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Two U.S. Troops Killed in Jordan, One Missing in Action; Flash Flooding Slams New York as City Grapples with Wildfires Smoke; District Attorney Investigating ICE Killing Says DHS Not Collaborating; America's Fascination on the Royal Family. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired July 18, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:01:01]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Saturday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in New York today.

And we begin with breaking news on the rapidly spiraling conflict in the Middle East. U.S. Central Command says two U.S. service members were killed and a third is missing after an Iranian attack Friday in Jordan. That announcement marks the first U.S. troop deaths in conflict since March.

Newly released video shows U.S. forces carrying out a seventh straight night of attacks against a range of Iranian military targets. But Iran claims those strikes went even further, damaging the country's civilian infrastructure, including a desalination plant that provides drinking water. In response, Tehran has fired on power and desalination plants in Kuwait, one of several U.S. allies in the Gulf, raising alerts of retaliatory strikes.

It all comes as Iran's supreme leader blasts the U.S. for repeated violations of the memorandum of understanding between the two countries, calling President Trump's signature, quote, "worthless and unreliable," unquote.

We're covering this from all angles. CNN correspondent Julia Benbrook is near Trump's golf club in New Jersey, where he is spending the weekend. And CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson is in Jerusalem.

Julia, you first. What more are you learning about these Iranian attacks on Jordan and the White House's response?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The escalation has continued there. This has now been the seventh consecutive night of U.S. strikes, and there have also been waves of Iranian drones and missiles fired at a widening number of targets in countries with U.S. bases. And then we are learning from U.S. Central Command that two American service members in Jordan have been killed in action. I want to pull up that statement for you now. CENTCOM said this, "On

July 17th, two U.S. service members in Jordan were killed in action as U.S. Central Command and partner forces defended against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks. Additionally, one service member is currently missing in action."

They added that four American service members had been medically evacuated, taken to Jordanian hospitals and have since been dispatched. They're holding off of course on releasing some of the identifying information as they work to make sure that next of kin are notified.

We have reached out to the White House for a reaction to this. Have not received that yet, but Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is speaking out in a brief social media post. He said that their sacrifice only stiffens our resolve.

Now, just over a week ago now, Iran had targeted a ship in the Strait of Hormuz. That led President Donald Trump to say that he believes that the ceasefire agreement is over. And just about a month ago, there seemed to be a big diplomatic breakthrough. That's when both sides signed the memorandum of understanding, which was supposed to kick off this 60-day time period for technical talks.

We saw some of those meetings take place as they worked to discuss big issues like Iran's nuclear program, which includes the fate of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. In recent days, Trump has said that he believes that memorandum of understanding is over as well.

So what's next here? We have heard from sources familiar with the matter that Trump, even before this development today, that Trump had been getting receiving options about possibly expanding military operations in Iran. And that included a situation room meeting where the talks really centered around what it would take to loosen Iran's grip on the Strait of Hormuz, that critical waterway.

[15:05:01]

What are Americans thinking about all of this? Recent polling shows that the majority do not approve of the way that Trump has handled this so far. In fact, a "Washington Post"-Ipsos poll showed that just 29 percent approved of how he is handling that conflict in Iran.

He did have a major address just a couple of days ago. It was focused on election integrity. But all of this escalation was going on around the same time. He made only a very brief mention of Iran and just said that he believed that the United States was winning big. He did not outline his strategy going forward -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Julia Benbrook, in New Jersey, thank you so much.

All right, Nic, in Jerusalem, let me go to you. Iran is lashing out at U.S. allies in the region as hardliners in the country of Iran are also warning of a coup. What more can you tell us about those things? NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. On the one

hand, you've got the statement from the supreme leader today, not just blasting President Trump for being untrustworthy, unreliable, and Iran not sticking now to the terms of the MOU, the memorandum of understanding, but also very interestingly, calling for unity.

