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U.S. and Iran Trade New Strikes Amid Strait of Hormuz Tensions; Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-SC) Death Comes at Critical Point for GOP and Trump; Toronto Police Investigating After Two Killed in Festival Shooting. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired July 13, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Breaking this morning, oil prices spiking, furious strikes back and forth between the U.S. and Iran, prompting The New York Times to ask, how Trump failed to secure the Strait of Hormuz in the Iran deal.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Also, new details about the sudden death of Senator Lindsey Graham and the gaping hole his passing leaves in the U.S. Senate and with the Republican majority. The new moves now to find someone to fill his seat.

And a rescue from a murky creek in New York, how police found a woman clinging to a floating pile of wood and pulled her to safety.

Sara is out today. I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman. This is CNN News Central.

BERMAN: And breaking this morning, escalating strikes back and forth in the Middle East, leading to a New York Times headline, how Trump failed to secure the Strait of Hormuz in the Iran deal.

U.S. Central Command says it hit dozens of targets in Iran in an attempt to degrade their ability to attack shipping in the strait. CENTCOM says it used one-way attack aerial drones and one-way attack sea drones for the first time. CNN has geo-located video in southwest Iran of strike damage at an airport. Iran says it hit a U.S. base in Bahrain overnight in retaliation and will continue with additional strikes in the region. CNN has not been able to verify those reports.

Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, all reportedly responding to aerial threats this morning. There is a lot going on, a lot of activity.

Let's get right to CNN's Betsy Klein, live at the White House with the latest. What are you hearing this morning, Betsy?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, John, last week President Trump said that the ceasefire was effectively over at the same time that he suggested that diplomatic negotiations on the nuclear talks would continue.

So, what has that meant in practice? The short answer is steady escalation. At the root of this issue here is the Strait of Hormuz, that critical oil thoroughfare. Before this conflict started, no one had formal control or authority over the Strait of Hormuz, but it has become a key point of leverage for Iran as these negotiations have continued.

Now, Iran is trying to make clear that they have control over this waterway. They've launched attacks on commercial vessels. They say that the passage of ships through that strait is not possible.

Now, the U.S. position, according to CENTCOM, is, quote, Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz. It remains an international waterway. U.S. forces are positioned and prepared to keep it that way.

Now, overnight, Saturday into Sunday, the U.S. struck dozens of Iranian military targets after they said that Iran had targeted one of those merchant ships in the strait. The U.S. launching another wave of attacks overnight, this time Iran retaliating with attacks on U.S military bases in Gulf countries.

Now, the White House view here is that there is a power struggle between Iran's moderates who support diplomacy and want this process to move forward, and the hardliners who were really opposed to that memorandum of understanding signed between the U.S. and Iran just a few weeks ago.

So, as the president weighs a path forward here, the main question is oil prices continuing to rise, about 10 cents up on the gallon in the past week, as well as up 3 percent crude prices just in the last day or so. The White House watching all of that very closely as the president weighs his path forward on this. John?

BERMAN: Not sure this White House wanted to see new activity like this as we get closer and closer to the midterms.

Betsy Klein at the White House this morning monitoring the situation there, thank you very much for that. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Let's turn now to the latest on the sudden death of Senator Lindsey Graham. His office put out a new statement saying that the D.C. Medical Examiner's Office found that the preliminary cause of death was an aortic dissection, a complication associated with cardiovascular disease. And as the shock is still setting in on Capitol Hill, his death also leaves a gaping hole in the Senate.

Just this week, the president's pick to lead the Justice Department, Todd Blanche, is set to face his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Senator Graham was expected, is a key voice on that panel, expected to be a key defender and vote for Todd Blanche. Graham's also the chair of the Budget Committee, which is in the midst of negotiations over a key piece of legislation. And Graham is a longtime key voice in support of Trump's push for more defense funding amid the Iran war, which is before Congress now.

[07:05:02]

Graham is also running for re-election, now less than four months before he was set to appear on the November ballot, his sudden death occurs.

CNN's Annie Grayer joins us right now. She has the very latest. Annie, what are you hearing there this morning?

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Kate, Graham was a power player in Congress, and not only will he be greatly missed by his colleagues, but his sudden death comes at a critical time for Republicans and their agenda.

Just hours before Graham's death, we know that Graham was on the phone with President Trump trying to figure out a way forward on the president's bill to overhaul the U.S. election system, which was facing such an uphill battle in the Senate. But President Trump was essentially pausing all other legislative matters until this got dealt with.

