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U.S. Officials: Pentagon Sending More Fighter Jets To Mideast; Trump Cuts Created "Perfect Storm," Slowed Response To Parasite; NYC Officials Give Update On Incendiary Device Attack; Man In Custody After Incendiary Device Thrown At NYC Federal Building. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired July 20, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: It was great to see that enthusiasm. Coy Wire, always appreciate you. Thanks so much for being with us.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

SANCHEZ: As we continue watching these live pictures from Madrid. A lot more to come in the next hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL. We should note we are anticipating a press briefing from officials in New York City after an incident in Manhattan. You see officials there setting up a -- a podium as we speak. This from CNN affiliate, WABC.

Earlier today, a person apparently lit something that created smoke. Officials believe it may have been fireworks. They were apprehended according to sources with a pellet gun and some anti-ICE material as well the building houses not only FBI, but also Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That person was taken into custody into. We'll, of course, bring you this press conference as it happens. A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Risk of a wider conflict in the Middle East. President Trump warning of strong retaliation against Iran after a third U.S. service member was killed over the weekend. All of this happening as the Pentagon prepares to boost the number of fighter jets in the region.

Plus, fighting extradition. Self-proclaimed misogynist Andrew Tate and his brother appear in federal court amid new rape and sex trafficking charges in the U.K.

And then later, the perfect storm, how funding and staffing cuts led to a slowed federal response to the growing Cyclospora outbreak.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SANCHEZ: We start this hour following breaking news on President Trump's military options in Iran after three U.S. service members were killed over the weekend. A U.S. official tells CNN that more U.S. fighter jets and additional resources will soon be heading to the Middle East.

Earlier, President Trump posting, quote, "Every time Iran kills an American soldier, they will pay for that killing many times over." Last hour, we learned he will attend a dignified transfer at Dover Air Base tomorrow. The Pentagon has now identified two soldiers killed in Jordan as 25-year-old First Lieutenant Tyler James Feehan of Hawaii. His father tells CNN he primarily lived in Georgia. And Private Isabella Gonzales of Texas, who was just 19 years old. CNN's Kristen Holmes is live for us at the White House.

Kristen, what more can you share?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it seems as though President Trump is considering widening that war against Iran. We've seen an obvious escalation on both sides. Central Command posting that they had completed this morning their ninth round of consecutive strikes.

In Iran, both sides, as we've seen seem more willing to go after those sensitive civilian locations. Now, President Trump, as you noted, has been angry about these deaths of these troops. He's attending that dignified transfer. But even as we are seeing this escalation, this idea of diplomacy is still one that is being discussed even among his top staffers and his top deputies. This is Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussing this while he was on his latest trip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: I think we're always open to diplomacy. It has to be real. It has to be a deal that they're willing to live by. Look, Iran a week ago was supposed to put out a statement saying that the Straits of Hormuz would be open, that they would no longer attack shipping. And instead of doing that, they attacked three ships. I think that was last Friday or Saturday. So, I mean, their behavior has to change in order for ours to change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, and as President Trump is weighing all of his various options, we have learned that the U.S. is sending over various aircrafts to the Middle East, some of these coming from European bases. That includes F-16s, F-35s, as well as those in the air refueling tankers.

But one thing to keep in mind here, this is not something the White House wants to be dealing with, an escalating war in Iran. He had been looking for any kind of diplomatic offer. And part of that is likely due to the polling that we have seen. Americans are largely not in favor of this war. We are heading into a midterm. This is the most recent poll we have seen that shows that 68 percent of the Americans believe that the war in Iran was, quote, "not worth fighting," with only 28 percent saying that it was. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Kristen Holmes, live for us at the White House, thank you so much for that update. Brianna?

KEILAR: A CNN investigation finds that Trump administration cuts created a, quote, "perfect storm for a slowed government response to the parasitic outbreak." That's according to a source. The cases are concentrated in the Midwest, but more than half of states are reporting Cyclospora infections, which cause explosive diarrhea and major cramps. And we wouldn't get to TMI there, except you need to know that information, because those are the hallmarks of what we're dealing with here.

[15:05:00]

A former federal lab official told CNN that the cuts led to, quote, "the loss of specialized staff and the loss of hands on deck needed to identify the source of the outbreaks." Here's one example of the lagging response. The first cases of the parasite, they actually began way back in mid-May. The state of Michigan, which is the epicenter of the outbreak, issued its warning on July 1st, but it took two weeks before the CDC issued its advisory.

