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U.S. Launches New Attacks On Iran As Leaders Trade Threats; Model Recruiter With Jeffrey Epstein Links Found Dead Near Paris; Kyiv Says Moscow is Trying to Hold Global Food Security Hostage; Zelenskyy Picks New Top Commander for Ukraine's Military; Zelenskyy Fires Ukrainian Military's Commander-in-Chief; Court Tours Nigerian Meth Site; Mexico Investigates Lettuce Linked to Cyclospora Outbreak; E.U. Approves Paramount's Warner Bros. Discovery Buyout. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired July 23, 2026 - 02:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:00:34]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, another round of U.S. strikes on Iranian military targets. Now Iran is responding by using its proxies in the region.

A week of protests lead to a younger military chief. Why Ukraine's president made such a daring decision? We're live in Kyiv.

And a CNN exclusive investigation. 18 days in Minnesota. The chaos, lies, and cover-ups after U.S. federal agents killed Americans Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Thanks for being with us. And we begin in the Middle East, where U.S. Central Command says the military has completed a 12th straight night of strikes on Iran. The U.S. president and Iranian leaders continue to trade threats, and Donald Trump is now vowing to destroy Iranian bridges and power plants every time Iran strikes a ship in the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran says any such U.S. attacks would be met with a powerful and decisive response.

Meanwhile, Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis claim to have struck two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea. A Houthi spokesperson says the ships violated the blockade the militant group put in place on Monday.

At an event here in Georgia on Wednesday, President Trump claimed that Americans are not against the war with Iran, even though the latest polling suggests otherwise.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is with this skirmish we have with the Islamic Republic of Iran, and I call it that because let me tell you, they're getting hit so hard, and they want to make a deal, but I say they're not ready to make a deal because every time they make a deal, they want to change it and everything. They're not ready. They'll be ready very soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: CNN's Kevin Liptak has more now from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Concerns are growing inside the administration that the president's strategy of night after night attacks on Iran does not seem to be effective in shifting the Iranians' negotiating position. The president ordering up the 12th consecutive night of strikes on Wednesday into Thursday, but there are some hard conversations now underway inside the administration about where precisely this goes next.

And we know that the president, over the last several days, has been receiving options in policy meetings about potential steps that would escalate the conflicts. And what you see the Pentagon doing is ramping up the firepower and forces in the region. In the case that the president may order up those options, it includes F-16s, F-35s, and aerial refueling tankers.

But so far, the president has not executed on any of those potential options. Instead, what the strategy seems to revolve around is the president ramping up his threats against Iran.

On Wednesday, the president said that he would strike roads and bridges if Iran continued to hit commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. He's also said that he would strike Pickaxe Mountain pretty soon. That's the highly fortified nuclear facility that's buried under 400 feet of solid rock.

On Wednesday, he even posted an article that reported he'd ordered Central Command to, "Open the gates of hell." But so far, neither the threats nor the strikes have caused the Iranians to shake loose any of the concessions that the administration is looking for here.

Now, I've spoken to diplomats in the region as well. They too are pessimistic about finding an off-ramp. They're particularly concerned about both sides' threats against civilian infrastructure.

Yes, they are still working to de-escalate, but they say the prospects for that right now appear fairly bleak. And the phrase that I keep hearing from administration officials is the Dover test. President Trump was at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Wednesday to observe the dignified transfer of the remains of those four fallen American service members who died in Jordan and Iraq over the weekend. What the Dover test implies is that the president, as he considers his next steps here, is weighing whether the consequences of his decisions are worth the risk. [02:05:05]

Kevin Liptak, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Joining me now from Brisbane, Australia, is Mick Ryan, a retired Major General of the Australian Army. Appreciate you joining us.

MAJ. GEN. MICK RYAN (RET.), AUSTRALIAN ARMY: Thanks. It's great to be with you.

