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Man Killed By ICE Was Not the Target of the Operation; New Video of McConnell Loaded into Ambulance; Trump Doesn't Want Israel Involved in Strikes; Testimony in the Charlie Kirk Murder Case; Trump Won't Sign Housing Bill. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired July 10, 2026 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

DR. NATHAN JONES, PARTICIPATED IN NASA MARS MISSION SIMULATION IN 2024: Yes. So, NASA laid out the qualifications and they're very similar to what it would be to apply to the actual astronaut corps. So, if you meet those qualifications and you're someone who thinks you would like to be part of the next giant leap in space, I would highly encourage you to apply.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: It's great to meet you, Doctor. Thanks so much for your time and the work you do all year round when you're not in a simulation for Mars.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: New details about the fatal shooting of a father of three by an ICE officer in Houston. His family is still waiting to get his body back.

A CNN exclusive. CNN has obtained new video of Senator Mitch McConnell loaded onto an ambulance as the mystery swirls around his long hospitalization.

And by popular demand, a robot surgeon so skilled it can remove a gallbladder from a live pig. You know you asked for it.

Sara is out today. I'm John Berman, with Kate Bolduan. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

All right, new details this morning about the fatal shooting of a Mexican man by an ICE officer in Houston. Three men were in the vehicle with 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. An attorney who spoke with them says that a statement from federal officials about the circumstances that led to the shooting is, quote, "completely false." The statement in question from ICE says they were conducting a traffic stop as part of a targeted operation. A source tells CNN that Salgado Araujo was not the target of the operation. ICE also claims that Salgado was trying to evade arrest and rammed his van into a law enforcement vehicle. Those claims are being called a lie by the men who were in the car.

I want to get to CNN's Ed Lavandera with the latest. Ed, and a lot of contradictions there, but the timeline here is that ICE is saying that it was a targeted operation, but Delgado -- I mean that Salgado was not the target. And then Salgado's -- people surrounding him are also saying that his car never rammed them. Am I correct on that?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's getting complicated and we're working our -- as best as we can to piece together this timeline. There have been a number of videos that captured some of the moments leading up to as this white van with Salgado and three other men inside the van turned on to Canal Street there in Houston. And that is the street where the final moments of this altercation and the shooting death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo took place with the three other men who were inside the van. They survived. They were taken into ICE custody. They've been in a detention center.

And, John, what is significant today is that we will hear more from a lawyer for the first time that spent some time speaking with the three men yesterday. This lawyer is expected to have -- speak at a press conference later this morning in Houston. And it is significant because what that lawyer is saying is that according to these three men, the ICE agents account and the Department of Homeland Security account of how all of this unfolded is simply wrong, in their words.

This is what the lawyer has said briefly so far about what he learned from the three men who were in the van.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUGO BALDERAS-IBARRA, ATTORNEY: After speaking with these three men that were in the vehicle with Lorenzo, I have no doubt that what these ICE agents are saying is completely false. At no point did they ever use the van to ram into the ICE agents, and at no point were these ICE agents' lives ever in any danger. These men deserve respect. They deserve answers. They deserve justice. And we are demanding an independent investigation so that we can get them the justice and the answers that they deserve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: And, John, I want to go back to what you mentioned there off the top there about Salgado and these three men not being the target of the investigation. A source tells CNN that several weeks prior to this incident, that the ICE officials have described as a targeted operation, that according -- it came from a credible law enforcement partner tip that they started surveilling a house in that general area. In the weeks prior, they spotted two white vans at this property that they were surveilling. And then on that -- on Tuesday morning, when that ICE team was going to that location, they spotted this other van, which ended up having Salgado inside. So, according to this source, the -- Salgado and the three men inside that van were not the original targets.

Now, everyone involved, the family and civil rights activists there in Houston are calling for a full independent investigation.

[09:05:03]

So far, the district attorney, prosecutors and city officials there in Houston have said it's going to be very difficult because right now it's federal investigators that have all of the evidence in this case.

John.

BERMAN: Yes. And notable, though, that he was not the target of the operation. But this morning he is now dead. And the family still does not have the body back.

Ed Lavandera, in Texas with all the latest details, thank you very much.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: There is CNN exclusive reporting today. Video of the moment Senator Mitch McConnell was taken to the hospital by ambulance. This was now nearly a month ago, but the video is just coming in. One of the senator's neighbors captured this after two ambulances and a fire truck responded to the senator's home. Another neighbor confirmed seeing Senator McConnell brought out on a stretcher and put in to that ambulance.

