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CNN Headlines: Anger After Police-Involved Shooting In Wisconsin; Day Four Of Hearing To Determine If "d4vd" Murder Case Goes To Trial; Tens Of Thousands Evacuated In Southwest France As Wildfires Rage. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired July 24, 2026 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:30:00]
BRAD SMITH, CNN ANCHOR: It is half past the hour. Let's hit the refresh button on our top stories.
Donald Trump is reigniting his global trade war. Dozens of countries now being hit with levies of 10 to 12 1/2 percent. These new tariffs will replace the temporary 10 percent global tariffs that are now expiring but it's unclear if this plan will survive legal challenges.
And the U.S. military says it completed a 13th straight night of airstrikes. Iranian state media reports at least four people have been killed. This video allegedly shows Iran firing a new wave of attacks towards Bahrain and Jordan as it continues to bombard U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf. Iranian state media claims Tehran targeted U.S. assets in those countries.
And we have new video of a police-involved shooting in Madison, Wisconsin. Overnight outraged protesters marched in the city streets.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PROTESTERS: Hey, hey. Ho, ho. These killer cops have got to go.
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SMITH: Corey Ruiz was shot and killed while officers attempted to detain him on Wednesday, raising some serious questions about the officers' use of force.
CNN's Whitney Wild has the story and that new video of the incident. We do have a warning for you as well. The story and its images are graphic.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy (bleep).
WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Disturbing video showing police shooting and killing a man they say pulled a knife and injured an officer during a struggle in Madison, Wisconsin. (Gunshots)
According to police, officers were responding to a report of a person checking parked vehicles Wednesday afternoon.
CHIEF JOHN PATTERSON, MADISON, WISCONSIN POLICE DEPARTMENT: They attempted to contact him, but he fled on a bicycle and then traveled through some nearby backyards, we think in an attempt to get away.
WILD (voiceover): Officers later tracked the man down. Four officers and the man began to struggle as police tried to arrest him. Police say one of the officers was injured after the man pulled out a large fixed-blade knife seen here in a photo after it was recovered by the Madison Police Department.
PATTERSON: A less-lethal device, a taser, was deployed. Unfortunately, it was unsuccessful.
WILD (voiceover): The injured officer then pulled a gun and fired three shots, according to police. The man was transported and pronounced dead at the hospital.
A witness says he was about 10 feet from the incident.
MICHAEL DOUBEK, WITNESS: One of the officers then draws a taser and he yells, "Taser! Taser! Taser! Taser!" And he falls to the ground and the three continue to struggle for a second or two. And then one of the officers stands and just a couple of feet above his head shoots him three times.
PROTESTERS: Quit your job! Quit your job!
WILD (voiceover): The incident sparked protests as news of the shooting and cellphone video circulated within the community.
The Madison Police Department doesn't have a body-worn camera policy and none of the officers involved were wearing cameras.
PATTERSON: I am aware of cellphone video that has been shared and circulate online depicting this incident. I ask the community to recognize that there is other video that they have not seen. It's not circulating online. It will be reviewed as a part of this investigation.
WILD (voiceover): Police acknowledge the city of Madison has a history of controversial shootings. In 2015, a white police officer shot and killed Tony Robinson, an unarmed biracial teenager.
PROTESTERS: No justice, no peace.
WILD (voiceover): Three years before that, Paul Heenan was killed after a scuffle with police when he mistakenly entered the wrong house. Actions by officers in both cases were later found to be justified.
PROTESTERS: I can hear my neighbor crying -- WILD: As a community confronts the aftermath of another contentious shooting, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers urged "transparency and accountability."
Whitney Wild, CNN, Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: Thank you, Whitney.
President Trump's nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia now comes with a catch less than 24 hours after the president revealed an already signed civilian nuclear deal with the kingdom. The president said that the deal was off unless Saudi Arabia normalizes diplomatic ties with Israel. The White House didn't fully explain why the requirement was not included in the first place, but it said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who at first strongly opposed any such deal, did not request the change.
A Minnesota man will spend the rest of his life in prison for killing a top Democratic lawmaker and her husband. Van Boelter getting two consecutive life sentences, plus 40 years, yesterday. Boelter pleaded guilty last month to murder and stalking charges in the killing of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark. He's also accused of shooting and wounding state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife.
New developments coming out of a California courtroom growing even more disturbing. Prosecutors now on their fourth day of presenting evidence against singer David Burke in his murder case. The 21-year- old, known to fans as d4vd, is accused of killing and dismembering 14- year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez.
[05:35:05]
Prosecutors say that he did so this time last year after she threatened to expose their sexual relationship.
