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Hegseth Faces Senate as Trump Administration Seeks $87 Billion Amid Iran War; Senate Will Grill Hegseth, Caine as U.S. Ramps Up Attacks in Iran; Lt. Tyler James Feehan Killed in Iran War; Severe Thunderstorms Threaten Millions from Kentucky to New York; Tampa International Airport Moving to Privatize TSA Operations. Aired 2:30- 3p ET

Aired July 21, 2026 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Any minute we're expecting to hear from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Dan Caine, as they're testifying before the Senate Appropriations Committee. That's a hearing that's just getting underway on Capitol Hill.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: This comes at a pivotal moment in the U.S.- Iran war as both sides have been escalating attacks in just the past week. The Trump administration is seeking billions of dollars right now in additional funding to continue the fight. Before testimony begins, let's bring in CNN military analysts, retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton, and CNN National Security Analyst and former Deputy Director of National Intelligence Beth Sanner.

Colonel Leighton, I want to start with you. Hegseth and Caine testifying on the Hill as President Trump threatens more bombing. What is most critical for these senators to hear from them today?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, first of all, I think, Boris, what they need to hear is exactly how much this is going to cost. I mean, that's going to be like the preeminent figure that they'll need to figure out, you know, being Senator Appropriations. But they also need to know something about the strategy, because when you look at exactly what, you know, we've been doing here, the president has never announced to the nation exactly what the overall strategy of this is.

What are our war aims? What are we going to do here? And how is this going to actually work?

You know, that's one part of it. The other part is that there is obviously going to be -- there are going to be several questions, I'm sure, about the loss of life during this. You know, what are the protections for our troops?

What kind of force protection measures have been taken? And, you know, things that we, you know, we talk about the tragic loss of life recently. We also have to go back a little bit and talk about things like the loss of an AWACS plane at Prince Sultan Air Base. That happened. We also lost, you know, several other airplane assets. And that's the kind of thing that, at least in the old days, would get people fired, you know, if they allowed that to happen on their watch.

And, you know, we need to know what has there been accountability? What were the issues? What kinds of weapons were the Iranians using?

We have some idea, but we'd like to hear it from the Pentagon, you know, exactly what was happening there. And then the other thing is, you know, what kind of defense mechanisms are going to be put in place? Are we adapting our tactics and our techniques to fight the Iranians and, you know, develop our ways to counter their asymmetric efforts and to include some asymmetric advantages that the Iranians have.

KEILAR: Beth, what are you looking for today?

BETH SANNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes, exactly. I think that Cedric brings out some really important points about, you know, what is the true cost of this war? And then one of the big things that is part of this discussion is how should we be spending our money in the future?

You know, are we spending it on the traditional kinds of armaments? Or is this -- how much is this going to go to the pivot of kind of the new war? You know, the counter drones, the drone fleet, all of that, which is just getting started.

And then you have big things like Golden Dome, which will cost like maybe a trillion dollars. So we have a $1.5 trillion budget proposal that is for the budget for next year. And what we're talking about right now is kind of a down payment on that or a portion of that because they know they're going to have difficulty getting this through Congress.

So the other part of this is really political. You know, do the Democrats stand up against this supplemental, which they have, most of them have so far because they're saying they're making a point. We do not support this war. We haven't heard enough.

But then the whole question of are you supporting our troops? And with the deaths of Americans, these things become really more poignant. Very complicated.

KEILAR: Yes, it puts a lot of pressure on the situation. Let's talk about Pickaxe Mountain and explain to people what this is, because Israel believes Iran, according to this new reporting, they believe Iran moved advanced centrifuges and part of their highly enriched uranium stockpile underground to Pickaxe Mountain. Trump was asked about this.

He said we'll be hitting the area probably pretty soon. In reference to the centrifuges, he basically said it doesn't matter unless they have the nuclear material. Tell us what a strike in this location would mean. LEIGHTON: Yes, so this is a very interesting area. So if we go to the map real quick, it's kind of in the middle of a whole bunch of different things that the Iranians have. So just basically south of Natanz is where Pickaxe Mountain is.

[08:05:11]

And the thing about Pickaxe Mountain, it's really an ingenious area that the Iranians have created here because they've buried stuff under a granite mountain. And that granite mountain is several hundred meters thick in some places. So it's possible that ammunition would have to penetrate that kind of a terrain in order to actually make some damage.

