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Trump Threatens to Bomb an Underground Nuclear Facility in Iran as Strikes Reached 11th Night; U.N. Report Reveals Decrease in Global Hunger Levels in 2025. Aired 3-3:45a ET

Aired July 22, 2026 - 03:00   ET

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

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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Hey everybody, thank you so much for being with me. I'm Polo Sandoval live in New York and this is "CNN Newsroom."

President Trump threatening to bomb Iran's underground nuclear facility. A move Tehran warns will escalate the ongoing war.

And a new U.N. assessment finding modest improvement in food security around the world. We'll tell you how the conflict in Iran is threatening to derail some of that progress.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from New York, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Polo Sandoval.

SANDOVAL: Let's begin with the war in Iran and the threat of it expanding across the region. U.S. Central Command is announcing that the military completed its 11th consecutive night of strikes against Iran. And Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps now saying that it responded with counter-assaults.

President Donald Trump saying that the U.S. will be hitting Iran's Pickaxe Mountain, a suspected underground nuclear site, he said pretty soon. But Iran is now warning that a U.S. attack on its nuclear facilities would expand the war across the region.

The U.S. Defense Secretary and the Joint Chiefs of Staff testifying before Congress on Tuesday. They're seeking additional billions of dollars in funding for the war. Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense, was asked if the U.S. military is capable of carrying out such a strike on Pickaxe Mountain.

This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN NEELY KENNEDY (R-LA): Do we have the ability to destroy whatever is underneath Pickaxe Mountain?

PETE HEGSETH, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: A lot of, Senator, a lot of our capabilities are classified, but if anybody in the world can reach anything on this on God's given, God's green earth, it's the United States military, the most powerful military in the world. It's all about options and trade-offs.

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SANDOVAL: I had some expert analysis in a moment, but first let's kick off our coverage with Nada Bashir joining me live from London. Nada, in terms of these counter assaults that we're hearing about, I mean, what kind of response is the U.S. being met with?

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are seeing once again the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps targeting U.S. assets and allies in the region. We've heard from the Iranian regime, of course, saying this counterattack is underway.

What we have seen in response is, according to officials in Kuwait, a suspected drone attack there. They say their air defenses are engaging hostile targets in their airspace. And this is something that we have seen over the last few days.

We continue to see U.S. strikes on Iran. This counterattack focused on U.S. military assets in the Gulf region, including in Kuwait, in Jordan, in Bahrain, as well as other nations in the region, but also focusing on those allied nations as well. Of course, this does come, as you mentioned, following the 11th consecutive night of U.S. strikes on Iran.

We've also heard from Iranian state media this morning saying that their air defenses in Tehran, the capital, were activated. It's unclear at this stage, according to state media reports, the extent of the damage sustained in the capital. But what we have been hearing from state media is reports of damage and strikes in parts of the southern parts of the country, as well as the western part of the country as well.

And again, as we see these U.S. strikes continuing, we are hearing the rhetoric from the Iranian regime ramping up with regards to potential for escalation in terms of those counterattacks targeting allies in the region, but also, of course, the threat of perhaps an escalation more broadly across the region of this war, as you mentioned.

But in terms of those U.S. strikes that we have seen overnight, according to the U.S. Central Command, this was once again focused on degrading Iran's military capabilities. We have had a statement outlining some of those targets, including operation centers, maritime capabilities, aircraft hangars, drone storage facilities, and military logistics infrastructure in Iran.

The U.S. has maintained that its focus, of course, in addition to degrading Iran's military capabilities, is also degrading its ability to target commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. But, of course, there are fears that we will continue to just see this escalate, that this has dashed any hopes for diplomacy. And, of course, as you mentioned, we are hearing those threats from the U.S. President that the Trump administration could target Iran's Pickaxe Mountain, in his words, soon.

And this, of course, would be deemed a significant escalation by the Iranian regime.

[03:05:02]

Israeli intelligence claims that this is a deep underground network which contains some of Iran's nuclear capabilities. The fear is that this rhetoric that we are hearing from the Trump administration could further dash any hopes for diplomacy, although we have had the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, saying that he believes Iran is not serious about diplomacy. And, of course, that has really rattled mediators who have been scrambling to try to bring some sort of close to this continued escalation that we've been seeing over recent days.

SANDOVAL: Yes, will this conclude with diplomacy or further military approach? It is such a lingering question. Nada Bashir, thank you so much for laying all that out.

Let's now bring in Danny Citrinowicz. He served for 25 years in the Israel Defense Intelligence, including as head of the Iran branch in the Research and Analysis Division; he is now a senior fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies. Danny, thank you so much for taking the time to join us.

