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CNN Headlines: Fatal Police Shooting In Wisconsin Sparks Investigation And Protests; GOP Representatives Refers Former Special Counsel Jack Smith To DOJ For Criminal Prosecution; House Passes Massive Defense Spending Bill Despite Iran Concerns; CENTCOM: U.S. Ends 12th Night Of Attacks On Iran. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired July 23, 2026 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:25]
BRAD SMITH, CNN ANCHOR: Protests erupt in Wisconsin after a deadly officer involved shooting. What we know about the ongoing investigation.
And the Republican chair of the House Judiciary Committee asks the Justice Department to consider prosecuting Jack Smith, the special counsel who previously prosecuted Donald Trump. We've got the DOJ's response.
And --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN CRUMP, ATTORNEY: Understand, he's saying, based on the examination of the body, he cannot rule out foul play.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMTH: Initial findings from an independent autopsy provide few clues about what actually caused Nolan Wells' death. So, what is next in the investigation? We'll dive in.
Plus, take a look at this. A semi-truck rips down these power lines, sending sparks flying through the air. We've got that story later on this morning.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Brad Smith. This is CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS. Glad that you're with us this morning.
Let's get this started. We begin this hour in Wisconsin. That is where a deadly officer involved shooting has sparked an investigation and protests. A man in his 30s was shot and killed in a struggle with Madison police officers Wednesday.
Peaceful protesters gathered at the scene during the day before a vigil formed in the evening. Madisons mayor says the state will be conducting an independent probe. And here is what we know right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) REPORTER: A man was shot and killed in a struggle with police officers in Madison, Wisconsin, after officials say he pulled out a knife and injured an officer.
CHIEF JOHN PATTERSON, MADISON POLICE DEPARTMENT: This was clearly a dangerous situation, and I'm grateful there were not more serious injuries inflicted to those officers. But I again convey my sympathy sincerely to this -- to this family.
REPORTER: Police say the man fled on a bike when they arrived to investigate reports of someone allegedly checking parked vehicles. Officers caught up with the man. And that's when authorities say a physical struggle ensued, leading to the man using a knife to injure an officer during the attempted arrest.
MICHAEL DOUBEK, SHOOTING WITNESS: One of the officers then draws a taser, taser, taser, taser, tasers him. He falls to the ground and the three continue to struggle for a second or two. And then one of the officers stands in just a couple feet above his head, shoots him three times in the head.
REPORTER: Chief Patterson confirmed a taser was deployed, but says it was ineffective. He also said none of the officers involved were wearing body cameras, and all four have been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.
The confrontation sparked protests at the state capitol over the use of deadly force in the incident.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: We have a major development overnight on Capitol Hill. The Republican chair of the House Judiciary Committee is asking the Justice Department to prosecute former special counsel Jack Smith.
Now, you may recall he led the federal prosecutions of Donald Trump, including his response to his election loss in 2020. Current Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was Trump's defense attorney at the time. Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan alleges Smith gave misleading testimony before congress late last year, specifically saying that Smith spied on members of congress by accessing private phone calls. But he said he didn't.
Speaking to CNN last night, a former prosecutor who worked on January 6th cases calls the criminal referral meritless.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE GORDON, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: What's being alleged here is perjury. Perjury has four elements. You got to have a false statement. That's material that was made under oath with the deliberate intent to willfully mislead.
All right. This is going to fail on element one. It's not a false statement. He was asked -- Jack Smith -- he was asked, did the toll records you received contain the contents of text messages? He said no.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Jack Smith's counsel argues that Jordan has made no real claim of a lie, and that his work as special counsel didn't breach members of Congress's constitutional protections.
A Secret Service agent assigned to the vice president is on administrative leave this morning, according to a source. A second source confirms officials suspect the agent of leaking information about J.D. Vance's personal travel.
The controversy stems from a recent MS NOW story about the burden that his trips place on the security team, in particular a last-minute helicopter flight for Vance's son to attend a golf practice across town. Plans that were later canceled. The source says an internal review is underway, and CNN has reached out to the Secret Service for comment.