Now, normally when we do targeting, we're going to go after entranceways and shafts like ventilation shafts and things of that nature. And that won't require quite the same blast as going directly into something like this. But supposedly, the Iranians have, according to some reports, including some of the Israeli reports that we're seeing recently, and also the Wall Street Journal has reported this, that centrifuges, the Iranians have moved centrifuges into Pickaxe Mountain.

And putting something like that there, plus the highly enriched uranium, that then is, you know, first of all, it's an obvious target. But it's also interesting that President Trump has telegraphed the fact that this is a target. And he certainly believes that not only do we need to take it out, but that it is probably number one or number two on the target list right now.

SANCHEZ: Again, he said that the U.S. will target it and there's nothing Iran can do, were the words that he used.

SANNER: Yes, and do you mind if I just add to that? Having worked on this for many years, but, you know, they've been constructing this for a long time. And the whole point of this is, as Cedric said, to create something that is much, much deeper than any of the other facilities.

And conventional wisdom among people on the outside, I'm not revealing any secrets here, is that we actually don't have munitions that can penetrate this. And so, you know, but I also want to point out that the Iranians have said this is a place where they would manufacture centrifuges. That's how they declared it.

But the site has never been inspected by IAEA. So we don't know what's in there. But when you've heard me maybe in the past say that perhaps they've squirreled away some centrifuges over time.

To me, this is where they would have put it. And this report kind of confirms that to me. That doesn't mean that they can enrich there.

And it doesn't mean there's uranium there. But we don't know.

SANCHEZ: Right. And again, that is based off of Israeli intelligence. I wonder, Beth, where you see Israel right now in the conflict, because as of these last 10 days or so, they've largely been on the sidelines.

SANNER: Yes, so they had a five plus hour national security meeting last night with the national security cabinet. And at that meeting, you know, we don't know what happened.

But one of the security minister, Bezalel Smotrich, came out of that meeting and he said, we're fine not being part of this conflict. This suits us just fine. I don't actually believe him.

I think that Israel can't be part of this conflict because President Trump doesn't want them to be. You know, I think that politically for Netanyahu, he would actually like to be part of this attack. But we have said no.

I think that's my guess.

KEILAR: Do you have and let's go now to Capitol Hill, where Pete Hegseth is there to testify before the Senate Appropriations Committee. He's not on the first panel, though, Lauren Fox. So I think we were sort of awaiting his testimony.

But it's actually going to be a quick minute or two before we hear from him and General Caine. Tell us what's happening where you are.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so we are just outside of this committee hearing. There's going to be a first initial panel where a couple of senators are going to have an opportunity to speak about the importance of this defense funding. But obviously, this is coming at a really critical moment because across the Capitol right now in the House of Representatives, the chamber is trying to move forward with a rule that would include the first part of a budget bill that will essentially unlock their ability to pass additional defense funding.

And this is critical funding the Pentagon has been arguing for ensuring that the U.S. can replenish its munitions as this conflict with Iran is continuing overseas. Now, Brianna, this has been a really tough sell for Republican leadership because this money is not offset, and that's been a big concern for a lot of Republicans, especially conservatives on Capitol Hill, people like Representative Chip Roy, Representative Ralph Norman and others. Now, Ralph Norman told me earlier today he's supporting this, but it just shows you what a real issue this is right now.

This is not hypothetical on Capitol Hill. This is not just a normal budget request. This is coming at a moment where this issue is front and center on the Hill, front and center right now in the House of Representatives.

And if Speaker Johnson can get the bill out of his chamber, it will then be front and center here in the United States Senate. And there are a couple of issues.

[14:40:00]

One of those is that a lot of defense hawks here in the Senate believe that the House bill isn't adequate enough, that it doesn't spend enough on defense. And so it's going to be really interesting to see whether or not a couple of Republicans make that case in this Senate hearing in just a couple of minutes. It's also really notable that Senator Susan Collins is the chairwoman of this committee, Brianna.

She is somebody who has at times believed that the administration is not giving enough answers about why this money is badly needed. So expect her to press really hard when she hears from Hegseth and Caine in just a short amount of time -- Brianna.