A Trump administration official defended the reductions, saying Americans' health and safety is a top priority. The White House added that the administration is working aggressively coordinating the response. So, let's turn now to Dr. Dan Jernigan. He was a division director at the CDC working on infectious disease. He resigned last year after the head of the CDC was fired.

What do you think of this finding? Because for instance, we were interviewing people who had been victims of Cyclospora in places that weren't even on the map federally for what we were hearing about back in, I think it was late -- or it was late May or early June, which was outside the timeframe that we even initially understood we were dealing with. What are you thinking about the ramifications of kind of how -- how government has -- has affected this?

DR. DAN JERNIGAN, FORMER DIRECTOR, CDC NATIONAL CENTER FOR EMERGING & ZOONOTIC INFECTIOUS DISEASES: A lot of those changes happened last year when DOGE did a number of cuts. There were hiring freezes, and I think that had an impact on some of the laboratory staff in the Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria. There were cuts in some of the laboratory staff fellows that were coming on.

And in addition, the DRP, the Deferred Resignation Program, that had an effect. But if we look at what really has had an effect on this division, the division where Cyclospora is, it's the cuts from USAID's dismantling. And so, when USAID was stopped, the funding that was coming over to CDC in order to support malaria and neglected tropical diseases, which are a lot of parasites, when that funding stopped, you have to do something. And so, we had to bring people back from Africa. We had to start downsizing that division. And right now, I think that's one reason why it was not quite as quick as it should have been in order to respond to the Cyclospora problem.

KEILAR: Yes. So, I wonder what you make of this, because that lab responsible for identifying parasitic outbreaks throughout the nation was largely funded by USAID, but a White House spokesperson told CNN that the USAID funds administered by CDC supported overseas programs, not domestic disease response. So, what do you think when you hear that reaction coming from the administration?

JERNIGAN: Well, I think they need to check their numbers and where they're getting their information from. The CDC's laboratory in Atlanta is where a lot of the malaria work happens. The resistance to anti-malarial drugs, that's where you get cut -- you figure out those kinds of problems so that you can inform what's happening over in Africa. It's where all the insects are kept so that we can do studies on insecticide bed nets and making sure that those interventions that are used for fighting malaria are working. And so, you have to maintain all those mosquitoes in a place, and that's in Atlanta. And the management of that whole group is sitting in Atlanta.

So there are people, of course, in programs in Africa, but there's the expertise, the laboratory epidemiology and entomology, those insects, that's all in Atlanta.

KEILAR: That's very helpful context. Dr. Dan Jernigan, I'm so sorry that we have to cut this interview short, but we do have officials in New York who have just begun a press conference. This is after that incendiary device attack outside of a federal building this morning. They began just moments ago. Let's listen in.

JAMES BARNACLE, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR IN CHARGE, FBI NEW YORK FIELD OFFICE: Today, just before 9 A.M., a man by the name of Andrew Arrabaca, A-R-R-A-B-A-C-A, arrived at 26 Federal Plaza just behind us on Worth Street at the employee entrance to the building where he ignited gasoline. He poured gasoline onto the ground and ignited it with a lighter and an incendiary device. That device was a -- a firework, a large firework in a canister. That proceeded to catch on fire. Pretty big flame, as you've seen on the Internet.

He then pulled out an airsoft rifle and fired five to seven pellets, if you will, in the direction of 26 Federal Plaza. At that time, Federal Protective Services, two officers, a -- a gray suit, a contractor with an ally that is employed to guard this building. Those three people and the two officers standing behind me in the blue shirts are the officers that intervened and took Mr. Arrabaca into custody.

While he had him on the ground, an FBI agent jumped in and they -- they put handcuffs on him and took him in the building.

[15:10:06]

He is currently in custody and he has been interviewed. Arrabaca is a former United States Army soldier. He was enlisted for approximately four years, serving from 2001 to 2005. He was a repairman or a mechanic on Patriot Missile Systems. He is 43 years old. There were injuries in this -- three people were injured, minor injuries, one civilian and two government employees.

Right now, our evidence response team is out working with NYPD and our New York Joint Terrorism Task Force to collect evidence to conduct interviews. We have located a vehicle of Mr. Arrabaca's. We have seized that vehicle. We are procuring or obtaining a search warrant.

Mr. Arrabaca came armed with bad intentions. I will say that 26 Federal Plaza has long been a target of extremists, of terrorists, and today the extremism was brought here. The building was attacked. Mr. Arrabaca was looking to injure people and harm people. He had two axes, a hammer, a machete, and three knives, fixed blade knives. He had, as I said earlier, six incendiary devices or fireworks, and he had some other destructive items.

