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U.S.-Iran Trade Strikes After U.S. Service Members Killed In Jordan; Spain And Argentina Prepare To Battle It Out In World Cup Final; ICE Officer Connected To Fatal Maine Shooting Had Claimed "Cognitive Deficits" After Serious Head Injury; U.S. Launches Strikes To "Swiftly Punish" Iran For U.S. Troops Deaths; Ukraine Blames Russia For Launching Massive Overnight Air Attacks; Lettuce Recalled In 27 States Due to Potential Contamination. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired July 19, 2026 - 14:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:30]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A new wave of attacks between Iran and the United States after two U.S. service members were killed on Friday. The strikes are some of the most intense exchanges in months.

Plus, a new CNN investigation finds the immigration officer connected to the deadly shooting of a man in Maine, claimed in 2023 that a head injury had left him with lasting problems with memory and thinking. The questions that are being raised about ICE's hiring and training procedures now.

And it all comes down to this. Argentina and Spain will face off with World Cup glory on the line. We'll take you live to the match and watch parties around the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

WHITFIELD: Hello, everyone. And thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

A swift punishment. That's how the U.S. is describing its latest round of airstrikes against Iran. U.S. Central Command says it launched attacks for the eighth straight night, responding to Iranian strikes on U.S. forces in Jordan.

Video shows the moment missiles hit a Jordanian base on Saturday, killing two U.S. troops and leaving four wounded. One service member remains missing.

U.S. Central Command says its latest strikes are aimed at degrading Iran's ability to threaten shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, but Iran is not standing by opting to retaliate against neighboring Arab countries.

Sirens sounded in Kuwait, where officials say a power and water desalination plant was attacked for the second straight day. And Bahrain and Jordan say they have both intercepted Iranian missiles, leading to increased fears in the region of a wider and longer war.

I want to get straight to CNN's Nic Robertson. He's in Jerusalem. Nic, what more are you learning about this ongoing tit for tat between Iran and the U.S.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, Iran really does seem to be focusing more intensely on Jordan at the moment. Over the past several days -- four or five days -- it's targeted U.S. forces at different air bases inside of Jordan. Those two U.S. service personnel killed, one still missing in action there.

Iran today, though, turning up the temperature on Jordan, targeting nowhere near a U.S. air base but targeting the southern part of Jordan around the city of Aqaba.

And shortly before those missiles were fired towards Aqaba in Jordan, the U.S. embassy in Jordan put out a warning to American citizens to stay away from the international airport in Aqaba, to stay away from the international seaport in Aqaba, which is right at the top of the Red Sea. At this time of year it is a very popular tourist destination, not just for Americans, but Europeans and many others visiting.

So Iran -- it's not clear why they targeted Aqaba, but it does send a clear message to the United States allies in the region that Iran will target them. It said that it will do that.

Kuwait was on the receiving end of it again today. Bahrain also put up missile defenses for Iranian attacks in the morning.

Kuwait, as you say, the second night in a row that a water desalination and power plant was targeted. And of course, that is critical civilian infrastructure in a country like Kuwait that depends on that clean desalinated water coming from the sea depends on electricity at this time of year for air conditioning.

Now, the U.S. overnight targeting again around the Strait of Hormuz, around Qeshm Island, around Bandar Abbas, that key Iranian city on the Strait of Hormuz.

But Iran has been threatening the potential to escalate. And it does appear to be that the south of Jordan and very close to it, Eilat in Israel -- not targeted, not hit.

[14:04:48]

ROBERTSON: But going on a warning alert at the time of the targeting of Aqaba today.

WHITFIELD: All right. Nic Robertson in Jerusalem, thank you so much. We'll check back with you.

All right. In an interview with "The New York Post", President Trump said he plans to speak with the families of the two U.S. troops killed in Jordan.

CNN's Julia Benbrook is near the president's Bedminster Golf Resort in New Jersey, where he has been spending the weekend.

