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CNN Headlines: CENTCOM: Military Intercepts "Surprise" Iranian Missile Attack On U.S. Interests; Official: Trump-Netanyahu Relationship Is "Stronger Than Ever" After Meeting; Zelenskyy: Discussed Air Defenses, Diplomacy With Trump At White House; Sen. Lindsey Graham Remembered At Funeral In Washington, D.C.; Apalachee High School Shooter Sentenced To Life Without Parole. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired July 29, 2026 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:28]
BRAD SMITH, CNN ANCHOR: Iran launched missiles against U.S. forces in a surprise attack. The latest developments, as the U.S. military says all of the missiles were successfully intercepted.
And --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDGE NICHOLAS PRIMM, BARROW COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT: Your crimes do reflect permanent incorrigibility. And I will send you to life without parole for each of the murders that you committed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Teenage school shooter Colt Gray sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. What come next for the teens father?
Plus, more developments in the Nolan Wells case. New audio from an emergency call that's now raising more questions about his death.
And someone is waking up a lot richer after winning the Mega Millions jackpot. It's the largest prize this. Where's the lucky ticket was sold and how much they're taking home.
Good morning, everyone. I came to work and you might be headed to work, too. So, clearly, we didn't win.
I'm Brad Smith. This is CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS. Glad that you're with us this morning. Let's get this started.
We start in the Middle East. The U.S. Central Command says that Iran attempted a surprise attack targeting U.S. forces in the region. The U.S. military says all of the missiles were successfully intercepted. And Jordan's military now says its air defenses intercepted five missiles launched from Iran earlier.
Video obtained by CNN appears to show interceptors stopping missiles over Jordan, where U.S. troops are based. Now, that is where three U.S. soldiers were killed earlier this month. Now, CENTCOM is also reporting joint strikes by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia against Iran backed groups in Iraq.
CNN's Eleni Giokos is in Dubai with more on that. Plus, President Trump's White House conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These renewed strikes that we've seen in the region, not only direct strikes from Iran into Jordan, which CENTCOM says was a surprise attack. They were able to intercept all the incoming drones and missiles into Jordan, but also Iran activating its proxy network across the region, particularly over the weekend. Yemeni Houthis targeting Saudi Arabia. And then we saw Iranian backed Iraqi militia targeting Saudi Arabia and specifically oil infrastructure, as well as the capital, Riyadh.
Interestingly, you've seen a significant move coming through. Saudi forces joining up with CENTCOM to target eastern Iraq, targeting these militias. And it is very notable because the timing is important as well when it comes to the meeting with the Israeli prime minister. We also heard from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, where she said it was a good meeting and it was high energy.
I also want you to hear the feedback from Benjamin Netanyahu. Take a listen.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I have just finished an excellent meeting with President Trump. When I say excellent, its not just lip service. It was a conversation of full partnership, of mutual support, with an understanding of the shared goal to ensure that Iran will not have nuclear weapons, and also other goals. It was one of the best conversations I've had with the president of the United States, our friend, Donald Trump.
GIOKOS: And what is interesting to note that President Trump appeared on fox and friends and criticized the prime minister because it is alleged that Netanyahu has plans to share intelligence regarding Iran's rebuilding of its nuclear program. What is interesting is that he also mentioned that Pickaxe mountain is still something the United States is considering if Iran doesn't make a deal. But these renewed attacks, not only on Iraqi soil by CENTCOM and Saudi Arabia, but also Iran directly targeting Jordan, really brings into question in terms of new fronts opening up and what this means for potential escalation.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: All right. Thank you, Eleni Giokos in Dubai.
Now, back in Washington, President Trump also met with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and says that they had a good meeting and discussed air defense ideas and reviving diplomacy with Russia. Later, senators invited Zelenskyy to watch the vote on a new Russia sanctions bill, which advanced with a vote of 86 to 12. He thanked the U.S. lawmakers for their support.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: This bill is very important. Sanctions pressure on Russia is very important and really gives -- it's not only about money, how Russia, how to stop to finance this war, but it's also a big signal to Europe. Big signal to Ukraine, big support of our people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Zelenskyy, along with Netanyahu and many other high profile guests, were also at the Washington National Cathedral for Senator Lindsey Graham's funeral on Tuesday.
