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U.S., Iran Ramp-Up Strikes After 3 U.S. Troops Killed In Region; Trump On Troop Deaths: We Feel Very Badly; Pro-Stevens Groups Massively Outspend El-Sayed In MI Senate Race. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired July 20, 2026 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

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DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: The war in Iran takes a deadly turn as President Trump weighs expanding the battlefield. I'm Dana Bash. Let's go behind the headlines and inside politics. Right now, more U.S. fighter jets are headed to the Mideast as President Trump weighs widening the war he began five months ago.

That's after a dramatic ratcheting up of hostilities over the past few days and the deaths of three U.S service members, the first troops killed in action since March. This morning, the Pentagon identified two of the fallen as 25-year-old First Lieutenant Tyler James Feehan of Hawaii and 19-year-old Private Isabella Gonzalez of Texas. They were killed in Jordan during an Iranian attack.

A third, still unidentified service member, died on Saturday in northern Iraq. CNN's Kevin Liptak is at the White House. Kevin, what are you hearing from your sources about where they think this is going to go at this time?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, and I think you heard from the president himself yesterday, you know, vowing retribution for these Americans' death, and I think behind the scenes, the president has been receiving options from advisers about a potential widening of this conflict, including in the Situation Room last week.

And you do see how the United States is now preparing the ground for that potential widening. I'm told by a U.S. official that the U.S. is sending additional aircraft to the region, including F-16 and F-35 fighter jets that are coming from bases in Europe.

The U.S. is also sending additional aerial refueling tankers, all for a potential expansion of this conflict. You know the deaths of those Americans, I do think underline certainly the risks for American troops in the region, but also the sustained ability of Iran to keep firing missiles and drones at American military installations.

And I think when you talk to U.S. officials, there is also fear that this could potentially demonstrate Iran's ability to evade American air defenses, something that perhaps they have learned over the course of this more than four-month conflict, and so the president, I think, certainly has some decisions to make in front of him.

This will really test whatever restraint he was feeling, and you know he has said up until this point that he would consider starting the war again if Iran killed American troops. But at the same time, you do hear diplomats involved in all of this say that the door is not closed for negotiations. You saw Secretary of State Marco Rubio; he's traveling in Asia.

He told reporters overnight that if Iran was willing to negotiate, that quote, the door remains open, and that the U.S. had been hearing from Iran both directly and indirectly that it remains open to get back to the negotiating table, and so even as you see this back and forth of attacks, you know last night was the ninth consecutive night of U.S. attacks on Iran, they're hitting ever more sensitive targets, including desalination plants, roads, and bridges.

Even amid all of that, you do see these glimmers of hope that negotiations could potentially prevail, all in the hope that this doesn't cascade out of control. Dana.

BASH: Yeah, absolutely. And look, I mean, the bottom line is the war is going on, period, and that is obvious from what you just described as U.S. attacks and of the -- the horrific loss of life of -- of U.S. service members. Kevin, thank you so much for that reporting. I appreciate it. I'm joined here by a terrific group of reporters. Ayesha, I'm going to start with you about the moment that we're in.

AYESHA RASCOE, NPR HOST, WEEKEND EDITION SUNDAY: I mean, right now, I mean, this just shows like when you you know, attack a country like Iran and get into this conflict. I think that the president has tried all of these off ramps, right? Like he -- he wanted to make a point. He thought maybe this could be like Venezuela.

Yes, he took out the Supreme Leader, but what -- this is the -- the issue is that when you start a conflict like this, you don't know where it's going to go, and this administration has never really shown us like what is the path, what is winning.

It's they don't get a nuclear bomb, but at this point, it just shows how deeper and deeper you can get into something, and it can end up being a quagmire.

CATHERINE LUCEY, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, BLOOMBERG: Yes, and of course the president initially said this would go quickly, right? So when he started this, he indicated he thought this would be a sort of a quick, you know, you know, military episode, and then he would be done. And it has not happened. They are stuck. There's a lot of concern, I think, in the White House about how to find an off ramp.

They're looking at options. The president was pretty quiet over the weekend overall, I think as they're trying to figure out next steps, but all of this comes now as the other midterms are looming, gas prices are moving back up, and there's a lot of concern heading into that.