DANNY CITRINOWICZ, SENIOR FELLOW, INSTITUTE FOR NATIONAL SECURITY STUDIES: Thank you for inviting me.

SANDOVAL: Let me pick up on one of those notes that you just heard from my colleague Nada Bashir right now and the possibility that Iran could launch further attacks on some of the regional allies there. I mean, what else could we see if Iran delivers on its promise of further expansion of this war? What could that look like? CITRINOWICZ: Well, definitely the Iranians still have ability to

increase their damage to especially the Gulf states. They can, of course, attack again and again, like they're doing today, but more extensively. And second, of course, aiming their civilian infrastructure.

We've already seen that in Kuwait and Bahrain. They can do that again very extensively. And also using what the Houthis are doing now, blocking Bab el-Mandeb Straits, and also using the Houthis to attack those Gulf states as well.

So the thing is that they can have more targets, more countries, and diversification of military and civilian one. They also can cut off any communication line that goes through almost trade.

So they definitely have the ability to increase more damage on international economy and, of course, on the Gulf states. It's really depending on what the U.S. will do, but definitely the Iranians still have the ability to do so.

SANDOVAL: Actually, let's shift to the U.S. element of it all now that we've discussed Iran. I know that you've previously written that one of the first principles of strategy is that military operations should serve a clearly defined political objective. Danny, what do you assess to be the political objective of the Trump administration at this point?

CITRINOWICZ: Well, I think your guess is good as mine. I think that we all know what President Trump is trying to do in central command in terms of operational activity, meaning they're trying to cut off Bandar Abbas area, they're trying to limit the Iranians' ability to attack tankers going to the Hormuz Straits, and thus undermining the Iranians' ability to actually control the straits. Let's go with that saying.

But the big question is what it serves, because it's all going to capitulate Iran.

Iran is not going to forego its control over the straits, Iran is not going to forego the memorandum of understanding. So I'm really asking myself, what is the end?

Because at the end of the day, U.S. can create a lot of damage for Iran, goes with that saying, U.S. has military superiority. But at the end of the day, the question is what President Trump's not trying to achieve, knowing that there won't be a regime change, knowing that if we attack the energy infrastructure in Iran.

Iran will retaliate. And I think that this is the question that needs to be asked, because at the end of the day, this war continuing, but they don't understand for one end of what they're trying to do, knowing that Iran won't capitulate.

SANDOVAL: Hypothetically, do you think that the now week-and-a-half segment of constant strikes, this tit-for-tat strikes, do you think that it may be enough to pressure the Iranians to return to the negotiating table?

CITRINOWICZ: Unfortunately, no. I'm not underestimating the damage. The damage is really severe and every day, every attack, degrading the Iranian capabilities, goes without saying.

But we have to be frank to ourselves and say, whatever that we didn't achieve in 39 days of aggressive attacks, U.S. and Israel against Iran, we won't achieve right now in these attacks. Now, U.S. has a dilemma. They can increase the attacks, but the Iranians won't increase the attacks back.

Or they can return back to the negotiating table, but then they have to give compromises again to the Iranians. I think these attacks are important. But again, returning back to your previous important question, what is the end? What is the meaning of that?

Because at the end of the day, the Iranians will still have the capacity to launch missiles against tankers going over the straits, even if these attacks will continue for months.

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So I'm thinking that this is important. But at the end of the day, without a clear end to this whole campaign, then we'll be asking ourselves what the U.S. will achieve, knowing also that the economic price for every one of us will be increasing, because at the end of the day, we see what's happening above the Bab el-Mandab Straits.

We truly understand that the price of oil will increase. So you have, you're paying a price for it. And the question is, for what meaning you're paying the price that you're doing so.

And unfortunately, I don't know, I don't understand right now how the administration think it will end, because one thing is obvious. It won't end with Iranian lifting or raising a white flag.

SANDOVAL: Danny Citrinowicz, we are grateful for your perspective. Thank you so much for taking the time.

CITRINOWICZ: Thank you very much for inviting me.

SANDOVAL; Well, meanwhile, a U.S. official is now telling CNN that President Trump is expected to attend a dignified transfer of service members who were killed in the war with Iran.

Four service members will be transferred to Dover Air Base on Wednesday. But only two have been announced so far, at least publicly identified.

First Lieutenant Tyler James Fian and Private Isabella Gonzalez, they were killed in Iranian strikes on an air base in Jordan; Sergeant Angel S. Rampersad is also believed to have been killed in that same attack; and Sergeant Michael Emmanuel Swinton was killed in Iraq during a controlled detonation of a downed Iranian drone.

