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CNN Headlines: CENTCOM: U.S. Ends 12th Night Of Attacks On Iran; Family Attorney Says Pathologist Can't Rule Out Foul Play In Nolan Well's Death; Lettuce Linked To Cyclospora Outbreak Investigated In Mexico. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired July 23, 2026 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[05:30:25]
BRAD SMITH, CNN ANCHOR: It's half past the hour. Let's hit the refresh button on our top stories.
In Wisconsin, a deadly officer-involved shooting is sparking an investigation and protests. A Madison police officer shot and killed a man in this 30s Wednesday afternoon. Police say that it happened after the man pulled a knife and wounded an officer. Those involved have been placed on administrative leave as the state investigates.
And former special counsel Jack Smith should be prosecuted by the Justice Department, according to the Republican chair of the House Judiciary committee. Congressman Jim Jordan is alleging that Smith, who prosecuted Donald Trump, gave misleading testimony late last year. Now, Smith's lawyers -- they say Jordan has made no real claim of a lie.
And in the Middle East the U.S. military says it has completed a 12th straight night of strikes on Iran. Meanwhile, President Trump and Iranian leaders continue to trade threats. Trump is now vowing to destroy Iranian bridges and power plants every time Iran strikes a ship in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran says its policy is an eye for an eye. But speaking a short time ago in the Philippines, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump's policy is now a head for an eye.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: Iran is begging us, both directly and indirectly, let's do a deal. Let's talk. Let's talk. Iran is begging every day. The problem with Iran is every time they make a deal the people that are in charge there -- they either break it or they want to change it. So it looks like they're not ready to make a deal. So they're going to continue to pay a price and they're going to -- every night the price gets higher and higher and higher, and that's what's happening now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: The war is also expanding to the Red Sea. That's where Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis are claiming to have struck two Saudi tankers. We're getting our first look at images that appear to show one of the ships on fire earlier today. That's circled in red on your screen.
At an event in Georgia on Wednesday, President Trump claimed Americans are not against the war with Iran despite the latest polling suggested otherwise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This skirmish we have going on -- I call it a skirmish -- this is with the skirmish we have with the Islamic Republic of Iran. And I call it that because let me tell you, they're getting hit so hard and they want to make a deal. But I say they're not ready to make a deal because every time they make a deal, they want to change it and everything. They're not ready. They'll be ready very soon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: A recent Washington Post poll finds 68 percent of Americans say that the war with Iran is not worth fighting, while 61 percent believe that the war was a mistake.
We now know some of the preliminary findings from the independent autopsy for Nolan Wells. It's been weeks since his body was found after his friends returned from a boat trip without him. The cause of death has not been determined. His parents and family attorney say that they are committed to finding out what happened to the teen.
Leigh Waldman is breaking down what we know so far.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Days after a funeral for their son in Mississippi, Nolan Wells' parents remain determined to find out what happened.
CHRISTINE WONSLEY, NOLEN WELL'S MOTHER: Any parent that would be in this situation -- you would do anything -- anything to find out what happened to your child.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to know what happened to our son.
WALDMAN (voiceover): Wells' body was found on July 6 on the shoreline of Horn Island off of Mississippi's coast following a boating trip with friends on the fourth.
Results from the official autopsy performed by the Mississippi State Medical Examiner's office have not yet been released pending the outcome of standard toxicology tests. The Wells family requested a second independent autopsy, which found the 18-year-old's cause and manner of death undetermined pending investigation, according to the family's attorney.
BEN CRUMP, WELLS FAMILY ATTORNEY: This pathologist cannot rule out if any intervening non-accidental factors contributed to or caused the death of Nolan Wells. Understand he said based on the examination of the body he cannot rule out foul play.
WALDMAN (voiceover): In an independent autopsy report, Dr. Roger A. Mitchell Jr. explains he did not have access to all of Wells' remains after the state's autopsy, including a portion of Wells' neck. He noted retaining that neck structure during an initial autopsy is a "common forensic pathology practice."
Wells' body was found in the water. Attorney Ben Crump points out they don't know how he got there.
[05:35:00]
CRUMP: We still have more questions than we have answers.
WALDMAN (voiceover): I'm Leigh Waldman reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: All right. Thank you, Leigh.
The rescheduled White House Correspondents' Dinner is set for tomorrow. The president is expected to attend, and the Secret Service says it is heightening security measures.
