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Cartoon of Firing Squad Aimed at U.S. Veterans Sparks Controversy; U.S. Says It Hit "Dozens" Of Military Targets in Iran; Trump Says U.S. Reinstating Blockade of Iranian Ports; Parasitic Outbreak Hitting More Than Half of U.S. States. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired July 13, 2026 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, one of America's oldest veterans' organizations, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, is facing backlash after the group created a T-shirt featuring a political cartoon showing veterans facing a firing squad.

CNN correspondent, Brian Todd, is here with us in the Situation Room with more. So, what more can you tell us, Brian, about this cartoon and all this controversy?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Pamela, this has really sparked a debate over political satire, free speech. First, we're going to show you the cartoon in question. Pamela just showed it to you. This latest version appearing on a t-shirt being sold by the group Veterans of Foreign Wars, VFW, depicts a firing squad of men in business suits labeled bureaucrats and media aiming their rifles at veterans. It has the phrase, honor the contract, and captions there saying punishing service, removing benefits, and waste and fraud.

Now, the VFW, which has 1.3 million members, says it's used the cartoon in different variations since the 1930s to protest proposed cuts to veterans' benefits. We're showing one version there from 1956 and another from 1933.

Now, Republican Congressman Mike Bost, chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, he has written a letter to the Department of Veterans Affairs asking the VA to investigate VFW over this cartoon, asking the agency to review the VFW's accreditation and its financing arrangements for merchandising. Boss says the imagery in the cartoon could be interpreted as, quote, "glorifying or normalizing political violence.

The VFW and other veterans' service organizations, we have to say, have recently come out against a bill introduced by Congressman Bost and his Republican counterpart in the Senate, which would alter veterans' benefits in ways that the VFW does not agree with.

The VFW says the latest cartoon and the sale of the T-shirts were not done specifically to protest Bost's bill here. But Christina Keegan from the VFW said on the group's podcast that the timing of Bost's letter to the VA coming just after the rollout of the sale of the T- shirts is not coincidental. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTINA KEENAN, NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE SERVICE DIRECTOR, VFW: Whether you like the image and the T-shirt or whether you hate it, you know, it's a little ironic that it's become an issue today because we are not in support of the chairman's bill.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

KEENAN: So, you know, obviously his -- the timing is unfortunate, and had there been an issue when we first started using the image, I think we would have -- or had his staff come and talk to us about the image being problematic, we -- you know, we could have had a conversation about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: Now, the VFW stresses that in their minds at least, this cartoon is not a depiction of violence, and in a statement regarding Bost's request for its accreditation to be reviewed, VFW says Bost's letter, quote, "identifies no allegation that the VFW or any of our accredited representatives violated VA accreditation standards, acted unethically, or failed a single veteran. Instead, it seeks to question our fitness because we disagreed with pending legislation. That should concern every veteran," end quote.

In a statement to CNN, Congressman Bost's office said this, quote, "This is not about silencing any organization or discouraging debate. Chairman Bost welcomes strong policy disagreements and values the role veteran service organizations play in informing Congress. His concern is that our public discourse remains factual, respectful, and free from rhetoric that could be interpreted as encouraging violence."

Now, key question here, we reached out to the VA to ask them how they would respond to all of this, how they would respond to Chairman Bost's letter, and whether the agency will review the VFW's accreditation and financing. The VA has not responded to our inquiries, and they have not responded to Congressman Bost's letter yet. Pamela.

BROWN: All right. I know you will stay on top of it. Brian Todd, thank you so much.

And just ahead, my exclusive reporting from the Arabian Sea aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Heads up, heads up, heads up on the waist. We got our early fives to get airborne, so stand clear of the waist catapults, catwalks, and shot lines while launching these aircraft. Shoot them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: How the Navy ships closest to Iran are navigating threats amid an escalating conflict. That's next.

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[11:35:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, the U.S. is ramping up its attacks on Iran. The military is saying it hit dozens of Iranian military targets overnight. And Iran meanwhile, is launching retaliatory strikes. State media says the attacks are aimed at U.S. bases in the region.

BROWN: And as the Iran war rages on, I spent last week on the USS Abraham Lincoln, a crucial aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, speaking with the crew about what life on board is like amid these threats and how they're navigating this prolonged conflict.

BLITZER: Pamela, President Trump just announced that the Iranian blockade is reinstated and that the U.S. will now charge fees for ships that pass through it. I know you had a chance to speak to many officials about this blockade and some of the difficulties about reimposing it. Bring us up to speed on what they told you about these major challenges.

