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Erin Burnett Outfront

New Video In Fatal ICE Shooting As Outrage Grows; Trump Assassination Plot; Senator McConnell Mystery. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired July 10, 2026 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:23]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:

Breaking news, new video in the fatal ICE shooting of a Houston father of three, as federal officials refuse to release any information about the ICE agents involved. The Harris County District Attorney is conducting an investigation and is our guest OUTFRONT tonight.

And we have more breaking news on this Friday in Iran's assassination plot against President Trump, as Trump says he has left instructions to bomb Iran at levels, quote, "never seen before", if he's assassinated. Fareed Zakaria is OUTFRONT.

And the McConnell mystery deepening. No explanation and why the senator has been missing from his job for nearly a month. The Kentucky governor, we're learning, is also in the dark. As CNN obtains a new video of McConnell.

Let's go OUTFRONT.

(MUSIC)

BURNETT: And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.

And OUTFRONT tonight, breaking news in the case of a Houston man shot and killed by ICE as demands for answers grow tonight. New surveillance video after Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was fatally shot by ICE agents in Houston.

So here you can see what appears to be a black SUV trailing his van. It was a white van. He was going to work on Tuesday morning just before 7:00 a.m. Now, the van disappears from view for a few seconds as it makes a U-turn. And when it comes back into frame, you can see it slowly coming to a stop.

Now, what happened in these final seconds remains a mystery. These are the pieces that we have. But federal officials have so far not released any details about the ICE agents involved in the shooting. ICE claims Salgado Araujo tried to ram a law enforcement SUV.

But according to three men who were in the van when the shooting occurred, That version of events from ICE is incorrect. Those men, by the way, are now in ICE custody. And an attorney for them says at no point did they use the van to ram ICE agents. He's actually now accusing ICE in all of this of a cover-up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUGO BALDERAS-IBARRA, ATTORNEY FOR MEN WHO WITNESSED ICE SHOOTING: After speaking with these men, I have no doubt that what they're saying is the truth. I know that these agents, the agency is going to try to cover it up. This is not the first time that it happens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: And this is what we're hearing from Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia, who represents Houston, as more and more details about the shooting are revealed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. SYLVIA GARCIA (D-TX): We certainly now have conflicting testimony. I'm not prepared to say today that it's all lies, but it sure is looking that way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Now, so far, ICE is not commenting on these claims, but the government's story of what led to the shooting may be unraveling, because originally, officials had claimed that Salgado Araujo was part of a targeted operation. That was what they initially said, right? So, they admitted it and said this was targeted. But then a source with details about the shooting said that Salgado Araujo was not the target of the operation. So that's unclear.

And it's still unclear if ICE agents identified themselves to Salgado Araujo before the shooting. What we do know is that Salgado Araujo does not appear to have had any criminal background. He is a Mexican national. He's been in the United States for 35 years, three children born, bred, and raised here.

And according to his son, he was right now in the process of getting a work permit, something his son talked about when we spoke last evening.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RONALDO SALGADO, FATHER SHOT AND KILLED BY ICE: He decided that it was time for him to achieve his American dreams after putting three kids through college, one currently in college, I'm sorry. So, he had been informed and we have spoken as a family time and time again. What would -- what my dad should do in the case that he did get detained by ICE? My dad again, he would have stopped had ICE very clearly identify themselves through their vehicles.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: I want to go to Ed Lavandera because he's OUTFRONT in Dallas live for us tonight.

So, Ed, a lot of things that we still have not gotten any direct answers about. What is the latest that you are learning about what really happened here?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've been able to obtain a series of videos over the last few days that really kind of capture those last crucial minutes before Lorenzo Salgado was shot and killed by ICE agents in Houston. So, we're going to string all of that together so you can see it.

But it also comes at a time where we're hearing from the first time, some details about what happened that morning from those detainees who were in the van with Salgado as well.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA (voice-over): As Lorenzo Salgado Araujo laid on the ground suffering from a gunshot wound, the three other men in the van with him were being taken into ICE custody by ICE agents Tuesday morning.

For the first time, we're hearing their version of the events that led to the deadly shooting through an attorney who spoke with them.