President Trump seemingly trying to downplay the number of troop deaths by posting this, a comparison to previous U.S. conflicts.

Well the "New York Times" and "Wall Street Journal," they are reporting that the Trump administration has signed off on a civilian nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia. And it could be announced as soon as today. Any deal to give Saudi Arabia nuclear technology would be seen as controversial with Israel, as they have been long opposed to the idea.

CNN previously reported that the U.S. tentatively agreed to let Saudi Arabia enrich uranium without safeguards to prevent nuclear weapons development.

Well, Britain's new Prime Minister says that his government will work quickly to bring economic relief to voters. During Andy Burnham's first cabinet meeting, he promised to tackle soaring costs of living in the U.K. and also to lower energy prices, which have already been made worse by Russia's war in Ukraine. The Prime Minister is also reaffirming that the U.K.'s steadfast support for Kyiv will continue, which also appears to have triggered an immediate response from Moscow.

A Russian naval vessel, they held a live fire exercise just a few dozen miles off the English coast on Monday. The new British defense ministry says Russia is playing with fire.

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WEE STREETING, BRITISH DEFENSE MINISTER: Firstly, we should see yesterday's events as performative and irresponsible. It's not the first time that Russia has behaved like this, and frankly, it's the tip of the iceberg of the daily threats that this country faces and our allies face.

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SANDOVAL: Ukraine's President has fired the country's military chief, the shakeup following days of protests and public anger over the recent ousting of the country's popular defense minister, whose reforms and innovations were often at odds with Ukraine's military establishment, including the former commander-in-chief.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh with more.

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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think really this is a generational shift, and it's another moment, I think, where Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appears to have suffered quite a self-inflicted injury here over the past week or so.

The departure of the defense minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, 35, young, popular, really a disrupter, tearing up so much of the bureaucracy, some might say the cronyism of how the war was run, and making enemies while doing it, publicly clashing with the general staff, basically the top general and commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi. Clearly Zelenskyy said that the two men couldn't get along, and he was having to adjudicate between them. You can't run a war like that, and it was Fedorov who had to go.

Queue protests in the streets supporting Fedorov, Ukraine acutely aware of the political weight protests carry, and then they switched their attention to protesting against Syrskyi, demanding his removal. Queue a number of days in which there clearly is a haunt on for the next head of the military, he's interviewing candidate Zelenskyy, and we had the announcement today, a generational shift, a man 17 years Syrskyi's younger, Mykhailo Drapaty, but at the front lines throughout in some of the most complex battles, will now lead that. But we've had a remarkable few days of turmoil.

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Zelenskyy's proponents will say, look, this is democracy in action, this is the man listening to what civil society and his population want. Others will say, this was politics and visible before we even started.

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SANDOVAL: Nick Paton Walsh, thank you. Still on the way, Cuba struggling with an economic crisis, and power

outages are plunging millions of people into darkness, but health, for some, is on the way. We'll tell you how much the Trump administration is pledging in humanitarian aid.

Plus progress reported in the state of global food security. We'll dive deeper into a new U.N. report in a moment.

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SANDOVAL: Well, the first of several humanitarian aid flights from the U.S. has arrived in Cuba. The plane brought hygiene kits and prepackaged food for up to 700 Cuban families. Keep in mind, it's an island nation of some 11 million residents.

Those packets, they will be delivered by the charity Catholic Relief Services. The Trump administration has pledged to deliver $100 million in assistance to the island nation. A U.S. oil blockade and decades of government corruption and mismanagement have resulted in economic hardships and repeated blackouts.

We'll get more into that in the coming hour.

A new U.N. report is shining a light on the state of food security and nutrition worldwide. The findings now show that global hunger levels have eased, with modest improvements recorded across every continent.

Now the report estimates that 7.8 percent of the global population, or 645 million people, faced hunger last year. That number is down from 2024, but the progress remains uneven and regional disparities persist. Healthy diets are still out of reach for billions of people, especially those in Africa.

Joining me now from Rome is Maximo Torero. He's a chief economist with the Food and Agriculture Organization. Maximo, thank you so much for joining us.

MAXIMO TORERO, CHIEF ECONOMIST, FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL ORGANIZATION: Good morning. A pleasure to join you.

SANDOVAL: So, let's begin maybe with your thoughts on how much optimism we should have after this latest U.N. assessment of global hunger, that report indicating in 2025 that this was now the third consecutive year of decline in world hunger. In your view though, Maximo, is there a risk of reversing some of that important progress?

