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Trump Addresses the Nation Tonight; Numbers on Joe Rogan's Influence; Trump Weighs Options for Iran Operations; Rabbi Jeffrey Myers is Interviewed about his Service. Aired 8:30-9a ET
Aired July 16, 2026 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:30:00]
BELLA POPADIUK, KENS REPORTER: Very, very fast. Actually just a couple minutes ago, we watched what looked like a washer or maybe dryer machine that was just like being pulled down the river. Not sure where it came from. It must have come from a house or a business. But we're seeing some debris in the river and it's looking pretty brown.
There are some street lights over here. So, we do have a better view of how high the water is. And it's coming up on the bridge a little, but it's not to-to high on this bridge over here.
Again, this is the Guadalupe River. We are in Kerrville right now where emergency management is warning everyone to seek high ground, to shelter in place. And they did open two emergency shelters as well because they say this is life-threatening flooding.
We'll continue to keep you updated as we stay out here and as we learn more and as we see more along the Guadalupe River and in Kerr County.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Again, we're getting new warnings of a large and potentially deadly wave going down the Guadalupe right now. And it's a very serious situation. You saw before the radar just looks terrible over that part of Texas. So, we'll come back to this very, very shortly.
Kate.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, President Trump set to deliver a speech in primetime tonight. Exactly what he's going to be talking about, oddly still something of a mystery or not. Let's get to it. All the reporting suggests it will focus on election security around the 2020 election and beyond. He's teasing it, saying that he'll have a big announcement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's really, really big news. And our country has to shape up. But that's a -- what we're going to be talking about Thursday is, it doesn't get bigger, because without free and fair elections, you don't have a country. We'll be discussing other things too. But it's going to be a very big announcement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: And joining us right now is CNN political analyst, "New York Times" White House correspondent, Zolan Kanno-Youngs.
It's good to see you, Zolan.
ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good to see you as well.
BOLDUAN: I also -- I had Democratic Congresswoman Madeleine Dean on earlier, and I asked her about the speech and she called it nonsense that he would be focusing on the 2020 election and election fraud again, and also said this. Let me play this for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MADELEINE DEAN (D-PA): It shows you he is unwell. He is distracted. He is distracted by his own vanity, and he is fearful of losing the midterms. What I believe is Republicans should call upon him to say, Mr. President, use the Oval Office and this important address to the nation to talk about what they care about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: What are -- what are you hearing about the -- exactly this, what is actually going to be talked about tonight and what Republicans think -- are thinking about it?
KANNO-YOUNGS: Well, in some ways it is surprising that you would have a speech that seems to be focused on foreign election interference and the grievances over the 2020 election that the president lost.
BOLDUAN: Right.
KANNO-YOUNGS: It's worth saying that again. In some ways it's surprising because you often heard from Republicans who were saying that they hoped that the White House and the president, especially in the lead up to the midterms, would be giving more speeches about the economy, would be talking about tax cuts that were in his domestic policy legislation last year --
BOLDUAN: Yes.
KANNO-YOUNGS: That was passed last year. I remember when as high as the chief of staff was saying that the president would be traveling every week to talk about his agenda as well.
BOLDUAN: Just going to say that. That's right.
KANNO-YOUNGS: So, you might think when you look at those comments that you would hear a primetime speech that's focused on that domestic policy agenda. In another way this isn't surprising, right?
BOLDUAN: Right. Right. KANNO-YOUNGS: I mean the president, in many ways, has been -- his second administration has been one designed based off of loyalty, right. He conducted loyalty tests for those that he was going to bring into office. Measured in large part about whether or not they would defend his baseless claim that the 2020 election was stolen and rigged, which again is baseless, right? So, in a way, it's not surprising.
And almost this primetime speech, you can see as being almost a manifestation of that loyalty that has been put at the center of this administration. You know, dissent -- there hasn't been much room for dissent in this second time around. So, if the president wants to give a speech, you can see that those around him would be ready to enable that and set up a primetime speech.
BOLDUAN: Yes, I mean, so -- what -- some of what "Politico" had was from a former -- from a former Trump top Trump administration official saying Republicans that he's -- that they are talking to are scared shitless about what is going to be said.
KANNO-YOUNGS: Right.
BOLDUAN: But not -- I mean not coming out publicly to say --
KANNO-YOUNGS: Sure.
BOLDUAN: Let's not do this. Let's focus elsewhere.
KANNO-YOUNGS: Right.
BOLDUAN: Give me the caveat that you're kind of working with in your mind, though, of, there are still hours until this speech --
KANNO-YOUNGS: Yes.