BALDERAS-IBARRA: I can tell you with conviction that it -- that -- my clients' versions of the events are extremely different from. what ICE agents are saying or what the agency is saying.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): After the shooting, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency put out a statement saying Salgado attempted to quote evade arrest, weaponized his vehicle and tried to run over an ICE agent, forcing the officer to shoot the 52-year-old construction worker in self-defense.

BALDERAS-IBARRA: At no point was there ever an agent standing in front of the vehicle, nor was an agent ever placed in the line of danger that is simply false. And I believe my clients are telling the truth.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): The Department of Homeland Security says the ICE agents involved were not wearing body cameras and the unmarked cars they were driving were not equipped with dash cameras. And so far, a clear video of the shooting has not emerged. But the videos that have been uncovered raise questions about the federal authority's description of what happened.

At 5:54 a.m., Lorenzo Salgado leaves his house to pick up the three other men for work. The three men told the attorney they were all driving north along Wayside Drive in a white van when an unmarked vehicle started following them. The white van made a U-turn and started moving south on Wayside Drive, as shown in this CNN animation based on videos compiled from the scene.

The images show Salgado's white van turned left onto Canal Street 46 AM, while a black SUV followed closely behind. A second video shows the white van continuing on Canal Street, while a black SUV drives alongside the van on the left side. Seconds later, another black SUV emerges from a parking lot of a shopping center onto Canal Street and follows the two vehicles. Salgado's white van then makes another U- turn, and seconds later, the unmarked ICE vehicles in the white van come to a complete stop. Here is a closer look at these videos and the sequence of move-ins

that led up to the shooting. Salgado's van turns left onto Canal Street, with the black SUV pursuing. The unmarked vehicle carrying ICE agents pulls alongside the van, and the next camera angle captures the last U-turn on the edge of the video image before the cars come to a complete stop, and several ICE agents are then seen running toward the van.

It's unclear from the videos when Salgado was shot, but one minute later at 6:48 AM, a bystander captured video of Salgado on the ground bleeding with agents surrounding him. The attorney for the detainee said Friday that agents shot at Salgado from the passenger side of his vehicle.

BALDERAS-IBARRA: They also confirmed that the shots came from the sides, not from the front, which is inconsistent, you know, with the ICE agency statements.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: Erin, Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia and other advocates for the three detainees say that they have been telling family members that immigration authorities have been pressuring them to self-deport since they've been detained since Tuesday morning. We've reached out to the Department of Homeland Security about that. They deny those allegations. They say those allegations are false.

Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia also says she spoke with the acting ICE director, who says that he told her that the ICE agents involved in this incident have been taken out of Houston. We've reached out DHS about that, about whether or not they've been placed on leave but we have not heard back -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Ed, thank you very much and a lot of detail there that we now have just the right people to talk about.

First, Sean Teare, he's OUTFRONT. He's the Harris County district attorney. The shooting happened in his county and he is now investigating.

So, Sean, I appreciate your time. I know that you have this investigation going. You've said that federal officials are currently not cooperating with it they are not sharing evidence and I just want to be clear here because been doing this a long time. You say this is the first time you can remember that happening in your career?

SEAN TEARE (D), HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS DISTRICT ATTORNEY: That's right. And thank you for having me, Erin.

Look, in Harris County, we have 100 sworn police officers that work for the DA's office. We typically go out to every officer-involved shooting and run a parallel investigation, in collaboration from that day all the way to whether charges are filed or not, with the work and the help of those agencies. This is the first time that I can recall, well, it's the first time we've had a shooting with ICE, and this is the first time that we haven't been invited to the scene, that we haven't collaborated from the very first day. It's not stopping us from doing what we do in every one of these cases, but it's a unique circumstance.

BURNETT: So, what do you think's happening here? I mean, do you think that that's just general stonewalling, or do you believe there's something more, like a cover-up?

TEARE: You know, we're in the infancy. Every one of these investigations take time. They take months and months to put it together in the best cases. I remain hopeful that they will begin to collaborate and share information so that we can work to uncover actually what happened.

But every day that it goes on, it becomes more and more concerning that we haven't collaborated.

BURNETT: Yeah. Well, right, because there's also -- they're putting out a narrative of facts for which there is no evidence, because they just haven't put any out there, right? We haven't seen it, at least, at this point.

According to ICE, they say Araujo rammed an ICE law vehicle. Those are their words. And they also say that he weaponized his vehicle. Again, their words.

