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CNN Headlines: Report: Sailors Try To Go Overboard As Iran War Extends Deployment; Bulldozers Rip Into Big Bend National Park For Border Security Project; Former NBA Players Declare For WNBA Draft In Protest Of Policies. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired August 13, 2026 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[05:30:40]
BRAD SMITH, CNN ANCHOR: It is half past the hour. Let's hit the refresh button on our top stories.
We are seeing some jaw-dropping video coming out of the Midwest this morning -- scenes like this. Relentless storms have unleashed catastrophic flooding in eastern Indiana, and more rain is unfortunately on the way.
This water rescue happened yesterday. It was in Cambridge City, Indiana. And parts of Indiana saw a one in 1,000-year flood Wednesday, sending water rushing into homes.
Also, jury selection is expected to continue for a fourth day in the murder trial of 63-year-old Duane "Keffe D" Davis. Now Davis is accused of being the mastermind behind the killing of influential rapper Tupac Shakur 30 years ago. Davis has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
And caught on camera a confrontation between a Virginia woman who shouted insults at ICE agents, one of whom is then seen pointing a gun at her.
CNN's Jon Sarlin unpacks what each side says went down.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ICE AGENT: Yeah, you record us. You almost ran us over.
CAROLINA MOLINA, SAYS ICE AGENT POINTED GUN AT HER: I didn't almost run you over.
ICE AGENT: You almost ran us over.
MOLINA: You are full of (bleep).
ICE AGENT: Stop playing.
MOLINA: You are full of (bleep). JON SARLIN, CNN PRODUCER (voiceover): In northern Virginia video shows a federal agent pointing a gun in the woman's face after claiming she tried to run him over. Carolina Molina is a licensed counselor who said at a press conference she was visiting immigration lawyers in Bailey's Crossroads.
Dashcam video from her vehicle shows Molina shouting profanity at the agents. She is then seen turning around and then drives through a stop sign. The federal agent's car begins to accelerate around the same time and blocks her path narrowly avoiding collision. Agents then approach her with their weapons drawn.
ICE AGENT: You almost ran us over.
MOLINA: I didn't almost run your over.
ICE AGENT: You almost ran us over. Stop playing.
MOLINA: Your full of (bleep).
ICE AGENT: Stop playing.
MOLINA: You are full of (bleep).
ICE AGENT: You're not funny.
MOLINA: You're not funny.
ICE AGENT: I will arrest you. Keep it up.
MOLINA: I'm a legal citizen.
ICE AGENT: I don't care.
MOLINA: Oh my goodness.
ICE AGENT: I'm fixing to lock you up.
MOLINA: OK, for what?
ICE AGENT: The one that tried to run us over.
MOLINA: Run you over where? I got recording. I got dashcam.
ICE AGENT: So what?
MOLINA: I got dashcam. That's a lie.
SARLIN (voiceover): The agents eventually returned to their vehicles and drove away.
In a statement to CNN, a DHS spokesperson said, "While ICE was conducting targeted immigration enforcement in Falls Church, Virginia, an anti-ICE agitator began to driver her car in circles around our ICE officers and then attempted to harm officers by weaponizing her vehicle against them. Fearing for their safety, ICE officers conducted a vehicle stop of the driver. Necessary background information of the driver was taken, and she could face criminal prosecution as a result of her actions."
In a press conference, Molina denied that she was trying to hit the agents.
MOLINA: Obviously, there is evidence on my dashcam that my car is turning to the left and he is accelerating to cut me off, so really frightening. If you want to say I ran a stop sign, I'm like oh well, I ran a stop sign. He doesn't. But, I mean, yeah, whatever. That does not entail you and that was obviously not the excuse because he was, like, you're following us. Stop following us. You -- this is your warning. It had nothing to do with my point of driving.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what would be your message to the ICE agent right now if you were going to -- if he was here at the press conference what would you say to him?
MOLINA: You need therapy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: Luigi Mangione and federal prosecutors are in the middle of plea negotiations, according to people familiar with the talks. Mangione faces state and federal charges in New York related to the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
CNN reported in June that Mangione's attorneys had spoken with prosecutors about a potential plea deal, but they didn't reach an agreement then. And sources say that these new discussions are fluid.
The judge in the federal case set a hearing for tomorrow.
A Los Angeles County grand jury has indicted Nick Reiner on two counts of murder in deaths of his parents, actor-director Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner. The indictment alleges Reiner was lying in wait before the couple was stabbed to death in their Brentwood home last December. The 32-year-old has pleaded not guilty.
