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Three U.S. Troops Killed in Jordan and Iraq; Qatari Air Force One Will be Maxed Out; New York Magazine's Will Leitch is Interviewed about the World Cup; Maine zeroes in on Senate Replacement. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired July 20, 2026 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:32:28]

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. Thank you for joining me on CNN THIS MORNING.

It is half past the hour. And here's what's happening right now.

Any moment now the U.K. will have a new prime minister. Keir Starmer delivered his last address, formally resigning, leaving as the shortest serving Labour prime minister in history. Andy Burnham will take over. He will become the country's seventh prime minister in just ten years.

And three people are dead in connection with a cluster of legionnaires disease in New York City. Officials believe the cases are connected with bacteria found in building cooling towers on the upper east side. According to the health department, 74 cases have been reported and eight people now hospitalized.

And the U.S. military ramping up attacks in Iran for a ninth straight night. In return, Iran hitting targets across seven countries, including a U.S. base in Jordan, where two service members were killed on Friday. Another is missing. And one U.S. service member also died in northern Iraq Sunday while trying to do a controlled detonation of a downed Iranian attack drone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, we feel very badly, but, you know, those great people, those great patriots who are out there fighting that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: OK, so the strikes from both sides raising serious concerns, again, about an all-out war breaking out in the region.

Group chat is back.

And we're adding retired Air Force colonel, and CNN military analyst, Cedric Leighton.

Thank you so much for being here. I'm sorry it's under these circumstances, as the death toll of U.S. killed in action is now 17.

I want to ask about one of those deaths. They were trying to detonate a drone, right? An Iranian drone lands. They're trying to get rid of it. Someone dies in the process. And it reminded me of the fact that the U.S. has had to have this whole system to intercept and deal with drones. An expensive system. How is it handling up under the onslaught from Iran?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, well, this is one of the key questions that CENTCOM and really all military officials in the U.S. have to answer this morning, Audie. And, you know, one of the things to look at here is that the Iranians have some very cheap, very efficient drones in many respects. So, you know, when you look at one of the common ones, the Shahed 136. About $30,000 a pop. And if it's coupled with explosives, then you've got a whole different set of things to worry about.

So, when the explosive ordnance disposal technicians look at these weapon systems, they have to go in and they try to defuse them.

[06:35:05]

Basically they're defusing bombs when they do this. And we know that many of the drones that the Iranians have, have fuses that go off after the bombing -- or after the drone impacts a particular area. So --

CORNISH: After it impacts, then it goes off again.

LEIGHTON: It can. It --

CORNISH: Is this a sense -- is this adaptation? Are we seeing an Iran that has not been obliterated militarily, but has found ways to adapt?

LEIGHTON: Well, they've definitely found ways to adapt. And sometimes there are malfunctions of their equipment as well. So, in this case, we're probably talking about a malfunction. But those are the kinds of things that do happen. And the explosive ordnance folks look at these things in an effort to try to determine what those weapons actually are, what they're capable of, and how they actually, you know, how they explode, how they work, and whether or not there are other countermeasures that we can use. So, when it comes to those countermeasures, we are looking at a lot of different things. And it's, you know, it's definitely a very difficult problem set because it's a lot cheaper to throw things like drones of the Shahed type against a particular target than it is to defend them.

CORNISH: So, it's not that we're running out of things, it's that we are running out of the things to intercept?

LEIGHTON: Well, there are some things that we're running out of, or at least there's difficulty. Like, for example, the Patriot missiles. You know, when you look at the PAC-3 interceptors that are part of the Patriot packages, those are, first of all, hard to build. When you look at the rate of production and the rate of expenditure of those missiles, then --

CORNISH: Yes, how long can we keep going.