He'll be on his way to the World Cup, also being played in New Jersey a bit later on.

So, Julia, for now, what more is the White House saying?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, overnight, the United States launched another round of strikes after vowing to swiftly punish Iran for an attack on Jordan that left two U.S. service members dead and one still missing in action.

U.S. Central Command is still withholding some information as they work to notify next of kin. CentCom did say that another four American service members were medically evacuated, taken to Jordanian hospitals, and have since been discharged.

This brings the total number of American service members killed during this nearly five-month conflict to 16. And these are the first American combat fatalities caused by direct Iranian fire since March.

All of this leading to this escalation that's just causing concerns of an even wider conflict.

As you mentioned, President Donald Trump, he's spending his weekend here in New Jersey, and he has yet to make public comments about these two deaths. He has given a few brief interviews in "The New York Post". He said he will be having conversations with those families.

And he told "News Nation" as he first reacted, that these were very sad and that it was in service to our country.

He then went on to reiterate the point he's been making throughout this conflict, that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.

Earlier today, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said as he was speaking about the conflict as a whole, the Strait of Hormuz and how it impacts shipping. He said that Trump continues to look for a diplomatic solution, a diplomatic off ramp, but that the mission remains unchanged. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS WRIGHT, U.S. ENERGY SECRETARY: It's tragic to lose American lives, but this is a mission that will save countless lives going forward.

His focus is on degrading the Iranian ability to terrorize the world, to hold world commerce hostage as they are doing right now, and to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons. That is unchanged.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: But it is clear that, at least so far, those negotiations have not led to a solution.

It was just about a month ago that the Memorandum of Understanding was signed. But recently, Trump has said that, in his opinion, that agreement is over.

He will be on the world stage today as he attends the World Cup final at MetLife Stadium. He's expected to give out the trophy, so a lot of eyes will be not only on Trump but on the United States as they host this worldwide event.

WHITFIELD: Right, indeed.

All right. Julia Benbrook in New Jersey, thanks so much.

All right. Let's talk more about this escalating situation with Iran. I want to bring in now CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger. He's also a White House and national security correspondent for "The New York Times".

David, great to see you. So with the deaths, particularly of these two U.S. Service members, a lot of people are wondering whether this conflict is heading once again toward an all-out war with Iran. What can the president say to make people think otherwise?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: I'm not sure there's much he can say, because the fact of the matter is that once the Memorandum of Understanding fell apart last week, then both sides got into two calculations.

The first one is who can escalate the most and cause the most pain for the other side. And frankly, the answer isn't clear to -- the answer to that question is not yet clear, because while the U.S. clearly has more firepower, the Iranians have proven that the combination of being able to shut off the strait and being able to hit poorly-defended American allies throughout the -- throughout the gulf gives them far, far more capability than we thought would be possible five months after this conflict began.

And so the president is still struggling with the fact that for all that we have hit Iran and it's been impressive, they are still able to cause so much economic chaos and so much regional chaos.

WHITFIELD: And then again, zeroing in on the region. I mean, this is just the latest attack on a U.S. military asset in Jordan. Iran has been targeting them for the past week.

So why does it seem that Jordan has become a bigger target for Iran?

[14:09:49]

SANGER: Jordan's a big target because it hosts American forces. And you can say the same of others in the region -- Saudi Arabia obviously, Kuwait, Qatar.

And the question I think is right now whether or not the Iranians can make their point to the region, which is hosting American forces, is far more dangerous than you think.

Each of these countries hosted American bases because they thought it was part of their defenses. And it was. WHITFIELD: Yes.

SANGER: But now it's also made them a target.

WHITFIELD: Well, do you think some of these Gulf nations will start to reconsider this now, hosting the U.S., particularly military installations?

SANGER: You know, I talked a few days ago to a senior official of one of the countries that is a host. And they are not reconsidering it right now because they think over the long term, the U.S. is their greatest source of protection.

But it has certainly made them far more interested in coming up with a diplomatic solution quickly.

