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Security Concerns Over New Air Force One?; Iran Cease-Fire Crumbling?. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired July 09, 2026 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:00]

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: The airport is a frequent stop for the president and a very short drive from his Mar-a-Lago club. This was his son Eric's take.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC TRUMP, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: I don't think there's anybody more synonymous with Palm Beach than Donald Trump, and maybe all of Florida. And it's his home. He's fought like hell for all of us.

And as a son who worked so hard to make this happen, I couldn't be more proud.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: The official call letters change from PBI to DJT next month.

Thanks for joining INSIDE POLITICS.

"CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: The cease-fire crumbling. Iran says the U.S. launched new strikes after hitting dozens of targets overnight, as Iranian missiles breach Jordan's airspace. We're going to take you live to the deck of a U.S. aircraft carrier involved in the fight.

Plus: a security swap. New reporting on the decision for the president to leave the NATO summit on an older plane, and concerns about the new jet donated by Qatar.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And a black hole in her memory. Katie Couric talks about how she was suddenly robbed of her memories, a rare condition called transient global amnesia.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SANCHEZ: First to the breaking news in the Middle East, the U.S. and Iran trading new strikes, as their fragile cease-fire now appearing more broken than ever. Just hours ago, Iran says U.S. forces hit several locations along the

coast. Iranian media sharing some new images of damaged boats at a fishing pier. U.S. Central Command says at least 170 strikes were carried out over the last two nights.

KEILAR: But Iran is retaliating. They launched attacks at U.S. military sites across -- military sites that are based in U.S. allies in the region. This includes at least 10 missiles at a U.S. base in Jordan, according to officials there.

U.S. strikes started just hours after President Trump declared the cease-fire with Iran was over. And that really does look to be the case here.

CNN's Alayna Treene is monitoring developments for us at the White House.

Alayna, is there any way to get these two parties back to the negotiating table? We know that some of the mediators are trying, but, as of now, it doesn't appear.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, it's a great question, and I think it's very much unclear at this moment, in part, Brianna and Boris, because the president himself is not really sure how he wants to proceed, and that's according to some of the conversations I'm having with officials here in Washington.

Look, I think one of these big questions is whether or not Trump does sincerely believe that he cannot trust Iran to honor his commitment. That is something we have heard him say. He said it just yesterday on Air Force One when he was returning back from Turkey here to the U.S.

But I also know that's been a key point of contention behind closed doors, particularly among some of the top Cabinet officials who have been discussing this with the president for months now, people like the CIA director, John Ratcliffe, raising concerns about whether or not Iran can be trusted to live up to the commitments laid out in that memorandum of understanding, which I should note was signed just a couple weeks ago around the president's other foreign trip around the G7.

Now, look, I will also say, in the conversations I'm having, that they still believe there is a division within the leadership among the Iranians. If the hard-liners get their way, perhaps we could see more strikes, more of this volatility, more increased tensions and hostilities.

But they still believe that some of the mediators who have been working -- or not the mediators -- I should say some of the other Iranian leaders who've been working closely with the mediators, as well as U.S. negotiators, that they might still be able to prevail here.

And so it's very much uncertain where things stand. I do want to give you a little context, though, because I think it was so notable. As you're watching the president speak in Turkey in the recent days while he was at the NATO summit, the anger in his rhetoric was so palpable. It was really spilling out into public view.

And part of that, I'm told, is because, one, Trump is very angry with Iran that the strait remains not open, remains closed and not open to full capacity. That was one of the key lines within the MOU, within that text. He's frustrated with that. He's losing patience, I'm told, as well, that he believes Iranians are slow-walking U.S. negotiators on nuclear talks.

So, all of that kind of creating this perfect storm, in addition to the exchange of attacks. So, a lot more questions we have for the president today, Boris and Brianna.

SANCHEZ: Alayna Treene, thank you so much for that reporting from the White House.

Now to CNN's exclusive reporting aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.

KEILAR: CNN anchor Pamela Brown is traveling with American forces in the Arabian Sea, as these new attacks are unfolding.

Pamela, tell us what the latest is where you are.

[13:05:03]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Well, let me just set the stage.

First of all, you're seeing what's called a walk to look for any debris. This is an exercise, making sure that they pick up anything that could end up in an engine, because we're here in the hangar, and these are some of the fighter jets that have been used during this conflict from very early on.