Investigators found the girl's body in a Tesla registered to Burke.
Yesterday, the focus was largely on physical evidence that was recovered, including chain saws and an inflatable pool. The judge is working to review all the evidence from this preliminary hearing to determine if there is enough to take the case to trial.
And CNN's Kyung Lah has been closely following these developments and has more for us. We also do need to warn you that some may find these details disturbing.
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KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: And the focus has been on these chain saws and an inflatable pool. Remember, this 14- year-old girl was dismembered before she was put into that Tesla. This inflatable pool had cuts. It was cut in several places, and it was made clearly by a sharp object, according to testimony that the court heard this morning.
Investigators also found within that Tesla 11 air fresheners where her dismembered body was found, along with preliminary evidence of blood.
Now, d4vd is facing that first-degree murder charge and it's with special circumstances, and that's because it involves continuous sexual abuse of a child under age 14 and mutilating human remains.
Prosecutors have really tried to underscore this week that they believe this was about a singer trying to protect his money. And Celeste's family attorney said that the parents were shocked as they heard these figures said out loud in court.
PATRICK STEINFELD, ATTORNEY FOR VICTIM'S FAMILY: It was rather stunning the amount of money that he was earning and his earning capacity. He had guarantees of a minimum of $3 million and a maximum guarantee of $6 million with bonuses that increase. And so the numbers just went up and up and up and eventually he was looking at potential guaranteed payments of $19 million per year for his albums.
LAH: So just some stunning numbers there.
Prosecutors have said that d4vd first made contact with Celeste when she was just 11 years old and a sexual relationship began when she was 13. Prosecutors say that Celeste threatened to expose this relationship and that they allege was the possible motive for murder.
And just something about the length of this preliminary hearing is that the district attorney today told reporters that there are 10 witnesses to call. We have heard absolutely the bulk of them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: Thank you, Kyung.
A Mississippi district attorney is speaking out about the death investigation of Nolan Wells. She is urging the public to be patient as the investigation continues. She says that with every death in the county, outside of natural causes and non-criminal car crashes, it's presented to a grand jury. The D.A. is also advising investigating agencies not to make public statements to protect the investigation.
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ANGEL MYERS MCILRATH, DISTRICT ATTORNEY FOR THE 19TH CIRCUIT COURT DISTRICT: I understand the public's urgency to know what happened to Nolan, but we are not taking time for time's sake. We are taking the time required to complete the work this investigation demands.
Since Nolan was reported missing, local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies have worked around the clock investigating what happened to him. Every piece of evidence must be examined. Every credible lead must be followed to its conclusion. Every witness interview must be analyzed in context of all other evidence.
The pressure for answers does not change what the work requires. (END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Nolan Wells went on a boating trip with friends on the Fourth of July weekend. His friends returned without him and police found his body two days later. His family is pleading for anyone with information to come forward.
The CDC is giving the public an idea of just how serious this Cyclospora outbreak is by the numbers. According to the agency, it has received reports of nearly 4,200 lab-confirmed cases of the parasitic infection and it's aware of more than 7,400 potential cases. Most of those additional cases are out of Ohio and Michigan. Those are two of the five main states connected to the lettuce-linked Cyclospora outbreak.
Bertha weakened to a tropical depression in Texas last night, but the storm's moisture is adding up to big trouble 1,000 miles away in Durham, North Carolina.
CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar says more rain is coming to the weather-logged and waterlogged southeast.
[05:40:00]
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ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: The flood threat continues today across portions of the Carolinas and even into Georgia as this stationary front really just kind of sets up and stays this way not just today but even as we head into the weekend -- Saturday and Sunday. Many of these same areas going to continue to see additional moisture. You can see that wave coming through Friday. A second one Saturday. Even by late Saturday evening looking at even more rain for some of these areas.
Keep in mind some of these locations had rain earlier this week and now we're going to be adding even more on top of it. So it's that compounding effect that's really going to trigger the biggest concern for flooding. The heaviest rain is going to be across portions of the coastal region of North and South Carolina where we could pick up as much as four to six additional inches of rain.
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SMITH: Time now for Buzz Express, the stories that have people talking.
Wile E. Coyote is back, but he's found a new rival that isn't the Road Runner -- it's Acme. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
Clip from Ketchup Entertainment's "Coyote vs. Acme."
(END VIDEO CLIP) SMITH: The trailer for the live-action film "Coyote vs. Acme" dropped Thursday. This movie features stars like Will Forte, John Cena, and Lana Condor, and it will premiere at Comic Con in San Diego on Saturday. You can catch it in theaters August 28.
