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Conflicting Accounts After ICE Agent Points Gun at Woman; Source Says, Several Close Aides Joined Trump on Secret Flight; Midwest Faces Fourth Straight Day of Flooding After Indiana Deluge. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired August 13, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Developing this morning, a tense encounter caught on camera. An ICE agent seen pointing a gun at a mental health therapist who shouted at them. Homeland Security calling her an anti- ICE agitator who tried to harm officers. The therapist's story, though, and the video contradict the government's narrative.

Plus, another day of potentially dangerous flooding in the Midwest now threatening communities already submerged under high waters, one state recording more than 11 inches of rain. That is a one in 1,000 year flood.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: And an entire family is rescued from a tubing trip gone terribly wrong, stuck for three days, surviving off of bark and flowers. We'll bring that story to you.

John and Kate out today. I'm Sara Sidner in Atlanta, and Erica Hill is in New York for us. This is CNN News Central.

HILL: We begin this hour with this image that we're about to, you see the one behind me there. It's an ICE agent, gun drawn, pointed at a woman in Virginia. This is all part of a tense confrontation that was caught on camera, and this morning, with conflicting accounts about what led up to that moment. We're going to play part of all of this for you now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You almost ran us over.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't almost run you over.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You almost ran us over. Stop playing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're so full of (BLEEP).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop playing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are full of (BLEEP).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. You're not funny. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're not funny.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will arrest you. Keep it up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a legal citizen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep it up. I don't care.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my goodness.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't care. I will lock you up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay. For what?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're the one that tried to run us over. Run you over when? I got recording. I got dash cam. That's the one. I got dash cam. That's a lie.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: So, that, of course, was a cellphone video. You heard her reference dash cam video. Well, we do have some of that dash cam video, the woman, Carolina Molina, was talking about. Molina, who's a licensed therapist, said she was actually visiting immigration attorneys. She was there for work on Monday, when she saw agents handcuffing two Latino men. In the video, you heard her shouting insults at the agent. Molina says she then turned her car around and was on her way leaving when a gray SUV cut her off. That's when the agent jumped out with his gun drawn.

Molina was not arrested. The Department of Homeland Security, however, says she could still face prosecution for, quote, weaponizing her vehicle.

CNN's Jason Carroll is joining me now with more of these developments. So, two conflicting accounts, also not clear on the charges, even though they say more could come. Bring us up to speed.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, as we've seen in so many of these controversial cases involving ICE, as you say, two different accounts of exactly what happened here. Carolina Molina says she saw those ICE agents handcuff two people, people who she described as Latino men, and put them in an unmarked vehicle. She says she then rolled down her window and admitted to shouting insults at the ICE officer.

She then says that she tried to turn her car around and drive away. That's when she says those ICE agents drove their cars to try to block her in, and then she says one of them pulled out his gun.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAROLINA MOLINA, RECORDED ENCOUNTER WITH ICE AGENTS: I think my life was in danger at that point. I don't think I processed that in that moment. It wasn't until after, I was like, This was a whole Renee Good situation again. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: That is Molina speaking from a press conference yesterday in Virginia. Of course, she's referring to Renee Good, the mother of three that was shot and killed by ICE agents in Minnesota earlier this year. Her death sparked national outrage and called into question how ICE agents operate and their tactics.

In this case, the Department of Homeland Security releasing a statement saying the following, while ICE was conducting targeted immigration enforcement in Falls Church, Virginia, an anti-ICE agitator began to drive her car in circles around our ICE officers and then attempted to harm officers by weaponizing her vehicle against them in an attempt to help illegal aliens, as they described them, get away. Fearing for their safety, ICE officers conducted a vehicle stop of the driver.

Now, of course, Molina says her dash cam footage shows what really happened.

HILL: Yes, certainly a lot there and still so many questions --

CARROLL: A lot to unpack.

HILL: -- with those differing accounts. Jason, I appreciate it. Thank you.

CARROLL: You bet.

HILL: Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Thank you so much, guys.

[07:05:00]

New details this morning on President Trump's secret plane switch and flight out of Turkey. We're now learning which of the president's close personal aides joined him on that covert flight after he was smuggled onto the aircraft in a catering truck container. The aides who joined him include Executive Assistant Natalie Harp, Oval Office Operations Director Walt Nauta, and Deputy White House Chief of Staff Dan Scavino, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

At the same time, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller stayed on the decoy plane, the plane that was the target, with journalists, members of the media as well.

CNN's Kevin Liptak joining us now from the White House this morning. Kevin, what are you learning about this? Every day there seems to be a little trickle of more information coming out about this covert action.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. And these manifests of the planes are interesting. They were the product of this very hurried, you know, hours-long effort to put this plan together. The two cabinet secretaries who were left behind on the original Air Force One, they did know what was happening. They knew that President Trump was not aboard. That's not true of many other people on that flight, but at least for Marco Rubio and Scott Bessent, both of them were aware that this plan was afoot.