Now, again, I think we have to reemphasize here this is a letter from the supreme leader who took over from his father, who was killed on the first day of the war on the 28th of February. The funerals for that have only just wrapped up in the past few days. He has still not been seen. The new supreme leader has not been seen in public. So this is a letter, but it is significant that he does call for unity because there are these hardline elements in Iran are saying, hey, you politicians who negotiated this memorandum of understanding, like the foreign minister, like the speaker of the parliament there, you guys were too soft.

You gave up too much. You're trying to undermine us, the sort of the harder liners here. And you should give up your positions. There have been reports that at the funeral of Khamenei, the former supreme leader, that both the foreign minister and the speaker of parliament were harangued by the crowd, had to be led away. People were angry with them. So that sort of one thing that's happening on the side.

But Iran is also threatening to step up its attacks on countries in the region here. Significantly, you know, when we're looking at this, the death of the two U.S. service members in Jordan, the Iranians yesterday when this incident, we understand, occurred said that they had successfully targeted the Azraq Jordanian airbase, they're hitting U.S. military aircraft, and they say completely destroying them on the ground there.

Now, of course, it was Jordan where that KC-135 Stratotanker, the air refueling aircraft used for the fighter jets, had an incident, crashed in Iraq, but it had taken off from Jordan, that KC-135. The loss of six members back in March, a few months ago. And it's significant but now the U.S. is looking to up its KC-135 quotient, if you will, here in Israel, not so many miles away, but further away from Iran's possible reach, again, to resupply the fighter aircraft that are prosecuting the war inside of Iran at the moment.

WHITFIELD: All right. Nic Robertson, in Jerusalem, thank you so much.

All right. Let's get more now on these developments. With us now is CNN military analyst and retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton and Sabrina Singh. She's a CNN global affairs commentator and former deputy Pentagon press secretary.

Good to see you both. So, Colonel Leighton, you first. I mean, what kind of escalation are you now anticipating?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, Fredricka, it's good to be with you. But when we're looking at a situation like this, I think what we're going to see is probably more attacks against the Iranian infrastructure and potentially leadership targets. So this is something that the escalatory ladder has definitely reappeared in this particular case. I think what CENTCOM was doing in the last few days was trying to basically up the ante, but they were limiting their targets more or less to the southern part of Iran along the Persian Gulf Coast.

They were also conducting some attacks against targets in western Iran and southwestern Iran, basically to go after missile sites. And the -- but the basic tempo that we're going to see is probably going to increase. And we're going to see, I think, an effort to limit Iran's capability, not only to close the Strait of Hormuz, which is part of the normal plan for CENTCOM right now, but also to limit Iran's ability to attack more U.S. bases in the region.

[15:10:01]

That's something that probably should have been done earlier. But that's, I'm sure, something that's on the table right now.

WHITFIELD: And then, Sabrina, I mean, the loss of two American service members and now one missing in action really seems that it may change the decision-making calculus here. I mean, President Trump often kind of, you know, tells everybody what he's thinking or what he's likely to do next through social media. But I wonder, in a case like this, is it your view we will hear about the next course of action from the president, or do you believe it will come directly from the Pentagon?

SABRINA SINGH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Well, we did hear from Secretary Hegseth, of course, acknowledging the deaths of these two service members. You know, the president does fly a little bit from his cuff. So usually when we respond as the military, we don't necessarily forecast what we're going to do. This president has done that before.

I think, to what Cedric was saying, is that options that are being presented to the president are likely the expansion of strikes, but definitely also looking at leadership. Who could they target that are making some of these decisions, particularly that had something to do with the targeting of our service members in Jordan. So I think those are options that are going to be presented to the president.

And last, you know, I think we will hear from the president eventually. It's more a matter of, is it on a Truth Social post or is it in front of the press? But this is a, you know, a very grim day for the families that are receiving this news and of course for the U.S. military as well.

WHITFIELD: And, Colonel, you know, Iran has been taking this approach of, you know, crippling or targeting its Gulf neighbors for its support in the U.S. in this conflict and in other ways that it might support the U.S., and, you know, sort of indirectly impacting the U.S. but now this is a direct impact by, you know, taking out two U.S. service members and one still missing in action.

