committee. It's good to see you, Congressman. Thanks for being here.

Do you think the president did anything to move the needle in terms of convincing enough Republicans to vote for his -- this elections bill that he's pushing?

REP. MIKE QUIGLEY (D-IL): I don't think so, but I think what he did was effectively rev up his base, you know, and set the agenda to challenge the election results in the midterms here. I think he's been told by enough people that he's starting to get scared that they will get their ass kicked and they could lose the House and the Senate.

And he's doing what he did in 2020. I was in the room where that happened when he challenged that. We had January 6. Not only were our lives in peril and without the courage of the Capitol Police I'm not sure I'd be here and I'm not sure our fragile little experiment in democracy would be.

So what would he do next time? That's why Americans should be very concerned with what the president did last night even if it sounds like what it was, silly stuff.

BOLDUAN: You know, China has actually responded to some of Trump's claims from last night, denying any interference in U.S. elections. What the president accused China of is gaining access to 220 million U.S. voter files. He called the breach of it an "unprecedented election security nightmare."

You are, as I mentioned, on the Intelligence Committee. Is there any -- is there something to this 220 million?

QUIGLEY: Well, I think it's important for every American to know that most states sell the information of registered voters. You can just go online and buy the stuff, and you can get this information.

Is it concerning that another country would want this? Of course, but there's no grand conspiracy or breach that's taken place. This is a decentralized system. It's not like they're going to latch on.

We know that other countries have tried to influence our elections, although the president denied that. Because in 2016, the entire intelligence community agreed with a high level of certainty that the Russians tried through online efforts and propaganda to help him win that election and hurt Hillary Clinton.

So look, foreign influence is of concern, but I know of no evidence of what the president talked about last night and no evidence at all that they have successfully attempted to impact tabulation of voting.

BOLDUAN: Right.

QUIGLEY: I was on the committee that funded election grants, so we always want to make sure our states' systems are safe. But if the president was so concerned he should -- he wouldn't have cut -- gutted the two programs that affect this and protect the federal government and the states. The maligned influence center is just one example.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, there -- and there is a distinction between interfering and vote counts and vote tabulations and influence campaigns that, you know, are while unsavory not necessarily illegal.

[07:40:00]

I do want to ask you because you have been -- you have been one of the members quite outspoken on cracking down on insider trading among prediction markets.

Kalshi is now saying that a White House teleprompter operator had been using his position to win around $100,000 betting on what the president would say in his speeches. This came up yesterday because people are asking who is going to run teleprompter for the president last night.

What do you make of this?

QUIGLEY: Yeah, this is scary times for such things. We saw that with the military effort in Venezuela where someone was charged with this. Someone who had this inside influence.

If you can bet on anything, there are going to be those that exploit it and there are going to be those that have inside information. At the local, state, and national level this has to be outlawed. It has to be investigated and prosecuted to the highest levels possible.

Who knew that if you could bet on any outcome, including election results, that bad things will happen? We need to be more active on this.

BOLDUAN: But my quick question though is who needs to be more active? Like, where does the responsibility lie, right? Like, is it that just as this specific example. The White House needs to be more on -- I don't know -- there needs to be more rules from the White House to employees or watching more closely what people are doing, which seems pretty impossible since you can vote on anything? Or is the other way around and needs to just be tougher laws around it, which would then land on your guys?

Like, who has a responsibility here?

QUIGLEY: Look, I think it's going to take both. I think you're starting to see city councils, county governments, state governments pass these things.

The problem, to your point, is how do you monitor the actions of thousands and thousands of people who have inside information who can bet an all these things? I don't know that you're ever going to be able to outlaw all of those measures, but at least we have to take a look at outlawing some things where it's impossible to monitor all of them. And the fact that these people know it could influence the outcome, that's scary for any democracy.

BOLDUAN: It's quite a moment that we find ourselves in, in so many regards.

Congressman, thank you so much for coming on. I appreciate your time -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. This morning new flash flood warnings after deadly flooding slammed parts of Texas -- the Texas Hill Country -- some of the same areas where more than 100 people were killed last year. Right now, the heavy rain is moving further into west central Texas. This video from storm chaser Brian Emfinger shows the raging floodwaters.