BROWN: What was interesting, as things were escalating when I was on board the ship, the expectation from those on board I talked to you was that the blockade would be reimposed.

[11:40:00]

So, this is not a surprise, but it is a massive undertaking, and talking to those who are in charge of planning it. They say, look, there was no playbook before this. It takes coordination at a massive scale, particularly when you're dealing with the Arabian Sea, which is a huge body of water.

And they walked through some of the challenges with me. They said, first of all, the fighter jets that are heavily involved in the blockade, they've not necessarily created and made for maritime control, and yet they are out there helping with the blockade effort.

In addition, you have these destroyers that are doing defense, protecting the 20,000 sailors at sea in the region, and now they're also in charge of the blockade, identifying ships, deciding whether they're going to an Iranian port or not. And so, that is another added, you know, assignment for these crews that are already very busy defense, making sure they're intercepting threats, getting to the aircraft carrier. So, it's a huge undertaking, but as I said, they were ready for this.

BLITZER: You also got to see the massive coordination, this operation for fighter jets taking off and landing aboard this aircraft carrier. Take us inside that.

BROWN: Yes. We went to what's known as the primary flight control, or pri-fly, as they call it in the Navy, and the commander there brought me into what was truly controlled chaos. Fun fact, his call name is Borat. Take a watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Airbus is overall in charge of essentially the visual area here within the aircraft carrier, launches, recoveries, just to make sure that everything is conducted safely.

RAPCAT 3, RAPCAT 3.

And beacon --

Red on the waist.

Excuse me.

BROWN: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Airbus. Yes. 612 for RAP. All right. All right. Thank you. 612. 612, go 18 for your RAP.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So, in that conversation, I asked him what was he doing, what was he saying. He said that he was coordinating with the different aircraft in the air, making sure that they're able to share information. So, really a crucial role. And you have the flight deck right here. We're looking at video of that.

There was a separate level below known as the Ouija board, where there's all kinds of choreography taking place to track the exact position of the aircraft, the status, the maintenance, whether they need fuel. Here's what I'm told by Lieutenant Commander Veronica Solano about this busy area.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. COMMANDER VERONICA SOLANO, USS ABRAHAM LINCOIN: This is a replica of the flight deck and the hangar bay. So, everything is done to what the aircraft are truly size are. We have a penology, which we track. And every aircraft is pinned for different events or different maintenance or different things that they will need throughout the day. And we have our EO. So, we ensure that they get tracked.

So, we pin our events, three events at a time. So, we'll go from green, yellow, and pink. So, right now we will be entering event three, which is pink. So, once they start calling up, here is it early because there's two. Once it's up and ready, he just moves it up forward, and that's a visual indication that that aircraft is up and ready. I will then announce it to the deck. He's kind of like our quarterback, up on deck, and I'll let him know 411 is up and ready. So, he's tracking.

This board gives us a true indication of what it's looking like out on the flight deck.

BROWN: And that helps to make sure operations are running smoothly. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And let me tell you, it is a massive operation, all these different entities on the aircraft carrier working together in symphony to make sure that these aircraft are ready to go, taking off, landing. And it was just a very fast tempo on the ship with these missions from those fighter jets.

We just want to thank the crew on board the ship as well to let us on there, to have that access while they're working so hard. And I also want to thank my senior field producer, Mick Krever, and senior photojournalist John Torigoe, an all-star team. You see them right here as this fighter jet is landing. Thank you to everyone. It really was a team effort capturing all of this.

BLITZER: You guys did a great, great job.

BROWN: Thank you.

BLITZER: Our new war correspondent, Pamela Brown.

BROWN: I don't know. I think that's your original title.

BLITZER: No, I was Pentagon correspondent.

BROWN: OK. But you covered some wars in your day.

BLITZER: All right. Well, good work. We're very happy you're back safe and sound.

BROWN: Thank you.

BLITZER: All right. Coming up, intestinal illness. We're getting brand-new numbers on a growing outbreak as a parasite that causes very dangerous diarrhea affects thousands and thousands of people across the country. We'll be right back.

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[11:45:00]

BROWN: All right. So, new this morning, health officials say cases of a nasty parasite have jumped to more than 3,000 patients across Michigan and Ohio. This is a severe stomach bug known to cause debilitating symptoms that can actually last for weeks. With more than 30 states reporting cases of the infection. Michigan is at the center of the largest outbreak with more than 2,600 people sick. The parasite has been linked to contaminated food and recreational water sources like swimming pools.