This bill needs 60 votes to pass on the Senate floor, which it currently does not have. So, Graham and the president were trying to maneuver other ways to pass key pieces of this legislation. Given that Graham was part of the Budget Committee, there's a way to pass legislation at a lower threshold. This is a process that Republicans have used time and time again in this administration to pass, for example, massive amounts of border enforcement and immigration enforcement funding. So, without Graham no longer at the helm of the Budget Committee, there's a question of how this process is going to move forward.

Graham was also a major defense hawk, which is a waning voice in this Trump's Republican Party. He was a big supporter of more money for the war in Iran, which was facing an uphill battle among Republicans in the Senate, and the Senate currently has over $60 billion of aid and funding that they are trying to get approved for the Pentagon on this war with Iran. So, that voice, with Graham now gone, is a huge loss for Republicans.

He also was one of the only few pro-Ukraine Republicans left in Trump's Republican Party, as the party has moved away in large part from that position. In fact, Graham had visited Ukraine so many times, he had just come back from a trip from Ukraine on Saturday, hours before paramedics were called to his home as a response to hearing chest pains apparently from Graham.

And he had just gotten approved -- he had just gotten the green light on a sanctions bill for Russian oil and Russian products, and that was a bill that he had been working on for over a year. And we are expecting there to be a bipartisan push to get that bill across the finish line in honor of Graham.

And now that with Graham's absence, there is a scramble primary setting up in South Carolina. Republicans still control the Senate, but that margin is cut down even more, especially because Republican Senator Mitch McConnell remains hospitalized with no sign of returning anytime soon.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Annie, thank you so much for the reporting. Let's see what happens and what we hear more from Capitol Hill today. John? BERMAN: All right. Happening now, manhunt for multiple suspects after a deadly shooting at a street festival, two people killed, at least six injured.

Then phones, games, all kinds of electronics, how A.I. is causing prices to skyrocket.

And breaking overnight, actor Sam Neill, a star of Jurassic Park and so much else, passed away at the age of 78.

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[07:10:00]

BOLDUAN: This morning, Toronto police are investigating a deadly shooting at a Latin street festival. Two people killed, four others injured when shots rang out in the middle of a packed crowd at this music festival Saturday.

Let me bring in CNN's Paula Newton, who's been tracking the details, what we know, what we don't, what they're searching for still. What do you know?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I mean, Kate, can you imagine you're out with your family? This is a festival that's been going on more than two decades. This is a neighborhood. There are families, police said more than 13,000 people. All of a sudden, shots ring out, and it was so dangerous, not just in the immediate area, but people were trying to get away from the scene. It was absolute chaos, and even children that were hurt trying to get away.

I want you to listen now to an eyewitness, but also listen very carefully to the deputy police chief on the scene after the incident. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOANNA LAVOLE, WITNESSED SHOOTING: It was a terrifying situation. We were all definitely rushed, you know, with a crowd. A crowd of people pushed us off the street, the music cut, you know, and then everyone's like asking what's going on, and it was definitely a terrifying situation. And later on, I could see, you know, a person on the ground. I could see another individual who had been shot. It was quite the terrifying situation. Everyone -- the mood just changed instantly.

DEPUTY CHIEF FRANK BARREDO, TORONTO POLICE: I can tell you that there was an exchange of gunfire between individuals, and that two firearms were recovered. But as I said, investigators are piecing it all together. This was a very chaotic scene. I think we had something in the neighborhood of 13,000 people participating in this festival, so it's crowded. I mean, just the brazen, despicable quality of this exchange here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: You know, Kate, you see there even the shock from the deputy police chief.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

NEWTON: Last night, the Toronto police chief putting out a statement saying, look, this was a tragic and violent night in Toronto, and promising to be relentless in the pursuit.

Now, two have died, four are in hospital with injuries. Other people suffered minor injuries at the scene.

What's at stake here, though, Kate, is that it -- I follow it very carefully in terms of the gun violence in Toronto, and it has been creeping up. In fact, gun violence in Toronto was at its highest level for 15 years in 2024.

[07:15:04]

Toronto Police will tell you that they've had a lot going on in the last year-and-a-half and have made improvements.

But what is so chilling is people that were in this neighborhood, trying to take their families, being with their friends at summer festivals. Couple of things, they're wondering if this is even possible anymore, Kate. I mean, business owners in the areas, neighbors are saying, look, we need to, at all of these festivals, have a contained area, magnetometers, and barriers for vehicles.

I know. I love the expression on your face. It is a sad thing. But even in Toronto right now, people are wondering, am I safe to go to these kinds of festivals, when the level of gun violence is very, very chilling for a city like this, which still remains one of the safest cities in the world.

