Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

One-Hundred-Million-Plus Americans Impacted By Smoke From Canadian Wildfires; DHS Secretary Mullin Threatens "Prison Time" For State Officials Not Complying With Trump's Election Security Requirements; Mexico: "No Serious Damage" After 7.3-Magnitude Earthquake; Lettuce Served At Taco Bell Tied To Regional Parasitic Outbreak; Maine Dems' First Debate Shows Difficulty In Replacing Graham Platner. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired July 17, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: And here's a part of what he told me overnight, he said, "If Paramount-Warner Bros. want to come forward in good faith and sincerely want to make a settlement offer, we will always consider a settlement offer. And it would have to include structural remedies."

Notice the word remedies there, plural. He was very clear to me, and we can put up another quote from Bonta. He said, if Paramount comes forward and wants to offer selling off CNN as part of other offers, then we will consider that. But he said, CNN is not what we're focused for, not what we're looking for. He said, we're focused on the theatrical film market, the blockbuster market, the cable channel market.

So, in other words, Bonta is saying that this argument in court is not about CNN. It's about Hollywood. But this argument, this back and forth, is going to continue. For now, the litigation moves forward, and we will hear from a judge early -- early next week.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: All right. Brian Stelter watching it very closely. Appreciate you being here.

New hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Air quality concerns across several major cities as plumes of Canadian wildfire smoke engulf the Midwest and Northeast. Over 100 million people are under air quality alerts.

Plus, President Trump's big reveal was a series of newly declassified documents that he says prove there are vulnerabilities in the American election system. But a review of those documents show those potential issues have been known for years.

And then later, it all points to the lettuce. The CDC says the nasty stomach bug that's impacting multiple states is linked to shredded iceberg lettuce sold in a major fast food restaurant.

We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL. JIMENEZ: Air alert, folks. We begin with the dangerous haze now

impacting close to a third of the American population. More than a hundred million people in the Great Lakes, Northeast, and Mid-Atlantic are under a blanket of wildfire smoke, most of it from Canada, that is making it unhealthy to go outside. Public health officials warn it's not just the vulnerable who are at risk here. The air is so hard to breathe that even healthy adults with no pre-existing conditions are strongly encouraged to stay indoors.

Let's look at this air quality map. It shows just how much of the country is exposed to the high levels of pollutants from the wildfire smoke. All the red and maroon dots reflect air considered unhealthy or hazardous. And then, the nation's capital is among the cities in those categories. And that is where CNN's Brian Todd is standing by outside. You can barely see some of what's behind you there, shrouded in that smoke, but what is it like actually being out there right now?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I got one word for you, Omar, miserable. And I'm going to step aside and show you what that looks like. Miserable conditions out here. Our photojournalist Jay McMichael is going to train his camera in here.

On a normal day, this is the Netherlands Carillon, which is right next to the Iwo Jima Memorial in Arlington, Virginia, just across the river from -- from the monuments there. On a normal day, you can easily see the Lincoln Memorial, which you can see here. But you can also easily see the Washington Monument behind it and the Capitol behind that. But right now, take a look. I can barely make out the Washington Monument. I can also barely make out the Capitol. I'm not sure you guys are going to be able to see it as these folks walk by walk by us here.

But you -- you really -- you really can't see it, honestly. It's very, very hard to make out, the -- the Capitol and the Washington Monument there behind the Lincoln Memorial. And I can tell you that the air quality and the visuals here have gotten worse in the last few hours. We were out here earlier this morning. We were also by the Lincoln Memorial early this morning. It is now worse than it was just a couple of hours ago.

CNN spoke to a gentleman named Josh Hall. He is an air resource advisor from the state of Minnesota. Here's what he had to say about kind of this -- the pervasive nature of this entire condition of haze and smoke throughout the upper Midwest and the eastern U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH HALL, AIR RESOURCE ADVISER: What we're seeing today is an entirely different magnitude. We have air quality alerts all the way from Minnesota, all the way through the Great Lakes, all over the East Coast, from Connecticut, New York, down to North Carolina, all due to the fires from Ontario down to what's -- what's here outside of Ely (ph).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: And the advice that we're getting from experts is, if you have to be out here, first of all, they say don't come out here. If you've got to be out here, wear one of these. These are the masks that you'll recall from the COVID era. This is an N95 respirator mask. This will help you. This is a regular N95 mask. This will also help you. Cloth masks will not protect you from this kind of smoke. Omar?