LEIGHTON: Then it's -- then it becomes a shortage. But the key thing to remember, Audie, is this, CENTCOM and other elements are moving into a different era where we're actually using drones against the Iranians as well. And some of the defense systems that we have right now are actually of the cheaper variety. There's a system called the LUCAS system, for example, that is a reverse engineered Shahed drone. And it is about $30,000 to $40,000 as well in terms of its expense. So, we're getting to the point where we're getting better at that fiscal equation.

CORNISH: Yes. But we're going to need money. You said fiscal equation. I know Hegseth is asking for, I think, $80 billion Iran war supplement, $1.5 trillion for the fiscal year. And then a $30 billion estimated current cost of the war at this point.

What's the political appetite right now? I mean once you have service members dying, I have a hard time picturing any lawmaker I've ever met saying, we're not going to give money to this. Sorry, guys.

SEUNG MIN KIM, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: The political appetite is such that Republican leaders are using a maneuver that only needs Republican votes to try to push through this. I think in any other circumstance, you would have found some Democrats who are willing to say --

CORNISH: Yes.

KIM: Well, you know, we may not love this war, but the Pentagon does need the money and the resources.

But because of what we talked about earlier, how the president has not made a case for this war, how they have sought no -- essentially no authorization from Congress to authorize these strikes, the Democrats are saying, we're not going to help with passing this one at all.

CORNISH: Yes. And I just want to say, when we look at the YouGov polling, this is for mid-July, was Iran war a wrong decision? So, this is people being asked, essentially, how do you feel about the president's handling of the war. Democrats, needless to say, 89 percent not happy. Independents, 65 percent saying the Iran war was the wrong decision. Not like wrong direction, wrong decision. And non- MAGA Republicans, 51 percent.

Now, I know you're not political, but I feel like every military man who came of age post-Vietnam is now aware of how much the public sentiment matters. The forever war generation, how much the public sentiment matters. I don't want to overestimate casualties when there are going to be casualties in war. But how do you see it, given that people don't think he made the right call going?

LEIGHTON: Yes. Well, one of the things that's different about the Vietnam era and what we're dealing with right now is that there is genuine support for the military itself. So, when you look at the American population at large, there's a lot of support for the military.

You know, I have not encountered the types of things that I encountered the first year I went through ROTC. First year I went through ROTC, people were against -- and it was 1980. You know, we were against the Vietnam War. It was still a, you know, vestige --

CORNISH: Yes.

LEIGHTON: That was over -- had been over for five years at that point. And you looked at a, you know, a completely different equation. But when it came to, you know, basically the election of Ronald Reagan, all of a sudden sentiment changed. Even on a liberal college campus. I went to Cornell. And that was a completely different environment.

And then as, you know, during the Reagan years, there was a much better sense that people had that the military was becoming better, that it was becoming more efficient. And that actually is true because the military learned lessons from Vietnam.

[06:40:00]

CORNISH: Yes.

LEIGHTON: They changed the way they did business. And, you know, you saw the debacle, you know, going back to Iran, you saw the debacle in Desert One, which was the hostage rescue attempt.

CORNISH: But I think as a result and beyond, also the draft and many other things, it's made the U.S. populace more sensitive to deaths.

LEIGHTON: Absolutely. And I think, in, you know, deaths are a horrible thing. It's one of the, you know, if you could call it a good thing is the fact that people realize more what this is all about. In the past, when we didn't have ubiquitous media coverage about military actions, they were kind of abstract.

CORNISH: Yes.

LEIGHTON: Deaths were kind of abstract.

CORNISH: Yes.

LEIGHTON: And that is a real problem. But nowadays people are very sensitive to it and they're very -- I think they're very thankful for what the military is doing. I certainly sense that when I talk to people in general and it's, you know, it's something we definitely notice.

CORNISH: Now, since I have you here, I want to ask about one more thing. That new Air Force One. Because it's getting another upgrade. It came from another country. It came from Qatar. And, obviously, there's been growing concerns about its security features. That came into focus earlier this month when the president unexpectedly ditched the jet during his return from the NATO Summit in Turkey. And he's like, yes, there's some changes coming.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It has a lot of capability. But as I understand it, in about a month or so they're going to send it to have it be maxed out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: What does maxed out mean?

