Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Blanche Arrives at Capitol Amid Push for Meeting With Epstein Survivors; Catastrophic Floods Hit Texas Hill Country One Year After Deadly Disaster; Canadian Wildfire Smoke Impacting U.S. Air Quality; Trump Teases Really Big News in Tonight's Prime-time Address; FBI Search Warrant Alleges Drugs May Have Been in Van in ICE Shooting. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired July 16, 2026 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL ENTERPRISE CORRESPONDENT: -- DOJ official later today, the National Coordinator for Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking. And that Dani essentially told them, no, on behalf of the survivors, it has to be a meeting with Blanche and Blanche only, just as Tillis had requested.

This has set off a bit of a scramble in the survivor's community. Remember, some of them had actually already left town after the main hearing yesterday and they're trying to figure out do we need to turn around if this is our one opportunity to meet with Blanche. They've also been calling their lawyers to try to figure out, you know, is this advisable? Can they actually join virtually?

But I do think we are seeing another example of the Epstein survivors sort of ensuring that through their work and their process, they are keeping the Epstein issue at the forefront. And then of course, Blanche is doing the work to try to get every vote that he can.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": It seems very clear that this may be their only opportunity to meet with him because yesterday, this is the quote during the hearing, which you remember too, "I'm prohibited from meeting directly with them."

LEE: Yeah.

KEILAR: But it sounds like once Senator Tillis said, no, you have to meet with them or I'm no, that he felt very much compelled to.

LEE: Yeah, he absolutely needs that support and he knows that he has been under a tremendous amount of pressure from the survivors to actually meet with them in person.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Clearly going to be a major part of the process moving forward, and we'll see if that meeting actually happens. MJ Lee, appreciate the reporting as always, good to see you.

All right. New hour of "CNN News Central" starts right now. KEILAR: Catastrophic flooding hits Texas Hill Country as powerful storms bring nearly a year's worth of rain to the region. We're tracking multiple swift water rescues as emergency crews rushed to save stranded victims.

Plus, President Trump preparing to give a prime-time address focused on elections. The White House now teasing some shocking details, we'll discuss with Colorado's Secretary of State.

JIMENEZ: And a serendipitous sports matchup, we'll call it that, as the World Cup final sees Argentina's Lionel Messi going up against Spain's Lamine Yamal 20 years after they first met. Neither of them knew who the other was going to be.

We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to "CNN News Central."

Parts of the country right now going through really a one-two punch of extreme weather conditions. We're talking on one end, catastrophic flooding inundating the Hill Country of Texas and has led to the death of at least one person. And then in the Great Lakes and northeastern United States, the air quality is so poor in some cities, the EPA considers it hazardous because of smoke from Canadian wildfires.

KEILAR: In Texas, the deluge is hitting the same region where nearly 140 people died in flooding just a year ago, which, of course, included 25 campers and two counselors at Camp Mystic. Texas Governor, Greg Abbott confirming that a person, one person was killed overnight from the flooding.

Right now, flash flood emergencies have been issued as local authorities watch what they're calling flood waves surge down local rivers. Scores of Texans have been rescued as teams continue trying to reach people who are trapped. CNN's Bill Weir is with us now.

And Bill, you are covering various phenomena today. You've covered the flooding in the Texas Hill Country. You were there last year. What more are you learning about what's happening now?

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, today is one of those reminders that the climate crisis means there's too much water in some places, not enough in others. If I could only get some of that precipitation from Texas up to Canada right now. But what's happening down there in the Hill Country is staggering. When you consider that 130 families are still mourning the lives lost, including the 25 girls at Camp Mystic just from last year, you'd like to think that that event is a once a century, once of a 500 year event.

But a warmer, overheated atmosphere holds a lot more moisture that can come out of the sky with much more force. And after being in that valley, people, I think it's the lack of imagination for the worst that could be. But the river raising 25 feet in an hour, it's just impossible to outrun in any vehicle.