TORERO: Of course, there are always risks. The important thing this year, as you mentioned, is that this is the third consecutive year that hunger has reduced. From the previous year, it was reducing 14 million people, and from 2022, which was the peak, it is reduced from 43 million people to 645 million people.

But as correctly you mentioned, there is enormous heterogeneity. Right now, the change is mostly driven by Asia, especially India, by South America, but Africa is slightly improving, which is the first time in many years that we start to see the trend in Africa start to reduce, but very marginally.

In absolute numbers, Africa is increasing because population growth, as you well know, is significantly higher than Asia. So, it's 2.3 percent or 2.4 percent for sub-Saharan Africa, relative to 0.6 percent, plus there is other conflicts happening. Now, one important result is that the only region in terms of the U.N. region classification that there is an increase is the case of Western Asia, and that's because of the conflicts.

But to answer your question concretely, why there are risks, of course there are risks, and the risks that we are seeing now are the risks related to the conflict with Iran and what is happening in the Strait of Hormuz, geopolitical fracture, fiscal contraction in African countries, and also weather extremes, especially El Nino, which has a high probability of hitting countries very strongly.

SANDOVAL: Maximo, on one of those last thoughts, I wonder if you could just expand and explain that link between the ongoing shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and how that is having an impact on global hunger.

TORERO: Of course, the report reports numbers for 2025, which is before the Strait of Hormuz, but in the report we also do a projection of what will be the impact by 2030, and the projection without the Strait of Hormuz problem is 508 million people by 2030, with the Strait of Hormuz problem is 522 million people.

And why is this? Because the Strait of Hormuz is the source of one- third or one-quarter of all inputs to agriculture. Natural gas, Brent oil for transportation, fertilizers, urea especially, and sulfuric acid, which is required for phosphates.

So this is impacting substantially the margins of farmers in developed and developing countries. In the U.S., in Europe, in all parts of the world, and that will affect the amount of inputs being used because of the lower margins, and that will affect deals. And that is what we are concerned, that this big risk, if it continues to happen, because now after the agreement where things start to flow a little bit, now again we're facing challenges or prices of Brent are over $90.

So the situation is back to what it was before. If this continues, we will be affecting a second harvest now, and that will be seeing the results in December.

SANDOVAL: I have about a minute with you, Maximo. I'm wondering if maybe we can close with what is perhaps an additional key takeaway from this report that was released by the U.N.

TORERO: Yes, a very important takeaway of this report is the importance of healthy diets and the cost of a healthy diet. The report shows that the cost of a healthy diet in the world is an average 4.28 PPP dollars per capita per day. This is significantly higher than the extreme poverty line of $3.

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As a result of that, 2.7 billion don't have access to these healthy diets, which are required to improve hunger and overnutrition. And it also shows that this cost of the healthy diet has increased in 25 percent in the last five years because of food inflation.

So significant work to do, and that means repurposing investments towards high-value commodities, fruits and vegetables especially, but also it means a software and a hardware investment in infrastructure to reduce the losses across the value chain of these commodities which are more perishable. And the other surprise is that the highest cost of the healthy diet is in Latin America and the Caribbean, which is a key exporting country of cereals and high-value commodities. So a lot of work needs to be done also to focus on local markets and not just to focus on the export markets.

SANDOVAL: Yes, it's absolutely sobering this idea that so many people still have out of reach those basic nutritional food staples that could potentially continue to bring those numbers down when it comes to world hunger. Maximo Torero, thank you so much for your time and for your analysis.

TORERO: A pleasure. Thank you very much.

SANDOVAL: Well, angry and sometimes violent protests springing up in Italy after a Moroccan man died in police custody. Why, video of the incident is raising comparisons to the U.S. police killing of George Floyd.

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SANDOVAL: Hey everybody, welcome back. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York and these are today's top stories.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps says that they have launched a counter-assault to, quote, punish the United States and this comes after U.S. CENTCOM announced that its forces completed an 11th consecutive night of strikes against Iran. Iranian state media reporting air defenses in the capital city, Tehran, were activated. They also reported explosions in several other cities across the country.

President Trump's picks are winning big in Arizona's primaries. CNN is now projecting that MAGA Congressman Andy Biggs will win the Republican governor's primary. He'll be facing incumbent Democrat Katie Hobbs come November. And in the Republican House primaries, CNN projects Trump's picks Jay Feeley and Mark Lamb will win their races.