JIMENEZ: I was trying to think about why the backdrop behind you looks so weird. Yes, as you pointed out, it's because I can't actually see the Washington Monument and the Capitol behind you as well. Just gives you an idea of what -- what it's actually looking like out there.

[15:05:03]

Brian, as I understand, public health officials are also giving advice to people under these conditions and what they should do when they are indoors as well. What do we know about that?

TODD: Right, Omar, you know, you're not completely out of the woods, even if you stay inside in the air conditioning. But what they do advise us, and we have a graphic to show you that, is that, number one, stay inside, keep your air conditioner on, turn on your air filters if you have electric run air filters. If you don't have electric run air filters and you have non-electric air filters, make sure that they're clean and working.

Also, one expert, Peter DeCarlo from Johns Hopkins University, says avoid vacuuming for two reasons. Number one, if you vacuum, you're going to kick up some dust and stuff in your car, but that's going to send more particles into the air. Not great for you. Another reason to avoid vacuuming is it's just more physical activity and you just want to limit that physical activity on a miserable day like today.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Well, I appreciate you being out there. Get safe when you can. At least you got the mask on hand. Brian Todd for us out in a hazy Washington, D.C. area. Brianna?

KEILAR: Today, with just over three months until the November midterms, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is offering a new warning to state election officials, telling them to comply with the administration's new election security requirements or else.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARKWAYNE MULLIN, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We are not going to spend taxpayer dollars reimbursing a state that is refusing to secure their elections. If the election officials, once we gave them the information they need to secure their elections and they chose not to, then those individuals can also be held accountable by fines, by penalties and even, depending on how far it goes, prison time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Let's go to CNN's Kevin Liptak, who's at the White House. Kevin, tell us what you're learning here.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, and this was interesting because Markwayne Mullin actually went quite a bit further than President Trump himself did in that primetime speech last night in threatening states that don't work with DHS in strengthening their election systems and threatening what he called maximum pressure to root out any illegally cast votes. But the question is exactly how many votes have been cast illegally?

Because what the President laid out last night were these figures. He says that there have been more than 200,000 noncitizens found on various states' voter rolls. But we know that that does not translate necessarily to illegally cast votes. And in fact, when you talk to election experts, they say that noncitizens actually voting is quite a rare incidence in the United States. And so, I -- I think there is a lot to parse out here. It all comes as this back and forth between the federal government and individual states. You've seen the Department of Justice ask states to provide confidential voter information. More than half of them have actually refused to do that. And the number of judges in various cases have sided with the -- with those states when it has gone through court.

And what Mullin seems to be doing here is threatening criminal prosecutions, potentially jail time, if state election officials don't comply with what DHS is doing here.

Now, earlier today, the White House put out a social media post, I think trying to frame a little bit of what President Trump was doing in that speech last night. They say, quote, "for years, fake news and other bad actors tried to convince you that we had safe and secure elections, when that clearly wasn't reality." It goes on to say that America must continue to fight for honest elections and properly functioning voting systems -- our nation depends on it.

I think one of the issues here is that a lot of what the President said last night, particularly when it comes to election meddling, at least in broad terms, has been known for quite some time. Now, the President did not allege that any of that meddling actually changed votes or changed election tabulations, but he certainly was making out to be a very grave instance, for example, that China had obtained voter information and, in his words, tried to interfere in the 2020 election.

I think the issue is that nothing the President has done since coming back into office suggests that he was taking this seriously. You know, he has gutted task forces at the FBI and the Director of National Intelligence that were meant to look into election meddling, and I think that all raises the question of the timing here, four months before the midterm elections, of whether the President is just trying to sow discord and try to undermine confidence in the -- in -- in those elections. Brianna.

KEILAR: Kevin Liptak live force at the White House, thank you. Omar?

[15:10:03]

JIMENEZ: We want to update you on that 7.3 magnitude earthquake that shook Mexico and its neighboring countries. Officials in Mexico say there is no serious damage there and that no deaths have been reported yet. Multiple people are injured, however, as authorities are now responding to gas leaks and reports of collapsed walls, cracks, and other structural damage. The Tsunami Warning Center says the threat of a tsunami, fortunately, has passed. Multiple aftershocks, though, have also rattled the region, so we'll continue to monitor what's coming in from that region.