And their fear is that having tried this once and failed with the Memorandum of Understanding, that it's going to be a lot harder to put that back together a second time.

WHITFIELD: The U.S. launching new counter strikes on, you know, targets in Iran, saying it continues to degrade Iran's military capabilities. But clearly, Iran, you know, still has the ability to carry out some pretty damaging and deadly attacks. I mean, the drones have become an incredible asset.

SANGER: They have, indeed. And while the U.S. focused on degrading Iran's missile capability, clearly there's some of that.

But they can also rebuild the drones fairly quickly. They've turned around new drone production, I think, faster than most American officials had expected. And they now have the range and the ability to go evade defenses that some of those are striking.

And that's how we've gotten into this awful tragedy, I'm afraid, with the two Americans who have been lost and one who's still missing.

WHITFIELD: So do you believe -- I mean, the president may speak later on today -- do you believe he is going to attempt to make it clear what the goal is now in terms of whether any kind of methods of diplomacy are off the table or is it strictly now going to be, you know, who strong arms the other the most?

SANGER: Well, we're in one of those competitions where the Americans believe they can impose so much pain on Iran that they'll be forced back to the table.

And the Iranians believe they can impose so much pain on the United States as elections come and they're looking at everything from gas prices to just the loss of human lives, like we've seen in the past 24 hours, that they can impose more pain.

I think the president probably will make another stab at trying to put a diplomatic agreement back together. But the course of that in the past month should be a sobering warning to all that these are pretty fragile. And you've got to move to a comprehensive agreement much more quickly

than he did a month ago when the accord was vaguely worded. And he thought we just patch things over for a while. And even his own aides are not really defending that approach anymore.

WHITFIELD: All right. David Sanger, we'll leave it there for now. Thank you so much. Always great talking to you.

SANGER: Great being with you. Enjoy the World Cup.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much. All right.

Still ahead, a CNN investigation into the ICE officer connected to the fatal shooting of a man in Maine. The officer's 2023 lawsuit claimed that he had suffered a serious head injury that left him with, quote, "cognitive deficits". Those findings straight ahead.

Plus massive attack, Russia unleashing one of its largest ballistic missile attacks yet on the capital of Ukraine.

And final face off -- fans around the world counting down to kick off for the World Cup finals. Our team is in the middle of all the action.

[14:14:21]

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WHITFIELD: All right. You can feel the excitement everywhere.

World Cup fever -- it's spreading. At the top of the hour, Spain will take on the defending champion Argentina in a battle for the FIFA World Cup trophy. CNN's Amanda Davies has a preview of this clash of the titans.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: The countdown is on for the biggest football match in history, and that is no exaggeration. The climax of the biggest, most valuable, most watched World Cup in history. The top two teams going head-to-head for football's greatest prize.

[14:19:42]

DAVIES: The Spanish boss, Luis de la Fuente, has said we are going to have a great show. And I don't think he was talking about what's to come at half time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Spain scores first. That's probably good news for Argentina because they like to do comebacks, so they score first and I think Argentina will take it.

DAVIES: How confident are you for the final?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, I seem pretty confident. Like I trust and I trust in my team to win.

DAVIES: Three-two?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Spain.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Leo Messi and then my wife and then my family.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Yes. He's the love of my life. Yes. It's the most important people in my -- in my life. Yes, yes.

DAVIES: The love of Messi might never change. But things at this tournament have been a bit different with the introduction of hydration breaks. We're getting set for that first ever World Cup halftime show.

And in another Americanization, it's been revealed the winners are set to receive a Super Bowl-esque celebratory ring.

And how about this? A first public pre-final presentation here at Fanatix Fest (ph), with both coaches and captains. And yes, the biggest cheers for Leo Messi.

LIONEL SCALONI, ARGENTINA HEAD COACH (through translator): To have been able to reach a final as he has reached it at 39 years old, I think it is something incredible. We have to value what he does and the history and the legend is him and this whole group of players who have taken us to some wonderful years.