CHURCH: Of course. So, the U.S. has completed its 12th consecutive round of strikes on Iran in an effort to further degrade Tehran's ability to attack ships, and this comes as President Trump issued a warning, saying this, from this point forward, any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, the United States will bomb and destroy one bridge or power plant, including those located next to or in the capital city of Tehran. So, what's your response to the U.S. president threatening to hit civilian targets?

RYAN: Well, I think what this is showing is that the U.S. nation is increasingly desperate to draw a line under this conflict, and it's finding it increasingly difficult to do so. This is not just about the political will of the Iranians to achieve a deal. It's increasingly about the budget in the Pentagon and having enough money to fight this war and having enough munitions continue to pound the Iranians night after night.

CHURCH: And Iran, for its part, is threatening an eye for an eye if the U.S. attacks its infrastructure. So, how does the U.S. break this stalemate and get Iran to open up the Strait of Hormuz, particularly as Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis are now blockading the Red Sea with NASA satellite images showing a Saudi-flagged oil tanker apparently on fire. The Houthis say two tankers violated their blockade.

RYAN: Well, I think the Iranians probably could not have dreamt of being in the position they're in a year ago after those attacks on their nuclear plants, they were pretty much down and out then. What we're seeing now is resurgent Iran that thinks it is in the driver's seat very much. It is in the driver's seat, but it may overplay its hand, and I think that is where the opportunity lies for the U.S. administration is seeing where the Iranians may overplay their hand.

And these things like the Houthi strikes and more strikes on ships are that, but responding with attacks on civilian targets is going to be very difficult for the Trump administration to sell over any kind of enduring military campaign.

CHURCH: And Mick, we learned Tuesday from U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that the estimated cost of the U.S. war with Iran so far, at least, is around $37.5 billion and now he wants an additional 67 billion to continue the war. What's your assessment of where this war stands right now and where it's going militarily? RYAN: Well, it's becoming a black hole for very important military resources that the U.S. military really needs to have elsewhere in the world. The Middle East is not the priority in the national military strategy that was published by the Trump administration. The Western Hemisphere and then the Pacific region is the priority.

So, what this war is doing is drawing resources. That's ships. That's aircraft. That's soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines, and very important munitions from deterring Chinese aggression, but also it's preventing the United States providing all important, sophisticated Patriot interceptors to help the Ukrainians defend their airspace against Russian attacks.

CHURCH: And the Washington Post is reporting that recent intelligence reveals that U.S. strikes are unlikely to push Iran into negotiations. So, how does a war like this end, and what's the best way to get Iran back to the negotiating table and hopefully end the war?

RYAN: Well, at this point, it doesn't appear that there is a military solution to the war, particularly not a military solution that the American people would be comfortable with. It would take a very significant escalation by the United States to really bring the Iranians to their heel. But that would entail massive costs and massive potential casualties.

So, we're going to have to find some solution that doesn't involve just smacking the Iranians every night with airstrikes is going to have to be economic, diplomatic, and other means applied to this.

CHURCH: Mick Ryan, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate your analysis.

RYAN: Thank you.

CHURCH: Of course. Well, the Trump administration is trying to figure out how to keep paying for the war with Iran. On Wednesday, the House narrowly passed a $1.1 trillion defense spending bill, despite concerns from Democrats over the massive price tag, the war itself, and a provision that would greatly expand military technology cooperation with Israel. The bill now heads to the Senate, where its fate is unclear.

[02:10:00]

Well, the U.S. has signed a deal allowing Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium for civilian energy purposes, but sources say it does not include international oversight, and that's fueling concerns about the Kingdom potentially developing nuclear weapons.

President Trump has repeatedly said Saudi Arabia's main regional rival, Iran, cannot develop a nuclear weapon, and Israel has long been wary of Riyadh accessing nuclear technology. Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett calls the deal a severe strategic failure.

The top U.S. and Russian diplomats have wrapped up their meeting in Manila a short time ago. Marco Rubio and Sergei Lavrov held talks on the sidelines of the summit of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations.