The dinner in April was shut down after a gunman rushed through a security checkpoint and opened fire at the event. Suspect Cole Allen pleaded not guilty to attempting to assassinate the president and remains in custody. A trial has yet to be set.
And the head of Secret Service says that political tensions have escalated since then, putting security on high alert.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN CURRAN, DIRECTOR, SECRET SERVICE: We are -- we are in a heightened level of a -- of a threat environment right now. It's no secret. There are things happening around the globe that are always going to impact, you know, how we move. And that's how we evaluate, you know, what our security plan is going to be.
You know, we do base that off of what's happening. But we're always going to look at the threat environment and where we're going and just what's happening at the moment. That does fold into the security plan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Friday's dinner will be held at the Waldorf Astoria; not the Washington Hilton as it was before.
Well, it may soon be a little harder for U.S. lawmakers to buy and sell stocks. The House narrowly passed a bill yesterday that would prevent sitting Congressmembers, their spouses, and dependent children from buying new stocks of publicly traded companies. They can still buy private stocks, but those sales would require up for 14 days' advance notice. Lawmakers and their families would be charged a fee if they violate the rule. Now it is unclear when or if the bill will be taken up in the Senate.
There's another effort and this one is to enact year-round daylight savings time across the country, and it's facing some hurdles. Last week the House voted in favor of the bill with bipartisan support, but some are pushing back, saying a later sunrise could endanger children and workers who would face commutes in the dark. This measure was adopted and swiftly reversed in the '70s during an energy crisis. Other attempts were made in 2022 and last year.
Hundreds of National Guard members have been deployed in West Virginia. That's where the immediate storm threat has passed. But now the real work begins to clean up after historic flooding this week. The governor says officials are focused on search and rescue efforts while victims face the mess left behind by high waters.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We started to receive water from both our garage side and the wall that we share with an abandoned adjacent building. We had completely cleaned up last night -- mopped and got rid of all the water damage -- and we came in today to more water damage a little worse than last night.
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SMITH: Officials say that they still don't know the full extent of the damage with washed out roads cutting off access to some areas.
The severe storms also produced multiple tornadoes and damaging winds in Kentucky, Ohio, and New Jersey.
Well, Mexico is conducting its own investigation into the lettuce believed to be the source of a cyclospora outbreak in the U.S. The CDC has confirmed more than 4,000 cases and another 7,400 suspected cases are undergoing additional lab testing.
So the lettuce believed to be linked to the outbreak -- it was grown in central Mexico as CNN Valeria Leon reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VALERIA LEON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Mexican authorities are conducting their own investigation into the cyclospora outbreak in the United States after U.S. officials traced the lettuce supplied to a company operating in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato.
The FDA initially reported that a lettuce sample had tested positive for the parasite but later withdrew that result, saying it was a false-positive. Despite that reversal and although there is currently no evidence confirming contamination, Mexico decided to continue with its own investigation.
DR. DAVID KERSHENOBICH STALNIKOWITZ, MEXICO HEALTH SECRETARY: (Speaking foreign language).
Mexico's health secretary, David Kershenobich also confirmed three cases of cyclosporiasis in Mexico but said authorities have ruled out an outbreak in the country. So far, officials have not linked those cases to the lettuce involved in the U.S. investigation.
Here is how Kershenobich explained Mexico's response.
STALNIKOWITZ (through translator): A sample is taken that tested positive, but the FDA later determined it was a false-positive. Therefore, we currently have no evidence. However, we have traveled to Guanajuato and collected samples to conduct our own investigation in coordination with the U.S. CDC.
LEON: The lettuce was traced to Taylor Farms in Mexico, which voluntarily removed iceberg lettuce from central Mexico from the U.S. market.
[05:40:00]
And the case is significant for Mexico because the U.S. is its largest agriculture export market. No broader restrictions on Mexican products have been announced but Mexican authorities, of course, want to determine whether contamination occurred at the source and prevent investigation from affecting other producers and exports.
Valeria Leon, CNN, Mexico City.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: Now furthermore, the outbreak has also led to more than 30 percent drop in foot traffic at Taco Bell stores since July 17. That is when federal officials -- the health officials identified the fast- food chain as part of its investigation. So the company is pulling out all the stops to win back customers, including $1.00 lettuce-free deals. The products are available as part of the deal -- and Enchirito and fries, as well.
