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Funeral for Nolan Wells as Death Investigation Enters Third Week; Man in Custody After Incendiary Device Thrown at NYC Federal Building; Trump to Attend Dignified Transfer for U.S. Troops Killed in Iran War; U.S. Official Says Pentagon Sending More Fighter Jets to Mideast. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired July 20, 2026 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": -- U.S. soccer?

CHRIS WITTYNGHAM, CBS SPORTS GOLAZO COMMENTATOR: Yeah. Look, ultimately, I think what people want from U.S. soccer is some sort of boom moment, where we wake up one day and the United States is one of the great soccer powers. That's just not going to happen.

I think, ultimately, the incremental steps that the sport takes in terms of popularity and in terms of the quality of the player is only going to get better over time. So they probably won't win the next one. They probably won't win the one after that. But we're talking 15, 20 years from now, it's a possibility as long as MLS continues to grow, as long as investment continues to grow, and as long as more kids decide that soccer is their sport of choice.

That's the number one thing, is that people want to grow up playing this sport. But I think the infrastructure, which has not really been in place for as long as you'd think, you think about the academy infrastructure in terms of coaching and developing players, that has only really happened at youth levels for 10 or 15 years now when you compare it to the rest of the world who've been doing this for 100 years. So I think you'll see progress, maybe not as fast as progress as we'd like to see.

SANCHEZ: So you're saying there's a shot. Chris Wittyngham, thank you so much. Great to see you, as always.

A new hour of "CNN News Central" starts right now.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": We are following Breaking News out of New York, where a man is in custody after allegedly throwing an incendiary device at a federal building housing the FBI, ICE, and other government agencies. Ahead, what we're learning about a potential motive.

Plus, ramped up presence. The U.S. is increasing aircraft numbers in the Middle East. The additional resources could expand President Trump's options as he weighs how to move forward in the escalating conflict with Iran. And so many questions. Two weeks after the death of Mississippi football player, Nolan Wells, his family lays him to rest. We'll have the latest on where the investigation stands.

We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to "CNN News Central."

SANCHEZ: We're following Breaking News out of New York. A man is in custody after allegedly throwing an incendiary device and setting a fire outside a federal building in Manhattan, injuring at least three people.

This is video that was taken from the scene, and you can see officers emerging from a large plume of smoke and rushing to take a person down. The building where this happened houses offices for government agencies, including the FBI and Immigration & Customs Enforcement. And DHS just confirmed the man's bag contained what appeared to be two pellet guns and a manifesto as well.

Let's bring in CNN Correspondent, Brynn Gingras, who's live for us near the scene. Brynn, just about an hour ago, investigators were behind you looking through a car that the person allegedly brought with him. Where do things stand right now?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, yeah, and Boris, we actually just saw investigators take that car, pull it away towards an evidence tent that they have off to the side of the building.

Not much action happening right behind me at the moment, but we did just get word that there is an expected news conference to come up in the next hour of your show, possibly three o'clock. So we're going to keep our ears ready for that and get more information.

But what we've learned right now from sources and from government officials is that this individual was quickly, thank God, taken into custody after allegedly throwing some sort of device, fireworks, according to DHS, at this building -- 26 Federal Plaza, which you guys said houses the New York field office of the FBI, ICE, other government agencies.

And also, DHS saying in an X post that this person allegedly put some, what they believe to be, gasoline on the front steps of this building and then lit it on fire. We know that three people were injured in this incident. Civilians, people probably just walking on the street trying to get to work as this happened at about 8:20 or so this morning. Everyone is expected to be OK.

Now you guys talked about a possible motive here that is still very much under investigation as authorities are combing through the criminal background of this person who again is in custody at the moment. But we know from that DHS X post as well as from sources that this person had some sort of anti-ICE pamphlets, possibly a poster.

We saw a big blue sheet that was held up with some writing or some painting on it. Not sure exactly where, what it was said or what sort of sentiment there was, but we're told by sources that there was sort of an anti-ICE sentiment. So hopefully, we'll get more information as to everything that unfolded, possibly even the name of this person who is in custody, if there's any arrest pending.

We'll certainly get that to you, but we do expect again more information coming up in the next hour or so when we hear from the FBI.

SANCHEZ: And we will of course bring you those details as we get them. Brynn Gingras, live from the scene, thank you so much. Brianna?

KEILAR: We have Breaking News from the White House on the war with Iran. We're learning that President Trump will attend a dignified transfer tomorrow after at least three U.S. service members were killed over the weekend.