But weeks after this medical emergency, the senator's office has still released no details about how he is doing.

CNN's Annie Grayer has this new reporting. She's got much more for us.

What are you learning now, Annie?

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: So, Kate, what I learned from one of McConnell's neighbors is around 8:30 in the morning on June 14th, they stepped out on their front porch and saw a commotion on the street. They saw two ambulances, a fire truck and Capitol Police had closed down the entire block.

Now, this eyewitness, who I spoke to, asked one of the Capitol Police officers what was going on, who shared that there was a medical emergency, but would not specify who the first responders were coming to. So, this eyewitness then stood in the street to see what was happening, along with other neighbors, where they witnessed a man on a stretcher being carried from the home of Senator Mitch McConnell into an ambulance. And one of the other neighbors said that they saw that the person on the stretcher was indeed Senator Mitch McConnell.

Now, there has been very limited information about why McConnell was brought to the hospital and why he still remains there. I'm also told from an eyewitness that once McConnell was loaded onto the ambulance, that there were no sirens and that he -- that the ambulance just carried on away.

So, the real question is, why has the senator -- why has the senator's team not shared more information here other than that he is recovering in the hospital. We also know from EMS audio that first responders came to McConnell's home responding to somebody who was unconscious, who was responding to cardiac arrest and needed CPR. So, a lot of pieces that we are trying to fill in the blanks without the senator coming out himself to say what is going on. And that's why this firsthand account and this video adds some new information here.

BOLDUAN: Yes. And it is quite a puzzle that has been now having to be pieced together over the course of this month.

Annie, thank you very much for your reporting.

John.

BERMAN: All right, just in, new CNN reporting that the Trump administration does not want Israel involved in fighting Iran right now over fears of losing control of the conflict. This is according to two Israeli sources. The United States, it seems, is pausing strikes on Iran after the back and forth attacks over the last few days. And there is also word that Israel has warned U.S. intelligence that Iran devised a new plot to try to assassinate President Trump, though some U.S. intelligence officials are skeptical of that.

With us now, CNN national security analyst Beth Sanner and David Sanger of "The New York Times."

And, David, these are all pieces of a bigger picture that you get to, in your analysis in "The Times" this morning, and I think it's just spot on and terrific. You say, you know, Plan A was the war on Iran. Plan B was this so-called ceasefire. But now the administration is struggling to find a Plan C, when the first two didn't seem to work. Explain.

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, that's exactly right, John. When you think about what Plan A was, it was that bombing, or some kind of action to cut off all of their economic activity, including the blockade on their oil exports would make the entire regime crumble, or at a minimum would keep them from fighting back. That didn't work. And, of course, they didn't give up their nuclear program. They didn't achieve any of the other goals that President Trump laid out when he started the war in late February.

Plan B then was, sign the accord, open up the oil market so that Iran would see a flood of money coming in, get addicted to the billions of dollars in revenue and then the -- that would make them move on to the next negotiation, this much bigger accord that's supposed to be -- was supposed to be negotiated in 60 days. And we're nearly halfway through and almost nothing has been done. That clearly hasn't worked.

And what we're trying to ask the White House now is, so what's Plan C? If the sticks didn't work and the carrots didn't work, how do you get this back on track?

[09:10:05]

And frankly, I'm not sure they know right now.

BERMAN: And, Beth, you know, we're just getting word that Qatari negotiators are going to Iran to try to deescalate. You know, the United States is said to be pausing this latest round of attacks. Or there are signs they are. But to what end? I mean you -- all these little pieces, does it get to the fundamental problems with the ceasefire and the status quo?

BETH SANNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: No. And, I mean, and we're really talking about two different phases, right? We're, right now, trying to figure out this phase one, which is simply putting the Strait back together again and having enough stability in the ceasefire and this arrangement with Iran over funding in order to get to the thing that actually is the only remaining justification for this war for the Trump administration.

And so, you know, I can't get out of my head this image of seeing Vice President Vance at a laptop in Geneva typing away what appears to be, you know, him editing the MOU and, you know, and thinking this was all really cool to be doing this, but it just shows you that the weakness of the way that this part of it was approached and the ambiguity in the core part of this is just the troublesome thing. And now the decision is negotiation, go back to war or walk away. And even President Trump has said escalating to end this war is not going to work. So, I think negotiations are the only way, but the path is not at all clear.

