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U.S. Launches New Wave Of Strikes On Iran After Three Troops Killed; Andy Burnham Becomes U.K.'s Seventh Prime Minister In A Decade; Trial Begins For Mother Accused Of Killing Her Three Young Children. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired July 20, 2026 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:30:42]

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: This morning new strikes overnight as the human and financial toll of the war with Iran is rising. At least 17 Americans have now died. This weekend, CENTCOM says one service member was killed in Iraq while trying to detonate a downed Iranian attack drones and remains have been recovered in Jordan in the search for a service member still missing after Iranian strikes left two others dead.

Also this morning, gas prices are back over $4.00 a gallon on average nationwide amid fears that the conflict could again explode into all- out war.

Joining me now is CNN national security analyst Alex Plitsas. Alex, good to see you.

So three American deaths in just 24 hours. A ninth night of strikes. Kuwait intercepting attacks once again this morning.

What does this tell you about the threat level to the thousands of troops now not only in the region but around the world?

ALEX PLITSAS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST, DIRECTOR, ATLANTIC COUNCIL'S COUNTERTERRORISM PROGRAM (via Webex by Cisco): So it tells us that our air defenses have to be right all the time and the Iranians only have to be right once. And unfortunately, we did see some pretty substantive attacks.

I'm hearing from multiple U.S. officials that the number of casualties actually in these attacks, particularly in Jordan, was much higher. That there could have been several dozen wounded in Jordan alone. Then additional attacks in Saudi Arabia. And when they hit the base in Erbil in northern Iraq it was actually -- it hit a weapons storage depot as well and there were secondary explosions there. So quite a substantive attack.

I'm told that the Iranians also look like they've adapted their tactics based on previous strikes in which they have maneuverable warheads now coming off of the missiles that are coming in, and that's making it more difficult to shoot things down. So not a lot of information has been released but that is, so far,

what I'm being told by U.S. officials.

GOLODRYGA: The New York Times also reporting that the number of U.S. troops that have been injured in attacks has not been disclosed over the past few weeks. Jordan, in particular, has been on the receiving end of a number of these strikes.

What message is Iran sending by specifically targeting Jordan?

PLITSAS: So Iran, as they've targeted Jordan -- and this attack was successful, unfortunately -- but they've also attacked many of our other bases in the region, so it's two-fold. It's part of their overall strategy that they've launched in response to the U.S. military action that was launched several months ago, and that is they want to maximize U.S. casualties.

They want to ensure that the Gulf States and also Jordan, where we have basing that's being used to launch, put pressure on Washington to end the war. And they want to increase the cost of goods by choking off the Strait of Hormuz by holding it at risk. And lastly, they want to cause division within the president's political base.

I'm told by multiple sources in the region that those are the four courses of action Iran is pursuing as part of an asymmetric strategy to get the U.S. end its military operations.

GOLODRYGA: Alex, Mojtaba Khamenei calls the president's signature "worthless and unreliable." He invoked great Satan for the first time now as supreme leader. He hasn't appeared in public since the war began. We haven't heard his voice either. There are reports that he may not even be in the country.

So who is actually making the decisions in Tehran now?

PLITSAS: So there's a split power structure as there always has been. My understanding is the last round of negotiations in which Iran was speaking to Oman trying to come up with a plan for the Strait, the Omanis proposed that they control the southern route around the Strait of Hormuz and that Iran would retain the northern route. And if Iran chose to charge fees of whatnot that was its business, but Oman would have a toll-free southern corridor for which to move in accordance with international maritime law.

The civilian negotiators then said that they had to go back to the Supreme National Security Council in Iran and it was overwhelmingly rejected. And I was told it was not one official that was speculation for a while; that is just Vahidi, the head of the IRGC that was the problem child was the words used. But I'm hearing it's actually a number of officials across the national security apparatus who are not in line and there is a divide with the civilians.

And so at this point, it looks like there is still widespread believe amongst IRGC leaders and National Security Council that they should retain control of the Strait of Hormuz, and that's the point of contention, and that was the flashpoint that led to this latest round of escalations between the U.S. and Iran.

GOLODRYGA: Alex, Saudi Arabia just struck the Houthi-held airport in Sanaa. Analysts are warning that Tehran could now call on the Houthis to shut Bab al-Mandab.

