Return to Transcripts main page

The Situation Room

7.3 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Southern Mexico; DHS Secretary Mullin Speaks About U.S. Election Security; Trump Claims Intel Reveals Vulnerabilities in U.S. Elections. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired July 17, 2026 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. There's breaking news, a large earthquake just hit Southern Mexico. Preliminary reports show that it was a 7.3 magnitude quake. And it was felt in neighboring countries as well, including Guatemala and El Salvador. We're monitoring this. We'll bring you all the latest developments. That's coming up.

Also happening now, the homeland security secretary is speaking about the U.S. elections. Here's some, some of what he said just a few moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARKWAYNE MULLIN, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: The Department of Homeland Security, we've identified 250,000 non-citizens registered to vote in just four states. Mind you, we have 46 other states and just four states. We've identified 250,000 non-citizens registered to vote in California and Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Nevada.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: This follows President Trump's speech last night, laying out what he sees as vulnerabilities in the nation's election systems based on new documents. But an early CNN review of those documents finds that they largely discuss previously known potential vulnerabilities and issues that were included in a 2021 assessment from the U.S. Intelligence Community.

Here with me now, once again, in the Situation Room, our senior reporter, Marshall Cohen. Marshall, you spent a lot of time going through a lot of those documents. Is that accurate, 250,000 -- the number of 250,000 undocumented immigrants, illegal immigrants who were actually registered to vote?

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Let's do the context. OK. You just heard the DHS secretary touting 250,000. And we heard that from the president last night, too. Look, that would be a very big deal. That's a lot of people on the voter rolls. But, of course, remember, we have 300 million -- 350 million people in this country.

But look, that is coming from a commercial database that most of the experts say is a pretty shoddy way to do these calculations. They don't have a lot of faith in that number, a lot of false positives. There are other databases out there that are much more reliable that the federal government does have.

[11:35:00]

And according to the numbers from that database, they found only 28,000 potential undocumented immigrants registered, not 250,000, only 28,000 out of about 30 million ballots -- registered voters, 30 million that they examined. A lot of numbers there. But big picture, people think that that is a highly inflated number.

And also, keep in mind, just being registered to vote is not the same thing as casting a ballot. If undocumented immigrants are registered to vote, they're going to be able to cast a ballot. That's one thing. In some jurisdictions, they are allowed to vote in local races. In federal races, you are not. But they would be risking it all if they went and tried to go vote in a federal race. Just to cast one fraudulent ballot, they could risk deportation.

Also, Wolf, last night, the president got into a ton of these other documents that were released about foreign adversaries possibly interfering with our elections. He talked a lot about China specifically. We want to break down what these documents do and don't show because there were a lot of misleading claims that need context. We looked at this last night. We had a whole team that went through it.

The documents do show that China obtained millions of records from the voter rolls about Americans in the last five, six years. Now, on its face, that is concerning. We don't want China to be snooping on Americans. But keep in mind, a lot of these voter databases are public. You can buy them from states. Political parties do that. They do that all the time.

Now, the intel agency said that they believe China also did some hacking. But it very well could just be part of their attempts, which they've been doing for a very long time, to gather intel, gather data. Remember, they hacked the federal government about 10 years ago and got millions of records on Americans.

And the very last point, the most important point, Wolf, is that nothing that came out yesterday showed that China tampered with any election results or any election outcomes.

BLITZER: That's encouraging to hear that. All right. Marshall, thank you very, very much.

And just ahead, a red line for one senator. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania says he'll leave the Democratic Party if it becomes anti- Israel, reflecting a broader schism. We're going to get reaction from that and more issues from the veteran Democratic strategist James Carville. He's standing by live right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:40:00]

BLITZER: Happening now, there's new reaction pouring in from President Trump's primetime address last night in which he alleged that weaknesses exist in America's election systems. Declassified documents released by his administration, however, largely discuss vulnerabilities that have been known for years and that election officials nationwide have tried to address.

Here's how California's Democratic governor and potential 2028 presidential contender, Gavin Newsom, responded. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): He wants to rig the election in 2026. He knows he's going to lose. He needs to rig the election before one vote was cast. That's what that whole thing was about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Joining us now to discuss this and more, the veteran Democratic strategist, James Carville. James, thanks so much for joining us. How would you advise members of your Democratic Party to handle President Trump's speech last night and rebut the work of his administration as we get into the full swing of the midterm election season, the midterm elections coming up in November?

