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Relentless Rain Creates Life-Threatening Flooding in Southern Texas; DNI Nominee Jay Clayton Avoids Clear Answer on If Biden Won in 2020; FBI Search Warrant Shows Drugs Seen in Van After Fatal ICE Shooting. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired July 16, 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]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Breaking overnight, catastrophic flooding underway in Texas Hill Country. Dozens of high-water rescues are going on. Reports that people are trapped on rooftops overnight in the same area as the deadly Camp Mystic floods.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And President Trump is promising to reveal a big announcement tonight as he's promoting a primetime speech. Politico reports many Republicans wish he really wouldn't, as all the reporting is he's going to focus on the 2020 election. Yes, that one again.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Much too close for comfort. The Blue Angels were viewing a low flyover that sent tents and umbrellas flying. One spectator said they thought they were going to be taken out.

SIDNER: Breaking news this morning, life-threatening floods sweeping over parts of Texas as the state faces even more rain. It has been record-breaking amounts. A flashflood emergency has been issued for parts of Texas Hill Country, the same area of that deadly Camp Mystic flood last summer. Up to 16 inches of rain have fallen so far.

And right now, flood rescues are underway. More than 75 people have already been rescued. Look at this, new video showing a child wearing a snorkel mask being carried through the water and onto a boat. Luckily, that child saved. Elsewhere, video shows deer being swept away in the raging waters in Uvalde County, one of the hardest hit areas. About a half a year's worth of rain has already fallen there. The governor says this flooding is, quote, likely going to break records in Texas history.

We are also monitoring another major development, another weather story that's around here, the hazy orange skies in the Midwest and Northeast. This morning, smoke from Canadian wildfires is bringing dangerous air quality to more than 100 million people. Parts of the Great Lakes are reportedly expected to have the worst air quality on the planet today.

CNN's Derek Van Dam tracking all of this. Let's start with the flooding in Texas. We have already seen the haze in the skies here in the Northeast, but in Texas, it is deadly and dangerous. What are you learning this morning?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Sara, we've been warning about this for the past several days, and now, unfortunately, it's coming into fruition, and it has a similar feel to the July 5th, 2025 flashfloods that unfortunately killed so many across the Guadalupe River. We're seeing warnings from the National Weather Service talking about catastrophic, life-threatening flash flooding ongoing right now in some of the same locations, with rivers cresting -- actually rising 32 feet in a matter of the past four hours.

We're going to try and break this all down to you, but some of the wording that I'm seeing from the National Weather Service is very dire, using terms like a flood wave moving down the river. We remember that from last year. It's become almost like a PTSD thing, everybody who had to deal with this, but people who covered this story as well.

We know it all too well, the Guadalupe River, Camp Mystic. Here's a look at Kerrville, and you can see this shading of white. That is a catastrophic tagged flash flood emergency, the highest level of alert from the National Weather Service.

Also downstream here in Comfort, this is new. This is the location along the Guadalupe River that the National Weather Service is currently warning of this large and deadly flood wave that is moving downstream.

So, let me show you why. We've had, just in the past six hours, this is radar estimated, over a foot of rain in some of these locations. Now, you go back a couple of days, you put it all together, we've had over two feet of rain in some locations. That is why we're seeing this catastrophic flooding.

We'll try to break it down even more for you here. So these are forecast river gauges. You see that purple gauge right there. This is between Kerrville and Comfort, so we're talking about the Hill Country of Texas, West Texas. These are forecast to reach major flood stage.

You're looking at the Guadalupe River gauge at Kerrville. The crest was at about 16.97. We believe it was the crest.

[07:05:00]

The record was 37 feet. But if we go downstream along the Guadalupe River into Comfort, this is the area they're concerned about right now. The 2025 record, this could be at least matched with a forecast crest that is coming downstream.

So, we are very concerned about what is unfolding here. We know that a level four of four risk is still underway from the Weather Prediction Center. This is their most extreme, most life-threatening situation that this part of the Texas Hill Country, the Southern Edwards Plateau, the U.S.-90 corridor can possibly deal with. So, we'll see what happens this morning as we see the first glimpses of sunlight. Sara, so much to cover.

SIDNER: Yes. It is a terrifying situation. We have seen this before, and people really have to pay attention what's happening in their local areas. Pay attention to those warnings and watches.

Thank you so much, Derek Van Dam. I do appreciate it. Kate?