BOLDUAN: And how much this could change or not until then.
KANNO-YOUNGS: Yes. If there's any topic that the president is prone to going off script on, it tends to be this topic, right?
BOLDUAN: Yes.
KANNO-YOUNGS: Whatever they devise as far as the script, whatever's on the teleprompter there, I don't like making predictions, but I think it would be a fair prediction to say that the president would be prone to going off script, right?
[08:35:03]
So, that's one thing.
Two, you do have many different officials that are kind of involved in devising this speech.
BOLDUAN: Yes. KANNO-YOUNGS: Not just sort of the more permanent officials that we know about, not just the usual aides, but also we have Bill Pulte, the acting head of intelligence that has been involved with this. John Solomon, the former reporter that's now been brought in to sort of examine any documents and reports that can back up or allegedly back up the president's assertions here. So, we'll have to see what happens.
BOLDUAN: Absolutely. It's good to see you, Zolan.
KANNO-YOUNGS: Good to see you too.
BOLDUAN: You've got a long, fun day ahead on this one.
KANNO-YOUNGS: It's going to be a long one.
BOLDUAN: Exactly. Appreciate it, buddy.
Sara.
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thank you so much, guys.
We are standing by to hear from survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse during the second day of the confirmation hearing for attorney general nominee Todd Blanche. Many survivors strongly oppose Blanche's confirmation, saying he mishandled the release of the files, and accusing him of revictimizing them by letting some names and information appear unredacted.
Today's testimony also comes as the Justice Department is accused of withholding critical evidence from state officials in New Mexico. Still, survivors have said Epstein abused them on this sprawling property known as, at the time, the Zorro Ranch.
Blanche was asked about the New Mexico investigation yesterday. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MAZIE HIRONO (D-HI): Mr. Blanche, over the course of the past five months, the New Mexico Department of Justice has talked to your staff about getting access to information for its investigation into alleged crime at Jeffrey Epstein's Zorro Ranch. Will you and your team continue to cooperate with the New Mexico Department of Justice and help it get the information it needs?
TODD BLANCHE, ATTORNEY GENERAL NOMINEE: Yes, we're continuing to work with them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: All right, joining us now is New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez.
Thank you so much for being here. First, I am curious about your thoughts of something that the vice
president said vis-a-vis the Epstein files. And he was talking to Joe Rogan. And he says to him, "we absolutely screwed up the comms of the Epstein files. Like, we just did. But do I think the reason we screwed up the comms is because we were trying to hide something? No."
Is that how you read it?
RAUL TORREZ (D), NEW MEXICO ATTORNEY GENERAL: Well, the problem is that the administration is focused on the comms rather than delivering justice for survivors. And that's been the challenge all along.
It's been 152 days since we submitted our request to the Justice Department, asking for access to the complete universe of Epstein files, the unredacted files. And we still don't have that access. And that is impacting an ongoing criminal investigation in my state.
SIDNER: Your office, I think, if I'm correct here, and correct me if I'm wrong, has the only active, ongoing criminal investigation of Jeffrey Epstein. And you're looking particularly at this ranch that he owned at some time, where there were people that were come on to that ranch.
TORREZ: Yes.
SIDNER: Very similar to the island that everyone talks about.
TORREZ: Right.
SIDNER: People talk less about what happened at this ranch. So, give me some sense of all the things that you feel like are being withheld. And, and why do you think they're being withheld? You have a legal right to them?
TORREZ: Well, and it's important to set the context. The -- there was an ongoing criminal investigation initiated under my predecessor and the Justice Department, at that time, actually asked the state of New Mexico to stand down, to allow the federal prosecutors in New York to complete their work. And the understanding was it would come back to New Mexico so we could complete our investigation. That never happened.
And so, it wasn't until we had revelations from the Epstein files that we were in a position to evaluate the fact that no complete investigative work had ever been done at the ranch. And that's what prompted us to reopen the investigation and then start pressing the Justice Department to turn over the files.
With respect to whether or not we have a legal right, federal and state law enforcement cooperate on a regular basis. I'm a former federal prosecutor. We work -- we worked routinely with our state counterparts on a number of investigations. And yet somehow the rules seem to be different when it comes to the Epstein case.
SIDNER: I know that you can't talk about an ongoing investigation and give details, but can you give us some sense of what you believe, what you're looking for, who you've talked to? And if you see some evidence that crimes were committed there on that ranch, that you are having trouble getting to all the details because you don't have all the information from the Justice Department.
