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CNN Headlines: Trump Claims New Intel Reveals Vulnerabilities In U.S. Elections, No Proof Of Changed Votes; Two Dead In Texas Widespread Flooding, More Rain In Forecast Today; Shredded Lettuce Served At Taco Bell Linked To Cyclospora Outbreak. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired July 17, 2026 - 05:30   ET

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

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[05:30:00]

BRAD SMITH, CNN ANCHOR: It is half past the hour. Let's hit the refresh button on our top stories.

President Trump used his primetime address to push for election reforms ahead of November's midterms. He says that he declassified information that he claims shows foreign meddling into U.S. elections and vulnerabilities in voting machines and mail-in ballots. But the president did not offer any proof to show that votes or election outcomes had been changed.

Also, a new flash food warning is in effect for a portion of Kerr County, Texas as the final push of storms moves through the devastated area. Scenes and images like this playing out and too far a reality here as at least two people have been killed after three days of torrential rain, and more than 230 people have been rescued from floodwaters.

Also, health officials believe that they've pinpointed shredded iceberg lettuce served at some Taco Bell locations as one of the sources of the Cyclospora outbreak. That's according to two sources familiar with the investigation. The lettuce is linked to hundreds of cases in Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky.

Let's dig in on our top story about President Trump's primetime address. With the midterm elections less than four months away President Trump focused most of his speech on pushing for election reforms.

CNN senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak has more on what Trump claimed and what the evidence actually shows.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: President Trump made, frankly, some very out there claims about elections and vulnerabilities in the American election system in this primetime speech that he delivered here at the White House, not really doing much to tamp down on the criticism that he's trying to sow distrust in U.S. elections. And it really just all underscores just how fixated the president remains on this issue ahead of the midterm elections, even though many in his own party want him to start focusing more on the economy.

Now, Trump says all of this is backed up by hundreds of pages of new declassified intelligence documents. But what the documents that the White House released show, they're somewhat more guarded than what the president said in his speech, which was that --

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our elections were left vulnerable to being rigged and stolen.

LIPTAK: And I think just to pick out one of the biggest claims that the president made, which is this purported effort by China to undermine him in 2019 and then later to illicitly acquire 220 million U.S. voter files, the U.S. intelligence agencies long ago concluded that Beijing ultimately chose not to interfere in the 2020 race. That conclusion was repeated in documents that the Trump administration declassified ahead of tonight's speech.

Now, nowhere in the speech did Trump provide any evidence that votes had been manipulated or that election outcomes had been altered. He stopped short of making that oft repeated claim that the 2020 election had been stolen from him. Instead, he seemed most intent on claiming that some of the intelligence about election security had been kept from him by what he called the deep state.

And even though he announced that punishment would be coming for those who tried to keep that information from him, he made no mention of punishing China for what he claimed was "the largest compromise of election data in history."

Now ultimately, Trump's biggest push during this speech was for Congress to pass the Save America Act. It would impose strict new voting requirements. It's stuck in Congress and it's not really clear whether it would fully resolve any of the issues that the president is identifying in this address.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SMITH: Two people were killed in southern Texas when floodwaters surged through the same area of last year's deadly floods. Flood warning towers -- they were activated as rising waters triggered sirens warning residents of the impending danger. More rain is in the forecast today as the flood watch remains in effect through this afternoon.

CNN's Ed Lavandera is in Texas along the Guadalupe River.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Intense flooding has once again wreaked havoc across the Texas Hill Country. This comes just a year since those devastating and deadly floodings that happened here near Kerrville just over a year ago where nearly 140 people were killed in these floodwaters. This is the Guadalupe River. It is a much different scene from what we

saw early Thursday morning in the overnight hours' floodwaters. This river was rapidly rising and reaching record levels along some portions of the river.

Here in Kerrville you can see the debris left as the waters rose at least this high, covering up this roadway. And now crews are beginning the process of cleaning up all that tree debris that has once again covered the roadways.

As of now, we've heard of two deaths reported in the floodwaters across this region. The governor of Texas says one of those deaths took place in Comfort, Texas, which is not too far from where we are, and the other in Uvalde, Texas, south of here.

So this is widespread flooding not just focused along the Guadalupe River here, which is obviously a place that has gotten so much attention, but also other creeks and tributaries all around the region from Fredericksburg down to Uvalde south of where we are.