BERMAN: You know, as Beth was just pointing out, as you point out in your piece this morning, David, part of the issue is the language in the memorandum of understanding here. Paragraph five, "upon the signing of this MOU, the Islamic Republic of Iran will make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge, for 60 days only, from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and vice versa."

"The Islamic Republic of Iran will make arrangements." Iran seems to read that in a very different way than the U.S. does, David.

SANGER: That's right. President Trump read that as, this will open up the entire Strait. That it's Iran that seals it off. They're now committed to opening it. They will make arrangements. And while it said 60 days with no tolls, he told me just days before he signed this that, in fact, the tolls were going to be suspended permanently. There would never be tolls. And, of course, there weren't before the war.

BERMAN: Yes.

SANGER: So, the Americans saw this as unlocking the Strait. The Iranians saw this completely differently. They saw this as an acknowledgment that they have control over the Strait. And so they told everybody, you're only going to run in one channel closest to Iran. And if you run in any other channel, we're going to shoot at you, which is exactly what they did earlier this week. And that's what started the current crisis.

BERMAN: We will see where we are tomorrow. Every day brings something new here. Beth Sanner, David Sanger, great to see both of you.

Kate. BOLDUAN: The critical hearing for Charlie Kirk's accused killer, it

wraps up today. And Tyler Robinson's former roommate says that he admitted to shooting Kirk. What that now means for the case against him.

And more candidates are jumping in to try and replace Graham Platner in the Maine Senate race. And Platner is making the tight timeline for Dems to figure that out even tighter. Word now that he'll officially drop out of the race not until next week.

And Meta is facing backlash over its new feature that can build A.I. images from public Instagram accounts.

We'll be right back.

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[09:18:31]

BOLDUAN: In Utah, it is the final day for the preliminary hearing for Tyler Robinson. He is the man accused of shooting and killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk last year. This hearing, set to resume soon, will decide whether he will stand trial.

In court yesterday, prosecutors played a taped interview with Robinson's former roommate, who said that Robinson admitted to the murder.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did he talk about what he had done?

LANCE TWIGGS, FORMER ROOMMATE OF TYLER ROBINSON: Didn't go into detail. He just -- I just asked him, in person, if what he said was true the night before. And he said it was and started crying a little bit and said he wishes he hadn't done it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Here with us now, CNN legal analyst, criminal defense attorney, Joey Jackson.

Some of what came out from this former roommate, it's -- as Jean Casarez was saying to me, this is -- this will be the star -- a star witness, a key witness for the prosecution. But like, when you have a roommate showing, I did it text messages, it seems that the prosecution has -- is building a pretty strong case. So, what would the defense team do here then?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, so, it's going to be tough.

Good morning, Kate.

And just as a reset, right, as we noted --

BOLDUAN: Yes. JACKSON: This, as a preliminary hearing, is not for the judge to decide guilt or innocence, right?

BOLDUAN: Right.

JACKSON: There's no jury present. The judge is merely evaluating whether there's enough, right? We call it in law, legally sufficient evidence to determine whether or not a crime was committed and, in fact, he did it.

[09:20:00]

And, boy, is it building up to look like that.

BOLDUAN: Yes. They're giving a lot --

JACKSON: Wow.

BOLDUAN: They've giving quite a bit, right? Yes.

JACKSON: They really are. And yesterday, you know, we heard the roommate, of course, testify and damning evidence in terms of making the admission, hey, did you do this? Yes, I did. Explaining the motivation, the hatred, right, that Charlie Kirk, he was saying, he being Tyler Robinson, the defendant in the case, saying he was spreading hatred and this was my opportunity to take him out, giving the admission that he did it, writing a handwritten note. A lot of damning evidence with respect to the roommate. And, of course, indications are, and we're going to hear this at the time of trial, that he told them to delete the text messages, right?

BOLDUAN: Right.

JACKSON: So, that goes to the obstruction of justice, witness tampering charges, that kind of thing. So, it really is compelling.