TORREZ: So, what we know at this moment, based on the publicly revealed Epstein files, is that there's a reference to Zorro at least 12,000 times in those files. The problem is the documents are heavily redacted. And so, we will have references to individuals, witnesses, potential leads, follow up information that's essential for our investigators and prosecutors to build a criminal case if one is still viable.
[08:40:03]
That's why we have to have access.
SIDNER: Why do you think the U.K. is building a criminal case right now and that the U.S. doesn't have a single person except for Ghislaine Maxwell, who was directly involved with him. But there are other people who have been accused in high places. Why do you think we have not gotten another criminal case out of all of this?
TORREZ: Well, because I think what the focus has been on in D.C. and the Justice Department is spin, is comms, is how to -- how to talk about it, rather than taking a step back and saying, what do we need to do to deliver justice for victims? And that starts with just being truthful and allowing professional law enforcement to do their work and support them, not with just rhetoric, but in real action.
SIDNER: New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez, thank you for coming on. This is such an important subject for Americans, but particularly for the victims who are watching all this happen and what's happened to them, and feeling that justice has not yet been served. Do appreciate your time.
TORREZ: Thank you.
SIDNER: John.
BERMAN: All right, Vice President J.D. Vance spent many, many hours with Joe Rogan on "The Joe Rogan Show." They talked about a range of subjects. Some of it was quite controversial. But the question for the moment is, why? What does the vice president get out of going on that show?
With us now is CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten.
Very nice to see you.
For a guy who may want to be the Republican nominee not long from now --
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yes, probably -- he probably does.
BERMAN: Why is going on with Joe Rogan a good thing? ENTEN: Why is going on with Joe Rogan a good thing? And is simply
because Joe Rogan is the young Republican whisperer.
What are we talking about here? Well, why don't we just take a look at this? OK, the net popularity with Republicans under the age of 45. Look at Joe Rogan at plus 62 points. He is far more popular among young Republicans than even Donald Trump is at plus 28. And way more popular than Tucker Carlson, who, of course, also has his own podcast at plus 18. If you want to appeal to young Republicans, the place you want to go to is you want to go on Joe Rogan's podcast, because I can't find a single other person out there in the media or otherwise who is as popular with young Republicans as Joe Rogan is.
BERMAN: What is notable about J.D. Vance is he's cozying up to all three of these guys.
ENTEN: Yes. Take the buffet line.
BERMAN: He does -- yes, he is the full buffet there. But Rogan, by far, outpolls Trump or Carlson on this.
What about if you're trying to reach, you know, the so-called disaffected voters, people who aren't in the mix normally?
ENTEN: Yes. OK. If you want to get those who are disenchanted, perhaps those voters who didn't cast a ballot in 2024. I know there's this idea on the left. Oh, you know, maybe Democratic Socialists of America.
But just take a look here. Where do you want to go? Voters who didn't cast a ballot in 2024, the net favorability in points. The Democratic Socialists of America are way underwater at minus 22 points with the disenchanted. But again, look at Joe Rogan, he's on the positive side of the ledger. He doesn't just talk to young Republicans. He talks to the disenchanted voters as well at plus 12 points. So, Joe Rogan reaches audiences that might not traditionally listen to other media. They listen to him. They like him. Especially those who are younger and those who didn't cast a ballot in 2024.
BERMAN: That's so interesting. People on the couch who may not vote, who choose the couch over the polls, they're on that side, not on this side.
ENTEN: Exactly right.
BERMAN: Very interesting. What about all voters?
ENTEN: What about all voters? There's no problem going from -- you know, going in front of Joe Rogan. Net favorability among all voters. Joe Rogan is on the positive side of the ledger. Something J.D. Vance is not. And neither Gavin Newsom, another leading candidate for 2028. So, the bottom line is this, Joe Rogan hits a lot of audiences. And you know what, going on with him, it helps, it doesn't hurt.
BERMAN: It's a lot of reward and not much risk.
ENTEN: Yes.
BERMAN: He doesn't exactly ask really hard questions.
ENTEN: Exactly. A lot of reward and not much risk. Very well put, Johnny B.
BERMAN: Every once in a while.
Chief data analyst Harry Enten, thank you very much.
ENTEN: Thank you, my friend.
BERMAN: Hear that compliment?
BOLDUAN: Yep, that was --
ENTEN: Isn't that nice?
BOLDUAN: Just -- let's leave it there for once.
ENTEN: Oh. Oh, no. Oh, OK.
BOLDUAN: No, no, I'm saying, let's let the compliments sit rather than me do what I often do.