LEIGHTON: Well, it's probably in the eye of the beholder. But here's what I think is happening.

When you look at the Qatari donated Air Force One, and you look at the Air Force One that has been flown up until now, there are -- there are --

CORNISH: Yes. U.S. made.

LEIGHTON: The U.S. made one.

CORNISH: Yes.

LEIGHTON: Well, they're both U.S. made actually.

CORNISH: Yes.

LEIGHTON: But there are differences in the bubbles, we'll call them, that are there. And what those bubbles include are some of the electronic countermeasures that are used for Air Force One.

Now, possession of a particular electronic countermeasure does not necessarily mean that it doesn't exist on the new airplane, but it -- there could be a reason to have it in a certain area. There could be, you know, aerodynamic reasons. But the key thing is this, there are certain active countermeasures that Air Force One has, at least the traditional Air Force One has, that may not be included in the current one. So --

CORNISH: So, let's say he maxes it out.

LEIGHTON: Right.

CORNISH: Uses the public's money, I assume, to max it out.

LEIGHTON: Presumably, yes.

CORNISH: Who does it go to at the end? Does he get to take away a maxed-out fake Air Force One with him after he leaves office?

KIM: So, he has indicated that he wants to take that jet for his eventual presidential library. He -- I believe he has indicated that he will not actually use it. Now, once he leaves office, who knows what would happen.

CORNISH: So, it's a gift to the country, not him.

KIM: Right.

CORNISH: That he keeps, but won't use?

KIM: Right. There's a lot of, you know, circuitous --

CORNISH: I'm trying. I'm trying. I'm saying here (ph).

KIM: Yes. The reason why he is even able to take -- why that option of him even taking the Qatari jet with him exists because this is -- this was never supposed to be the permanent Air Force One. Basically you had -- you had two new Air Force Ones that were supposed to come into existence but they've been delayed for years.

CORNISH: Yes.

KIM: And those Air Force Ones are coming into operation, now slated for 2028. The traditional Air Force Ones that we've seen, they've been flying for 36 years. They're old. They needed an upgrade. So, this Qatari jet is supposed to serve as a bridge between those old Air Force Ones and the new Air Force Ones that come in in 2028.

CORNISH: Was this necessary?

LEIGHTON: Well, you definitely want to protect the president, you know. And one of the problems that we had with the -- him coming back from the NATO Summit was that there was apparently an active threat from Iran. So, if that is true, then they had to do something to make sure that he was completely protected. And if there's any lack of countermeasures, proper countermeasures in a presidential jet, then that has to be remedied. Most world leaders don't have the kinds of bells and whistles that Air Force One has.

CORNISH: Yes.

LEIGHTON: And we're talking bells and whistles, not in terms of luxury, but in terms of actual defensive countermeasures. And those are the kinds of things that are necessary. In essence, what you're having is some types of -- some of the countermeasures are similar to the ones that you have on fighter jets, but you're putting them on a really big aircraft, a really big passenger jet.

CORNISH: Yes.

LEIGHTON: And that is, you know, something that requires a lot of engineering expertise. And it also requires a willingness to, you know, in essence, you know, integrate technologies into places where they don't normally belong. And that can be a challenge.

CORNISH: Well, at some point I'll have you back to tell me about the delays in the original Air Force One. You'd think that was on the hurry up kind of list. So, I have questions.

LEIGHTON: Yes, certainly would have been. Yes. Sure.

CORNISH: Cedric Leighton, thank you for being here.

Next on CNN THIS MORNING, we're going to talk about what's going on in Maine. We now know who's likely to take Graham Platner's place on the ballot and take on Republican Susan Collins for the Senate.

Plus, the World Cup final on U.S. soil was a nail biter. Are Americans now ready to embrace the world's game?

