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Interview with Rep. Gabe Amo (D-RI): U.S. and Iran Trade Fresh Strikes as Tensions Flare; Graham Platner Ends Maine Senate Bid, Denies Rape Allegation; Arraignment for Ex-Olympian David Hearn Indicted for Alleged Reflecting Pool Damage; Family Wants Answers After Man Fatally Shot by ICE on His Way to Work. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired July 09, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

BILL WEIR, CNN CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Together to fix global warming. This is hugely controversial. A few years ago, University of Washington wanted to just see how saltwater moves through the air and used an old jet engine to spray saltwater off a retired aircraft carrier in the Bay Area.

It was so upsetting to people that the city of Alameda, California outlawed all geoengineering and shut that thing down before they could even understand the impacts of this. There's also the question of do we have enough technology? Do we have misters big enough to create, you know, hemisphere-wide swaths of shade for the earth?

So a lot of questions right now but bringing back up the conversation of when these natural events are stacked on top of climate change, you got to figure out something. And this is one of those in case of emergency break glass ideas.

BOLDUAN: Yes, until humanity gets its act together should be the tagline of every time we have this conversation, Bill, on all different fronts. It's great to see you, buddy. Thank you so much.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The race is now on. The new one. Who will be the new Democratic Senate candidate in Maine?

And how will that person get chosen? The key questions after Graham Platner announced he is dropping out.

And then happening now, new reports of air raid sirens in countries across the Middle East. Americans told to take shelter. This is a developing situation in the renewed war between the United States and Iran.

A man fatally shot by an ICE agent during a traffic stop this morning. We are hearing from his family demanding answers.

Sara is out today. I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan, and this is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. BOLDUAN: All right, we're talking about breaking news right now out of the Middle East. Jordan says that it has intercepted Iranian missile fire after air raid sirens rang out this morning. The U.S. Embassy there issued an alert telling people to seek shelter immediately. And there are new explosions reported in Iran happening right now following Thursday's round of -- following another round of U.S. strikes. This is the second straight day of U.S. strikes. Iranian state media is now claiming that a U.S. strike hit the perimeter of a nuclear power plant. It would seem President Trump, though, is following through on his promise to strike Iran quite hard, retaliating for Iranian attacks on ships near the Strait of Hormuz -- John.

BERMAN: With us now is Congressman Gabe Amo, a Democrat from Rhode Island. He is the vice ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Congressman, good to see you this morning.

We are getting these reports of air raid sirens in Jordan. Americans being told to shelter. Reports of attempted strikes on Bahrain and Kuwait.

Strikes inside Iran. What's your understanding of the current situation? What do you think is happening?

REP. GABE AMO (D-RI), VICE RANKING MEMBER, FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: Well, what's clearly happening is Donald Trump can't stop the war, still can't stop the war that he started. And Americans are paying the price. Rhode Islanders, my constituents are paying the price.

And people across the region are less safe. The fact of the matter is the president has not been focused on the hard work of diplomacy, planting the flag, claiming victory for weeks and weeks and weeks, claiming that the Iranians were reasonable people to yesterday, calling them scum. This inconsistency is dangerous.

And I hope this administration puts good faith effort at the negotiation table so that we can stop this madness and end this war.

BERMAN: What does it say about the state of the ceasefire?

AMO: Well, I think it was always fragile. And certainly when you saw skirmishes throughout the bulk of the eight weeks. And of course, you hear the president himself say that it's over sort of flippantly.

And I would not take anything seriously from this administration with regard to milestones and accomplishments, because we have seen them go back on their word. And again, we are stuck in an endless war that is costing the American people at the grocery store, at the gas pump, and of course, is causing real instability across the region. The strait is not clear.

We have major issues and the administration has to follow through with the hard work of diplomacy.

BERMAN: Just three or four weeks ago, Vice President J.D. Vance was talking about how cool it was. He said it was the coolest thing to be in the room speaking with Iranian officials who maybe had a different sense of what the United States was like now. He call it the coolest thing.

And then just yesterday, President Trump called them scum and cuckoo. What's the disconnect?

[08:05:00]

AMO: Well, the disconnect is, you know, they've got this fairy tale of success in the military context. And certainly, at the table of diplomacy, the fact of the matter is we haven't seen progress. And this is all because Donald Trump started a war.

And ultimately, it's a little embarrassing in reflection to hear how they were praising and exclaiming all these virtues about the process, when in fact, the war is continuing on.

And look at the gas prices today. We are feeling the pain. The administration needs a real focus on diplomacy and the hard work.

It's not going to be easy. It is not short. That's why Congress passed war powers resolutions to say that this has to stop.

And we need a political resolution to this situation, not just one where we're dropping bombs.