After the meeting, the U.S. State Department only said that they discussed the U.S.-Russia relationship and the need to end the war in Ukraine.

A U.S. federal judge says former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores will stand trial next June. The couple have pleaded not guilty to charges of gun running and drug smuggling. They were captured by the U.S. military in January and flown to the U.S. to face charges. After Maduro was ousted, Delcy Rodriguez was sworn in as Venezuela's acting president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: First day, first press conference. What are you going to do about the prices? And they said they used the word first time I heard it. It was a word you know made up by the Democrats, affordability. They said affordability. I said I've been here one day. Don't worry, I'll take care of it, and we're taking care of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: President Trump took a swipe at Democrats while speaking here in Georgia on Wednesday, taking aim at their focus on affordability. He said Democrats made up the word, while also promising that his administration is tackling the high prices Americans are facing. He's been pushing two initiatives in response: Trump RX, which he claims offers lower-cost medication, and Trump Accounts, which provides federal seed money for children's investment accounts.

An investigation is now underway in France after the death of a professional model recruiter with ties to Jeffrey Epstein. We will have a report from Paris just ahead.

And later, Jake Tapper's new CNN investigation, 18 Days in Minnesota, the killings by federal agents of American citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

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[02:17:24]

CHURCH: The storm threat has passed for parts of West Virginia, but after historic flooding hit the region, a state of emergency remains in effect for all 55 counties. The governor of West Virginia says officials are focused on search and rescue efforts, and they're concerned over possible loss of life after hours of punishing rain and rising floodwaters.

Crews conducted more than a hundred rescues on Wednesday. Officials say the full extent of the damage is difficult to assess because the storms washed out roads and cut off access to some areas. The severe storms also produced multiple tornadoes and damaging winds in Kentucky, Ohio, and New Jersey.

Deadly flooding is worsening in India's northeastern state of Assam, where officials say at least 26 people have died this week after days of relentless rain. A major river has risen above danger levels in several areas, triggering widespread flooding. Forecasters warn more heavy rain, thunderstorms, and strong winds are expected across parts of northern and eastern India.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Everything was washed away. There was a woman who used to live here, and she died as she was swept away by the water. We are continuously working even amid the rains, and we don't know. The floods can hit us again, and that is why we are saving whatever is left of our household items. So, we just want to receive help from the government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Parts of Europe are enduring another intense heatwave fueling more destructive droughts and wildfires.

In southern France, hundreds have been forced to flee their homes as a fast-moving fire burns in Le Porge. In a separate fire to the west, at least two firefighters have died near the Bordeaux airport. And in Spain, hundreds of firefighters are battling the country's largest wildfire of the year in the Central Guadalajara province. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez says the country has already seen four times as many wildfires this year than in 2025.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PEDRO SANCHEZ, SPANISH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): More than 100,000 hectares have been burned as a result of the wildfire or wildfires across Spain. To put that into perspective, that is the annual average that Spain experienced over the past decade.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: French authorities are investigating the death of a professional model scout who introduced multiple young women to Jeffrey Epstein. The cause of Daniel Siad's death is not yet known. The French prosecutor says an autopsy will be performed to determine how he died.

[02:20:07]

Siad was reportedly mentioned in the Epstein files more than 2,000 times, and CNN aired an exclusive interview with him just a few weeks ago. Our Melissa Bell is in Paris.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A French model recruiter linked to Jeffrey Epstein has been found dead at his home in the suburb of Colombe near Paris according to prosecutors. Daniel Siad had been the subject of renewed scrutiny in the wake of the latest releases of the Epstein files by the U.S. Department of Justice. For over a decade he'd arranged for the late sex offender to meet several models. CNN's Katie Polglase recently interviewed Siad who said he'd had no reason to believe that two women he'd recommended to Epstein had been harmed by him even though those two women told CNN that they were indeed abused by Jeffrey Epstein.

DANIEL SIAD: My work with him has been strictly professional. I never doubt that -- because I never heard anything from anyone I introduced him who came back to me that they had a bad situation with him.