At least two people were killed, and more than 230 people were rescued. This rescue happening just north of San Antonio.

Storm chaser Brian Emfinger is joining us right now from San Antonio. So Brian, you know, what have you seen so far and what is the weather like? What are the conditions like?

BRIAN EMFINGER, STORM CHASER (via Webex by Cisco): Well luckily, the weather has calmed down after several days of extremely heavy rain in different parts just west of San Antonio. There was even a tornado on the northwest side of San Antonio.

But yesterday morning, especially, was the most extreme of the event. We got into Kerrville in the middle of the flash flood emergency. And unlike last year, which was basically a river flood. You know, the Guadalupe came up very fast and we all know what happened.

This was more of the side creeks. So all of -- like, there was Goat Creek and Town Creek -- the creeks that don't really flood that often and certainly didn't flood last year. So the sad thing is that a lot of the people that were affected now -- you know, they really didn't think that there was much chance of them flooding. I mean, it was up in the hills above Kerrville and places like that.

And then the water came slamming down through Kerrville. And we talked to people here. Like, we were confused why the water was coming from the opposite direction. They thought if we ever get flooded it's going to be from the Guadalupe, not from the creek that's running through town. But that's what happened and it caused lots of devastation.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And so what are the concerns now with more flash flood risks still abound? I mean, is there a feeling that there are yet many more people who need to get out of harm's way or what is this, you know, promise or, you know, frighten people most about?

EMFINGER: Luckily, the -- there is less risk going forward, you know, but they certainly need the break. I mean, we're talking about three days of various parts of the west of San Antonio getting like a foot of rain. And last night, unfortunately, you know, it was basically right on Kerrville.

[07:45:0]

You know, last year, the heavy rain fell upstream where all the rivers kind of start coming together. And so you had a wave of water that came down through Hunt and Ingram, and Kerrville. Yesterday morning all of that heaviest rain fell basically right on Kerrville, so Kerrville got the flash flood from the side creeks but then just downstream from Kerrville they actually did have the river flood. And there was so much water that came down from Kerrville that the river actually crested higher this year than it did last year on the Guadalupe just south of Kerrville.

WHITFIELD: Incredible.

All right. Brian Emfinger, continue to be safe. Thank you so much for all this hard work that you're doing in bringing these images. Appreciate it.

All right, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Craig Melvin is on set once again on NBC's "TODAY' show after having a disturbing encounter having to do with that -- with an intruder yesterday. Now, police -- they say a man managed to somehow slip past security at Rockefeller Center and gain access to an unauthorized area near the "TODAY" show studio.

And the man, now identified as Andrew Truelove, then lunged, allegedly, at Craig and shouted a racial slur. He was arrested and he's now facing multiple charges.

There more to it now today. CNN's Brynn Gingras is tracking this. And Craig just addressed this on air?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. So he put this on social media -- his -- what he -- his response to everything that happened.

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

GINGRAS: Yes, he just addressed it so let's take a look at that right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRAIG MELVIN, CO-HOST, "TODAY": An intruder made his way into an unauthorized area here in Studio 1A. Thankfully, he was apprehended quickly. He was placed under arrest. We are cooperating fully with the NYPD as they investigate the matter and we are just very happy that everyone is safe, absolutely.

LAURA JARRETT, CO-HOST, "TODAY": Yes, of course. We want to make sure that you're safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRAS: Yeah, and that's the key there. Everyone is safe and --

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

GINGRAS: -- no one was injured. But thanks to Craig, this man was arrested because he actually was approached in the stairwell of 30 Rockefeller and was able to gain some sort of access into that building. If you've ever been there, I mean, I used to work there. It's pretty locked up. And somehow got --

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

GINGRAS: -- some sort of access.

And then Craig actually chased him, according to police, out of that stairwell, alerted police, and he was caught within a little bit.

But it wasn't before he was actually hurling racial slurs at Craig Melvin. Authorities -- actually, sources are telling us that he was possibly looking for Al Roker first. So I'm not sure if he said that or what happened there. If he told police that.