[05:35:00]
A disturbing new report from onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. The Military Times is reporting multiple sailors have tried to jump overboard. The paper reports that sailors face dire conditions onboard and shortages of toothpaste, deodorant, soap, and even food have been reported. They've been deployed for nine months while also supporting operations against Iran. Two hundred fifty days -- that is a record and there's no announced end date.
A U.S. Navy spokesperson responded to the report by saying, "We have not observed an increase in suicidal ideations or attempts aboard the ship. We take every service member's well-being seriously and have religious, medical, and mental health professionals available to assess and address concerns as they arise."
But the reporter who broke the story says the wife of a sailor who tried to jump hasn't heard from anyone in the Navy in weeks.
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NATALIE OLIVERIO, PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT, MILITARY TIMES: Speaking with Annabelle Loma, she is extremely worried and concerned about how her husband is actually doing. And until she can be in front of him and see him with her own eyes, she's not really going to be able to answer that question.
And facing the stresses that every military spouse faces when theirs is deployed and as being a solo parent at home with three little kids. So not being able to have answers or direction is really challenging right now -- for her, especially.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: This deployment was supposed to end in May and there's no public return date, but families have been told that the Theodore Roosevelt will eventually relieve them.
Protesters are gathering at Big Bend National Park in Texas as bulldozers begin to clear land for one of President Trump's major border security projects.
CNN's Ed Lavandera reports with more.
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ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Construction crews have started carving a path for what Customs and Border Protection officials describe as a "surveillance road" along the U.S.-Mexico southern border here in the heart of Big Bend National Park where we are standing.
This is the entrance to what is known as Santa Elena Canyon. This is one of the crown jewel spots of this national park. And that giant cliff -- that giant wall you see over there -- that is the Mexican side of the border. The Rio Grande runs right in front of it and then goes for hundreds of miles down towards the Gulf of Mexico.
And this is a region -- the Big Bend sector -- where the Trump administration is planning a multiphase project totaling more than $7 billion. Protesters and many people here in this region say that this is simply a waste of money. It is needless destruction of this pristine wildlife. And the former superintendent of Big Bend National Park described the entire project as "insane to me."
The anger toward this project and everyone involved in it is really intensifying here among the residents of the Big Bend region of Texas. In fact, many hotels and restaurants refuse to serve the contractor workers who are in the area. There are signs protesting the plan.
And here at the mouth of the Santa Elena Canyon we saw a large group of protesters gather here this morning talking about how intense of a fight this is. That they hope to be able to stop this project in its tracks at some point. One of the early plans for this border security package included
building a border wall through Big Bend National Park, but Customs and Border Protection now says that a wall will not be built here.
But still, many residents say that the surveillance road will cause irreparable damage. That there are some areas where they will literally have to use dynamite to clear a path for the road. And they fear what kind of damage this project is going to do not just in the months but years ahead.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: All right. Thank you, Ed.
Well, two former NBA players are declaring themselves eligible for the WNBA draft in a protest over the league's transgender policies. Royce White and Enes Kanter Freedom say that they are challenging those rules while the WNBA players union is pushing back.
CNN's Ben Hunte explains what's behind this unusual move.
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BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): These former NBA players say they're going to join the women's league, but why and how? Well, they're actually doing it in protest of the WNBA's rules, which say that all players must be women without defining women.
ROYCE WHITE, FORMER NBA PLAYER: I'm transgender. I identify as sometime identifying as a woman for purposes of basketball -- professional basketball. So I'll be declaring for the WNBA draft in 2027 as well.
ENES KANTER FREEDOM, FORMER NBA PLAYER: Based on the current guidelines I can and am officially declare my eligibility for the upcoming WNBA draft in May 2027.
HUNTE: To be clear, they aren't being serious. They're mocking the WNBA's rules and they're against transgender people playing in the league. It's because the new WNBA collective bargain agreement, signed early this year, says, "Only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA." But it doesn't define women or spell out how eligibility for transgender players is determined.
[05:40:00]
KURT WEAVER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, YOU CAN PLAY PROJECT: These players are stepping up to make a political statement, unfortunately. Frankly, unsurprising that some cis men want to insert themselves in a way that's inappropriate into women's sports. And I think it's just another way that women's sports get attacked when it has been thriving and doing so well, especially the WNBA.
HUNTE: For context, there aren't any transgender women playing in the WNBA now. The two declarations came after WNBA player Sophie Cunningham spoke
out against transgender participation in women's sports. She said girls in sports shouldn't have to compete against what she called "biological men" in a recent interview with ESPN.