BOLDUAN: It's like when I went -- I was like, Toronto? Like that's -- it just shakes your confidence in all things.

NEWTON: But also the reaction of people in those neighborhoods, right? What is going on?

BOLDUAN: 1,000 percent. And they say two guns were -- two firearms recovered, and clearly they've got a lot of work ahead of them.

Thank you, Paula. I really appreciate you coming in for this.

BOLDUAN: Still ahead for us, there's new video in of a deadly Russian strike in Ukraine.

Coming up, we have new detail in a moment. As you see right there, a young woman throws herself on top of her younger sister to try to protect her.

And gas prices, they are on the rise, jumping nearly 10 cents in the last week. Oil prices jumping even more now after the latest round of strikes being traded with Iran.

We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

BERMAN: All right. Happening now, an unwelcome sight right here, you can see oil prices on the rise. Pretty significant jumps overnight after the U.S. and Iran traded a new round of strikes. Iran has declared the Strait of Hormuz closed.

We should note these prices are still down quite substantially from their wartime highs, but up from before the war, to be sure.

Let's get to CNN senior business reporter David Goldman on all this. And they're pointing upward right now. That's the thing to, to remember.

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: Yes. I mean, this is not the direction that we want to see. Remember, we were down close to $71 before this all started. So, you know, you're right. We were up to $112 at the peak, but $71, now we're talking about $7, and that's why you have gas prices starting to rise, right?

So, 7 cents is not nothing, and we aren't even close to the $4.56 that we had at the peak, but we're still way above this $2.98. So, we've got quite a ways to go to fall, and we're going in the wrong direction.

So, what's going on here? Well, there's a few things. The first thing that you have to remember is there's two ways in and out of the strait. One is to hug this coast around Oman, and the other is to go around the coast of Iran. And Iran really doesn't like it, really doesn't like it when you hug the Omani coast, because that's the route that they can't charge tolls on eventually. They can't register you. They want you going in and out of the coast around their coast.

So, what did they do? Well, they started firing at ships. And so the CENTCOM said on Saturday, well, they've violated the terms of the memorandum of understanding. Remember, that's what the president negotiated about three weeks ago, and they are out of order. Well, okay, so what does Iran do? They said, well, the strait's closed.

Then there's this change of tune, right? No, the strait is open to all vessels. Traffic is flowing. Is it? Well, not really.

So, we had -- on a normal day, we had around 100 vessels that were transiting the strait. We were down to 21 over the weekend, and that's the entire weekend. That's not just one day. We had zero coming into the strait. That means that all of the oil that's trying to get out, it can't go anywhere because it can't get on a ship.

So, what does all of this mean for Iran? Well, they're still getting their oil out, 1.3 million barrels per day. That is down from June, certainly, but it is still a lot of oil coming out of the strait for the guys that we don't want the oil coming out from.

BERMAN: So, you can certainly see the situation is not what the United States wants, not what the United States thought or tried to negotiate in the memorandum of understanding. Of course, Iran has a much different view of what that MOU stands for.

David Goldman, Zara (ph), the telestrator, thank you, thank you for laying this out so well this morning.

GOLDMAN: Anytime.

BERMAN: All right. A devastating fire at a bar kills dozens of people. We've got new details emerging this morning, stunning pictures.

And, wow, that didn't take long. After just two days, Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, suspends a feature that would let people use your photos to create A.I.-generated images and videos. The backlash that got it all pulled.

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[07:25:00]

BOLDUAN: This morning, we're learning new details about the shocking and sudden death of Senator Lindsey Graham. His office now says it was complications associated with his heart, and this comes from the D.C. medical examiner saying that his preliminary cause of death was what's known as an aortic dissection due to cardiovascular disease.

Graham's death also comes as former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is breaking his silence after an extended absence and stay in the hospital. He put out this picture and is saying that he suffered a fall last month that landed him in the hospital. He's now in a rehabilitation center and plans to return to work, but clearly not just yet.

Joining me right now is Dr. Jeremy Faust. He's an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Harvard Medical School. It's very good to see you, Doctor. Thank you for being here.

Aortic dissection, that means medical emergency. How critical is this when it happens? How much time does anyone have before it kind of moves beyond critical if he's coming into your E.R.?

DR. JEREMY FAUST, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE, HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL: There are several types of aortic dissection, but they are extraordinarily dangerous emergencies. Probably around half of the people who have a spontaneous aortic dissection die before they reach the hospital.

[07:30:06]