Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Immigrants Rights Group: Colombian Man Killed In Maine ICE Shooting; GOP Scrambles To Find Graham's Replacement For November Ballot; Trump Formally Notifies Congress That Military Action Has Resumed In Iran; Cases Of Diarrhea Caused By Parasite Spike In Several States; Health Officials In Several States Are Tracking Climbing Cyclosporiasis Cases. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired July 13, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:00:38]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Pay to Pass: President Trump declares the U.S. will be the guardian, as he puts it, of the Strait of Hormuz, but safe passage will not be free for cargo ships.

And in one hour, South Carolina's governor will announce a replacement for the late Senator Lindsey Graham. The big question, will it be a caretaker for the seat or someone who will want to run for the Senate in November?

And more than 3,000 cases and now dozens of people hospitalized with the parasite that is causing excruciating symptoms for thousands of Americans. We'll have the latest on that outbreak of cyclosporiasis. We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

First, we have new details into CNN about a fatal ICE-involved shooting today in Maine. An immigration rights group says the man killed was a 26-year-old from Colombia who was authorized to work in the United States.

We're also learning from Maine Senator Angus King that he says the man was the target of an immigration enforcement operation. King saying that he spoke with DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin about the incident and that there was an order for final removal for the man.

Residents have gathered in Biddeford, the city where the shooting happened, demanding answers. Witnesses are describing the final moments with some saying they watched the man die. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is with us now.

Priscilla, what more can you tell us? And also, we're getting these conflicting, it sounds like, stories about the man's status.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, and we also haven't heard from the Department of Homeland Security officially yet about what exactly unfolded this morning in Maine. What we have heard is some of what you discussed. Senator Angus King connected with Secretary Markwayne Mullin earlier today, and that's where they had a discussion about the incident. He was told that this was an individual with a final order of removal, that he was a male in his 20s, a fact that a Maine Immigrant Rights Coalition has confirmed that he's 26 years old and from Colombia, that he was the target of this operation. That's notable.

Remember in Houston, that individual was not -- the Mexican national, was not the target of that operation. And notably that they were not wearing those body-worn cameras. So, we are depending in large part on surveillance footage. And we have had some of that brought into CNN through a ring doorbell, which caught at least four gunshots. We also have video of a -- a cell phone video of the car that appears to be that of the individual that sort of takes a bit of a U-turn. You see it there. It's unclear when the shooting happened, if it was before or after, but you see what appears to be his vehicle there.

And of course, Brianna, all of this is in the context of a shooting that happened just last week in Houston of a Mexican national during an immigration enforcement operation. So, here we have two instances back-to-back, again, in these vehicle stops.

Now, I do want to know, Brianna, we are seeing these vehicle stops happen more regularly. This is something that my sources have talked to me about, different from those sweeps that we saw last year, but still they are going out to the streets and doing these activities. And clearly, they are leading to these unfortunate circumstances where their targets are being fatally shot last week and this week.

I will tell you that in talking to officials today, part of their concern also privately is that the sentiment that had been built and the trust that Markwayne Mullin was trying to build in his confirmation hearing and in the months since he's held the job, they're afraid of that eroding with these fatal shootings. Remember, this was part of former Homeland Security, Kristi Noem's reputation as she left with Minneapolis. They did not want that to happen again under Markwayne Mullin. And now we have these two incidents in the matter -- in the matter of one week that have unfolded.

But we still don't have many details about what happened in Maine, again, because we haven't heard from the Department of Homeland Security.

KEILAR: And is there body cam footage of the incident in Houston?

ALVAREZ: There is not. There was not body-worn cameras in either instance, yes.

KEILAR: That's -- that's problematic when you've had certainly under different leadership, but there's been a credibility problem with the department that it seems like body cameras might solve.

[15:05:02]

Is that something you've been hearing?

ALVAREZ: Well, and that is something that then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem committed to. Twenty million dollars had been put toward this effort to have body-worn cameras sent distributed to officers across the country. Last week, the Department of Homeland Security was blaming the shutdown for the slow rollout, but officials tell me it has just been a slow rollout.

So, what you have here is that some areas have it, some don't. It just so happens that in Houston they didn't, where there was a shooting last week. In Maine they didn't, according to Angus King, who spoke with the Secretary. And so in the absence of that, you're just depending on the footage from the surrounding areas.

KEILAR: Yes, that's tough. Priscilla, thanks for the latest on that. We appreciate it.

Here in less than an hour, South Carolina's governor will name who is going to temporarily fill the seat of the late Senator Lindsey Graham. The 71-year-old four-term senator died unexpectedly Saturday from a medical emergency involving his heart. It was known as an aortic dissection. That is the tearing of the aorta. No doubt his passing is looming over the Senate floor right now as lawmakers returned to session just moments ago.