BERMAN: So you have a voice. You're on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. What would you do?

What would the Gabe Amo plan be for peace between the United States and Iran?

AMO: Well, look, I think the previous arrangement that we had with the JCPOA that in Trump one was ripped up is a framework to go to. But the challenge here is, John, we are now in the middle of a war. We are now in a situation where the path of diplomacy that was hard earned was burned up.

So I would want to see a commitment to a nuclear monitoring program. I would want to see an opening of the strait. That is now a point of leverage that the Iranians have.

And of course, I would like to see a renewed commitment to a regional solution that has all of our partners at the table instead of the United States, again, going it alone.

BERMAN: Talking about domestic politics, three straits -- three states, I should say, north of where you are in Rhode Island right now, there's a people in a Democratic Senate race. Graham Platner says he's dropping out. Democrats there need to pick a new candidate.

As you look at what's happened in Maine, what do you think the most important lessons are for Democrats nationally?

AMO: Look, the most important takeaways for me now are, one, I stand with those who made very serious allegations. We have to believe those victims and survivors. That's important.

The second thing is we have to be very clear that the mission is stopping Susan Collins from continuing to be a rubber stamp for Donald Trump's agenda. Look, she was the deciding vote to get Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court. She voted for the big, ugly law that cut billions from our health care system, from food assistance, and is supporting ISIS terror in communities across this country.

So we've got to be very focused on the mission. And ultimately, we have to utilize the voice of voters, the voice of the people of Maine, who are now the most central and important thing in this process, because they deserve a Democratic nominee who stops Susan Collins from continuing to be a rubber stamp for the Trump agenda.

BERMAN: You have to do a better job, vetting candidates?

AMO: Look, I think there's a whole process, and I think the fact of the matter is Graham Platner was a series of red flags. What we heard earlier this week was not new. The challenge ultimately becomes having a process that is fully transparent, where candidates -- where the whole process is one that gives voters the most information to move forward so that we can do the work of having the best people in office.

And especially right now, as we see the havoc caused by the Trump administration, not having a senator from Maine who was going to continue to support all of that chaos.

BERMAN: Congressman Gabe Amo from Rhode Island, we appreciate your time this morning -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: A man was shot and killed during an encounter with ICE agents. What DHS is saying happened, and why his family is disputing that account and now demanding answers.

Plus, the former Olympian accused of vandalizing the Reflecting Pool in Washington is due in court this morning. We've got new details on that.

And there's surveillance video that shows a man with a flaming propane tank inside a restaurant. What police say happened when they got to the scene. We'll be back.

[08:10:00]

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BOLDUAN: This morning, three more people have been charged with damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool after it underwent a multimillion-dollar renovation. Two men and one woman have pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge. They were detained in June.

Now, according to court documents, officers witnessed them peel and remove pieces of blue paint, like what you see here. There was another incident you might recall, though. A former Olympian indicted on a more serious charge for also allegedly damaging the pool -- the Reflecting Pool.

David Hearn is expected in court next hour. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison.

[08:15:00]

Joining us right now is CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Joey Jackson. So, Joey, David Hearn is charged with one felony count of destruction of property. What does this charge mean?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: So, Kate, good morning to you. It means that they are alleging that he intentionally destroyed the property. And that's the critical issue.

But more important than that, because it's a felony, that the value of the damage was over a thousand dollars. You might recall when this happened a few weeks ago now, they initially gave him a citation. Apparently, that wasn't good enough for prosecutors.

They went, they evaluated, they spoke to the National Park Service eyewitnesses, and they said, no, you were pulling and violently tugging, and as a result, we're going to go to the grand jury, which they did. They went to a grand jury, right, consisting of 23 people not deciding guilt or innocence, a civil majority of which says that there's reason to believe you did it. They got an indictment, and now he comes today for an arraignment before the judge.

BOLDUAN: I'm curious what you think -- of course, we have to, it'll be arraigned before the judge, but what is his legal team will say, like, what is, what do you present? Is this, you know, because it's a politically charged -- it's a whole thing.

JACKSON: Boy, is it.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

JACKSON: Yes. So, today, not much of anything. So, for today's purposes, at a simple arraignment, what'll happen is he'll say, sir, have you gone over the indictment with your lawyers? Do you understand what you're facing?

It's a destruction of property. Do you get that you can face up to 10 years in jail, right? And do you have a plea?

Yes, not guilty. You'll plead not guilty. So, today, he'll be pretty, you know, pro-form, and that's how it goes.

Going forward, in terms of defending, defense will have an awful lot to say. Now, prosecutors are saying, hey, he made this confession. He said that he dipped his hand into the pool.

