Return to Transcripts main page

The Brief with Jim Sciutto

CNN International: U.S.-Iran Ceasefire Crumbles; Iran Mourns Khamenei as U.S. and Iran Trade Strikes; Trump and Netanyahu Hold Phone Call on U.S. Moves in Gulf; Shares of SK Hynix Set to Begin Trading on NASDAQ Friday; ICE Investigated After Agent Kills Man in Texas; Graham Platner Suspends Campaign; Democrats Look to Replace Maine Senate Candidate. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired July 09, 2026 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR, "THE BRIEF": Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington, and

you're watching "The Brief."

Just ahead this hour, the U.S.-Iran ceasefire crumbles further as U.S. forces strike yet more targets in Iran. Outrage after immigration

authorities shoot and kill a father of three in Texas. I'll speak to a lawmaker calling for an independent investigation. Democrats scramble to

keep their Senate hopes alive after an insurgent campaign in Maine goes bust.

Well, the Middle East rocked once again by new strikes as the fragile truce between the U.S. and Iran has now imploded. Iranian state media blamed the

U.S. for blasts along the coast today. It is not clear if the U.S. was responsible, but it took full credit for a new wave of strikes on

Wednesday. Iran says it is targeting U.S. military bases in the region now. Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain report intercepting Iranian missiles.

All this while Iran has buried its former supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. The ayatollah's week-long funeral continued today. Huge crowds turned out in

his hometown of Mashhad. Khamenei was killed in a joint U.S.-Israeli strike in the early hours of the war. The new supreme leader, his son Mujtaba, has

not been seen in public at his father's funeral.

Fred Pleitgen is in Tehran, a reminder that CNN operates in Iran only with the permission of the government, but maintains full editorial control of

our reports. Fred, tell me how Iran is reacting to, really, the resumption of war, and not just the government via state media, but to people on the

ground you're speaking with.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Jim. Well, the Iranians certainly are saying that they're going to maintain

their hard line. That's at least as far as the folks in the government is concerned. It was quite interesting, because the chief negotiator for the

Iranians, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, of course, was on the other side of the negotiating table, which U.S. Vice President JD Vance, from the Memorandum

of Understanding, was first negotiated and then, of course, later electronically signed. He came out and he said the U.S. needs to understand

that if they strike, they will be hit back.

And also, as far as the situation in the Strait of Hormuz is concerned, that also the Iranians are the ones, they believe, who are going to set the

transit routes for any ship traffic that goes through the Strait of Hormuz. And, of course, that incident there was the first thing that ignited the

current tit-for-tat strikes that we've been seeing between the Iranians and the United States.

But certainly, the Iranians are saying that, in any case, they are going to hit back if the United States strikes any targets inside Iran. And really,

the incidents that you were talking about earlier are some of the things that have really been on the forefront throughout the better part of the

day, specifically some of the daytime strikes that the Iranians say happened around Bushehr, where there is an Iranian nuclear plant. They say

the perimeter of that plant was damaged. The U.S. has so far not acknowledged being behind any strikes there.

But the Iranians have said that they launched 10 very powerful ballistic missiles at a U.S. base in Jordan. And that certainly seems to widen this

escalating conflict between the two nations, where the Iranians are now using heavier munitions, but also firing beyond U.S. military targets in

the Gulf region towards the wider Middle Eastern region.

All of this, of course, also, Jim, having an effect on the massive funeral procession that you were talking about, bearing the late supreme leader,

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Iranians are saying that the U.S. struck two railway bridges, which are on the main railway line from Tehran, from the

capital of Iran, to Mashhad in the east of Iran, where those funeral processions are happening. They say a lot of people who wanted to attend

those funeral processions were severely delayed and could not proceed any further. So, the Iranians obviously say that had an effect on that.

As this really, the ceasefire, we can see it crumbling, as you say, as Iran is going through this very important day of burying the late supreme

leader. Jim.