The ousted Venezuelan President and his wife, they are scheduled to appear in federal court in New York in the coming hours. Nicolas Maduro and Celia Flores are facing narco-terrorism charges. Their attorneys are expected to address several issues during the procedural hearing, including the disclosure of evidence and pre-trial motions.

Now to grim new details emerging in courts about the killing of former British lawmaker Ann Widdecombe. Prosecutors are revealing that the 78-year-old was struck 21 times with a hammer. They say that the suspect, Joshua Kerry, entered Widdecombe's home and attacked her as she was eating her lunch.

Authorities say that the assault lasted just two minutes. The 28-year- old Kerry was denied bail and will remain in custody ahead of a trial that's tentatively set for next June.

And now to the death of a Moroccan man in police custody that happened in Italy. It is sparking outrage across the country. Video of the incident circulating on social media is drawing some comparisons to the 2020 police killing of George Floyd in the U.S. state of Minnesota.

Our Barbie Latza Nadeau has more, but first a warning that some viewers may find the video disturbing.

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BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): This video shows the final moments before a Moroccan man died after police restrained him in Bologna, Italy.

Two police officers and four first responders are now under investigation for involuntary manslaughter, according to prosecutors. Police told national broadcaster RAI they received multiple emergency calls from residents reporting, quote, "a person running behind the garage is screaming and kicking all the garage doors, screaming for help and that they wanted to kill him."

The man was identified by his family as 42-year-old Adbir Rahim Fakir, who say he was a legal resident in Italy. It's unclear from the video what transpired earlier and how police initially engaged with Fakir. The coroner tells CNN an autopsy has been ordered into his death.

Footage from the incident has drawn comparisons to the 2020 death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis and has circulated widely online, sparking protests across Bologna, some of which escalated into clashes with riot police.

I am his eldest niece, and for me, being here today is not a duty. It is my way of standing beside my family and giving a voice to someone who can no longer speak.

LATZA NADEAU (voice-over): Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the incident, quote, "unacceptable," adding that "the truth must be sought thoroughly without prejudice and without any concessions." Meloni also called for calm among protesters saying some used Fakir's death as a pretext for violence. Protests are expected to continue in Bologna.

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SANDOVAL: All right, thanks to Barbie Latza Nadeau and we'll be right back with more.

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SANDOVAL: Welcome back. Here are your business headlines.

Oil prices, they are rising after the Iran-backed Houthi group in Yemen declared a maritime blockade on Saudi shipping.

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Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, that was up more than $93 while the WTI, that U.S. benchmark, that was also up above $86 a barrel.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says that he plans to intensify trade talks with the United States and this after President Trump announced a 50 percent tariff on some Canadian goods. The levies are expected to take effect in less than 30 days and some Canadian officials are calling for retaliation but Carney says that he's considering all options.

France becoming the first E.U. country to ban social media for children under 15. Lawmakers overwhelmingly approved that bill on Tuesday delivering a major victory for President Emmanuel Macron. He says that he wants to have the new law in place by the beginning of France's new year in September -- new school year.

Well, newly unsealed court documents have revealed new allegations against Andrew and Tristan Tate. British officials are saying that the social media influencers are accused of sexual and physical abuse. Well, they have denied all allegations and are fighting extradition from the U.S. to the U.K.

Here's CNN's Carolina Peguero reporting from Miami.

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CAROLINA PEGUERO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: While the Tate brothers remain in federal custody here in Miami and as they are challenging the extradition request from the U.K., we're learning about new unsealed court documents and new allegations against the brothers as physical and sexual abuse by additional women including charges of sex crimes of rape and sex trafficking.

Now these new allegations made by additional women who had spoken to British officials are saying that they were choked. Some had lost even consciousness of nearly passing out and later raped. While the Tate brothers are saying and denying completely these allegations, their lawyers are also saying they're vowing to fight the extradition request and even asking for the Trump administration to intervene.

JOSEPH DANIEL MCBRIDE, ATTORNEY FOR ANDREW AND TRISTAN TATE: What I can say about the allegations in the United Kingdom, not a single solitary person has been identified. These are ghosts and these are phantoms.

So we'd like to know who's accused Andrew and Tristan of what. No innocent person can be punished while they're being held for any proceeding. Innocent and proven guilty, solitary confinement is punishment.

PEGUERO: And together the Tate brothers face 59 charges while the State Department has informed to CNN and sources familiar to the cases have said that they are not going to intervene as well as President Trump. And the next briefing hearing is expected here at this federal court next Monday.

Carolina Peguero, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Thank you so much for joining me. "World Sport" is next and I'll be back with you at the top of the hour for another hour of "CNN Newsroom."

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