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Reports Say, Trump Signs Off on Nuclear Deal With Saudi Arabia; Severe Storms Unleash Catastrophic Flooding and Spawn Tornadoes; HHS Secretary RFK Jr. Says Cyclosporiasis Outbreak Under Control. Aired 7- 7:30a ET

Aired July 22, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. The breaking news this morning, on the cusp of a major nuclear deal that could shift the balance of power in the Middle East, but is raising alarm bells among those concerned about proliferation.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Severe thunderstorms sweeping the east -- sweeping east after unleashing massive flooding in West Virginia, tornadoes and wind damage reports from Kentucky to New Jersey. We have the forecast now today.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, sparks flying on a Kentucky tarmac as a cargo plane attempted to land, forced to abort and head back into the sky. We're learning what happened there.

I'm Sara Sidner with John Berman and Kate Bolduan. The whole crew is here. This is CNN News Central.

BERMAN: All right. Breaking this morning, the United States has reportedly cut a landmark nuclear deal that could shift the balance of power in the Middle East, not with Iran, but Saudi Arabia. Both The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal report that President Trump has signed off on an agreement that could allow Saudi Arabia to build a civilian nuclear program, and eventually enrich their own uranium.

But this is likely to spark controversy inside the U.S. with lawmakers who oppose proliferation in the Middle East, not to mention Israel, who might be opposed to the whole idea of this.

Let's get to Betsy Klein, live at the White House this morning. This would be a big deal, Betsy.

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right, John. New reporting in both The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal on what could be a major win for Saudi Arabia from the Trump administration, that could be announced as soon as today. President Trump, according to The Wall Street Journal, has formally signed off on this deal that would allow Saudi Arabia to have a civilian nuclear program.

Now, this could allow Saudi Arabia to make the material necessary to build a nuclear weapon. And CNN reported last week that this agreement tentatively would allow Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium without enacting the international safeguards to prevent nuclear weapons development.

Now, The New York Times has described these concessions made to Saudi Arabia as significant. And as you mentioned, this is likely to be controversial both across the globe and here on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers on both sides of the aisle will be raising a lot of questions.

This agreement has to be sent to Congress for a review. It is possible that it could face a disapproval resolution that could ultimately prevent it from going into effect if they have a veto-proof majority, which seems unlikely as of now.

But experts have raised questions about what safeguards the U.S. is putting on the deal. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was pressed on that by our colleague, Kit Maher, just a moment ago. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, I'm not going to opine directly on that agreement. We're going to put out the -- even when the moment is appropriate, we'll put out that in writing. We have to do it with Congress anyways, and we'll certainly do it publicly. But suffice it to say, the U.S. is not going to reach any agreement with any country in the world that leads to the risk of proliferation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: Now, this agreement, according to The Wall Street Journal, would last 30 years and provide tens of billions of dollars to U.S. companies that could help shore up Saudi Arabia's nuclear infrastructure.

Now, this deal really bolsters U.S.-Saudi relations after some strain due to President Trump's war with Iran. But it really underscores how the Trump administration has taken steps to shore up this key alliance. John?

BERMAN: Yes. There have been discussions in the past, in past administrations, that would've required some kind of diplomatic concessions from Saudi Arabia. They don't appear to be part of these discussions right now. We're going to have to wait and see the final details here. But this would be a major development, standing by for much more on this.

Betsy Klein, thank you very much. Kate?

BOLDUAN: The weather is the news today in a big way as well. Severe thunderstorms swept the Mid-Atlantic and northeast, causing historic flooding and bringing multiple tornadoes. Water took over roads in West Virginia. Storms there brought more than five inches of rain in six hours in one of the hardest hit counties, is what we're seeing in terms of the reporting. The flooding also just shattered previous records, sparked a statewide emergency. This morning, more than 300 West Virginia National Guardsmen are deploying to areas where the flood damage is particularly bad.

[07:05:03]

The same system brought multiple tornadoes, with reports in Kentucky, Ohio, also in New Jersey. Just look what happened, some of the scenes from Ohio yesterday.

Let's talk about where this threat is now headed. Joining us right now is CNN's Chris Warren with more on this. Chris, it's not over yet, this threat, but where is it headed?

CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Kate, yes, it's, it is not over yet. It is heading to the south. We can see the threat area for the stronger thunderstorms today in yellow and green. The yellow is just a little bit more likely, but not on the moderate to high end, at least not at this point, damaging winds and still a few tornadoes a possibility, not the likelihood, but a possibility.