[07:35:05]

Are we looking potentially at two chokeholds now?

PLITSAS: It's entirely possible. So I've been told my multiple sources throughout the region that the Iranians have largely been holding the Houthis in reserve. Because, as you mentioned, the Bab al-Mandab -- where we have, you know, a significant amount of global trade that goes around up through the Red Sea -- that they could choke it off, which they've done once before during the Biden administration. They had to put together an international maritime coalition to sort of shut that down. And even until military action was done, major shipping companies still didn't want to transit the waters.

So given the fact that the Strait of Hormuz is still being held at risk, that would create a second maritime chokepoint. And again, that's part of an asymmetric strategy that Iran would use.

But I was also told that they were largely holding that in reserve if they felt they had no other option. So an indicator of how badly Iran feels it's doing will be if they decide to activate the Houthis.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah, and the U.S. reimposing that blockade on the Strait of Hormuz last week.

Alex Plitsas, thank you -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. New this morning, a poll in The Washington Post shows a midterm race that's a little too close for comfort for Democrats. Democrats do lead in the so-called generic congressional ballot test, but that lead you can see right there -- it's just three points.

With us now is the Washington bureau chief at The Atlanta Journal- Constitution, Tia Mitchell. And the Washington bureau chief for The Boston Globe, Jackie Kucinich.

And Tia, my question is how nervous do you feel Democrats are? What are you hearing from Democrats as they look at these margins and they think hey, we have an unpopular president. We should be winning by a lot here.

TIA MITCHELL, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, THE ATLANTA JOURNAL- CONSTITUTION: Yeah. I think Democrats are nervous but the poll of, like, the generic ballot is not as important as these individual races -- these swing seats. These seats that they hope that they can flip from red to blue.

And, of course, we know Democrats are concerned about some of the candidates in some of these competitive races -- statewide races. They're concerned that some of the candidates may be too leftist, too progressive.

But I think in general, you know, when we hear from leader Jeffries, he believes that his party is going to retake the House. And I still think, you know, there -- the bets on them that they'll be able to do it given that they only need to pick up a few seats.

BERMAN: We'll talk to Harry Enten later in the show. You know, by Harry's calculations, three points is actually a little bit under where Democrats need to be to safely retake the house in the generic ballot test. You kind of need somewhere four, five, six points with redistricting for the Democrats to do it.

And Jackie, Democrats -- not only do they see these polls, but they go to places like Michigan right now and you see a party that's divided. You've got the Senate race there. You've got, you know, opposing sides coming in campaigning against each other.

What will the challenges be in unifying the different factions of the Democratic Party?

JACKIE KUCINICH, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, THE BOSTON GLOBE (via Webex by Cisco): That is a challenge. We're actually seeing that in Maine right now, not to -- not to take us back to New England. But you're seeing the candidate that, you know, perhaps there was some dissatisfaction with the left side, particularly with Graham Platner.

And now you have Troy Jackson who is the former Senate president who looks like he has it on lock at this point. He is also very progressive. And his challenge is going to be not only to keep bringing the Platner people along, who are the more progressive, but also some of those folks that may be -- may have backed Janet Mills and might be -- and perhaps some of those Collins voters that might be on the bubble.

So you're going to see something like that across the country in terms of the establishment versus the more progressive wing and who they feel like can carry that message and convince the most voters to put them back in office.

BERMAN: And Jackie, while you're bringing up Maine, I think a lot of people this weekend -- a lot of us who report on politics regularly -- picked up the papers and saw that Troy Jackson had basically, you know, consolidated support and were reminded oh, you mean you could organize politically. If you've got things like conventions, you can actually work to organize that support and secure your own victory here.

This is a pretty impressive example of a guy whose campaign went to work for a couple of days and may have just sealed the deal.

KUCINICH: It is true though you have to remember that he also ran for governor just a, you know, few months ago. So the fact that there was that infrastructure in place, he could activate those volunteers, many of whom actually were Platner supporters. Platner did endorse him. So having that there was definitely advantageous.

But yes, John, our James Pindell wrote that it was -- it was -- it was actually pretty organized --

BERMAN: Yeah.

[07:40:00]

KUCINICH: -- given the chaos that brought this upon the Maine Democrats. The fact that this kind of orderly transition happened or appears to be on its way to happening next weekend is fairly remarkable.

BERMAN: Yeah.

