Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Officials: 3 Killed, More Injured In Seattle Festival Shooting; Report: Growing Police Misuse Of Flock's License-Plate Readers; Wildfires Scorching Parts of Europe; Trump's Slumping Approval Ratings. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired July 27, 2026 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead on CNN Newsroom, a Seattle food festival turns into the scene of yet another shooting tragedy in America. We are following the latest developments. A pause in hostilities between the U.S. and Iran as diplomatic efforts ramp back up. We will have a live report from the Gulf region. New polling signals trouble for President Trump's approval rating and it could rub off on Republican candidates heading into the midterms. Plus, the latest on the devastating wildfires scorching parts of Europe.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is "CNN Breaking News."

CHURCH: Officials report at least three people are dead in Seattle, Washington after a shooting Sunday night at a summer food festival. The city's mayor reports a suspect is in custody after that attack. Officials say at least four other people were injured in the shooting, including a child.

Witnesses tell CNN affiliate KOMO they heard -- quote -- "seven to eight shots inside the venue." Another witness says he heard -- quote -- "at least two dozen shots." Hundreds of thousands of people were expected to attend the multi-day festival which is held every summer.

Well, Seattle police are holding a news conference. We want to listen in. Let's go there now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GOV. BOB FERGUSON (D), WASHINGTON: I express my deep appreciation for the first responders who, as you heard, were literally on the scene and stepped in to help address the situation and to also secure the entire Seattle Center, which I know took some time. So, we deeply appreciate all of their work.

Number two, before I answer your question, of course, I want to say how -- look, Bite of Seattle is about as iconic an event as we have in the city of Seattle. It's where a community comes together and enjoys our city in being together. And any shooting like this is senseless. I think it's magnified for an event like this.

And so, all of us, our hearts go out to everybody who is impacted by this. I can't imagine being a parent of a two-year-old toddler, for example, who's injured in a shooting like this. But for everybody who is impacted, our hearts go out to them.

Number two, to your question specifically, yes, as you know, in legislation, my first year as governor, we put into our budget $100 million grant program for local jurisdictions to get more law enforcement officers, which is something I support as far as my campaign for governor. That legislation got through. And now, those dollars are starting to flow to local jurisdictions. So, I support that effort. We'll continue to support that effort for thousand reasons. This is the type of thing we rely on our first responders at a time like this to keep our community safe. That's why I support that.

UNKNOWN: Have you spoken to all the victims' families?

TYRONE DAVIS, ASSISTANT CHIEF, SEATTLE POLICE DEPARTMENT: We have officers on the scene. We obviously get contact from potential family members of victims. So, they may have information for us. So, we will try to work with them. We have a number of support services on scene, including chaplain services that are here to support both the officers who obviously went through the stressful and traumatic situation and as well as those families, witnesses, and people that are affected by what happened today.

UNKNOWN: What are your thoughts about those officers? Man, they ran right into this.

DAVIS: I mean, this heroic work gets done daily in the city. You know, unfortunately, it takes a horrible, tragic situation like this for you to hear about all the --

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Listening there to officials, we want to bring in Richard Kolko now, a retired FBI supervisory special agent. Thank you so much for talking with us at this very difficult time, clearly. And we understand that one suspect is now in custody after this deadly shooting took the lives of three people. Officials say they believe another shooter is on the run.

How long will it likely take, do you think, for investigators to determine the motive and whether this was terrorism, a gang dispute or something else because we understand from listening to that news conference, at least, that they seem to think it was two people shooting at each other? Is that your takeaway?

[02:04:56]

RICHARD KOLKO, RETIRED SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT, FBI: That is my takeaway. I was reading between the lines there, watching that press conference. I think it's going to be crime or gang-related shooting. Unfortunately, it happened at this very popular location, Bite of Seattle. Hundred thousand people a day going just to enjoy, you know, a food festival and the crowds in the nice city of Seattle. Certainly problematic.

