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The Situation Room

Two Soldiers Still Hospitalized After Ft. Stewart Shooting; FBI Fires Senior Officials at Odds with Trump Admin.; More Than half the Calories Americans Consume are from Ultra-Processed Foods. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired August 07, 2025 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, new this morning, three of the five soldiers injured in yesterday's shooting at the Fort Stewart Army Post in Georgia are out of the hospital. And just moments ago, Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll awarded medals to the soldiers who stepped in and stopped the suspect.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIEL DRISCOLL, ARMY SECRETARY: They embody everything that is good about the American soldier. They ran into battle to the sound of the gunfire, took down the assailant, and then took care of their comrades, and that made all the difference.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Authorities say 28-year-old active-duty Sergeant Quornelius Radford pulled out a personal handgun and began firing, wounding five soldiers. Officials say other soldiers prevented more casualties by tackling the suspect before police arrested him.

And joining us now for their first interview since this happened, 1st Sergeant Joshua Arnold and Staff Sergeant Melissa Taylor. Thank you both for joining us. I know you're still processing everything you went through yesterday. Melissa, first to you. Tell us a little bit about what happened.

STAFF SGT. MELISSA TAYLOR, U.S. ARMY: So, it started off as a regular duty day. I was just checking my e-mail and I heard 1st Sergeant Arnold yelling that there were gunshots in the building. I do work on the opposite end of the building from where the incident happened. So, I just stuck my head out into the hallway to see what was going on. I saw a cloud of smoke and he started yelling about there being smoke and I saw the soldier laying on the ground in the hallway. And I asked if he was injured and he -- 1st Sergeant Arnold said he had been shot. So, I immediately sprinted over to the soldier and got down on my knees and started rendering aid to the soldier.

BROWN: So, you were rendering aid to the soldier as there was an active shooting? Right, Melissa?

TAYLOR: Yes. BROWN: Wow. Joshua, bring us in. You're the one who was alerting Melissa to what was going on. Tell us what you were going through.

1ST SGT. JOSHUA ARNOLD, U.S. ARMY: Yes, I was sitting in my conference room with one of my officers and we were doing some paperwork and I all had -- I heard a gunshot. I thought I heard a gunshot. I looked at him, I said, I thought that sounds like a gunshot. That sounds like a gunshot. And I stood up and seemed like a flash went past my conference room and I came out in the hallway and I kind of went towards that direction and lost the direction of which that person was running in.

I looked back from where they were at or where they came from, and I saw the smoke and I yelled down and I said, was that a gunshot? Was that a gunshot? And no one answered. So, I ran down. I see the shell case on the ground. I said, that's a gunshot. And seen the first person injured and immediately yelled that somebody had been shot and sat the injured soldier on the ground and provided aid, and until Staff Sergeant Taylor came up and took over. And the soldier on the ground said someone else had been shot, someone else had been shot. And I got up and went to that person's office and found that person and immediately started providing aid to that person as well.

BROWN: So, all of this is taking place, you are providing aid while the suspect is engaged in a shooting, right? How quickly did all of this end? Because we know some of the soldiers there jumped into action and stopped all of this from happening. What can you tell us about that, Melissa?

[10:35:00]

TAYLOR: So, everything kind of goes by quick, but at the same time, it's in slow motion when stuff like this happens. So, I wasn't paying attention to the time. I was just focused in on what I was doing, applying aid to the soldier that needed it. We got his clothes to expose the wound. And, you know, medic came over and helped me. We applied the treatment that was needed, and we got the soldier packaged up and taken outside to be put in the ambulance. So, I was honed in and focused on helping that soldier more than paying attention to everything else around me.

BROWN: What about you, Joshua? Did you see your fellow soldiers jump into action to who -- you know, they jumped into action and actually jumped on the shooter to stop him from firing?

ARNOLD: No, we didn't -- we did not witness the -- that action being taken place. It happened in a different part of the facility. We were in the area where the immediate shooting had happened. And yes, every soldier in that area, they reacted exactly how they were supposed to. The medics, the combat medics reacted exactly how they were supposed to. Our soldiers in the other area reacted exactly how they were supposed to. So, all the NCOs and -- the non-commissioned officers, the sergeants and the officers and the soldiers, they did what they were supposed to do. Their training kicked in and they did their jobs.

BROWN: Because the commander says you guys handled the shooting like a battle drill, that is a direct quote, tweeting the situation as you were trained for. But of course, you were trained for war, not a situation like this where it's internal. Tell us more about that training, Melissa, that you received that prepared you for a moment like this.

TAYLOR: So, I have a little bit of a background history with trauma wounds and things like that because I previously was a medic and I was stationed at Triple Army Medical Center in Hawaii for four years and I worked in the ER while I was there, helping treat a lot of different types of trauma in that ER trauma room. And I also worked EMS for Liberty County for a little while here on the weekends. And I've also been to gunshot wounds in the past and help treat those as well.