So just to go back to Ed Lavendera's report and the animation he played just a few moments ago, it shows the route that the vehicles took and uses the bits of surveillance video that we have obtained, which are very important but obviously don't show everything. In them, we do not see what ICE says happened.

Now, I know that you've asked people in the community to come forward with any video, anything that they might have witnessed when this happened. Have you seen anything that shows that Araujo rammed or weaponized his vehicle?

TEARE: So, a couple of things. What I, because I want to remain and keep the integrity of this case to its eventual conclusion, I'm not going to talk about specific pieces of evidence, but what I can tell you is We have put up that secure portal for evidence, tips, anything that the community gets.

We've got a QR code. It goes directly to our office. No one else has access to that. And it's monitored 24 hours a day. So, if anyone has anything, whether they think it is relevant or not, anything, we're begging the community to help.

But going back to your statement and question about ICE's version of events. My big concern with it is how often it's changing in the first four days of this investigation. It's one of the reasons that every investigative agency should be in the same room, should be talking and sharing and collaborating. It's not happening, and so as the chief law enforcement officer of the third-largest county in the country, I'm getting updates via Twitter or X, and that is That's not best practices. BURNETT: No. Well, it's unsettling. You know, one thing that would seem to be important potential evidence would be the condition of Araujo's van, right? If it was weaponized and used to ram something, you would think that there would be visible evidence of that. It's a pretty obvious thing.

Have you been able to look at the van?

TEARE: So, we have yet to be able to have access to the van. We've asked. We're going to continue to ask. And at some point in the relatively near future, we're going to go past asking, and we're going to start asking judges to give us access to that ban, because as you said, it is one of, if not the most crucial piece of evidence to really uncover what actually happened out there that morning.

BURNETT: Right, right. And the one thing everyone should be able to agree on is understanding the truth of what happened here to determine what, if any, action needs to be taken, because obviously the tragic outcome here is that a man lost his life.

Thank you very much, Sean. I appreciate your time and I appreciate your laying out for us everything that you were able to.

I want to go OUTFRONT now to Juan Proano, the CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens. He's been supporting the family since this began and advocating for workers like Araujo, including those who were with him that morning.

So, Juan, I appreciate your coming back on the show.

I want to start here with another issue, as Sean's laying out the information that they have not yet been given access to. We understand that DHS says that none of the officers involved were wearing body cameras. You are now offering a reward, $5,000, for any video or evidence from that morning.

Do you have any evidence or reason to believe that there is more video out there of these crucial seconds?

JUAN PROANO, LULAC CEO: We do, Erin. We've actually been engaging and speaking to all the Latino small businesses in that community.

The fact of the matter is, is that they don't trust DHS. They don't trust the FBI. We already know that, you know, Sean's office, the Department of Attorney General there, has actually gone through and begun to collect this information.

We also know that the DHS Inspector General has also gone through. We're trying to facilitate that and be a clearinghouse for our organization as a nonprofit, and also for the media, so that everyone has a copy of the information at the same time.

BURNETT: So, Lorenzo's son, Ronaldo, spoke out last night, you know, obviously, amidst the grief of his family, and told us that his father was taken to the hospital.

[19:15:05]

Now, his father had had identification on him, he said, that he always did. That had been removed. It was not on his person.

And then ICE took him to the hospital, and they did not identify him by name. He says that he was just identified by the name of John Doe. And Ronaldo further said that he, his siblings, his mother, have still not been able to recover his father's body.

This is what he told us 24 hours ago, days after his father was killed. I understand that changed today. What are you able to tell us?

PROANO: Yes, Erin. So, you know, we-we demanded yesterday, in a call of national Latino organizations for the release of his body on behalf of the family. The process started early this morning. They were there at 9:00 a.m.

And unfortunately, I can't tell you at this time that they have completed that process, but we're getting closer and closer to it. You know, they want his body back. We are working on a autopsy from an independent person to do that. And that's critically important. And that would be part of the evidence that we are able to collect ourselves to ensure that there is the truth and that we can make it available to the public.

BURNETT: Ed referenced something in his report that I wanted to follow-up because it stood out to me. It was new. Juan, he said that DHS has released a statement tonight that says, and I quote, Allegations that ICE asked residents and members of the public to delete their footage of the incident are categorically false.