KEILAR: A lot of Republicans pressed him last time he testified. It will not be surprising to see them to press him again. Lauren Fox, thank you so much for keeping us updated on what's happening there on the Hill. Our eyes and ears on the ground.

Back now to Beth Sanner and Colonel Cedric Leighton.

Let's talk a little bit about the deaths of these service members over the weekend, because it had been a long time without losing American service members. We've also been learning and we're seeing their names here. First Lieutenant Tyler James Feehan, Private Isabella Gonzales, Sergeant Michael Emmanuel Swinton, and the fourth service member we don't know the identity of at this point in time, but we are expecting this dignified transfer tomorrow.

This is something that really ratchets up the pressure, and I also want to note that the Pentagon is under fire for some new reporting that they've been delaying ruling out the number of injured and downplaying potential TBIs or concussions, which is something that is kind of characteristic as well. But how do you see this, Colonel?

LEIGHTON: Yes, well Brianna, I think it's, you know, really a difficult thing when the Pentagon doesn't release information like this. Now, there are valid, sometimes valid operational security concerns not to release things immediately, and Sean Parnell, the Pentagon spokesman, did mention that, that one of the reasons they were doing this was to avoid any operational security issues, and you can buy that up to a point. The problem that you have is that the American people are paying for this, you know, one way or the other, and they do need to have an idea of what's going on, whether we're succeeding or failing or something in between. And one of the ways we measure that is, unfortunately, through casualty lists and, you know, in a case like this where we've had these tragic deaths, you have a situation where you have to, you know, not only understand that, and of course you have to grieve, you know, with the families and, you know, as a nation when it comes to this, but you also have to try to find better ways to protect the troops.

And one of the things, one of the key questions that I think will be asked in the hearings that are coming up is how are we protecting the troops? What kind of defensive mechanisms are in place? Did those defensive mechanisms fail?

President Trump alluded to the possibility that the Jordanians were -- he didn't say by name -- but the assumption is that it was the Jordanians who were operating the, you know, Patriot batteries or whatever other defensive system it might have been, and that they missed the incoming drone or missile in this case. So if that's the case, then what are the interoperability issues between us and our allies, and, you know, what kinds of things can be improved there? So there are some technical questions, you know, that sound kind of in the weeds, but the problem is those things have to be answered in order to adequately protect our troops, and that's going to be, I think, critical in this case.

SANCHEZ: Final thoughts, Beth.

SANNER: I think that there is a pattern here of trying to keep information in, and I think that one of the big pressure points from the girls school that was hit, we still don't have that report, to the way that the injured were treated after they attack in Kuwait at the beginning of the war where we lost seven -- seven soldiers, you know, this is a pattern and we're going to see a lot of pressure on that.

SANCHEZ: Beth Sanner, Colonel Cedric Leighton, thank you both for the analysis.

We should remind our viewers that we've learned more about the U.S. service members that were killed in the Iran war over the weekend. The family of First Lieutenant Tyler James Feehan says that they were planning his upcoming wedding, and instead they're now planning his funeral.

KEILAR: The family tells us that Feehan was always looking forward to the next big adventure, and at just 25 years old, he had already climbed up to Mount Everest base camp. He'd trekked the Camino de Santiago from France through Spain. His family says that he quoted "Legally Blonde" often, saying, what, like it's hard?

And Feehan was just weeks away from obtaining his MBA. His school says it will agree, it will award that degree to him posthumously. We'll be right back.

[14:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Happening now, more than 35 million people are at risk of seeing severe thunderstorms, flooding and dangerous wind gusts today. The potent storms are threatening major cities in the eastern U.S. CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam joins us with the latest. Derek, where are the storms right now?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Boris, this severe weather outbreak right now is encompassing roughly 100 million Americans, or at least threatening, I should say, and that includes some of our major east coast cities. We'll get right to it because the radar is very busy and we have got newly issued severe thunderstorm and tornado watch that are actually inclusive of some major cities. Look at New York City to Philadelphia.

[14:50:00] This is a tornado watch until 9 p.m. this evening. This includes much of New York and into eastern sections of Pennsylvania. Now, just issued here within the past 60 seconds or so, we've got a new severe thunderstorm watch inclusive of the nation's capital all the way to Norfolk, westward to Cincinnati. This is a large and expansive area. Of course, hundreds of millions of Americans living within this area.