CROWD: Espanol, Espanol.

DAVIES: 16 years after they won the World Cup for the first and only time, it's 19-year-old Lamine Yamal who's the face of this new era for Spain as they look to emulate the success of the players from 2010.

RODRIGO CASCANTE, SPAIN CAPTAIN (through translator): This team and this generation, we're going to give people something to talk about and that the path toward reaching the greatest thing a soccer player can achieve, which is lifting the World Cup.

And on Sunday, we have a very beautiful challenge ahead of us to make this unforgettable, I think, as you say, for a great generation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: So much fun, so exciting. Amanda Davies, thank you so much for bringing us that view.

All right, World Cup fans are bringing the energy, indeed, no matter what city you're in.

But take a look at New York City right here. This is Times Square where fans are gathering ahead of the big match.

And for people who don't have tickets to the final, it's all about the watch parties. And those two are everywhere.

We've got team coverage from Pau Mosquera in Madrid; Stefano Pozzebon is in Buenos Aires.

All right, let's get started with you, Pau. That's going to be a big watch party. What's happening?

PAU MOSQUERA, CNN ESPANOL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. I guess that you can already hear what is the atmosphere here in Madrid? There's a lot of music and thousands of fans are already packing this Plaza De Colon Square.

This is one of the different spots that the authorities have organized as to set giant screens to allow the fans to watch closely. Watch this important final.

Here in this Plaza de Colon, you can get an image. There are around 6,000 people, Fredricka, but this is just a part because on the other side from the screen, there are 15,000 people because there's another second giant screen to allow everyone that is getting here downtown to enjoy every minute of this important match.

And amongst the thousands of fans that got here to Plaza de Colon, there's Gonzalo. The point with Gonzalo is that he's from Toledo, very close to Madrid.

But you were in Athens and you decided to come to Madrid to enjoy this watch party. What exactly were you doing in Athens?

GONZALO: I was in a travel from Toledo and Madrid to Athens by bike. I have spent 100 days and 100 nights and I need to enjoy the final with my family and friends.

MOSQUERA: So who did you come with? Your family? Is there -- are they around here?

GONZALO: Yes, these are my family. My sister and all the people that I need to enjoy this moment and also special.

MOSQUERA: And now the important point about all of this. What do you think that it's going to be the final result of this match?

GONZALO: I wish that, and I think it's three for Spain, one for Argentina. For sure.

MOSQUERA: Well -- we'll see. Thank you very much, Gonzalo. Enjoy this match.

And you see Fredricka here, the party has already started, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: I see. I love the music. It's very dramatic as well. Ok.

A total of 21,000 people in the streets. That's insane.

All right. Pau, we're going to check back with you. That's a lot of excitement there.

All right. Let's go to Buenos Aires now, where Stefano Pozzebon is.

[14:24:45]

WHITFIELD: All right. So top that Stefano. 21,000 people in the streets there in Madrid. How about from where you are?

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I can't really do any size of crowd estimation, but I would say definitely thousands of Argentinians have showed up for this match. Even though we're in the middle of the winter here in the southern hemisphere, Fredricka. It's quite chilly.

It's raining and it's cold. That's why you see a lot of people in their jackets.

But still we have, first of all, we have Lionel Messi. He's the greatest player of all time. And then we have trumpets. We have drums.

I want to show you how the Argentinians are preparing for these historic potential double after winning the 2022 World Cup. You can see them.

Ok. This is a chant against England. So we're not going to directly translate what they're singing. But I mean the party started in Madrid.

The party started here two days ago when we beat -- Argentina and we beat England, of course.

And this nation has really has not taken a breath since that semifinal two-one victory coming back against England.

Three-one for Spain as that gentleman over there in Madrid was saying. Perhaps.

But the people around here have all the confidence going into this match. They have a confidence that they have a team that is mature, that is expert. It's a team that has already won it before. It's a team that has played five consecutive international finals over the last decade, and they have nothing to prove.