Earlier, the Pentagon identified two of the soldiers killed in an attack in Jordan as 25-year-old 1st Lieutenant Tyler James Feehan of Hawaii, but his father tells CNN he primarily lived in Georgia, and Private Isabella Gonzalez of Texas, who was just 19-years-old.

[14:05:00]

CNN's Kevin Liptak is live for us at the White House. Kevin, tell us what you're learning.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Right, and this has really been one of the deadliest stretch of days for American forces since this war began more than four months ago, ratcheting up the costs for Americans, but also I think deepening the quandary for President Trump as he tries to determine where this will all go now.

And the death toll, I should note, is likely to rise. The military says that it is still examining unidentified remains that were found at the site of the attack at a base in Jordan where those two other service members were killed.

We also learned this weekend about an additional American service member who was killed in northern Iraq during a controlled detonation of an unexploded Iranian drone. Now, President Trump is vowing retribution. He wrote on Truth Social earlier today that, quote, "Every time Iran kills an American soldier, they will pay for that killing many times over." And he said that he had passed that directive on to top military brass.

We do know that the president is considering options for widening this conflict. He has said previously that if Iran killed U.S. troops, that he would consider going back to war with that country, although the current situation doesn't really look all that different from war, I think if you're an ordinary person just observing what is happening today.

I'm told by a U.S. official that the U.S. is ramping up firepower in the region, sending F-16 and F-35 fighter jets from Europe to the Middle East and also deploying additional aerial refueling tankers as well, as the U.S. considers perhaps an escalation here. At the same time, you also hear talk potentially of trying to resume some of the diplomacy.

The American Secretary of State, Marco Rubio saying overnight that the U.S. remains willing to negotiate with Iran if that door opens and saying that the U.S. had received both indirect and direct communications from the Iranians, that they were, again, open to talking.

But again, that moment tomorrow as the president observes the dignified transfer up at Dover, certainly, I think, reiterating for him the weight of responsibility as he decides his next course of action in this conflict, Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, Kevin Liptak, live for us at the White House. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Let's get some perspective now with former Air Force Secretary, Frank Kendall. He's the author of "Lethal Autonomy: The Future of Warfare, Whether We Like It or Not." Secretary, thanks so much for being with us. First, just your reaction to the deaths of these service members and the president's vow of retribution to make Iran pay.

FRANK KENDALL, FORMER AIR FORCE SECRETARY: First of all, all of our hearts go out to the families, teammates, friends of the people we've lost. Every loss is a tragedy. These are particularly so because we're in an unnecessary conflict and we don't seem to have a good way out of it right now.

As you heard, they're increasing the air assets going into the theater. That suggests additional escalation. Donald Trump has put himself in a box and there's no easy way for him to get out of it.

He initiated this war thinking there'd be a very quick victory and that's not what's happened. And what I think has been missing in his mind is the understanding of the Iranian regime's willingness to resist and their intent to achieve their own objectives. And that's what he's confronted with.

He doesn't have control of the situation and that's very, very obvious right now.

SANCHEZ: On the fact that the U.S. is moving assets into the region, they're planning to send additional F-16, F-35 fighter jets, as well as aerial refueling tanks. What options does that open up for the Pentagon?

KENDALL: Basically, continued and additional airstrikes. The president's been threatening to attack infrastructure and so on. And we've seen some of that already. Most of the attacks, as we understand it, have been against military targets.

The problem we have is that Iran has dispersed its assets. It's concealed them. It's hardened them in some cases, and they're tactical assets. They're really hard to get at. You can't keep continuous air presence everywhere, over, around, all the time. It just can't be done. So their ability to attack assets in the Strait of Hormuz is continuous and has not diminished meaningfully. And until that does happen, they'll be able to control the Strait. We don't have a good answer to that. It's a very foreseeable problem that the president should have understood, should have been advised about before he started this war.

We can escalate. We can go after other targets. As one of your earlier guests said, that's a war crime. But that doesn't seem to have constrained this president very much. And so he can do that and inflict greater pain on Iran. I think it's unknown how much they're willing to accept to make their point that they want to control the Strait of Hormuz.

SANCHEZ: Yeah. Tehran is striking civilian infrastructure, conversely, across the Gulf --

KENDALL: Yes.

[14:10:00]

SANCHEZ: -- including water treatment plants, civilian airports, as well as air capabilities in terms of detection. Do you think that risks driving a wedge between these Gulf allies and the United States?

KENDALL: I think that's the intent.

SANCHEZ: Yeah.