We've got active tornado warnings just north of New York City. This is still within New Jersey, but cities like Fairlawn, the Patterson and Wayne locations will see the potential, at least for a radar indicated tornado. So, you want to seek shelter now.

This is on top of a flood threat that is threatening much of the I-95 corridor, which is terrible news considering what we went through this past weekend in New York City, for instance, with the flooding that was ongoing on Saturday. There are already flight delays at LaGuardia, into Newark, into Boston. Double-check your flight plans because this is going to be a rough travel night for the East Coast.

SANCHEZ: Good advice there, Derek. Tropical storm Bertha intensifying in the Gulf at the same time. What's going on there just in the off the coast of Florida?

VAN DAM: Yes, completely different part of the country. We're talking about the Gulf now, but this is a 30A. You can see the Florida panhandle here.

This is still getting whipped up by some strong winds and occasional downbursts of rain, but the bulk of the precipitation is on the southern portion of this storm. So, when I see this as a meteorologist, I interpret this as a very sheared storm, which hurricanes and developing tropical systems don't like. They don't want that upper-level wind to shear off the tops of the storms.

Nonetheless, we still have tropical storm conditions in some areas. I mean, this is a live look at Panama City, and unfortunately, that is creating squally weather as this low-pressure -- tropical storm, rather, stays just offshore, and it is expected to make a landfall here across the boot of Louisiana by Wednesday, but as it moves inland, it will be more of a rain threat than anything, but the bulk of the heaviest rain and wind should stay just offshore, which is good news. Back to Brianna.

KEILAR: That is good news, Derek. Thank you so much.

And now to some of the other headlines that we're watching this hour. Two tourists are recovering after an attack near the Acropolis in Greece. Police say the suspect stabbed a man and a woman with a knife. The woman had minor injuries, while the man suffered serious wounds to one of his arms.

The attacker was detained at the scene. Police say the suspect appeared to have suffered psychological problems.

And check out this dash cam video. That, those are some dramatic final seconds of a police chase near Atlanta. The vehicle on the run hit a concrete barrier, ended up there on the front of that patrol car. The suspect then tried to run away but was taken into custody.

And talk about a frightening flight.

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Whoa, whoa, whoa.! Gally!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

That's a Kentucky man expressing shock after he saw sparks shooting out of that cargo plane. You can see sparks there as the Boeing jet's tail scraped the runway at Cincinnati Northern Kentucky International Airport on Sunday.

Officials say it was attempting to land when the incident happened. Eventually it did land safely, but the FAA is looking into the incident.

And still to come, one of the largest airports in the country is now privatizing their security screening.

[14:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Changes are coming to security at Tampa International Airport. Officials say plans are underway to privatize most TSA operations as early as next year.

SANCHEZ: This move comes as President Trump unveiled a proposal to shift more airport security responsibilities to private companies. CNN's Alexandra Skores joins us now. So what is going to be different for passengers at Tampa security checkpoints?

ALEXANDRA SKORES, CNN TRANSPORTATION REPORTER: So passengers might not visibly see these changes, but they're going to be happening. You're going to have a private company come in and bring their own workforce and then their own technology. Now all of this is still going to have the TSA rules.

The other thing about this is we already have 20 airports across the country that are privatized and use privatized TSA. So if -- but that's through a separate program. This TSA Gold Plus program, brand new.

The whole difference that what's going to be happening with Tampa is that they're going to see the only thing, sorry -- the only thing that's going to be different is that these private companies are going to be able to bring in their own technology, which is different than what these other airports have had. Now Trump has been a big proponent of this in the budget proposal he brought in May. He said that, you know, this was something that was in there that they want to see more privatized airports, particularly the smaller airports, but we'll just have to wait and see what other airports buy in.

KEILAR: So what do the changes mean for employees? SKORES: Employees have some options. So they've been told that they can take the job with the new company that's going to come in at Tampa. They can also resign.

They can take a different government job. They might even retire if they're eligible. So we'll have to wait and see what employees end up doing.

Now all these changes don't actually go into effect until next year, but it's going to be it's -- we're going to have to wait and see whether or not these airports ...

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