BOLDUAN: President Trump is set to give a primetime address from the White House tonight. He really is keeping the topic bit of a mystery, but is promoting that he's going to be making some big announcement, and all the reporting suggests it is not about the war in Iran. It is not about the economy or specifically even gas prices. Instead, the president will be focused on the 2020 election again, one day after his nominee for the director of National Intelligence refused direct questions on the fact that Donald Trump lost that election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JON OSSOFF (D-GA): Who won the 2020 election?

JAY CLAYTON, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE NOMINEE: You know, we're not -- I'm not going to do this with you.

OSSOFF: Isn't it humiliating to be unable to answer this question, to have to indulge the president's delusions? We know, you know, everybody in this room knows the truthful answer to that question. Why can you not give it?

CLAYTON: I think I gave you the answer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Let's get over to CNN's Betsy Klein, live at the White House for us. Betsy, what are you hearing about what is motivating this tonight, and what is actually going to happen tonight with this speech?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Right, Kate. Well, President Trump is set to give this primetime address that he says will put a focus on election security and make what he is casting as a very big announcement.

Now, a caveat, we do not yet know what that big announcement is going to be, and like with many Trump speeches, it's likely to change right up until the very last minute. But according to two sources familiar with the matter, the president is expected to address voting machine security, as well as alleged efforts by foreign nations to influence American elections.

Now, the president has long been fixated on election integrity. He has repeatedly and falsely claimed that he won the 2020 presidential election. He is also aggressively pushing for the SAVE Act. That is that elections overhaul bill, voter I.D. bill, that does not yet have support from Republicans in Congress enough to pass.

But Democrats, as we look ahead to this speech, are very closely watching and planning to push back on what the president is going to say before he's even said it. We have heard from election law experts raise concerns that the president could sow doubt in the upcoming November midterm elections, and Republicans are also bracing for a speech that they fear won't do much to alleviate voters' anxieties.

Vice President J.D. Vance addressing that. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A lot of Republicans here want him to focus on the 2026 midterms and not to re- litigate his claims about the 2020 elections. Would you encourage him to steer clear of those unfounded claims that he is actually the true victor of the 2020 elections?

J.D. VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: I'm obviously not going to get ahead of his remarks, but we can talk about a number of the American people's problems. We can solve a number of the American people's problems, and that's exactly what we're going to work with our House colleagues and our Senate friends to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: Now, Trump is expected to address several topics, according to sources, and we do expect him to weigh in on the conflict with Iran as we have seen that war really escalate in recent days. And according to two sources familiar with the matter, the president is now weighing options to expand the U.S. military operation in Iran as he charts his path forward there. Sara?

BOLDUAN: Thanks so much, Betsy. I really appreciate it. John?

BERMAN: All right. Breaking overnight, the FBI files a search warrant for alleged drugs in the van belonging to the Texas man shot and killed by ICE agents. Worth noting, that is not why they were chasing him. Immigrant rights groups are calling it a smear campaign.

We got new CNN reporting, white House officials being told to hand over their phones, reports that the president is fuming, the search for leaks about why he could not fly on the new Air Force One.

And then why Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has major concerns over testosterone deficiency.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:10:00]

BERMAN: All right. New this morning, an FBI search warrant says investigators believe there were illegal drugs in the van of a Texas man killed by ICE. It is worth noting that drugs were not the reason the van was being chased. A photo included in the warrant purports to show three small plastic bags with a white crystal-like substance on the dashboard.

Let's get right to CNN Senior National Correspondent Ed Lavandera in Texas, who has been covering this story from the very beginning. Bring us up to speed on this latest development.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, we should point out that it is highly unusual that the contents of a federal search warrant is revealed in this way. This document was initially sealed and then unsealed yesterday when CNN obtained it.

[07:15:04]

But as you lay out there the federal agents in this search warrant allege that there was the possibility of drugs, illegal drugs, being found inside the van, four plastic bags containing a white crystal substance that was consistent with methamphetamine.

We should be very clear here though, John, that in this document it does not say that it is definitively drugs that were found in those plastic bags. As far as we know, there has been no information released about whether or not those drugs have been tested to confirm that that is indeed what it is.