Graham was seeking reelection for a fifth term. State law appears to call for a special Republican primary in just under a month to determine who will replace Graham's name on the November ballot. CNN Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju is on the Hill for us.

Manu, President Trump said he wants the senator's sister to take over his seat in the interim. What's the reaction been to that? And also, just to folks coming back into town after this sudden news over the weekend.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, shell-shocked the senators are. They're walking in on the Senate floor right now. In fact, the Senate just opened up with a prayer from the Senate chaplain, Barry Black, a very moving prayer. And then we've heard -- now hearing from Senator Chuck Grassley, the president pro tem, the longest-serving senator now addressing the Senate, talking about Lindsey Graham.

And we expect these tributes to happen through the course of the day and in the coming days, not just from Republicans, but Democrats alike, because Lindsey Graham was -- was one of the senators who was able to forge deep relationships with members on both sides of the aisle, even as he battled Democrats on a number of key issues. He's also a bipartisan dealmaker, also traveled the world on bipartisan CODELs, delegations, trips to the Middle East, to Ukraine, as he just came back from Ukraine just -- just hours before his death on Saturday night.

Now, the President did indeed put his support behind Henry McMaster, picking as an interim replacement Graham's sister, Darline Graham Nordone. And not only is -- is the President supportive of that pick, but also Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who told this to our colleague Dana Bash earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): That certainly, in -- in my view, makes a lot of sense. I think in -- in many respects, it would be a way of extending Lindsey's legacy here, and certainly something that, if that's what they decide to end up doing, I think there'd be a lot of support for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now, Graham's replacement would serve out the rest of his current term, which ends on January 3rd, but there would be a primary that would take place in August, a Republican primary, for his six- year term. Remember, Senator Graham was running for re-election. He had just won his own primary, and there are a lot of names that are floating about who may run in what could be a crowded Republican primary to fill out the rest of his term. There'll be a general election against a Democratic nominee in November.

Now, the immediate void that Lindsey Graham leads is here in the Senate. He was a senior player on so many key committees. He was the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, meaning he was leading the President's new effort to pass a sweeping legislation by the August recess. That's going to change the dynamics of how that bill gets across the finish line, if it actually does get across the finish line.

He also was a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is expected to hear testimony this week of Todd Blanche, President Trump's pick to be the next Attorney General of the United States. Still uncertain if they proceed with that confirmation hearing, as now there'll be a game of musical chairs of sorts as new members will try to get spots to fill those spots that Lindsey Graham occupied, because he was a senior member, and seniority, as you know, Brianna, carries so much weight in the Senate, and it had so much influence, meaning he had a lot of influential positions on key committees as well, Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, certainly. Manu, thank you so much for the latest from the Hill there.

Still to come, tension in the Middle East ramping up as the U.S. intensifies its attacks on Iran, and Tehran launches strikes across the region.

Plus, a federal judge ruling that President Trump sought to, quote, "manipulate the judicial process" with his lawsuit against the IRS. The judge now ordering sanctions for the attorneys involved.

And then later, cases of an outbreak of gastrointestinal distress. That is what I am going to call it, but you can use your imagination, caused by a parasite jump in Michigan and Ohio.

[15:10:03]

Authorities are working to find out if cases in dozens of other states are linked to this outbreak. We'll have that and much more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:14:33]

KEILAR: We are following major breaking news. President Trump says he will address the nation Thursday evening without providing additional details in his Truth Social post on what he's going to say. But the news is coming just minutes after we learned that Trump formally notified Congress that U.S. military action against Iran has resumed.

In a letter to the Senate on Friday, the President said military action commenced on July 7th and described it as, quote, "limited and defensive against Iranian military assets."

[15:15:01]

In the meantime, the U.S. military now says it will officially begin enforcing a new blockade on Iranian ports tomorrow at 4 P.M. Eastern after President Trump said earlier today that it is being reinstated. The President also announcing the U.S. will impose a 20 percent cargo charge on other vessels for safe passage.

Oil prices rising sharply in response to this news, surging to the highest levels that we've seen in a month. CNN's Kristen Holmes joining us from the White House. Kristen, tell us the latest.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now, I mean, it's pretty stark that President Trump actually reached out to Congress putting this in writing. It's the first time we've seen him do so, specifically after a number of Republican senators expressed concern that he was violating War Powers. They passed that War Powers Resolution, although it was just symbolic.

He writes in it that ground forces were not involved in any of this military action. He also says very specifically, These strikes are limited, measured, planned, and executed in a manner designed to minimize civilian casualties." This is notable because we're basically watching the end of whatever was left of that ceasefire. Yes, President Trump had said that the ceasefire was over, but we still hadn't seen a naval blockade. We still hadn't seen Iran regularly attacking commercial vessels.

Now, of course, it seems as though the last piece of this, which was that naval blockade, is being put back into effect. A U.S. military official saying that that blockade will be in effect at 4 P.M. on Tuesday, so tomorrow. And it is -- it is noteworthy that President Trump and his team, from all of the U.S. officials I have talked to, still continue to believe that the blockade is probably their greatest asset when it comes to choking off Iran and their financials.

