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ICE Agent Shoots, Kills 26-Year-Old Colombian Father in Maine; U.S. Strikes Iran for Third Night as Tehran Attacks Gulf Nations; Trump: U.S. to Charge 20 Percent Safety Fee for Cargo Ships in Strait. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired July 14, 2026 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. We're trying to piece together details about what led to ice killing a 26-year-old man in Maine, Joan Sebastian Guerrero. Video from the scene shows Guerrero's car going in circles as ICE agents try to stop it. But what you're looking at right here is agents apparently pulling his body from the car. DHS says agents were conducting a traffic stop and the driver tried to escape. The agency says the officer opened fire, fearing for public safety. This is what one witness says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIEL BOUCHER, WITNESS: And I clearly heard the victim say I tried to stop. Clearly heard him say that. The ICE agent that shot him walked right in front of me. And of course, I had -- I was emotional and I just let him have it. And he looked at me and he said he tried to run me over or something to that effect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So, a neighbor says Guerrero's partner and three-year-old daughter were at the scene.

With us now is Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, a Democrat from Maine. This happened in her district. Congresswoman, thank you for being with us.

I know there is very little that we know at this point and we're trying to learn more. First of all, what can you tell us about the man who was killed, Joan Sebastian Guerrero?

REP. CHELLIE PINGREE (D-ME): You know, by all accounts, he was the wrong man, not the person that ICE had been targeting. He was headed off to work, lived very close nearby, and there was an ICE operation going on looking for someone else. But he was in the car. And by all accounts, shortly after the shooting, his wife and three-year-old daughter in her bluey pajamas with a pink backpack were also on the scene. So, they witnessed seeing their father's dead body.

BERMAN: So, not the target, as far as you know, of this ICE operation? PINGREE: No, that's what we understand. And even by what we had heard, the person who was targeted strictly had a removal order, which does not constitute any justification for shooting someone.

BERMAN: What have you learned about Guerrero's legal status in the country?

PINGREE: So, far, we've learned nothing about his legal status, but I know his family is in contact with immigration advocacy groups and lawyers, and we have offered -- we've reached out and offered to help.

There have been significant ICE operations happening in our state. My office is based in Portland, Maine, and we have a steady stream of people who are searching family members who have been picked up or who they themselves are afraid to leave their home because they know that they are targeted. So, ICE president -- presence is significant in our state, and people in Biddeford, the small community where this happened, are extremely upset that this was going on.

BERMAN: So, we just played sound from this one witness who told television crews that he thought he heard Guerrero, the victim, ultimately say, I tried to stop. He heard that said out loud, I guess, before the shooting there. What have you learned, if anything? What are you being told about why the ICE agents say they feared for public safety?

PINGREE: Yes, good question. We have heard no justification for that, and that's just a gut-wrenching thought that that's what he was saying. You know, when people are targeted by these ICE officers in random stops, they don't necessarily know what to do. So, if that was actually what he said, I completely understand that they're caught in this situation. This wasn't somebody who was targeted. He was just going to work.

Originally, Homeland Security was saying that the officer feared for their life. That's what they always say, that the individual weaponized their car. But then we heard 12 hours later in the day that they feared for public safety. This man was shot four times through the windshield. So, there was an ICE officer shooting him directly in the face.

BERMAN: What kind of answers are you getting to the questions that you have? Who are you asking? What are you being told?

PINGREE: Well, we've asked for a conversation with Secretary Mullen. I know my colleague, Angus King, has spoken to him. We have asked -- the delegation is producing a letter asking for more things. We want to make sure that Maine preserves its opportunity to do a full investigation. The attorney general has announced he's investigating. But as you know what happened in Minnesota, they withheld the evidence. They prohibited them from the crime scene. We want to make sure we have full access.

[07:35:00]

And we're also demanding answers about why these officers weren't wearing body cameras. Congress funded the money to require body cameras, and they have not been distributed throughout the state. Of course, that would give us far more information.

But this is such a poorly run, overfunded organization, ICE. You know, many of us have called for their defunding or their absolute abolition, and this is the reason why. They're operating in our state in a very lawless manner, and we all worried that something like this would happen.