So, I had a little bit of background experience when it came to how to treat these injuries. So, it was a little bit easy for me to reach back in and just use my past experiences based off of what I've had to deal with in the past. And on top of it, the military training that I've received over the 17 years I've been in the Army. It all kind of just comes to you when you need it. That muscle memory is a real thing.

BROWN: Yes, it really is. Joshua, did you know the suspected shooter? Was there anything out of the ordinary that happened leading up to the incident?

ARNOLD: Not that I'm aware, no.

BROWN: What about you, Melissa? Did you know him? His father had told The New York Times he had complaints about racism and wanted to transfer. Did you know anything about this suspect?

TAYLOR: Can you repeat the question please?

BROWN: Sure. Did you know anything about the suspect? His father had told The New York Times that he had complaints about racism and he wanted to transfer. Did you know anything about him or anything about that?

TAYLOR: I did not know the soldier personally or any of his like personal situations really. As the career counselor, the soldier had talked to me about re-enlistment previously. I do believe I actually did re-enlist this soldier a little while back. But I -- other than that, the contract part of it and the work part of it, I do not believe that the soldier ever spoke to me about anything personal. So, I did not have any kind of background history on him.

BROWN: And so, when you re-enlisted him, as you believed there were no red flags, is what you're saying?

TAYLOR: No. You cannot reenlist a soldier if there was any kind of flag in place or anything like that. So, he met all the criteria at the time.

BROWN: Wow. Joshua, you've been honored along with your fellow soldiers, including Melissa. Tell us what that means to you, to be honored today. ARNOLD: It is an honor to be recognized by your unit and by the Army. I'm very grateful for everything that Second Brigade has done for me and taking care of myself and my family.

BROWN: I want to just give you the opportunity. Is there anything else that you want to say? Melissa, to you first.

TAYLOR: Just that, you know, everybody in this kind of time remain resilient. Lean on each other, that's what we're here for in the army. When things like this happen, you have to be there for your battle buddies to your left and right. Just remain resilient.

[10:40:00]

BROWN: Yes. And you truly represented the best among us and showed that with your actions. You know, people think that they might behave in a certain way if there's a shooting and you really put your lives on the line, administering aid while there's an active shooting, not even thinking about yourself, but thinking about your comrade.

Joshua, there's security, obviously, to get on any military base. He was authorized to be on the base, right, as a soldier, but he brought in a personal handgun. Are you surprised by that?

ARNOLD: I would have to defer any of that questions to CID (ph). I could not speculate on how that happened.

BROWN: Yes. Anything else that you would like to say? I know counselors are on standby to help fellow soldiers dealing with the trauma after this shooting. How are you feeling? What are you hearing from your colleagues about the incident?

ARNOLD: Honestly, I'm very proud of every single one of the individuals that assisted in the aid, that rendered aid, that stopped the assailant. I am very, very proud of every single one of my soldiers in this organization that did not freeze. They did not hesitate. They reacted as soldiers were supposed to and they did their jobs. And I am immensely proud of them and I'm immensely proud of Staff Sergeant Taylor.

BROWN: Yes, you all made America Proud. 1st Sergeant Joshua Arnold and Staff Sergeant Melissa Taylor, thank you so much. As I said, you are the best among us.

TAYLOR: Thank you.

ARNOLD: Thank you.

BROWN: Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And just ahead, there's more breaking news just coming into CNN, the FBI fires senior officials at odds with the Trump administration. We've got the new reporting, that's coming up next, right here in the Situation Room.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [10:45:00]

BROWN: Well, this morning a preview of a Situation Room Special Report. A new church in our nation's capital with a controversial background. And in attendance was a high-profile guest, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. I traveled to Idaho to meet the pastor behind the network of churches and his goal to create a, quote, "Christian world" through a strict interpretation of the bible. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Women are the kind of people that people come out of.

BROWN: So, you just think they're meant to have babies? That's it? They're just a vessel?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, it doesn't take any talent to simply reproduce biologically. The wife and mother, who is the chief executive of the home, is entrusted with three or four or five eternal souls.

BROWN: I'm here as a working journalist, and I'm a mom of three.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good for you.

BROWN: Is that an issue for you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. No. It's not automatically an issue.

BROWN (voice-over): Josh and Amy Prince, along with her four kids, moved here from Washington State.

BROWN: Do you see Amy as your equal?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes and no. In the sense that we're both saved by grace, we're absolutely on equal footing, but we have very different purposes. God given.

BROWN: But do you see yourself as the head of the household as the man.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is the head and of our household.

BROWN: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. And I do submit to him.

BROWN: So, like moving here --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was just going to say that.

BROWN: -- was ultimately your decision?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a great example. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's a great example.

BROWN (voice-over): Wilson says, in his vision of a Christian society, women as individuals shouldn't be able to vote. His fellow pastors, Jared Longshore and Toby Sumter, agreed.

TOBY SUMPTER, PASTOR, KING'S CROSS CHURCH: In my ideal society, we would vote as households. And I would ordinarily be the one that would cast the vote, but I would cast the vote having discussed it with my household.