[05:05:04]
All right. Internationally, we have new details on the war with Iran. The House narrowly passed a $1.1 trillion defense spending bill, despite concerns from Democrats over the massive price tag and the war itself. The bill now heads to the Senate, where its fate is unclear. As for the conflict, CENTCOM says the military has completed a 12th straight night of strikes on Iran.
Donald Trump and Iranian leaders continue to trade threats, and Trump is now vowing to destroy Iranian bridges and power plants every time Iran strikes a ship in the Strait of Hormuz.
Let's take you now to Dover Air Force base in Delaware. That is where four of Americas fallen heroes returned home. President Trump and top government officials paid their respects yesterday at the dignified transfer of the four U.S. service members killed in action in the war with Iran over the weekend.
And here are their names and faces: 25-year-old Lieutenant Tyler James Feehan, who was looking forward to getting married. Sergeant Angel Rampersad was 28 and from New York. Private Isabella Gonzales, the youngest at just 19 years old. And 30-year-old Sergeant Michael Emmanuel Swinton. His mom says that his wife and kids were the center of his world.
Off camera, during yesterday's solemn ceremony were the families who are bearing an unimaginable loss. While giving a speech in Georgia. President Trump acknowledged the loved ones of Lieutenant Feehan, who were at the event.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Very, very tough. Very tough to watch, to be honest with you. Very tough. I think it's the toughest thing I do of anything I do. I do all this stuff, but I think it's the toughest thing I do. But to Sherri and Stephen and David, we will carry Tyler's memory in
our hearts forever. And I just want to thank you. It's an honor to have you here today. Please.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Trump met privately with the families before the dignified transfer and invited Feehan's family to fly with him on air force one to Georgia.
Well, the war with Iran is expanding, with Yemen's Iran backed Houthis claiming to have struck two Saudi tankers in the Red Sea. We're getting our first look at images that appear to show one of the tankers on fire earlier today.
These are satellite images from NASA that show a bright spot believed to be the tanker fire. The Houthi rebels say that they hit the tankers because they violated their naval blockade.
Meanwhile, 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 that the kingdom could develop nuclear weapons. News of the deal, drawing sharp criticism from some lawmakers in Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN GARAMENDI (D-CA): This is just terrible, terrible policy. We ought to be going in the other direction and presumably that's why Trump was attacking Iran in the first place, was to stop them from being able to develop a nuclear weapon.
Now we're going to go, on the other hand, go the other side of the Persian Gulf and have Saudi Arabia with the power to enrich uranium. Enriched uranium can be made into a nuclear weapon. This is really, really bad, bad policy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: The deal has also drawn sharp criticism in Israel, as some of Benjamin Netanyahu's political opponents are treating the deal like a strategic disaster. Well, newly released findings from an independent autopsy of Nolan Wells did not provide 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 earlier this month.
Former NFL player Colin Kaepernick paid for a second and independent exam of the body. The Wells family attorney says that independent autopsy indicates foul play cannot be ruled out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRUMP: 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 said, based on the examination of the body, he cannot rule out foul play.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Results from the autopsy have not yet been released as they await toxicology tests. There is a view from above. The historic flooding this week in West Virginia, which is under a statewide emergency. Officials there already performed dozens of water rescues, with some areas still hard to reach. We're also tracking tropical storm bertha as it fades in the gulf, and it heads west.
Now you can see the bulk of the heavy rain staying well offshore, though risks from coastal flooding and rough surf that continues today.
Plus, the storm's moisture plume, though, is having impacts nearly a thousand miles away. Forecasters are saying bertha will supercharge rainfall along the East Coast today, with some areas seeing a months worth of rain in just a few days. We'll continue to track that with your latest forecast.
Lots more to come on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS. As a new poll, looking ahead to 2028 has Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez surging to the top of the list for Democrats. What she has to say about a possible presidential run.
Plus, the rescheduled White House Correspondents Dinner is set to take place tomorrow. We've got a look at the ramped up security in the new location.
Plus, Joy Behar raising some eyebrows after she pulled in one of her guests on "The View" for a long kiss on the lips. You'll see the moment and his reaction, next.
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[05:15:29]
SMITH: President Trump's attorney general pick, Todd Blanche, is facing roadblocks from two Republicans for his nomination and confirmation. Senators Thom Tillis and John Cornyn are being urged by two dozen Jeffrey Epstein survivors to vote against his confirmation. Blanche met with survivors last week and described the meeting himself as productive. This comes as Senate Democrats hosted a forum yesterday spotlighting what they call the Justice Department's abandonment of the rule of law and its failure to deliver justice for Epstein's survivors.
