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Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Is Interviewed About One Killed In ICE-Involved Shooting In Maine; Trump Plans To Charge Shippers For Strait Of Hormuz Passage; Bipartisan Tributes Pour In For Sen. Graham After Shocking Death. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired July 13, 2026 - 11:00   ET

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

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[11:00:40]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, the shocking death of Senator Lindsey Graham. The legacy he's leaving behind and what the sudden loss means for Washington.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: And The Situation Room special report, my exclusive reporting from the Navy's closest ships to Iran as the U.S. escalates attacks on Tehran.

BLITZER: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown and you're in The Situation Room.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

BLITZER: And we begin this hour with breaking news. Officials say at least one person has been killed and another ICE-involved shooting this morning. These are live pictures coming in from the scene and this happened in Biddeford, Maine, just south of Portland. CNN has reached out to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials as well as the Department of Homeland Security for comment. We'll continue to monitor the situation and bring you updates as they come in.

BROWN: And joining us now on the phone is Maine Congresswoman Chellie Pingree. Thank you for coming on, Congresswoman. We really appreciate it. First of all, what can you tell us about what happened?

REP. CHELLIE PINGREE (D-ME): Well, you are correct there. Unfortunately, it was an ICE-involved shooting this morning in Biddeford, Maine. A small working-class community. We don't know a lot of the circumstances, although there were witnesses and an investigation is going on right now. But this is deeply disturbing, of course, to the people of Maine.

There are deep concerns about why ICE is operating in our communities and what may have happened here. I will be asking a lot of questions of ICE. We've already asked them to fill us in on it. I know the governor's office is investigating and the state police as much as they can. I certainly hope this is a case where the officers were wearing body cameras. That they do a thorough investigation. That they keep our state involved. It's just very upsetting that a life has been lost. And our, of course, sympathy goes to the family and others who may have been involved.

BLITZER: Congresswoman, it's Wolf. Do we know if they were actually pursuing this person? Or was this a simple traffic stop?

PINGREE: That was my number one question. Is this somebody who they thought was committing a crime or is a criminal? Or were they just, you know, profiling someone and tying them down, you know, trying to invade their space, in a sense.

We don't know those answers, but it was my first question. You know, my office handles a lot of cases these days that are ICE-involved. And so many of them are people who are legally here in this country who end up being detained, who have to get bonded out of jail or some other circumstance. And we just hope this isn't another one of those cases where someone was just being picked up because of the color of their skin or the car they were driving or where they were coming from.

BROWN: Yes, we'll wait to learn some more details. Obviously, it's still in the early minutes and hours of this. But I'm wondering, in your area, has ICE been carrying out raids?

PINGREE: Well, we had the one week last year of what they horribly called Catch of the Day here in Maine where 200 people were picked up. But we have continued to see people, we're having knocks come at their door, people who are afraid to go to work, people who are afraid to go to the grocery store. Even though they're legally here, they're worried that their status won't be believed. And they will be picked up and detained.

So, yes, ICE has been operating in our state. And we handle a lot of cases through our office. People who need to find out where their family member is. Or that we need to try to assist to get out of detention. I personally am headed to Biddeford now to see if I can learn more about it. But I know this is deeply disturbing for Biddeford and all the surrounding communities.

BROWN: All right, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, thank you so much. And please let us know if you learn any more. And of course we'll continue to monitor the situation and bring any updates.

BLITZER: Also happening now, President Trump says he will reinstate the Iranian blockade. And just minutes ago he announced that he will charge ships for passage through the Strait of Hormuz. The announcement coming after new exchanges between the countries. The U.S. military says it struck dozens of targets in Iran overnight.

In the latest escalation between the two countries, the U.S. says its attacks are aimed at protecting shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's state media says it's responding by targeting U.S. military bases in the region.

[11:04:55] BROWN: And Jordan says it intercepted four Iranian missiles overnight. And Kuwait and Bahrain are also reporting aerial attacks. Iran also says it wants to ensure the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz. But the U.S. is undermining those efforts. A lot happening this morning. CNN's Kevin Liptak is at the White House. Kevin, tell us more about what the President is saying this morning about this.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, and this all is clearly rooted in a lack of common understanding between the U.S. and Iran over what exactly the State of Hormuz is after that MOU went into effect. President Trump now saying this morning that the U.S. will reimpose the blockade that had been on Iranian ports during the heat of the war. This had been one of the last remaining components of the memorandum that had remained intact.

And so you can see how this agreement is now coming apart piece by piece. The President wrote on Truth Social that we are reinstating the Iranian blockade. So named because it is only stopping Iran's ships or customers from entering or leaving. And then he says that all other countries will have fair and open use of the Strait.

