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Trump Claims Intel Reveals Vulnerabilities In U.S. Elections; Trump Alleges Chinese Election Meddling After Praising Xi Jinping; CDC: Lettuce Tied To Cyclospora Outbreak In MI, OH, IN, KY & WV. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired July 17, 2026 - 11:00   ET

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

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[11:01:15]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, protecting elections. In just moments, we expect to hear directly from the Homeland Security Secretary, Markwayne Mullin. He's set to talk about the administration's efforts to secure the voting process as the President himself touts what he calls new information about potential weaknesses in the system.

And pesky parasite, CNN has new reporting about the possible source of a gut-churning illness making thousands of Americans sick. This as health officials fight to track down the source or sources of so many cases.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. Pamela Brown is off today. You're in The Situation Room.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

BLITZER: And we begin this hour with the breaking news. At any moment now, the Homeland Security Secretary, Markwayne Mullin, will deliver remarks on election security. This comes after President Trump claimed last night that there are several vulnerabilities in the American election system and made claims about election interference from foreign entities.

But the newly released documents reviewed by CNN did not provide new evidence of anything that actually swung votes or changed the results of elections. Let's go live right now to our senior White House reporter, Kevin Liptak. What more did the President say last night, Kevin?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, and the President is really trying to raise some alarm bells about what he sees as major gaps in American election security. But a lot of his claims were outlandish. Some of them were unfounded, even based on the own documents that the White House released, this large trove of information that was newly declassified. Now, the President all, I think, doing this to make a push for that SAVE America Act, the voting reform bill, that is having so much trouble making it through Congress, although what is contained in that bill wouldn't necessarily remedy most of what the President was talking about last night.

And just to tick through a few of the President's claims, one is related to China and potential Chinese interference in American elections. He says that the Chinese have obtained more than 200 million files that amount to voter rolls for American voters. What the President didn't show and what the documents do not show is that China has been able to manipulate any votes in the United States that would result in any changes in election outcomes.

The other area that the President talked about was potential vulnerabilities in election infrastructure, including in voting machines. He did reaffirm what was known, which is that there are potential foreign threats, cyber threats to voting machines, but the President nor did the documents suggest that any of that had been used to change votes or manipulate votes in any previous elections.

The other area that the President got into was this question of non- citizens on voter rolls. He said that states had identified more than 200,000 non-citizens who are currently registered to vote. What the President didn't say and what the documents didn't say were how many of them had actually cast votes in previous elections.

Now, the President's ire, most of it, was directed at what he said were deep state operatives who had attempted to keep this information from him during his first term in office. Listen to what he said about that particular point.

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[11:04:58]

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our purpose in disclosing this information is not to weaken confidence in election, but to earn that confidence by confronting vulnerabilities and correcting them very, very quickly. And that's what we're doing.

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LIPTAK: So, the President talking about trying to confront some of these vulnerabilities ahead of November's midterm elections. You know, when you talk to some election experts, they say that some of this has been known. You know, the questions about voting machine vulnerabilities and nothing in the President's actions up until now suggests that he has been taking that seriously.

For example, he disbanded a various task force at the FBI and ODNI about foreign election meddling. And he gutted the CISA unit that had been in charge of some cyber threats. And so, it remains to be seen how the President plans to remedy the vulnerabilities that he identified in his speech last night.

BLITZER: All right, Kevin Liptak at the White House updating us. Thank you very much.

For more analysis, I want to bring in Lawrence Norden. He's the vice president of the Elections and Government Program at the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice at the NYU School of Law. Lawrence, thanks very much for joining us. I know you've dedicated your career to working with elections officials to make the U.S. election infrastructure as secure and safe as possible. With that in mind, your experience specifically, what stood out most to you from President Trump's speech last night?

LAWRENCE NORDEN, VICE PRESIDENT, ELECTIONS & GOVT. PROGRAM, BRENNAN CENTER: What stood out most to me was that we were hearing the same rehashed conspiracy theories from the President that we've been hearing since he lost the election in 2020. And I think the context here is really important.

