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Trump Cuts Created Perfect Storm, Slowed Response to Parasite; FDA Says Taylor Farms Lettuce Gave False Positive Test Results; Trump Says Qatari-Gifted Air Force One Will Be Sent for Upgrades; Three Deaths Reported in NY Legionnaires' Disease Cluster; Police Searching for Suspects in Attempted Burglary of Eagles Star Saquon Barkley's Home. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired July 20, 2026 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:33:21]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Now to a CNN investigation into that parasitic outbreak that is hitting the Midwest, as well as other places, with cases now being reported in more than half the country. A source saying the Trump administration's deep cuts to funding and staffing created a perfect storm that slowed the government's response to the explosion of cyclospora cases.

CNN Medical Correspondent, Meg Tirrell has details on this. So Meg, our team is finding that the impact of these reductions, it is still being felt right now.

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Brianna, this is something that one former director of a federal lab focused on this had warned to superiors when he resigned last year could happen, according to our team's reporting.

And now, as an example of sort of the slow response that some in public health are charging the federal government with, the first illnesses in this outbreak began in mid-May. It was July 1st that Michigan, where of course thousands of these cases are found and is really the center of the main outbreak, warned of the outbreak. But two weeks after that, the CDC sent out its health alert.

And that is something that has been criticized by a lot of public health experts saying we should have gotten here sooner. Now, our team dug into this and they found specifically in that federal lab, which was focused on helping identify parasitic outbreaks, including things like cyclospora. By the time the former director, Dr. Joel Barrett, resigned last fall, his team had been cut from 11 to three.

They also had been impacted by a loss of funding from USAID, thinking about parasites that also includes malaria. And so that affected the work that they were able to do, some of the shared resources there as well. And then of course, the 25-ish percent reduction in the CDC workforce overall last year.

[13:35:00] So they lost the specialists, but they also lost the folks who could come on board in a sort of an all-hands-on-deck approach to this. That source is telling our team, potentially slowing this down. Now, the White House disputes this, saying, of course, that USAID funding, they argue that was for overseas work, not domestic work, and also saying, quote, "The Trump administration's top priority is ensuring the health and safety of the American people." Brianna?

KEILAR: And Meg, over the weekend, the FDA reported that a sample of Taylor Farms lettuce that had tested positive for the parasite was actually a false positive. Does that mean that Taylor Farms and Taco Bell, which use Taylor Farms lettuce, are not the source of the outbreak?

TIRRELL: No, and this is causing a ton of confusion. So this just came out really overnight from Taylor Farms. They noted that the FDA apologized to them over this false positive issue. The FDA clarifying what happened today, saying this false positive lab sample does not change the basis for FDA's ongoing outbreak investigation or the overwhelming epidemiological data supporting the current voluntary recall by Taylor Farms.

So essentially, through thousands of interviews, they had traced this back to the Taylor Farms supplied lettuce from Mexico, iceberg lettuce in particular. Many people reported eating at Taco Bell, although not all of them. And so that's what this recall has been based on. Separately, they did this sampling and that turned out to be a false positive.

But that doesn't change the fact that this recall stands. It, of course, involves Taco Bell. Jack in the Box saying it also has replaced lettuce potentially affected Cisco, Walmart, U.S. foods also. Walmart in particular is important to call out, Brianna, because this, of course, is a retailer. So folks could have potentially bought these things. This is market side brand recall of iceberg salad and shredded lettuce sell by dates up to August 3rd. So folks should be really aware of that. This is the marketplace brand they should be aware of.

But of course, now, this affecting more than 7,000 people, really concentrated this outbreak in the Midwestern states. Brianna?

KEILAR: Yeah, that is a lot of red there. Meg Tirrell, thank you so much for the very latest on this.

President Trump says the luxury jet gifted by Qatar to be used as the new Air Force One is being sent back for -- or is being sent out, I should say, for modifications. We'll have the reason why next.

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[13:41:53]

KEILAR: President Trump says the Qatari gifted jet serving as Air Force One will be taken out of service and sent for upgrades. Concerns have been mounting about the $400 million plane's security features, particularly after the president unexpectedly ditched the jet on his way back from a NATO Summit in Turkey. Two U.S. officials told CNN that security personnel felt more comfortable with President Trump aboard the older Air Force One.

Last night, President Trump was asked about the donated plane's lack of missile defense capabilities. Here's what he said.

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DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: It has a lot of capability, but as I understand it, in about a month or so, they're going to send it to have it be maxed out.

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KEILAR: Now, we're joined now by CNN Senior National Security Analyst, Juliette Kayyem. Juliette, what questions does this raise for you about the plane having been in service without having been maxed out?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yeah, and we don't know what maxed out means. And we tend to use this term called upgrades as if that's just sort of making it nicer. But really, we're talking about the fundamental and basic needs of an Air Force One for any president, which is, as we're reporting, the defensive measures to protect a president domestically and internationally.

