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Iran's President Says Country in Full-Scale War; Army Veteran Accused of Incendiary Attack on New York City Federal Building; 35 Million-Plus Face Severe Weather Threat Across Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired July 21, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking this morning, full-scale war. That is what the president of Iran calls the intensified fight against the United States. New reporting shows the Pentagon has been slow to disclose injuries.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Bracing for Bertha, the second named tropical storm of the season. We have the latest on the forecast on this storm, where it's headed, and when it could make landfall.

And if one is a blessing, two is a gift, and three is a miracle, then what is four? It's a 1 in 15 million chance as an Australian family celebrates the births of identical quadruplets.

Sara is out today. I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman, who is shaking his head. This is CNN News Central.

BERMAN: New this morning, the president of Iran says his country is engaged in a full-scale war, and that war may have now expanded to a second crucial strait that could weigh on the world economy. The Pentagon says nearly 100 U.S. service members have suffered injuries, though mostly minor, in the last 14 days. That's despite President Trump insisting that Iran's military has been destroyed. New CNN reporting finds the Pentagon has been slow to disclose injuries. Officials cite security needs for those delays.

A Trump administration official says a dignified transfer will take place for four fallen service members tomorrow. Two have been identified. First Lieutenant Tyler Freehan and Private Isabella Gonzales were killed by an attack in Jordan on Friday. A third service member was killed in Iraq on Saturday, and remains have been recovered in the search for a fourth soldier missing in Jordan.

Now, President Trump has warned that Iran will, quote, pay many times over every time it kills a U.S. service member.

Let's get right to CNN's Betsy Klein live at the White House with all the latest developments this morning. Betsy, what are you learning?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, John, this has been multiple days of escalation for this conflict, in a particularly violent moment in this war. We have learned that the Pentagon has really been slow to report injuries, as you mentioned. But Pentagon Spokesperson Sean Parnell announcing in a statement that nearly 100 U.S service members have been injured since this conflict began to re- escalate and that ceasefire fell apart back on July 7th.

Now, Parnell says that most of those injuries have been minor concussions. But, of course, this comes after three U.S. service members were killed over the weekend, and we have learned that the U.S. has located remains of an unidentified person after one U.S. service member, another U.S. service member was reported missing in action.

Now, U.S. Central Command has announced a tenth consecutive night of strikes against Iran, this time, they say, again, aimed at degrading Iran's capability of attacking those ships in the Strait of Hormuz, that critical oil thoroughfare. Now, this comes as mediators between the U.S. and Iran are floating the possibility of a ten-day ceasefire, an effort really here to get diplomacy back on track.

Now, this proposal would include lifting restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz, and that comes as the U.S. has imposed this naval blockade on ships traveling to and from Iranian ports. And Iran, as I mentioned, has been firing on commercial shipping vessels in recent days.

Now, as we think about where the administration's head is at, the U.S. official telling CNN in a statement, quote, right now, President Trump is focused on making Iran pay for their violations of the memorandum of understanding and their continued acts of terrorism in the Strait of Hormuz. In addition, the president will make Iran pay for the recent deaths of U.S. soldiers.

That official goes on to say that diplomatic talks are continuing here. But in terms of next steps, it is possible that the Trump administration chooses to pursue this diplomatic off-ramp here. It is also possible the president has threatened to target Iran's critical infrastructure. That could include bridges, as well as Kharg Island, a key oil hub that would almost certainly require boots on the ground.

Now, President Trump is very angry. He's made that clear in a series of posts to social media that says Iran killing U.S. service members will have to pay, quote, many times over.

[07:05:00]

He's set to meet with the president of Lebanon, a key ally in the region, later today, and tomorrow will pay his respects at Dover for that dignified transfer. John?

BERMAN: As for on and off-ramps, they have been very well traveled over the last several months by this administration.

Betsy Klein at the White House this morning, thank you very much. Kate?

BOLDUAN: We're also getting new video from the scene after police say a 43-year-old Army veteran lit an incendiary device outside a federal building in New York City. FBI says -- we're going to show you this video shows the moment that Andrew Arabaca doused the ground with gasoline, well, right there, and then used fireworks to light it and then ran away.

Police say after that he pulled out an Airsoft rifle, which resembles a gun but fires less lethal rounds, and then opened fire. Three people were injured in this entire scary scene. There's a lot more to it we're learning now.

CNN's Brynn Gingras is tracking this one for us. She's here now. What are you -- what more are you learning from police?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and you're seeing that video where he was taken into custody. So, he is in custody. He is talking to investigators, or at least it was at one point. You know, he could've lawyered up and he didn't, so that's good news for investigators at least. But all this video, incredible video showing what went down.