[05:35:00]

So it has been intense days. A number of high-water rescues. Families stranded on rooftops having to scramble to get out of the way of these floodwaters.

But the good news is now is that it appears that the worst of this storm has passed and that the floodwaters are beginning to recede here. But once again, you know, the magnitude and the intensity that -- and the memories that were brought back because of these floodwaters given what happened here just over a year ago is really something that is forefront on the minds of so many people here in this region.

What is interesting this time around is that many people that we've talked to say that the sirens and the warning system, the alerts going off on phones worked much better, much differently this time around. In fact, one person even said that people were much more aware, taking these warnings much more seriously to get out of harm's way.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Kerrville, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SMITH: All right. Thank you, Ed.

Let's turn back to the multistate intestinal illness outbreak that has sickened thousands of people. Health officials now zeroing in on shredded lettuce served at some Taco Bell restaurants as a link to hundreds of cases.

CNN health reporter Jacqueline Howard has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: We are hearing that shredded lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms and sold at some Taco Bell locations has been identified as the source of this ongoing outbreak. And the states where some of these Taco Bell restaurant locations include Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky. So that's what we know so far. But, of course, this lettuce may have been sent to other places too, so this is an ongoing investigation.

But really, this outbreak -- it is centered in the Midwest with Michigan really reporting the most cases so far. Nationally, we do know that some other states have reported increases in Cyclosporiasis cases, so health officials are still taking a look at whether some of those cases may be linked back to the Midwest outbreak or whether they may be individual separate incidents.

Nationally, nearly 7,000 cases have been reported so far and among those cases. Again, Michigan has the largest cluster, reporting more than 4,000 cases.

And with this outbreak, the reason why it has taken some time for health officials to really identify the source is because with Cyclosporiasis illnesses it can take anywhere from two days to up to two weeks for symptoms to develop. That's why it's difficult to really pinpoint what may have been the source of these illnesses.

And those symptoms include primarily watery diarrhea -- in some cases it's described as explosive diarrhea -- and other intestinal, gastrointestinal symptoms. And we do know that dozens of these cases have been hospitalized. That's because these symptoms can lead to dehydration, and dehydration has resulted in hospitalization for some people who have gotten sick.

Now again, this is an ongoing outbreak, an ongoing investigation, so health officials say they are still bracing themselves for more possible cases to emerge.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SMITH: Thank you, Jacqueline.

Well, SpaceX will now attempt to launch its megaship Starship rocket. This mega Starship rocket -- it's going to up next week instead as it called off the mission last night just moments before liftoff. It's all according to CEO Elon Musk as the call was made after data showed at least four engines failed to ignite during the startup sequence.

SpaceX is facing intense pressure to make sure that the Starship is ready for an upcoming NASA test flight that could pave the way for the next moon landing.

Well, FIFA is adding a lot of star power to its World Cup final. Post Malone will headline Sunday's closing ceremony. It kicks off 90 minutes before Argentina and Spain play at the championships at MetLife Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Other performers include Jennifer Hudson, who will sing the National Anthem. And Tom Cruise will also make an appearance, among others. Then, at halftime, Madonna, Shakira, Justin Bieber, and BTS are going to hit the stage for the first-ever World Cup halftime show.

And President Trump will be at that game. But first, he will attend a FIFA reception at Trump Tower in New York.

Sunday will not be the first time two of the match's biggest stars have crossed paths. There is a photo that you may have seen that was taken 19 years ago when one of the players was a baby.

Here's CNN's Don Riddell with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Two soccer legends, Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal, are about to meet on the field for the very first time in the World Cup final. But they actually met nearly 20 years ago, and there's the proof.

[05:40:00]

Back then Messi was a 20-year-old rising star for Barcelona, while Yamal was just five months old. And nobody could possibly have known that such an innocent and fleeting moment would become one of soccer's most iconic photographs.

The pictures were taken during a charity photoshoot for Barcelona and UNICEF by photographer Joan Monfort. He says he completely forgot about the photos until one phone call changed everything.

JOAN MONFORT, PHOTOGRAPHER: The newspaper Sport called me and say me, is this your picture? And he tell me the baby is Lamine Yamal. It's like you win the lottery or the -- it's a possibility in one million possibility.

RIDDELL: Yamal's father later shared the images online with the caption "The beginning of two legends." And the photos quickly went viral.