This is just the best potential way to say goodbye to the greatest player of all time, Lionel Messi. I'm sure you've heard of him, as have all of these people.

It was going to be a tough match. Spain is a worthy rival for sure, but Argentina is going to pull it off after the 90th minute.

That's what gentlemen over there are saying with the little superstition, because you know that this is the most superstitious country on earth. We've been doing a few stories about that.

Not many people here want to say the word "ganar", which is winning, or use the number four. But hey, if we do get the number four star here, Fredricka, let me sure that it will be the very last tango you can possibly imagine in Buenos Aires, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, more "ganar", more excitement and a lot of confidence there. All right. Thank you so much there from Buenos Aires, Stefano Pozzebon.

All right. Coming up, the growing questions about how in this country ICE carries out vehicle stops after two fatal shootings in less than a week.

All that next.

[14:27:32]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:31:46]

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back.

We have new details about one of the officers on scene of that deadly ICE shooting in Maine. CNN has confirmed that David Brouillette was among those officers.

According to two of his ex-wives, one of the former spouses and one of his daughters told CNN that he told them he opened fire and thought the shooting was justified. CNN has not independently confirmed if Brouillette was the officer who shot 25 year old Duran Guerrero last Monday. Federal officials have not publicly identified the officer.

After combing through public documents and speaking with the ex-wife CNN uncovered more details about Brouillette past. Both women described a history of alleged domestic abuse and intimidation. Brouillette has denied the allegations and was never charged.

CNN has also learned that Brouillette told a court in Maine that he suffered lingering cognitive issues after he suffered a serious head injury. A steel beam fell on his head while he was in firefighter training, leaving him unable to compete -- complete the training. Brouillette has not responded to several requests for comment.

Guerrero was from Colombia and was living in Maine with his partner and daughter, working as a delivery driver. The Department of Homeland Security says he was trying to flee the scene, and an ICE officer shot him, quote, "fearing for public safety," end quote.

In the aftermath of that deadly ICE shooting in Maine and another one in Houston, Texas, the Department of Homeland Security briefly ordered an end to most traffic stops by ICE officers. Sources say it's a move that angered President Trump, who ordered immigration officials to resume the vehicle stops just a day after they had been suspended.

CNN's Shimon Prokupecz has details on the questions about how the stops are being carried out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): From Texas to Maine, two fatal ICE shootings in less than a week that have captured national and international headlines. But there was also this nonfatal shooting in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania,

earlier this month, marking the third time ICE officers opened fire at traffic stops in July alone.

Here's how it happened. ICE vehicles pull over a white SUV they say was driven. by an undocumented immigrant. You can see an unmarked ICE vehicle pull in front to block the SUV while agents approach the man inside.

Watch how it plays out in this video obtained by CNN affiliate WGAL.

(GUNFIRE)

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Look again. agent who breaks that window opens fire down a residential street as the driver hits the ICE vehicle and a parked car. For many local police departments, opening fire in this type of scenario is rare and not standard procedure.

KENNETH COREY, FORMER CHIEF, NYPD: The agents themselves at that point, the vehicle has passed them, so they're not in physical jeopardy at that point from the vehicle itself, just using the standpoint of the vehicle. He could take out a line of parked cars driving down the street. You can't shoot him for that.

[14:35:04]

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): ICE says the driver of the car in Harrisburg, who, still at large, had a criminal record, including assault, hit- and-run, and a domestic incident. They said he weaponized his vehicle.

But Corey says ICE tactics could have created more danger.

COREY: Because shooting at the vehicle isn't going to stop the car. Shooting the driver now turns that car into essentially an unguided missile.

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Case in point, in Maine this week. After ICE shot and killed a man in the driver's seat during a traffic stop, the vehicle circled uncontrollably for about a minute.