And then he goes on to say that the U.S. will be imposing a 20 percent fee on all cargo ships. It's not clear who will be paying that fee, whether it's the shippers or whether it's countries who are allowing ships to go through. And that the U.S. will help navigate this waterway for this fee. Now, the President was on "Fox News" a little bit before he posted this on social media, expanding somewhat on this idea of fees being imposed. Listen to what he said there.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've had 10 deals with these people. And so we're just going to hit them very hard. And we're going to keep the Strait and we'll probably run it. We'll become the guardian of the Strait. Maybe we'll call it the guardian angel of the Strait. And we should be reimbursed for that. When we do that, we're going to be reimbursed because the other nations are very wealthy.

They're on our side and we can't be expected to do that for nothing. Unlike we had for many years, you know, we guarded the Strait for 50 years more and we never got paid for it. They made all the money in the United States was just, you know, not, they wouldn't. It's amazing. It's we never made. We guarded it for nothing. And now we're going to guard it. We're going to get paid for guarding it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIPTAK: Now, this idea of the U.S. charging fees in the waterway is something of a break from the administration's previous stance. The secretary of state, Marco Rubio, just said a few months ago that this was an international waterway and that no country is allowed to charge tolls or fees on an international waterway. It's all part of this escalating standoff. You've already seen the price of oil start ticking back up. How the President plans to sort of extricate the U.S. and himself from this, I think at this point remains unclear.

BROWN: Certainly, at the very least. Kevin Liptak, live for us from the White House, thanks so much. Wolf?

BLITZER: And joining us now is Michael Oren, former Israeli ambassador to the United States. Ambassador Oren, thanks very much for being with us. In the past, you've described the war with Iran as an existential fight. And you have warned that limited engagement will not force Iran to make concessions. Is that what we're witnessing right now?

MICHAEL OREN, FORMER ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: Good to be with you, Wolf. You know, I hate being there's only one thing worse than being a false prophet. It's being an accurate prophet. I think I speak for most Israelis in assessing that the MOU, the Memorandum of Understanding, signed between the United States and Iran, wouldn't result in an actual agreement between the two countries, that Iran would violate the agreement, certainly interpret it completely different, that the absolute maximum that the Iranians were willing to give, concede, was far below the minimum that the United States was willing to accept, and that eventually the Iranians would try to precipitate some type of fight with the United States.

There's sort of this scuttlebutt around it that the President wanted to drag his feet until after the November elections. Well, that's assuming that the Iranians are stupid and just going to sit there and do nothing. No, they would do just what they're trying to do now, is pick a fight and get oil prices to rise, which would then impair the President and his party's chances of winning in November.

BLITZER: Both the U.S. and Iran are accusing the other of violating what's called the Memorandum of Understanding, the MOU. Are negotiations even possible, you think, Ambassador, at this point?

OREN: I think negotiations are possible. I don't think either country necessarily wants to go back to full-scale war. Certainly the United States does not want to, not at this stage, before those elections, and as oil prices have already started to rise in the United States. No, I think they want to keep a level of violence, a low flame, and keep the option for negotiations open. The President said, I'm going to strike hard, I'm going to reimpose the blockade on the Strait, I'm going to take tolls for cargo going through the straits, but I'm open for negotiation.

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And I wouldn't be surprised, Wolf, if this doesn't blow up entirely, that in the next couple of days you're going to see various actors, the Pakistanis, the Turks, calling for everybody to go back to the negotiating table. Meanwhile, Israel is going to remain on it very, very high alert, the entire country is on high alert today, for the possibility of renewed all-out warfare.

BLITZER: While I have you, Ambassador, I want to ask you about that incident involving U.S. Congressman Ro Khanna. He says Israel Defense Forces joined Israeli settlers to blockade him for more than an hour during a trip to the West Bank. The IDF denies that the soldiers took part in blocking the road. Ro Khanna is calling on the Israeli government to prosecute the soldiers and the settlers. What would you like to see happen? OREN: I would like to think in general. Listen, again, I'm not a spokesman for the Israeli government right now. I think what is widely seen in the world as settler violence is not acceptable. It's causing a tremendous damage to the country in terms of our, certainly our public diplomacy. And I would like to see a far, far stronger hand in curbing that violence.

I don't know what the details of what happened with Congressman Ro Khanna. I don't. And it should be investigated, certainly. But we're dealing with a far broader problem here of a certain breakdown of Israeli law and control in Judea and Samaria, as we call it, the West Bank. And that is causing us immense harm and must stop.

BLITZER: Ambassador Michael Oren, thanks as usual for joining us. Appreciate it very much.