So the fact that he was in it, he was in it abroad, and now they're pulling it suggests that for some period of time, the president was riding in an airplane that at least now is viewed as unsatisfactory for the commander-in-chief, the head of our constitutional succession. So that's where we find ourselves as a plane that many of us thought he never should have bought that was not built, you know, by design for the president, instead had to be retrofitted for a lot of the taxpayers money that that shows, I think, the sort of, you know, short sightedness of this gift.

KEILAR: Gift. Yes. I mean, that's the question. If the president for security reasons, could not fly back from Turkey, where he was for the NATO Summit, Turkey, of course, next door to Iran, should he have flown to Turkey for the NATO Summit? You would say what?

KAYYEM: I mean, I would say he never should have been in this plane so that any use of this plane, which was not designed by American designers, American manufacturers to -- for the president of the United States, any use of this plane is inherently less safe than one that is designed for the president of the United States.

What they're doing, just to sort of explain in basic English is they're given a plane. It has you know, the same name, right, the plane as an Air Force one. And now, they're retrofitting it for the purposes that that a president would need. Normally, in the past, an Air Force one is designed for the president.

[13:45:00]

So this is kind of a lot of Band-Aids. And there's a lot of Band-Aids at the taxpayers' dollars. I'll put the sort of the gifting corruption aspects to the side, but just for the safety and security issues, this plane was not built to be safe for the president of the United States. So it's a lot of Band-Aids.

I mean, when he says we're going to, you know, sort of amend it or fix it or whatever language you have, it's Band-Aids, and the president should not risk himself or anyone else in that plane by utilizing it.

KEILAR: Yeah, I mean, at the heart of this, it is about the safety of the president of the United States --

KAYYEM: Yeah.

KEILAR: -- which is so important, right? Also of interest when it comes to this plane, the Trump administration has subpoenaed four reporters, according to the New York Times, for whom they work, who reported on security issues about the plane. Is that counterproductive, considering what we now know, that the president now appears to be confirming that there are security issues with the plane that need to be rectified?

KAYYEM: Yes. Well, everything that is in the New York Times reporting is a reflection of what is now known about this plane, that it had security vulnerabilities, that we're putting the commander-in-chief at risk, and therefore is not going to be utilized.

So the attacks on the New York Times reporters, the subpoenas, the subpoenas against their family members, whoever they're going after, are simply, I think, an admission by the White House that they just didn't want this truth to be known. The president can talk about, oh, we're going to take it off and make it even stronger and better. The truth is, we know it was not satisfactory for him.

I would suspect that this plane will not be utilized for a commander- in-chief, because once they pull it off, it's going to take weeks, months, years to get it in a position that it is worthy of the commander-in-chief, not just Trump, but any commander-in-chief. No future president either is likely to use it. This was a gift that should have never been accepted.

It's a gift with a lot of questions about corruption around it. And now, the taxpayers are spending dollars trying to get it in a fashion or in a way that makes it suitable for the constitutional succession order. That's what this is about.

And the president admitted that it's not quite ready. This is not changing the hubcaps on your convertible. This is serious reforms that need to be made, and the White House should have known it from the get-go.

KEILAR: Yeah, like the Beast is very different from a limousine, right? You start from the ground up with it.

KAYYEM: Yes.

KEILAR: We know that with these vehicles. Juliette Kayyem, thank you so much for that analysis. We appreciate it. Boris?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Now to some of the other headlines we're watching this hour. Three people have now died in connection with a cluster of Legionnaires' disease cases in New York City.

As of Sunday, 74 cases have been reported. Eight people have been hospitalized. Health officials believe the cases are connected with a bacteria found in building cooling towers on the Upper East Side of the city.

The disease is a severe form of pneumonia caused by inhaling the Legionella bacteria in small droplets of water. Towers for 76 buildings tested positive for the bacteria. The owners of those towers have since drained, cleaned and disinfected them.

And Pennsylvania police are searching for at least two suspects who broke into the home of Philadelphia Eagles running back, Saquon Barkley. Barkley and his family were home at the time. Fortunately, they were not hurt in Saturday's incident.

Remember, in 2024, at least three professional sports leagues warned their teams that organized and skilled groups were targeting the homes of players who were at away games. And just last year, the FBI uncovered an international theft ring that targeted a string of professional athletes. Local police say they plan to contact federal authorities to determine if there's any connection involving the break in at Barkley's home.

And Vice President J.D. Vance announced on Sunday that he and his wife, Usha, have welcomed their fourth child, a baby boy named Alec Neel. President Trump posted this picture of the newest member of the Vance family, shown with two of his older siblings, and congratulated them. The vice president said in a statement, quote, "Usha and the baby are happy and healthy, and our kids are overjoyed to meet their little brother."

Now, we want to show you these live images out of Madrid. Amazing scenes there in Spain, an ocean of people celebrating as that squad wins the World Cup. We'll talk more about the tournament's thrilling conclusion and whether North America hosting the event actually paid off. Stay with us.