BERMAN: Very quickly, why is it you think that 24 hours, apparently, after the shooting, that answers for you, the member of Congress who represents this district, are so hard to come by?

PINGREE: I think it's because ICE doesn't want to admit what a botched operation that this was, that this was a wrongly targeted person, and that a death occurred of an innocent man, or perhaps an innocent man. We don't know his immigration or any other status, but somebody who was just going to work, and their death was witnessed by a three-year-old child.

BERMAN: Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, from Maine, this morning, we do appreciate you being with us. Thank you. Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, Iranian state media is reporting explosions in several key port cities there. The U.S. launched a new wave of strikes overnight across a wide swath of Iran in a third straight night of attacks. CENTCOM said that it targeted Iran's coastal defense systems and missile and drone sites.

There's also more here. The U.S. military will be resuming its blockade of Iran's ports at 4:00 p.m. Eastern today. Those ports run the entire length of Iran's coast, as you can see here. The blockade could push global oil prices even higher, which just saw the biggest one-day jump in six years. Still, President Trump is standing by his declaration that the U.S. will now act as the, quote/unquote, "guardian of the Strait of Hormuz," and that he wants to be paid a 20 percent toll on all commercial shipping moving through it.

Joining me right now is CNN's senior military analyst, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, retired Admiral James Stavridis, also the co-author of a new book, "2084: A Novel of Future War." It's good to see you.

Third consecutive night of attacks. President Trump's trying to characterize this latest round, if you will, as a military skirmish. Senators, though, Admiral, are now debating if this has reached forever war status. Can you give me your sense of where are we?

ADM. JAMES STAVRIDIS (RET.), CNN SENIOR MILITARY ANALYST AND FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: We are closer to forever war than we are to a ceasefire, and I take no joy in saying that. I have felt for a long time, ultimately, the two parties here would get to a negotiated conclusion, but certainly the ceasefire is frayed, if not completely off the charts.

And, Kate, you pointed out the most important thing the administration is doing is this 1,000-mile blockade of the Iranian coast. That's about California, Oregon kind of length, a lot of ports, very expensive to do that. But if anything is going to get the attention of the Iranians, it will be closing down those red ports that you're showing right there.

But final thought here, that takes time. You can't just open and close that gate overnight. So, unfortunately, we're probably in for a period of turbulence here.

BOLDUAN: That's exactly what I was going to ask, which is when they say the blockade on Iranian ports goes into effect at 4:00 p.m. Eastern, what does that mean for the U.S. Navy? What do people need to understand? As you said, it's not a switch that you flip on and off.

STAVRIDIS: The U.S. Navy will send a couple of destroyers up and around each of the major concentrations of port. And here you've got commanding officers, they're 36, 37, 38 years old, they've got 350 sailors on this destroyer. And their job is to interdict any major ship that attempts to come in and out of that port. It's very risky business. And it can lead to further incidents, further acts of violence going both ways.

So, think dozens of ships to do this. You've got to put aircraft overhead. You need hundreds of aircraft in order to provide air cover to all of them, drones possibly coming at them from the air and on the sea. You get the picture, Kate. It's a big operation. It's complicated. And the effects are kind of slow-moving, frankly.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Then you've got the president's declaration that he wants to charge a 20 percent fee on all commercial shipping moving through the Strait. I mean, this is a direct contradiction of the long-stated position of the United States and the recent stated position of the United states secretary of State and the treasury secretary. What do you do with this?

[07:40:00]

STAVRIDIS: I think as a overall global reaction to this is going to be extremely negative. And in particular, because as you say, there's long-term history here. The U.S. Navy has built its reputation over two and a half centuries on preserving freedom of the high seas.

And as recently as two days ago, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who knows his international law, very clearly said any kind of a toll on a Strait like that is not how we would do business. It is not legal under international law. So, I am scratching my head to understand how you would even collect this.