MEGAN RAPINOE, FORMER PRO SOCCER PLAYER: If anybody is taking these talking points as legit or believing they're protecting young girls in sports, I just have to ask: Are you serious?
WEAVER: Why she decided to make this an issue and start to attack trans individuals is a very curious thing. All of us who are fans out there of the WNBA, the NBA -- of any sports that are out there are seeing through what this is, which is it's just another distraction.
HUNTE: The WNBA Players Association released a statement on Friday in response to all of this, saying, "We embrace justice, equity, diversity and inclusion." And that "Hate, abuse, and demonization of a person or group of people, including transgender people, only fuel fear, division, and harm."
WEAVER: It's not something that we should give any more moment to. What I would rather focus on is let's list out the things that we all can do to support women in sports and to make women's sports better. And none of them are then to ban transwomen in that sport.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: After 18 seasons, NBA point guard Russell Westbrook is hanging up his jersey. He announced his retirement with a social media video narrated by actor Michael B. Jordan. Westbrook played for several teams over the past years with his last season being spent with the Sacramento Kings. The athlete never won an NBA championship but is considered one of the best players of his generation.
And in a blockbuster buy, the Los Angeles Lakers franchise is being sold to former Disney CEO Bob Iger and Josh Kushner, the brother of President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. The price tag, a record $12.5 billion. The NBA's Board of Governors still needs to approve the deal. But the storied franchise is one of the most successful teams in NBA history with 17 championships.
The NFL begins its first full week of the preseason today. The league kicked off he preseason with the Hall of Fame game last week. But today, six games are on deck. First up, the Lions play the Bengals in Cincinnati. The Packers -- they take on the Steelers in Pittsburgh. And both games -- they kick off at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time. Fly Eagles, fly.
Next up on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS we've got this.
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TRAVIS KELCE, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS: The wedding was the best night of my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP) SMITH: What else Travis Kelce had to say about his big wedding with Taylor Swift. That and more coming up on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS.
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[05:47:25]
SMITH: After a razor-thin win in Wisconsin's Democratic primary, David Crowley is trying to unite the party. Now his victory is being hailed as a win for the establishment wing of the Democratic Party. And Crowley had dropped out of the race last month only to jump back in after another prominent candidate bowed out.
He defeated Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist. Critics questions whether she could beat a Republican opponent in the general election.
Crowley says that he's committed to bridging any divisions within the party. Take listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CROWLEY, (D) NOMINEE, WISCONSIN GOVERNOR: I think that a lot of people have tried to focus on, you know, the progressives versus the establishment or insiders versus outsiders. All I know is that not enough people have had a seat at the table and I was told that if you don't have a seat at the table, you're on the menu.
And when I think about the -- our political spectrum there are a lot of people who don't feel they have a political home. And that's why I wanted to get into this race to bring as many people under the Democratic tent as much as possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Governor Tony Evers campaigned with Crowley, helping him in the final stretch of the race.
Wisconsin is considered a key swing state in the presidential election.
Well, the back-and-forth between the U.S. and Iran over wartime reparations -- it continues. And now Iran is demanding compensation for pollution in and near the Persian Gulf. The claims go back decades. Video geolocated by CNN shows oil washing up on a beach not far from the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, plunging oil inventories has a key group sounding the alarm. The International Energy Agency says there's a growing urgency to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Nearly six months of conflict between the U.S. and Iran has kept traffic through the critical waterway low. Last month the global oil stockpile fell by over two million barrels a day.
Let's go around the globe to see what else is making headlines, starting in Colombia. The search for survivors is becoming a race against time in Colombia after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake hit the country on Monday. Colombia's president says that the death toll has risen to at least 265 people. International teams are lending their assistance.
One political scientist says Colombia's government transition is making aid deliveries challenging. Remember, the new president just took office last Friday. He's now declared an economic emergency due to the widespread damage.
[05:50:00]
And Italian flights were suspended due to Europe's most active volcano spewing ash. Volcanic ash also drifted south across the Mediterranean and heading towards Malta. The volcanic ash forced an airport to close down and delay various flights.
We finally hear from the man himself, Mr. Taylor Swift. Travis Kelce made his first public comments since marrying the popstar, giving reporters some long-awaited inside details about the July celebrations that took place at Madison Square Garden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELCE: The wedding was the best night of my life and I appreciate everybody who came out and celebrated and, you know, had fun with us. And that's about all I really got from that night. It was a -- it was a crazy night. It was -- it was full of a lot of celebration.