Going forward today, like I said, we'll do more interviews, we'll collect more evidence, and we will -- and I'll -- I'll leave it to Mr. McDonald to talk about charges. We take this very seriously. On his cart, he had a cart, he had anti-ICE literature on it. When he was being arrested, he yelled derogatory terms to ICE, used bad words, obviously. He is an anti-American, anti-government extremist. We know that from what he said. We know that from what he has said post- arrest, and we know that from what his actions that he tried to take today.

So, I will turn it over to Police Commissioner Tisch.

COMMISSIONER JESSICA TISCH, NYPD: Thank you, Jim. Good afternoon. I am here to provide some additional details about this morning's incident outside of 26 Federal Plaza. This remains an active investigation, and the information that we have is still being gathered and is subject to change.

At approximately 8:30 this morning, a call came in to New York City's 911 call center that there was an active shooter outside of 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan. Two additional calls in the subsequent minutes reported an explosion and a male setting off fireworks at the location.

Units from NYPD's Fifth Precinct responded within two minutes of the first 911 call, and by the time they were on scene, the suspect had already been taken into custody by federal officers. The suspect has been identified, as you just heard, as Andrew Arrabaca, 43 years old, of Poughkeepsie. He is believed to be a U.S. Army veteran. His last known address was up in Harlem.

His vehicle, a black Toyota RAV4, was located parked in the vicinity of West 124th Street and Broadway, and that vehicle is subject to search pending a search warrant. The entire incident unfolded in view of an NYPD camera positioned on the southwest corner of Worth Street and Broadway. Video and witness statements describe the suspect's actions as follows.

At approximately 8:30 A.M., Mr. Arrabaca arrived at Worth Street and Lafayette Street in front of 26 Federal Plaza. Once he arrives, he ignites a bundle of what appears to be fireworks, which begin to smoke. He then goes back into his cart and takes out an airsoft rifle and proceeds to brandish it, and he appears to fire several pellets from the airsoft rifle.

Next, he pulls out an orange bucket from his cart and runs towards the bushes along the building line. He dumps the contents of the bucket, an incendiary liquid, between two sets of bushes along the perimeter of this property and ignites a fire. Federal agents and officers then run up to the subject, subdue him and take him into federal custody.

On the scene was recovered, among other things, two airsoft rifles and the container with the flammable liquid. Also affixed to the suspect's cart was a sign reading, ice off our streets. During the incident, the suspect was wearing a military-style helmet.

[15:15:01]

This incident occurred along federal property, and the NYPD is supporting the federal government in their investigations. Charges are yet to be filed. Our work with the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the Southern District of New York is critical to keeping our city safe, and I commend the federal agents and contractors and officers who responded to the threat this morning.

Now, I'm going to turn it over to Deputy United States Attorney Jamie McDonald.

Jamie McDonald: Thank you. I'm Jamie McDonald, the Deputy United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. As you can see, we're here in response to an incident this morning that took place just behind us here at the Jacob K. Javits Center, which houses dozens of federal agencies and thousands of federal employees.

I want to thank the work of our law enforcement partners to -- whose rapid response led to the -- to the neutralization of the threat and the immediate turn to evidence collection and investigation. Our office, the Southern District of New York, led by the National Security Unit and the General Crimes Units, are working closely with the FBI, the NYPD, FPS, and others to investigate this matter.

As -- as you've heard, one individual has been taken into custody. Our investigation is continuing, and we will keep the press and the public updated on charges. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Time for a few on-topic questions (INAUDIBLE) ...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) ...

BARNACLE: We're -- we're collecting the evidence, and we -- we know there were anti-government and anti-American statements made, and we know that an incendiary device and gasoline were used to start a fire. Charges are determined by the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Right now, the FBI, the New York City Police Department, New York State Police Department, and all our members of the task force, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, are out collecting evidence today. We will present that evidence to the United States Attorney's Office, and the United States Attorney will make that charging decision. I don't know what those will be.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) ...

BARNACLE: His goal was to target the building. He said that in a -- I'm not going to get into all the details of a post-arrest interview, but he was Mirandized, read his rights. He did agree to talk. In that post-arrest interview, he did say he was targeting the building and he was okay if he hurt or killed people going in and out of the building, whether they were federal employees or civilians. I would mention, a lot of business was -- not by the Federal

Protective Services. Federal Protective Services, once they mitigated the situation, the building remained open, employees could come and go and we continue to do work. But some agencies decided to close business for the day.