When it comes to those two personal aides who joined President Trump on the alternate Air Force One, you know, when you talk to White House officials, they say that's not necessarily a surprise. They're sort of by the president's side everywhere he goes.

And it's interesting, when you look at video from the tarmac of that base in the United Kingdom, when the president was transferring planes back to the Qatari jet, you can actually see Pete Hegseth, Natalie Harp, who's the blonde there in the dress, and Walt Nauta, who you see there with Pete Hegseth, both of them -- or all of them, joining the president as he walks back to this plane. So, it's interesting who exactly was on the flight. That was the product of this threat that they received while they were on the ground there in Turkey.

Now, in retrospect, there is some debate about exactly how serious that threat was. It originated with Israel. Israel coming to the U.S. with this information that potentially Iranian proxies or perhaps Iran fighters themselves would cross the border, would target Air Force One in attempts to take it down, including using this shoulder-fired missile.

Some American officials did view that as implausible at the time in part because they thought that Israel could be trying to influence President Trump's decision-making at what was a very sensitive moment in the Iran war. Remember, this is right around the time that the ceasefire was collapsing and President Trump was weighing whether to go back into open conflict.

The other reason that they didn't necessarily think that this was plausible is the security in Turkey was very, very tight. You know, I was in Ankara for this summit. I don't remember another conference like this where there were so many police, so many roadblocks. And so for a lot of reasons, they didn't necessarily think that this was a threat that was credible, but the U.S. officials did gather their own information.

Part of what worried them was how specific the details were that Iran had about the president's arrangements on the ground there in Turkey. For that reason, they decided there was no margin for error. They weren't going to take the risk. They executed this plan, and they even mustered fighter jets to accompany both of those flights, the original Air Force One and the alternate jet, out of Turkey.

SIDNER: Kevin Liptak, thank you for your reporting there from the White House for us. Erica?

HILL: Relentless storms are causing catastrophic flooding in the Midwest, and there is more in the forecast today.

Plus, talks of a possible plea deal in the federal case against accused healthcare CEO killer. We have new details now on the negotiations, and a hastily scheduled hearing now on the calendar.

Plus, Travis Kelce opening up for the first time about his wedding to Taylor Swift, calling it the best night of my life, and also revealing why it was a childhood dream come true.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:10:00]

SIDNER: Happening now, the Midwest bracing for a fourth straight day of flooding, and it might not catch a break until tomorrow.

Storms unleashing catastrophic floods in Indiana, the high waters swamped homes and even boats, forcing evacuations there. Rescue crews had to help a man whose boat got stuck against a utility pole. Parts of Indiana got more than 11 inches of rain in 32 hours, a 1 in 1,000 year flood event.

Now, let's go to Ohio, where floodwaters swallowed up roads and buried cars there, hundreds of thousands of people waking up this morning without power. You can see why in that instance.

CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam is here with more. Flooding is always such a dangerous prospect. And when you look at how high these waters got, my goodness.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, incredible to see these videos, Sara. Just to put it into perspective for our viewers, the National Weather Service coming out of Indianapolis actually issued more flashflood warnings with a considerable tag attached to it just yesterday alone, since the first time they actually started issuing those, which was back in 2019.

On top of that, they had three flashflood emergencies one of which you're looking over my left shoulder. You can see how fast the water is moving, the swift water rescues that were necessary.

[07:15:00]

That is indeed an emergency. We still have millions of Americans that are under this flashflood threat right now, including some of the same locations that were struck hardest this week, and including yesterday.

Look at Central Indiana, this area picking up nearly a foot of rain. That's why we saw those pictures just a moment ago. It's not currently raining right now, but look what's upstream. That is a batch of showers and thunderstorms that is really driving and following the same weather patterns that have driven these storms over the same areas for days on end. And guess what? Today is another one of those days, so is tomorrow. So, we have repeated rounds of thunderstorms that could bring more flash flooding later today.

Severe thunderstorm threat associated with this band of thunderstorms currently moving across Iowa. They have severe thunderstorm watches until about 11:00 A.M. Central Time. Look at this. We have warnings ongoing right now, Boone, Dallas, Greene, Guthrie. Heads up, this line of thunderstorms with winds in excess of 60 miles per hour at times are moving through the Central Plains and potentially impacting Illinois in the hours to come.

So, let's time this out. Chicago, you're under the gun as well. You have a fourth straight day of severe weather threat with the potential of flash flooding as well. Look at how the storms back-build. That means that you start to see this extension of the precipitation line moving back from the original line. So, that's going to move over those same locations across Central Indiana into Illinois. That's why we continue this multi-day flashflood threat today and then once again into tomorrow to end off the work week.

It has been absolutely brutal. My heart breaks for the people who are dealing with the flooding.

SIDNER: Yes. And those flashfloods, they come so fast that if you sometimes don't have time to get out of its way.

VAN DAM: Got to get to higher ground.

SIDNER: Got to get to higher ground every time.

Thank you so much.

VAN DAM: You got it.

SIDNER: It's good to be with you, Derek Van Dam.

All right, still ahead, questions now swirling about a possible plea deal in the Luigi Mangione murder case.