Do you believe this was an intended target, harming, you know, killing U.S. service members by Iran, or is this a consequence of it trying to cripple generally its neighbors? LEIGHTON: No, I think it was an intended target. I think that the

Iranians have -- they've actually done this before. They struck Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. They struck multiple bases in Kuwait. They've struck the naval headquarters in Bahrain. So there are a lot of different things that they have already done to directly attack American military forces in the region. And that's one of their goals.

We have to keep in mind that one of their goals, Fredricka, is to eliminate the U.S. presence in the Middle East. It's been a goal they've really had since the Iranian Revolution back in 1979. And now they want to realize that. So it is very normal for the Iranians to target American forces. And it's something that really requires us to rethink our posture, our defensive posture when it comes to protecting our bases and our personnel from these kinds of attacks.

WHITFIELD: And Sabrina, of course we have not heard specificity coming from CENTCOM or the White House or Pentagon, anyone, about exactly where this targeted location or this hit location in Jordan is. But we do know that there is an air base, right, that the U.S. operates out of. Is it your feeling that that was likely the location?

SINGH: Yes, I have -- I have a feeling it is the air base that we have many different fighter jets from our air force that have been stationed there and have been actually launching from there to conduct some of these strikes. You know, we don't know all the details and just kind of preserving some of that for the families. As soon as you start getting into some of those details, you know, family members automatically start assuming something about their loved ones.

And so I think CENTCOM is trying to preserve some of those details. And in the next 24 hours, what we will see is the names being released, the base that was hit, and also, hopefully we get a better understanding of how this happened. I mean, if it -- from the CENTCOM statement, it sounds like it was a combination of drones and ballistic missiles that must have overwhelmed some of the air defenses at the base.

But of course, these would all be good things that, you know, for the Pentagon to speak to. Unfortunately, we don't have those regular briefing cadences, but it would be something that hopefully we get more details from U.S. Central Command in the coming days.

WHITFIELD: All right. Sabrina Singh, Colonel Cedric Leighton, we'll leave it there for now. Thank you so much for joining us.

LEIGHTON: Thank you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: We're also continuing to follow breaking news. Flash flood emergency around New York City right now. People caught in high waters on the streets and on the highways.

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[15:19:23]

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. We're continuing to follow breaking news. U.S. Central Command

confirming that two U.S. service members were killed on Friday after Iranian attacks in Jordan. One service member is still missing in action. The announcement marks the first American military deaths in war since March.

We're continuing to follow the latest from within the region, and we'll, of course, bring the details to you as soon as we get them.

All right. We're also following breaking news out of New York, where the National Weather Service is warning life-threatening flash flooding. Two to four inches of rain fell by early afternoon with more expected.

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The heaviest rainfall hit parts of Lower Manhattan, western Brooklyn and Queens. City officials there are urging residents in lower-level apartments to get to higher ground.

CNN correspondent Gloria Pazmino is following the latest from New York.

So, Gloria, wow, what a day. I mean, first this morning, the smog from the wildfire in Canada, horrible. And then by midday incredible rain and downpours. Equally, if not more so miserable.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fred. And if we could find any sort of silver lining in all of this rain is that the rain will help the smoke condition significantly, especially as we look ahead to tomorrow where we're going to be hosting the World Cup Final in New Jersey, and the smoke condition here in New York City has been so bad for the past few days. The rain is expected to help with that.

Now let's start with some of what we have seen in the past few hours because we've seen at least between two and four inches of rain fall on the city in the past few hours. That emergency flash flooding call remains in effect, at least for the next hour.

And as you said, Fred, some of the largest volumes of rain are being seen in parts of Lower Manhattan, parts of Queens and Brooklyn. Now, some of the flooding video that we are seeing, you know, this has sort of become a pretty common occurrence here in New York City as we continue to be affected by extreme weather. The infrastructure of New York City is not able to keep up with rain that falls like it is falling today. Very quickly.