[12:05:00] BASH: I want to get to gas prices in one second, but I do want to play what the president said last night about the U.S. service members killed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Well, we feel very badly, but you know those great people, those great patriots, were out there fighting that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. Iran has been very, very badly damaged. They've lost everything almost militarily.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Phil?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: I think the what's been interesting over the course of the last couple of days is seeing some very, very close allies of the president outside the White House say, I don't understand how the president has repeatedly said over and over and over again that Iran has no more capability. They no longer have a navy. They no longer have air defenses. They no longer have any type of offensive capability whatsoever, and they are able to reach U.S. bases in these places.

BASH: Can I interrupt you just...

MATTINGLY: Yes.

BASH: -- for one second to play one of those moments? It's not often that we play somebody from a soundbite from somebody on Fox Business, but Maria Bartiromo is a very close ally of President Trump. He appears on her show a lot. They obviously have -- she supports him. I mean, she just does, and she was making the point that Phil just made.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIA BARTIROMO, FOX NEWS HOST: I don't understand how it's possible that Iran has the capabilities to fight this way and continue to try to lash out at Gulf countries and U.S. military bases because the U.S. has obliterated Iran's military, and the president continues to reiterate that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: The important point here is, if you listen to U.S. intelligence officials or U.S. Defense Department assessments, they have made clear that Iran has maintained capability. Iran has been able to rebuild some of that capability over the course of the last several weeks during this ceasefire, and the reality remains, the dynamics have not shifted all that much, with one clear exception, which is before the war, Iran did not have any control de facto or otherwise of the Strait of Hormuz.

Now Iran very clearly does, has continued to utilize that leverage over and over again. And the reality for this White House and the president is, where they are now, their options are continue at whatever this we have no idea how this ends path, or you take the kind of action that would require forces on the ground, significant upgrades of forces in the region, and significant risk to personnel, to country, to the future of kind of how this conflict has been spiraling over the course of the last several months.

BASH: Yeah, because status quo, because of the Strait of Hormuz, which is still the number one retaliatory measure that Iran is -- is implementing, and because this has become more kinetic over the past nine days or so. Gas prices are going back up as you were mentioning, Catherine.

Today they're at an average of $4 a gallon. A week ago was $3.87. War time high was $4.56, and again, just to understand, the pre-war was under $3 a gallon.

SABRINA RODRIGUEZ, POLITICS REPORTER, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: This is where the domestic and the foreign blends together. You know, the president has a very real domestic challenge right now, heading to the midterms, when you're seeing those gas prices go up.

A lot of people, when we were talking to voters a few months ago, these Republican voters that support the president, you know, were a little more sympathetic, a little more understanding, and saying, you know, hopefully he can get out of this quickly. He's saying he can get out of this quickly, and I'm going to give him faith.

As weeks and months are passing by, that patience is slipping for those people who are living paycheck to paycheck, who are talking in poll after poll and interview after interview about the struggles that they're feeling, about the economic pressures they're feeling. Those gas prices are a very real, tangible number for people who are looking to November and saying, wait, the president said he was going to make my life better. Has he actually done that, or is everything way more expensive?

And you have the added of service members now killed, which is something no American ever wants to see.

BASH: Yeah, and then just to Phil's point about the fact that we're kind of in military "Never Never Land" right now, and in order to change something, either the U.S. is going to have to give big on the negotiating table, or Iran will, or the U.S. is going to have to go in much more aggressively, and that is not where the American people are at all.

I'm just going to show a poll, disapproval of Trump's handling of the war in Iran. This is from the Washington Post last week. All adults, 69 percent; Republicans, 32 percent. So a third of Republicans, Democrats, 94, and Independents, 78 percent. Again, these are people saying they disapprove of the war, the way that the president is handling the war in Iran.

LUCEY: No, the frustration in the (inaudible) is very clear. I think we've seen that across a lot of polling. But also, as the White House thinks about next steps, I mean, we all know that Americans are deeply skeptical of anything that involves boots on the ground. That's just not really where most of the public is, and so that's a -- that's a massive escalation, if that's where this is going.

[12:10:00]

BASH: Can I just show, just you know, to put the political not spin on it, but to -- to look at this through the political lens, and that is the midterms. It's just what four months away from now, and where the generic ballot is now is -- is quite interesting because it's virtually tied. So we just talked about the disapproval of the president on Iran.