KENDALL: -- is to extract a price from other countries in the region and discourage them from supporting the United States. There's also some indications that the war will widen, that the Houthis will now be trying to close the Red Sea, basically, to Saudi Arabia, and prevent their shipments out by that alternative route.

We don't see a good outcome anywhere in sight at this point. I've been saying from day one on this that there was a risk that Iran would overplay its hand. I think that's what they're doing. They can't get much more out of President Trump than he's already willing to concede. They should recognize that and cut a deal with him. But that doesn't seem to be the path they're on, and Trump has left with very few options but to escalate and try to convince them that it's time to do a deal. So that's where we are.

SANCHEZ: So in your eyes, it's far more likely that we get a serious escalation well before there's any kind of resumed ceasefire or even a more lasting deal?

KENDALL: I can't put a percentage on that.

SANCHEZ: Sure.

KENDALL: It's impossible to predict. The Iranians have their own way of looking at the situation. I can't really get inside their heads. It's not the transactional approach that our president brings to the table. They've gone way beyond that. I think the big surprise for him has been their resilience, their willingness to accept punishment, and their continuing attempts to demonstrate that they can control the Straits and not give us the kind of limitations on their nuclear program we'd like to have.

The president, on the other hand, can't go to a situation which is such a clear loss as a worse situation than the one he had before he started this war. So we're in a box. They're both in a box. Hopefully, the Iranians will come to the point of view that they've accomplished what they can and cut a deal. That's what we need to see happen.

SANCHEZ: Secretary Frank Kendall, thanks so much for the expertise.

KENDALL: Thank you. Good to be with you, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Appreciate it. Always good to be with you.

KENDALL: Same here.

SANCHEZ: Still to come, a heartbreaking day for the family and friends of 18-year-old Nolan Wells as he's laid to rest in Mississippi. The circumstances surrounding his death still in question.

Plus, a CNN investigation. The financial holdings of an investment firm that counts Donald Trump Jr. as a partner have soared to billions of dollars in President Trump's second term.

And later --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out of the car now! Get out! Get out! Get out! Get out! Get out of the car!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Body camera footage showing a police officer rescuing a driver from a burning vehicle. Dramatic scenes. We'll bring you the conclusion as we come back.

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[14:17:15]

SANCHEZ: Today, the family of Nolan Wells shared these happy and vibrant images of the 18-year-old at his funeral. The college football player is being laid to rest more than two weeks since his body was found face down in the waters off Horn Island, Mississippi. Scores of mourners lined up outside the Center Pointe Church in Ocean Springs, Mississippi to pay their respects and to hear Wells family celebrate the young man's life.

His family though is still seeking answers on how he died amid speculation over whether race was a factor. CNN's Ryan Young is outside that service in Ocean Springs. So Ryan, tell us how Nolan Wells is being remembered. RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Boris, every now and then, of course, we cover these stories and we give you all the facts. There'll be pieces of this funeral that will stand out for quite some time. We watched the pallbearers who were mostly his age walk outside, the tears they had in their eyes, and a lot of them were getting hugs from each other trying to figure out exactly how they move forward.

Something else that stood out to all of us is just how mixed of a community showed up to pay their respects to Nolan Wells. And in fact, right now, even behind us, Spike Lee is walking around and talking to some of the young people who have stayed behind after this funeral. There was a lot of attention paid to the idea of making sure Nolan Wells' life was talked about in the fullest extent, the fact that he liked helping kids. He was a great teammate and even his former coaches were talking about he was the kind of student that they would want for their own son.

The other part that stood out as a parent is just watching both of his parents try to lean on each other and gain strength as they had this difficult conversation of laying their son to rest, while his two brothers were in the crowd, and all this pain and all this mystery sort of swells around exactly what happened to their son. In fact, take a listen to his parents talk to this packed house for this funeral.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINE WELLS-WONSLEY, MOTHER OF NOLAN WELLS: Nolan, we love you. We'll continue to fight for you. And until we meet again --

ELMORE WELLS, FATHER OF NOLAN WELLS: Nolan meant a lot to a lot of people and today just shows us how much he meant to the community, to the country, and to the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: I was talking to Nolan's father afterwards and I asked him, how does he feel after he hears all these coaches, all the people in the community talk so positively about his son? He said it sounds like we did a pretty good job raising our son and that is something that will stay inside his heart.

Now when you think about this investigation, Ben Crump was here, Al Sharpton was here, and there was a big focus on the fact of trying to get more information or an established timeline.