And even before that, Kate, I mean, that was one piece of the puzzle. The judge was evaluating a lot else. We've seen a lot of DNA evidence. DNA evidence on the rifle that was allegedly used linking him. DNA on the towel that the rifle was wrapped in linking him, him being Tyler Robinson, the defendant. DNA on a screwdriver that links him. Surveillance video. So, it's been an awful lot of information that the judge is evaluating, and we'll see what the judge decides.

BOLDUAN: There's been a lot of talk about how, in trying to mount a defense, one -- that the -- that Tyler Robinson's legal team would be seeking to try to at least lay the groundwork to get the death penalty taken off the table as things would progress. What would they successfully have to show or expose, if you will, in order to win in that regard?

JACKSON: You know, so in answering that question, Kate, I would say this, right? In this preliminary hearing, a lot of damning evidence has come out. And again, we're not here to determine guilt.

BOLDUAN: Right. JACKSON: The judge is just here to determine, is there enough for trial, as I noted. But the reason I mention that in the context of your question in the death penalty, there's a jury that's going to be impaneled here. People are tuned and dialed in to social media. Tuned and dialed in to CNN and to Kate. Why am I saying that? Because people are hearing this stuff. What does that do to your jury pool if your play from a defense perspective is just to try to save his life?

Why do I say that? Because there's a circumstance where defense can waive a preliminary hearing and not have all of this inflammatory information out in the public. Because at the end of the day, I think a judge will conclude that it's going to trial. And when it does go to trial and you're empaneling a jury, hey, have you heard about this case? Yes, we think he did it. We heard a confession. You know, I was scrolling through social media. Why do you want that out there?

And I think the play certainly, like in any death penalty trial, will try to show the redeeming qualities. We're not as good as we are on our best day, or as worse as we are on our worst day, and this was pretty bad. Maybe it is if we save his life.

And remember, and we're not there yet, but at the time of trial there's two metrics. The first is to determine whether he's guilty of this aggravated murder, in addition to the other charges, right, with the rifle possession, and witness tampering, obstruction of justice, endangering children because of the fact that he shot and so many were around. But after you conclude that, then you get to the issue of whether we put him to death. And that's where you see the aggravating circumstances of what he did, right? Political affiliation. Putting people in danger.

BOLDUAN: Right.

JACKSON: And then the defense saying, no, he's of redeemed quality. He has redeeming circumstances. He's a young man. It shouldn't happen. Far off into the sunset. But if the defense was making that play, having this preliminary hearing calls into question quite a bit.

BOLDUAN: It's so interesting.

JACKSON: It is. Yes.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much, Joey. It's really the beginning of what could be a very long road here that we'll be covering. Thank you so much.

JACKSON: Thanks, Kate, as always.

BOLDUAN: We're also getting some new accounting from what happened when ICE agents in Texas shot and killed a man who was on his way to work. The other men who were in the van with him at the time are speaking out. They say the story that ICE is telling, the account of what happened, is false.

And we have some breaking news coming in. President Trump is now saying he will not sign the housing bill. A bipartisan housing bill that was approved by Congress and something that Congress was essentially begging him to do. We are just getting this in. We're going to have much more on what we're learning about this, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:28:42]

BOLDUAN: We do have some breaking news coming in and out of the White House this morning. President Trump now says on social media he will not sign what has become a hugely bipartisan and important to Congress and the country affordable housing bill that they approved and sent to his desk by congressional -- by Congress, obviously.

Let's get straight over to Betsy Klein at the White House.

So, Betsy, what is the president saying and what's the real impact of it?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Right, Kate.

Well, President Trump making clear what we had largely expected, and that is that he is not going to sign this bipartisan housing bill into law. And what that essentially means, Congress sent them his -- him this bill about ten days ago. He is not planning to veto it. So, that means that at midnight, without his signature, it automatically becomes a law.

The president saying in a post to social media a few moments ago, quote, "I will not sign the housing bill, which has been fully approved by Congress and sent to the White House, in protest over the fact that the United States Senate is not capable of passing the SAVE America Act." He goes on to say that, "the SAVE America Act's non- passage is crazy and a serious threat to any politician who votes against it."

President Trump had been trying to tie this bipartisan housing bill to the SAVE America Act. That is that controversial voting I.D. act that doesn't yet have full support in Congress, enough to pass.

[09:30:03]

Now, this bipartisan housing bill, what it would have done, it -- or what it does do, it encourages more supply.