Today, Messi is a World Cup champion and considered by many to be the greatest of all time. Yamal has become Barcelona's newest superstar and one of football's brightest young talents with a string of records already to his name.

Nearly two decades after their chance encounter their narrative arcs will collide in the most extraordinary way, but this time soccer's biggest prize, the World Cup, is on the line.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SMITH: Thank you, Don. Really interesting stuff there.

Next up on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS, how did a plane window suddenly break during a flight and partially suck a passenger out? Investigators are trying to find out what went wrong. And paddleboarders spotted a raccoon fighting for his life and they came to the rescue. How it unfolded from start to finish coming up. We got you, buddy.

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[05:46:15]

SMITH: Let's go around the globe for a check on the headlines starting in Greece. That is where the NTSB will lead the investigation there into how a passenger was partially sucked out of a plane window. A thing of nightmares there. This is according to a social media post from the agency. The incident happened last week on a Ryanair flight in Greek airspace. A 61-year-old woman was significantly injured, and a full investigation could take as long as two years.

In northern Spain, people are being told to rush for safety as firefighters battle raging wildfires. Spain, like much of southern Europe, has faced increasingly severe wildfire seasons this year.

And in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a mysterious monkey has officially been confirmed as a new species. The orange-lipped primate as first photographed in 2008. He was found high up in a tree canopy in a rainforest. This is the fifth new monkey species that scientists have identified in Africa in the last 75 years. Where were you when?

And call him "Mr. World Record Breaker." In London, Pitbull and his fans -- they broke a Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of people wearing bald caps. Take a look.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congratulations. You are officially amazing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bald-E's, we did it, Bald-E's. We did it, Bald-E's.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a brand-new Guinness World Record, and this has come together from a lot of people's ideas of saying hey, there's so many people going to Pitbull concerts wearing bald caps. Why don't we recognize this globally?

PITBULL, RAPPER, SINGER-SONGWRITER: It's a blessing and on honor to be able to see the Bald-E's. I see you y'all all around every city. Y'all have no clue how much I enjoy it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SMITH: All right. Low demand for hair stylists out there.

Well, the internet's newest obsession, nuns talking about everyday life. A simple podcast about faith, friendships, and daily routines has turned these sisters into an unlikely sensation.

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SISTER MIRIAM HOTZMAN, HOST, DOMINICAN SISTERS OPEN MIC: Do you have a hobby?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cooking.

HOTZMAN: So, Sara, yes.

ANTOINETTE RADFORD, CNN CREATOR: The don't use smartphones or social media and the host doesn't listen to podcasts. These nuns are going viral for talking about just normal stuff.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the summertime we're all home together, it's play ultimate frisbee.

HOTZMAN: Sister, and you're so good at that.

RADFORD: When she was first asked to host the podcast, Sister Miriam had her concerns.

HOTZMAN: My interior reaction was oh my goodness, I can't do that. I do not know how to do a podcast. Our sisters -- we don't even listen to podcasts because we have -- in a beautiful way, we have so much silence and we have prayer, and we have our professional responsibilities to attend to.

RADFORD: But she didn't need to worry. Everyone on the internet loves Sister Miriam, especially one particular catchphrase associated with the podcast.

HOTZMAN: Sister, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am not even exaggerating when I say that the nuns on their podcast has genuinely changed my outlook on life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I keep getting the videos of the nuns doing the podcast and, oh sister, they are so good at podcasts.

RADFORD: What was your initial reaction to the success?

HOTZMAN: I was so surprised. I -- we never have expected that this would happen. And what we have to bring that's unique is the fact that we are sisters.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SMITH: All right. Ultimate frisbee players hate to see a nun coming.

[05:50:00]

Hey, as we're talking about sports here, it's time for Buzz Express, the stories that have people talking.

And first up, speaking of sports. Flavor Flav and his "She Weekend" -- that took place. This celebration of Team USA's female athletes. It kicked off last night in Vegas with a parade. The rapper got the idea for this after President Trump invited the men's Olympic gold-winning hockey team to the White House and then joked that the women's team would have to be included too or he'd be impeached. That inspired Flavor Flav to rally some sponsors and create this big weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FLAVOR FLAV, RAPPER: I think the future of women's sports is going to grow crazy right now. You know what I'm saying? And I just want to say, you know, women's sports is just as important as men's sports. Not only that but a lot of these women are playing their sports better than the men are playing their sports. You know what I'm saying? So I see the future of women's sports, first of all, being long life- lasting and also, I see it growing bigger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: The parade included younger girls who got to see some of their heroes.