ENTEN: Oh, beautiful. Oh, that's beautiful.
BOLDUAN: Moving here.
ENTEN: Go there.
BOLDUAN: Thank you, gentlemen.
Even while off the clock, an EMS worker proves they're always on call. Jason Wolf, going "Beyond the Call" at a Washington Capitals' game.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Timing is everything.
JASON WOLF: My name is Jason Wolf. I'm an EMS sergeant with the Allegheny County Department of Emergency Services.
Night of January 15th, it just so happens that it was first responder night at Capital Arena. And as we got through security, my oldest daughter, McKenna, looked at me and tapped me on the shoulder. She goes, hey, I think you guys might have to go to work.
But we looked and we noticed somebody down in the main hallway. When I got to him, he was already completely unresponsive and he had already become a very, like, ashen gray type color. That first glance, we already knew. We started CPR. Two minutes on, two minutes off. As a paramedic, I can do all kinds of cool high-speed stuff in the back of the ambulance. The majority of that stuff pales in comparison to good, effective CPR.
[08:45:03]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I ran over, grabbed the AED. By the time I returned, maybe ten minutes or so before the fire department arrived on the scene. All of that worked together to save this gentleman's life.
WOLF: He was great spirits. He made a full recovery from everything that I know. Hearing his voice on the phone thank all of us for giving him more time with his family. I -- there's no better reward than that. That's why we do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: Thank goodness for paramedics.
All right, get this. This is ahead. A man is suing the hospital where he was born after he says he believes he was switched at birth. How he found out and what he plans to do next.
Also, will the real Jude Bellingham please stand up? World Cup mania hitting the streets of London. Hey Jude.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:50:15]
SIDNER: All right, breaking this morning, Kuwait says it's confronting a fresh wave of drone strikes by Iran. The U.S. military launched multiple waves of strikes itself on Iran for a fifth straight day Wednesday. They targeted military assets to prevent Iran from attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian media is reporting explosions were heard in cities across the country, including in the capital, Tehran.
CNN now has learned that President Trump is weighing options for expanding the military operation in Iran, centered on ways to intensify efforts to loosen Iran's grip on the Strait. Iran calling the waterway now an "unbreakable red line."
With me now, CNN military analyst, retired Colonel Cedric Leighton.
Good to talk to you about this. Let's go to the Iran saying, look, this is a red line now. The Strait. The red line used to be its nuclear capabilities. Are we in a quagmire here?
COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes. Good morning, Sara.
Yes, basically we are at this point. At least there's no discernible way out at the moment. And so, what we're looking at is the Iranians realizing that they have leverage. You know, first it was, like you mentioned, the nuclear program. Now it's much more easier for them to do the Strait of Hormuz and use that as a leverage point. And so, what they're going to try to do is exercise control over that waterway.
They have certainly geographic proximity and some of the technical means necessary to do that. And they're going to try to make that happen. The problem that we have is that would then change a lot of the international rules that we have in terms of how we conduct maritime traffic, and especially through natural chokepoints like the Strait of Hormuz. And that, you know, could be a big -- a big deal later on.
SIDNER: Let me just quickly ask you, just looking at this, if you were to look at it ten years from now, for example, many other countries are looking at other ways, other than using the Strait, to try and get their oil out and to the rest of the world. Eventually will this hurt Iran? What it's doing where it's saying, OK, now the Strait is ours. Will this eventually really degrade their power in the world?
LEIGHTON: It could. And because, you know, when you look at the way Iran's export mechanism works for their oil, which is their main product, they've got that terminal on Kharg Island. Well, that's in the northern part of the Persian Gulf. The only way to get the oil out of there is through the Strait of Hormuz. So, if there is a contest over control of the Strait of Hormuz, it could very well hurt them economically and otherwise. And especially if they're subject to sanctions and a blockade or something like that, that could have an impact.
It could also impact the gulf nations, the Arab gulf nations on the other side of the gulf, because they also depend on that waterway being free and open for their use. So, there are ways in which that can be mitigated, but they are expensive. The Saudis already have a pipeline that goes from eastern Saudi Arabia to the west coast, and then through the Red Sea. Similar type things would probably be needed. But, you know, as you well know, the Middle East is fairly inhospitable when it comes to building roads and pipelines and things like that. They can be done, but they also take a lot of time, money and effort.
SIDNER: Colonel Cedric Leighton, it's a pleasure to have you on to walk us through all of that. Do appreciate you.
Kate.