BOLDUAN: Really wild, yes.

GINGRAS: Wild. And it's all going to be part of this case, obviously.

At this point this morning, we are waiting to see what sort of charges he faces, still in custody, not charged quite yet. So, we're waiting, keeping an eye on arraignment charges.

But you just described what happened yesterday. Police described it to us, essentially saying, you know, like you said, doused the employee entrance of a federal building yelled out some anti-ICE sort of sayings had a cart with him that had just loads of weapons. I mean, a machete, a hammer, a bunch of knives.

Police actually tracked where he was staying the night before, actually stayed outside of the Holland Tunnel the night before. So, they're also looking into his background, any sort of mental illness. Not that necessarily, you know, that causes this, but, of course, that's something that they're looking into, his background as far as criminal history, any interactions with police, that sort of stuff.

So, we're still waiting to see what kind of charges he faces, and that's the big thing this morning. But I want you to hear more from police about this incident.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES BARNACLE, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, FBI NEW YORK: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRAS: Yes. So we're expecting, obviously, charges that are related to, you know, the sort of domestic terrorism world. And, of course, we'll keep you updated.

BOLDUAN: Yes. I mean, but as you said, just the fact that so many angles of this were on video is just really an incredible thing.

GINGRAS: And they have his car, too. He actually was parked outside of the Harlem area, upper Manhattan. So, they were waiting for a search warrant to go through that. So, evidence is continuing to pile up.

BOLDUAN: So, there's going to be more stuff coming out.

GINGRAS: Yes.

BOLDUAN: It's great to see you, Brynn. Thank you so much. John?

BERMAN: Millions bracing for Bertha, a tropical storm that could bring life-threatening storm surge and dangerous flash flooding, and that might not even be the biggest weather threat today.

Explosive confusion, false positives, mixed messages, and pointed fingers as to the source of the shredded lettuce leading to an outbreak of explosive diarrhea.

And then the latest comments from the most famous grandfather ever thrown in the air by a giant bison.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They move faster than you could ever imagine. He just kept coming, and he was more aggressive. And as soon as he got off that tree, he launched me in the air.

I didn't get bruises from him launching me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:10:00]

BERMAN: All right. Developing this morning, what is shaping up to be a tough 24 hours of weather. Tens of millions across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic are in the path of severe thunderstorms, powerful wind gusts of more than 60 miles per hour, possible flooding, and that's not even the beginning. There's that tropical storm bearing down on the Gulf.

Let's get to CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam for the latest on all this. Derek, what are you seeing?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: So much to unpack, John, this morning. There is, first and foremost, our severe weather threat across the Northeast. This encompasses a large population density, right? You look at Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, New York to the nation's capital, westward to Louisville and Cincinnati, this is where we have our corridor of isolated tornadoes, damaging wind threat, and even the potential of hail, especially into the Tennessee Valley and the Southern Ohio Valley.

This is on the heels of a cold front we talked about yesterday. It moved across the Great Lakes, and that spawned seven confirmed tornadoes throughout the upper Midwest. And here it is right now on the current radar. You can see it kind of passing Toronto southward, just about to enter the Cleveland area.

There's a lot of moisture in the atmosphere, so it's got a lot to work with, and these thunderstorms will erupt from the daytime heating and the passage of this front really about 7:00 to 8:00 P.M. tonight near the New York City, that I-95 corridor between Boston to the nation's capital. That's when we'll see rainfall. And then the front stalls, and the severe weather chances continue into the day tomorrow, so another slight risk, especially for portions of Virginia and into the Carolinas.

On top of that, there's a flood risk. We've got the potential for two to four inches, locally higher amounts across the Mid-Atlantic. That's why the Weather Prediction Center has this level two of four encompassing much of the East Coast and towards the Ohio Valley.

On top of that, we still have Tropical Storm Bertha that we're monitoring. It became an official named storm late last night. It is churning across the warm waters of the Gulf right now, and look at this trajectory. We do have some minor strengthening forecast from the National Hurricane Center but this is going to interact with land.

Regardless, it is a sheared storm, meaning there's a lot of wind coming in from the north, and it's entraining dry air into it, so it's having trouble getting itself organized. So, the bulk of the heavy rain and the bulk of the wind will stay offshore, but it's still going to be responsible for pushing up some level of storm surge into the boot of Louisiana and into the coastal areas of Mississippi and Alabama.

As this slides into the interior of the Gulf here over the next 24 to 36 hours, there will be tropical storm force impacts, but we don't expect this storm to become anything more than that, but something certainly to monitor in the days ahead. John?

BERMAN: It'll certainly keep you busy, along with those storms hitting the northeast over the next 24 hours.

