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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Trump Giving Address on Elections After Years of False Claims; Trump Bought Companies Stocks, Praised Them Online Days Later; White House Denies Conflict of Interest in Trump's Stock Trades, TX Gov: At Least Two Dead In Catastrophic Flooding; D.A. Says He Doesn't Believe Drugs Were Found In Van Involved In Houston ICE Shooting, Countering FBI Claim; Trump Giving Address On Elections After Years Of False Claims. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired July 16, 2026 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: ... effectiveness of women in combat roles, and Hegseth himself has said in the past we should not have women in combat roles, less estrogen, more testosterone -- Erin.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: All right, Nick Watt, thank you very much. And thanks, as always, very much to all of you for being with us tonight. AC360 begins right now.
[20:00:27.2]
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT AND HOST: We're an hour away from President Trump's Address to the nation. The subject he says is election security, the question is will he bring facts, real facts to go with the really big news he says he's got. John King here in for Anderson.
That's one question, the other is which election will the President most be focused on? The ones yet to come or the one he lost? We're going to be watching and listening to what he says tonight, and we will bring you any breaking news ASAP. But we are not going to take the President's speech live. That's because of this Presidents history of misleading, and in some cases, false statements on the subject of elections and election integrity.
Also, because the White House earlier today said he'll be showing newly declassified documents. And we want to make sure we have time to review them, to contextualize whatever he says or shows before airing it.
One thing is clear, ever since announcing this speech on Monday, he's been making big promises about tonight's speech. And today at the White House, so did his Press Secretary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It will shock you if you have an honest eye listening to the President tonight and everything, he is saying will be backed by facts and by evidence that will be provided this evening.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: She would not say what specifically hell be talking about, but CNN has learned from other sources. The President intends to reveal what he will claim is brand new information about foreign efforts to influence U.S. Elections, including from China. He's also expected to discuss claimed vulnerabilities in election infrastructure, including voting machines.
All of this, if true, and especially if ongoing, certainly could be useful to know. We are now 16 weeks away, a little less than that from election day. But will that be all? it's a valid question because of a pattern of looking back over the years and including, more recently. This is just from the past six weeks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The rigged elections.
They rigged the election.
These elections are rigged.
They had a rigged election, and I wasn't here. Totally rigged election.
We had a rigged election.
We have a rigged election.
It was a rigged election.
It was rigged. Just like the election was rigged in 2020.
It was a rigged election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Just to state the very obvious, there's no evidence, zero, the 2020 election was rigged. Multiple recounts in Georgia, overseen by a Republican Secretary of State and election chief, backed that up. A Republican sponsored vote audit in Arizona, commissioned by the state's Republican Controlled Senate, backed that up, 60 some court cases, including in front of some Trump appointed judges, backed that up. So did the President's own attorney general.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM BARR, FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP'S ATTORNEY GENERAL: I had three discussions with the President that I can recall. One was on November 23rd. One was on December 1st and one was on December 14th and I've been through sort of the give and take of those discussions. And in that context, I made it clear I did not agree with the idea of saying the election was stolen and putting out this stuff, which I told the President was (bleep)!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: We bleeped that, but I think you got it at home. B.S. was what the then attorney general said. We will know soon enough if tonight is forward looking or not.
One last observation before a discussion with some experts who know this topic cold. The issue of foreign meddling or interfering is a big and legitimate one, and we are told China is a big focus for the president tonight, and the Intelligence Community has warned before that China is aggressively trying to gather information about U.S. voter rolls and about U.S. election practices.
Nothing in those past warnings, though, has suggested China was able in any way to influence the outcome of an election.
Let's start off our coverage tonight with our chief white house correspondent and, of course, anchor of "The Source," Kaitlan Collins. Kaitlan, what more are White House officials saying? What are your sources telling you about the presidents focus tonight?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN'S CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT AND THE ANCHOR OF "THE SOURCE": Well, John, they're arguing that what you hear from the president tonight will be backed up by evidence of what exactly it is that he's arguing. And we do know that that is expected to include documents that they have declassified.
Beyond that, it still remains to be seen what exactly the President himself is going to lay out. And also, you know, John, as well as I do in these situations, the President also has a habit of going off script, and we know very well how he feels about elections and how he feels, in particular, about the 2020 election, which is that he repeatedly has argued without any basis that it was rigged and that he did not actually lose that election to Joe Biden.
And so, we'll see if he makes that argument in a similar vein tonight with these arguments that with these documents that he is expected to declassify, and especially to see what he of course, of course, he says about China, because obviously that would be notable given the Chinese leader is expected to visit Washington in just a few months from now, after the President himself was there last year.
And so, one thing, though, in terms of looking at this in the broader picture of what the White House is unveiling based on also the President's history of lying about elections and not producing any evidence to back up what he's arguing, was a question I asked the press secretary today, which is if there's evidence of widespread fraud or interfering in these elections, are there going to be charges that follow? And this is what Karoline Leavitt told me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Thank you, Karoline.