One thing interesting that the assistant police chief said was there are witnesses out there, but he needs them to come forward. So, that's a big part of the problem. People may be nervous to say what they saw or tell law enforcement what they know, but they've got to pick up the phone and call law enforcement to help locate that other shooter because that other shooter, the alleged other shooter out there, he could certainly still be a dangerous person. So, he needs to be found, identified, and arrested.

CHURCH: Yes. And, of course, it's very difficult, isn't it, in the midst of the chaos and confusion, for witnesses to come up with some of these details. But I want to -- I want to ask you about how difficult it is to secure and protect soft targets like this and how would you assess the level of security and police response at this festival when the shooting took place?

KOLKO: Well, I think the police response when they evaluate that in what's called an AAR or After Action Report, and they'll do that very quickly to see how the police did, I think that's going to come out very well. They're on scene. They ran to the sound of gunfire. They were able to get people into ambulances. First responders, fire departments were all on scene immediately. They have found and identified and arrested somebody on scene, it sounds like. So, police were, you know, on top of things.

But as far as the first part of your question, you know, hardening or preparing these soft targets against these kinds of events, my goodness, we wish there was an answer, an easy answer to do that. But when you have this many people coming through these kinds of areas, it's very difficult. You can't really have the magnetometers. You can't have such choke points where people are just relegated to coming through, you know, a few separate entrances.

When you have a hundred thousand people coming through and enjoying the day, you don't want to stop that activity by making the security so rigid that people are uncomfortable. But at the same time, people want to feel protected and safe when they go to these events. So that's that tricky, you know, balance that law enforcement and community leaders have to find to keep their cities going, to keep them safe and not let this happen.

CHURCH: Yes. And, of course, it helps that a suspect is in custody. So, that should speed the situation along and presumably get them to the other suspect. What's the process there?

KOLKO: Well, the process there is they've brought in the detectives, they've brought in the crime scene analysis. They've got Seattle police, FBI, state police, alcohol, tobacco and firearms. So, they'll do this large investigation. They'll do what's called a canvas. They'll go and ask everybody they can. They'll search for video. If you jump online right now, you can see all kinds of social media posts with videos. So, they'll want to collect that, analyze it, see what they can find out there.

You're right, they're interviewing that first suspect. They may or may not be willing to talk. If this was indeed some sort of battle between these two people, the one in custody may have that information that he may be willing to share with law enforcement. May not. That is what their attorney says. But my guess is they're going to get that lead in a matter of hours or most days and be able to track down this second blood shooter and find him and arrest him.

CHURCH: Let's hope that happens. Richard Kolko, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it.

All right, turning now to the conflict in the Middle East. U.S. military operations appear to be on hold after nearly two weeks of strikes against Iran. U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, says diplomatic efforts have ramped up and President Donald Trump is giving talks with Iran some space.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE WALTZ, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: What the president is doing right now, as we've seen all along, is giving some talks some space. Talks are ongoing. They're happening at every level from the more technical aspect of it all the way to the highest levels, of course, within both the Iranian government and the U.S. government.

What we are constantly seeing, though, is on the Iranian regime side, they are divided, there is internal fighting. Some are seeking the guidance of the supreme leader. Others want to move into a different direction. And that makes it hugely challenging from a diplomatic standpoint, but to get to some reasonable resolution here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meantime, sources say the U.S. vice president and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have raised concerns about escalating the war and depleting U.S. munitions stockpile.

[02:10:05]

This comes as the Pentagon updated its casualty tolls for Operation Epic Fury on Saturday. At least 18 U.S. troops have now died since the war began on February 28th and another 624 have been wounded.

Well, CNN's Eleni Giokos joins us now live from Dubai with the latest. Good to see you, Eleni. So, what more are you learning about this pause in U.S. military operations targeting Iran and, of course, how are negotiations progressing?

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Rosemary. I mean, a lot going on. When we woke up on Saturday morning, there was an anticipation it would be 14 consecutive nights of strikes, but we're seeing a pause. And I think it surprised a lot of people because there was major escalatory language throughout the week, specifically President Trump saying that they're planning to target Iran very hard. We know that President Trump met with advisers. And, according to sources, Vice President J.D. Vance as well as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, had raised a few concerns specifically around depletion of munitions and the consequences, the longer-term consequences.