But certainly a scary incident. The man, Andrew Truelove, 41 years old. As you said, he's now been arrested for burglary, menacing, criminal trespassing, harassment, all related to a hate crime because of those --

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

GINGRAS: -- alleged racial slurs that he said to Craig Melvin. And he is supposed to face arraignment at some point today.

But, of course, scary incident. Everyone on edge there as you can imagine, certainly after what they experienced -- BOLDUAN: I mean, on so many levels. On so many levels.

GINGRAS: So many levels. I mean, there was increased security after Savannah Guthrie's mom's abduction. All the coverage that they had to do for that.

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

GINGRAS: But also, I was talking to someone yesterday who said because of the World Cup there's a big FIFA event outside.

BOLDUAN: There is so much security.

GINGRAS: I mean, it's -- not only do they have the NYPD, they also have their own security. And then everyone involved at "TODAY" show, as you can imagine, has their own security. So it is pretty incredible that this even happened, which is a concern. NBC is saying that they're going to, of course, look at this and discuss their security measures at this point.

BOLDUAN: And just like the split-second decision-making that would need to be done. I mean, I'm just thinking of -- obviously, we think about what it would be like, you know, behind the scenes on our set.

GINGRAS: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: And just like seeing -- I mean, lots of people come in and out because there is lots of people --

GINGRAS: Right.

BOLDUAN: -- that are accompanying lawmakers, accompanying high-profile people.

GINGRAS: Right.

BOLDUAN: There's -- and so there's a lot of people who might be walking in that I might not recognize.

GINGRAS: Right.

BOLDUAN: I just -- it's just terrifying.

GINGRAS: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: Just -- I mean --

GINGRAS: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: -- terrifying.

GINGRAS: So you can imagine. I'm sure everybody is looking at this -- security measures at this point.

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

GINGRAS: Everyone is OK, as he said, and that's the good news.

BOLDUAN: Thank goodness.

The "TODAY" show needs a little R&R --

GINGRAS: I know.

BOLDUAN: -- is what I'm saying.

GINGRAS: I do, too.

BOLDUAN: My friends over at "TODAY" -- they deserve a vacay in a very big way.

GINGRAS: Authorized vacay.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, exactly, because that means so much these days.

GINGRAS: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: It's good to see you, Brynn.

GINGRAS: You, too.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much.

OK. So what caused -- take a look at this -- this huge sinkhole on one of America's most famous streets? We'll bring this to you in a second.

And also, what started as a normal traffic stop then very quickly became a lifesaving rescue.

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:53:30]

WHITFIELD: All right. Hard to believe but oh my gosh, we're finally here. Just two days away from the FIFA World Cup final in New Jersey between defending champions Argentina and European champions Spain.

Amanda Davies is here and she has been watching the entire series and tournament. It's been an amazing World Cup and now it's going to be -- it's going to elevate even further.

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yeah. We are here --

WHITFIELD: Yeah.

DAVIES -- and this is the big one. It's incredible. I mean, June 11 seems such a long time ago, doesn't it? But here we are 102 matches down. Spain and Argentina have made it to New York for Sunday's big one, the final in New Jersey.

I have to say it was a really uncomfortable flight from Atlanta here to New York for me, a disappointed England fan --

WHITFIELD: Oh.

DAVIES: -- after Argentina's semifinal win. I was surrounded by Albiceleste supporters making their way here in the hopes of seeing history as Lionel Scaloni's side -- inspired, of course, by the GOAT, Lionel Messie -- look to become the first back-to-back World Cup winners since 1962.

But look how relaxed the team looked in today's "What a Shot." This is Messi having a laugh there.

WHITFIELD: Right.

DAVIES: It's during a break in training on Thursday before traveling here to New York. Both teams are set to train, but behind closed doors today, not wanting to give away any of --

WHITFIELD: Yeah.

DAVIES: -- their secrets.

So it's actually Spain who are the favorites heading into the match. This is their first final since they last won it -- the only time they won it in 2010. But the European champions are playing brilliant football.

[07:55:05]

WHITFIELD: Right.

DAVIES: And you can see it in that one goal in their seven matches so far in the tournament.