It happened apparently a little bit down. The biggest flooding is happening downriver of Camp Mystic there. But still, your heart goes out to those people, and it's not over. The flood watches and warnings extended into Friday. They're expecting up to eight more inches in some places, and the ground just can't absorb anything. So it's got to run. And that's when things get dangerous.

JIMENEZ: It's something we're watching very, very closely. Another thing we're watching is some of what you're experiencing behind you, because you're in New York. You're also tracking the air quality issues from Canada's wildfire. Can you just give us the latest on what you're seeing and feeling there in New York and what we're seeing across large portions of this country right now?

WEIR: Sure, Omar. Yeah, we're on the East River. You can see lower Manhattan. We're on the Brooklyn side, and the tourist crowd has thinned out a bit. You can taste it. You can feel it in your throat. You can have that acrid smell. This is a World Cup viewing fan zone.

Hopefully, this will have cleared out by Sunday's final, when a lot of players and fans would have to put up with this if it's still like this. But the Air Quality Index right now is about 100 to 110.

[14:05:00]

That is the measurement of particulate matter that's 2.5 microns or smaller. So that's a thirtieth the size of a human hair. So it's tiny, tiny soot that gets into your lungs, into your bloodstream. It kills five million people a year worldwide. Exposure to outdoor air pollution kills four million. And so, the places like you've been showing in the Midwest, Chicago, much worse, Boston seems worse. Toronto was horrific yesterday.

At one point today, the Air Quality Index in Hibbing, Minnesota, was 1,600. And remember, the index once it gets over 200 is when you should start thinking about getting inside or wearing a mask. 1,600 just shows the density of that particulate matter for every square meter, every square yard. We're hoping for some relief here, but not nearly as bad as it was back in 2023 when the skies turned orange for two days. The AQI back then was like 480 for a couple of days.

So you've got to keep an eye on that number and also in the air quality in your house if you can. And it's amazing. I just cracked my window this morning to see if I could smell it. And I have an air monitor in my house. It's spiked with that PM2.5. So when you were exposed to it for over eight hours, that's when it gets rough. People with health conditions should be super cognizant of this right now.

JIMENEZ: And again, another aspect everyone is monitoring very closely, including you. Bill, we appreciate the reporting for us, in New York. Meanwhile, we are just hours away from President Trump's prime-time speech, where he's expected to push claims of foreign meddling in U.S. elections.

I want to bring in CNN's Kaitlan Collins, who is at the White House for us in the Briefing Room, where Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was just asked about that. Kaitlan, what did she have to say?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR & CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, a lot of questions about what exactly the president is planning to reveal in his speech tonight. There weren't a lot of details. But the one thing that Karoline Leavitt, the Press Secretary, did make clear here, Omar, is that the president is going to be talking about election integrity tonight.

And obviously, as we have heard from the president for the last six years, he doesn't believe there's a lot of it, though there's not a lot of evidence to back up or any evidence really to back up what the president has been arguing for six years, which is that he actually won the 2020 election. And so, tonight's speech has been closely kept under wraps here at the White House.

We do expect the president to come out and kind of declassify some documents that this administration has in its possession to talk about election security and attempted meddling by foreign governments in his speech tonight. And one thing that Karoline Leavitt did say, as there were a lot of questions about what exactly the president is planning to reveal and whether there's any evidence to back up what he is expected to say tonight, that everything, he says tonight will be backed up by evidence and fact.

And so during this back and forth, as reporters were trying to suss out more details about what the president is expected to say tonight, I asked the press secretary this question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Regarding the president's speech tonight, he's been in office over 540 days now. If what he says tonight is backed up by evidence, why hasn't anyone been charged?

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Well, he hasn't revealed it yet. He hasn't declassified the documents yet. And you will see what he says tonight, and then we'll move forward appropriately from there.

(CROSSTALK)

COLLINS: (Inaudible) tonight from the Justice Department?

LEAVITT: I don't speak on behalf of the Justice Department, Kaitlan, you know that. Rachel (ph)?