The other major concerns that had been raised, according to sources, was if the United States does go ahead and target bridges as well as power plants, should Iran strike vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, that could mean a higher death toll in Iran, specifically focused on issues on food and water supply there. That could have massive ramifications because Iran has vowed to retaliate against Gulf regions. And then the big sort of worry, the Achilles heel, is desalination plants where Iran has struck Kuwaiti desalination plants over the past few days as well. So, all of those coming to the fore.

But what is interesting to note here as well, if you look at what's happening regionally and whether we've been asking this question, whether we're seeing a widening of the war, if we look at what the Iranian proxy group, the Houthis, have been doing in Yemen, they have started blockading Saudi vessels passing through the Bab al-Mandab Strait. They've targeted three vessels to date. On Saturday morning, when they targeted a vessel, Saudi Arabian coalition forces struck back at military targets in Hodeidah. The Houthis said it's going to be escalation for escalation. They have claimed responsibility for targeting Yanbu as well as Jizan State.

I want to show you these satellite images that have been geolocated by CNN. It shows black smoke billowing from Jazan Province. Now, Jazan Province is where Saudi Aramco has massive oil refineries and downstream oil facilities. Now, while Aramco hasn't confirmed a specific target on the facilities, these satellite images, Rosemary, show this black smoke that is around 200 kilometers long. It shows that a fire that is ongoing If we look at a street view image that was reported by Reuters, you can see smoke billowing as well over the weekend.

So, a lot of questions around what happens regionally. And despite the fact that the United States has taken a pause, you know, what are the Houthis planning to do further down south?

CHURCH: All right. Thanks to Eleni Giokos for bringing us that live report from Dubai. Appreciate it.

The suspect in what German authorities are calling an Islamist terror attack at Berlin's Pride celebration was shot dead by police following an extensive manhunt. At least one person was killed and nearly 30 others injured in Saturday's van ramming and stabbing at the German capital's Tiergarten Park. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and other government officials visited the site of the attack on Sunday to pay their respects to the victims. The attack came just hours after hundreds of thousands attended one of Europe's largest and longest running LGBTQ Pride parades in the area.

In Spain's Castellon Province, thousands of hectares have burned. It's just one of several regions in the country fighting to hold back the flames. Officials say the fires in some areas are the biggest in Spain's recent history. Firefighting aircraft have been sent by Greece and Italy to help emergency crews. It's now a waiting game for residents anxious to get back to their homes and check what the flames have left for them.

Well, in neighboring France, firefighters are taking advantage of lighter winds before another oncoming heat wave can worsen conditions. The country is in the midst of its biggest evacuation since World War II. About 220,000 people have been forced to leave their homes as flames engulf communities, forests, and fields.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEAN-CLAUDE, EVACUEE (through translator): Getting information about when we'll be able to go home is the big problem.

[02:15:00]

We came here expecting it to be for 24 hours. Now, it's going to be 48 hours, maybe 72, maybe longer. So, we'll see. We'll adapt day by day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Many are fleeing France's southwest region, specifically the Gironde and Landes departments. The fires are now just nine miles or 15 kilometers from the historic city of Bordeaux where thousands of people are sheltering. The city's mayor says while communities around the city have been evacuated, the city center is not yet directly threatened.

Well, parts of the northeastern U.S. could see flash flooding this week. A slow-moving coastal storm system is expected to bring several rounds of heavy rain. The flash flooding risks come as the U.S. is already dealing with extreme heat. CNN's Allison Chinchar explains.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST AND SCIENCE WRITER: Roughly a hundred million people are under some type of heat alert both today and tomorrow. All thanks to this heat dome that is set up across the southern tier of the U.S. In the coming days, it's going to start to spread eastward, impacting even more people as we head closer into the middle portion of the week.