BELL: Siad said he believed that Epstein was a casting director for Victoria's Secret and for a modeling agency. CNN has found no evidence to support that claim.

SIAD: I didn't know a lot about him until when he comes to Paris and I told you again he said he pays these his due to the government. So, for me he's free man, he's clean. He was such a powerful person and how can I not trust him.

BELL: Epstein ties to the modeling industry are part of ongoing investigations including a criminal probe launched this year in Paris involving Siad according to the city's chief prosecutor. Now, Siad's lawyer has pointed to the stress that the man was under due to the unbearable waiting and I quote, "the stigma cast upon him." Siad's lawyer's statement also calling for respect for his loved ones as they mourn adding that he died and was innocent.

Siad himself was also facing accusations of abuse. A model accused him of rape when she was working in France in 1990. Siad had also denied that accusation. His death certainly marks the latest macabre twist in the Epstein saga and a reminder of the ripple effects of the revelations from the Epstein files and of the fact that they are far from over.

Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Back here in the United States, initial findings from an independent autopsy on Nolan Wells have not provided any new clues as to what caused his death. The body of the 18-year-old football player was found floating face down near an island off the Mississippi coast early this month. His death has sparked speculation that race may have been a factor, given Mississippi's fraught racial history, and since photos from the trip showed the Black teens surrounded by White friends. One of his friends said Wells stayed on the island to talk to a girl, but others have expressed doubts about that.

A county coroner says currents near the island are very rough, and other people have drowned in that area. Results from the official autopsy performed by the state medical examiner's office have not yet been released. They're waiting for the outcome of standard toxicology tests, but the Wells family attorney says the independent autopsy indicates foul play cannot be ruled out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BENJAMIN CRUMP, WELLS' FAMILY ATTORNEY: For these reasons, this pathologist cannot rule out if any intervening non-accidental factors contributed to or caused the death of Nolan Wells. Understand, he's saying based on the examination of the body, he cannot rule out foul play.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: During an emotional news conference on Wednesday, Wells' father said his son should be at football practice, not buried in the ground.

Ukraine makes a generational change at the very top of its military establishment. Still to come, President Zelenskyy fires his military commander in chief and puts in charge someone much younger. We'll have a look at that.

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[02:29:15]

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Diplomatic efforts are underway to put peace talks between Russia and Ukraine back on track. On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke with top U.S. mediators Steve Whitkoff and Jared Kushner. He said they focused on how to restart the stalled peace talks.

Inside Russia, this video captured a huge fire after Ukraine's latest drone strike on Wildberries, a major online retailer. Kyiv says the company's warehouses are used to make drones.

Meanwhile, Ukraine is accusing Moscow of trying to hold global food security hostage. Kyiv says the Kremlin struck three civilian cargo ships in the Black Sea on Wednesday. It happened during the peak harvest period when Ukraine exports its agricultural products through Black Sea corridors.

[02:30:00]

Well, the fighting follows a second major change at the top of Ukraine's military leadership in a matter of days. On Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired the commander-in-chief of Ukraine's armed forces and brought in a much younger replacement. The commander had clashed with Ukraine's popular defense minister who was ousted last week.

Nick Paton Walsh has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR (voice-over): A generational shift, the younger Ukrainians doing the fighting now run by a general nearer their age, 43-year-old Mykhailo Drapatyi.

Out Oleksandr Syrsky, aged 60, who for years met the Soviet brutality of Russia with similar resolve and ruthlessness. Nicknamed "the Butcher," he became the face of the relentless, ugly toll of the war on frontline troops. Sending people to die is something a wartime general has to do, along with always be winning to stay popular.

And while Syrsky had notched up enough small victories, they did not save him from modernity. His wartime resume begins with the defense of Kyiv, where thousands of locals bolstered the city's rout of the Russians. The Kharkiv counteroffensive in late 2022 saw Russia collapse. A startling reversal, exposing poor command and supply lines for which Syrsky is credited.