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[06:49:23]

CORNISH: There's a new champ in town. Spain beat Argentina to become the winners of the World Cup. And they beat the defending champs with a single goal yesterday. This was in overtime.

As a host nation, the tournament brought soccer to the states in a way we haven't seen in a while. So, how long is the hype going to hold?

Joining me now, Will Leitch, contributing editor for "New York Magazine."

Thank you so much for being here.

WILL LEITCH, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "NEW YORK MAGAZINE": Of course.

CORNISH: I'm sure you had a blast watching this game, which was kind of wild to watch. How did you feel about it living up to the hype?

LEITCH: Well, certainly it was ugly for a long time. Argentina went a full 100 plus minutes without a shot.

[06:50:00]

But, of course, the glory of soccer is that they still almost brought it to penalties.

Spain was clearly the better team really throughout the entire tournament. They only gave up one goal the entire tournament to Belgium, the team that beat the United States. So, the U.S. can feel better about that, I suppose.

But Spain was clearly the best team. And even though Argentina had the biggest fan base, pretty much everywhere I saw them, I saw them twice in Atlanta, saw them again in East Rutherford yesterday, their fan base was overwhelming. But Spain was really the best team yesterday and the entire tournament. They're certainly a deserving champion.

CORNISH: It's interesting, this game was sort of the GOAT versus the kids. Like, Spain having these, like, do you see what I did there? That Spain had these like teenagers playing. And it reminded me that several of the most high-profile players of this generation say this was their last World Cup.

Can you talk about that legacy?

LEITCH: Yes, certainly. This was almost certainly Messi's last World Cup. To be fair, we've said that a couple of times with him, but now it certainly feels like it's going to be his last one. A lot of those legacy players have gone on for a while now, and now you have someone like Lamine Yamal, who's the Spain player who's -- who just turned 19, is the -- one of the biggest memes of this entire tournament was a photo of him being bathed by Messi as a baby, which has -- he won a contest. So, that's how long the generations kind of went of this.

The next tournament will actually partly be hosted by Spain, so certainly they're going to be the defending champs. He's going to be the star of that tournament. This clearly being crossed over to that next generation. The best young player of the tournament was also on Spain, who won that award at this. So, clearly that's a young team moving forward.

A lot of this is going to be built off what is universally considered one of the most, at least financially, successful World Cups ever here in the United States. There's going to be a lot of revenue. There's estimates that FIFA made $8.9 billion from this tournament alone. Some of those estimates even come in a little low as they go on. So, clearly, they're going to be building off this for a long time. And, frankly, it wouldn't be shocking to see if they can get back to the United States, frankly, as soon as they can after this.

CORNISH: Before I let you go, I think back to my teen years watching women win a World Cup and the like images from that time have become the stuff of legend. What is going to be the legacy for the men's game out of this World Cup, which is -- had its really complicated moments?

LEITCH: It certainly did. But you know, when you think, I was around in -- I was in high school in 1994, and I remember how big of a deal it was then. That really kind of launched soccer in this country. Obviously, we've seen a lot of the results of that at this. This was a much, much bigger tournament.

It you -- it often takes decades to kind of understand how much larger things have gotten to this. But you saw the street parties. You saw so much of the -- certainly the U.S. team and Trump's involvement. It was a little complicated. But on the whole, a lot of the worrisome and things that people had about this World Cup heading in didn't really come across. It wasn't perfect, but certainly, for a lot of people, the tournament not only showed kind of soccer in the United States, it actually kind of helped the United States reputation around the world. I think a lot of people were nervous about coming to the United States to watch this tournament. They're not really coming away -- they're coming away thinking this was a pretty terrific tournament, and they had a wonderful time. And actually even kind of maybe feeling a little better about America in the realm. So, I suppose that doesn't hurt as well.

And again, this tournament may be -- very well be back in 12 years. And so I'll be very curious to see where it is then.

CORNISH: OK. Will, thank you so much. Glad you had a blast LEITCH: I hope everybody else did too. Thank you.