LEAVITT: Sure. COLLINS: Regarding the President's speech tonight, he's been in office over 540 days now. If what he says is tonight is backed up by evidence, why hasn't anyone been charged?
LEAVITT: Well, he hasn't revealed it yet. He hasn't declassified the documents yet and you will see what he says tonight, and then well move forward appropriately from there.
COLLINS: So, we're looking forward tonight from the Justice Department.
LEAVITT: I don't speak on behalf of the Justice Department, Kaitlan, you know, -- Rachel --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will, there be charges?
LEAVITT: You'll have to ask the Justice Department. I don't charge people. I just speak on behalf of the President.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:05:59]
COLLINS: So, obviously, we'll see what follows the President's speech tonight. We do expect him to be joined, potentially by some officials during these remarks tonight, or at least they're expected to also issue similar statements backing up what we hear from the President tonight.
He's someone who has long been skeptical of the intelligence community. But of course, right now it is being run by a loyalist of his. That's Bill Pulte, who is also a top federal housing official for the President.
And so, we'll obviously wait to see what exactly it is that the President himself says tonight. But this is a prime-time address. It's often, as you know, John, who covered the White House. It's something that the President rarely does, and only for matters that are of the utmost importance.
But it also comes as the President has been pushing the SAVE AMERICA Act, this Act that does not have enough Republican votes on Capitol Hill and it's something that this is going to used it's something that a vehicle to once again push for that even been pushing more and more as we get closer and closer to the midterm elections. And I would expect that that is going to be this is going to be used as a vehicle to once again, push for that, even though it has not yet shifted Republican minds, at least enough for the votes to happen for it to pass. So far, John
KING: So far, Kaitlan Collins, well see what the President has to say. And of course, well see you at the top of the hour, at the beginning for "The Source" at the top of the next hour. Kaitlin, thanks so much.
Joining us now to discuss the former Deputy Director of National Intelligence, Beth Sanner, the former FBI deputy director Andrew McMabe, and the former CIA chief station chief of station in Beijing, Randall Phillips. Beth, I want to start with you. Because of the three experts I have before me here. You were still in government at this time. You were including your duties of sometimes briefing the president at this time. Are you aware? I don't want you to break the rules. I don't want you to share the facts of any intelligence. But are you aware of any classified documents at the time that could be declassified tonight that you believe would shed new, important, relevant information about foreign interference in the 2020 election.
BETH SANNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: So, the key word there that you just spoke was interference, right? And so, the Intelligence Community really divides up foreign adversary activities against our elections into two categories influence. And most famously, you know, we talk about Russia influence efforts, but we had Iran doing the same, right? Trying to change the actions or views of voters. But interference means that adversaries have gotten inside our systems and are altering the process of voting, either altering registration data, who's voting? Altering vote tabulation, altering the counting and the reporting, right.
So, we have never in the Intelligence Community seen any indication that an adversary has done that latter interference actually getting in the system and changing things. I would be surprised if there was information like that. But as I've said before, when you have a group of people who are not full-time intelligence analysts looking through raw intelligence reporting, so not analyzed by people who are deep on the subject, you do have a risk of someone finding a piece of evidence and waving it around.
This happened in the Iraq context. It happened before and almost always you can find one piece of reporting that says, you know, Elvis killed JFK, but that doesn't mean it's true.
KING: It's an important point, Andrew, because let's go through this has been studied and studied and studied and studied, and the U.S. Intelligence Community did say in a post 2020 election assessment, "we have no indications that any foreign actor attempted to alter any technical aspect of the voting process in the 2020 U.S. elections, including voter registration, casting ballots, vote tabulation or reporting results."
So, that there backs up what Beth says, no, yes, they meddle, yes, they influence, yes. China is trying to gather information about everything about our credit cards, about our voting rolls, about everything we have. We know that to be a fact. But to the idea that the President says he has his people, his intelligence people have told him they have the new, wow-evidence. Do you believe it exists or do you think it's more Beth's point? Somebody like a Bill Pulte who's a housing guy, but now he's suddenly the director of national intelligence found one or two pieces of paper, maybe uncorroborated, and says, here you go, sir.
[20:10:10]
ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: John, it's almost incomprehensible to me that this exists. I mean, in very early 2021, Donald Trump's then then Director of National Intelligence, John Ratcliffe, who is now running the CIA for Donald Trump, stated in a report conclusively, what you just said, there's been, there was no indication of interference, as Beth has defined it so ably for us, interference in the 2020 election, the closest we've ever come to that was 2016, when the Russians probed the voter rolls of nearly all 50 states and actually got into a database and Illinois and was able to view voter records, but never actually impacted any, have never changed or destroyed or edited or deleted any of those voter records. That's as close as anyone has ever come.
Now, in 2020, we know that the Chinese attempted to influence U.S. perceptions about the election. That sort of thing has been happening wholesale since 2016, when the Russians did it. And then, of course, in 2020, the Chinese did it. That's using communication and social media and sometimes social media bots and all sorts of technology to get information out into the population, to try to influence people's perspectives and their preferences for candidates.