OLEKSANDR SYRSKY, FORMER COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE (through translator): We need to end the enemy units in front of you. You've proved you can do it.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): But his rivalry with his boss, then- commander, Valery Zaluzhny, many analysts have said, led Syrsky to push a focus on the city of Bakhmut during the next summer and leave the main push of the counteroffensive, Ukraine's main chance to break Russia's road to Crimea with a flood of new Western equipment, to falter. Zaluzhny lost his job months later to Syrsky, who swiftly needed a win after so many slow losses, including Bakhmut.

The response was daring and stunning, if not strategically sound in the long run. The first invasion of Russia since the Nazis, Kursk. A major embarrassment for Putin and a turn in the narrative until Ukraine slowly left the next year.

Ultimately, the war changed around Ukraine and Syrsky, as a younger generation found tech could compensate for a lack of brute force and people. Mykhailo Fedorov, the Disruptor-in-Chief and new Minister of Defense, leading the use of drones early to hit deep inside Russia. IT, data, open tenders for equipment, transparency, questioning everything, and robots and more robots, nothing could be further from the Syrsky way of war.

But it began to work and gained popularity, the major metric in Zelenskyy's decision-making. Fedorov, too popular, it seemed, when he openly clashed with Syrsky, leaving the older general, whose failings and frailty had been the talk of Kyiv for months, suddenly the victor when Zelenskyy edged out a rising star.

That was until rare Kyiv protests switched to focus on Syrsky, leaving Zelenskyy with another popularity crisis, his own, and in need of a new military commander. A bizarrely open and fickle back and forth, democracy in wartime, some say, or the president ditching losers, or out with the old and in with the new. And whatever just happened, they too have to keep winning.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: For more perspective, we are joined now from Kyiv by Ukrainian Parliamentary Member, Kira Rudyk. Appreciate you being with us.

KIRA RUDYK, UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENTARY MEMBER: Hello, Rosemary, and thank you so much for having me.

CHURCH: Of course. So let's start with last week's firing of Ukraine's defense minister by President Zelenskyy that triggered those protests across the country. Why did the president dismiss Mykhailo Fedorov at a time when he was winning praise as the architect of Ukraine's successful long-range drone attacks on Russia?

RUDYK: President's statement and explanation for this step was that there was a conflict between Minister Fedorov and Commander-in-Chief Alexander Syrsky at the time, and that it made impossible for Ukraine to make progress and continue this way when two top military leaders are not able to work together.

However, I think it was a political mistake to dismiss Mykhailo Fedorov because six months that he has been at his position is definitely not enough to show enough progress at the reforms that has started and with all the innovations and new technologies that he was putting in place. The protests on the streets seem to agree with this and people were really surprised why on the one hand we say and the world sees that Ukraine can only win this war by asymmetric steps, by being more innovative, by being one step ahead in technological warfare.

[02:35:15]

And on the other hand, the president fires the person who is responsible for all of this. So, of course, Minister Fedorov is very popular among people and, of course, he can be seen as a political rival. However, he has never expressed any willingness to have a separate political career from President Zelenskyy. He was part of President Zelenskyy's team. This is why it seemed like really president was getting rid of a rising star.

CHURCH: Interesting. And just days after firing Fedorov, President Zelenskyy is now responding to the fallout by dismissing General Alexander Syrsky and replacing him with a much younger Commander-in- Chief, Mykhailo Drapatyi. What's your response to that move? And will this satisfy the many protesters who were very angry about the firing of Fedorov?

RUDYK: So the difference between our previous commander-in-chief and the new commander-in-chief is that Alexander Syrsky was a representative of this conservative way of how Soviet army and all Ukrainian army used to be run.

And we like to say that small Soviet army cannot win against big Soviet army, which is Russian, and that we definitely need to innovate. Mykhailo Drapatyi is extremely popular amongst Ukrainian civilians and Ukrainian military. And he is young and he has grown at this war.