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[13:54:51]

SANCHEZ: We're watching a hero's welcome in Madrid. World Cup champion, Spain touched down this morning. And a short time ago, they met with Spain's royal family.

[13:55:00]

La Roja capturing just their second World Cup trophy in history, capping off a historic tournament run by beating Argentina 1-0 on Sunday. But while Spain is celebrating, the U.S. may not have seen the big wins it was expecting financially. The World Cup typically brings a boon for businesses and host nations. That may not have been the case this time.

The expected jobs boom did not happen. The June Jobs Report showed leisure and hospitality jobs actually fell by 61,000. Retail sales also fell below expectations, rising just 0.2 percent nationwide in June. Spending at restaurants and bars was only up 0.1 percent. And tourism, according to the U.S. National Travel and Tourism Office, was essentially unchanged from a year ago.

Can you really, though, put a price tag on a fun time? Let's discuss the World Cup with CBS Sports Golazo Commentator, Chris Wittyngham.

Chris, great to see you, as always. First, let's talk about yesterday on the results. Spain, one of the favorites going in as we look at these live pictures from Madrid. A sea of people there. Did the final live up to your expectations?

CHRIS WITTYNGHAM, CBS SPORTS GOLAZO COMMENTATOR: Unfortunately, it didn't really. I think it was a tournament that had so many great moments, that had such a preponderance of great goal-scoring chances and goals throughout the tournament.

But we didn't really see that in the final. We saw one team get pretty soundly dominated. And unfortunately, for all the billing of Lamine Yamal and that photograph that he had with Lionel Messi, neither of them really performed in the final either.

It was a true demonstration of Spanish football. The dominance that they can show within games with the ball out of possession and just completely wiping the floor with the Argentina team until they kind of woke up in the last five minutes of extra time. But they didn't even so much as register a shot for 116 minutes of the game.

And then you all of a sudden have Argentina coming to life a little bit. But in the overall, it was not the final on the field that we may have been hoping for, never mind all the issues that Argentina seemed to have with losing the game after it concluded.

KEILAR: Yeah, we won't get into that. But let's just say there were some hijinks afoot. Overall, how do you think North America did with hosting the World Cup?

WITTYNGHAM: I'm honestly pretty surprised by the statistics you showed at the beginning because I really did feel a pretty large sense of everywhere that I went, bars and restaurants which are just sort of normally at a certain crowd, were filled with people eager to watch the World Cup. The television ratings were pretty massive.

And I think the United States, on the whole, for all the issues that could have happened, there were a couple. Obviously, the referee that was not allowed into the country before it began. The issues with the Iranian national team getting in and out of the country as well as being treated as any other competitor would be.

I think for the most part, the United States did a great job of welcoming the world. And then the World's Game felt welcomed by the United States. I think it was pretty beautiful to see the number of communities that melded so well with local communities, both from the international and from a local sense.

And then you also had so many people that I know in my life, and I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that there are a lot of people who don't normally watch soccer, who don't normally watch this sport, that decided, I'm going to get swept up in this. And it kind of became the phenomenon of the summer. There wasn't really a song of the summer or a movie of the summer.

I think the World Cup was the thing of the summer, and we saw that quite a bit.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, it was especially warming to see the reaction from foreign visitors to the United States, seeing things like a Buc-ee's or a gas station for the first time, realizing some of the scale and wonder of things that we enjoy in the United States and across North America. Would you say it was worth it for the U.S. to host the final and so many games as it did?

WITTYNGHAM: No question. No question. I think a lot of people might argue on behalf of Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, given the history of the venue. But I think the United States just brought so much to the party.

And I think, ultimately, one of the things that we were worried about -- and look, from FIFA standpoint, from the money-making standpoint, the tickets that they were able to sell at the prices that they sold them was well beyond, I think, what a lot of people might have expected. It was, frankly, a bit ridiculous in terms of the level of expense for a lot of people just to get to games. But at the same time, the stadiums were full.

The stadiums were full. And ultimately, they picked MetLife Stadium in New Jersey because it has the biggest capacity of any of the stadiums that were hosting the World Cup. They had over 80,000 in the building, and they were able to sell those tickets at an extraordinary price.

SANCHEZ: Yeah.

WITTYNGHAM: So I think the United States are going to be incredibly welcomed by FIFA in the future to host more tournaments, because there simply is not another place on the planet where they can make this much money. And the fact that the prohibitive cost was not prohibitive in terms of people actually showing up and creating atmosphere --

SANCHEZ: Right.

WITTYNGHAM: -- just goes to show that FIFA were kind of rewarded for their approach.

SANCHEZ: And hopefully, in those future tournaments, as we run out of time, Witty, we'll see the U.S. men's team do better. Are you hopeful for the future of U.S. soccer? WITTYNGHAM: Yeah. Look, ultimately, I think what people want from U.S. soccer is some sort of boom moment, where we wake up one day and the United States is one of the great soccer powers. That's just not going to happen.

I think, ultimately, the incremental steps that the sport takes in terms of popularity and in terms of the quality of the player --