[18:05:00]

SCIUTTO: Fred, can I ask you, the crowds, the turnout at this long, multi- day funeral for the late Supreme Leader have been enormous. Iran, of course, has a long history. You've witnessed this of sometimes

manufacturing those crowds, right? But was it your sense that these were people who were voluntarily there to honor him?

PLEITGEN: Yes. You know, one of the things that we do have to point out is that the government here has certainly been able to galvanize its support

base. And we saw that here on the ground in Tehran this past Monday when there was a massive procession that went through the Iranian capital, also,

of course, with the casket of the supreme leader and some of the others who were killed in that massive airstrike on February 28th, of course,

including the 14-month-old granddaughter of the supreme leader.

So, certainly, the turnout there was very large. We do have to acknowledge, of course, that there are people who were against the rule of Ayatollah Ali

Khamenei. There were a lot of people who left, for instance, Tehran before the processions took place.

But also, the government has indeed been able to bring a lot of the people onto the streets and a lot of the people also there to Mashhad, which is a

huge religious center as well. There are a lot of religious conservatives there, generally a lot of religious people who, of course, wanted to be

part of that major procession.

So, it seemed to us, certainly, that a lot of the people had traveled from very far away to witness these funeral processions that have really been

going on for the past couple of days. A lot of people are calling this a marathon funeral. Jim.

SCIUTTO: Fred Pleitgen in Tehran, thanks so much. Well, the Israeli prime minister's office says that Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump spoke on

the telephone in just the past several hours. It says President Trump gave the prime minister an update on U.S. military operations in the Gulf and

that the two agreed to coordinate on a number of fronts.

Regional sources confirmed to CNN that Pakistan and Qatar are working to attempt to bring the U.S. and Iran back to the negotiating table. Islamabad

and Doha both played a key role in the previous rounds of talks.

Betsy Klein is at the White House. And, Betsy, given the president's quite public frustration with the slow progress or really lack of progress in

those talks, do White House officials believe they can be restarted in the near term?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, that's something we've been asking all day, and we actually just got some new reporting from a

U.S. official on the status of those talks that has some optimism toward those diplomatic talks. This official says that the U.S. and the Iranians

continue to engage in those technical discussions on nuclear issues with an eye toward a diplomatic solution. That comes even as President Trump has

launched a fresh round of strikes, and he's weighing a path forward for this conflict.

Now, that official tells me, quote, "The U.S. is still committed to finding a resolution and technical talks continue." Iran, they say, can never

possess a nuclear weapon. Now, this Memorandum of Understanding, that deal that was reached, that kick-started those 60 days of intensive negotiations

on some of the thornier nuclear issues, is what this official described as performance-based.

Iran's actions, they say, including the Strait of Hormuz not being fully reopened, as well as strikes on boats while the president was at the NATO

summit, quote, "cannot institute failed performance at an unacceptable level." The official called those attacks acts of terrorism.

But there are so many questions for this White House on a path forward for this conflict. President Trump says that Iran wants to make a deal so

badly, at the same time that he says he doesn't know if Iran is worthy of making a deal. Now, that ceasefire and the 60-day negotiation period was

really the only true off-ramp that President Trump had for this conflict.

So, a lot of questions about what happens with those negotiations, particularly at the leader level with Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, as well

as Vice President JD Vance, what are their marching orders going forward?

Now, U.S. officials do believe there's some division among Iranian leadership, and that could provide an opening for a potential path forward

there. But reporting from our colleague, Alayna Treene, indicated that the president had launched this new round of strikes, both because the Strait

of Hormuz wasn't reopened, those strikes on the ships, as I mentioned earlier, as well as frustration with the pace of those nuclear

negotiations.

But I just want to go back to President Trump's remarks back at the G7 last month, where he warned that he was reaching this deal, this agreement,

Memorandum of Understanding, because he didn't want to be like President Herbert Hoover. He did not want what he described as an economic

catastrophe. And already, as these strikes have been launched this week, we are seeing the price of gas go right back up five cents just since

yesterday.