The majority of the rainmaking action with this is now offshore, but there is still right now, even at this hour, some thunderstorms and some very heavy rain, and that flashflood threat is still in these locations, and a flashflood warning still in effect in that red outlined area.

But what's going on? It's this front that's going to stall out. There's Bertha. In fact, some of the moisture from Bertha is getting all the way back into this front, which is not going to be moving very much, so it's going to be stalling out. And when we talk about heavy rain and flood threats, stalling out is bad because then you can end up getting a lot of rain over some of the same areas, and there is that moisture that will be tapped into, and it is looking like at least a couple of days of heavy rain.

The red and the orange is showing where some of the heavier rain, possibly thunderstorms, where you're dropping a lot of water in a short period of time. That's what can really overwhelm drainage systems. And with the rain that we're seeing right now across North Carolina and Virginia, that's where the flood threat is going to be over the next few days with this system as it sags to the south.

Then we're going to watch areas in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi for the potential of some flooding. And this is the excessive rainfall threat, so where there's going to be just too much rain. And some red spots here today and tomorrow. So, we're getting up in that moderate to high category. You can kind of think of this as where will the flood threat be, and it's going to be in that yellow and the red as that stalled out system is there.

Tropical Storm Bertha is still there. The majority of its rain is to the south. It's a 65-mile-per-hour gusting tropical storm. Still some showers moving through. The potential also there for tropical storm conditions as it scoots along the Gulf Coast through Louisiana, and eventually this weekend or the end of the week, end of the weekend, moving into Texas.

So, this has the potential for producing some very heavy rain. But at this point, Kate, it looks like the worst of that weather will be staying over the Gulf.

BOLDUAN: We will take that, Chris, especially when you see how -- what the entire rest of the country is still dealing with the other storm systems. So, my goodness. Thank you so much, a lot to be watching in this moment. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Thank you, Kate.

Some terrifying new video of a man firing randomly into homes with a semi-automatic weapon, yes, that guy there. We're hearing from the residents for the first time this morning who are dealing with that.

And the parasite-caused explosive diarrhea outbreak is not over. It is continuing. But HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says everything's under control.

And an unprecedented A.I. security incident, ChatGPT maker OpenAI says two of its models went rogue, escaped control, and hacked into another A.I. company. We'll talk about it ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:10:00]

SIDNER: We've got some disturbing new video this morning out of Las Vegas. Surveillance cameras captured a man roaming around a neighborhood, banging on doors, and firing semi-automatic weapons randomly at homes.

What the heck is wrong with that guy?

Police identified the weapon as an AR-15 style rifle. Several neighbors say their homes were hit with gunfire. One homeowner says a bullet traveled through a kitchen wall inside her home. This man saw the suspect as he ran, as we are seeing, down the street.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN ADAMS, SAW SHOOTER FIRING AT HOMES IN NEIGHBORHOOD: It wasn't until he got closer that I realized, yes, that's an AR, that he's armed, and that we need to get inside.

REPORTER: So, you made a run for it?

ADAMS: Absolutely, yes, made sure to close the garage door, try to stop him from getting in because he was coming towards me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Good grief. North Las Vegas police say the gunman resisted arrest when they tried to pick him up but ultimately became unresponsive after being taken into custody. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he died. The cause of his death is under investigation.

All right, now to the Army veteran accused of attacking a federal building in New York City with fireworks, accelerant, and a pellet gun, has now been formally charged with arson. The suspect, 43-year- old Andrew Arabaca, has not yet entered a plea deal.

Prosecutors say he spent months planning that attack. They say he purchased fireworks in Pennsylvania and airsoft rifles in Upstate New York back in January. They also said he scouted out different locations but settled on 26 Federal Plaza and targeted it because the entrance was a busy place. Three people were injured in that attack.

Arabaca's public defender says he should be taken to a mental health facility for evaluation. He remains in custody and is due back in court on August 4th. John?

[07:15:00]

BERMAN: This morning, Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. says the cyclosporiasis outbreak is under control. This is the parasite that causes that wave of explosive diarrhea. There have been more than 4,000 confirmed cases nationwide, another 7,400 under investigation. Even that number might be underreported.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: We do have the outbreak under control. We have done extensive forensics, epidemiological forensics, and we've identified the source of the outbreak. We and the companies that are involved have implemented a recall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Health officials maintain that shredded iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms is the likely source of the cases in the Midwest. That's despite a false positive test for the parasite over the weekend. Taylor Farms has recalled the lettuce that has been shipped to 27 states.