He has started in 2014, where he was fighting for Mariupol. And we hope that he will be able to innovate and move forward towards this balance of having the conservative rules for the infantry, but also implementing the new technologies at the battlefield. We really have to look forward the next couple of days if President Zelenskyy will roll back his decision on Mykhailo Fedorov.

But honestly, having the current commander-in-chief is already a huge, straightforward towards what people really want and demand, a chance for Ukraine at this war, a strategic decision that we will be moving towards the innovation rather than conservative approach.

CHURCH: Right. And President Zelenskyy's major shakeup does continue, of course. But, has all of this undermined Ukraine's war effort and battlefield gains? And what message does it send Russia?

RUDYK: Well, Russia, of course, is very happy that Mykhailo Fedorov was dismissed. And this is one thing, especially that we have to consider, that they knew that he was a very strong figure that was responsible for many operations. But we now need to find a way of how the new defense minister and Mykhailo Drapatyi would work together. We think that may work very well.

We are preparing for potential Russian mobilization that may happen in September, and very hard winter that is in front of us. So right now, no matter the names and our own support and likeness of people, we need to make sure that we concentrate on supporting people who are at their positions right now, and making sure that we concentrate on one goal that is in front of us, protecting Ukrainian people and winning the war.

CHURCH: Kira Rudyk, many thanks for joining us. Appreciate it.

RUDYK: Thank you. And glory to Ukraine.

CHURCH: Coming up next, a CNN exclusive investigation. 18 days in Minnesota, the chaos, lies and cover-ups after federal agents killed Renee Goode and Alex Pretti.

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[02:43:47]

CHURCH: A new CNN investigation, 18 days in Minnesota. This is about the Trump administration's killing of two American citizens six months ago, Renee Good and Alex Pretti. CNN's Jake Tapper examined the chaos, lies and cover-ups surrounding those deaths. And for the first time, we were exclusively hearing on camera from one of the federal prosecutors who resigned in protest.

Here's Jake with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR & CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the morning of Wednesday, January 7th, a Minneapolis mother named Renee Good dropped her six-year-old son off at school, then went with her wife, Becca, to be legal observers of the immigration enforcement operations in their city.

RENEE GOOD, VICTIM OF ICE SHOOTING: That's fine, dude. I'm not mad at you. Show your face. I'm not mad at you. BECCA GOOD, RENEE GOOD'S WIFE: It's OK. We don't change our plates every morning. Just so you know. It'll be the same plate when you come talk to us later. That's fine. U.S. citizens (inaudible). You want to come at us? You want to come at us? I say go get yourself some lunch, big boy. Go home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out of the car. Get out of the car. Get out of the (expletive) car. Get out of the car.

R. GOOD: (Inaudible).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Expletive).

TAPPER: What did you think when you first saw the video?

TOM CALHOUN-LOPEZ, FORMER ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY, MINNESOTA: We were getting updates as they happened.

[02:45:00]

We got the video as soon as we can. Obviously, the video speaks for itself. It's troubling.

TAPPER (voice-over): Immediately following the shooting, senior prosecutors in the Minnesota U.S. attorney's office did what was standard operating procedure. They ordered an investigation into the shooting, whether Renee Good's civil rights had been violated. For a brief moment, it looked like a joint investigation would happen between the FBI and local authorities.

But the Trump administration had different plans.

KRISTI NOEM, THEN HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: This appears as an attempt to kill or to cause bodily harm to agents, an act of domestic terrorism.

TAPPER (voice-over): In addition to those highly questionable comments from then-Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem, President Trump quickly took to Truth Social and made demonstrably false claims, saying Good was, quote, "very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully and viciously ran over the ICE officer, who seems to have shot her in self-defense," adding, "it is hard to believe the ICE officer survived."

TAPPER: This is the site where Renee Good died. The investigation was shut down into the shooting?

CALHOUN-LOPEZ: That's correct. The president and the secretary of homeland security both announced that there would be no investigation. Secretary Noem referred to Renee Good as a domestic terrorist. And I've certainly seen no evidence of that whatsoever.