This is total fabrication made-up to demonize our brave ICE officers. It is categorically false. We would pressure someone to self-deport, which appears from Ed's reporting to be a reference to allegations of what they are doing to the men who were in the van with Lorenzo, who are now maybe in ICE custody, and say, by the way, that ICE's version of events in terms of weaponizing the van is not what happened. But what is ICE talking about here?

PROANO: Well, you know, two things. You know, in regards to, obviously, the collection of this evidence, I heard something else from what I would call a very credible source. and person that's actually part of -- an official at a state level, that it's actually ICE that's deleting evidence. And so, there's a flip side to that, not just the local small businesses.

And in regards to, you know, pressuring these detainees to actually self-deport, that is a fact. I've spoken to the families directly who have spoken to these men that are currently in detention center, and that is actually a tactic that this administration and DHS have actually used for some time now. It's easier for them to streamline the process, and so they always encourage individuals, even with, you know, a reward of $2,000, for example, if they choose that option.

And so here, you know, we believe that they're trying to get rid of witnesses, the only individuals that actually testify what happened that day.

BURNETT: Juan, I appreciate your time, and thank you very much.

And next, Trump is refusing to sign the housing bill, the bipartisan housing bill that both parties really want to be able to take home, Republicans want to take home. But he won't do it because Republicans won't pass his election bill. This came hours after Trump fired members of a federal election agency. A Republican election official who stood up to Trump after the 2020 election is our guest.

And our Pamela Brown with a special report near the Strait of Hormuz, as some ships are trying to get through the waterway.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Right here, turn around. See, there's the ship right there passed by. That's got the sixth ship you see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: And an assassination plot right out of Putin's own playbook, meantime, goes terribly wrong.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:23:07]

BURNETT: Breaking news, President Trump refusing tonight to sign a major bipartisan housing bill into law. He's protesting his own party's objection to what he calls the Save America election overhaul bill, a bill that some Republicans suggest is discriminatory and unnecessary, and so that he doesn't have the votes for it. It comes just hours after Trump fired the remaining members of a federal election agency, which supports state election officials. That agency is now down to zero commissioners.

OUTFRONT now, the secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Al Schmidt. He is the top election official in the Commonwealth and a member of the Republican Party. Secretary Schmidt, I appreciate your time.

So, this housing bill obviously is bipartisan. There was a signing ceremony that Speaker Johnson was hosting. Karoline Leavitt had posted about it. This bill matters. Republicans were really happy about it. But they're not getting it because Trump says no. because of this other bill that he wants, the voting bill that the Republicans aren't getting over the line for him.

And then he came out and fires the election assistance commissioners. This is just the past 24 hours. I mean, what do you think is happening here, Secretary?

AL SCHMIDT (R), SECRETARY OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA: Well, I think the most concerning aspect of it that we've seen is a continuing pattern, and it's a pattern of reducing federal support for elections. Fortunately, in these United States, It's the states and our counties that run elections, not the federal government. And what we saw with the EAC, the Election Assistance Commission, yesterday is not something that is going to affect our voters in the short term.

So, voters in Pennsylvania can rest assured that when they show up to vote on Election Day, it will be free, fair, safe, and secure, and that when they make their voice heard, their vote will be counted. But it's the pattern that you describe and that I mentioned that's most concerning here.

[19:25:02]

BURNETT: So, David Axelrod posted something that I wanted to read for you, Secretary Schmidt, and get your take. He writes, "On the square, the GOP would take a beating this fall, largely because of Trump's unpopularity. So, he's setting up plan B. Do whatever you need to do to win, anything. Anyone who says, well, he wouldn't do that, hasn't paid attention. He's already proven he will."

Now, Secretary, I just want to be clear, many of our viewers may remember you because you -- obviously, you're a Republican, but really, who cares? What matters is that you stood up for the facts and for the numbers and for the integrity of Pennsylvania elections. And in that case, you had to stand up. up to Trump when he said the 2020 election was stolen. Do you see the current situation the same way as David Axelrod does?

SCHMIDT: Well, I certainly hope that we don't revisit any of the ugliness that we saw in the 2020 election. election cycle, that's for sure. But every state across the country, whether it's red or blue, whether the Secretary of State is Democrat or Republican, will be prepared for this election to make sure that we have our election safeguarded and prevent any effort at federal or other interference that gets in the way of our Democratic Republic functioning the way that it should.