The level of that toll, it sounds somewhat benign, 20 percent, I suppose, but that it would double the cost of shipping because it -- the shipping is a significant component. Now, you're going to add another 20 percent, not based on the shipping cost, but based on the total cost of the multibillion-dollar ship. So, I see no way realistically this is going to be implemented in the immediate moment.

BOLDUAN: Admiral, thank you so much for coming in today. I appreciate it. John.

BERMAN: All right. With us now, Washington Bureau Chief for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Tia Mitchell, and the Washington Bureau Chief for the Boston Globe, Jackie Kucinich.

I want to pick up where Kate left off, put a little more meat on the bones here of the wild contradiction between what President Trump is now saying about charging fees or tolls to the Strait of Hormuz and all the people who work for him, what they've been saying.

So, the president in this tweet basically wrote, the United States is going to become the guardian of the Strait of Hormuz. As such, and as a matter of fairness, we will be reimbursed at the rate of 20 percent on all cargo shipped. That's what the president just said. Listen to everything almost everyone who's worked for him has said over the last few months.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: It's an international waterway. No country is allowed to charge tolls or fees on an international waterway. That's existing international law.

JD VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: First of all, we believe international waterways should be free of tolls, and that's been our position. That's what you see, of course, in the 60 days of the MOU.

RUBIO: I know of no country on the planet that supports tolling or a fee for the use of the Straits.

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: In trying to impose a tolling system, Iran's plan, a form of international extortion, is unacceptable.

RUBIO: There is zero support, zero support among the Gulf countries for any sort of toll or fees or anything that charges for the use of international waters. The president's made it clear, that's not going to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So, Jackie, what is this to, again, to Republicans who have supported the president here, the knots this might tie them in rhetorically?

JACKIE KUCINICH, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, THE BOSTON GLOBE: I mean, I think the sound that you heard was Mark Rubio's head hitting his desk. But you're right, John, but this is not unusual for this president to say something that contradicts the people in his administration and other Republicans. One has to wonder whether this is a negotiating tactic or is this something that he's actually going to do. It's one of these things. We're going to have to wait and see how this plays out over the day as the president talks to advisers, as he probably gets calls from the Senate.

I mean, really, this does put, as you note, Republicans in a very tough position trying to thread the needle of not disagreeing with the president, but also trying to be consistent.

BERMAN: You talk about consistency or the inconsistency in this being something this president does. There may be another example here of what the president's now saying about the Memorandum of Understanding, Tia. Let me read you what he said about this deal when it was signed. He said, the great deal will bring peace and security to the whole region. Many presidents have tried to make peace with Iran and all have failed before me. The leaders of the region have, for the first time, found a president who can help them achieve real peace. So, that's what he said when the deal was signed. Now, he says, Nah, it was nothing. No big deal. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: It didn't -- look, Memorandum of Understanding when you're dealing with sleazebags don't mean much. And they don't mean much when you're dealing with honorable people, too, because it's a Memorandum of Understanding. It doesn't mean much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: It doesn't mean much. From the great history he said he made to it doesn't mean much, Tia, again, you know, what does this do for his supporters?

TIA MITCHELL, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION: So, like Jackie says it puts them -- and we'll watch it today. Watch how people like Marco Rubio and the Senate Republicans who are loyal to Donald Trump kind of contort their previous statements to try their best to align with him and then see who just comes out and says, no, I don't agree with the president. I think we'll get much more of the former than the latter.

[07:45:00]

But there's also the actual real implications of this Memorandum of Understanding falling apart. The fact that American people are going to expect the cost of gas to rise, that goods are going to -- it's going to be harder to get goods and all those things.

Plus, just the real impact of continued military involvement in the Middle East without congressional approval. You're going to hear Democrats hammering on this. There are a lot of people at home on Trump's side or who are America first who will say, this foreign war is not coming to a close like he promised. We're way outside of the four-week window that he initially said, he's actually restarting the 60-day clock on even asking Congress or even saying he needs to ask Congress for permission. So, this is just so problematic for the Trump administration and therefore, so problematic for Republicans.