People are not thrilled with their with the affordability crisis that they are still facing, which we'll talk a lot more about with Phil's excellent reporting later. And yet, the Democrats, this is a generic ballot. It is just sort of a snapshot of how people feel about each party going into the midterms. Not exactly a big positive for Democrats.

RASCOE: It's not where they want to be at this point, right?

BASH: Yeah.

RASCOE: And I think part of the problem is you know we're talking about a very real war that's very serious, but there's also this kind of battle going on within the Democratic Party for who is going to be the face of the Democratic Party. Are they moderates? Are they Democratic socialists? And I think at this point, it's not really clear.

Like they know what the problem is, affordability, people feel health care, people feel like they're not getting ahead, but the Democratic Party has not put forward a plan to address it, right? Like what is the plan? How are they going to fix it?

And I think until you have that very clear messaging, that's why you get this whole like, well, we don't know what to who to go for because we know what the problems are, but we don't know which party is going to fix it, and I think you get a lot of apathy from that as well.

LUCEY: There's also a lot of frustration with both parties.

RASCOE: Exactly.

LUCEY: I think when you talk to voters and you talk to poll -- like focus groups, there's a real sort of throw everybody out attitude, and so that covers both parties.

BASH: All right, stick with us because from internet punchline to campaign slogan, you're going to see how Haley Stevens is leaning into a viral video that set off a wave of mockery online, and later CNN's Phil Mattingly is sitting right here, but went out around the country and traveled for a really important series on how people feel and what is really going on out there with the driving cost that is making people really not feel the American dream is for them anymore.

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[12:15:00]

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BASH: If you've been following the very contentious Michigan Democratic Senate primary, like we have, between Congresswoman Haley Stevens and Abdul El-Sayed, you've probably seen this moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HALEY STEVENS (D-MI): I am going to be working on our behalf. I am going to be telling the stories on our behalf, and you better believe, I'm going to be doing it with a little bit of joy, a little bit of enthusiasm, a little bit of energy, and a little bit of stick it to him, because that's the Michigan way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: She got mocked across the internet by her opponents in both parties, but then Haley Stevens and her campaign made a decision to own it and make it part of her campaign, even promoting new "stick it to em" signs. My panel is back now. This is such a fascinating development, and it's just I think it's -- look, is this going to determine who wins this primary at the beginning of August?

No, but I think it says a lot about the kind of politics where we are right now and about how things are happening online and what people expect from candidates and how, almost, you know, almost like in a very different era and in a very different example, but how the president and his team used deplorables and owned it.

RODRIGUEZ: 100 percent. I mean, the game has completely changed when it comes to how you navigate social media and how you navigate these viral moments. I think throughout this primary, we've seen El-Sayed be the one who's like the really understands online and the selfie style videos and him really engaging with pop culture.

This was clearly a moment that she like figured out how to seize on it and sort of turn the mocking happening online into something she could own. But I think the dynamic in this race is just fascinating because it's turned into so much more than just Michigan. I mean, this is like the proxy battle for the Democratic Party right now.

And of course, I mean, we've talked about the New York Democratic primaries, we've talked about one-off primaries, but this is for a huge swing state. So you see, I mean, moments like this will not be ultimately what determines it. But I think again, we're looking for all these indicators heading into the primary, and you just see how competitive and how nationalized it's become.

BASH: Yeah, I mean one of the big things that is going to help determine it is money, and look at the spending now. Pro-Stevens spending is $52 million. El-Sayed, not even a million. This is outside spending. These aren't -- this isn't the spending that's going on by and from within the campaigns. And I should say that $350,000 of El- Sayed's funding is from an anti-AIPAC PAC called American Priorities.

[12:20:00]

MATTINGLY: It's been, you know, to your point about how this has become like a very nationalized for the Democratic Party kind of race, the spending in this and where money is coming from and AIPAC's role in this entire race is kind of mirrors exactly what you've seen the party try and grapple with over the course of the last several months and in the kind of the latter part of the -- the 2024 campaign as well within the party.

That spend number also should not even be close at this point in time, and I think it underscores that both his ability to be agile on the trail, not just with understanding what's going on in terms of the lexicon or kind of how people are talking online, but also saying like, look, I'm going to get outspend 10 to one here. I'm going to attack who's giving money and trying to leverage that, and it's been effective up to this point.