But that is not the same thing as breaking into voting machines and, and messing with the tabulation. We know that Iran tried to do that in 2020 and were determined to be unsuccessful. So, if they've come up with something now, they're going to need to explain why their own people saw it the opposite way in the immediate aftermath of 2020.
KING: And Randal, the White House aides tell us there will be a big focus on China tonight. That's your wheelhouse. What do you know? Did the Chinese try to change votes? Did they try to change and influence our elections, or are they just trolling for information they think that is valuable to them in some other way?
RANDAL PHILLIPS, FORMER CIA CHIEF OF STATION IN BEIJING: Well, I think as Beth and Andy just said, they never been seen to be trying to interfere. But the influence, yes. And certainly, this is nothing new. It's been going on for the last 25 to 30 years where they use their resources and their considerable to learn more about the candidate/candidates and the people around them and what interests them, how they view China? What it is that they may do once in office? And then also, the intelligence agencies of China will look at that as to see if they can find some vulnerabilities in some of the people in and around the candidate or either candidate.
And so, I think, yes, they are very active in the cyber side. They're very active on the human side. But have they interfered? No. Have they tried to influence particularly frankly, let's look at the whole debate around TikTok before they had a very powerful tool there of 150 million Americans on TikTok. And that would certainly be an avenue to try to influence but interfere? No.
KING: So, Beth, again, the test for the President today is like I call it. And I don't mean to be flippant, but the Jerry Maguire moment, "show me the money" in the sense that he said this so many times that if he wants to say it again, we need to see evidence, right. You were there again during 2020.
These are some of your colleagues in the administration at the time. John Ratcliffe, as you noted, was the Director of National Intelligence. Gina Haspel was the head of the CIA. Chris Wray was director of the FBI; Bill Barr was the Attorney General. Marco Rubio, now the Secretary of State, was Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, not just running up to the election, but in all the time after the election, before the Biden inauguration, when they were trying to stay in power, when they were looking for evidence to overthrow the results of the election and to challenge the election and to prove their case, which they could not prove of fraud or rigging, wouldn't those people I just mentioned, pretty talented people.
If there was evidence of this somewhere in the U.S. Intelligence system, they're trying to say at the White House, this didn't get to the president. Is that feasible?
SANNER: It's -- you know, I know, no, not really. I mean, certainly, again, if you're talking about a couple a handful of reports, if they weren't deemed credible or if it is what we actually reported, which was that they had access some voter rolls in terms of their public opinion research, and they were very interested in collecting everything. I mean, they have hoovered up information about every American.
So why would that stop or be different? And why would they be disinterested in our political environment? Of course, they have a lot of skin in the game. So, the question here isn't about whether China is good or bad. They are bad actors. They are trying to, you know, manipulate things in their favor. But I would be very, very surprised if they come up with evidence that shows that they were involved in altering the election system, and particularly what people need to listen for.
Would any of these activities have changed the outcome?
There are multiple steps here, John, and getting to a point where we actually said, wow, that changed so many votes that the election would have come out differently. And in 2016, that didn't happen either.
[20:15:25]
KING: Andrew, I'm going to give the President the benefit doubt for a minute and say he more looks forward and says, there's this foreign meddling, and maybe he should have talked about it more in the past, but now he thinks it's a big deal and the government should do something about it. That would be a good thing, actually. You've all made the case pretty clearly that there are bad actors, at least playing around in our elections and trying with some nefarious goals.
The President is going to push the Congress to pass a bill called the Save Act. There aren't the votes in the Senate. That bill would require documentation about citizenship. It would cut back on online voter registration, cut back significantly on mail-in voter registration. Would those steps stop the foreign interference, or does the government, are there other things the government should be doing?
MCCABE: Those steps will not stop foreign interference. Those steps, you know, are directed at what's happening here in the United States, how people register, how they physically vote, what sort of identity documents they have to show to do those things, what we're led to believe so far, and we haven't heard the speech yet, but what we're led to believe is something based on far on foreign intelligence, that is intelligence collected by the CIA, the NSA or other entities.
So, likely what's coming up here is a story about foreign meddling and maybe a concern about foreign meddling in the future. If that's the case, the solution to that sort of activity, the way you address that threat is by standing up more robust systems and teams of individuals and experts here in the Intelligence Community to collect better intelligence overseas. That's what the agency does. That's what NSA does. FBI does that to a to a lesser degree here in the United States, in their counterintelligence role.
Actually, what's happened to date is the opposite of that, right? So, the Election Assistance Committee, which is responsible for funneling resources to the states to help them do that work, to bolster the safety of their systems, was just obliterated by President Trump about a week ago. He fired all the members of the commission. So now, that's no longer a functioning entity. He's undermined the resources and the ability for CISA. Part of DHS has done so much to secure election security in the last few years. CISA is really like, you know, they're trying to walk on one leg at this point.
So, we've gone, if we're worried about what's happening overseas, we've been going in the opposite direction. Unfortunately, in the last year and a half.