On Buzz Express today, Chadwick Boseman's brothers are petitioning a Los Angeles court to remove his widow as administrator of his estate. People magazine reporting that the late actor's brothers allege that his widow has not properly distributed Boseman's remaining estate assets in the six years since his death. He died without a will. They are asking that the court account and make the administrator of Chadwick's estate instead.
And a shocking moment on "THE VIEW" between panelist Joy Behar and "Star Trek" actor Anson Mount.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOY BEHAR, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": Kissing Anson Mount.
ANSON MOUNT, ACTOR: Kissing Joy Behar.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Good God! All right, Behar said that after the last time Mount was there, he brought her flowers for her birthday and "It's never been the same between us." We see. Mount reminded Behar that he had gotten married since that last visit as he wiped the smudged lipstick off of his face.
All right. Elon Musk says his Grok AI is getting into the movie business and settings its sight on Christopher Nolan's latest blockbuster. Musk posting on X that his platform will make a full- length "historically accurate" film of "The Odyssey" by the end of the year and posted a three-minute teaser for it. The billionaire has been critical of Nolan's telling of the ancient Greek epic, posting on X earlier this month that Nolan "desecrated Omar, "The Odyssey" author.
It's not keeping film fans away though. "Odyssey" has already raked in over a quarter of a billion dollars at the global box office giving Nolan his biggest opening weekend ever.
All right. Next up on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS a man who once recruited models for Jeffrey Epstein found dead inside his home just weeks after he proclaimed his innocence to CNN. We've got that story.
Plus, with brutal heat waves across the globe, Japan has come up with one way to stay cool -- a human fridge. Stay tuned.
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[05:47:30]
SMITH: In France, a model recruiter who is known to have connected Jeffrey Epstein to young women was found dead in his apartment near Paris. Daniel Siad's name -- it appears more than 2,000 times in files released by the Justice Department. Those records reveal that he spent more than a decade arranging for Epstein to meet models. Those include two women who later say that the convicted sex offender abused them.
CNN's Melissa Bell is in Paris with the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A French model recruiter linked to Jeffrey Epstein has been found dead at his home in the suburb of Colombes near Paris, according to prosecutors. Daniel Siad had been the subject of renewed scrutiny in the wake of the latest releases of the Epstein files by the U.S. Department of Justice. For over a decade, he had arranged for the late sex offender to meet several models.
CNN's Katie Polglase recently interviewed Siad who said he'd had no reason to believe that two women he'd recommended to Epstein had been harmed by him even though those two women told CNN that they were, indeed, abused by Jeffrey Epstein.
DANIEL SIAD, MODEL SCOUT: My work with him has been strictly professional. I never doubt that -- because I never heard anything from anyone I introduced to him who came back to me that they had a bad -- a bad situation with him.
BELL: Siad said he believed that Epstein was a casting director for Victoria's Secret and for a modeling agency. CNN has found no evidence to support that claim.
SIAD: I did not know a lot about him until he comes to Paris. Andi told you again he said he passed -- he do -- to the government. So for me, he is a free man. He is clean. He was such a powerful person and how can I not trust him?
BELL: Epstein ties to the modeling industry are part of ongoing investigations, including a criminal probe launched this year in Paris involving Siad, according to the city's chief prosecutor.
Now, Siad's lawyer has pointed to the stress that the man was under due to the unbearable waiting and, I quote, "the stigma cast upon him." Siad's lawyer's statement also calling for respect for his loved ones as they mourn, adding that he died and was innocent.
Siad, himself, was also facing accusations of abuse. A model accused him of rape when she was working in France in 1990. Siad had also denied that accusation.
[05:50:05]
His death certainly marks the latest macabre twist in the Epstein sage and a reminder of the ripple effects of the revelations from the Epstein files and of the fact that they are far from over.
Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: Let's go around the globe here.
A Nigerian court took an unusual trip to a methamphetamine lab linked to the country's largest-ever drug bust. Prosecutors walked judges through chemicals and equipment allegedly used to produce meth. Authorities say that the operation uncovered more than two tons of meth and chemical materials estimated at $363 million.
Parts of France are enduring another intense heat wave fueling more destructive wildfires. Hundreds have been forced to flee their homes in coastal areas near Bordeaux and officials say that more than hundreds of firefighters have been battling this fire. Tragically, two firefighters have died in the line of duty.
And hundreds of firefighters are also battling the heat in Spain. The country there suffering from its largest wildfire of the year in central Guadalajara. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez says that the country has already seen four times as many wildfires than last year.