Critics are firing back. There's already a ton of questions swirling around the way federal agents have described how the shooting unfolded of 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo last Tuesday in Houston. And now critics say that federal agents are simply trying to change the narrative and smear a dead man.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUAN PROANO, LULAC CEO, SUPPORTING SALGADO ARAUJO'S FAMILY: The fact that they would actually release something like this is absolutely reckless. You know, I'll point to the content that they had, which is that believed to be, for example, really isn't at all factual. Clearly, it hasn't been tested yet. And none of that really justifies what ended up happening. A human was shot, and he was killed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: John, the reaction from those who have been supporting the Salgado family over the last week has been very swift. One LULAC official who has been helping the family told me that this smells of a smear campaign and a cover-up. The ACLU, which is now helping the Salgado family as well, says that the Trump administration and the FBI lacks the credibility to investigate itself in this case. They continue to call for a full independent investigation.

The Harris County District Attorney's office, John, says that they were given access to the van by the local FBI agents there in Houston, but it's not clear if they were there witnessing the search warrant as it was executed on the van or exactly what the scenario was where all of this unfolded. But the prosecutors did say that as they're trying to gather evidence as well into this crime. Remember, the FBI says they are investigating a possible assault on a federal agent. Others are calling for a murder investigation. John?

BERMAN: And, again, as you noted, very unusual to see a warrant like this and the details in a warrant like this at this stage of any investigation.

Ed Lavandera, great to see you, good reporting. Thank you very, very much. Sara? SIDNER: All right. Thank you, John.

Ahead, hand over your phones. A new CNN exclusive details the lengths that the White House is going to try and find out who leaked about the issues with the new Air Force One given to the Trump administration by Qatar.

And a pigeon dealing with smoke inhalation breathes a little easier after getting this. Yes, a firefighter saving us all, even a pigeon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

SIDNER: All right. We've got some new CNN exclusive reporting for you this morning, inside the all-out blitz from the White House to find out who leaked information about the security deficiencies of the new Qatari-gifted Air Force One.

CNN has learned Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and FBI Director Kash Patel are heading the investigation from what some have called a White House war room, and they have asked some officials to turn over their cell phones as part of the probe.

The investigation began after The New York Times reported on why the president flew the old Air Force One home instead of the new one last week when he left the NATO Summit in Turkey. They reported it was due to a lack of key defenses on that aircraft.

CNN's Holmes Lybrand following all of this. What are you learning?

HOLMES LYBRAND, CNN REPORTER: That's right, Sara. So, on Friday, Kash Patel, he was actually traveling to Chicago, but was called back to the White House to start leading this investigation on the ground, setting up that war room, as you mentioned, right next to Chief of Staff Susie Wiles' office.

Now, in that war room and around the White House, they began interviewing individuals who had traveled or had planned to travel for that NATO trip. They also had requested phones. Some officials did provide their phones, others did not.

Now, what's also interesting is at least one agency had emailed employees that if outside agencies were to contact you, you need to call their agency, your agency's attorneys right away. So, this kind of conflict inside of the administration, this rolling, really expansive leak, we're getting a lot more details into that. And, again, this is quite unique to have the head of the FBI lead such an investigation, be called into the White House, set up a war room there.

So, we're still learning more, and I'll get back to you.

SIDNER: Holmes, is there any sense of how people are feeling who are in and around the White House who maybe went on some of these trips or who have information about what's going on, and the level of fear inside the White House at this point for the staffers there?

LYBRAND: That's a good question. One source that I spoke with was a bit baffled or miffed by this, because this was well known that this Qatari jet was retrofitted very quickly, and that it did not have full capabilities compared to the older Air Force One jet.

Now, again, Trump was able to travel with that Qatari-donated Air Force One to NATO, to the Turkey NATO summit, but it was -- the issue was leaving.

[07:25:09]

It was that last leg of the trip leaving that when the security decisions really changed in Turkey. And Wiles had to brief Trump on that decision.

SIDNER: Okay. Really interesting, Holmes. I know you'll stay on this to try and sort of unravel all of this. I really appreciate it. Thank you so much. Kate?

BOLDUAN: So, there is real concern about what is unfolding right now in the Texas Hill Country. A flood emergency for what is being called a large and deadly flood wave, even. Dozens of water rescues are already happening in some of the very same places that have been hit by that tragic, the tragedy that unfolded there in Texas last summer.

And the Blue Angels are investigating now after a very low flyover of a beach that sends -- literally sends, like creates almost like a tornado, chairs, tents flying.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:00]