And Katy Perry's lifetime story is going from the stage to the big screen. The pop superstar announcing on Thursday that the concert movie will hit cinemas and IMAX worldwide on September 2 for a limited time only. It was filmed during Perry's two shows in Paris last November. Tickets go on sale next week.
And 10 years after the smash hit movie musical "La La Land" danced into our lives the production company is finally fixing something that has driven Ryan Gosling crazy for over a decade -- his lazy hand.
Here's CNN's Samantha Lindell.
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RYAN GOSLING, ACTOR:
SAMANTHA LINDELL, CNN REPORTER (voiceover): This iconic movie poster has haunted Ryan Gosling for 10 years, but the movie star is finally getting the correction he's been asking for. Gosling has said in social media posts and interviews that he disliked his hand placement in the original "La La Land" theatrical release poster.
GOSLING: But I thought -- we were supposed to have our hands up and I thought it would be cool to put my hand like that. And, you know, everyone told me it wasn't cool. I was sure that was cooler than that.
LINDELL (voiceover): In a 2024 interview with The Wall Street Journal, he said that when he and co-star Emma Stone were dancing, he didn't know the moment would become the movie poster.
GOSLING: And now when I look at it -- and I have to see it all the time -- you know what would have been cooler than this? That.
LINDELL (voiceover): Even Gosling's wife Eva Mendes has joked that his "La La" hand was one of his biggest regrets, posting his attempt at a redo.
GOSLING: How is my hand?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's good.
LINDELL (voiceover): To celebrate the film's 10-year anniversary, the movie will be back in theaters starting August 16. The announcement on Instagram was posted with the caption saying, "A minor adjustment" referring to the new poster.
And fans were torn on their feelings about the new poster with comments like "Gosling will be so relieved!" and "Reverse the La La hand IMMEDIATELY."
The film won six Oscars and Gosling received a Golden Globe for his role as Seb.
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SMITH: It's the details that matter.
Next up on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS, mass evacuations underway right now because a fast-advancing fire is burning out of control. We'll get the latest from France.
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[05:47:55]
SMITH: We are following breaking news out of southwestern France. Several fast-moving wildfires are forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate by road and even by boat.
CNN's senior international correspondent Melissa Bell is joining us now live from Paris. Melissa, where exactly is this happening and how dangerous is this situation evolving to become?
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Look, this, Brad, is a fire that started on Wednesday and then spread out of control. A couple of firefighters died in the first few hours of that fire.
Overnight, it doubled in size and led to these mass evacuations. Forty thousand people evacuated from a place called the Cap Ferret. Think the French-style Hamptons. It's a peninsula on the Atlantic coast where people go in summer -- so much so that its population sort of grows ten-fold. All of those people there on a holiday and the locals evacuated this morning, some of them by road. There's only one road out of this peninsula. Some of them by boat -- opposite.
So concerned were authorities that the peninsula might be entirely cut off. That's how uncontrollably fast this fire is spreading and how difficult it is to contain and predict.
There are other fires that have started as well over the course of the last 24 hours in the region. I was driving through just a couple of weeks ago. It is so dry. And, of course, the inevitable has happened. Another 20,000 people evacuated as a result of that second fire not far away.
So far this year in France we've had 300 wildfires. The annual average normally is about 95. That is how hot it has been and how dry conditions are as a result of these successive heat waves that we've been having this summer, Brad.
SMITH: All right. Melissa bell there reporting for us in France. Thank you so much for the update here.
And the same situation playing out in Spain as more than 30 villages have been evacuated. Firefighters battling one of the country's largest wildfires there. Nearly 80,000 acres have been burned in the fire fueled by a heat wave in the Mediterranean region. Spain has suffered 22 major fires this year.
[05:50:00]
It's been one month since devastating earthquakes struck Venezuela leaving widespread devastation behind. The International Rescue Committee says that more than 38 hospitals and 400 schools were destroyed. More than 5,000 people were killed but officials say the final death toll could be twice as high.
We'll continue to track any developments that we do receive coming out of Venezuela for you, as always.
Still to come on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS, dramatic video of an 18-wheeler dangling over an overpass. Those details next.
And if you missed out on the never-ending pasta pass sale, don't fret. Olive Garden is giving fans another opportunity to snag a pass. We've got this and more when CNN headlines returns.
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[05:55:05]
SMITH: In today's Money Express we may have a good signal from the job market here. New applications for unemployment benefits falling to their lowest level since 1969 in the last week. The Labor Department says the first-time claims fell to about 187,000. Economists say it's a sign that fewer people were laid off.