(CROSSTALK)

COLLINS: (Inaudible) will there be charges?

LEAVITT: You'll have to ask the Justice Department. I don't charge people. I just speak on behalf of the president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: So no clear answer there on whether there will be charges. Obviously, if there had been this large systematic fraud that the president has alleged, you know, he has had his own intelligence officials, his own appointees at the Justice Department in office for those 500 and something days that he has been back in office since January 2025.

And obviously, none of them have been charged with any kind of allegations of widespread fraud. And so we will see what the president says tonight. He is expected to potentially be joined by several of those top officials as he makes this argument.

And obviously, as Democrats have been saying, he's just doing it because he's worried he's going to lose the midterm elections in four months. I do want to note one thing, given what we learned today, about who will be operating the president's prompter tonight. I have covered the president for about a decade now. Almost that entire time, he has had an aide named Gabe Perez, who has operated his prompter. It's one of a few handful of very trusted aides who has the president's remarks right before he delivers them.

And now that he is under investigation for insider trading, Karoline Leavitt did say that he is on unpaid administrative leave and referred to those allegations of that insider trading, using the president's words, predicting what he was going to say in his speeches, and betting on that. They referred to it as a disgrace, and she said the president is and personally aware of it.

JIMENEZ: All right, Kaitlan Collins, there for us from the White House Press Briefing Room. Good to see you. Appreciate the reporting.

As Kaitlan was talking about, some Democrats have talked about previewing, really, the president's speech tonight and what they believe his comments will mean. Georgia Democratic Senator, Jon Ossoff had this to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JON OSSOFF, (D-GA): Here is what's going to happen tonight. The world's most famous sore loser will deliver a prime-time presidential sour-grapes address to pursue his six-year-old grievances about the 2020 election, while his war in the Middle East spirals out of control and the cost of living continues to rise for Americans across the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:10:13]

JIMENEZ: So amid all this, I want to bring in Colorado Secretary of State, Jena Griswold. Thank you for taking the time.

I just want to start with, we don't know exactly what President Trump will say, but as we've been talking about, he is expected to discuss what he will frame as new information on foreign efforts to influence U.S. elections, alleged vulnerabilities in election infrastructure, including voting machines. You are a state elections official. What is your reaction to that?

JENA GRISWOLD, (D) COLORADO SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, first off, thanks for having me on. And my reaction is the same as the U.S. Senator. Trump is a sore loser embracing a sore loser strategy. Let me be very clear. The 2020 election was free and fair. After Trump's lies about the 2020 election, over 60 lawsuits were filed challenging the results. Every single one of them was lost.

They were unsuccessful except one, which was about a minor issue about a ballot cure timeline for not many voters. Even the President's former Attorney General himself, Bill Barr, said there's no evidence of widespread fraud and that Trump himself knows that he lost the 2020 election. National Intelligence released a report showing that there was no foreign interference altering the outcome of the election.

Trump is a sore loser. It's time that he accepts the results.

JIMENEZ: Well, on the foreign interference efforts aspect of things, I mean, we do know that -- and we should remind folks, in 2021, U.S. intelligence said the Russian government meddled or tried to in the 2020 election with an influence campaign that largely denigrated Biden and supported Trump.

And then in 2024, Secretary of State, Antony Blinken said there was evidence of Chinese attempts to influence and arguably interfere, those are his words, with the upcoming U.S. elections. So I just wonder, how will you be looking at this alleged new information by the president tonight in the context of what we already knew in terms of efforts from outside countries to meddle in U.S. elections?

GRISWOLD: You're absolutely right that it's a nuanced distinction. One question is, was there foreign disinformation campaigns? And that has been confirmed. The other question is, did a foreign country actually meddle with the election outcomes? And that has been confirmed that they did not. And you would think that if Trump was actually worried about foreign disinformation campaigns, he would be doubling down.