And one man who has been inspired by what he's seen here at the World Cup, Miami Heat's new star Giannis Antetokounmpo. He was in Atlanta on Wednesday to watch Argentina's win before being officially introduced in Miami. And he's hoping to emulate some of the success of his new superstar neighbor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO, MIAMI HEAT: Messi might go down as one of the best athletes of all time. He has seven MVPs. He might have two World Cup wins -- finals wins. When you see that, you get inspired. You definitely get inspired to take care of your body. To keep on doing the right thing for your team. The respect that he has from his team, that's earned. And hopefully, in my career I'm able to do something like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Aww.

DAVIES: Well, if Messi lifts the World Cup for Argentina again on Sunday it will be the 47th major trophy of his career.

WHITFIELD: Insane. DAVIES: But the first received from President Donald Trump. The White House confirming perhaps the worst-kept secret of the tournament -- that Trump is attending the final on Sunday --

WHITFIELD: Great.

DAVIES: -- and will be front and center of that presentation as we saw, of course, at the Club World Cup. And interestingly, the first time in World Cup history the players are going to get ceremonial rings.

WHITFIELD: Oh, that's nice.

DAVIES: So a nod to American sports.

WHITFIELD: That's right -- NFL, NBA. Why not soccer as well, or football as we should say?

Yeah. Well, it's going to be very exciting.

DAVIES: We're getting there.

WHITFIELD: Already very electric in New York City ahead of this incredible World Cup final.

All right, Amanda. Great to see you. Thanks so much -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: I love that they're getting rings. I think that is an --

WHITFIELD: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: -- awesome nod. Let's see if it continues in the next World Cup. That's all for now. Go to this.

In South Lake, Texas what started as a routine traffic stop quickly turned into a rescue operation. I think you can see why. Dashcam footage shows the smoke and fire coming from this car as the officer is rushing to save a driver that was trapped inside.

Bodycam footage gives another angle of it. It shows the officer smashing the driver's window and pulling him out. Look at all the smoke just inside. This is moments before the car then became -- becomes engulfed in flames. Let me show you another angle of this as well with the driver being pulled to safety.

Thankfully, we're told that the man was not seriously hurt. I'm constantly amazed how people can make it out of these things unscathed. The officer was awarded the department's second-highest honor for his heroic actions -- and heroic, certainly. My God.

OK, remember that video that we showed you this week of the Blue Angels jet that did a super low flyover and, like, kicked up umbrellas and everything on this beach in Florida and the Navy launched an internal safety review afterward? Well, now the acting secretary of the Navy is responding to it all. He

says, "Flight debrief complete. No reprimands. No firings. No problem. That's the sound of freedom, people."

CNN has reached out to the Blue Angels for additional comment.

Now, a water main break led to a huge sinkhole on one of America's famous streets. Take a look at the mess on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood -- the aftermath of a century-old pipe bursting. There are road closures now all throughout that area, understandably so. The mess, though, was not just contained to this road. It caused flooding as well at a bus depot nearby and nearby businesses also saw some damage.

The mayor says no one was injured. There is your thankfully. No word yet on how long repairs are going to take -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Kate.

All right. New this morning Truth Social has become President Trump's go-to place to announce policy decisions, and those posts can move markets from stocks to oil prices. And now the company says the platform will sell Wall Street firms quicker access to those market- moving posts.

CNN senior business reporter is joining me right now. All right, so what do we say here? Is this a good move?

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah. Well, I mean, this is another example of President Trump kind of mixing politics and business. He owns 41 percent of the parent company for Truth Social. So, you know, this is certainly going to benefit him.

Now, what they're doing is maybe trying to reverse their stock because it's not doing so hot. It is down, like, 90 percent from when it went public. The thing is though that it's selling something that a lot of other companies do. This is actually a smart business. It gives you the ability to get President Trump's communications in -- basically, instantaneously, right?

X does this, Meta -- you know, all the other social networks allow you to get instant access. But this is someone who is -- you know, makes policy decisions very, very quickly.

WHITFIELD: Right. Who already has a huge megaphone. But obviously, he's sending a signal of his reliance on this Truth Social as being a primary way in which to communicate.

GOLDMAN: Well, that's right. And not only is it making policy decisions in real time -- you'll be able to get those as a stock trader -- now he can make money off of that because they are selling that access.