President Trump has filed an emergency injunction to get the $5.6 million that he paid E. Jean Carroll back. The money was awarded by a federal jury, which found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll in the 1990s. Earlier this month, the judge ordered the money be released to Carroll after it sat in a court-controlled escrow account since the verdict three years ago. Carroll's attorneys opposed the injunction and accused Trump of delaying the payment.
New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is leading the Democratic primary field in a new 2028 presidential poll. AOC surging to the top of the poll out of New Hampshire ahead of names like Kamala Harris and Gavin Newsom. It found that 22 percent of voters in the state say AOC would have their vote, with former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg a close second with 21 percent.
AOC responding to the news.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): One is that, you know, polls are polls and a horse race is a horse race. I am, of course, I think, very deeply humbled and, and grateful to, you know, folks who participate and convey that confidence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Ocasio-Cortez has seen a jump in support since February, according to the poll, while Buttigieg's status has remained relatively the same. Senator Mark Kelly, California Governor Gavin Newsom and Senator Bernie Sanders, they round out the top five of Democratic contenders.
Well, still to come on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS, new data that will give you an idea of if you're a good tipper based on the average at restaurants these days.
Plus, Elon Musk thinks his A.I. tool can do a better job of making "The Odyssey" movie than Hollywood directors. Details on his planned project, ahead.
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[05:22:19]
SMITH: We've got some new details for you this morning about a new cyber attack that was carried out by artificial intelligence. ChatGPT's maker OpenAI is calling the hack an unprecedented cyber incident. According to a statement from OpenAI, some of its experimental models escaped a test environment and hacked into another company's servers. It is one of the first incidents of this type, and it follows repeated warnings from experts.
CNN's Hadas Gold explains what exactly went wrong here.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE
HADAS GOLD, CNN A.I. CORRESPONDENT: This model was given a cybersecurity test, and on its own, figured out a way to hack OpenAI's own systems of this sandbox and get access to the open Internet, which it was not supposed to have. Then it decided on its own that the most likely place it would have the answer to the cybersecurity test was a place known as Hugging Face. Hugging Face is a very popular repository for open source A.I. models and data sets. And then this system went on to be to hack into hugging faces own systems in order to try and get the answer to this test.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Both companies say that they are now working together to solve the security flaws the model exploited. OpenAI says that the company is responding accordingly.
Chick-fil-A says that hackers used email addresses and passwords obtained from a third party source to access some Chick-fil-A one loyalty accounts last month. The company said it addressed the issue and secured affected customer accounts and removed stored payment methods. Customers are urged to reset their passwords and use unique login credentials.
Is 20 percent still a good tip?
All right. So Maribel Aber breaks down a new study that finds diners being more discerning with their hard-earned cash.
Here's Maribel
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARIBEL ABER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Maribel Aber here at the Nasdaq market site.
You know, for many consumers, tipping fatigue is real and technology can turn nearly every transaction into a math problem. So, what are people tipping these days? Restaurant technology company toast tracked credit card and digital payments at roughly 171,000 tip enabled restaurants on its platform in the first quarter. Cash tips were not included.
The average tip across all transactions was 18.8 percent, but it varied depending on the type of restaurant at full-service sit-down restaurants. The average tip was 19.3 percent at counter service or fast-food restaurants, it was 15.8 percent for takeout, the average dropped to 13.7 percent.
The study did not establish a hard and fast rule, but toast users still tend to tip about 18 percent to 20 percent when dining at a full service restaurant.
[05:25:01]
For other types of service, customers appear to adjust accordingly.
One final takeaway, gratuities, service charges and other fees may already be added automatically, so check your bill before you pay. Your money matters.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: All right. Thank you, Maribel.
Straight ahead on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS, Secretary of State Marco Rubio talking tough about the war with Iran during an overseas trip, now saying the presidents policy is, quote, "a head for an eye".
And the cyclospora outbreak is hitting Taco Bell hard. The new $1 deals that they're offering just to get customers back in their stores. That's coming up
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