They have obviously reimposed sanctions. They have talked about -- or we have seen them resume these strikes. Now this naval blockade really seems to be the last piece, and it certainly seems as though we are going to be, at least very soon, back to that heightened conflict that we saw before the ceasefire. And President Trump has been talking about the Strait of Hormuz,

saying that they are going to be -- they, the United States -- the guardians of the Strait, saying they should be reimbursed by that. No one is really clear what that means, particularly given -- you see it right there, it says reimbursed at a rate of 20 percent on all cargo shipped. We have heard U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, say that this is like an international waterway and that this cannot be taxed by anyone, that no one can benefit financially from that.

So, it is really unclear how any of this would work. But again, the one thing that is clear is that any kind of ceasefire appears to have completely collapsed here as we wait to see what is next.

KEILAR: Yes, certainly. Kristen Holmes, live for us at the White House, thank you.

Cases of that nasty stomach bug are just surging, especially in Michigan, also in Ohio. Thousands of people have been affected. Why health authorities say tracing the source has been difficult. Stay with CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:22:40]

KEILAR: A debilitating gastrointestinal bug caused by the Cyclospora parasite is sickening thousands of people across several states, but most cases are concentrated in Michigan, where the total case count has surpassed 2,600. CNN Health Reporter Jacqueline Howard is with us now on this story. We've been talking about this for quite a while now, Jacqueline. Tell us more about the people who are getting sick here.

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: That's right, Brianna. That's right, Brianna. And with each time we see a case more and more popping up, we're also hearing more about hospitalizations. We know that in Michigan alone, at least 44 people have been hospitalized with this illness. The 44 are among the more than 2,600 cases reported so far in that state.

And then, Brianna, there are additional cases being reported across the country. More than half of states, 31 states total, are reporting cases. And we know that there are hospitalizations in other states as well. So, this is really growing. But what I should really emphasize here, though, health officials are still scrambling to confirm the source of many of these cases, specifically the source of the outbreak happening in Michigan.

The cases that we see in other states may not be connected to the larger cluster of cases that we see in Michigan, as well as in parts of Ohio. And the reason why this is really difficult to pinpoint exactly the source is because when someone becomes infected with the Cyclospora parasite, it can be a couple of days to a couple of weeks until they develop symptoms. And so, it makes it really difficult to identify what was the source

of their infection. And that's the question that many health officials are scrambling to answer right now. And the illness itself, the symptoms to look for are gastrointestinal, primarily the most common symptom, watery diarrhea. In some cases, this can be explosive diarrhea.

And again, this may develop just a couple of days or a couple of weeks after you actually encounter that Cyclospora parasite, Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, so it's not just like, oh, this was last night's dinner, right? This could have been last week's dinner.

HOWARD: Exactly.

KEILAR: And then also, we've heard from medical experts that maybe you don't feel so good for a few days and then you start to get better.

[15:25:07]

But then, oh my goodness, you start to feel bad again, that there can be this kind of up and down to it. So, at first people might think they're getting better. I mean, what do they need -- how -- how do they need to be treated and -- and knowing that at a certain point like this is not just -- I don't just have like your run-of-the-mill stomach bug here.

HOWARD: That's right, symptoms can last for weeks in some cases. Now, this can be treated with a combination antibiotic. This specific medication we should have -- there it is there on your screen here. This specific medication can be a treatment but for most healthy people, if you do have a healthy robust immune system, most people may recover on their own eventually. But again, like you said Brianna, symptoms can last. \So, it is helpful knowing that we do have a treatment.

And when many people do become hospitalized with this, in most cases it's actually because of dehydration. Because those symptoms that I mentioned of diarrhea and nausea and in some cases vomiting, that can lead to dehydration which can then lead to a hospitalization. But bottom-line, Brianna, you want to avoid this and the way to do that is to thoroughly wash your fruits and vegetables, your fresh produce. We know that you can become infected if you consume contaminated food or water, that's food or water that may be contaminated with feces.

So, wash your fruits and vegetables. You can try a one-part vinegar, three parts water rinse and like wash your vegetables in a bowl of that rinse. Physically stir them with your hand. And also, even though it's summertime, cook your fruits and vegetables. If you can, grill that pineapple or saute those vegetables because cooking can also help reduce your risk as well, Brianna.

KEILAR: It's such a bummer, Jacqueline, but the flip side ...

HOWARD: I know. KEILAR: ... is a lot of gastrointestinal distress so I see your point and I will take it. Jacqueline Howard, thank you very much for that report.

Ahead, a federal judge is slamming President Trump's controversial lawsuit against the IRS. She's also ordering sanctions, quite rare, against the lawyers involved in the case. We'll have details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)