We should make no mistake, since day one of returning to office, President Trump and others in his administration have been attempting to undermine faith in the security of our elections very explicitly for the purpose of taking control over elections or passing voter suppression methods, bills. And he's been failing consistently. He has not -- he has failed at passing that SAVE America Act that Kevin mentioned earlier.

He's lost in court now, by my count, 18 times in attempts to unconstitutionally exert control over our elections, including injunctions against his two executive orders. And this, to me, read as a new front in that same effort. It's not going to change the Constitution. And the claims that he's been talking about have been thoroughly debunked over the last six years.

BLITZER: We've heard about foreign influence in American elections going back, what, to 2016 at least. But can you, Lawrence, underscore for our viewers right now how that foreign influence differs from successfully infiltrating our election systems and manipulating actual votes?

NORDEN: Yes, that's a -- it's a really important distinction to make. Foreign influence are these disinformation campaigns that we all know about, foreign nations getting on social media, disguising themselves, attempting to divide people in the country. This is something that we've seen from several other countries, Iran, China, Russia, in recent elections. That's very different than foreign interference.

And these two terms get confused a lot, including in the President's remarks yesterday. Foreign interference is infiltrating the election infrastructure for the purpose of changing votes or changing election results. There's only one known instance of foreign interference, and that was Russia in 2016. And other than that, there is no evidence of foreign interference in recent elections.

BLITZER: The CIA director, John Ratcliffe, highlighted his department's role in declassifying these election-related documents last night, saying the effort was meant to uphold public confidence in elections. But critics argue it could have the actual opposite effect. What do you think? NORDEN: Yes, first of all, you mentioned John Ratcliffe. I think it's important to note that he was director of national intelligence in 2020 after the election, when the intelligence community issued a report saying that there was no foreign interference in that election, and that was his report. So that's very important.

Second of all, I do think that these kinds of comments from the President are extremely dangerous, and especially because they are long-discredited claims. Coming just months before the midterms, I think it's actively harmful to public confidence in the election. And it's worth repeating that there is no evidence, none that was presented, that should make voters doubt past election results, particularly 2020, which is probably the most investigated, audited, litigated election in U.S. history.

BLITZER: You're absolutely right. Lawrence, put all of this into some sort of broader context for us. How vulnerable are American elections, really? And what do you say to voters who heard what President Trump said last night and are concerned their voices won't be heard in the midterm elections coming up in November when they head to the voting booth?

[11:10:13]

NORDEN: Yes. The most important thing to know is that there are multiple layers of security around our elections to prevent -- to protect from election interference. Across all 50 states, members of both parties, Republican and Democrat, the people who run our elections are professionals. The processes that they oversee are bipartisan. They are transparent.

And really importantly, everywhere in the country, really, except for the state of Louisiana, we have paper records of all the votes, whether that's paper ballots that people fill out or paper trails of every vote. We can go back to them. We can check them. We can make sure that the results are accurate. And that should make people feel really confident in the elections. I see this effort as a campaign to undermine confidence.

And the only way that it's going to work is if people don't vote. So people just -- one of the things that I want people to take away from this is that they have a voice in their elections and they should make sure that this doesn't dissuade them from participating.

BLITZER: Yes, good advice. Lawrence Norden, thanks for all the important work you do. Appreciate it very much.

NORDEN: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: The President's remarks last night focused heavily on China, painting that country as a major adversary that helped, and I'm quoting him now, manipulate the vote in the 2020 election. Let's discuss that and more now with President Obama's former CIA Director, Leon Panetta, former Defense Secretary as well. Thanks, Secretary Panetta, very much for joining us. There were so many falsehoods and exaggerations in the President's speech last night, but is Chinese interference in U.S. elections as real as a threat, as he suggests?

LEON PANETTA, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY UNDER PRES. OBAMA: Well, the reality is that the intelligence community has for a long time known that China would be trying to influence American elections. The Russians try to influence American elections. So there was a bipartisan report by the Intelligence Committee that confirmed that. Other adversaries have tried to come in and try to influence our elections.