KING: Again, about 45 minutes away from the President, we will see if he changes that narrative and see what documents he actually brings forward. Bethe Sanner, Andrew McCabe, Randall Phillips, grateful for your time and insights tonight. Thank you.
Up next for us, why some social media posts by the President are being called an ethics disaster by someone who used to work in his administration. And later, a live report from the scene of devastating and deadly floods in Texas Hill Country, where the death toll, sadly, is rising.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:22:23]
KING: The President's social media company today said it will be selling quicker access to posts, including the President's to Wall Street. All the better and faster to turn whatever he says online into money. Truth Social says companies will be able to read items from the services top ten accounts, "within milliseconds" of the poster hitting send and then trade on them.
The President, as you know, has nearly 13 million followers. That announcement coming the same day as a CNN exclusive, which found Trump praised more than 20 companies on his Truth Social account just days after he bought stock in those companies.
Companies including the major chipmaker NVIDIA, Boeing and Apple. Here's CNN's Tom Foreman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SYDNEY SWEENEY, ACTRESS: My jeans are blue.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Three social media posts by President Trump about a clothing company, Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the hottest ad out there about a computer chip giant building new A.I. assets. All necessary permits will be expedited and quickly delivered and about a plane with components from several large defense contractors.
The greatest and most beautiful fighter jet ever made. Pure boosterism, maybe, but revelations from a new CNN investigation have watchdog groups alarmed because each of those positive posts came just days after some of Trump's own money was invested in those firms, raising eyebrows over his role in regulating American business.
GARY KALMAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL U.S.: Is he negotiating on what's best for the American people, or is he negotiating what's best for him and his family?
FOREMAN: CNN found the President promoted more than 20 companies through Truth Social posts soon after he became invested in them.
He got stock in G.E. aerospace, Eli Lilly and Apple and shared good words for them. He's racked up numerous investments in Tesla, some just days before he appeared with CEO Elon Musk, admiring the electric cars at the White House.
Does any of this prove the billionaire President is promoting his own investments, or that any of these businesses did anything wrong?
No, but worry over possible conflicts of interest remains.
DAN GREENBERG, SENIOR LEGAL FELLOW, CATO INSTITUTE: Nobody really knows exactly why President Trump's stock holdings have tripled or quadrupled in the last year. But there are inferences that you can draw that are not very pretty.
FOREMAN: The White House says there are no conflicts of interest. The Trump organization says neither President Trump, his family, nor the Trump organization plays any role in selecting, directing or approving specific investments which are handled by outside firms, which give no advance notice of trading activity.
So, it's not clear whether Trump was aware of any of his purchases when he was posting about the companies. But every other President for 50 years has sold assets, put stocks into a blind trust, switched to widely diversified mutual funds where they can't know what investments they hold. It's not the law, but it has been the norm.
[20:25:30]
DYLAN HEDTIER-GAUDETTE, PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT: We expected the President to go to great lengths to try to avoid even the appearance of any kind of impropriety, or any conflicts of interest.
FOREMAN: To be clear, more than 21,000 transactions were made in Trump's name in 2025 alone. He did not remark on all of them. He's always held big stakes in business, and sometimes he posts negative comments. He invested in the cable company Comcast, then ripped its news channels, calling it "Concast".
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: Still, for however much that might muddy the water, critics say this remains clear. The President appears to be straddling a very thin line between his politics and his pocket -- John.
KING: Tom Foreman, thank you very much.
Joining me now to discuss the former federal prosecutor, Jeffrey Toobin. Jeff, you heard the reporting there as he went through it. Ethical questions, legal questions. What do we race here?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Well, there's certainly ethical questions. Legal questions, I don't think so. I mean, you know, as the CNN report pointed out, every other recent president has had his assets in a blind trust where there is really no way the president can know what he's invested in. Trump has not done that and, you know, this is why, his family and his own assets have exploded in the past couple of years, largely because of his investments in the crypto business, which his administration is very actively promoting.
In terms of the stock, again, it's not clear exactly how the process works. The administration says he doesn't know when the investments are made, but he knows now, and he knows whether his words can help the companies he is invested in. This is why other presidents have operated differently.
But, you know, President Trump has operated outside of scrutiny and there hasn't been any so far, at least from Congress.
KING: Operated differently because that was the norm, because that was the advice they get from White House counsel or ethics advisors. But there's no law requiring the president to do that, to put assets in a blind trust. Why not?
TOOBIN: Because, it is, there is a separation of powers issue of how much Congress can tell the president what to do in terms of his personal conduct. But most presidents want to be seen as above suspicion. It has not been controversial in the past. All those recent presidents of both political parties have put their money in blind trusts because they want to be seen as, you know, ethically clean. Trump has very clearly said, my family is going to continue my business. And particularly in the second term, they've been actively investing in companies that the government has a great deal of interest in.
I should add that as far as I can tell, there is no legal question here in terms of criminal law. There is no insider trading evidence that I can see. You know, some, that would take the President intentionally puffing up a stock that he knows is going to go up. And as suspicious as this evidence is, nothing I've seen suggests that the President has committed a crime.