There was a naturalization ceremony scheduled for today that was canceled. And one -- the one civilian victim was an immigrant that had a hearing today for their immigration status. So, that's quite unfortunate and quite ironic at the same time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) CNN ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What can you say though (INAUDIBLE) ...

BARNACLE: So, he arrived in this area -- well, I should say, yesterday, he went from Harlem. He took the subway down to the Penn Station area. He walked down and stayed overnight in the vicinity of the Holland Tunnel on the street. Then, he came down to this area around 5 A.M. He ventured over to our spot a little after 8 o'clock. That's the timeline for his movements.

We're still collecting evidence. NYPD is out doing what the NYPD does great, and they're working with the JTTF on that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay, CBS?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) ...

BARNACLE: He has a couple of encounters with law enforcement that we're not ready to talk about, nothing rising to this level.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) ...

BARNACLE: Look, I would say that protesting in the United States is protected by the First Amendment. We do not track protesters. We do not know who comes and goes as far as protests. So, I don't know if he's been involved in any protests at all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Thank you, guys. That's it. Thank you.

BARNACLE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, guys.

SANCHEZ: We've been listening to officials in New York City, just outside 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan, where an incident took place this morning, and we're learning more about not only what happened, but who carried it out.

[15:20:05]

We understand that Andrew Arrabaca, a 43-year-old of Poughkeepsie, New York, a former Army soldier enlisted for four years, apparently around 8:30 A.M. went to the employee entrance of this building and began setting off fireworks and pouring gasoline on the ground from a bucket before then using an airsoft rifle to fire five to seven pellets. Federal agents and officers subdued him, but not before he wounded three people -- one, a civilian, two government employees. Fortunately, their injuries are minor.

KEILAR: That's right. And they stated that this was someone who had a lot many weapons with him -- two axes, a hammer, a machete, three knives, six incendiary devices, and -- and other destructive items, they said. And that in his cart, he had anti-ICE literature and was yelling derogatory terms to ICE. And they said that they've learned -- they called him -- the FBI referred to him as anti-American, anti- government extremist, and that they are gleaning that from what he said during this interaction with law enforcement and after, once he was in custody. So let's bring in Steve Moore, retired FBI supervisory special agent.

Steve, what did you think about what you heard there?

STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR: It -- it pretty much fits the type of person we kind of expected that was going to be somebody who had extremely strong views, strong enough to where he -- he would commit violent acts on it, and that he had literature that would explain it. I've seen reports of the manifesto and things like that. And those are just -- it almost becomes just -- just the same type of -- of pattern each time.

SANCHEZ: Steve, notably from Commissioner Jessica Tisch -- Tisch -- she said that charges had yet to be filed, that news on that was soon to be coming forward. What would you anticipate are some of the charges this individual might face?

MOORE: He'll probably face domestic terrorism charges. And if he -- I mean, he's a resident of Poughkeepsie, and domestic terrorism is not so much on where it happens. It's -- it's the focus of the terrorism itself. So, the terror would be -- or the violence would be against a domestic agency, a U.S. government agency. So, I would see the Terrorism Task Force charging him with domestic terrorism, plus possible use of weapons of mass destruction, not because they're nuclear, but because, you know, more than one person can get killed by a fire. So, those would be the first things -- assault on federal officers. They could -- they could really wind this one up.

KEILAR: What questions do you have about the path that led him here to this alleged extreme act? He is accused of doing something that is really quite horrific here. And yet, learning of his background, I just wonder what you think of sort of the path. They say he's a -- he's a veteran, he was enlisted for four years, from 2001 to 2005, obviously key years after 9/11, a repairman on Patriot ...

MOORE: Yes.

KEILAR: ... missile systems.

MOORE: Okay. Yes, that would -- I -- you know, we're always trying to balance individual freedoms with protection in society. It seems like there were indicators in his life that should have -- that could have tipped somebody off to his problems. I would love to see what his record was in the military. There is a point at which somebody who would join the military after -- presumably after 9/11.

Somebody with that mindset is going to hern (ph) rapidly at some point. And whether it's an -- an experience, a loss, whatever, we -- we kind of want to find out when that was and how that was missed.

KEILAR: Yes, it raises some questions for you, definitely.

SANCHEZ: Steve, please stand by. We have Josh Campbell, former FBI agent, now with CNN.