CORNISH: All right, we want to turn to one last thing. Democrats in Maine might be replacing an oyster man with a logger in their effort to unseat Senator Susan Collins. Over the weekend, Troy Jackson effectively locked up the nomination to replace Graham Platner. There are delegates supporting his campaign. He won 460 of those delegates. There's about 500 slots up for grabs. They're going to be among those meeting Saturday to officially name a nominee.

Now, four of Jackson's competitors just dropped out, and Jackson is the former president of Maine's senate. He's a fifth generation logger. He also had Platner's endorsement when he was running for the Democratic nomination to become Maine's governor. Jackson eventually ended up in third place.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He has been connecting with a lot of the same voters that Mr. Platner connected with. So, I'm really hoping that Troy can carry that momentum into November.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Group chat is back.

I wonder if the thing that mattered was that photo. That's like Graham Platner, Bernie and Troy. Like, if you've been arm in arm with Platner and people feel as though you represent the same things, is the movement energy transferable?

SARA FISCHER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA ANALYST: I think the biggest thing is not who he's affiliating himself with, it's the fact that this is somebody who is a genuine Maine populist.

CORNISH: Yes, he's a Maine guy. That's real (ph).

FISCHER: I think that's why people in the Democratic Party feel pretty comfortable and confident about him. It's not like the national party plucked some person that they thought could be great for Maine. This is somebody who has a fifth -- he's a fifth generation logger. He has so much political clout within the Maine system.

[06:55:02]

I don't think being affiliated with those guys does much. I think being a true Mainer is what helps him.

CORNISH: And to Sara's point also, I'm under the impression that district that he's closest with are rural ones.

JULIA MANCHESTER, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, "THE HILL": Absolutely. And that's very important for Democrats to turn out that rural vote when they oftentimes struggle with that vote. I think one thing he also has working in his favor is he always -- he already has a bit of a campaign apparatus behind him, having run statewide for governor in this primary.

CORNISH: And can just like scribble out your name and the --

MANCHESTER: Exactly. Exactly.

CORNISH: You scribble out the word "governor" and just put "Senate." Yes.

MANCHESTER: Right. Right. There you go. There you go.

KIM: Save some money.

MANCHESTER: But one thing I do hear some concerns about Troy Jackson is that he doesn't have the same charisma, the same personality, you know, able to rally a --

CORNISH: Yes. But do you need charisma for like ten days or can you just --

FISCHER: I think no charisma is actually helpful for him.

CORNISH: You want less. Do less.

FISCHER: Like, people are so sick of the whole (INAUDIBLE).

KIM: Yes. Right.

FISCHER: People just want somebody who's going to do the job well and be authentic to themselves.

KIM: Right.

FISCHER: And that's kind of the vibe that you're getting from Troy Jackson.

By the way, Susan Collins is not miss charisma either.

KIM: Right.

CORNISH: Fair.

MANCHESTER: Fair.

FISCHER: I don't think Maine is the type of place that's trying to put up Mamdani's.

CORNISH: Yes. Oh, that's an interesting point. Because I guess what I was thinking of, it's a really short campaign time, right?

MANCHESTER: Yes.

CORNISH: But you're saying that that's negated by the fact that he has already campaigned for many weeks and months.

MANCHESTER: Right. Exactly. KIM: Right. Right. I mean we will point out that he came in third. So, you -- in one sense, voters have kind of already rendered their verdict on whether he want -- whether they want him as a statewide official.

CORNISH: For governor, yes.

KIM: Correct. But I think, to your point, I mean, charisma isn't always kind of the thing for a political candidate. Obviously, it certainly helps. But if you look at the history of Maine, people they've elected to the Senate, its usually these workhorses. You're thinking Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, Angus King. I mean, they're not necessarily, like --

CORNISH: Yes. They're not show horses, they're workhorses.

KIM: Definitely.