KING: Jeffrey Toobin, appreciate it very much, thank you.
Up next, for us, it's happening all over again for a second straight year, flooding in Texas Hill Country, and the death toll is rising. We'll take you there in just a moment.
Plus, a significant new development in the ICE shooting of a man in Houston. The details when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:33:32]
JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: Catastrophic flooding, you see these ominous pictures right there, once again hitting Texas Hill Country. The governor says at least two people have died. The hill country region is where rising waters killed more than 130 people just last year.
And this year's water levels at the Guadalupe River, at Comfort, Texas, even higher than a year ago. The governor also says more than 230 people have been rescued across central Texas this week, including this family, who were airlifted out of an utterly destroyed home.
CNN's Ed Lavandera joins us now. Ed, you're right there on the ground. What's the situation like right now?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it's safe to say that it has been a surreal day for many of the residents here along the Guadalupe River as they think back to the horror that was inflicted on this community when nearly 140 people were killed in those floods just a little over a year ago. And now, once again, they're dealing with all of this again.
They're starting the process of cleaning up the roadways, as you can see behind us. The Guadalupe River that we're standing on the banks of, all of this was underwater just several hours ago. So the good news is it's receded here along the banks of this -- the Guadalupe River.
But what is very different this time, John, is that this is much more widespread flooding. If you have to go up, like, north to Fredericksburg and down to south of us, Uvalde, where they've seen some intense flooding as well. And the governor and emergency officials say that not everybody is out of the woods on this yet. There could be bigger problems to come in those areas, north and south of where we are.
[20:35:04]
So, clearly, a lot of people paying attention to the skies and the flood levels and the rain levels that continue to fall. We haven't seen a whole lot of rain here where we are in Kerrville throughout the afternoon. But, you know, it's been raining here a little bit. Trying to get out of the way of this truck as they clear out the roadways here.
But a lot of people that we've talked to as well have said that, you know, the emergency sirens went off significantly. A lot of phone warnings coming in with the flood. All of that happening yesterday. And residents have told us the residents here took this much more seriously than last year.
And the repeated warnings got a lot of people to higher ground. And that's why the death toll, as devastating as it is so far, is much lower than what they -- we saw just over a year ago, John.
KING: And, Ed, the people on the ground there, when you talk about this warning system, you know, obviously that's a legacy of the sadness of last year. What are they telling you about how -- did it actually work this time?
LAVANDERA: I think from everything that we've been able to gather so far throughout the afternoon and throughout the day, from where we are in Kerrville all the way up to places like Comfort, which saw incredibly high levels of water, much higher than what we saw last year. You know, we've heard repeatedly that people believe that, you know, the warnings were much stronger.
Sirens going off in a lot more different places. And alerting people to the fact that these floodwaters were coming. So it seems to have worked much better this time around.
KING: Let's keep fingers crossed that that continues.
Ed Lavandera on the ground for us. Ed, thank you so much.
And now to Houston, an update on the investigation to last week's fatal ICE shooting of a Mexican national, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, while he was driving to work. Last night, we reported on a newly filed search warrant that claimed an FBI agent found drugs or at least suspected drugs on the dashboard and floor of his van.
Today on CNN, the Harris County District Attorney pushed back on that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN TEARE, HARRIS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Based on the information we have regarding who Mr. Salgado was and just eyeballing the evidence as it was collected yesterday, we don't believe that they are drugs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: He's not the only one disputing, questioning the FBI's accounts. CNN's Carolina Peguero joins us now. Carolina, what is Salgado Araujo's family now saying about the FBI's claims that maybe there were drugs in that vehicle?
CAROLINA PEGUERO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lorenzo Salgado Araujo's family and their lawyers are saying that those bags that were found in his vehicle were actually bags of salt mixed with lemon and water as an electrolyte mixer that is homemade for outdoor workers in this extreme heat in Texas.
And while today the public viewing is underway here where hundreds of residents have came to this -- they came here to this cemetery and to the funeral home to show support to the family as well as to Lorenzo Salgado Araujo's sons. Now, I do want to also talk about the community leaders that have also showed support and have reacted to the investigations that are underway separately from the FBI.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CESAR ESPINOSA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & CO-FOUNDER OF FIEL: It's really unfathomable that the FBI would release this and try to plant the seed of doubt in the character of Mr. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and everybody that was with them trying to excuse the actions that they made.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PEGUERO: And the key witness here in this case is Victor Salgado, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo's brother, who was also approved a humanitarian parole visa to attend his funeral as well as family members that have came from Mexico. And tomorrow, they'll have a private viewing, John
KING: Carolina Peguero, thank you so much for that reporting. Obviously, a sad day ahead for the family. Thank you so much for that.
For us up next, another look ahead to the President's speech next, namely the politics of it. Joining us, Raphael Warnock, one of two Democratic senators elected in Georgia in, yes, the 2020 election season. Also, our team of political professionals on what they expect to hear from the President tonight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:43:26]
KING: It feels a bit odd, a bit old, to be standing here with this in July 2026. But we are a few minutes away from a speech by President Trump on election security. Sadly, we have no choice but to be skeptical when this President talks elections, because what he says, at least what he has said in the past, is often just not true. He still talks a lot about this one, rigged or stolen, he likes to say.