But in fact, what he did as soon as he took his place as president during his second term was to disband the DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security's work on counter foreign interference, counter disinformation. Does that sound like a president who is concerned? Absolutely not.

Trump himself has decreased election security, decreased our ability to push back on foreign disinformation, and states are leaning in. On top of that, Trump has been injecting chaos in any which way he can. The DOJ just sent a threatening letter to election officials last week. He fired the EAC commissioners.

He's issued two unlawful executive orders on elections that have been largely stopped by courts. Make no mistake, this is a president who is worried that MAGA may lose. So he is laying the groundwork to reject the 2026 election.

JIMENEZ: You know, you may have seen there's a number of confirmation hearings going on, on Capitol Hill right now. And sources tell CNN President Trump sees the director of national intelligence as playing a central role in election security. And Trump's nominee for that job was on Capitol Hill and struggled to answer the question directly of whether Joe Biden won the 2020 election in an exchange with Georgia Senator, Jon Ossoff, in particular. Does that concern you at all?

GRISWOLD: Absolutely. Trump has put election deniers, people who rely on conspiracy to try to grab power in many key positions of the federal government, the DOJ, the Department of Homeland Security and in key national intelligence positions. Make no mistake, he is trying to undermine the '26 election.

But what I will offer is that he has been largely unsuccessful. His DOJ is suing many states all across the country for refusing to hand over sensitive voter information on our voters. They have lost so far every case in court.

Like I mentioned, two executive orders on elections, Trump trying to grab control over election oversight that he does not have. That has been largely stopped by courts. And states have really leaned in. You know, key programs that the federal government used to partner with us have been disbanded under Trump in his second term and we are backfilling those services.

[14:15:00]

So everything that Trump administration is doing on elections is highly concerning, but states are holding the line, election officials are holding the line. And I truly believe Americans will have free and fair elections in November.

JIMENEZ: All right, Jena Griswold, appreciate the insight, really appreciate you being here.

GRISWOLD: Thank you. Thanks for having me on.

JIMENEZ: All right, still to come for us, new questions in the shooting death of an immigrant and Texas father by an ICE agent. The Harris County District Attorney is now casting doubt on the FBI's claims that suspected drugs were found inside the man's vehicle. We'll tell you the new details we're learning.

Plus, the Pentagon requiring that all service members over the age of 30 get an annual testosterone screening. We'll take a look at what the science says on that and much more coming up on "CNN News Central."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:20:13]

JIMENEZ: Today, the Harris County, Texas District Attorney is rejecting a claim made by the FBI alleging suspected drugs were found in the van driven by the man who was fatally shot by an ICE agent last week. Here's what D.A. Sean Teare told CNN earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN TEARE, HARRIS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: This substance is being tested by the FBI either today or in the next few days and I think it is so important to the public that those results be shared immediately. If they're going to share the probable cause for a search warrant, they need to share the results as quickly as they get them because, again, we don't believe that there are drugs in that car.

It has no bearing on why Mr. Salgado and the other three individuals were targeted. It has no bearing whatsoever on whether or not the use of force that killed. Mr. Salgado was justified.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: The FBI filed a warrant application saying the agency has reason to believe these bags contain illegal drugs. It says they were found by an investigator in the van after the shooting. DHS has not previously indicated agents had reason to believe that drugs might have been inside the vehicle. We're joined now by John Sandweg. He served as Acting Director of ICE during the Obama administration.

John, what's your reaction to what the County D.A. has to say there?

JOHN SANDWEG, FORMER ACTING DIRECTOR, U.S. IMMIGRATION & CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT: Certainly another twist, right, in this story, Brianna. But again, this whole incident highlights for me a couple of things, one, this is why it's so critically important, you know, to put out the most tepid statements that you're just going to do an investigation following these shootings rather than these kind of full-throated defenses of the agents.

And the problem is that as more facts unfold, it makes you look, you know, lack credibility, right? We're at a time period where public trust in government institutions is at its lowest and there's never been a point where ICE's credibility is lower. A direct byproduct, right, of those public statements DHS put out after the Minneapolis shootings. So now, you rush out with another statement where you kind of put forth this narrative and as additional facts come out, now people just don't trust the government anymore, right?