And then -- and then Tia, just to go back to what our lead story is, the news of these three -- at least three service members being killed in the war with Iran -- gas prices up over $4.00 a gallon. And it really was just weeks ago that you had a sense that the White House felt it had put the situation with Iran, politically speaking, behind it. It really feels anything but now. It could be even escalating.

One wonders what the impact of that will be over the coming weeks.

MITCHELL: Yeah, I think it's escalating. I think it's becoming -- of course, it's been the White House's problem of its own making. You know, just the lack of building consensus and support before the strikes in Iran. The mixed messages of what we're actually trying to accomplish by going to war with Iran. And now the growing human toll most -- I mean, the fact a 19-year-old service member killed in action is just devastating to hear.

And then, of course, the problems at the pump. The problems in the pocketbooks.

And I think Congress is going to growingly have a problem with this because they are the ones hearing from their constituents and they really don't have answers to give their constituents because the White House isn't giving them many answers. The fact that we don't even know how many service members have been wounded. It's a big problem.

BERMAN: Of course, Congress not at work much after this week for the next couple of months. That may be one advantage they have. If they get out of town over the next seven days it may not be something they have to deal with, at least not directly.

Tia Mitchell, Jackie Kucnich, great to see you both. Thank you very much -- Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: All right. Thanks, John.

Breaking news. For the seventh -- that's right, seventh time in a decade the U.K. has a new prime minister. Andy Burnham just took the office moments ago after meeting with King Charles at Buckingham Palace. We are standing by to hear him speak and possibly give some hint of how he'll handle the U.S.-British relationship and, of course, President Trump.

CNN's Max Foster has the very latest from 10 Downing Street. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, the reality is we just don't know anything about Andy Burnham's foreign policy. That's what we're most keen to hear about. He's spoken a lot about domestic policy but what he's not -- what he's going to do on the international stage.

He didn't come into power with an election. He was crowned, effectively, by his Parliamentary party. And he hasn't been questioned in any way about his foreign policy.

He has spoken briefly or suggested -- his team has suggested that there may be more North Sea oil drilling, which is something that President Trump picked up on immediately. He's been pushing that for a long time. So that's clearly something that President Trump is pleased to see so it may help the relationship a bit there.

But they're very charismatic people. They're both very personable people. I imagine that on a personal level they'll get on very well.

But we don't really know about Burnham's foreign policy, his U.S. policy, even his policies on Ukraine or Iran, for example. So that's what we're waiting to hear about in the next hour or so where we'll get his first speech.

And, of course, the big question this afternoon when he takes calls from foreign leaders, who will be the first one that he receives a call from? I think it would be very telling if it's from President Trump -- John.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: All right. We are standing by to hear from the new prime minister.

And then happening today, jury selection is set to begin in the chilling case of a Massachusetts mother accused of killing her three young children before allegedly trying to take her own life. Prosecutors say Lindsay Clancy planned the killings in 2023 before sending her husband out of the house. Her defense argues she was suffering from severe postpartum psychosis and lacked criminal responsibility for the killings. She has pleaded not guilty.

CNN's Jean Casarez is here. So what can we expect to see?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jury selection today. The first day of jury selection. They're having more jurors than normal come in because of the high-profile nature but also because of the issues involved --

BERMAN: Sure.

CASAREZ: -- in this case. They'll fill out a questionnaire and then immediately not have any general questioning but go individual questioning because there are sensitive issues at stake here. You know, according to the legal documents, Lindsay Clancy had three

children -- she and her husband -- five years old, three years old, and eight months. And according to those documents, after the 8-month- old one -- the last one was born she developed postpartum depression. And she went to doctors and psychiatrists and psychologists -- a laundry list of medication.

Her husband, after the fact, did an interview with law enforcement and said, John, just one month before this happened, she was saying, "I have these feelings I want to harm the children." And the fact is in January of 2023 those three young children were found in the basement, and they were all strangled to death.

Now, the defense is saying lack of criminal responsibility. In other words, that she was mentally insane when this happened. Now, just days ago there was the final pretrial hearing, and he was arguing a motion.

[07:45:03]

But here is what we believe the defense is going to be in this case. Take a listen.