In New York City, a fifth person has now died in connection to an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease. Officials say 82 cases have been reported so far. Eight people still hospitalized. These cases have been linked to bacteria found inside building cooling towers. Officials say towers in at least 76 buildings tested positive for the bacteria. They have ordered the owners to have the tanks cleaned, drained, and disinfected. Kate?

BOLDUAN: I want to show you a wild moment that played out in Missouri. A driver trying to escape police, he decided to get out of his car that was still moving and just jumped off a bridge. Watch it again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Contact water patrol. He just jumped over the bridge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Police say this was a first for them. The man survived the jump with only a few minor injuries. He is in custody and charged with assault.

Coming up for us, months after the heist of the century, the gallery at the Louvre where all the jewels were stolen is now reopening with one noticeable difference with the gallery this time.

And a scary sight as sparks fly, look at this, off the tail of a cargo plane as it skids across the runway before takeoff. We have new information about what is happening here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

BERMAN: This morning, new developments expected in the investigation into the alleged drowning death of Nolan Wells. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump is set to reveal preliminary results from an independent autopsy ordered by Wells' family to determine whether the 18-year-old suffered injuries beyond drowning.

This comes nearly three weeks after Wells was found dead in Mississippi's Horn Island after taking a 4th of July boating trip with three friends.

Let's get right to CNN's Ryan Young, who has been covering this case. What do we expect today, Ryan?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, we're hoping to get some more information here because it's been 18 days, and I can tell you the void that's been filled right now. It's been hard for friends, family, and of course, the just wider public. Everyone's sort of trying to figure out what happened to Nolan Wells. We know that on July 4th, he went to Horn Island with some friends. Now, those three friends returned, but then the timeline sort of just escapes everyone. No one knows exactly what happened in the hours after that. They do know a 911 call came in to report him missing several hours later.

But the big question is, what happened to him? And I can tell you, John, being at that funeral, you talk to a lot of people who were very concerned about how this would play out. They said Nolan was a great kid, someone the community enjoyed having, and his football coaches, his basketball coach all talked about this being a young man they would love to have as their son.

But in the middle of all this is this investigation. I can tell you we've reached out to the D.A.'s office. We tried to talk to the sheriff recently, and the reason why we've been trying to do that, there's been no significant news conference to give a timeline of exactly what happened or give us any clues about what investigators have learned.

Yes, today, the independent autopsy will happen, but you know what we don't have is an official autopsy right now to say exactly what the cause of death was. And when I talked to Ben Crump just after the funeral, he made a clear explanation of why this is so important. Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN CRUMP, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY REPRESENTING WELLS FAMILY: You know, while it's always troublesome to all of us when these investigations just take forever, I mean, six months to get a toxicology report back, to get a autopsy done, as if, you know, the longer we let it go, the more people forget. Other things happen. It gets swept under the rug. And so that's what's important to have a timeline.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: John, let's be clear here. The pressure is building. Reverend Al Sharpton, who you saw standing next to Ben Crump there, said he was going to put $50,000 toward more information. We know Tyler Perry added another $50,000. We believe other people in the community are adding money so they can get more information to those independent investigators to figure out exactly what happened to Nolan Wells.

And you can see even behind Ben Crump, you saw Terrell Owens there, the Hall of Fame NFL player. Football meant so much to this young man. Both his former football teams were there in attendance for this funeral. So many people across generations were there to pay their respects to this young man.

But the real question right now is what happened next, and, of course, we're all hoping that there'll be some significant news conference at some point with officials so they can say what their investigators have learned so far, because we know new video evidence is starting to pop up all the time. John?

BERMAN: New information, but clearly a wait for some official information here.

Ryan Young, thank you for your reporting on this. Sara?

SIDNER: All right, ahead and happening very soon, ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro returns to court in New York City.

[07:25:01]

What we expect to happen inside that courtroom just hours from now.

And look at this, a sanitation worker lucky to be alive after two oxygen tanks, whoa, explode inside a garbage truck he was about to grab.

Those stories and more next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: U.S. Central Command conducted its 11th straight night of strikes of Iran overnight, just as the president is leaning further into his threat now that he may go back to targeting Iran's nuclear sites, a move that Iran says would broaden the conflict now into a regional conflict. President Trump told reporters just this week that he's likely to strike Pickaxe Mountain very soon. That's a heavily fortified underground facility believed to store parts of Iran's nuclear program. The administration's strategy there and overall, let's face it, is now facing new scrutiny after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Dan -- General Dan Caine, faced tough questions from both Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill.

[07:30:04]