So this includes maintenance crews and pilots. But, Brianna, as we talk about this ongoing conflict, the last two nights of strikes, what I can tell you is, here on the USS Abraham Lincoln, things are heating up, and those are the exact words from the captain here of the ship, Dan Keeler.

He said that the White House and the administration, CENTCOM has told the ship to be on high alert. He says that's always the case. There is always a high state of readiness. But the context here is that tensions are escalating. There's already been two nights of strikes.

And there is uncertainty about what is to come, whether there will be more strikes or not. Now, I want to show you this. As I mentioned, these F-18s and also the F-35s have really been fighter jet workhorses during this war. And I want to show you these symbols right here.

These are drones right here that this spider jet has taken out during this conflict that started 5.5 months ago. These are missiles that have been taken out just by this fighter jet alone. Every single fighter jet I have seen or just about everyone I have seen here in the hangar and up above on the flight deck has these symbols.

They also have other ones like dropping bombs, how many bombs the fighter jets have dropped, as well as submarine buster stickers that they put on there, if they have taken down a submarine. I saw one earlier today that had taken down an Iranian submarine. So they put these symbols on to mark what these fighter jets have done so far in the conflict.

And people here on board the ship, Brianna and Boris, they know that this is not over. As one official told me, the cease-fire is up for -- at least temporarily seized, and we have now learned that, in these last two nights, around 170 targets have been hit at Iran.

And as you all have been talking about, there's a lot of speculation and talk and increased rhetoric about what's going to come next in this conflict.

KEILAR: All right, Pamela Brown on the USS Abraham Lincoln, where it is very busy, thank you so much for that report. Stay safe. Hope everyone out there stays safe as well.

Still to come: A U.S. Olympian charged with damaging the Reflecting Pool appears in federal court. What happened when he faced prosecutors?

Plus, we have brand-new reporting about why President Trump left Turkey on that old Air Force One plane, instead of his brand-new, newly operational, I should say, Qatari-gifted jet.

SANCHEZ: And Katie Couric says a case of amnesia created a black hole in her memory -- what she says caused it and much more coming your way on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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[13:12:00]

KEILAR: Back now to our breaking news on the Iran war, the U.S. and Iran trading more strikes today, as sources say mediators are now working to bring both countries back to negotiations.

We're joined now by retired U.S. Navy Commander Kirk Lippold. He is the former commanding officer of the USS Cole.

Sir, thanks so much for being with us.

Just to put into perspective how much these strikes have intensified, according to CENTCOM, the U.S. struck Iran at least 170 times in the last two days. So that is an uptick of a factor of about 14 compared to the last time strikes happened in June.

Tell us where we are right now as you see it.

KIRK LIPPOLD, FORMER COMMANDER, USS COLE: I think, Brianna, what you're looking at is that President Trump is realizing what every president before him for the last 47 years has realized, and that is, Iran cannot trusted. Everything has to be verified, and very clearly.

And he has said that, if you engage in these activities, specifically impacting the Strait of Hormuz, an international waterway, and you won't come to the negotiating table in good faith, there are going to be consequences.

And when Iran has fired at commercial shipping, it has been proportional response, until this latest one, three ships hit. President Trump said, enough. It is time to not only just strike Iran, but begin to go a little bit more in depth.

KEILAR: It's very clear that Iran does not want to relinquish control of the strait. And those tensions precipitated Iran striking these commercial ships, which brings everything to a standstill. And the president is now threatening to reenact that naval blockade.

I mean, with that in mind, what options does the president really have that can force Iran to relinquish control of the strait?

LIPPOLD: I think Iran, if you really look at it, in a strategic sense, the Strait of Hormuz now has become the strategic center of gravity for Iran.

They are going to use the Strait of Hormuz as the one bargaining chip they have with respect to everything else, whether it's their nuclear program, ballistic missiles, support for proxy groups, et cetera, because they know that they can very easily shut down -- even through information warfare., they can shut down the Strait of Hormuz.

They have already been caught mining. Clearly, they can conduct the strikes they're doing. President Trump is now going to look at, OK, where are they coming from? How are they getting the command-and- control and the information necessary to target these ships and demand that they take the northern route between Larak and Qeshm or the southern route by Oman?

And at the end of the day, the United States needs to do whatever it takes to hit command-and-control, infrastructure, resupply routes so that they, in fact, cannot target these vessels throughout the Middle East and the Arabian -- or Persian Gulf.