Still to come, though, new details on the outbreak of that nasty stomach bug that impacted thousands in the Midwest, why health officials believe shredded iceberg lettuce is to blame.

Plus, the FBI says it believes illegal drugs were found inside -- or they believe it was inside Lorenzo Salgado Araujo's van. The family of the man, though, fatally shot by an ICE agent, is refuting that claim.

And then later, can Spain's teenage prodigy stop Lionel Messi in Argentina in what could be Messi's last tournament? I -- I think it probably is. But, hey, you never know. What you need to know about the FIFA World Cup final and much more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:15:36]

JIMENEZ: U.S. health officials say shredded lettuce served at some Taco Bell locations have been linked to a multi-state outbreak in the Midwest caused by the Cyclospora parasite. Now, the CDC says more than 1,600 reported -- 1,600 people reported getting sick after eating at Taco Bell locations in these five states. You can see them on your screen there. CNN's Jacqueline Howard has the details.

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Now that we have more information around the cyclosporiasis outbreak, here's what you should do to reduce your risk. Number one, when you're cooking at home, if you are preparing a salad, go for whole heads of lettuce over bagged lettuce. That's because whole heads of lettuce typically go through less handling. And remove the outer layers of leaves and thoroughly wash the inner layers of leaves.

And at this time, it can be helpful to prioritize cooking your food. Because we know when food is heated to above 158 degrees Fahrenheit, that can help kill the Cyclospora parasite. And of course, with anything, always wash your hands, wash your fresh produce, practice good hygiene. And when it comes to the Midwest outbreak of cases, the CDC does warn on its website, do not eat shredded iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell locations in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia.

Again, that has been connected back to the outbreak of cases we are seeing in the Midwest region at this time. And if you are someone with a weakened immune system, experts say you may want to be extra careful with reducing your risk around this outbreak. And for all of us, if you do develop symptoms like watery diarrhea, sometimes explosive diarrhea, nausea, fatigue, and if your symptoms last for days or even weeks, talk with your doctor, let them know what you're going through, and mention what you have eaten recently, since that can help hold clues to what might possibly be behind your illness. Back to you.

KEILAR: All right, Jacqueline Howard, thank you for that reporting.

And this outbreak has really left Taco Bell scrambling to contain a public relations nightmare. CNN's David Goldman is with us now. How is the company responding to this situation, David?

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, it's a, you know, listen, there are a lot of jokes about Taco Bell, but I think that one of the things that you have to remember is this is no laughing matter for the company. The company is certainly taking very fast action, saying that it acted quickly and proactively to protect its guests. And that is for good reason, because it has a lot to lose here.

Taco Bell was the shining star of the fast food industry. It was up eight straight quarters of sales growth, and it's not, like, eking out gains either. In the last quarter, it was up 8 percent. Look at this, 16 percent profit growth. Now, when you look at comparing that to other companies, well, it's significantly better. Look, McDonald's was up only 4 percent. Burger King, also high, but not as high as Taco Bell, up almost 6 percent. And Wendy's is losing out, down 2.1 percent. So, Taco Bell is the leader here.

Now, it's probably looking to McDonald's as one of the key sort of comparisons, because McDonald's had a similar outbreak in 2024. It was E. coli that time. Now, McDonald's had 4.3 percent sales in the fourth quarter of '23, and after the outbreak, they fell to down 1.4 percent. That's a huge decrease. McDonald's had to spend $100 million in a PR campaign to make sure that customers were aware.

Now, Taco Bell hasn't said what it is going to do to educate customers about its reaction to all of this. Right now, it just has a statement on its website saying that it has taken care of the situation and it's replacing the lettuce with another provider, but it might have to do a lot more to avoid this kind of situation, Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, all of these situations are not great situations, and you know what I'm talking about, David. It was on that first slide that you put up there, which -- that wasn't subtle.

GOLDMAN: Listen ...

[15:20:02]

KEILAR: Go back to that slide and show us your slide, that first one. Not subtle. Not subtle, David.

GOLDMAN: You know, listen, it's Friday. We're having a little fun.

KEILAR: We are.

GOLDMAN: It's not fun if you have it, though.