The infrastructure is not able to keep up. And while the city has tried to make changes in the last few years, we can see there that it's still struggling to keep up with rain that comes down as quickly as it is today. So, again, significant flooding conditions in parts of the city. If we could find any sort of relief, it will be because it will help the smoke condition. But as you said, Fred, here in New York City, we have had some serious weather in the past few days.

We've had a heat wave, the smoke condition, and now we are having this rain. And of course, we are expecting thousands of people to be flooding into the city between today and tomorrow. The rain is causing some delays at the area airports, so people who may be traveling into the area, perhaps for tomorrow's World Cup, are likely being affected by this right now.

WHITFIELD: Wow. A real trifecta this week and weekend.

PAZMINO: Yes.

WHITFIELD: All right. Gloria Pazmino, thank you so much, in New York.

We'll be right back.

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WHITFIELD: A Texas district attorney investigating the fatal ICE shooting of a Houston man says DHS is not collaborating with his department's independent probe. Earlier this month, 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was shot and killed by an ICE agent while driving his van to work. ICE officials claim the agent opened fire after Salgado Araujo rammed a law enforcement vehicle and refused to obey commands.

Three men inside the vehicle dispute those claims. Harris County prosecutors in Houston say DHS has been stonewalling their investigation into the shooting.

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SEAN TEARE, HARRIS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: We're not getting any communication back and forth from them. The FBI has been very forthcoming and collaborative in the small part of the investigation that they're doing. But, look, we're 11 days out from this tragedy, and we still don't even have the name of the person that shot Mr. Salgado. We don't have a single name of any of the agents that were involved in this pursuit, in this mistaken takedown of the vehicle.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The Harris County district attorney is also casting doubt on a claim made by the FBI alleging suspected drugs were found in the van. The victim's families say that crystal like substance found in the vehicle was salt, used as a homemade electrolyte drink mix. Some Democratic lawmakers, including Congressman Adriano Espaillat, who I spoke with yesterday, are calling for major ICE reform.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADRIANO ESPAILLAT (D-NY): This is a very troubling pattern. ICE has been discredited. This last attempt to link them to drugs, many in the community feel is a smear campaign. And of course, they have quotas, 2,000 arrests a day, and 90 percent of the people that are stopping and arresting are Latinos. So the Congressional Hispanic Caucus is very concerned about this pattern of behavior, this very aggressive culture that ICE has, and as ICE become a runaway train.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Joining me now to talk more about this and the controversy surrounding recent ICE shootings is John Sandweg. He's a former ICE acting director under President Obama.

John, great to see you. So this apparent refusal to share evidence with county investigators in Texas, you know, follows a similar pattern that happened in Minnesota. At least that's what officials have been saying there as well, that it took six months for the federal government to share evidence with local investigators following the ICE shooting deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis.

So what is behind this, or are these delays standard?

JOHN SANDWEG, FORMER ICE ACTING DIRECTOR UNDER PRESIDENT OBAMA: You know, Fredricka, there's always a little bit of tension when there's a shooting like this and there's a local investigation kind of going with the federal investigation.

[15:30:01]

Historically, federal agents, whether, in this case, primarily DHS, inspector general's office or the FBI, want to control that investigation, working with the Department of Justice. But of course, this is not normal times, right? And we're in a situation where there's been a lot of tension, and we've seen a real breakdown of that cooperation between the state and locals and the feds.

Obviously, I think that is playing a role here, given how politically charged everything around ICE is, given the fact that there's this tension between the administration and perceived blue states, I'm sure that is -- that the cooperation has broken down to a level it sounds to me even worse than usual.

Look, in a perfect world, everyone works collaboratively. I think we share the same goals, which is public safety. So, again, just unfortunate to see, but part of a larger trend we've seen during this administration.