So let's take a quick trip back in time. Number one, Joe Biden won. 306 electoral votes to 232. You know how this works. The blue states went Biden. The red states went Trump. So after, the President, of course, said it was rigged, said it was stolen, said he was going to fight.
Filed a lot of lawsuits, more than 60 lawsuits. And so in many states -- why in many states? Well, let's say, for example, the President had won a case in Georgia. That would have changed the math, but not enough. Joe Biden is still the president.
So let's say the President won his case in Arizona. That would have changed the math, but not enough. Joe Biden still would have won the election. So maybe Pennsylvania. That would have been it. It would have taken at least three states, lawsuits in at least three states, to go Trump's way to change the election results, which is why those lawsuits were filed in so many of the battleground states.
But as we switch to the other map here, let's go through some of that. The challenge for the President tonight is to look forward and talk about new things, right? Because of why? Well, let's go through some of those lawsuits. In the past, when the President has said rigged elections, judges have told him, sorry.
Let's go out to Arizona. Let's look here. This is the case versus the governor out there, filed by Trump allies. The judge said this, "Allegations that find favor in the public sphere of gossip and innuendo cannot be a substitute for earnest pleadings and procedure." In other words, you did not make your case.
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In Pennsylvania -- bring this up here. Here we go. Trump versus Pennsylvania. This judge was appointed by Donald Trump. This is a unanimous decision of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. "Free, fair elections are the lifeblood of our democracy. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here." That, a Trump- appointed judge in Pennsylvania.
There were more, but let's just finish with Georgia and bring up this ruling. Again, a Trump appointee here on the federal bench in Georgia versus the secretary of state. This is Lin Wood, a Trump ally, filed this suit. "To halt the certification that literally the 11th hour would breed confusion and potential disenfranchisement that I find no basis in fact and law."
Again, there were more than 60 of these. Most of the judges threw them out with scorn. That was 2020. And again, the White House tells us tonight we'll be forward-looking and that the President will look -- presentation will include newly declassified documents that he will say proves more has to be done to protect American elections that way.
Well, count our next guest as understandably skeptical. Our next guest is from Georgia, where the President famously called the secretary of state, you will recall, and demanded he fined him more votes. 11,780 more votes, to be precise.
And fast-forward January of this year. The then Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, raised eyebrows when she joined FBI agents on a search of an elections office in Fulton County, Georgia.
The Democratic senator, Raphael Warnock, joins us now. Senator, grateful for your time on this important evening. We're going to hear from the President shortly.
You posted on social media early today, quote, "Why is Trump still focused on 2020?" You believe -- "It's so he can create the pretext to interfere in 2026." What do you mean by that? What are you worried about?
SEN. RAPHAEL WARNOCK (D), GEORGIA: Oh, that's absolutely right. This is a failed President, and his support is collapsing before his very eyes. I hear it as I move all across Georgia. I hear it from families who are just trying to be able to afford groceries.
I talked yesterday with the leader of one of our local food banks, who is saying that he's seeing record numbers of people turning out to get food. And these are working people, people who work every day. They can't afford groceries in Donald Trump's economy.
Even though he came to Georgia and said he would lower people's costs on day one, they can't afford health care. Our farmers are struggling because of his incoherent trade war. And instead of doing something for the people who, I don't mind admitting, elected him in 2024, he's trying to change the rules of the game, trying to change who actually gets to show up and hold him accountable.
He should show up for the people of Georgia. I wrote a bill that deals with this issue of private equity. They've been swooping into Georgia, buying up all of our housing stock, amassing huge portfolios, driving up the costs. I wrote a bill to do something about that.
I guess that makes me a legitimate senator. He ought to -- he wouldn't even sign the bill. We couldn't -- he wouldn't even bother signing the bill. And so I'm not focused on this. I'm going to focus on the people of Georgia.
KING: I get your point. One of the points the President is going to make tonight, we're told by the White House, we'll get the speech started about 12 minutes from now, one of the things he's going to say is that he has new documents to declassify. And the White House says it's going to show more than we knew in the past about foreign interference in elections.
And, you know, the President -- you talk about legislation you'd like to get through the Senate. The Republicans, I'm certain, won't bring it to votes for you. The President is going to try to pressure again the so-called SAVE Act, which you can tell me if my math is wrong, the votes simply aren't there for it.
But just give the President, Howard, I know for you, benefit of the doubt for just a second. Is there anything in the SAVE Act that would deal with foreign meddling? Let's assume the President actually makes a case. Is there anything in that bill that would actually make it harder for China or Russia or Iran or anyone else to meddle in our elections?
WARNOCK: The SAVE Act is about saving Donald Trump's power. It is not about saving our democracy. It is a voter suppression bill, pure and simple. He doesn't want the people of Georgia to be able to show up and hold him accountable for his terrible time and the ways in which they're suffering under his economy. And it will disproportionately hurt married women.