TAPPER: And had you ever seen anything like that happen before, where the president weighs in on a shooting?

CALHOUN-LOPEZ: Never. Under normal times, an administration would have no objection to an investigation because the investigation may clear the officer. An investigation isn't necessarily designed to indict anybody.

TAPPER (voice-over): U.S. Attorney, Daniel Rosen was in Washington, D.C. at a conference. So the second in command of the U.S. attorney's office, Joe Thompson, who was worried that the presence of homeland security agents on the street -- ICE, Border Patrol, CBP -- would inflame matters, made a request to the Feds to remove them. That request was honored, briefly.

MAYOR JACOB FREY, (D) MINNEAPOLIS: They are already trying to spin this as an action of self-defense. I want to tell everybody directly, that is bullshit. To ICE, get the (expletive) out of Minneapolis.

TAPPER (voice-over): In the U.S. attorney's office, staffers grimaced knowing Mayor Frey's comments weren't going to help. But even before those comments, prosecutors worried about how the Trump administration would handle this shooting. By the end of the day, the FBI was no longer working with local authorities on the shooting investigation. And homeland security agents were back on the streets.

On Thursday, January 8th, the day after the Renee Good shooting, tensions between the prosecutors in the U.S. attorney's office in Minnesota and the Justice Department began. Justice Department officials wanted the prosecutors to claw back a warrant they'd obtained for Renee Good's car, a warrant predicated on an investigation as to whether Renee Good's civil rights were being violated.

DOJ officials in D.C. wanted the charges to be against Good for attacking the ICE officer. The Justice Department, led by the office of Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche, also wanted Good and, to a different degree, her widow, Becca, investigated. But the Minnesota prosecutors would not carry out those actions.

On Monday, January 12th, five days after the death of Renee Good, Minnesota's U.S. Attorney, Daniel Rosen returned to the office and he told prosecutors that the marching orders from D.C. were to investigate Good for an assault on a federal officer. And he also suggested they take some investigative steps regarding Good's widow, Becca, instructions the prosecutors thought were madness.

TAPPER: Does it make sense to investigate somebody for assault on a federal officer if they're dead?

CALHOUN-LOPEZ: It did not make sense to me at the time. It didn't make sense to any of us. It doesn't make sense to me today.

TAPPER (voice-over): Also that day, Greg Bovino demanded a phone call with the U.S. attorney's office. Bovino was angry that prosecutors had not been filing cases against protesters whom he had claimed and his agents had claimed were assaulting officers and agents.

GREGORY BOVINO, FORMER BORDER PATROL COMMANDER-AT-LARGE: You assault an officer and you're going to jail. TAPPER (voice-over): What Bovino said on the call stunned the prosecutors. Quote, "These people are wackos," Bovino said about Minnesota protesters. This shit is getting ready to come. We're not going to calm it down. We're going to put it down. We're going to pacify this place. We're going to roll them up. Bovino also made a comment about Rosen, the U.S. Attorney, who's an Orthodox Jew, sneeringly referring to him as one of the "chosen people," a comment prosecutors found anti-Semitic.

After the call with Bovino, one of the prosecutors said, quote, "They're going to kill someone else." Others agreed. On Bovino's claims that immigration officers were being assaulted and charges weren't coming, well, those cases had been going to Tom Calhoun-Lopez.

CALHOUN-LOPEZ: Law enforcement officers have a difficult job and federal agents do their job very, very well. So it's important that prosecutors protect them where they can. And that means vindicating their rights if they're victims of assault.

But I began to have concerns that agents were not being truthful, making arrests with very little provocation and then soon enough, no provocation. And even after that, I would learn that agents had instigated physical contact. And so, they were arresting people not only who had committed no assault, but who had in fact been assaulted by federal agents.

TAPPER (voice-over): The result of the false claims and the chaos in Minneapolis would soon reverberate inside the Minnesota U.S. attorney's office.