Now, high temperatures for Monday are still looking at several locations in the triple digits. But even places like Denver, Kansas City, Chicago may not reach the triple digits, but they are still well above average for what they normally would be this time of year.

The heat risk map, focus here is really the red and especially the purple color showing where the biggest impact is going to be from the heat. Now, notice in the coming days how the purple color really starts to expand across the southern plains and even into the southeast because that's where we're going to start to see the heat spreading in the coming days. Places like Dallas looking at every single one of the next seven days above average. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Recent polls show President Trump's approval ratings slipping. Coming up, a closer look at what's fueling the public backlash. Plus, Democrats are facing an identity crisis as the party seeks to reclaim its majority in the November midterm elections. We'll hear from the House minority leader after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Republican Senator Bill Cassidy says it may soon be time for Congress to weigh in on the United States' lengthening war with Iran. Speaking on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday, he said it is -- quote -- "unlikely that President Trump can resolve the conflict quickly."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R), LOUISIANA: At some point, date certain, it will be that the Congress has to weigh in. It may be soon. But in my mind, the president had the opportunity to achieve the initial goals, which I agreed with, to wrap it up. It has not happened. At this point, I do think there needs to be a fuller national discussion as to how we go forward.

If the president wraps this up quickly, seems unlikely, but they seem to reassure that it can happen, OK, that's fine. If it doesn't happen, then, again, the president needs to come to Congress, the American people, and say, these are the facts, and then we have a conversation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: We're now less than 100 days out from the U.S. midterm elections and new polling released by CBS News shows President Trump's approval rating is underwater as Election Day approaches. That poll finds 39 percent of Americans approve of Trump's job performance, 61 percent disapprove. On the Iran war, just 35 percent say they approve of how the president is handling the conflict, while 65 percent disapprove.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has yet to commit to holding votes on progressive policy issues should Democrats win back a congressional majority in November. Some candidates are calling for immigration and customs enforcement to be abolished in the U.S. Here's how Jeffries responded to CNN's Dana Bash when asked about that proposition.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY), MINORITY LEADER OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: Well, I've spoken to several of the incoming members of Congress across the ideological spectrum. Not a single person has raised those issues other than obviously what they've seen from House Democrats in pushing back against an out-of-control ICE because we believe that immigration enforcement in this country clearly should be fair, just and humane, and that's not what's taking place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Jeffries could oversee a divided caucus after several progressives surpassed moderate Democrats in key primaries. The House minority leader says his party remains focused on ending the -- quote -- "MAGA extremism" that has been unleashed on Americans.

Larry Sabato is the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. He's also the co-author of "Campaign of Chaos: Trump, Biden, Harris, and the 2024 American Election." Thank you, as always, for joining us.

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR OF CENTER FOR POLITICS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA, AUTHOR: I'm looking forward to it, Rosemary. Thank you.

CHURCH: So, Larry, 100 days away from the midterm elections and President Trump's national approval ratings are at an all-time low with the CNN Poll of Polls putting his approval at 36 percent and disapproval at 62 percent. What issues are driving this?

SABATO: I think three things in particular, affordability, the inflation question, the economy in general, which is not only not been improving, but actually has been deteriorating in some ways. That's number one.

Number two is certainly the war in Iran. You know, Rosemary, this is fascinating to me as somebody who studies public opinion. This war has not been popular. That is above 50 percent support for a single day, including the first day of the war when the supreme leader was killed in the early bombing attacks. That is highly unusual. Normally, you have a rally around the flag effect. But I think the public sense from the beginning, this was an unnecessary war of choice.

[02:25:01]

And they know that when you get involved in a Middle East war, you're asking for trouble over a long period of time.

And the third and final issue that's shaping this midterm election is greed and corruption, the corruption issue. It's impossible for people to miss the extraordinary things that not only Trump is doing, but that his family is doing, particularly his two sons who are running the business. These things have never been done before. This is the deepest corruption of any presidency in American history. Those are three tough things for the Republicans to overcome.