KEILAR: No, it's not fun if you have it, but people know. All right, David, thank you so much. Well, eight Maine Democrats hoping to replace Graham Platner in this year's midterm Senate race faced each other just days before the party picks his replacement. The big takeaways from last night's debate after a quick break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:25:11]

KEILAR: The race to replace Graham Platner in Maine is really entering crunch time. Maine Democrats held their first debate. They offered a first look at the crowded field. The night underscored the size of the void that Platner left behind. Eight candidates taking the stage. And now the party has until next weekend's convention to choose who will take on longtime Republican Senator Susan Collins.

We're joined now by Michael Shepherd, who is politics editor for Bangor Daily News. All right, thank you so much for being with us. Eight candidates were on this stage last night. What are you hearing from voters? Did you think anyone break -- broke through there?

MICHAEL SHEPHERD, POLITICS EDITOR, BANGOR DAILY NEWS: Yes, I think you're right that Graham Platner really leaves a void here. And these candidates are adjusting. They were running for governor, maybe running for something else, running for nothing. There was a second hour where it was kind of an undercard debate. So I think there was, I think -- I think Nirav Shah looked ready for this, ready for the -- ready to take the jump up in terms of the issue set. Troy Jackson, Labor Democrat, former Senate president was fairly even. I think Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who's -- who's the third gubernatorial candidate in this -- in this debate, struggled a little bit, pretty halting, had a pretty bad answer where she -- where she kind of whiffed on some facts around Susan Collins' votes on the War Powers Act around Venezuela, and then kind of landed on a -- on a vacation and a quick turnaround between the gubernatorial campaign. So, I think if anyone had a bad night, it was her.

This is about the delegates, though, as you -- as you alluded to in the open. And I have heard from delegates today who -- who -- who share that view. But there's also a lot of organizing to be done to pack tomorrow's county caucuses so these candidates can get -- get into a good position to win at the state convention. So it's a very strange process, and it's hard to project how debates are going to, you know, affect that right now.

KEILAR: Yes, it really is. So how are the candidates navigating the shadow of Graham Platner? Can they thread the needle of distancing themselves from him while still embracing his platform?

SHEPHERD: Yes, you watched the open of that debate, and you heard a lot of praise for Graham Platner as a -- as a policy voice. People are -- these -- all these candidates, they were sort of on different gradients, on the sort of middle of the party versus progressive spectrum. Jackson and Bellows, more progressive. Nirav Shah, maybe closer to the middle. So he's really working overtime to hitch himself to Platner's policy brand, was probably the most aggressive at coming out right out of the gate against Susan Collins. So, I think they are all learning the -- some lessons and try to generate that enthusiasm that Platner generated. They're not going to match that, so they're really trying to patch together a campaign that can come out of a convention and in three months beat Susan Collins. It's an awfully tough task.

KEILAR: It is so tough. And how has the fatal shooting of Joan Sebastian Guerrero by ICE on Monday changed the contours of this race? How did that play?

SHEPHERD: Yes, I think it has done something that Democrats want, which is to center national issues in this race. I mean, you go back to 2020, and it was the same thing. Democrats want to turn this into a national race on control of the Senate. Susan Collins always wants to bring this back to national issues and her kind of unique attributes. So it has done that, and it -- it has been such a -- the -- the -- the shooting with, apparently, ICE agents found the wrong person. They -- the -- the -- the shooter has -- yes, has kind of a sordid history. So, there's a -- there's -- there's a lot -- there's a lot on that issue, and it's going to be a long-lasting issue, I think, in the news as we kind of sort through what happened on that stop, what -- what were the circumstances of this guy getting recruited into ICE.

So, I think that's going to be a long tail. Democrats ultimately still have to do a lot right here. They have to win at the convention. They have to get known. They have to spin up one of the biggest campaigns in the country. So again, really tough challenge. But I -- I think this -- the -- the week's news and the -- the protests and everything around it has -- has switched things up significantly.

KEILAR: CNN's hosting a debate July 3rd with the Bangor Daily News. You are one of the moderators. This is just ahead of that July 25th party convention. What do voters need out of that debate? What are you looking ahead to there?

SHEPHERD: Yes, of course, we're going to be careful in what we talk about in terms of debate content all the time. But I think there are going to be a long -- I'm starting to do my scouting reports on the delegate candidates that are standing for the -- the county elections tomorrow. And after that, we'll see what the state convention field looks like.

[15:30:00]

I mean, Troy Jackson has put out a slate of 500 delegates that he wants to elect. So, all the campaigns are going to do that to some degree.