BURNETT: So those election assistance commissioners are gone, right? So, that's now been eviscerated. But there's something else that happened this week that I know is very important to you, and that is the Trump Justice Department warned you, Secretary Schmidt, and other election officials nationwide that they're going to criminally charge you if you count ballots cast by non-citizens in the upcoming election.

Now, I just want to be clear here because somehow the implication here is that there's Mass voting by people illegal -- who are in this country illegally, which there isn't. And also just to point out that it's already illegal for them to vote, and you already look for that. You audit for that.

So, what do you say to the DOJ? What do you think this is really about?

SCHMIDT: Well, I don't know their mind, but can only assume that the letters were intended to be threatening. I don't feel the least bit threatened because in Pennsylvania, we follow the law, federal law and state law, and make sure that our elections are conducted in compliance with those laws.

BURNETT: All right. Well, I appreciate your time, Secretary Schmidt. It is good to talk to you again, and thank you.

SCHMIDT: Likewise.

BURNETT: And next, our Pamela Brown travels to a Navy destroyer, which has traveled through the Strait of Hormuz and had several threatening exchanges with Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IRAN RADIO DISPATCH: I'm ready to open fire on them without any warning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Plus, more questions about Senator Mitch McConnell's health, the state's governor now, the request for information, which has gone unanswered.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:32:34]

BURNETT: Breaking news, we have some new details at this moment on the Iranian assassination plot against President Trump. Sources are telling us that the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps was one of the hardline Iranian officials pushing to assassinate Trump.

Now, the U.S. is now considering directly targeting those officials, advocating to kill Trump if a full scare war resumes. So, there's a lot of back-and-forth threats right now. As Trump tells "The New York Post" that he left instructions to bomb Iran at, quote, "levels they've never seen before if they assassinate him".

Pamela Brown is OUTFRONT aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln near the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has shown that it has and is not afraid to exert power.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One fighter jet after another takes off from the USS Abraham Lincoln overnight missions amid rising tensions with Iran.

We're in the Gulf of Oman, near the Strait of Hormuz, aboard a ship President Trump says has been attacked more than 100 times since the conflict began.

BROWN: And they've tried with missiles and with drones.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yep, everything they've thrown at us had hasn't really gotten near us at all.

BROWN (voice-over): Earlier, we watched as missiles were prepped and loaded onto these fighter jets. The mission, as real as it gets.

BROWN: I want to show you these symbols right here. These are drones right here that this fighter jet has taken out during this conflict that started five and a half months ago. These are missiles that have been taken out just by this fighter jet alone.

BROWN (voice-over): With the Lincoln under constant threat of attack, it's guarded by Navy destroyers for protection.

On a chopper, headed to the USS Frank E. Peterson Jr. destroyer high above the Gulf of Oman, we get our first look at vessels headed toward the Strait of Hormuz.

BROWN: See, we've got five vessels so far, RC, maritime project, in fact, right here, turn around, see. This ship right there passed by. That's about the sixth ship you see.

BROWN (voice-over): The traffic is lower now as tensions rise again in the Gulf. Officially, the Navy reports 20 vessels around the strait as we head to our destination. The warship, they say, is at the tip of the spear.

[19:35:01]

BROWN: We are the closest right now, correct?

CAPT. CASEY MAHON, COMMANDING OFFICER, USS FANK E. PETERSEN JR.: You're right on the -- we call the picket line, the firing line right now. So if Iran were to attack, you know, the US Naval forces, would be the first one they'd be attacking. But don't worry, our radars are working. Our guns work. You have a lot of well-trained folks down below.

BROWN (voice-over): Threats are part of life out here.

IRAN RADIO DISPATCH: If you don't obey my order, you will be targeted.

BROWN (voice-over): Like when Captain Mahon led this ship through the Strait of Hormuz in April. Radio transmissions between the U.S. and Iran were released by Iran state media. Mahon confirmed to CNN an exchange did happen.

IRAN RADIO DISPATCH: I'm ready to open fire on them without any warning.

BROWN: And so, the Iranians were threatening.

MAHON: Correct, yeah, yeah. They told us, hey, you have to turn around within 30 minutes and we'll put fire on you. We kept going, obviously. Had to go through what was potentially a minefield. to get there, which was, not something I had in my bingo card for things I would do in my life. Go through my field.