President Trump was among those who eulogized Senator Lindsey Graham. He will be laid to rest in South Carolina later today. But he was honored with a funeral at Washington National Cathedral yesterday.
And CNN's Dana Bash was there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I just came out of Senator Lindsey Graham's funeral here at the National Cathedral, and it was two hours of a lot of praise, a lot of humor, a lot of prayer. And it was the president himself who gave what was very much the shortest speech I think he's ever given. And that's probably the kind of thing that Lindsey Graham himself would remark on.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: For more than 30 years, nothing of consequence happened in this Capitol without Lindsey Graham knowing about it. Nothing of significance happened anywhere in the world without Lindsey Graham having a view on it. And no bill became law in the most exceptional Republican human history without Lindsey Graham having a say in it.
BASH: The most heartfelt moment of this memorial was absolutely from Senator Graham's niece, Emily.
EMILLIE BOGGS ROBERTS, SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM'S NIECE: My husband and I share with my mother that we were pregnant the evening of Lindsey's passing. The first thing she did was pick up the phone to call him, to tell him the great news, just like I knew she would. She never got to tell him, but I have no doubt that he knows and is thrilled.
BASH: As somebody who's covered Senator Graham for a quarter century. I kept thinking, sitting there about the fact that he was able to bring the Israeli prime minister here to Washington. He was able to bring the Ukrainian president here to Washington. Two world leaders whose countries Senator Graham has been fighting so hard for, to make sure that the U.S. doesn't forget and to keep supporting.
And because they came for his funeral, they had a meeting with President Trump, something that wouldn't have happened today if not for the passing of Senator Graham. And that was kind of a fitting and poignant reality to this celebration of his life, but very sad day.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: Thank you, Dana.
A judge sentenced teenage school shooter Colt Gray to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The decision came after a three-day sentencing hearing. Prosecutors say the now 16-year-old was obsessed with mass shootings and fame when he carried out the deadly 2024 attack at Appalachia High School.
The defense asked the judge to leave open the possibility of parole, pointing to Gray's age and troubled home life. The teen declined to speak before sentencing was handed down.
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JUDGE NICHOLAS PRIMM, BARROW COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT: Planning, fantasizing about visualizing an exercise in executing school shooting don't put you in a problematic place. It puts you in an unredeemable moral wasteland. Your crimes do reflect permanent incorrigibility, and I will send you to life without parole for each of the murders that you committed.
You understood the horror of what you were going to do. You do not seem to be tormented by what you did. You seem to relish following in the footsteps of the murderers you idolize.
You aren't wracked with guilt. You're proud of yourself. You wrote, "I want to make history. I want people to remember the pain I caused" and there you succeeded. The pain that you visited upon this community is unlikely to disappear in my lifetime.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: The teen's father, Colin Gray, will be sentenced on Thursday. Earlier this year, he was found guilty of murder and manslaughter charges for purchasing the rifle for his son as a Christmas gift.
America's former top infectious disease expert is set to appear on Capitol Hill today for what is likely to be a heated hearing. Dr. Anthony Fauci is expected to appear before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, chaired by Republican Rand Paul. Fauci and Paul have previously clashed over the origins of COVID-19 and the U.S. response to the pandemic.
Ahead of today's hearing, the committee released hundreds of pages of Dr. Fauci's personal diary.
More than 36 million people are under flood watches across the Northeast this morning. This dangerous storm system is bringing torrential rain that is impacting travel and prompting water rescues. Some areas were forecasted to get more than a month's worth of rain through the night.
[05:10:00] Heavy rainfall is set to continue throughout the day, with one to three inches per hour possible in New York City, the most at risk areas for flooding will shift further north into New England in the coming hours. More than 2,300 flights were canceled out of the region yesterday, according to the tracking site FlightAware, and there are more than 600 cancellations and hundreds of delays already today. There you're taking a look at Philadelphia International Airport.
Lots more to come on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS. And alleged stolen SUV, some motorcycles and a police chase on an L.A. freeway. We've got more of that video coming up.
Plus --
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm beginning to suspect were not in Jumanji.
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SMITH: What year is it? Well check out more of the new trailer just released for the latest Jumanji movie. That's coming up on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS.