MSG, man. You know, I always told myself I'd go for a -- for a playoff game when the Knicks were rocking. And my wife went when I was stuck in a mini camp, so I didn't get my opportunity to go then. So it's kind of cool to be able to, you know, live out my childhood dream of being in that venue and, you know, the mecca of all sports venues -- being able to get married in there. I can't thank the owners of MSG for allowing us to get the opportunity to do that knowing that we wanted a private event and everything. So it was perfect. And the A/C was cooking, baby. That was the best part.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Cristiano Ronaldo just added a wedding ring to his. He and longtime partner Georgina Rodriguez -- they tied the knot in an intimate ceremony on Portugal's coast Tuesday, then flashed the rings on Instagram. But the honeymoon huddle is brief. Ronaldo returns to work with his Saudi soccer team on Saturday. Congratulations to the happy couple.
Still to come on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS there's this.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: That dog was inside a hot van. What deputies did to get him out. Plus, the collaboration you didn't know you needed. Hello Kitty meets Godzilla. Who is bringing these two together? Who asked for this? You're going to get it. That's coming up on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS.
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[05:56:35]
SMITH: In today's Money Express, drugmaker Eli Lilly is cracking down, filing a lawsuit accusing multiple companies of illegally selling an experimental obesity drug.
Maribel Aber joins us from the Nasdaq MarketSite with that and the rest of your top money headlines. Maribel, what do we know here?
MARIBEL ABER, CNN CORRESPONDENT, MONEY MATTERS: OK, Brad.
Eli Lilly suing six U.S. companies it says are selling illegal, unapproved versions of its experimental weight loss drug retatrutide. The drug is still in clinical trials and has not been approved for human use. Lilly says the lawsuits target compounding pharmacies, medical spas, and online vendors. And the company says it has also referred more than 200 sellers to federal and state authorities. Lilly is urging regulators to take stronger action against the sale of unapproved products.
Toyota is recalling more than half a million Camry hybrids over a software problem that could increase the risk of a crash. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the glitch can cause the vehicle's instrument panel to go blank. It can also disable a number of safety features, including turn signals and hazard lights. Toyota says affected owners will be notified by early October, and dealers will update the software for free. Full details can be found on NHTSA's website.
McDonald's newest Happy Meal is a mashup of two pop culture icons, Hello Kitty and Godzilla. The Kitty-Zilla Happy Meals will feature eight toys combining Hello Kitty characters with monsters from the classic Godzilla movies. Hello Kitty's friends are also getting in on the mix, including Chococat, My Melody, and Pompompurin. Kitty-Zilla Happy Meals hit stores August 18 for a limited time.
Brad, it's bringing me back. Hello Kitty is my girl.
SMITH: That is a fictional character tie-up that feels proportional somewhat to, like, Snoop Dogg being best friends with Martha Stewart. We didn't see it coming but, hey, we're here for it.
Maribel Aber, thank you so much.
Let's get a check-in on some of the other stories making news across the country.
We start in Glendale, Arizona and an hour long standoff with officers at a house. Police told affiliate KPNX a woman reported that her father was inside the home and violating a protection order. When police tried to talk to him, they say he barricaded himself inside. They sent drones in and saw that he had on body armor. They say at one point he started shooting at officers and they eventually sent another drone inside and saw that he was dead. The whole thing lasted about six hours.
And a tragic story out of South Carolina. A 17-year-old was about to board a school bus Wednesday morning when investigators say that he was shot and killed. The teen died at the scene as 15 students on the bus watched. Surveillance video shows the alleged shooter fleeing in a waiting car.
And in Colorado, a rescue caught on bodycam. Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POLICE OFFICER: (Breaking van window).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, bud.
POLICE OFFICER: Hey, puppy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, buddy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Bystanders say that the dog trapped inside had been there for at least four hours as temperatures topped 80 degrees. The dog showed signs of heat distress and is now stable. The owner was cited for animal cruelty.
[06:00:00]
And in Arizona you can now hike to the bottom of a famous meteor crater that former roughly 50,000 years ago. It's nearly as deep as four Statues of Liberty stacked up. Are you in? Well, you better sign up for the guided tours ahead of time. Officials warn it's a strenuous two-hour hike into the milewide crater, or you can just enjoy it from the rim.
That does it for CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS. I'm Brad Smith. "CNN THIS MORNING WITH AUDIE CORNISH" starts right now.