And Japan has a new way for people to keep cool from what officials are now calling "cruelly hot days" and it's sending people straight to the fridge.
CNN international correspondent Hanako Montgomery is breaking it down for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, it is chilly.
MONTGOMERY (voiceover): This isn't a fridge for food. It's a fridge for people -- ones who are battling extreme heat as Japan sees another brutal summer.
MONTGOMERY: Please leave me here during the summer months.
MONTGOMERY (voiceover): Temperatures in Tokyo have climbed close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit this week with some parts of the country even hotter.
MONTGOMERY: Japan's weather agency has actually created a new term for days like today that hit about 40 degrees Celsius or 104 degrees Fahrenheit, called "kokushobi" or cruelly hot days.
MONTGOMERY (voiceover): The company behind the human fridge says it's designed for people who work outside, including construction workers and event staff. And it's also part of Japan's ongoing efforts to reduce heat stroke deaths.
MONTGOMERY: Oh wow, it's getting a bit cold.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: Thank you, Hanako.
Still to come on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS, Samsung is rolling out a new foldable phone. We have a sneak peek of the Galaxy Z.
And Spider-Man to the rescue. A man jumps out of his car to help someone in a wheelchair cross the street and he did it all in a Spidey suit. Moving quick, too -- fast feet.
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[05:57:10]
SMITH: Another warning about food tops today's Money Express. This time it's about soup that could go bad.
Maribel Aber joins us from the Nasdaq MarketSite with that and the rest of your top Money Express headlines. I hope you're not having any soup at this time of the morning, Maribel, but what do we need to know?
MARIBEL ABER, CNN CORRESPONDENT, MONEY MATTERS: Not quite yet, Brad. Well, we're talking about Amy's Kitchen. It's recalling more than 180,000 cans of soup because a defect could allow the contents to spoil. The FDA -- an FDA notice says batches of the brand's organic lentil soup light sodium were affected. Now the cans were sold in more than 20 states and parts of Canada. Customers can return the cans for a refund and find full details on the FDA's website.
And Samsung has launched its newest foldable smartphones ahead of Apple's expected debut in the space. The Galaxy Z Fold8 -- it opens like a book while the Flip8 has a traditional flip-up design. Both are about $100 more than previous models starting at $1,199. A new version, the Fold8 Ultra starts at $2,099 with a larger display, upgraded camera, and bigger batteries. Samsung says higher component costs, especially for memory chips, are driving the price increases.
Apple's first foldable iPhone is expected later this year.
All right. McDonald's is bringing honey brown butter biscuits to its breakfast menu. Two new sandwiches -- bacon, egg, and cheese and crispy chicken -- are available in select markets for a limited time. So customers can also add that honey brown butter biscuit to any breakfast sandwich. Availability varies by restaurant so check the McDonald's app to see what your local store offers.
Brad, so many thoughts. Let's discuss next hour.
SMITH: My only thought is that as long as I still get that hash brown, I'm good to go.
ABER: Ooh.
SMITH: Maribel Aber, thank you so much.
Let's get a look at some of the other stories making headlines across the country.
We start in Ohio. That's where a heart-stopping video of a police officer rescuing a 13-year-old girl from a burning home all played out. Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POLICE OFFICER: Look at that -- at that. Right here. Come on. Come one. I got you, come on. Come on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: You can see the officer rushed to the house and pulled the girl from the home. She couldn't move and was drifting in and out of consciousness at the time. Firefighters arrived shortly after and rescued a second person from the burning house. No word on what caused the blaze.
And sparks fly as authorities say a semitruck sent a telephone pole flying into a New Jersey street. That truck, hauling a forklift, knocked down multiple power lines Wednesday and ripped that telephone pole from the ground. Now thankfully here, no one was hurt.
Let's take you over to Arkansas. That's where one neighborhood has its very own Spider-Man. A traffic camera shows a person in a wheelchair slowly crossing a busy intersection. The Spider-Man was seen jumping out of a red Jeep and safely pushing the person to the other side of the crosswalk.
[06:00:00] Excellent work there, Spidey, and just in time for the new film as well. I mean, maybe this is a promotion that we just don't know about. Who knows? But a very fitting color for his Jeep as well there. Spidey, good work.
That does it for CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS, everyone. I'm Brad Smith. "CNN THIS MORNING WITH AUDIE CORNISH" starts right now.