BERMAN: The biggest one day jump in oil prices we've seen in six years. And last I checked this morning, they're going up even more. Very quickly, there was a 26-year-old man killed in Maine yesterday by ICE agents. This follows the death of a man in Houston by ICE agents over the last couple of weeks. And the loss of any life is obviously tragic. There are political implications also, Tia. Maine and Texas both have competitive Senate races here.

And I'm wondering what the impact of these operations, and we saw the negative political impact around what happened in Minnesota as we get closer to the election. If this is the type of thing that can make a difference.

MITCHELL: Yes. And the real problem -- I mean, of course, the loss of life is a problem. But what makes it an even bigger problem is that already we're seeing the lack of transparency, consistent statements that justify the shootings, you know.

So, there are a lot of questions that I think even people who want to support ICE, who are more conservative, who do support the crackdowns, are looking for the justifications that right now are already starting to come into question. That is what is going to be a big problem for again, Republicans on the ballot, trying to defend the Trump administration. After, again, two people were killed.

BERMAN: Tia Mitchell, Jackie Kucinich, thanks so much for being with us this morning.

A car explodes into a zillion pieces with the driver still inside. And then major problems in a sprint between inflatable T-Rexes when the lead dinosaur wipes out. You just hate to see that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:50:00]

BOLDUAN: It is a beautiful day when we can say World Cup action is back. This afternoon we get to see one of the most highly anticipated matches of the entire tournament. France versus Spain to kick off the semifinals. CNN's Andy Scholes has all the details. How much are you looking forward to it?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Oh, man, I cannot wait for France versus Spain. Kate, in American terms, we're now down to the Final Four. And for the first time ever in World Cup history, the top four ranked teams have made it to the Final Four. You got France and Spain squaring off today, Argentina, England tomorrow.

Now, yesterday was Spanish superstar Lamine Yamal 's 19th birthday. The team's celebrating in Dallas, presenting him with a keg, did a little singing. Yamal only has one goal so far in this World Cup, but he says he is ready to break out on the biggest stage today.

And while Yamal only has one goal so far, not the case with French superstar Kylian Mbappe. He's got eight goals coming into this match. He leads that Golden Boot race right now. He has the tiebreaker over Messi. France remain the favorites to win this World Cup, and their fans, they've showed up to Dallas in a big way. Again, France and Spain kick off today at 3:00 p.m.

Now, today's What a Shot brought to you by HBO Max. Erling Haaland returning to Norway yesterday, and he brought back souvenir from America. Haaland holding a taxidermied raccoon that's holding a bottle of gin. He picked up that when he was in Dallas. Haaland joking on X that it followed him home.

The whole Norway team, they got a big heroes welcome yesterday in Oslo. They estimated 100,000 fans showing up for a parade for the team. This was the first time ever Norway had made it to the quarterfinals in any major tournament, and it was their first World Cup appearance in 28 years. Look at that crowd.

All right. Finally, tonight is the Major League Baseball all-star game. Last night, the home run derby. New format this year. All the players got 20 swings in their first round, 15 in the semifinals, and 15 swings in the final. Now, the Philly fans, they were doing their best to try to will hometown hero Kyle Schwarber to a win. They were just getting after Wilson Contreras in the semis, and it worked. Schwarber made the final, and then the fans continued to boo the Cardinals' Jordan Walker, but he shrugged it all off, ended up homering on his final six swings to beat Schwarber.

And when asked about that Philly crowd, Walker joked that Philly is brutal, but pretty special how much they love their players. But Walker winning a million bucks, Kate, for winning the home run derby. As you can see, he was pretty excited about that. But it was funny, as soon as he hit that last home run, all those Philly fans, they just turned and started heading towards the exits.

BOLDUAN: Yes, they're like, all right. fine. Fine, despite our best efforts. Here's a trivia question you probably know since you did the story. So, Andy, stick with me. John Berman.

[07:55:00]

BERMAN: Huh?

BOLDUAN: What is the raccoon that Erling Haaland took home with him? He has a friend that was sold at the same store. Do you know what the friend was called?

BERMAN: Bull Moose?

BOLDUAN: No, Belligerent Squirrel.