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CHURCH: CNN reached out to former Border Patrol Official, Greg Bovino. He disputes the characterization of that January 12th phone call saying that though he could not recall his exact words, the idea of putting down the protest was not something he would say. As for the "chosen people" comment, he denied it was intended to be anti-semitic.

Bovino says he was simply frustrated that he had not been able to reach U.S. Attorney, Rosen. And that was just part of Jake Tapper's exclusive reporting. You can watch the entire report on CNN.com.

A massive drug bust now at the center of a high-stakes trial in Nigeria. Court members visited this site which investigators say was the center of a meth empire. The story, after the break.

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. A Nigerian court took an unusual trip on Wednesday, visiting a massive methamphetamine lab at the center of the country's largest ever drug bust. This is the site in Ogun State where prosecutors say chemicals and industrial equipment were allegedly used to produce meth. Authorities say they recovered more than two tons of meth and chemical materials worth over $360 million and that these kinds of remote operations are increasingly common.

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FEMI BABAFEMI, DIRECTOR OF MEDIA, NATIONAL DRUG LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY: There seems to be an attempt by the drug syndicates, especially the cartels, the international cartels, trying to establish a production hub, a meth production hub within the southwest region of the country. And they are not doing this within the cities or within the towns, but going into the forests to do this.

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CHURCH: Mexico is conducting its own investigation into the lettuce, believed to be the source of a cyclospora outbreak here in the United States. The CDC has confirmed more than 4,000 cases. Another 7,400 suspected cases are undergoing additional lab testing. The lettuce linked to the outbreak was grown in central Mexico, as CNN's Valeria Leon reports.

VALERIA LEON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Mexican authorities are conducting their own investigation into the cyclospora outbreak in the United States after U.S. officials traced the lettuce supply to a company operating in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato.

[02:55:00]

The FDA initially reported that a lettuce sample had tested positive for the parasite, but later withdrew that result, saying it was a false positive. Despite that reversal, and although there is currently no evidence confirming contamination, Mexico decided to continue with its own investigation.

Mexico's Health Secretary, David Kershenobich, also confirmed three cases of cyclosporiasis in Mexico, but said authorities have ruled out an outbreak in the country. So far, officials have not linked those cases to the lettuce involved in the U.S. investigation.

Here's how Kershenobich explained Mexico's response.

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DAVID KERSHENOBICH, MEXICO SECRETARY OF HEALTH (through translator): A sample was taken that tested positive, but the FDA later determined it was a false positive. Therefore, we currently have no evidence. However, we have traveled to Guanajuato and collected samples to conduct our own investigation in coordination with the U.S. CDC.

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LEON: The lettuce was traced to Taylor Farms in Mexico, which voluntarily removed iceberg lettuce from central Mexico from the U.S. market. And the case is significant for Mexico because the U.S. is its largest agricultural export market. No broader restrictions on Mexican produce have been announced, but Mexican authorities, of course, want to determine whether contamination occurred at the source and prevent the investigation from affecting another producers and exports.

Valeria Leon, CNN, Mexico City.

CHURCH: The European Union has signed off on Paramount's merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of this network. Regulators say Paramount made several concessions, including an agreement to abandon a film distribution deal with Universal in Europe. Here in the U.S., 12 state attorneys general are challenging the buyout, claiming it would stifle competition.

Paramount says the opposite is true. A federal judge has put the deal on hold for now to consider the antitrust lawsuit.

Well, now to a new cyber attack carried out by artificial intelligence. ChatGPT-maker OpenAI says some of its experimental models escaped a test environment and hacked into another company's servers. This is one of the first times we've seen something like this happen. After repeated warnings from experts, OpenAI released a statement calling the breach of fellow tech firm, Hugging Face a "unprecedented cyber incident."

Both companies say they are now working together to solve the security flaws the model exploited.

I want to thank you so much for your company this hour. I'm Rosemary Church. "CNN Newsroom" with Polo Sandoval is next, after a short break. Stay with us.

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