BLITZER: And joining us now is the former CDC director, Dr. Robert Redfield. Dr. Redfield, how serious is this illness? And what sort of food should we be avoiding right now?

[11:50:00] DR. ROBERT REDFIELD, FORMER DIRECTOR, CDC: Well, look, it can be quite serious. And then it can cause severe dehydration if it's not treated in terms of maintaining your hydration.

Luckily, an antibiotic that we know as Bactrim or Septra does have some positive impact. So, it is partially treatable. But it can be a quite uncomfortable gastrointestinal pathogen. It's a parasite. It can, you know, really last anywhere from two days, two weeks, and even longer into even a month with severe diarrhea, gastrointestinal disturbances.

The foods that we associate it with largely are fresh vegetables and fresh fruits. We have had outbreaks in this country secondary to cilantro, to basil, to snow peas, to raspberries, to lettuce. The challenge we have is that there's no real reservoir for this. The reservoir for this pathogen is actually human feces. So, it's a subject of human contamination in water and in the foods that we eat. It does get killed by heating to 158 degrees. But it is hard to, it's a sticky little parasite.

And so, when you wash your vegetables, it doesn't necessarily always wash off. So, you know, obviously the safest thing is to eat cooked vegetables, cooked fruit. But it's quite significant outbreak that right now we have in the United States. It's in 31 states. We've had no deaths. We have had, you know, 80 something hospitalizations, 86 hospitalizations I think the last I checked. But it can make you severely, you know, severe diuretic.

It's a bigger problem for immunosuppressed patients, patients with HIV infection. They can have bouts that will last longer, even months.

BROWN: Wow. So, what should you do then if you think you're sick with this parasite?

DR. REDFIELD: If you do think you have it, you developed, you know, diarrhea, abdominal bloating, abdominal discomfort. It's not a bad idea to see your physician because they can actually treat you with a drug called Bactrim receptor if you're not allergic to sulfa. And that can alleviate your symptoms much quicker.

Unfortunately, there's not a lot of good alternative bacteria. Some people have this one study that I think was done. Only one study that suggested maybe ciprofloxacin was effective. But it really wasn't a very good study. And I don't think the data is very clear. So, I really think the only antibiotic that I have any confidence that may have any benefit would be Bactrim receptor.

BLITZER: Last year, Dr. Redfield, the CDC actually scaled back a decades-long federal-state partnership that monitors foodborne illnesses, including those caused by cyclospora. The move no longer requires authorities to report it and other pathogens to the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, known as FoodNet. How do those cuts to the agency impact the response to outbreaks like we're seeing right now?

DR. REDFIELD: Well, it's harder to identify them. I mean, the key to public health response is pathogen identification. When I was CDC director, I really thought we had a very good program that could really pick up foodborne pathogens pretty quickly in partnership with the FDA. So, I don't think it's in our country's interest to cut these programs back. Surveillance is sort of the key to early identification.

The problem with the cyclosporine outbreak is since it may take 2 to 14 days, even longer, to a month to get symptomatic, it's really hard to identify source. So, right now, even though it's in 31 states, unlike most foodborne outbreaks, we don't know the source. We don't know if it's lettuce. We don't know if it's cilantro. We don't know if it's basil. We really don't know the source. And that makes it even more problematic to try to contain the outbreak.

BROWN: Really quickly, Dr. Redfield, Taco Bell is temporarily changing their menu at some locations. They're removing some ingredients like lettuce, cilantro, guacamole as a precautionary measure. Do you think more restaurants should be taking these steps?

DR. REDFIELD: I think they're going to because I think it will eventually, if the outbreak continues, and it will probably continue through the summer, for whatever reason, these outbreaks in the United States seem to happen in spring and summer. So, that probably tells you something about the sources.

[11:55:00]

But I do think it will begin to have sort of a potential economic impact on some of these companies that people will begin to shy away from companies that have a lot of, you know, chopped lettuce and stock products that they feel that may cause contamination.

But I've seen that some of the companies are looking at it quite seriously. Some have started. In the past, some of the companies have really limited, for example, the use of lettuce.

BROWN: OK. All right. Well, we'll see what happens. If more restaurants follow suit, Dr. Robert Redfield, thank you.

BLITZER: Appreciate it very much. And to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us this morning. You can always keep up with us on social media, @wolfblitzer and @pamelabrowncnn.

BROWN: And we'll see you back here tomorrow morning at 10:00 Eastern. Inside Politics with our friend and colleague Dana Bash starts after a quick break.

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