BROWN (voice-over): The firepower aboard this ship is everywhere.

MAHON: We have this is our last ditch defense. BROWN (voice-over): Captain Mahon calls the shots from a command center several decks below.

BROWN: Just with Iran being to the north, they're always on the lookout for all kinds of threats. Have you had any close calls?

MAHON: My fight really starts at the Iranian coastline and comes all the way back. I don't wait for it to come to me. I go out and I try to meet that threat.

BROWN (voice-over): Back on the Abraham Lincoln, it can be tough to keep spirits high for the nearly 5,000 people here. Because of its limited port visits, the Navy considers this deployment among the longest consecutive days at sea for any aircraft carrier.

RANDALL STONE, WORKS IN HANGAR BAY: I mean, I haven't stepped off the ship in the year 2026.

BROWN (voice-over): Most have been here more than six months, under threat and missing their families. What kind of toll does that take on you personally?

LT. CMDR. JOE CAPSTAFF, USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN: It's tough. I said -- I had my first kid born in February, so very excited to get home. Meet her.

BROWN: You've never met your daughter?

CAPSTAFF: Nope.

BROWN: She was born right around when this conflict started.

CAPSTAFF: She was born February 6, so I was able to get on FaceTime, watch the birth, talk to my wife before everything went down. So --

BROWN: And you don't know when you'll be able to do that.

CAPSTAFF: We'll see. I mean, hopefully home soon, but unfortunately, it's a common story on the ship. I think you know, get in the Navy. This is what you kind of sign up for.

BROWN (voice-over): Pamela Brown, CNN, USS Abraham Lincoln.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: And OUTFRONT now, Fareed Zakaria, host of "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS".

So, Fareed, there's a lot of things I want to ask you about here after Pamela's reporting. But hardline Iranian officials, including the head of the IRGC, we understand from the reporting, have been pushing to assassinate Trump after the U.S. and Israel, of course, assassinated the Supreme Leader and many Iranian leaders to kick off this war.

But now the U.S. is evaluating whether they'll target those officials, right? So, this back and forth. Where do you see this going? FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST, "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS": That is a very good question, Erin. It's difficult to tell because at the end of the day, to be honest, the United States does not have a strategy. It is, you know, it has lots of power. It can keep punishing Iran in various ways, but to what end? What is it trying to achieve?

And I think until it can figure that out, what is the end state that it wants and how much is it willing to devote military power to that, I think we have a problem. Right now, really, what this is, is a conflict over whether Iran has some degree of special control over the Strait of Hormuz. Because if you notice, what's been happening is the U.S. has been essentially telling ships, go anywhere you want, any route you want through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran says, "No. There is open passage, but you have to coordinate it with us." In other words, "We are the gatekeepers." And that, I think, is the Iranians have learned this. The Trump administration handed them this weapon that they've realized is very powerful control of the Strait of Hormuz.

And so even while they are offering safe passage and for now free passage, they want to maintain that precedent that they get to control it. They get to direct you. They get to, quote/unquote, "give you the permission so that maybe in the in the future, they can close it, they can charge for it. And the Trump administration is saying, "No, anyone can go anywhere." So that's the -- that's the core of the dispute right now.

BURNETT: Right, right. And the core of the dispute, of course, right now, Iran is -- is calling the proverbial shots on that. So, I got to ask you about something else, Fareed. This is really bizarre, okay? So, I don't know if anyone watching hasn't seen this, but there is widespread speculation inside Iran that what I'm about to show you is the supreme leader, okay?

The masked man in this image, he's in civilian clothes.

[19:40:02]

And he has a cap on, basically a baseball cap, which is in and of itself very odd when you look at who he's standing, right? I mean, it's almost like A.I.-generated. It's bizarre. You've got people dressed in traditional Iranian attire, and then you've got this guy with a baseball cap.

So, the speculation inside Iran is that that man is the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei. We have never seen him publicly since his father was killed and he was injured on the first day of the war. He did not make a public appearance at his father's funeral this week, which was over many days, right? So, we haven't seen him at all, Fareed.

But there's all the speculation about this guy. What do you think about this?

ZAKARIA: My own view is that's not him. I'll tell you first why. The Iranian clerical establishment is very conservative. The idea that they would have the supreme leader in a baseball cap strikes me as just -- it's not -- it doesn't read right.