KEILAR: What is the endgame, as you see it?

LIPPOLD: The endgame, I think, is going to be that the United States, unfortunately, is going to have to continue to do these strikes. Hopefully, our allies will come in to continue to maintain the southern route, especially, mine-free from any Iranian interference.

[13:15:00]

But at the end of the day, we're going to have to begin to get these other countries to be a little bit more forthright and public in the support they're giving to us, even at the risk of their own infrastructure and their own military.

And that includes Saudi Arabia, especially, who has a very capable military force, the UAE, which is already engaged, and some of the others as well, because we are going to have to have allies that live in the region, that are going to have to live with the consequences of finally stopping Iran's pursuit of a nuclear weapon and get them on board to help us. And our European allies, as President Trump pointed out in the NATO

summit, have to do more and have to step up. Not only are they going to engage with respect to the Russia-Iran -- Ukraine conflict. They're going to have to also do this if we expect to see the international water stay -- stay straight, which China's paying attention to, and also understand that, from an international perspective, we are in fact unified to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.

KEILAR: There have clearly been some miscalculations by the U.S. about how this would turn out here more than four months after the initial strikes with Israel on Iran.

With that in mind, though, is there a way to come back from that in a way that doesn't create a very protracted war here?

LIPPOLD: I think you're right, Brianna. We in fact underestimated the ability of this mosaic defense that Iran employed, to be able to continue to have continuity of government and continuity of the military within the IRGC.

The point is now is, learn from that and figure out where are those key points that we can in fact strike that will disrupt the command- and-control. And stop -- these people need to stop being apologists for Iran and saying, well, we don't know who's really in charge.

It doesn't matter. If the IRGC strikes at shipping within the Strait of Hormuz to start with, then we should take out those sites, plus additional sites where we know that they are preparing, storage facilities, et cetera, but also begin to take down the key infrastructure. And that includes roads, power, water to the sites that are supported and require that infrastructure in order for them to be able to operate.

KEILAR: And how do you do that without substantially affecting the civilian population?

LIPPOLD: At this point, I think there's going to be impact on the civilian population. We have already seen that already. In any conflict, unfortunately, you cannot be antiseptic and make sure that the population is done.

You try and arrange the targeting or get the target set as tight and as close as possible, so that it is minimal impact on the civilians and on the civilian infrastructure. But at the end of the day, a lot of it is dual use. And the United States and others are not going to have any choice but to strike those.

There will be an impact on the civilian population. But I think we also continue to work with that long-term goal that we have had from the very beginning and that every president's had, and that is try and create the conditions for the Iranian people to rise up against the ayatollah, the IRGC, and the Basij, and make sure that they can, in fact, look toward whether they -- how and when they're going to have a new type of government.

KEILAR: All right, we will have to see. As of now, that is not what we are hearing as an objective coming from this administration. But I certainly hear what you're saying there.

Commander Kirk Lippold, thank you so much.

LIPPOLD: Thank you, Brianna.

KEILAR: Next, we have some new details about why President Trump flew out of Turkey on this plane, the older Air Force One airplane, and it's not the reason that he gave online.

Plus, hear why an impenetrable steel black box is being built in case humanity is wiped out.

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[13:23:03]

SANCHEZ: The former Olympian charged with a felony for allegedly damaging the Reflecting Pool pleaded not guilty today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NORM EISEN, ATTORNEY FOR DAVID HEARN: Thanks, everybody.

(CHANTING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: David Hearn raised his fist as supporters cheered for him after his arraignment in D.C.

Last week, U.S. attorney Jeanine Pirro accused him of causing more than $1,000 in damage to the pool, leading to that felony count and a potential 10-year sentence.

KEILAR: Yesterday, three other people pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges for damage to the pool, which just underwent a $14 million dollar renovation.

CNN's Katelyn Polantz is with now.

Katelyn, tell us what happened in court today.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: It was a really short hearing in court for David Hearn, the former three-time Olympian in slalom canoeing.

He was in court just to say he was not guilty and that he's going to be fighting the charge he faces. That's a felony count. He was indicted last week just before the Fourth of July by a D.C. grand jury, and the U.S. attorney is charging him with malicious destruction of property for allegedly peeling up a section of the Reflecting Pool bottom, about two square feet of that blue liner that was coming up already from the Reflecting Pool bottom.