JAMES CARVILLE, FORMER LEAD STRATEGIST, BILL CLINTON'S 1992 CAMPAIGN AND DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I would advise them to attack CNN, attack ABC, attack NBC, attack MS NOW, because they didn't air the speech. And I think the president of the United States acting loonier than a tune is newsworthy. I don't think we should have hidden that from the American people. I think there should have been blanket coverage of it. He's literally off his rocker. And there's no other way to describe this.

BLITZER: So, you think we should have given him more publicity? Is that what you're saying?

CARVILLE: Absolutely saying that. I'm absolutely saying that. I think the decision not to air that speech by CNN and other networks is not being what's really newsworthy. And this guy, he's gone. He was advised by his own staff in a story that I read, I think it was in Daily Beast and Politico, that don't be crazy. When you got to advise the president of the United States not to be crazy, of course, he didn't take that advice for sure.

But this is very newsworthy, I think. I do think, Wolf. And I think the more people see this, the more they'll understand that. I really do. I believe that.

BLITZER: Interesting analysis. We did air a lot of the newsy excerpts from the speech, and then we had full analysis and fact-checking going on. Let me play for you what the Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, told reporters yesterday in the lead-up to President Trump's primetime address last night. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), MINORITY LEADER: Donald Trump's speech tonight has nothing to do with the 2020 elections. It has everything to do with the 2026 elections. He's scared to death that he will lose in 2026, and so he's trying to change the subject. No one has any faith that Trump is going to tell the truth. He's lied for six years. He's particularly lied about the elections in 2020. No one is going to have any faith in what he says and does.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So, now post-speech, James, what's your view of the leader Schumer's assessment?

CARVILLE: Well, I mean, I think he knows he's going to lose. I mean, you can watch CNN. I watch Harry Enten, I guess his name is. I mean, the numbers that Trump's putting up are just beyond horrible. And, of course, he knows he's going to lose, but he couldn't execute. What he was trying to do, he couldn't execute it.

Literally, the guy was -- he's literally crazy. And he just rehashed everything, and then this guy, John Solomon, says, well, we don't really have any proof that anybody changed any election results. I have no idea what he was trying to accomplish.

[11:45:00]

And -- but if we run -- if you run excerpts from it, they just added stuff. I think the mistake was what he was trying to accomplish.

But if we run, if you run excerpts from it, they just added stuff. I think the mistake was made by the networks to not show it in its entirety so people could see him in full and understand just how far this man has gone down the road to insanity. I would say there was nothing normal about that. And you can do it with clips and you can get people on, but there's nothing like people sitting there watching the whole thing to tell them what's really going on.

BLITZER: On another critical issue, James, while I got to you earlier this week, a majority of House Democrats voted to block future military aid for Israel, dividing even members of the leadership of the Democratic Party. Two years ago, only 37 Democrats blocked that aid for Israel when presented with a similar vote.

What does this seismic shift among Democrats in the House of Representatives say about your party?

CARVILLE: First of all, there is a difference between being anti- Israel and anti-the policies of the government of Israel. I would certainly consider myself the latter. In the last two years, I think some policies that Israel has executed are very concerning to a lot of Americans and a lot of Americans like myself that would definitely consider themselves pro-the state of Israel, anti-the government of Israel.

But that's an important distinction to make. It really is. And a lot of the people that claim to be, quote, "pro-Israel" like to conflate the two. They're two distinct and separate things. And by the way, there's going to be an election in October and a majority of Israelis are now anti-policies of the government of Israel. But that is a very important distinction to make.

BLITZER: They may be anti-Netanyahu, but they're pro-Israel, the State of Israel. Just like you can be anti-Trump but be pro-American.

CARVILLE: Yes. I'm pro-USA. I'm anti-Trump. I don't see -- I don't -- that's not a stupid position. That's actually a consistent position to have. I am pro-Israel. I'm anti-the policies of the Netanyahu government.

BLITZER: I want you to watch what Democratic Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania told our colleague Manu Raju about all of this. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): I've always expressed my dismay the way the Democratic Party continues to turn their back on Israel. So, I've said that publicly, like that's my red line. If Democratic Party becomes official anti-Israel, then that's when I would force me out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So, how do you respond to that, James?

CARVILLE: Well, I mean, I'd say the same thing I did. I'd try to explain to Senator Fetterman the difference between being anti-the policies of the government of Israel and anti-Israel. But down the road, there's no chance that Senator Fetterman could win a Democratic primary. Just understand that. And Democrats need to understand if the Senate comes back 50-50 after the election, and, there is a reasonable chance that could happen, I don't think there's any doubt that Fetterman would switch.