BERMAN: Rocky? Belligerent Squirrel?

BOLDUAN: Yes.

BERMAN: I think maybe something's lost in translation there from Norwegian. But from now on, you will be known as Belligerent Squirrel on CNN News Central. Thank you very much.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much. Thank you, Andy.

BERMAN: All right.

In Italy, a car plunged into the sea right there in the City of Trieste. You can see what happened right there. By chance, military personnel were visiting. They saw it happen. Those are the people who jumped into the water. They helped pull the driver to safety. Ultimately, they were able to hand him over to emergency crews there. Pretty good timing for that driver having those military people nearby.

A New Jersey man recovering this morning after his car exploded while he was inside. That's just bonkers. The car torn apart there. Debris scattered everywhere. Windows of nearby homes blown out. The 28-year- old welder walked away on his own. He's expected to be OK. Everyone here in the studio tells me this was like what happened at Casino. No one else was hurt. Officials believe a leaking gas cylinder in the trunk is to blame.

So, in Washington State, Emerald Downs hosted the annual T-Rex Championship. Inflatable dinosaurs competing in a 100-yard dash. These are truly top athletes there. An epic competition.

BOLDUAN: Oh, my goodness.

BERMAN: Oh, but again, it's very tragic when the lead dinosaur falls down. This race began in 2017 as a team-building activity for local businesses. I guess they got sick of trust falls. It's now an annual tradition with hundreds of competitors. Kate, no dinosaurs were harmed in the making of this video.

BOLDUAN: I know what we're doing for the holiday group activity. Definite T-Rex race.

BERMAN: Inflatables. There's a joke to be made there. Thank you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: I'm moving on now, JB. Thank you so much. A federal judge has ruled that President Trump's lawsuit against the IRS sought to, quote, "manipulate the judicial process" and that he acted in bad faith in bringing it. The president filed that multi-billion-dollar lawsuit back in January over the leak of his tax returns.

The IRS opted to settle rather than defend itself in court, which led to the now defunct $1.8 billion fund for Trump's allies, a fund that faced serious public and congressional backlash. In what really amounted to a scathing ruling, the U.S. district judge said that the lawsuit, quote, "was not brought to vindicate rights but to manipulate the judicial process."

And there was a second aspect to the settlement that the judge also took on, the kind of immunity aspect of it, prohibiting the IRS from investigating Trump, his family, or his businesses for past tax issues or even other types of claims brought by the federal government for any conduct predating the deal. The judge said that order, which was signed by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, directly contravenes federal law barring presidents and other executive branch leaders from influencing tax audits.

So, what to make of this? With me now, CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Joey Jackson. I mean, Joey, hello.

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: How are you? BOLDUAN: The judge accused the president and his attorneys and lawyers involved of acting in bad faith. She said that DOJ abandoned its duty to defend the interests of the United States. The attorneys involved are now facing possible sanctions. What could this look like?

JACKSON: As it should be, Kate. Good morning. Our judge clearly was annoyed at this and should be because she felt it was an abuse of the judicial process, why and how.

Look at what was happening here. You had the president of the United States suing his own agencies, the IRS, under presidential control, Department of Treasury, under presidential control, DOJ to defend him, not so much because they didn't do so, under presidential control. So, the judge, to what you just noted, said that this was bad faith, you're self-dealing.

The judge was particularly annoyed, Kate, because of the fact that this was not meant really to be a lawsuit in effect, right? Lawsuits generally, you have competing parties. There's clearly parties that are adversarial to each other. And the judge felt that this was simply designed to give cover to an agreement that was being made. In this particular case, you had all parties who were really on the same team and were contemplating and pursuing this deal.

So, to your question, what does it look like? It looks like this judge says, hey, you know what? I'm going to send a referral to the Bar Association because lawyers have an ethical and legal duty and responsibility to do what's right and let the Bar Association do what it will. And by the way, I'm going to ban one lawyer from even being in the Southern District in Florida for one year.

And in addition to that, those who stepped up as amicus, that's a fancy word for saying friend of the court --

[08:00:00]