Just adds further skepticism. Ultimately, I think the D.A. is right. It's irrelevant to the question for the use of force investigation. It's irrelevant for the question of whether ICE should be doing these traffic stops But again, it highlights for me why you got to be so careful when you issue those initial public statements following these Incidents.

JIMENEZ: And I would just want to ask one specific aspect of what you're talking about because the FBI affidavit, again, filed a week after the shooting, described Special Agent David McNeely arriving on the scene after the shooting, allegedly observing small plastic bags with a white crystal like substance in the white cargo van, consistent with methamphetamine was the phrasing. McNeely said he made the observations from outside of the van, but based on what you're saying, that wouldn't be relevant given that the DHS hasn't even indicated the ICE agents had any knowledge of drugs inside the vehicle, right?

SANDWEG: Yeah. By all accounts from DHS, this was an immigration enforcement operation So one that was conducted by Enforcement & Removal Officers with ICE which are not criminal investigators. They are primarily focused on apprehending individuals for civil immigration violations. They will target criminals all the time, but the law they're enforcing is civil immigration laws. Two is it's irrelevant to the use of force question, right?

The standard for use of force is, are you in imminent fear of serious bodily harm. Whether you're in possession of drugs or whether you're being, you know, we think you're a narcotics dealer or whatever the facts are, it is not directly relevant on what that officer felt at the time that he, you know, pulled the trigger here. So I think in terms of the impact it has on those core questions that we've all been talking about, should ICE be using these vehicular stops? Are these shootings justified from a use of force perspective? It is irrelevant to me.

But I will say this, it's certainly unusual that ICE issues this -- quickly issues this statement that makes no mention of drugs. That's what kind of creates this credibility crisis because now it comes out, hey, there was drugs in plain sight or suspected drugs in plain sight. People again, because of the skepticism they now feel about ICE, are suspicious of whether or not that is true itself.

KEILAR: John, a source tells CNN that in this case, Texas authorities had previously notified ICE about two individuals, neither of whom was the one who was shot and killed, Salgado, traveling in a white van, believed to be in the U.S. without legal status. A Homeland Security Official says officials then conducted surveillance on the targets addressed for weeks and on the day of the shooting, officers were almost there when they observed a white van with an individual who resembled the target.

Officials then initiated this vehicle stop. That van was registered to Salgado who agents discernment to be in the country illegally. So based on what we know, there -- was there reasonable suspicion to conduct the stop?

SANDWEG: I think that needs to be a key part, right?

[14:25:00]

One of the things I don't think we're talking much about is ICE's legal authority to effectuate these traffic stops, right? ICE does need reasonable suspicion and we know that ICE has now come out said, he wasn't the target of the operation.

There appears -- just it is conflicting reports, right, in terms of there was surveillance which also raises questions about did we -- how did we get, potentially, the wrong white van. I think on all of this speculation, it's best to let the dust settle on the investigation. As we've talked about before, you know, you get all this initial reporting. Obviously, there's a public desire to kick out as much information.

You know, when we were involved, when there were use of force incidents, when I was at DHS, we wanted to tell the public as much as possible. But I will tell you, you learn quickly that that all of that initial reporting is often confused, often it's wrong, and even when in the -- with the best intentions, you're trying to get the public information, you can make mistakes.

There are serious questions here though because this is just a -- such a confusing mess including that it turns out he was the wrong individual that I think it behooves all of us to wait and you know -- until we get some facts from a meaningful, thoughtful and independent investigation.

KEILAR: All right, John. Thank you so much for your insight there.

Still to come, a site that is hard to see. I mean, look at this, the Detroit skyline. Do you see it in there? It's just covered in thick haze. We're tracking air quality across multiple states as wildfires in Canada bring heavy smoke and hazardous conditions for millions of Americans.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)