WHITFIELD: ICE has received criticism from lawmakers and citizens saying ICE-related encounters are violent and aggressive before any questions are asked. And this week, the president, President Trump, reversed a DHS decision to suspend ICE traffic stops. Trump called the traffic stops one of, and I'm quoting now, "ICE's most important and effective crime fighting tools."

So with that said, should anyone realistically expect any changes in the way business is being done, so to speak?

SANDWEG: Yes, Fredricka, this is an incredibly dangerous decision by the president. He should listen to his handpicked, his handpicked acting ICE director. Right? And his handpicked secretary of DHS. The problem here is this. We've been asking this administration throughout. The administration has put ICE officers and asked them to do things that are inconsistent with their training, that are inconsistent with their experiences. Right?

We are deploying them in a way that they've never been done before. And that is -- that puts the officers themselves in grave danger. It puts the subjects of their, you know, these investigations in grave danger, and it puts the public in danger. And we've seen that. Now, this is 17, at least, at least 17 times where an individual was shot, at least five fatalities involving ICE agents executing traffic stops.

But unlike what the president says, historically these have not been a major feature of how ICE makes arrests. During the Obama administration, you know, there was a lot of criticism about the pace of immigration arrests being conducted by ICE, but traffic stops were very little part of that. And they've never really been, you know, like I said, a key tactic utilized by ICE.

I think every time, Fredricka, if I may just quickly, every time someone from law enforcement looks at these videos of the ICE things, you know, they are shocked that the tactics being utilized because they are wrong. The secretary was right to pause this. The president was wrong to reinstate him.

WHITFIELD: The ICE officers in Houston not wearing body cameras, the ICE agents involved in the fatal shooting in Maine were wearing devices that had the ability to record but the cameras apparently were not reportedly turned on because that function wasn't available on those devices. So what do you make of this?

SANDWEG: I think, look, I think as an agency as a whole, I'm not sure there's any opposition right now, hard opposition at ICE to wearing body cameras. You know, I think it's just a lack of urgency, no sense of urgency at the leadership, you know, in order to procure and deploy those cameras. Certainly wasn't money. I mean, ICE has never been better funded than it is right now between the big beautiful bill and this recent appropriation, ICE has tens and tens of billions of dollars.

So, look, I'm optimistic that the administration, they have indicated they will deploy the body cameras. In my experience, the body cameras oftentimes tend to prove the, you know, give that officer's perspective in a way that justifies the use of force or whatever actions they took. But look, given where we are right now, Fredricka, with these credibility gaps, right?

Especially after Minneapolis, where the public, you know, generally doesn't trust the, you know, institutions, government institutions, but really doesn't trust ICE right now, especially after DHS put out statements that were then contradicted, you know, by video, those body cameras will be essential in terms of establishing what's happening out there. And I hope they're deployed quickly.

WHITFIELD: All right. John Sandweg, we appreciate your expertise. Thank you so much.

SANDWEG: Yes. My pleasure. WHITFIELD: And we're continuing to follow our breaking news. Two U.S.

service members killed and one missing in Jordan after an Iranian attack.

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[15:38:56]

WHITFIELD: We continue to follow breaking news on the war in Iran. The U.S. military has confirmed two U.S. service members were killed on Friday, marking the first U.S. deaths since the ceasefire with Iran unraveled last week. According to Central Command four troops were wounded and one is still missing after a base in Jordan came under fire from Iranian ballistic missiles and drones.

Let's discuss more now with former State Department Middle East negotiator Aaron David Miller.

Aaron, great to see you. So is it your view that these U.S. troop deaths and one still missing might inflame the current situation even more?

AARON DAVID MILLER, FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR: Thanks for having me, Fred.

Look, we're in an escalatory cycle as it is with the U.S. and Iran threatening civilian infrastructure and energy infrastructure. The president repeatedly has said that if Americans are killed and what, we've lost 13 or 14, these are the first deaths since late March.

WHITFIELD: Now 16.