BROWN: But what if there's a -- your wife doesn't want to vote for the same person as you?

SUMPTER: Right. Well, then that's a great opportunity for a good discussion.

BROWN: There are some who have gone so far as to say that they want the 19th Amendment repealed.

JARED LONGSHORE, EXECUTIVE PASTOS, CHRIST CHURCH: I would support that. And I'd support it on the basis that the atomization that comes with our current system is not good for humans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And you can find the full digital piece online right now at cnn.com. You can get it through the QR code on your screen. It's right here. And we're going to have my full story airing tonight at 8:00 p.m. on Anderson Cooper's show. And then tomorrow, right here on the Situation Room. So, be on the lookout for that.

And we just learned that, Doug Wilson, the senior pastor of this network of churches, he's going to actually be coming to Washington next month to lead a sermon at his new church here in D.C. And as he told me, he's, as he calls it, planting his church here is part of his mission to make this a Christian nation and ultimately a Christian world.

And, Wolf, their belief is that through their work, that this will prompt the second coming of Christ. It's called post-millennialism. And he says that is really the driving force here. But learning about some of his controversial teachings and women, he made it very clear women shouldn't be in leadership roles in the church, and that women shouldn't be in combat roles. It also gives you a bit of understanding about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and perhaps some of the moves he has made. He gave us a statement saying that he is a proud member of this church system.

BLITZER: And doesn't believe the women should even have the right to vote.

BROWN: As individuals. That's right. He made that very clear. Didn't mince words.

BLITZER: This day and age, hard to believe. All right. Excellent reporting. Thank you very, very much. Coming up, in just a moment, we'll speak to the Democratic state lawmaker Gene Wu of Texas. What he makes of the governor's lawsuit to remove him from office if isn't back in Austin by tomorrow.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:50:00]

BLITZER: New this morning, a shocking new report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. It says more than half of the calories Americans eat and drink are from what are called ultra-processed foods.

BROWN: So, we're talking about foods that you don't typically make in your kitchen. Think candy, chips, hot dogs, and frozen meals. CNN Medical Correspondent Meg Tirrell joins us now. Tell us more about this, Meg, what more did this report find?

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, we knew that ultra- processed foods make up a large amount of our food supply, but this really takes a look at how many of our calories we are taking in from ultra-processed foods. And overall, for all Americans over the age of one, that was 55 percent of our total calories between the years 2021 and 2023 were coming from ultra-processed foods.

And there were differences in age groups from how much exposure they have to ultra-processed foods. Kids tend to eat more of them than adults. The top age group for consuming these foods. There's ages six to 11, which parents of kids of those ages probably won't be surprised to hear.

[10:55:00]

But for kids under the age of 18, 62 percent of their calories on the whole came from ultra-processed foods compared with 53 percent for adults over the age of 19.

And guys, there were really interesting differences also in income levels for households in terms of how much ultra-processed food they're eating. We know that these foods tend to be less expensive. They're more convenient. They're often ready to eat. It can be more expensive to eat a less processed diet. And we saw that in the data. For adults in the highest family income levels, they got about 50 percent of their calories from ultra-processed foods, but that was up to 55 percent for lower income families.

We also are interested to see what categories of food are really contributing to this. So, for kids, it was things like sandwiches, including burgers, which was also the top category for adults. Sweet bakery products, savory snacks, pizza, sweetened beverages. A lot of the things that we hear in the dietary guidelines we're supposed to minimize as much as we can.

Also, guys, we're hearing this number and we're thinking, wow, 55 percent overall, that exposure has actually declined over the last five years. If you look for kids, it's gone down from 66 percent about five years ago now to about 62 percent. So, it is declining, but still quite high. Guys.

BROWN: Wow.

BLITZER: And, Meg, I want to turn to another way to potentially lose weight. A subject a lot of us think about all the time. Yes. Eli Lilly now says its new weight loss drug is highly effective. What can you tell us?

TIRRELL: Yes. So, what's really interesting about this drug in particular, the experimental name is Orforglipron, which I'm sure they will get a nice brand name for if they get approval for it. But what's different about it is that it's a daily pill. So, all the things we hear about on the market right now in the class with Ozempic, so the weight loss ones are Wegovy and Zepbound, those are weekly injections, so shots that people give themselves.

So, this would be a daily pill if it gets approved. These were phase three data. So, that's typically the last stage before companies file for approval. And what they saw here is that over 72 weeks in this trial, patients on the highest dose of this medicine lost about 12 percent of their body weight. There are going to be questions about how well it's tolerated, about 10 percent of people dropped out of the trial because of tolerability issues. So, those are things to watch, but this is potentially on its way to market, maybe even as soon as next year into the year after that.

BLITZER: All right. Meg Tirrell reporting for us. Thanks very, very much, Meg.

BROWN: Really interesting stuff there.

BLITZER: Yes.

BROWN: Just ahead, President Trump is reigniting his threat for the federal government to takeover policing in Washington, D.C. We're taking a closer look at what he can and cannot do.

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