He was curious. He went in there. It's not a confession.

Defense is saying, yes, he was a curious citizen. He was riding his bike, and as a result, he dipped his, you know, hand in there. He didn't do it to pull anything. And by the way, the defense will say, this pool is a disaster. The Feds have spent $14 million on it. It's falling apart.

It's got algae and everything else. He had nothing to do with tearing anything at all. And you're deflecting, Mr. President, right, because there's reason to believe that that's the reason he got indicted, because of this disaster, saying that I did something that I did not do. And ultimately, it's a very politically charged issue, as you noted. But I think the defense will have a lot to say, and it'll be a credibility assessment, because, of course, we know National Park Service employees said, oh, we confronted him. We saw him do this.

And so, the jury, if it gets that far, will have to make a determination as to who's telling the truth and who's fibbing. And we will say it is in the District of Columbia. That's the jury that's evaluating this case.

It's not a federal case, interestingly enough. It's a local case, but it's prosecuted by federal prosecutors, because D.C. has this kind of weird thing --

BOLDUAN: Oh, yes, I may have heard of it.

JACKSON: -- as a federal prosecutor. Federal prosecutors also prosecute state-level offenses or District of Columbia-level offenses. So, we'll see what happens. Long way away from that.

Today's just the arraignment. We're just getting started. We'll do scheduling and everything else, but we'll see.

BOLDUAN: It's good to see you, Joey.

JACKSON: Always.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much. Glad he could explain it because I sure as heck cannot.

Coming up for us, a Houston man was killed during an interaction with -- a confrontation interaction with ICE agents.

DHS says that the agent fired in self-defense. Why his family is disputing that account now?

And the jockeying has begun to replace Graham Platner. Now that he's ended his campaign, there's new reporting on how Democrats in Maine are planning to pick a new candidate now.

[08:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: New this morning, a Texas family is demanding answers after a man was fatally shot on his way to work by an ICE agent. Lorenzo Salgado's son says he is a Mexican immigrant who has been living in the United States for 35 years with no criminal history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RONALD SALGADO, SON OF MAN FATALLY SHOT BY ICE IN TEXAS: I saw my dad's van, but no sign of him. I frantically called family, friends, loved ones to see if they can find any information. I saw a video posted on Facebook that he had been shot.

I recognized him immediately. Not from his appearance, but from his voice, crying for help as he lay on the street bleeding out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: ICE officials say they were conducting a traffic stop as part of a targeted operation. They claim that Salgado was trying to evade arrest. With us now, CNN's Ed Lavandera.

Ed, what's the latest on all of this?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, it's now been almost 48 hours since this shooting occurred on the streets of Houston early Tuesday morning. And there has still not been a full video of what transpired that captures all of it. And that is what investigators, or at least people working with Latino activist groups, as well as the family calling for people who might have anything to do to come forward to help explain how all of this unfolded.

What we do have is video of the aftermath where you see Lorenzo Salgado Araujo on the ground surrounded by ICE agents there bleeding from his midsection. And that is what we've seen so far. The family says they simply just don't believe the version of events that ICE officials have put out so far.

They point to what happened earlier this year with the two shootings in Minneapolis, where the description by ICE officials didn't quite match up with what unfolded there. So a lot of uncertainty, a lot of distrust about what has been described, the official version of events that has been put out by ICE officials.

[08:25:00]

ICE officials, as you mentioned, John, maintain that Lorenzo Salgado Araujo had used his vehicle as a weapon and that the ICE agent there on the ground fired at him in self-defense. That is what ICE agents are saying, but as we mentioned, there's been a great deal of distrust on that version of events. Salgado Araujo's family says that their father had been here in the United States 35 years, had no criminal history, was in the process of obtaining his legal status to work legally here in the U.S., so they believe that he didn't have any incentive to go to these lengths to evade arrest.

In fact, the family also says that it was unmarked vehicles that were pursuing Salgado Araujo and three other men inside that white truck that they believe that they were fearful that they were being targeted for robbery. They were on their way to their construction work that they had done for so long, and it often happens where a lot of construction workers are targeted and their tools are stolen from their trucks. So they believe that that was what was in the back of their father's mind and the other men that were in the other truck.

We should also say that the three other men that were in the truck with Salgado Araujo have also been detained by ice officials as well -- John.

BERMAN: In the meantime, this family wants answers. Ed Lavandera for us this morning in Texas. Ed, thank you for sharing the latest reporting on that.

So, a secret trip to a nuclear lab and months of backchannel talks. Brand new CNN reporting this morning inside what appears to be the failed ceasefire agreement between the United States and Iran.

And this is why you need to be careful on the roads after a storm. A driver crashes right into a live downed power line, setting off that blast.

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