Because if he wants to return to the Senate, he'd have a chance to win a Republican primary in Pennsylvania. He would have no chance to win a Democratic primary. And I just saw a poll out yesterday that pretty clearly demonstrates that. It's not very difficult to see what's going on. But I had a chance to explain to him the difference between being anti-the policies of the government of Israel and anti-Israel I'd be happy to, but maybe I don't know if he can grasp that distinction.

BLITZER: Well, maybe he's watching, and he just heard you make that difference. A lot of us remember, James, your political ascent as a strategist, a key strategist for Bill Clinton's successful 1992 presidential campaign. I went down a little rock. Arkansas, that's where I met you, left the Pentagon beat, went down a little rock to start covering the Bill Clinton campaign. It was then that you famously coined that phrase, quote, "it's the economy stupid," end quote. And that really motivated Bill Clinton's campaign.

Even today, the number one issue on so many voters' minds is the economy. Of all the names being floated as potential 2028 Democratic presidential hopefuls, who do you feel right now, James, has the best shot?

CARVILLE: You know, people ask me that, and I honestly don't know. I think we have some marvelously talented people, but, you know, how you played in the locker room and how when they get out on the campaign trail, I don't know. And I would also say Democrats need -- it is, of course, the economy is paramount in people's minds. They need to tie the corruption to economic performance. Because sometimes we tend to think corruption is one issue, economy is another issue, health care is another issue.

[11:50:00]

The truth of the matter is they form, as Reagan would say, a three- legged stool for Democratic strategies. But you have to tie the corruption to what's going on in the economy now. And I think that that's not a very hard thing to do. But you've got to move in.

We didn't have -- you know, you were in '92, you were in the Pentagon. President Bush 41 was not a corrupt man. We didn't even run on that. There's something about maybe one of his kids got involved in a savings and loan, but that was about it. This is corruption up and down. It's permeated the entire federal government. I think we need to make that distinction, I really do.

BLITZER: You got a relatively little-known governor of Arkansas elected president of the United States. That was a dramatic. A lot of us remember that. James Carville, thanks very much for joining us.

CARVILLE: Well, I think the little-known governor of Arkansas had something to do with it, but thanks for the compliment anyway. It kind of reminds me, we've been, what, 36 years ago? Man, we got old.

BLITZER: Yes. Hard to believe. That's when I got to know you and a lot of your colleagues. You did an amazing job for the future president of the United States, James Carville. Thank you very, very much. We'll be right back.

CARVILLE: Thank you both, Wolf. Always a pleasure.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Happening now, more than 100 million people across the Midwest and Northeast, United -- part of the United States, they are under air quality alerts right now. Wind is carrying Canadian wildfire smoke across the border causing the poor air quality across the U.S.

[11:55:00]

And here in Washington, D.C., officials are now warning that the air pollution is so high that even healthy adults will be affected. CNN's Brian Todd is joining me right now. He's in Washington. What's it like outside, Brian?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it's pretty miserable. You can feel it, you can breathe it. It is just miserable out here with the smoke and the haze. Right now, the website IQ Air, which monitors air quality, says that Washington, D.C., along with Detroit and Chicago, are the three most polluted cities in the world right now. I'm going to show you what that looks like. Our photojournalist John Engelman is going to train his camera past the Washington Monument. We are at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial. He's going to train his camera past the Washington Monument. You can see the monument there. But then on a normal day, you can see the U.S. Capitol very clearly from here.

Take a look at that visibility of the Capitol. Not very good at all through the haze and the smoke coming in from Canada and northern Minnesota. A little bit earlier, my team and I were at the Iwo Jima Memorial just across the river, on the other side of the Potomac River in Virginia, shooting basically the same way, toward the Lincoln Memorial, toward the Washington Monument, and toward the Capitol. And you really couldn't see the Capitol hardly at all from the video that we showed you from that shoot just a few moments ago.

We're going to pivot over here, and I'm going to show you the tourists. It has not stopped tourists from coming down here. Now, as you can see, the vast majority of these tourists are not wearing masks. But according to the Washington Metropolitan Council of Governments, they advise you, if you're going to be out in this weather for a long period of time, wear one of these N95 respirator masks or one of these masks here. Practice what we preach. Put this on if you're going to be outside for a long period of time, or else you could be at risk of maybe contracting bronchitis, aggravating a heart condition, or some other illness. Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Just be careful out there. Brian Todd reporting for us. Brian, thanks very much. And to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us this morning Inside Politics with our friend and colleague, Dana Bash starts after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:00:00]