Shooting at moving vehicles is a tactic ICE has used in multiple cases, like here in Franklin Park, Illinois, last September. It happened when agents blocked the vehicle from the front and approached it from both sides on foot. The car backs up, and as it goes forward, you hear one of the agents open fire on the driver, who later died.

The Department of Homeland Security statement said the driver disobeyed commands and the agent feared for his life while being dragged a significant distance. Body cam footage at the scene showed the same agent describing it this way to responding officers.

OFFICER: You good?

AGENT: Dragged a little bit.

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): A report from the state of Illinois' Accountability Commission found the shooting was not justified. It said shots were fired, quote, "to disable a moving vehicle", and notes that DHS policy prohibits shooting a firearm solely to disable moving vehicles.

Justified or not, Corey says problems arise with ICE tactics before even shots are fired.

COREY: And de-escalation is an outcome to me, and de-escalation is an outcome that can be achieved by a well-trained, properly equipped officer. And a big piece of de-escalation is slowing the incident down.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Shimon Prokupecz, thanks so much for that reporting.

All right. Straight ahead, Russia launched one of its biggest attacks yet on Ukraine and its capital city of Kyiv. We'll have the latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:41:44]

WHITFIELD: We continue to follow breaking news. U.S. Central Command says it attacked Iranian targets for an eighth consecutive round overnight. The latest attacks were in response to Iranian strikes on U.S. forces in Jordan. Two U.S. troops were killed and four others wounded. One service member remains missing.

Sirens could be heard in Kuwait, where officials say a power plant and water desalination plant were hit by Iran. Bahrain and Jordan have also reported missile attacks.

And new today, Russia unleashed one of its largest ballistic missile attacks on Ukraine since it began the war more than four years ago.

CNN's Barbie Nadeau has the story

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: This was just a relentless attack on the Ukrainian capital. We understand 40 missiles raining down in less than two hours, causing fires in residential areas and including a shopping center.

Now, this comes on the heels of that twin drone attack deep inside Russian territory on Saturday. Eight people killed as these retail centers were struck that Ukraine says, were part of a drone manufacturing operation, changing the strategy. Ukraine had previously only really attacked energy infrastructure and maritime assets. All of this really underscores what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been saying about Russia's attitude towards is that they have no intention of ending the war any time soon.

Let's listen to what he had to say about the Russian president. VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Russia

has long had the opportunity to turn to diplomacy and end its aggression. It is the Russian leadership's refusal and its desire to continue fighting that are the reasons this war goes on. This year alone, we have approached Russia dozens of times with proposals to stop the war. The response has always been rejection.

Our partners are working to help organize a meeting between the leaders. The United States, Turkey, other European countries and Arab leaders. Putin has no desire to end the war.

NADEAU: And Russia says they're not done yet in terms of retaliation. Now, it remains to be seen whether Ukraine has the capability to again attack deep inside Russia. And if that will bring these two sides anywhere closer to negotiations and anywhere closer to peace.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Barbie Latza Nadeau, thank you so much.

All right. Still ahead, back in this country, lettuce is now being recalled in 27 states amid the outbreak of that gut churning parasite, making thousands of people sick. What you need to know to stay safe, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:49:03]

WHITFIELD: Welcome back.

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. It was sold at many grocery stores as well.

The company says its actively removing the products after the microscopic parasite cyclospora caused thousands of cases of debilitating diarrhea. Federal health officials linked a regional outbreak to the lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms and served some Taco Bell locations in the Midwest. The fast food chain says it removed the lettuce from its restaurants and nationwide supply chain.

All right. Let's continue this conversation. Now with us is Dr. Dhaval Desai. He's a physician and host of the seen in full podcast. He's also the author of a book, "Burning Out on the COVID Front Lines", about his experiences during that pandemic.

[14:50:07]

Thank you so much for being with us.

DR. DHAVAL DESAI, PHYSICIAN: Thanks for having me, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, so the company linked to this outbreak has now recalled iceberg lettuce in 27 states.