Plus, Brent Crude shot up more than six percent yesterday as the growing conflict in the Middle East raised new fears about the global energy supply.
Maribel Aber joins us now from the Nasdaq MarketSite with more details. Maribel, what do we know?
MARIBEL ABER, CNN CORRESPONDENT, MONEY MATTERS: OK, Brad. Global oil settled above $100 a barrel for the first time since May as attacks on oil tankers mount and the Persian Gulf conflict widens. Brent Crude continues to trade around that mark this morning. U.S. oil is around $90 a barrel.
The national average for a gallon of unleaded rose to $4.11 overnight, according to AAA. That's nearly one dollar higher than it was a year ago and up 13 cents a gallon since last week.
Walmart is recalling more than 16,000 dressers over concerns they pose entrapment and tip-over hazards. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says the EnHomee nine-drawer fabric dresses violate mandatory safety standards. If they're not properly anchored to the wall the dressers can fall over, injuring or trapping small children. Federal safety officials urge customers to secure the dressers properly or stop using them. Consumers can find recall and refund details on the CPSC's website.
OK. Olive Garden fans who missed out on the company's popular $100 never-ending pasta pass are getting a second chance. Listen up. The casual dining chain is now giving away 100 free pasta passes through a social media contest. To enter, participants must follow Olive Garden on Instagram. Brad, you've got to like the giveaway post, OK? Tag another person in those comments.
The deadline to enter is Monday at 11:59 p.m. Eastern. Olive Garden will notify winners by direct message by July 31. Full rules and details can be found on Olive Garden's website.
Brad, you know what? My emotional support load -- it's standing by --
SMITH: (Laughing).
ABER: -- right here.
SMITH: I have so many questions --
ABER: Right here.
SMITH: -- about this loaf, number one, and that it was just that close in proximity I wonder if it's always there.
But I also wonder, Maribel, can you use this on more things than just the pasta? Can I get -- can I get the Tour of --
ABER: You know what?
SMITH: The -- what is it? Tour of Italy that they have there? I haven't been in a minute.
ABER: No. I think that there are definitely some --
SMITH: Some restrictions.
ABER: -- limitations --
SMITH: Yeah.
ABER: -- and restrictions. But no restrictions, Brad, on the all-you- can-eat bread. The bread.
SMITH: Done deal. Yeah, the bread and the salad. I will take that all- you-can-eat salad as well.
Maribel Aber, thank you so much.
All right, let's take a look at some of the other stories making headlines across the country.
We start in Massachusetts with a scary rollover crash inside a tunnel. Take a look at this closely. The cameras show the traffic building in the Ted Williams Tunnel and launch into the air before flipping and landing on its roof. One person was taken to the hospital but only as a precaution.
All right, take a look at this incredible video out of Texas. That is an 18-wheeler dangling over an overpass. This happened near Houston and we're waiting to hear how the driver of that truck is doing.
And in West Virginia, this creative kid learning to weld at just 11 years old. Tayden Franklin is on track to become the youngest certified welder in the country when he completes his welding program this summer. He's already earned skills in scuba diving, aviation, stop motion animation, and 3D printing. What can't he do? Good stuff there, young blood.
And some stranded Beluga whales have safely arrived at their new homes in Chicago and Texas after an extraordinary 1,500-mile journey by truck and cargo plane.
Samantha Lindell takes us behind the scenes of the international rescue mission.
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LINDELL (voiceover): These Beluga whales were brought to Canada and the U.S. But with some whales weighing (audio gap) across the continent. Well, first, the whales were placed into specialized cold- water containers and accompanied by veterinarians and animal care specialists who looked after them. Then the containers were moved on a 777 aircraft, then to trucks, and transported to their respective aquariums.
The whales were part of a pod of 30 Belugas living at Marineland of Canada, a closed marine park that can't support their ongoing care. Their new homes are now at the Shedd Aquarium Chicago and SeaWorld San Antonio. Additional transfers to Georgia Aquarium, SeaWorld San Diego, and Oceanographic Valencia in Spain are being planned.
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SMITH: All right. From the internet's favorite whales to the internet's favorite raccoon. He's made it to the big leagues. He has his own Easter egg. So here's how you find it. Google "Jimothy" and he'll run across your screen.
[06:00:05]
It's believed that he has short spine syndrome, which is a rare disorder that makes it look like he has no neck. But for him, it's just a totally normal day -- Friday -- here for Jimothy, the raccoon, on Google.
Well, that does it for CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS. I'm Brad Smith. "CNN THIS MORNING WITH AUDIE CORNISH" starts right now.