BASH: And Phil, I neglected to say that the -- of the $52 million in outside spending for Haley Stevens, $28 million is coming from the AIPAC Super PAC.

MATTINGLY: It's a huge number, and this is a huge issue inside Michigan, obviously, as we saw it. Go back to 2024 and Kamala Harris trying to figure out how to handle and grapple with Michigan. This is a very big issue, and so watching how these dynamics have played out, I think I'm always one who's a little bit reluctant to say, like, oh, this is going to explain what's going to happen mapping out everywhere else.

But these fights that are happening are very reflective of where the party is nationally and what they're trying to figure out right now.

BASH: One of the things that that speaks to the difference between these candidates is the people who have endorsed them. To your point, Sabrina, about how this is such a proxy war, the ultimate proxy war for the battle within the Democratic Party. Haley Stevens has a lot of sort of -- no, current or former senators and people who consider themselves more moderate.

I don't think Nancy Pelosi belongs there, but more establishment is probably a better way to say it. El-Sayed has Bernie Sanders, AOC, Elizabeth Warren is a new endorser, and the list goes on of people who have -- are trying to establish themselves as part of the of the progressive left. To that note, El-Sayed had a big rally over the weekend.

He had AOC campaigning with him along with Bernie Sanders, and when they were at this rally, they -- he, El-Sayed very much wanted to have an ad made, especially since AOC was going to be standing next to him. Watch the moment when he told the crowd that they were going to be part of a new ad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ABDUL EL-SAYED, (D) MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: All right. So when you

hear me say the line, all right, y'all got to give me some noise, OK? And there's going to be about a dozen lines, some from me, some from the congresswoman, all right? But I got to hear some noise like you never heard it before, all right?

And I promise you, I promise you, I got a barn burner of a speech after this. Ready? Trump donors, billionaires, and AIPAC are spending $50 million in lies to buy this election.

CROWD: Boo.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: So interesting. I mean, he just he let them all in on it. I just want to say that I have never seen -- not that it doesn't happen, but I've never seen a candidate not just sort of take organically from the event or make your own thing, but set it.

LUCEY: Yeah, he set it up.

BASH: Yeah, like be part of this.

LUCEY: It's also it's...

BASH: Making an ad.

LUCEY: I mean, you remember, you know, Bernie Sanders was hugely popular in Michigan in 2016 when he was running for president. I was at huge Sanders rallies then. So this dynamic has been unfolding in the party for a long time, but it's really the -- the evolution of it is fascinating. And the moment there are now, the number of people he has out, how big this progressive movement has gotten.

But polls show that this race isn't over yet. So I think it's -- I think there's a couple more beats left to go.

RASCOE: Yeah, I mean, I think that when you look at the right now, we're trying to figure out what is a progressive. Is it about Medicare for all? Is it about being against AIPAC? Right? Like, and that whole like, what is the place of AIPAC in the Democratic Party at this point? And I mean, I think this is one of the battles that is being fought right now. And what does that mean?

And where do they stand? And is -- is that a liability for candidates? And I think I don't think this question is going to be solved in this primary, obviously. But I think these are the things that they are fighting over.

BASH: Yeah. All right. No question. And it is out with the oysterman, in with a lager. Maine Democrats are coalescing around a replacement for Graham Platner, but can Troy Jackson win against Susan Collins? That is the question. More on that next.

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[12:25:00]

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BASH: Maine Democrats seem to have found their man to replace Graham Platner, another Bernie Sanders-aligned progressive, Troy Jackson. Rand and file Democrats voted in caucuses around Maine this weekend, and Jackson's supporters won big, taking 460 of the 500 delegates' spots up for grabs.

Now, to be clear, those delegates are not officially committed to Troy Jackson just yet. That won't happen till a party convention this weekend. But all of Jackson's leading opponents dropped out yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TROY JACKSON, (D) MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE: I've been getting text -- text messages all day about you know what a great job I did and I didn't do a goddamn thing. All of you just smoked it, and I can't -- can't tell you how much I appreciate it. I mean it's really, really incredible. We're well on our way to getting the government that we [BEEP] deserve, and -- and that's what I'm --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's awesome.

JACKSON: -- yeah, that's what I'm excited about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: So I mentioned that...