OREN: Thank you.

BLITZER: And still ahead, what does the sudden death of Senator Lindsey Graham mean for the balance of power, the challenges facing Republicans up on Capitol Hill as they remember the legacy he leaves behind?

BROWN: And stomach bug outbreak, the gut churning parasite that is spread across half of the country. Well, you need to know to stay safe. You're in The Situation Room.

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[11:16:29]

BROWN: Happening now, President Trump is weighing in on who should replace Senator Lindsey Graham after the South Carolina Republican's unexpected death this weekend. The President posted on Truth Social that he recommended Graham's, "Wonderful sister, Darline, to temporarily serve as interim senator to Governor Henry McMaster." Trump continued, "This would be a fabulous tribute to Lindsey who loved her dearly."

BLITZER: Graham's death has major implications for legislative business in the U.S. Senate where the GOP's very slim majority is already under stress due to the health-related absence of Kentucky Republican Senator Mitch McConnell. Joining us now in The Situation Room are Republican strategist and former Trump campaign advisor David Urban and former senior advisor to Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign Karen Finney. They're both CNN political commentators.

David, let me start with you. Your relationship with Senator Graham dates back, what, many, many years to the 90s, right?

DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, so I met Senator Graham when I was Arlen Specter chief of staff and Lindsey was a House member, he was a House manager, if you remember, in the Clinton impeachment. And so I went back then and then he joined the Senate in 2002 when Strom and Prince Hollings were leaving. It was kind of a generational change in South Carolina and I've known him since then. He hosted a fundraiser for my neighborhood in Florida, flown with him on some trips. And, you know, Lindsey Graham was a happy warrior, right, one of those kind of few souls in the Senate that could garner support from his colleagues in the Republican caucus but also get things done.

Yesterday you heard the President call in here and say to -- when he had tough problems with the Democrats, he'd call Lindsey and say, hey, can you get this done for, these folks are kind of being intransigent and Lindsey would get it done. And so those kind of people are very far and few between in the Senate, unfortunately, these days. And so Senator Graham will be sorely missed by the Republican caucus and by America writ large.

BROWN: And as we know, Karen, Senator Graham did work across the aisle, right, especially when it came to foreign policy. I want to play what he told me in a 2024 interview. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: You were someone who was very committed to, for example, Ukraine and giving aid to Ukraine.

LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC), FORMER U.S. SENATOR: Yes.

BROWN: J.D. Vance, for his part, is one of the leading opponents of giving aid to Ukraine. How much does that concern you?

GRAHAM: Well, I think President Trump found --

BROWN: He also --

GRAHAM: -- well, he found a way forward. Make it a loan, not a grant.

BROWN: But it concerns you, J.D. Vance's stance.

GRAHAM: Yes, I had a difference. His belief was we were spread too thin. He said that, you know, nothing particularly against Ukraine. I want to focus on China. My belief is if you give in to Putin in Ukraine, you make your problems with China worse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And before he past, Senator Graham had just returned from a trip to Ukraine. What more can you share about his relationship with Democrats on these sort of foreign policy issues?

KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, well, obviously, let's also say that is a huge loss in terms of Ukraine because he was also a voice in the President's ear and to the administration in support of what we're doing in Ukraine and being more supportive of Ukraine. He did have a reputation. It sort of shifted a bit once. He, you know, he had run against President Trump in 2016 and then became a very close ally and was known to be really the President's person in the Senate. So that changed the nature of his relationship a bit with Democrats. But prior to that, you know, he was one of the three amigos with Lieberman and Senator McCain. And he was known as someone who was interested in getting the deal done. But he was a real close ally of the President. And so I think particularly given the next two weeks of work that we know they have and things like the Todd Blanche nomination to get done, I think that's going to be -- it does change the sort of balance of power in the Senate, which is rare, particularly with, as you mentioned, Mitch McConnell being out, and because he was somebody who was a real asset to the President.

[11:20:21]

So it will be interesting to see, particularly now that we've got a couple of members of the Senate who are Republicans who are no longer, who basically are out and have been sort of showing their independence. How does that affect, again, the Blanche nomination and some of this other legislative business?

BLITZER: And, David, he joined me here on CNN probably around 50 times over the years. We had many, many conversations, both on camera and, well, privately as well. I want to play a little clip of what he told me back in 2016, a little bit more about Russia. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRAHAM: They're trying to destabilize democracy all over the world, not just here. It's just not about pulling for Trump. It's bigger than that. They're trying to break the backs of democracies. They're doing worse things than other countries. They're trying to get us to fight among ourselves. And here's what we should do. We should tell the Russians in no uncertain terms, you interfered in our elections. We don't care why. We're going to hit you and hit you hard.