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KEVIN REDDINGTON, CLANCY'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It's so easy for us as a society to say in a troubling case like this, oh my God, she's guilty. Throw away the key. Put her in -- put her in jail and just be done with it because it makes everybody feel better. It's a feel-good reaction that OK, somebody has been punished because of doing a very bad thing. But as we know, when you're dealing with issues of lack of criminal responsibility -- I don't like the term insanity.

But nevertheless, when you're dealing with somebody who is suffering from a medical defect or a disease and they have actually experienced something that is so outside the ken if you will of jurors -- of normal people -- for us to believe that somebody is hearing voices -- the initial reaction from any one of us I think in this courtroom would be come on, you're not hearing voices. What are you talking about? You're making this up? You're trying to avoid responsibility. But it is true and it happens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: The prosecution says this is murder. Knowingly, she intentionally did this act.

And John, here's how it works in the court, according to Massachusetts law. Once the defense asserts its defense of lack of criminal responsibility, it shifts to the prosecution. They have the burden to show the jury beyond a reasonable doubt that number one, there was no mental disease or defect, or number two, there was a mental disease or defect, but she knowingly knew the criminality of the act she did and should be found guilty.

BERMAN: It's going to be a difficult case I think for a lot of people to hear and listen to. CASAREZ: And the defendant is in a wheelchair in the courtroom because when she jumped out of that window shortly after it happened, she's now permanently paralyzed.

BERMAN: Jean Casarez, we know you'll be watching this very closely. Please keep us posted.

CASAREZ: Thank you.

BERMAN: Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Pennsylvania police are investigating an attempted robbery at the home of Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley. Barkley and his family were at home at the time. They were not harmed.

Authorities say they were contacted early Saturday morning around 5:00 a.m. When officers arrived at the house the suspects had fled and remain at large. Police are asking for the public's help to identify them.

And for the first time since 1870, a sitting vice president is a new dad. JD Vance announced Sunday that he and his wife Usha have welcomed their fourth children, a baby boy named Alec Neel Vance. Congratulations to them. President Trump posted a picture of the baby this morning, also congratulating the family. Vance says mom and baby are doing well and the couple's three older children are excited about their new baby brother.

All right. Still ahead for us, Google and Apple are in a major battle over who controls the future of smartphone artificial intelligence around the world.

And what you should know about a weird raccoon named "Jimothy" roaming the streets of Seattle -- beware.

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[07:52:35]

GOLODRYGA: What are we going to do without this animation now that the World Cup is over? All right, viva Espana. A single goal in extra time made all the difference to give Spain their second World Cup title over defending champions Messi and Argentina. This marks the first men's World Cup victory for Spain since 2010.

CNN's Amanda Davies has covered the entire tournament for us, and she is with me here in New York. So a bit of an underwhelming game, I would say. I was very lucky to be there. I was rooting for Argentina, but the right team won. They really were aggressive throughout. The fact that Argentina had an amazing goalie who was able to save some shots on goal for Argentina. But nonetheless, an incredible game.

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yeah. I would hope that the previous 103 matches had maybe won over some of those people who still need to be convinced about the beautiful game but, yeah, absolutely what we saw was the right team winning. It was the most star-studded World Cup final in history. Music, film,

sporting royalty all in attendance. Tom Cruise, Timothy Chalemet, Beyonce, Serena Williams.

But none of them able to outshine Spain's moment and this new generation of World Cup winners. They have now won it all, reigning supreme as world Olympic and European champions. And the stage couldn't have been any more spectacular for the first-ever meeting of Lionel Messi up against his heir apparent, Lamine Yamal. The chaos of defending champions Argentina against the control of the Spanish swan- like serenity. It was a real battle of endurance.

Spain had 65 possessions and 20 shot on goal. And after Enzo Fernando's was sent off, frankly, a crazy challenge. It was ultimately Ferran Torres who found that way through in extra time to see his side claim football's ultimate prize for just the second time in history. Look at what it meant.

We wait to see what the defeat means for Lionel Messi and his future in an Argentina shirt. The 39-year-old captain, who cemented his place as the greatest of all time at this tournament, had tears running down his face after the final whistle. A penny for his thoughts there. After over 200 appearances for his country, he's yet to give any indication if there will be another.

[07:55:05]

But if you needed any confirmation of the pain of defeat in a World Cup final just look at Messi's Argentina boss Lionel Scalon at his post-match press conference. The 48-year-old unable to talk about what happens next eventually. He just apologized, standing up and leaving the room.