Basically, folks say, well, don't you believe in voter ID? Yes, I think that you should have to demonstrate that you are who you say you are when you go to vote. Well, they ought to rename this bill. The driver's license, your driver's license is not good enough bill because literally you will not be able to register to vote unless you bring a passport, which most Americans do not have or bring a birth certificate.
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And then if you are a married woman and your name is different on your marriage certificate than it is on your birth certificate, then you've got another problem and you've got to overcome all of these barriers just to register to vote. And if you are already registered, you move, you'll have to re-register and you'll have to go through all of these hoops.
He is afraid of the coalition that elected Jon Ossoff and I in 2020. He knows that the people of Georgia see that his policies are not working. And so this is classic Donald Trump -- distraction, innuendo, no facts.
KING: The Vice President of United States said the other day, of course, they'll honor the 2026 election results no matter how they come down. Do you buy that? Do you trust that?
WARNOCK: I'm sorry. Struggling a little bit with your audio. Could you repeat that?
KING: Yes, Senator. The Vice President said, of course, they would honor the results in November, regardless of what they are. Do you trust that?
WARNOCK: Well, they're already trashing the results. They're already dropping innuendo, suggesting that somehow there may be something untoward. What we know about Donald Trump is that the only free and fair election is the one that he wins. And I would just appeal to all Americans, regardless of your politics.
I mean, just look at this just from a basic common sense perspective. The year that I won -- and by the way, I won two elections in Georgia. I won in '21 and in '22. Our congressional delegation is majority Republican. So are you saying that on the same ballots that elected my Republican colleagues, their ballots are legitimate and the ballots that elected Jon Ossoff and myself are illegitimate? It defies common sense.
And I just am thinking tonight about people all across my state who are genuinely struggling, whose health care premiums have been doubled, who have been kicked off of health care. The rural hospitals I visit in rural districts that are struggling and barely hanging on. Farmers were struggling. And the President of the United States is not focused on them. He's focused, as he always is, on himself.
KING: You may have been on the road quite a bit and you certainly make a case on a bipartisan basis about the priorities of voters. We will hear from the President tonight and we'll check back with you, Senator, on what you think of the presentation we get.
Senator Warnock, grateful for your time tonight. Appreciate it. And again, a quick reminder to our viewers, we'll be watching tonight's presidential address and listening to what the President says tonight. But we're not going to take it live, as we've been discussing, that's because this President, sadly, has a history of misleading and in some cases simply false statements on what we've been talking about tonight -- election security and integrity.
Also, the White House earlier today said he would be showing newly classified documents. So we want to make sure that we have time to review those documents, talk to experts about them, contextualize whatever he says or shows before airing it. But if there is news, we will bring it to you ASAP.
And with that on the table, joining us now, the former Trump White House Communications Director, Alyssa Farah Griffin, former Trump Campaign Adviser, David Urban, former Senior Adviser to President Biden, Ashley Etienne.
Senator Warnock making a point there that the President should be talking about anything but election security. If you were advising a Republican campaign right now or running for office as a Republican right now, you might not say it publicly because Donald Trump will come after you. But I think that's what most Republicans wish as well.
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I would imagine if you're in a competitive House race or Senate race going into these midterms, you're not going to be amplifying whatever the President says tonight, tomorrow morning. This is not what voters want the President to be focusing on or their elected officials in Congress.
To his point, it's the kitchen table issues. It's the economy. If anything, when I first heard he was giving an address tonight, I assumed it was about the war in Iran that we are still very much in. So this just goes to show the President's focus is on the election that he lost in 2020. American voters are begging him to focus on 2024, the election that he actually won and delivering on the promises he made.
KING: Right. And so, David, to that point, Alyssa's right, elections are only rigged or stolen or bad when he loses. 2016 was fine. 2024 was fine. I think people at home can figure that one out. But at the same time, I want to give the President a little bit of benefit the doubt and say that, OK, I think everybody at the table right here would agree.
We should do as much as we can to stop foreign meddling in U.S. elections. But why a primetime speech about this now, but 15.5 weeks from election?
DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, John, listen, I agree with both you and Alyssa. We've been through enough campaigns, right? I've been through enough campaigns, campaigns that want kitchen table issues. That's what people across Pennsylvania, across Florida, Georgia, other places, they're concerned about when they're looking to buy, you know, backpacks for their kids going back to school and school books and new clothes and sneakers for their children and, you know, those are the things that they're thinking about right now.
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However, the President's agenda, I think he's thinking about the SAVE Act. Senate's coming back. The House will run out of time. SAVE Act is a top priority for him. And I think he wants to highlight some of the things that the SAVE Act would address.
I think he's going to talk about from what I've heard in these previews about how many folks are on the rolls and shouldn't be on the rolls. And, you know, Senator Warren, you know, we heard the senator there talk about how it's such a burden to, you know, prove that you're a citizen before you register to vote.