BOLDUAN: In Las Vegas, a World Series of Poker player says that he was tied up and robbed just after collecting his winnings from a tournament. Doorbell camera video, you can see this, shows him across the street from his Airbnb asking neighbors for help. Look at his hand that they're highlighting there. He says that he got back to his rental, found two men inside who tackled him and hog tied him, he said, with duct tape. He claimed someone was likely watching him at the tournament and knew that he was on his way back to the house with cash. According to the World Series of Poker website, he won $57,000 at the event.
A man in Colorado claims that he was switched at birth. And now the man he says he was switched with and their parents are suing the hospital where they were born. Jeremy Morrison said it all started when his aunt gave DNA to an Ancestry website and a man named Kyle Bylin was matched as her nephew. Morrison said he doesn't have any cousins. DNA tests later showed that his parents were not his parents biologically. Morrison said that he and Bylin were born just hours apart at the same hospital in North Dakota. And in a statement, the hospital now says this, "while we deeply sympathize with the man and their families, we have found -- the men and their families, we have found no evidence to support claims that Unity Medical Center or its staff were responsible for what occurred."
[08:55:00]
John.
BERMAN: Wow.
BOLDUAN: Yes.
BERMAN: All right, a man who gave his all to his community during its worst time is getting ready to retire. Rabbi Jeffrey Myers first joined the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2017. Less than a year later, tragedy struck when a man shot and killed 11 people at the synagogue. Rabbi Myers, a witness and a survivor of the attack, brought his community and the country together in the wake of this tragedy. And this weekend will be his last serving as the synagogue's leader.
And Rabbi Jeffrey Myers joins us now.
Rabbi, it's great to see you. You'll be a familiar face to our audience who went through so much with you in 2018. You became a friend to me and Alisyn Camerota, my friend and former co-anchor. I think I was the first to call you America's rabbi because, a, America could use one and, b, just because you helped guide your community and all of us through such terrible times.
When you look back on that moment, what do you think the most important lesson was that you learned, even if it may not still be in the past for you, but very present?
RABBI JEFFREY MYERS, TREE OF LIFE CONGREGATION: Good morning, John, and thank you for your kind words.
As I've reflected over the past years here and my entire 42 years on the pulpit, and I think of lessons learned here, I would say several things. Number one, this has never been about me or one individual. It's about community and how we can all get through even the most painful of experiences. When we remain connected as human beings, we reach out to each other. We take care of each other. And by just building those bridges and keeping those bridges active, we're able to persevere because humanity is resilient. We can get through these things. And I think for me, that's been the biggest lesson is, it takes an entire city to be able to get through this together.
BERMAN: And you helped bring that city and this country together.
The ADL puts out statistics on what they call anti-Semitic incidents, which include harassment, vandalism, assault. If we look at a graph over time, you can see in the last year the number of incidents actually went down a little bit. But look back at 2018, which was the year of the attack on your synagogue, and it's just wildly higher than it was then. So, even if certain things have dropped a little, and I should note violent attacks have actually increased. The question I have for you is, how do you make this number go away completely?
MYERS: Well, if I had a magic wand, that would be easy. Since I don't, I try to think of, can I make anti-Semitism go away? And to me the answer is no. It's never going to go away. So, the question is, OK, how does one learn to live with it? And how do we change society to be able to be a more tolerant and loving society? And I've observed, I think in these past years, as I've reflected on it, social media began just with these wonderful pictures of puppies, over time evolved into this safe, anonymous place where you could post any screed you want. Over time, those behaviors then were reflected in the public light so that people now feel safe publicly saying the most terrible things, acting in the most violent ways. And that's, I think, what we are witnessing in America. And where do we turn to find those people who can lead us back to a place where we can all work together?
BERMAN: It's interesting, and I don't want you to have to wade into politics here now. Lord knows you've been asked political questions for years. But last night the House of Representatives had a vote on aid to Israel. And really for the first time, 100 Democrats voted to end aid to Israel. Some of them, I should note, were Jewish.
And my question to you is, how do you tell your congregation, people ask you, Jews, how should they balance their feelings toward Israel and their faith?
MYERS: I don't think I have enough time on this (INAUDIBLE) conversation to satisfactorily answer that question. That's a book, if not more.
But I would -- I would say this, that no one issue should be so continually sustaining the world as it does the simple fact that Israel does have a right to exist as a country, and that it takes up so much of the U.N.'s time, it takes up so much of Congress' time, when there are far more important issues.
[08:59:54]
And the fact that we continue to dive down and dive down and dive down into that, and our elected leaders don't pause for a moment to think, how is this impacting all of our electorate and the people that we serve and are there