Today's "What a Shot," brought to you by HBO Max, has to be the trophy lift. One of those iconic images set to be used for years to come in celebration of the 2026 World Cup winners. Unlike 12 months ago with Club World Cup, this time President Trump ushered to the side, as you can see just on the right, after presenting the trophy, allowing the players to take center stage as it should be.

And from the high of becoming a World Cup winner for the first time you wonder if the Spain defender Marc Cucurella might have any regrets this morning, waking up realizing he really does have to get a tattoo of his coach Luis de la Fuente. He said before the tournament that is what he would do if Spain lifted the trophy. And de la Fuente really ramped up the pressure last night, saying, "My players are men of their word." But it was funny. He said, "Don't worry, I'm not too ugly. It won't be too bad."

GOLODRYGA: A small price to pay --

DAVIES: That's right.

GOLODRYGA: -- for carrying that trophy.

We hear the team is already back in Madrid. DAVIES: Yeah.

GOLODRYGA: They've got a parade welcoming them.

DAVIES: And we know parades in Madrid are something pretty spectacular. The fans already lining the streets.

GOLODRYGA: They do. They dominated the game. They dominated the tournament.

DAVIES: Yeah.

GOLODRYGA: It was fantastic to watch. I'm sad that it's over. Women next year, right?

DAVIES: I was going to say, only 12 months to go.

GOLODRYGA: Brazil. We'll be following it all, Amanda. Thank you -- John.

BERMAN: I'm sure Cucurella will get a tattoo of the coach, the coach's family, all the coach's friends for a World Cup. That's a small price to pay.

GOLODRYGA: Just like you.

BERMAN: All right, quite a weekend in Las Vegas for Flavor Flav and more than 100 Team USA Olympians and Paralympians. They called this a "She Weekend." It included a meet-and-greet with the Backstreet Boys at the Sphere, which is apparently something that every athlete wants.

Firefighters in California received a call that a dog jumped into the San Francisco Bay and then just kept swimming, which is good considering the alternative. Officers were able to spot the dog with a drone before launching a boat to rescue it. The dog was turned over to officials who helped find its family.

All right. In Seattle, this thing, which really does look like a creature from "Star Wars" -- a walking ball of fur -- has become a viral sensation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kind of like a local celebrity in Bellair, so I would like to see him, you know, IRL but --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Almost a little supernatural.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right. It's actually a raccoon and a local veterinarian says the round shape could be linked to a congenital spine shortening disease.

Now, in Seattle, they are calling this thing "Jimothy." As for why it is called "Jimothy" the official response seems to be just because -- Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: We'll continue to investigate that name. A little creepy if you ask me -- those images.

All right, John. Thank you.

AI assistants are in the palm of millions of people's hands around the world, and now the European Union and tech giants Google and Apple are in a major battle over who controls the future of AI on smartphones. The EU wants other virtual assistants to be just as prominent on smartphones as Google's Gemini and Apple's Siri, ordering Google to give other AI agents broader access to Android by July 2027. But Apple and Google argue opening their platforms could raise serious privacy concerns.

CNN Business tech editor Lisa Eadicicco joins me now with more. So I'm assuming lengthy court battles are ahead.

LISA EADICICCO, CNN BUSINESS TECH EDITOR: Yeah. So as you mentioned, this really is kind of a battle over the future of smartphones and what the European commission is asking of Google here is to open up Android so that users can use other AI assistants for things like operating apps, using voice commands by default. And because Google owns Android it does get to integrate Gemini on a deeper level than other AI assistants.

And it's not just Google. Apple said in June that it will not launch Siri AI on iPhones and iPads in the EU because of these rules as well.

So these companies argue that there are major privacy concerns here, and there are some. This is true. I have spoken to privacy experts about this, and you do have to be really, really careful about giving third-party apps and services access to the information on your device because then they can learn a lot more about you. You might not know how that information is being used and where it'll end up.

But at the same time, of course, something like this would have major business ramifications for Apple and Google, the biggest players in the smartphone market. Now, the EU only accounts for really a sliver of the worldwide smartphone market. We're talking about 427 million phones out of the roughly five billion that are in use.

But I do think that this is a critical argument and one that's not going to go away anytime soon because it really does come down to what level of control these companies have over the devices that we use for everything every day.