[14:20:00]

They've raised $100,000 just today in terms of trying to get someone to call in and give them information. So Tyler Perry said he'd put up another $50,000. Al Sharpton said he put up $50,000 so folks can call in. So if there is a conviction to be had, they want to help that process along. Let's not forget Colin Kaepernick helped get the autopsy done, the second autopsy done. We asked about those results, so far that has not happened. But the big push here was to try to answer all the questions that haven't been answered. But this celebration of life touched a lot of hearts here in this community. Both his football team showed up and there was a lot of love, a lot of hugging, but also a lot of heartbreak because a young man who shouldn't have passed so early is now gone. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Ryan Young, thank you so much for bringing us that report from Ocean Springs. Brianna?

KEILAR: Let's talk about this now with CNN Legal Analyst, Joey Jackson. He's a Criminal Defense Attorney and former Prosecutor. Joey, there are still so many questions as Nolan Wells' family lays him to rest today. What stands out to you?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yeah, Brianna, quite a bit does. I know that there's a thorough investigation that's proceeding and part of that investigation would include two autopsies, one of course in Mississippi being done there by the authorities and other being commissioned by the family. The relevance of that is that you want to ensure if you're the family or anyone connected to the case that you can trust the results.

And so that's very important. The other thing is that we do know that this will ultimately be presented to the grand jury. What's the significance of that and what is the grand jury? The grand jury is a body that would determine whether there was any criminality in Mississippi before a grand jury can get the case.

Grand jury consisting of between 15 and 25 people from the community, 12 needing an indictment. Before they can get the case, all the facts must come in. And so, therefore, they are waiting, that is prosecutors, for all the facts to be unearthed so that they could present them. However, when you talk about things that stand out, I mean the issue of an athlete like this drowning, who's in top shape and top condition, the issue of him leaving his phone and staying on the island is problematic.

Adults, much less 18-year-olds, don't leave their phone at all. The issue of him leaving his keys with his friends, the wallet with his friend, just so many contradictions. And finally though, there's much else to say, saying he would go and he'd stay and talk to this young lady.

The young lady, it's reported, Brianna, has spoken to the mom and said not to be. He wasn't staying to talk to me, he was saying he was leaving. So a lot of contradictions and until they get to the bottom of it, we will not know what occurred.

KEILAR: Yeah. I think a lot of people want to know why didn't he go home with the folks that he went to the island with? Who really saw him last? And that issue of the phone, if we can talk a little bit more about that, because for people who -- you know, I've never been to this place, this Horn Island, but this is a place where there aren't facilities, there isn't communication, so you really do need your cell phone, right? And so later, we find out from the mother, she said that the location pointed to a different place in Snapchat than it did on Life360, and that with the help of one of his friend's moms, they were able to track down the phone at someone's house, right? So that's how they found the phone. What questions is that raising for you?

JACKSON: It just raises questions about general inconsistencies. It raises questions as to how he would have parted with his phone, why it was not on his person, and I think ultimately because we know, Brianna, the FBI is involved and they're doing some technical data and digital data. Phones give a lot of information, not only what is on the device or could have been wiped from the device, but where specifically the device was.

And when you have a case like this, in terms of a timeline, that's important to show what time it was and where and when and whether or not the stories of the other three people that he was with are making sense at all. We know that 60 other witnesses have been interviewed, they're continuing to interview people based upon this case.

But why were his keys not with him? Why was his wallet not with him? Why was his phone not with him? And ultimately, although there's an indication, Brianna, in terms of going back to the autopsy report, that there were no physical signs of distress or foul play. As we know, that could vary, so we will have to wait and see what those results are before any conclusions can be drawn. And then, of course, we don't have all the data or information.

I'm curious to see what other witnesses have said and what other contradictions exist. Those all will be presented to that grand jury and will determine as the days go forward what's what. Final thing, yes, it's been indicated that the other children have been cooperative with authorities, right? What they're saying, whether it's factually accurate, I think that depends upon the other evidence and when it's matched against that other evidence, whether everything makes sense.

[14:25:00]

To this point, it does not. He should not have had to been buried today. He was. Family wants answers. Community wants answers. And I think everyone wants to know what happened and what does justice look like in this case.

KEILAR: Yeah. Joey Jackson, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

Still to come, Donald Trump Jr.'s businesses have been thriving since President Trump was sworn in. We have the findings of a new CNN investigation about that.

And then later, the players, the fans, and the moments that will long be remembered from the historic World Cup. We have that and much more coming up on "CNN News Central" as you look at some live pictures from Madrid, where people are quite happy as they celebrate their winning team, La Roja.

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