You know, voting is a sacred act in our country. And I think people look at it that way. Gallup is poll after poll. I think it's in the high 80s that find that people -- find five proving you're a citizen when you're registering to vote scores in the high 80s. Showing I.D., you know, when you're required to vote high 80s. 167 countries around the world, every country in Europe requires I.D. to show up at the poll.
So for Senator Warnock to be like, oh, it's so hard to show up with a, you know, proof of I.D. to register to vote, I say malarkey. You know, if it's such a sacred right, take it sacred. Be serious about it. Bring your documents. Maybe it's a slight inconvenience. Absolutely. But do it. People can do it.
If you really value the vote, then they can do it. Maybe perhaps make it easier. Give people a day off. But, you know, if you want to fly, you've got to have an I.D. It could be done. So I think the President is going to talk about that. Use that as a kind of a wedge lever here to maybe pressure some senators to kind of come back to the table.
I don't think the votes are there, as you said, John, if there was a watered down SAVE Act, perhaps. But the bill as it currently exists isn't going to pass. I think that's what we want to focus on tonight. He's going to focus on and tell us his point. I think he should be talking about how he's going to make things cheaper for Americans when they're buying, you know, things for their kids heading to school.
KING: If we could have adult conversations about all big issues, that would be good. I think that's one of the problems right now that we can't do that, especially on elections when it comes with President Trump. But a lot of Republican secretaries of state say it's too late, David. They say it's 15.5 weeks to Election Day. You can't be changing things now.
Ashley, you're the Democrat at the table. But if you pick up The Washington Post today, reaffirmation of what we've seen in poll after poll after poll after poll. The President's approval rating is in the 30s. The post poll also had some alarming numbers about his support among Republicans and Republican enthusiasm in this election.
I assume as a Democrat, when you hear the President wants to talk about election security, not affordability, not the reactivity of military action in Iran that's sending gas prices up again, you say thank you, sir.
ASHLEY ETIENNE, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER TO PRES. BIDEN: Absolutely. It's playing right into our hands. But here's the thing. I never thought I'd be doing this, but I'm going to quote Congressman Massie. He made the point. He said, "Where is the fraud?"
You know, Republicans won the House. They won the Senate. They won the White House. They own the Supreme Court. The only fraud is that they've not made good on their promises to lower costs, no new wars and that they were going to put America first.
So this speech really does play to our advantage and plays right into our hands. And the reality is, is the American people aren't buying the President's argument. Not even Republicans. 66 percent of Republicans believe that elections are fair.
And so that's why I think so many people are perplexed about this. But I agree with David that this is all an effort to pressure -- publicly pressure Republicans on the SAVE Act, but also to lay the foundation, I believe, for federal intervention into the elections. But to your point, it plays right into our hands.
KING: And so, forgive me, but I'm going to put you back in the Trump White House, all right. Again, his approval rating is 37 percent of the Washington Post poll. If you average it all, he's somewhere around 35 to 40, is below 40 somewhere around there. 81 percent approval rating among Republicans, which for him is a danger zone right below 90.
GRIFFIN: Yes.
KING: Any president. If you're below 90 in your own party, that's well, OK, there's a little bit of oomph out there. If he said, hey, Alyssa, get the speech writing team ready. I'm going to talk about election security. You would say what?
GRIFFIN: I would say this is not where your focus should be. And, by the way, I think both David Urban and I would agree that I'm certain there are many folks in the White House who did not want this speech to happen, who were telling him he needs to be focusing on affordability. Get him out on the road. Get him in battleground states.
We're talking about issues that you actually went on. But today we are, you know, we have reporting out there that he's got some of the election denier, you know, VIPs around him. People like John Solomon and Cleta Mitchell and others have been there to preview these remarks tonight.
So there's this core group that's going to tell him what he wants to hear. They back him on this. They agree with him on it. But I'm sure most of it, like Susie Wiles, I don't think is dying for the speech to happen tonight. I'll put it that way.
URBAN: John, to your point, I've on the campaign trail, I've said to the President, we shouldn't talk about this. Don't do this here. And he walks out on the stage and talks about it. So I've been in the shoes. I've done it. And it doesn't work.
KING: Ashley, last point, and unfortunately --
ETIENNE: Sure.
KING: -- you make it pretty quickly here. When Republicans say, why won't Democrats come to the table on a voter ID law, is there anything that would be acceptable? How do you do it?
ETIENNE: Well, I mean, I think our argument is that you can't solve for a problem that actually doesn't exist. So why are we trying to solve for a problem that doesn't actually exist. So why are we trying to solve for a problem that doesn't actually exist?
I think the real reality is here. What is shocking is that 93 percent of the country thinks that we're in an affordability crisis. Meanwhile, the President is hyper focused on himself and his grievances from 2020. I mean, that's again, that's what's playing into our hands, into our advantage.
KING: He is unconventional. We've known that from the very beginning and we're going to see it in just seconds. Alyssa, Ashley, David, thank you.
The news continues, of course. The Source with Kaitlan Collins starts right now.