Josh, what did you make of what we heard from law enforcement there?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're providing those details, because when you hear something like this happening outside of a federal building, which we know in the past has been a target of attack by a litany of various different groups with sinister motives, there is a big question, what are we talking about? Here officials said that the person did speak with authorities, did provide them information. Sometimes someone will lawyer up and clam up, and then authorities have that much more difficult job ahead of them to try to get to a motive.

[15:25:08]

Here, he's essentially laying it out.

There are a couple things, though, as we look at this. You know, one thing that is notable is that if you look at some of the items that this person brought to this location, while they are -- they can be inherently dangerous, we're not talking about someone, at least in my view, as we've been gathering reporting and then listening to officials, that was simply trying to cause some type of indiscriminate mass injury or loss of life. We're talking about airsoft guns. Those are pellet guns. A law enforcement source told me that he essentially had flammable liquid, as well as fireworks that were there.

So, bottom line, this appears to be some type of violent public political statement, rather than just, you know, the indiscriminate harm or killing of people outside. Again, that's not the downplay. We're talking about very dangerous material there. But that is notable whenever we first talk about a motive, because there are other options available for someone, particularly in this country, with the access to firearms, if their goal is just to cause mass harm.

And so, again, they're going to try to identify what this person's past was. Authorities had said that he had made some type of anti- immigration, anti-ICE enforcement messaging in the past. He had that there with him. And so, it appears that, as far as a question of the motive, there isn't one here. And then, again, looking to charges, obviously, you have an attack on a federal building. That in itself is a charge, the injury of a federal employee. We might expect assault on federal officer charges as well, injuring the bystander that is there. This person is facing very serious criminal penalties.

But, you know, although they have him in custody, thankfully, no one was killed here. They will try to obviously glean as much as they can. And then the big question, was this something that this person had telegraphed ahead of time? Final point I will note is, based on our sourcing, law enforcement sources I have talked to, as well as some of our colleagues, they are investigating whether mental health was a factor here, which is obviously always a factor.

And as we say every single time when that comes up, that obviously means that not everyone out there who faces mental health issues will become violent. Almost none of them do. That we have to note. But authorities are looking into whether that was a factor here, which is notable when you look at this, you know, manifesto and then the material that this person brought and the action that took place.

And then, we can see on one of the videos, finally, that it didn't appear that there was some great escape plan that this person had. You can see the fencing there that's along 26th FED from one of the videos. You actually see him almost running right towards an officer that eventually arrested him as this all went down. So, thankfully, again, no one killed, but a lot of investigative work ahead as authorities try to answer all the, you know, pending questions that they might have.

KEILAR: Yes. Josh, thank you so much. If you can stand by for us. Let's go to Brynn Gingras, who's there on the ground, as we also have some new video that we're getting a look at, Brynn, of what happened from, this is sort of an aerial view of this all going down where it -- okay, and this is -- this is a picture of the person who -- oh, my goodness, you see it there. We're going to re-rack this after we -- we -- that this is it from the beginning, Brynn, I'm just going to describe where, because I don't know if he ever turn, but we see an individual going to the stairs there and dumping a large amount of gasoline. I'll just describe it for you. And then almost instantaneously lighting it on fire.

So, we'd seen the aftermath in some of these other videos, but he's running -- he's running with a big container of it and then immediately lighting it on fire. But they also said, Brynn, that what was done here was done within full view of an NYPD camera. So, I don't think this is the first and only video that we're expecting to see. This is someone shooting from across the street, it appears, from an upper floor.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And Brianna, you heard officials there say in this news conference that they've been able to piece together so much of the actions just within the last day or so of this individual before this all happened. In addition to the videos that you're showing your viewers of the aftermath and the arrest taking place, all of these videos painting a clearer picture of exactly what went down.

Also, as Josh had pointed out, was also painting a clear picture as his own words. You know, they didn't want to get into too much detail about what their interview has, you know, developed as part of this investigation, but they did say that he was very clear about wanting to basically harm anybody inside of that building or anybody outside of that building. And he has agreed to talk. As you heard Josh say, he hasn't lawyered up. It seems like it's

possible he's continuing to talk and maybe they're getting more of a picture to build their case since we don't see charges just yet. But what was so alarming to me is what you just showed your video -- to your viewers, Brianna, is all that video of what they described, essentially him pouring gasoline all over the front of this building where they said a naturalization ceremony was expected to take place today.

[15:30:01]

One of the people hurt was supposed to go into this building for some sort of hearing in the progress of their -- of their immigration progress.