But the bottom line is that the intelligence sources themselves, both the CIA and other intelligence agencies, have made clear that none of this has impacted on the credibility of American elections. And so, yes, they're going to try. Our adversaries are going to try. But the bottom line is that they have not been successful and that we have taken the right steps in order to protect our elections as free and fair.

BLITZER: Yes, good point. President Trump was recently in China, as you well know, Secretary, and he preys on that country and its leader, Xi Jinping. I want to compare what he said then to what he said last night. Listen to this.

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TRUMP: We've had a fantastic relationship. We've gotten along when there were difficulties. We worked it out. I would call you and you would call me. And whenever we had a problem, people don't know, whenever we had a problem, we worked that out very quickly. And we're going to have a fantastic future together.

The People's Republic of China carried out what is believed to be the largest compromise of election data in history. They fought like hell not to have Donald Trump to win, and for good reason.

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BLITZER: He was always praising China and Xi Jinping, and last night you heard what he said. How do you think China is going to react to these latest remarks?

PANETTA: Well, I think, just like the American people, I think China gets used to the President basically bouncing all over the place with regards to different issues. He's done that with the war in Iran. He's done that with other issues as well. And he's doing it with China and the relations with China. I mean, he's got an invitation for Xi to come to this country. I'm sure the story will change a great deal between now and then.

And so he's making use of the China intelligence as a way to spark fear in the American people that somehow China is engaged in something we're not aware of. Bottom line is, we are aware of what China's doing. We've been aware of it. Frankly, the President has been made aware of it a number of times in the presidential daily brief. So he's aware of this, but he's trying to use this as a way to stir fear in the American people. It's not going to work because I think the American people still basically trust our election system.

[11:14:59]

BLITZER: You're the former CIA director of 2021 U.S. intelligence report conducted under President Trump's then director of national intelligence, the current CIA director, John Ratcliffe, concluded that China attempted to collect information on U.S. voters, public opinion, and political parties going back to 2008. Does that indicate to you that China was considering or even attempting to influence U.S. elections? It's one thing to collect information. It's another thing to do something about that and directly interfere in U.S. elections.

PANETTA: Yes, look, the bottom line is these are adversaries of the United States. I mean, I'm a little surprised that the President didn't mention Russia a little more because Russia, frankly, has been very involved in trying to influence American elections. We're aware of that. The same is true for China.

And so, yes, look, our adversaries are going to try to do everything they can to weaken the United States of America. We're aware of that. But the bottom line is that they failed. They have not been successful. Why? Because, frankly, our state officials who head up our election systems have been trusted in terms of the work they do. We have had free and fair elections, as far as I've known, in this country that have been credible and that the American people have supported.

And so, yes, our adversaries are going to continue to make an effort to try to undermine it. Even the President is making an effort to try to undermine trust in our election system. But the bottom line is the American people are smarter than that. And they know that their vote counts. And hopefully, they'll exercise that vote in every election we have in this country.

BLITZER: Speaking of national intelligence, Secretary Panetta, Jay Clayton, President Trump's nominee to be the next Director of National Intelligence, wouldn't tell Congress this week during his confirmation hearing whether former President Biden won the 2020 presidential election. Of course, he did win that election. It's factually true. How concerning is that to you?

PANETTA: I get very concerned when people who are testifying before Congress basically dodge the question, don't answer it in a trustworthy way, and basically provide a political answer in order to make sure they're not offending anybody in the administration. I mean, I understand his politics. But I also believe that when you're testifying before the Congress, you ought to be straightforward. You ought to be trustworthy. And you ought to say what the truth is. And we all know what the truth is.

The truth is that the 2020 election elected Joe Biden. He was sworn in as president. Every effort has been made to try to undermine that but has failed. And so the time, frankly, for Mr. Clayton and for the President is to move on. It's time to move on and try to deal with what we're facing in this country right now. The President, instead of taking time to raise fears in the American people, ought to be talking about the war in Iran, which is going badly. He ought to be talking about what's happening with our economy and the fact that inflation is going up and that prices are going up and that people are having affordability problems.