CHURCH: And Larry, in addition to Trump's low approval ratings, Republicans are seeing what they call a scary lack of enthusiasm among core voters just 100 days away from the midterms. That's unusual for Republican voters. What's going on, do you think?

SABATO: It's unprecedented in the Trump era. Normally, Republicans are very enthused about anything that Donald Trump is enthused about. But it's not happening so much this year.

Now, Trump still has his MAGA base, but even a slice of that has defected. They're not voting Democratic, they're just not going to vote from every indication that we have, whereas the Democrats are enthused about the election because they sense they're finally going to get a victory and probably control of at least one House of Congress. So, their leaders can actually get something done. They'll be able to organize a House, have committee investigations and all the rest.

CHURCH: And Larry, with voter concerns over the economy, affordability, trade, tariffs, the war in Iran, and immigration, many other issues as well, but what are Republicans planning to do to change their fortunes in November if that's even possible at this at this point?

SABATO: The more pessimistic Republican leaders have said to many of us privately, I don't think anything is going to change. I mean, that's the summary of the of the discussion. I don't think anything can change on the economic front. You know, you could go up a little, down a little. But the problems are pretty deep. And as long as this war continues, the price of gas is not going to drop precipitously. So, that's a major problem that probably won't change.

Now, it's possible that you can get another memorandum of understanding and you could have a truce that would help to lower the temperature on the war. That would probably help Republicans. On the corruption issue, Donald Trump can solve that any time he wants by placing a call to his sons and to his stockbrokers.

CHURCH: And given all the woes of the Republican Party right now, one would think that Democrats would be in a great place, but they're confronting their own problems in trying to get the right candidates elected as well as other challenges. What are they doing right and what are they doing wrong at this juncture?

SABATO: What they're doing right is in recruiting some candidates who can actually get elected and fit their states and districts. Their problem is the Democratic Party constituency isn't going along with them. That's how you're getting a number of Democratic socialists nominated.

They're only a handful. They're not going to be controlling the Democratic Party or the Congress. But the more of them who win, and they all tend to say exaggerated things, some things that seem extreme to people like defunding the police and that sort of thing, the more people are going to be worried about Democrats taking over.

They don't control anything. That's the fundamental problem, Rosemary. They don't control anything. They can't make anything happen. They certainly aren't pleasing their base.

Senator Schumer in the Senate, Hakeem Jeffries, the leader of Democrats in the House, they're as unpopular in some ways as Donald Trump is. And normally, that doesn't happen when you have an unpopular president. The opposition party tends to gain a bit on account of that. They may in the election, but they certainly aren't now.

CHURCH: Larry Sabato, many thanks for joining us. Always appreciate your political analysis. Thank you.

SABATO: Thank you very much, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Still to come, more on the deadly shooting in Washington. I'll speak with someone who was at the festival in Seattle about what he saw. Our breaking news continues after this break.

[02:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church.

Let's bring you up to speed on breaking news out of Seattle, Washington.

Officials report at least three people are dead and several others injured after a deadly shooting at a summer food festival. A suspect is in custody, but police say they're still searching for one other person believed to be involved. Eyewitnesses told CNN they heard shots at the event.

And joining me now is Ahmed Jarakji, who was at that food festival when the shooting took place.

Thank you so much for talking with us at this difficult and horrifying time.

AHMED JARAKJI, EYEWITNESS: Absolutely. Yeah. Thank you for having me.

CHURCH: Of course. And we're all relieved, of course, to know that you and your friends are safe as we learn that one suspect is now in custody. What were your thoughts and actions at the time you first heard the gunfire, and what did you see?

JARAKJI: Sure. Yeah. So, we were actually there as food vendors. I own a pop up shop by the name of Reem's Kitchen. And so, we were there as food vendors and everything was going fine. Everything was like -- it was like positive vibes actually, you know, families and children playing and everything.

And then, all of a sudden, we started seeing people like running. And then that's when we heard like a, like a bang. And then yeah, so we went inside like inside of like the building that was like right next to us. And we just waited there for, for about like five minutes and we were all like, kind of what's going on. And then obviously, like, you know, we figured that there was some sort of shooting going on.