[15:40:02]

MILLER: Early -- 16 early -- right. And the president has said repeatedly that if Iran kills Americans, the response will be overwhelming, not proportionate. So, look, I think it's inevitable, particularly if we climb up the escalatory ladder.

Muwaffaq Salti, this base in Jordan, is a key hub. The Iranians clearly targeted it on purpose. They've done this before. And the target sets here are -- it could be very expansive. They could go after the IRGC air force that presumably conducted the attack. They could go after IRGC command and control headquarters. The Israelis did a lot of that in the initial days and weeks of the war in February and March.

I think frankly it shows -- demonstrates the risk of escalation. And I think it -- given the president's words, I suspect the response will be not proportionate.

WHITFIELD: Then talk to me further about the risks of escalation because, yes, this administration is -- has in the past threatened to, you know, hit Iran very hard. And now with these two service members dead and one missing, the presumption can be made that the president is going to threaten even more. So what do you see the risks that lay ahead?

MILLER: Look, I think the real --

WHITFIELD: Potentially.

MILLER: The real risk here is that the targets that expands beyond military strikes and targets to civilian infrastructure. CENTCOM has already hit several bridges. There was a water distribution plant that was hit yesterday. I think the Iranians have targeted Kuwait desal plants. I think a power generator. That I think is the risk. And I don't think we've seen yet the full force either of the U.S. military under those circumstances or the Iranian response.

And I think in the end, Fred, the reality is we are now farther away than ever before to any pathway that would essentially allow de- escalation and a return to the negotiating table. The Iranians believe their main source of leverage is control over the straits. And the administration seems to believe that that status quo is no longer tolerable. It was never tolerable.

We're now what? Approaching the fifth month of this war at the end of this month, with absolutely no signs, no indication that we're headed for de-escalation. On the contrary, two Americans dead, one missing. I suspect the Secretary of Defense Hegseth has already said that sacrifice -- I think he said, quote, "sacrifice will only steel or only strengthen our resolve." So we're in for days and weeks of this, I'm afraid, without end.

And the president's dilemma here, I think, is very clear. The straits were open on February 27th ,28th, now they're closed. The regime has not changed. We've gone from hard power -- divine power to hard power. And I'm reminded this is not Vietnam, but I'm reminded of what LBJ said in 1968. He said he felt like a hitchhiker in a Texas hailstorm. He couldn't run, he couldn't hide, and he couldn't make it stop.

And right now, there's no easy, quick, or advantageous way for this administration to get out of the escalation we're now witnessing.

WHITFIELD: All right. We'll leave it there. Aaron David Miller, thank you so much.

MILLER: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Also new today, Ukraine launched its most lethal drone attacks on Russia in more than two years. Giant plumes of black smoke could be seen after drone strikes hit two different warehouses inside Russia. At least eight people were killed, including a -- including warehouse workers. Dozens more were wounded. One of the warehouses was in the Moscow region. The Ukrainian military said the buildings belong to a company that was making components for drone production.

All right. Still to come, a recall of lettuce in this country tied to that outbreak that has spread to 27 states. What you should check in your refrigerator.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [15:49:27]

WHITFIELD: The produce supplier linked to a regional outbreak of a severe stomach bug is recalling iceberg lettuce shipped to 27 states over potential contamination concerns. Taylor Farms said customers should immediately discard their shredded iceberg lettuce distributed between June 29th and July 16th. You could find it sold at many grocery stores in your area. Well, the company says it is actively removing the products after the microscopic parasite cyclospora caused thousands of cases of debilitating diarrhea.

[15:50:05]

Federal health officials linked a regional outbreak to the lettuce supplier by Taylor Farms and served at some Taco Bell locations in the Midwest. The fast food chain says it removed the lettuce from its restaurants and nationwide supply chain.

Here's a question for you. Why is America so interested in the royal family? From their clothes to the corgis and the royal weddings, we'll go behind the obsession in a new CNN FlashDoc. Here's a peek at the media frenzy surrounding the two princes, William and Harry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTEN MEINZER, POP CULTURE CRITIC: Not long after Diana died, the media began to turn Harry and Wills into main characters.