Now, this case, it's not just about this only charge. It's already taken on a life of its own politically. The supporters all showed up for David Hearn at the D.C. Superior Court in downtown Washington. They're cheering "Free Davey." They're cheering his name.

They were holding signs calling him a hero. There's also a member of Congress, Jamie Raskin, out there, putting out a statement in support of Hearn. He represents the district Hearn lives in, in Maryland. He's a Democrat.

And then there's Hearn's own attorney, Norm Eisen, making this about something much larger, saying he's a scapegoat of the Trump administration. Here's a little bit more from Norm Eisen.

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EISEN: And every American should be alarmed about this prosecution. This indictment reflects the administration's effort to scapegoat Davey and to shift blame for their own failures. It is not a crime to touch the Reflecting Pool, to touch water in the United States of America.

[13:25:20]

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POLANTZ: Another indication of how this case is taking on a life of its own, one of the former special counsel prosecutors under Jack Smith is the lawyer that appeared in court for David Hearn today, saying that there isn't evidence in this case.

But the U.S. attorney, Jeanine Pirro, she has been out there saying that this is a significant case, and Hearn was desecrating a national monument. We're going to wait and see how things go in court. There will be much more substantive proceedings in the future, and, eventually, as Hearn's lawyers say, a trial.

KEILAR: Wow.

Katelyn Polantz, thank you so much for that update.

CNN has learned that security concerns played a role in President Trump's decision to leave the NATO summit in Turkey on an older plane, instead of the newly donated jet from Qatar.

SANCHEZ: Multiple U.S. officials say the concerns were driven in part by the escalating conflict in Iran, though there was no direct threat to the president.

CNN senior White House reporter Betsy Klein has more.

Betsy, what are you learning?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Boris, President Trump and top officials have made so much to-do about this new Qatari- gifted Air Force One that it was highly unusual, raised some alarm bells when the president abruptly announced that he would be traveling back from Turkey to the United Kingdom aboard the old Air Force One. The reason that the president gave at the time was that he wanted U.S.

service members at Mildenhall Air Force Base to be able to tour the new plane. But now we are learning that the other thing that drove that decision in part was security concerns around this escalating conflict in Iran, as we have seen these strikes ramping up in recent days.

And that is according to four U.S. officials. Now, two of those officials say that security personnel felt more comfortable with President Trump flying aboard that old plane, which has been significantly bolstered with security features, major counter defense measures.

But this new plane had just been retrofitted in over a period of a short-term amount of months. Now, sources say there was no specific credible threat to Trump. The president was asked about this aboard the new plane. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's flying to Europe to one of the big bases, two or three of the big bases, where we can show it to the people, and we will be going home by normal methods.

But we have it going to Europe to a couple of bases, actually, one in particular, but it's going to go to a couple of bases stop, so the soldiers can see it, because it's truly magnificent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: Now, two sources familiar with the matter tell us that this plane does not possess the same capabilities as the old one, particularly in international settings.

But a third said that this plane was equipped with many of the same safety features as the old plane, so some additional precautions taken as the president is in a high-risk area abroad.

KEILAR: Very interesting.

And the president is now -- I mean, obviously,he's got the Iran war to focus on, but he's also very focused on a renovation project, another part of this. What is it?

KLEIN: Yes, Brianna, the president remains fixated on these construction projects.

The latest now is the White House North Portico, the columns there. We saw him back on Memorial Day spending a significant amount of time inspecting those columns, and then, on the 9th, stripping paint from the columns. Then the lantern came down June 29. The last couple of days, scaffolding has gone up.

And then, today, you can see that they have unfurled this drape with an image of the White House in front of all of that scaffolding. They say that this is about stone restoration. Of course, the president, in his view, believes that these projects are really the foundation of his legacy in office.

KEILAR: Really interesting, Betsy Klein.

So, wait, can we go back to that picture real quick? I just -- can you bring that picture back? OK. That's actually a picture, not -- on the left. That's not the before. That's the after, right? This is live.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: OK, so that is the sort of tarp that has a picture. It's almost an optical illusion there.

KLEIN: It's remarkable.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: Yes. All right. We will keep an eye on that, as we do all the projects.

Betsy, thank you so much.

Next, we have some breaking news in the trial of Tyler Robinson, who, of course, is the man accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Prosecutors just revealed a critical piece of evidence, and we will have that ahead.

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