And there's lots of talk about George Santos' new gig. The former congressman will star on the new season of Fox's reality show "SPECIAL FORCES: WORLD'S TOUGHEST TEST." Here's a look at him from the show's Instagram. Cast members will have to face military-themed challenges in the jungle.

Santos was expelled from Congress in 2023, convicted of fraud and identity theft. President Trump later commuted his sentence.

Still to come on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS, this is not something that you want to see coming down your street. The mess that it all left behind and the full story coming your way.

Plus, this is scary. A grandmother trapped in a car. Temperatures inside that car, 100 degrees. That's coming up on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS.

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[05:56:17]

SMITH: More than 672,000 divorces happen every year in the U.S., according to the CDC. And studies suggest that a growing number of those martial splits are between older adults -- say, just 50 and over.

CNN's Mandy Gaither explains what experts say is behind the rise in gray divorces, as they're called, and how couples can find common ground later in life.

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MANDY GAITHER, CNN REPORTER (voiceover): Being together forever is far from easy.

DR. CHIVONNA CHILDS, PSYCHOLOGIST, CLEVELAND CLINIC: People are living 80-90 years. That's a long time to be with someone.

GAITHER (voiceover): Counseling psychologist Chivonna Childs, with Cleveland Clinic, says she's seeing a rise in what's called "gray divorce." One study says the share of older adults divorcing tripled between 1990 and 2022. Other research says that as of 2019, 36 percent of divorcing U.S. adults were aged 50 and older. And one in 10 divorces is between adults 65 and older.

CHILDS: In our marriages sometimes, not only for women but for men as well, we can lost ourselves.

GAITHER (voiceover): Childs says marital discord can be driven by a lack of fulfillment, a stagnant marriage, life-changing events, lack of a meaningful connection, having a one-sided relationship, or empty nest syndrome.

CHILDS: We've worked 20-30 years at jobs and now we're both retired and we're both at home together alone with one another, which we haven't done for 20 or 30 years. That can be a real shock to our system.

GAITHER: But aging couples can find common ground. Childs says to start with relearning one another, find pockets of happiness in the marriage, make time to be together but also have time to yourself. Check in with each other, schedule date nights, and work on communicating. Childs says spouses should be able to talk in a way that allows each of them to feel heard, listened to, and valued.

CHILDS: And if there are problems in the marriage, there -- it's never too late to go to couples counseling.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SMITH: All right. Thank you, Mandy.

New details now into a deadly helicopter crash that killed six people near New York City last year. The NTSB is now believing that the sightseeing helicopter crashed into the Hudson River after hitting a flock of geese. It says that they found bird feathers in the chopper's rear rotor blades. The full report is expected to be released by the end of the year. A family of five and a pilot died in the crash last April.

Let's get a check-in on some of the other stories making news across the country.

We start with a messy situation in Southern California. CNN affiliate KCBS-KCAL reports a water main break in West Hollywood caused a sinkhole sending water flooding into the streets and even some apartments and homes. This muddy mess caused a lot of traffic problems as well, you might imagine. Officials say that there is no timeline for when the repairs will be made.

And in Washington, a grandmother was rescued from a hot Tesla. Her granddaughter left it in pet-safe mode, which is supposed to leave the air conditioner running and keep the doors from being opened from the inside. But the A/C wasn't running so the woman was stuck in the 100- degree car for about an hour. The granddaughter was found and unlocked the doors.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's OK. It's OK. OK, don't break it. Don't break it.

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SMITH: Oh, buddy, what's going on? In Austin, Texas, two paddleboarders rescued a raccoon. Tucker and Owen said that they were fishing and filming in the rain when they saw it was stranded in the water and quickly paddled over to help. Tucker said that he scooped the raccoon up with his paddle and took him to safety. Good work there.

[06:00:10]

And on the Big Island of Hawaii the lava fountains have returned after nearly three weeks, gushing hundreds of feet into the air. There are some of those visuals from Kilauea.

That does it for CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS. I'm Brad Smith. "CNN THIS MORNING WITH AUDIE CORNISH" starts right now.