LISA RESPERS FRANCE, CNN SENIOR ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: So we watched Prince William and Prince Harry grow up literally before our eyes.

MIKHAILA FRIEL, ROYAL COMMENTATOR: And it was just an explosion and a frenzy around them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love him and he said hi and he shook my hand.

MEINZER: Wills mania was born.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wills was essentially positioned as the dreamboat, the pin up boy, the teen dream.

FRIEL: Young women all over America had his poster on their walls.

RACHEL BOWIE, ROYAL EDITOR, PUREWOW.COM: I loved him.

FRIEL: I think Harry is cuter, though. People think that now. But when they were growing up, maybe not.

BOWIE: The media really characterized William and Harry quite differently. It was the heir and the spare dynamic playing out in the headlines.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: The spare always goes off the rails. It's historically always been a difficulty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: OK. Prince mania. I mean, they were some cutie pie. They still are cutie pies. CNN senior entertainment reporter Lisa Respers France joining me right now.

Lisa, OK. So why, overall, why are we all so interested in the royals all the time?

FRANCE: I know, especially given the fact that we just recently celebrated getting away from the British, right? I think it's because it gives you so much drama. You know, they are what celebrities are to us. You know, we have the celebrity culture, I think in part because of the royal family. So you have this family, which is -- literally calls themselves the, you know, they're an institution. And -- but then at the same time, you have all this drama around them, right?

And it's very tabloidy. It's very soap opera-ish. And so we just can't seem to get enough. And you also have all the wealth and the glamor of being a royal, right?

WHITFIELD: Right. I mean, in our intro just now and then even in the promos, the trailers, I mean, it's the jewelry, you know, it's the corgis. It's just the fascination of a life that most people can only imagine and will never really get a chance, you know, to enjoy. And I guess that, you know, feeds into this insatiable appetite.

FRANCE: Absolutely. It's like a fairy tale, right? It's a modern-day fairy tale. You think about all the wealth. I mean, because this family is extremely wealthy. You think about all the real estate that they have, and you just think about how tremendously popular they are, not just in the U.K., but around the world and clearly here in the U.S., because we cannot get enough of royal family anything.

WHITFIELD: Right. People think their lives are perfect. But then we also know, I mean, there's so much imperfection going on. And that too leads to a lot of the fascination. I mean, you know, how about, you know, fast forward now, you're talking about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, their decision to kind of, you know, step back from royal duties, change their involvement.

How did that change the perception of what being a royal is like?

FRANCE: They really ripped the veil based on what they have said about their experience being part of the royal family. And a lot of it has to do with Harry's desire to protect his mother, I mean, I'm sorry to protect his wife in a way that I feel like he thinks his mother wasn't protected, because here you have a woman of color, an American and a divorcee, an actress, who comes into the royal family.

And while initially this was treated with so much excitement, it got to the point where he had to literally send out press releases and say, stop being so racist towards Meghan. And so what they have said about their experience and about how just really traumatic it has been for them to be a part of this family has really changed the way people view this family, because it started to seem like more of a nightmare than the fairy tale that we were led to believe. Of course, we've had trauma, you know, and a lot of tragedy in the family, including the horrific death of his mother, Princess Diana.

But there still was like this gloss and this gleam to it. But them speaking out about how they say that they have been treated within the family, within the firm, as the royals are called, has really, you know, opened a lot of eyes for some people.

[15:55:08]

And it's caused a lot of controversy because there are some people who absolutely don't want to believe them and who, you know, take them to task for even speaking out -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Still, the fascination, no matter which way you look at it.

All right. Lisa Respers France, thank you so much. Always great to see you.

FRANCE: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: And the CNN FlashDoc "Royal Fever: Why America can't Quit the Crown" airs tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN and tomorrow on the CNN app.

And thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. "THE ARENA" starts right after this.

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