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[05:15:27]
SMITH: Today, Todd Blanche is set to meet with Republican Senator John Cornyn as he fights to keep his bid to be the nation's next attorney general alive. Now, both Cornyn and fellow Republican Thom Tillis, they want the Justice Department's so-called anti weaponization fund eliminated before they'll support Blanche's nomination. Cornyn says he wants that promise in writing the nearly $2 billion fund was for people who claim they were wronged by the DOJ, possibly including January 6th rioters.
Staying in Capitol Hill, the Senate has officially confirmed President Trump's pick for the director of national intelligence in a 51 to 47 vote, the Senate confirmed Jay Clayton. His appointment comes despite his reluctance to answer questions about the 2020 presidential election during a Senate hearing earlier this month.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JON OSSOFF (D-GA): Who won the 2020 election?
JAY CLAYTON, DNI: I have answered.
OSSOFF: Answer it. What is your answer?
CLAYTON: I've given you my answer.
OSSOFF: What is your answer? You refuse to answer a basic question about who won a presidential election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Clayton inherits a shrinking office of national intelligence, former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York will replace interim Director Bill Pulte, who oversaw sweeping staff cuts ordered by President Trump during his 40-day tenure.
Lindsay Clancy's ex-husband is back on the stand today, and he is the first witness in the triple murder trial of the Massachusetts mother accused of killing her three children. Prosecutors say that there is no doubt that Lindsay Clancy murdered her children in January of 2023, but her state of mind at the time is what they are working to prove.
Patrick Clancy testified that his wife spent several days in a psychiatric hospital in December of 2022. He also said she told him months before the crime that she was having thoughts of suicide and harming their kids. Her defense team argued that Clancy was suffering from psychosis.
We continue to track any developments in that trial.
Still to come on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS, investigations are still underway into that cyclospora outbreak. But one thing that's happening is causing some major mental health consequences. We'll dive into that.
Plus, new audio reveals a call for help from a friend of Nolan Wells as their boat took on water. That is straight ahead on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS.
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[05:22:23]
SMITH: Johnson & Johnson have set aside more than $5 billion to resolve tens of thousands of lawsuits. The pharmaceutical giant faces more than 70,000 claims alleging asbestos in its talc products, including baby powder, caused cancer.
Now, the company is offering up to $3 billion in 2027, with the rest paid a year later. But first, law firms representing at least 95 percent of claimants, they must agree to the deal.
This morning, health investigators are still working to pinpoint the exact cause of the largest U.S. cyclospora outbreak in the history of the digestive parasite. Cases continue to rise in Michigan, and the state now has the most cases in the U.S. On Monday, health officials there, they reported more than 9,000 cases. That is up more than 1,000 cases just since Friday. And now the outbreak is causing growing concern by some consumers over what foods to avoid.
Our Mandy Gaither has more on the difference between food caution and food phobia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MANDY GAITHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Each week in the U.S., the CDC says it can coordinate up to 36 investigations into foodborne illnesses involving multiple states, whether it's due to germs like E. coli, salmonella, listeria, or a nine state outbreak of explosive diarrhea from the cyclospora parasite.
SUSAN ALBERS, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST, CLEVELAND CLINIC: It sets off an alarm system in the brain.
GAITHER (voice-over): Clinical psychologist Susan Albers with Cleveland Clinic says taking recommended precautions like washing food, avoiding specific produce of concern and staying updated on credible recall information are all healthy reactions that match the risk.
ALBERS: Food phobia or extreme anxiety goes beyond the normal level of concern or caution. It begins to take control of your life.
GAITHER (voice-over): Albers says examples of this include avoiding restaurants, food preparation or grocery shopping, having extreme intrusive thoughts repeatedly and excessively checking for recalled foods. Feeling anxious every time you eat, or throwing away food that's not related to the danger.
ALBERS: Focus on the facts, not the fears. Check in with credible sites. Avoid doomscrolling.
GAITHER (voice-over): Albers says people who already have health anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, and those with disordered eating, or an eating disorder may be more vulnerable to food phobias around these outbreaks.
ALBERS: If you notice that your behavior is changing to the point it is affecting your health, your emotions, your relationships, this is a time to check in with a therapist.
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[05:25:08]
SMITH: Thank you, Mandy.
Well, straight ahead on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS, people are sharing what they faced as dangerous storms rain down on their homes, leaving behind floods and destruction.
Plus, someone is setting the record straight when it comes to rumors about a second Zendaya and Tom Holland wedding. We've got the scoop coming up.
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