CORNISH: No, I get that. And I actually think that there's been so much national dialog about this race that people in Maine, you can sense the fatigue. Like, they actually don't want more attention. They want a senator.

FISCHER: Yes, especially because whoever did the vetting on the Democratic side should be absolutely embarrassed and mortified about what happened with Graham Platner, right?

CORNISH: Well, betting on the Democratic socialists outsider side, right?

FISCHER: Yes. Yes.

CORNISH: Like, that's the question. Those people who were like, we're getting -- we're out there finding the man's man's to run and not really check -- dotting the i's are getting major question marks. I think that will be the legacy out of this couple of weeks.

FISCHER: But also just, yes, on the Democratic side. On the Republican side, too. You're supposed to have oppo researchers who are figuring all this out early and taking candidates down early. And they both missed the boat, right? Democrats and Republicans both missed the boat on pulling Graham Platner out of this early. And so, I think everybody now is sort of in a sense of retreat. Like, let this play out so that we can start a new and fresh after we get this out, because no one did particularly well here.

CORNISH: Their job. Yes.

FISCHER: Yes.

CORNISH: All right, I want to turn to something because I'm getting some breaking news right now just in to CNN. The Pentagon has actually released the names of the two troops who lost their lives in Jordan. Their names are First Lieutenant Tyler James Feehan. He was 25 years old. He was from Hawaii. And Private Isabella Gonzalez. She was 19 years old. She was from Texas. They are now among the 17 deaths connected to the war with Iran. We're going to have more on this coming up. We'll have more details for you at the top of the hour.

Now, since we're at the start of this week, I want to talk to you guys about what you're listening for in the road ahead. We're in this moment where we're coming off over the weekend with actual service member deaths. This is how we are starting the week. What are you listening for from the administration the next couple of days?

KIM: Well, certainly we're going to expect, as with any, you know, active duty deaths, we'll see the president travel to Dover and pay respects. I mean, this is one of the most -- the most solemn rituals that any commander in chief has to take. And unfortunately, throughout the course of the war in Iraq, the president has had to do this multiple times. So, certainly we'll be watching for that.

And also just again, how he continues to talk about these troop deaths and, you know, his interactions with --

CORNISH: Or Hegseth, for that matter, right, when he comes out to the press (ph).

KIM: Hegseth, interactions with the families. Correct. Correct.

CORNISH: What are you listening for?

MANCHESTER: Look, we have a number of primaries tomorrow, particularly in Arizona. So, watching for that. Watching for, you know, anything we can glean from the Republican-Democratic side of the aisle. We've been watching for, particularly out of the Dem side, what's the populist message, the progressive message? So, watching for that.

And we're also seeing continuing campaigning for the primaries in August. Michigan really seems to be the hot race right now.

CORNISH: We're talking up a storm about Michigan.

MANCHESTER: Yes.

CORNISH: Yes.

What about you, Sara?

FISCHER: I think you have such a solemn time right now with these lives that are being lost. We're still at war. And you juxtapose that against what just occurred with the World Cup and people celebrating American culture and people celebrating all of the events. And I think that we are now heading into a point in the summer where people kind of just want to back out a little bit --

CORNISH: Yes.

FISCHER: And take a second to just process all the things that are happening, the good, the bad, what it means to be America. We're coming off the 250 -- in America, coming off of the 250th anniversary. I think there's just a lot for people to take in.

CORNISH: Yes, it will be interesting. I was thinking -- I saw "The Odyssey" over the weekend and fundamentally, Christopher Nolan's take has made this hero somebody who is a soldier, kind of with trauma, and it's about the cost of war and what it means to be at war.

[07:00:05]

So, we won't be able to escape very far, I think. It's not far from our minds culturally.

As we said, we're learning the identities of those troops who were lost overseas. That brings the death toll of service members up to 17. We're going to be following the U.S. and Iran trading strikes in the Middle East. So, please, stay with us. The headlines are next.