And yeah, so we stayed in there for about like 5 to 10 minutes. And then we left thinking that it was, everything was kind of clear. And then that's when the cops came and they kind of like had us all evacuate the premises.

CHURCH: Right. And you say you think you saw the gunman. So, tell us more about that. You saw two men running from the scene.

JARAKJI: Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, that's when we so when we came back out into like, after like the first time we went into the building, we came back out. And then in the distance, like this was very far away. We -- we saw like a group of people that were standing in front of our booth and like myself as well. Like we saw like two, like people. I don't want to say that they were like the gunman, but I think they were because they were like running and like, they, they were kind of like -- it looked like the guy that they caught.

[02:35:07]

And, and so yeah, we saw that. And then, like we also saw like a policeman running towards that as well. And yeah, it was really -- it was really like definitely, definitely scary for sure.

CHURCH: How shocking was it to watch all this play out at one of Seattle's biggest summer festivals, where, of course, so many people and families gather to enjoy the day, don't they? Never suspecting that they'll go through something like this?

JARAKJI: No, absolutely. I mean, you hear about this like, you know, on the news, but like experiencing it as something else. It was, it was frightening for sure. You know, like we weren't prepared for it at all. It caught us really off guard. And just the fact that like we were all having a good time, you know, it's one of Seattle's biggest like events. There is.

And yeah, it's just, you know, the mood shifted all of a sudden and everyone went home and, and, yeah, there was people crying, which was pretty heartbreaking. But then again, like, yeah, it was, it was definitely very, very shocking.

CHURCH: And how would you describe the response to this shooting from police and other first responders, and how much chaos and confusion was there right at that time?

JARAKJI: I think they did a great job. I think, Seattle police showed up very quickly. Like as soon as we -- we left the building, they were already there and they were on the scene. And then that's when we also, I heard an ambulance coming and -- yeah, I think, I think Seattle police did a really good job about being attentive to this situation for sure.

CHURCH: And, you know, it has to be said, you appear very calm now and you clearly kept your head about you while all this played out. How are you processing these horrifying events right now? And is there anything that you feel you want investigators to know about what you saw

JARAKJI: So, in the moment, I honestly, I was really shocked. I really didn't know what to do because I've never been put in that situation before. But one of my guys yelled shooter and we were just like, okay, lets just get running. And but right now, I'm a little more calm, you know, you know, it could have been worse. So thankfully, that like, you know, me and my family and everyone that was in our vicinity was okay.

And, yeah, I mean, in terms of things that I could see being investigated, I can't really think of much it's just -- it was, it was, it was pretty close to us, but it wasn't close enough for me to see anything kind of suspicious.

CHURCH: Right. It is a lot to go through.

Ahmed Jarakji, thank you so much for talking with us and sharing what you went through, what you saw, and hopefully we'll see this second suspect in custody in a very short time. Appreciate you talking with us.

JARAKJI: I hope so, I hope so.

CHURCH: Thank you.

JARAKJI: Absolutely. Thank you for having me.

CHURCH: Of course. And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:41:08]

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, you may be hearing more lately about Flock cameras, automated license plate readers. Now, according to the nonprofit public interest firm Institute for Justice, cases of police misusing the readers are growing. Multiple law enforcement officers are accused of using those cameras to run unauthorized personal searches, including searches for romantic partners and exes.