Plus, incredible video of deputies pulling a man out of a burning car. We'll take you there. Ooh.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

HILL: New developments this morning in Luigi Mangione's federal case. CNN has learned about an emergency hearing set for tomorrow, and that hearing now fueling speculation about a possible plea deal. So, he, of course, is accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. He's actually facing separate state and federal charges in New York.

CNN reporting back in June Mangione's attorneys had spoken with prosecutors about a potential plea deal, but they weren't able to reach one then. Sources say the new discussions are fluid. All of this, of course, is happening just weeks before that state case is scheduled to head to trial.

Joining me now, CNN legal Analyst, Criminal Defense Attorney Joey Jackson. Okay. So, Joey, we see this very hastily put on the calendar, this hearing for tomorrow. What do you read into that?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Okay, quite a bit, Erica, good morning, great to see you. Okay. So, this is a function of what the practical realities are, okay? Here's what I read into it. Number one, when you're assessing a plea deal, what are you looking at? First thing you're looking at is the probabilities for success, meaning as a defendant to prevail in the case.

Now, you could use something like jury nullification. You know what that means. It means the jury excuses the conduct even though they see the conduct, because this guy has so many fans all over the place who are in accord with him and the act that he engaged in. But that is sort of what we call a Hail Mary, right? At the end of the day, you have to look to the facts and the evidence.

And so when you look at the facts and you look at the evidence, it's compelling. You've got DNA at the scene. You've got this gun. You've got the ballistic match to him. You have what's written on the actual, you know, shell casings disposed, delay, all of these other things, and you have all the surveillance.

So, what does that lead us to? It leads us to the actual attorney saying, hey, can we prevail? And then, Erica, you have to understand that if we do prevail, can we prevail in state court and also federal court? Because the state trial is proceeding, as we know on September 8th with jury selection, and then after you get through that, you got to go across the street to federal court. Can you win both cases?

So, it takes you to the place where you're representing a 28-year-old defendant. You want him to have some semblance of a life. If he gets convicted, ultimately he spends the rest of his life in jail. Is it time to plea? And there's also another great reason why they're doing so, which we can talk about.

HILL: Well, could that great reason be if there is a federal plea deal, the impact it could have on state charges?

JACKSON: Wow. Yes, indeed, Erica. That is the reality. And so I think what's happening is that the attorneys are saying, if we plead in federal court, the state case can literally go away, okay?

Now, there's precedent for that, and there's law based upon that. In the event that you take a federal plea and those charges are substantially the same, involving the same transaction, occurrence, instances, and there's no other evil that's designed to be eradicated by the state cases, right- -- they're one in the same, then you get to this issue of double jeopardy. So, if you plead in federal court, why do you need the state case? It's been disposed of. The same evil, murder, is being addressed in both.

Now, it will be subject to heavy litigation. The precedent, though, is Paul Manafort. Paul Manafort, ultimately we know him, Donald Trump's campaign manager. He was convicted on federal charges. Fearing a pardon, the state, meaning prosecutors in Manhattan, indicted him. The court said, you can't do that, it rises from the same set of circumstances, the same evil, bank fraud, with regard to him, not murder, you know, was designed for both, and so it was thrown out.

So, I think the Manhattan prosecutors may litigate that issue. It's not a surety, but there's a very good reason why the defense is thinking about going over to the feds and saying, hey, let's cry uncle. Let's end this. Let's save our client's life.

HILL: Just take me back for a minute. If I recall, my friend, you started your career as a prosecutor.

JACKSON: I did.

HILL: Right? So, how do you think this is playing, specifically when we look at the state prosecutors, right, as they're watching all of this while still preparing for that trial September 8th?

JACKSON: Yes, absolutely. In fact, I started my career in that office, okay? So, right there in the Manhattan D.A.'s office, great attorneys there, by the way. So, what ended up happening is I think that they are looking at it like, number one, we have to be prepared to move forward on the 8th. No question, September 8th, that is, with this state case, we have to have all our ducks in a row.

[07:25:01]

As we know, though, look, life is fluid in general, and they're thinking, in the event he does take this federal plea, do we want to litigate it? And I think -- I'm thinking, Erica, that the defense attorneys with their client are inclined to really entertain such a plea deal if it spares, and when I say spares his life, there's no death penalty on the table, but I'm saying life without parole, you're gone forever.

HILL: Yes.

JACKSON: So, they really have to look at it closely.

HILL: Joey, always good to see you, my friend.

JACKSON: Pleasure's mine.

HILL: Thank you.

JACKSON: Thanks, Erica.

HILL: Outrage after video shows an Arkansas state trooper slamming a woman to the ground, punching her in the face. Her attorney is with us next on their demand for accountability.

Plus, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt with a surprise announcement, the president announcing she's leaving the administration. What we know about a possible replacement.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: The White House is looking for a new press secretary this morning, President Trump announcing that Karoline Leavitt will step down from the role at the end of the month to spend more time with her family.

[07:30:05]

The president called the 28-year-old one of his most trusted aides.