I'm going to introduce sanctions that will be bipartisan, that names Putin as an individual, his inner circle, for not only hacking into our political systems but trying to destabilize democracy throughout the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: What do you think? Does that sort of ideology live on in today's Republican Party from your perspective?

URBAN: Yes, listen, I associate myself with the senator's comments, as they say on the Senate floor, right? I think Lindsey Graham is spot on there. I'm not sure it is embraced fully by as many Republicans as should. Make no mistake about it, the Russians are not our friends in any way, shape or form. The Russian people are good people, but the Russian leadership is terrible. They kill people. They assassinate. They meddle in our elections. They meddle in our social media. They are here to destabilize and overthrow our country, our government. If they could, they want to see nothing more than America fail.

So that anybody that thinks that the Russians and Putin are somehow our friends is sorely mistaken. And Senator Graham knew that. And hopefully we'll see this Russia sanctions bill come up as a vote in the Senate in honor of him. I'm hoping that they get it up and they pass it. It's bipartisan. I want to see that get done. I think we should have more sanctions on Russia. I think the Ukrainians are doing quite well. And, you know, these sanctions may be quite helpful in getting them forward, moving them forward.

BLITZER: And if it passes, we'll see if the President actually signs it into law, given the fact that he's been praising Putin, as we all know, making it clear that he supports Putin in so many areas. We'll see what happens on that front.

URBAN: I disagree with the President on that one.

BROWN: And I'm just getting a bit of news in my ear that at 4 o'clock today, the South Carolina governor is expected to announce Graham's replacement. So, of course, we'll look ahead to that.

FINNEY: It was interesting yesterday to see people, while they were praising Senator Graham, try to put their name out there and make it known that they would be perfectly willing to serve.

URBAN: It'll be interesting to see if he, if Governor McMaster names a temporary placeholder or someone who wants a leg up. You know, the supposition is that the lieutenant governor will be named. It could be named, right? It's a very popular person. She's very popular. But with the President weighing in, saying, you know, having senators' sisters serve for that short period of time before the election, you know, is held would be a great honor. So we'll see what Governor McMaster does. He's a very close ally of the President, as you know.

BROWN: Just really quickly, David, amid all of this, you have Senator Mitch McConnell releasing information about his health, a statement, a photo. He had a fall last month. He was briefly unconscious. He said he got pneumonia. Do you think that there's been enough transparency around his health?

URBAN: Well, listen, I do. Some people deserve a modicum of privacy. I mean, he's now come out.

BROWN: Even if you're a public official?

URBAN: Yes, no, no, I do. I think that he was, you know, at an appropriate time, he came out and said, look, it's like the old Monty Python, you know, I'm not dead yet. He's got photos out. He put out his statement. He's doing as best he can. I mean, think back to when we had, you know, lots of other members. We had, you know, Senator Feinstein and Strom Thurmond.

I mean, a different day in the Senate, different year, different world. But, you know, there's some health issues. So I do believe, listen, more transparency is better than less, obviously, for people. But there still should be some privacy. And I think it's out there now. And, you know, pray for him to get, you know, he's getting better and healthier. And he hopefully returns to work.

FINNEY: I think if you're an elected official and you were out for that length of time, your constituents deserve to know what is the status of your health, not only for the business of the Senate and the job you're supposed to do, but again, you are there to represent the people. And given how much we talked about this during with President Biden, I think it was, and with Senator Feinstein, as you mentioned, I think it was illustrative that we do need more information.

URBAN: We had it with Lloyd Austin. Remember, the Secretary of Defense vanished for like a week. Lloyd Austin, nobody knew where he was.

[11:25:03]

FINNEY: And that wasn't appropriate either.

BROWN: And that garnered criticism.

URBAN: So, yes, so I think, you know, more transparency is better, right? Because people do want to know what's going on in their government. And, you know, we're hoping that Mitch McConnell's fine, but there's going to be lots of transitioning. You know, these senators, you go to the Senate, you got Chuck Grassley, there's lots of folks who are very old, so.

BROWN: Yes.

BLITZER: David Urban, Karen Finney, to both of you, thank you very, very much. Senator Graham, as I mentioned, was a frequent guest right here in The Situation Room. We always had spirited, important conversations to Senator Graham's family, once again, his friends, and his staff. May he rest in peace, and may his memory be a blessing.

BROWN: And up next here in The Situation Room, cartoon controversy. A powerful congressman is now calling for an investigation into the VFW after the veterans group started selling T-shirts with an image depicting soldiers in front of a firing squad.

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