Secondly, to the extent that I've seen photographs of his, and that's all I've seen, he's a bigger -- he's stockier than that character there. That guy looks younger.

I think it is possible that the supreme leader is very badly injured. That's why he's not showing up. It's possible, you know, it's even possible that he's fatally wounded. I think all of those things are possible and that really, Iran has become a military dictatorship.

One of the many unintended consequences of this ill-conceived war is that the Iranian regime, which was a kind of mixed regime, you know, where the clerical establishment had power, and the military had power, and the elected president even had a little bit of power. Now, it seems like it's the military calling the shots on everything.

So, it seems -- it's possible the guy is dead and that, you know, they're covering it up. But the idea that some dude in a baseball cap and a mask who looks pretty young is actually the supreme leader. You know, look, stranger things have happened, but if I had to put money on, you know, on the markets, I would bet against this.

BURNETT: Yeah. I get it. Stranger things have happened, but then you're thinking, well, gosh, the fact that there's even the speculation that we're finding out about in Iran, and then what is anybody doing in a baseball cap, to your point, surrounded by those clerics.

All right. Fareed, thank you so much. It is wonderful to see you, and I thank you.

And next, the secret surrounding Senator Mitch McConnell's health, which is important. There are major questions he's been missing for weeks from the Senate, and the Kentucky governor now can't get answers.

Plus, a major embarrassment for Putin after a Kremlin assassination plot goes terribly wrong.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:46:55]

BURNETT: Tonight, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear's office has not received any information about Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell's nearly one-month absence. It comes two days after Beshear sent a letter to McConnell's office demanding answers for constituents, right, because McConnell represents an entire state.

It comes as CNN has obtained video of the 84-year-old senator being taken out on a on an ambulance on June 14th, the last he was seen.

Lauren Fox is OUTFRONT with new details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New video obtained by CNN shows the moment Mitch McConnell was taken from his D.C. home in an ambulance last month. A neighbor told CNN they opened their door to find two ambulances, a fire truck, and Capitol Police officers blocking the street around 8:30 a.m. on June 14th. The same neighbor said they learned from another eyewitness that the person on the stretcher was McConnell, and he was not wearing an oxygen mask.

In the weeks since the incident, there are still looming questions and calls for transparency. His office is not revealing specifics of his condition, his prognosis, or when he'll return to the United States Senate.

A longtime ally of McConnell, Scott Jennings said he spoke to McConnell in recent days.

KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST, "THE ARENA WITH KASIE HUNT": Would you encourage him or anyone in his position to be more transparent with his voters about his health?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: My impression of men of the of that age is that they're a little private when it comes to their health.

FOX (voice-over): The lack of details has fueled conspiracy theories and speculation online. Jennings and GOP leaders John Thune and John Barrasso all released separate statements earlier this week, saying they had each spoken with the Kentucky senator.

Jennings said McConnell's voice sounded strong, though the public hasn't heard it in weeks.

HUNT: Do you think he'd be willing to call into the show? Could we get him on the phone now?

JENNINGS: You know, I wasn't really expecting him to call this morning, to be honest.

FOX (voice-over): But McConnell's office has said very little about the senator's condition. In a statement earlier this month, his office wrote, quote, "Senator McConnell appreciates the outpouring of support he's receiving while he continues his recovery in the hospital. The senator continues to improve and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate's out of session."

At the time of McConnell's hospitalization on June 14th, his office said, quote, "Senator McConnell was admitted to the hospital this morning. giving excellent care."

McConnell, a polio survivor, has long kept details about his health held close. In March of 2023, McConnell suffered a fall and a concussion at a dinner in Washington. He also fractured a rib. A few months later in July, he froze for several seconds at the U.S. Capitol during a press conference.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): This week, there's been good bipartisan cooperation and a string of --

(INAUDIBLE)

[19:50:00]

FOX (voice-over): McConnell later made light of the incident.

MCCONNELL: The president called to check on me. I told him I got sandbag.

FOX (voice-over): He froze again in Kentucky a month later, and his office eventually released a letter from the Capitol Hill physician, Brian Moynihan, saying there was no evidence of stroke, seizure, or a movement disorder.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOX: And there is one additional detail that we got earlier this week from the office of Elaine Chao. She, of course, is the wife of Senator Mitch McConnell and she is the former transportation secretary. She had been traveling and there had been questions about why she wasn't in Washington.