CNN's Rafael Romo reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There has been a series of cases nationwide involving the alleged misuse by law enforcement officers of automated license plate readers or ALPRs that were originally designed to locate vehicles and drivers potentially involved in a crime here in Georgia. Employees of multiple law enforcement agencies have been accused of misusing flock safety and other ALPR systems.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation confirmed a police dispatcher, supervisor in Conyers was arrested Wednesday after it says a GBI investigation revealed she had access to system. More than 30 times between April and July for non-law enforcement purposes. Earlier this month, the GBI also said it arrested five former Albany police department officers as part of another investigation into the misuse of their access to the Flock Safety system. Officials say the Albany police department requested the GBI to investigate the officers following an internal audit of the Flock license plate reader camera system earlier this month, the former Milwaukee police officer was sentenced to 12 months of probation and a $500 fine after pleading guilty to attempted misconduct in public office as part of the deal. Detectives investigating Officer Josue Ayala found he secretly used flock to learn the location of his romantic partner, 124 times, and that partner's ex 55 times, according to a February criminal complaint.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With that position of trust, Mr. Ayala was given tools to investigate crime and one of those tools Mr. Ayala used for his own personal reasons.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every time there's a misuse of Flock by a police officer, Mr. Ayala's picture is on the news. As a result of this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As you heard, I dedicated 11 years of my life to law enforcement targeting violent offenders, making a difference in the community, and I don't offer that as an excuse, but I just wanted to -- don't want that incident to reflect the person who I truly am and have been.

ROMO: The Institute for Justice says its ongoing review of media reports and public records, quote, "has identified at least 28 cases nationwide of officers allegedly abusing ALPR data to stock romantic interests, with the bulk of those incidents happening since 2024. Nearly all of these officers were criminally charged and lost their jobs, either by resigning or getting fired. Most of these systems are made by Flock Safety, the largest ALPR company based here in Atlanta, which says its network includes more than 120,000 cameras across 49 states.

Flock CEO and co-founder Garrett Langley told CNN in an interview, the company last month launched an audit assistance tool that alerts an auditor to abnormal uses of its system.

Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: The sentencing hearing for a convicted school shooter resumes in the coming hours here in Georgia. Sixteen-year-old Colt Gray pleaded guilty to all 55 charges against him and the deadly 2024 rampage at a high school about 50 miles from Atlanta. The attack killed two teachers, two students and injured nine others. On Friday, the court heard victim impact statements.

[02:45:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BREANNA SCHERMERHORN, MASON SCHERMERHORN'S MOTHER: Every morning I wake up to the reality that my son is gone. Every night I go to bed knowing that there is nothing I can do to change it. I have lived 688 days so far of a sentence with no parole, and that is what he should receive as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They were saying wind was so wonderful, so wonderful. Except you couldn't watch your television. They wanted to watch the debate.

Donald Trump against sleepy Joe Biden, nobody could watch it because the wind was blowing. Remember that? Darling, we'd like to watch the debate tonight. I'm sorry the wind isn't blowing. That's one of the great scams of all time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: That was President Trump earlier this week, remembering a massive television outage two years ago. However, that outage never actually happened.

CNN's senior reporter Daniel Dale dug into this claim and some other examples of Donald Trump's imperfect recall.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANIEL DALE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: This was President Trump asking Americans to remember something that never actually happened. He made it up.

There was no massive television outage, on June 27th, 2024. That debate was watched by over 51 million people on television alone, including, of course, people in the state that uses by far the most wind power that is Texas, Republican-dominated Texas, which was also the most populous state that President Trump won.

Now, the underlying premise of the story also makes no sense. He's been saying for years that where wind power is used, TVs go out, houses can't keep the lights on when the wind isn't blowing. That is not the case. And that's because wind is used as part of a mix of power sources, not as the only source. And also batteries exist that can store wind for use during low wind periods.

So, there's a debate television outage story, completely false. And the underlying premise also completely false. But this was far from the only time that President Trump had asked Americans to remember something that never occurred, that that was a fabrication he had made up.

He also did it, for example, last year when he said, remember when I correctly predicted Brexit, when I was at my golf course just before the vote, he claimed he was in Scotland. In fact, he went to that golf course the day after the Brexit vote, so people could not have correctly remembered that prediction because it did not occur.

Now, in this past month alone, President Trump has offered a number of anecdotes about history that are just not true. So, listen to two claims he made earlier this month one about George Washington and one about the Panama Canal.

TRUMP: She picked a good location, but George Washington had two desks in his pre-White House. One was -- and they were right next to each other. One was for business and one was for the presidency. He had two desks in the same room.