Do you expect that once all that lettuce is out of the food supply, that should be the end of this outbreak?

DESAI: Yeah. Good question. You know, I think first and foremost, we need to know that having this source control that we have right now is a positive step in the right direction. So when we take a step back, look where this started from a public health standpoint, we have source control.

Do I think cases will be zero by tomorrow or even by end of this week? Probably not. But we are going to get better and we have to remember also its summertime. It is still virus season. We see tons of other stomach and G.I. viruses in addition to cyclospora there.

WHITFIELD: Oh, okay. So does this cyclospora, does it cross contaminate? In other words, you know, if that lettuce or bacteria came into contact with some other produce or food, can it still spread and get people sick?

DESAI: If the lettuce and the food is actually have the infected cyclospora? Theoretically, the answer to that would be yes, but what can we do to try to avoid that is the big question. And that is washing our produce extensively, doesn't reduce the risk to zero, but it does decrease dramatically.

And if you can cook it with heat often, obviously hard to do with lettuce and some of the green vegetables, that is the best thing to do.

WHITFIELD: So is, is that the key? Why so many people got sick? Because the lettuce wasn't rinsed or washed properly, or was there some other culprit here

DESAI: You know, what seems -- what's common is common is common. And why do these infections start? Why do these illnesses start? It's because something is contaminated. So along the way, whether it's the food production company, how it was processed, how it was sent out, was it not completely right in storage? I think somewhere along the way, the quality did break down, and now we're working backwards to see what happened. So hopefully, it won't happen again.

WHITFIELD: So what's your best advice now? As you mentioned, summer, you know lots of things are out there because of the warm weather, et cetera. Things kind of grow a little faster. But then what can any of us do? You know about trying to keep ourselves safe? Because I mean, you don't know in cases like this until there's an outbreak, but how do we avert that?

DESAI: Yeah. I think the best thing, Fredricka, is to be aware. We know this is out there. What can we do to prevent it? Look at your bagged vegetables, look at the product recalls that are out there. Obviously, don't eat or discard something that has been recalled.

Good handwashing, clean hands save lives. We can't say that enough. That is always and washing the produce like right now, we know that's the key thing to do. The produce, the berries, the fruits, any fresh produce that's coming in wash extensively.

And I think the majority of us, the good news is the majority of us are going to be okay from this.

WHITFIELD: And then quickly what again, are some of the symptoms? What do people need to look out for?

DESAI: Yeah, yeah, for cyclospora, the big symptoms are abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting. We are hearing this, quote, "explosive diarrhea". But think diarrhea that's multiple episodes per day not going away associated with cramping. Those are the big warning signs that something is going on. And you want to talk to your medical provider at that point.

WHITFIELD: All pretty miserable. All right. That's for sure.

All right. Dr. Dhaval Desai -- no, not at all. Okay. Thank you so much. Great to see you.

DESAI: Thank you. You, too.

WHITFIELD: All right. Coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM, intensifying attacks. New video from CENTCOM showing a new wave of attacks on Iranian targets after American troops were killed during an Iranian strike in Jordan. I'll speak to Democratic congresswoman on the foreign affairs committee, Madeleine Dean, about the escalating conflict.

Plus, a new report the ACLU investigating the use of force by federal immigration agents, finding it has become a, quote, default tool.

And social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate arrested in Miami as the U.K. is seeking their extradition. The dozens of charges that theyre facing, including rape and sex trafficking.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hello again, everyone.

Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in New York today. And we begin with the U.S. response to the deaths of two American troops killed by an Iranian attack. Overnight, U.S. forces carried out strikes against a range of targets inside Iran. Those strikes, according to U.S. Central Command, aimed squarely at hurting the country's abilities to block shipping in the vital Strait of Hormuz.

But Iran claims those attacks went even further. The country's Atomic Energy Organization is accusing the U.S. of striking a nuclear power plant currently under construction. While the U.S. has not yet responded to those allegations, Iran is lashing out.