Derek Van Dam, we will check back in with you. Thank you very much.

All right, court documents unsealed overnight reveal new information about allegations of sex crimes against the Tate brothers.

And then one heck of a wake-up call, a doorbell camera goes off at 4:00 A.M. saying that there's something on the porch. That something turns out to be a giant alligator.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00] BOLDUAN: Newly unsealed court documents reveal even more detail about the charges now facing social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate. British prosecutors have brought new charges following allegations coming forward from four more victims. New accusations include rape, sex trafficking, assault, exploitation, child abuse- related offenses too.

Between the two of them, these men are now facing a total of 59 charges. The Tate brothers deny any wrongdoing. Prosecutors say they have witness statements, messages, photographs to support the allegations.

Andrew and Tristan Tate, though, they were arrested Saturday in Miami on a U.K. extradition warrant, which they now are vowing to fight.

Joining me right now is Alyse Adamson, former federal prosecutor, to help us understand this a little bit more. It's good to see you.

How strong do you think the case is, the extradition case now against them, with the release and the information coming out of these four new alleged victims?

ALYSE ADAMSON, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Well, Kate, that's a great question because extradition is not a trial. So, the U.K. doesn't need to prove these charges against the Tate brothers. What they have to prove to satisfy the extradition treaty is that there is a rational basis to believe these crimes have been committed. That's kind of like our probable cause here in the United States.

And so by beefing up their submission, this filing that you just referenced, it seems to establish probable cause, a nexus between the accused, the alleged offense, and the Tate brothers. So, all a judge needs to find is that low evidentiary standard to satisfy that part of the treaty, and that means that the Tate brothers would be certified for extradition and go back to the U.K. to face these charges.

BOLDUAN: The lawyers for the Tate brothers are asking that the Trump administration get involved and intervene, but the State Department, the statement I've seen is, they put out a statement last night, and there's no plans to act. It's referring questions to the Justice Department right now. But what could the Trump administration do if it wanted to intervene or stand in the way of extradition?

ADAMSON: Yes, that's a great question. So, extradition is kind of a two-step process. First, the U.S. courts need to certify extradition, the process I just explained. There needs to be enough to satisfy the treaty. But that's not it. Because after the courts certify the extradition, the secretary of state, that being Marco Rubio, a political appointee, cabinet member, needs to then sign the surrender order. So, the secretary of state does have discretion to deny the extradition request even after the court certifies it. So, if the secretary of state found their argument to be compelling, they could stop it.

But as you stated, Kate, they have indicated that they're not going to do that. These are very serious sex crime related charges, and it seems like in this political environment, that is an unlikely step for the Trump administration to take.

BOLDUAN: How long or short do you -- does an extradition kind of case and process take? I'm sure there's a wide range of timing here. But when the Tate brothers are saying they're going to fight this, like how long before it's kind of decided like they're out the door or they're not?

ADAMSON: Yes, Kate. It could take a long time. Usually, people waive extradition. They just go back to their home countries to fight. The Tate brothers vowed to fight here. I think what's most likely to happen is that their counsel is going to go in and attack this submission from the U.K., attack the evidence, try to say there is not that rational basis that I already explained. That could take up to a month.

They have a series of court hearings. They're coming back in a week just to talk about bail. I mean, here's an important thing, both brothers are being detained in jail pending the conclusion of these proceedings. And so this could be a protracted process.

I will say, with international extraditions like this, with these serious crimes, it's unlikely that the Tate brothers will be released. So, while they fight over the course of what might be even a month, they're most likely to remain detained during that fight.

BOLDUAN: Alyse Adamson, it's good to see you. Thank you so much.

So, there's new reporting that the White House is now really admitting that Trump's Qatar-gifted Air Force One needs more security upgrades. What the White House and the Trump administration is moving to do about this now.

And the grandfather attacked by a bison that has now gone viral in that viral video, he is now speaking out, describing the exact moment he says the bison went from very calm to very violent.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:00]

BERMAN: All right. Breaking this morning, you can see it there, oil prices on the rise. Brent crude now up over $90 a barrel. Gas up as well, now $4.02 a gallon, up pretty substantially over the last week, 15 cents or so.

One of the concerns is that Iranian allies in Yemen could harass oil traffic, shipping traffic, in a second strait, Bab el-Mandeb, so that would mean closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and also one of the alternate routes there.

With us now, CNN Senior Business Reporter David Goldman. Not good, potentially.

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS REPORTER: It's potentially not good. I mean, right now we're seeing oil back above $90 a barrel.

[07:30:03]

That's a signal that, you know, folks are getting not only concerned about the war that's going on that we are concerned about.