And by the way, 38,000 Americans died to give us one of the greatest engineering feats of all time, the Panama Canal.

DALE: Both of those stories are inaccurate. I contacted a number of historians who specialize in George Washington about this claim that Washington had two desks, one for official business and one for his own personal business affairs. Not true. All of them said they did not know what president Trump was talking about.

And then this claim that the Panama Canal cost 38,000 American lives. Also not even close to accurate. About 5,600 people died during the U.S. construction phase in the early 20th century. But of those 5,600, more than 5,000 were not American. They were poorly treated Caribbean workers, most of them Black.

So, the president keeps claiming that he's offering accounts of what happened in the past, even the recent past. But even the recent stories just not accurate.

Daniel Dale, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Coming up, the water levels of the Danube River are dropping due to the extreme heat in Europe. The interesting finds at the receding waters are revealing. We'll have that after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:52:47]

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.

Well, Europe's prolonged heat wave and drought have affected the water levels of the Danube River. Levels fell to record lows this week in Hungary, Croatia, Serbia and Romania. The low levels have caused problems for commerce and tourism across Serbia. The receding water has also revealed once forgotten pieces of history.

CNN's Ben Hunte reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN HUNTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hidden beneath the Danube River for nearly a century, the skeleton of a sunken ship emerges from the shallow water, only visible now because water levels on the famous waterway have plunged to record lows, exposing relics of the past to the light of day again.

LEA VIDIC, MAYOR, LOVAS MUNICIPALITY (through translator): As we record one of the lowest water levels on history, a ship that sank way back in 1937 has surfaced. It's the Hungarian cargo ship Fulton, which at the time was transporting 50 wagon loads of coal.

HUNTE (voice-over): But it's not the only piece of history revealed by the shrinking waters. In Budapest, a World War II shell was found lodged in a riverbed which shut down a major bridge until a bomb squad could clear the area. The past resurfacing because of some very modern problems, extreme heat and drought have shriveled up the Danube in parts of Hungary, Croatia, Serbia and Romania, along with other factors.

VLADIMIR STAKIC, "RIBOLOV" MAGAZINE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF (through translator): It might be partly driven by electricity consumption and partly by the extreme water usage for intensive farming. When you combine that with the lack of rain were experiencing due to climate change and the temperature rise of a few degrees, it leads to higher water evaporation.

HUNTE (voice-over): And that's disrupting the flow of river traffic. Some cruise ships have had to alter or cancel itineraries because they could not operate on some stretches of the river, and many cargo vessels are reducing their loads. Serbia's energy minister says barges and tankers are only operating at 30 to 40 percent of capacity to safely navigate the river. Residents living along the riverbank say the depleted landscape was months in the making.

ZORAN TASIC, RESIDENT (through translator): To me, it looks like a natural disaster because nobody caused it on purpose or by accident. It just happened. There was no rain, no snow all winter, no reserves in the mountains that should be melting now to maintain water levels. Instead, there is no water.

HUNTE (voice-over): Forecasters say some rain is expected in the region, which could cause a slight spike in levels. But experts say it's a quick fix to a long-term crisis.

Ben Hunte, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar has joined cycling's greatest champions after winning a record equaling fifth Tour de France title. He dominated the three-week race with five stage wins before cruising across the finish line in Paris. This is his third straight Tour De France victory. Only four other riders have won the tour five times. After his win, Pogacar said he still deciding if hell race next month in Spain. For now, he wants to let the victory sink in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TADEJ POGACAR, 2026 TOUR DE FRANCE CHAMPION: Right now, I just want to enjoy the moment of winning the tour. If it's fifth or the first, it doesn't matter. It's unbelievable to wear the yellow jersey and cross the line in Paris, winning it. So I will just enjoy the moment. Not thinking about any history, about any clubbing or whatever. I just want to live this moment and, yeah, come back home and relax and enjoy the small things of life -- in life as well. So yeah, I'm really happy and proud to win the fifth tour.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Congratulations there.

And 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.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:00:00]