He ought to talk about a debt that we have, which is the largest debt that the United States has ever had, $40 trillion. Those are the things that the President ought to be addressing in a national address to the American people.

BLITZER: Yes. All right. Leon Panetta, as usual, thank you very much for joining us. I always appreciate your thoughts.

PANETTA: Good to be with you.

BLITZER: And still ahead, Taco Bell trouble, how the CDC is now linking more than 1,000 cases of a parasite outbreak to some of the fast food chain's locations in the Midwest.

[11:19:13]

And later, one-on-one with James Carville, the longtime Democratic insider, will join me live here in The Situation Room. We'll discuss a growing rift inside the Democratic Party with support for Israel right now at the center. Lots going on. You're in The Situation Room.

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BLITZER: New this morning a regional outbreak of cyclospora in five Midwestern states is being tied to iceberg lettuce served at some, some Taco Bell locations. While cases of the parasitic stomach bug have increased dramatically nationwide, food safety experts say that doesn't mean you should skip produce altogether.

I'm joined now by the Director of Food Safety at Consumer Reports, James Rogers. James, thanks very much for joining us. Thanks for all the important work you're doing. You're saying the answer isn't swapping a salad, let's say for ice cream. Explain to our viewers what safety precautions they should be taking right now.

JAMES ROGERS, DIRECTOR OF FOOD SAFETY, CONSUMER REPORTS: Well, Wolf, it depends on their tolerance for risk. If you want to remove as much of the risk as possible, the advice is that you actually cook your salad greens or your fruits and vegetables or you don't eat them at all. However, that is not some advice that some people are willing to have. So we at Consumer Reports suggest that you need to practice good food hygiene, kitchen hygiene, by washing your hands before and after, by sanitizing the areas that you're working in, only by whole fruits and vegetables and cut them up yourself. Avoid bagged lettuce. Avoid pre-cut fruits and vegetables.

[11:25:19]

And then if you do want to use lettuce, we're suggesting that you strip off the outer layers because that's where most of the contamination will lie and only use the inner layers of a head of lettuce. And that should reduce your exposure and your risk for contracting this infection.

BLITZER: Taco Bell, as you probably know, says it has, "taken immediate action to voluntarily remove potentially impacted lettuce from selected states. The effective ingredient from our supplier," they say, "is being indefinitely removed from our supply chain nationwide and will be replaced within 24 hours in select states." Will that be enough in your view?

ROGERS: I think it will be enough in those five states because it's important to remove the potentially contaminated product from consumers' ability to purchase and consume. Nationwide, we don't know yet because the FDA and the CDC are still investigating to see how widespread was this particular lot or batch of iceberg lettuce distributed in the United States.

Right now, the indication is it is in those five states that you mentioned, but it may be further extended. And so we're waiting to see what the next part of the investigation reveals to ensure it was only sent to those five states.

BLITZER: Yes, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia. These infections, as you know, aren't unnecessarily uncommon, especially this time of year. How does this current cluster of cases, though, compare?

ROGERS: You're totally correct. As the weather gets warmer, and you know we've had a pretty warm early summer, you see this particular infection rising to a certain base level. What we're seeing, though, in this cluster is like, for Michigan, who has the highest number of cases, typically they have about 300 or so, according to some of the data I've seen. There are over 3,000 cases now in Michigan, so that's a tenfold increase.

And again, it's probably attributed to some type of food source that has been brought into those regions. As you mentioned, it's been identified as iceberg lettuce, and that people are falling sick by consuming this. And so this is unusual. Tenfold higher cases in Michigan really shows a huge spike in this type of infection.

BLITZER: James Rogers, thanks again for joining us. Appreciate it very, very much.

ROGERS: Yes, thank you for having me.

BLITZER: And up next, President Trump made a lot of claims about the newly declassified election documents during his speech last night. CNN's Marshall Cohen was part of the team that poured over the trove of information, hundreds of pages. He'll tell us what the documents actually say about the U.S. elections. That's next.

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