This is what her office said. Quote, "The secretary was on a long- planned trip in China to support her family's philanthropic endeavors. The spokesperson said during the trip she met with a number of people, including the U.S. ambassador, the senator's health did not warrant an immediate return to the U.S." -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Lauren, thank you very much for that reporting.

And next, incredible new reporting next about a Kremlin assassination plot that did not go according to plan.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:55:28]

BURNETT: Tonight, one of the Kremlin's most brazen assassination plots gone terribly wrong. The poisoning of a former Russian double agent, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter in Salisbury, England. It turned into an international thriller and then a huge embarrassment for Vladimir Putin.

Russian agents smeared Novichok, the nerve agent, a military-grade weapon, on the front door handle of the Skripal's home in 2018. Both Sergei and Yulia, his daughter, fell gravely ill and were in intensive care. They both survived, though. It was botched.

Detective officer -- the police officer, Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, he responded to the scene attempting to help. Now, he was also poisoned, but also recovered.

But one innocent woman did not, Dawn, a 44-year-old mother of three. She was the collateral damage from this assassination attempt, and she did die. Now, this was all linked back to Putin through incredible

investigative journalism by Bellingcat and world-renowned reporter Christo Grosev.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTO GROZEV, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: So here we're looking at this press release, which showed clearly nobody knew the real names behind these fake identities.

We see it as a puzzle, and we have to start with the data we have. Two faces, two fake names, a rough age. So that's a puzzle. We have to fit all of these few clues into a world of, what, 200 million people living in Russia?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Now, Russia has repeatedly denied any involvement.

OUTFRONT now, Christo Grozev, the investigative journalist who's reporting helped unmask the Russian agents behind the Salisbury poisoning, as well as behind the Alexei Navalny assassination plot. Christo has now become a target of the Kremlin himself.

And this incredible story is going to be featured in a CNN film, "The Salisbury Poisonings: The Spy Next Door" on Sunday.

Now, Christo, you know, you hear all of this and now, it is somewhat familiar to people. Then, this was shocking.

I mean, is this still how Putin is operating when it comes to murdering his enemies right now, using these sorts of poisons?

GROZEV: Well, when this became known to the world through the disclosures around the Salisbury poisonings, Nobody had been aware that this approach of poisoning people abroad had been going on for many, many years. Yes, people did remember the Litvinenko poisoning in London, but it was a one-off. And what the poisoning of the Skripals actually helped us identify was that this same group of Russian assassins, poisoners, had been going around Europe, conducting targeted poisonings for almost a decade.

And in fact, the identification of the group of three men that we feature in the film, who were found to be involved in this Skripal poisoning, when we traced their travels back in history, because now we knew their names and fake identities, we found them at other locations where previously unexplained poisonings had taken place.

In one particular case, one of the three members was found to have been in Bulgaria in 2015 at exactly the time when an arms manufacturer named Emilian Gebrev had fallen into a coma after being poisoned with an unknown substance. But only the investigation in 2018 allowed us and investigative authorities to link the two together and to start unraveling.

BURNETT: Which is incredible. I also mentioned Don, the mother of three who died. Her name was Don Sturgis. She had no connection to the Skripals. Here's -- take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: A mysterious case of a poisoned Russian agent getting even stranger tonight.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE; Now it's murder.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A counterfeit bottle of designer perfume, the suspected weapon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was enough poison in that tiny bottle to kill 10,000 people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: I mean, enough poison in that tiny bottle to kill 10,000 people. And Christo, Sturgess didn't live in the same town, right? She sprayed herself with what she believed was a bottle of expensive perfume that actually had this military grade poisoning in it that could kill 10,000 people.

GROZEV: I mean, Novichok, which is the poison that they use then, is not meant for boutique targeted poisonings. It was developed as a mass weapon, a mass chemical weapon, a mass destruction to be used in canisters thrown against the whole cities of the enemy.

But this is normal for the Russian assassination operators. I mean, they don't value human life, and this is a good thing from their perspective.

BURENTT: Christo Grozev, thank you very much. I appreciate your time tonight.

And don't miss "The Salisbury Poisonings: A Spy Next Door". It is Sunday night at eight.

In the meantime, thanks so much for joining us tonight.

"AC360" begins now.