A lot of concerns about affordability for Republicans heading into these midterm election season just a few months from now. So, every day that this

conflict continues and escalates is a day that is concerning to Republicans. Jim.

SCIUTTO: Yes. No question. Betsy Klein at the White House, thanks so much.

[18:10:00]

All right. For a perspective on the diplomatic wrangling going on, James Jeffrey was U.S. Ambassador to both Iraq and to Turkey. He's now a

Distinguished Fellow at the Washington Institute. Ambassador, good to have you.

JAMES JEFFREY, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ AND TURKEY AND DISTINGUISHED FELLOW, WASHINGTON INSTITUTE: Thanks for having me on, Jim.

SCIUTTO: I have a question about whether either side is truly serious about these negotiations. And I ask it because, from the U.S. perspective,

of course, there were talks before Operation Midnight Hammer last year. The U.S. went ahead with military action. There were talks before the start of

this war. And now, of course, the ceasefire has been broken really by both sides here.

But from the Iranian side, they certainly were in no hurry to make serious concessions here. Do you see the ingredients at this point, even if they

stop shooting tomorrow, for actual progress in the negotiations?

JEFFREY: Jim, I do, but I do disagree with you. Both sides didn't break this accord. The basic agreement, which Trump was criticized for being too

pro-Iranian, you remember, a couple of weeks ago, was at two levels. The first level, immediate. They let all other ships out. We would let all

Iranian ships out. We would let them sell their oil. In fact, we let them sell it in dollars. And there would be a ceasefire not only in the Gulf,

but also in Lebanon. And remember the bullying Trump had to do to Netanyahu. Trump delivered on all of that stuff.

The Iranian ships sailed. They sold their oil. The ceasefire occurred in Lebanon. All the Iranians had to do was to carry out Article 5 of this 14-

point agreement, which was using make arrangements with best efforts to let free flow. They didn't. They not only tried to block the flow, they started

shooting at ships, thus violating the ceasefire. Trump went through that once, struck back. The Iranians seemed to have backed off. Then again, two

days ago, they started hitting ships again. And Trump launched a pretty severe escalation, hitting bridges and other strategic targets.

SCIUTTO: Let me ask you this, though, because I'm not going to certainly defend Iran's conduct around the Strait, but there's a lot of reporting

that the language around who controls the Strait and to what degree left some interpretation by both sides. Was the language clear enough as to what

next steps were or what was required of both parties?

JEFFREY: Good point, Jim. This is a crappy agreement in terms of how it was negotiated in the language. But nonetheless, a serious agreement that

ends a conflict, each side has to give some trust to the other. And the first thing you do is does the other side live up to what a reasonable

person would say its commitments were in that first phase?

Certainly, Donald Trump in the United States lived up to that, as I just mentioned. Certainly, the Iranians did not. They're hiding behind best

efforts, make arrangements and such. Who knows what that language is? But it was clear to everybody in the diplomatic negotiations that at a minimum,

it meant letting ships sail out. And at a minimum, it meant stop shooting at things. They didn't do either. They violated both.

SCIUTTO: OK. I want to ask you about the broader sense of progress, what was gained, what hasn't been gained since the start of this war, because,

as you know, there's a lot of criticism of the war, even not just from Democrats, but Republicans, that the president's aims have not been met.

And frankly, some of that criticism is coming from U.S. allies, Israel included.

But you made a point in a piece for the Washington Institute that when viewed from a broader perspective, that Iran has lost a great deal. And not

just since the start of this war, but going back a number of a number of years post the October 7th attacks. Can you make your case for that?

JEFFREY: Certainly. And I first rely on the State Department, which in April put out a justification for what I would call this campaign beginning

on February 28th of what has been a conflict between Iran and its proxies. Israel initially, the United States brilliantly under the Biden

administration came to Israel's defense. Other countries got involved. Turkey pushed out Assad, Iran's man in Damascus. We had fighting with the

Houthis and the Red Sea, then the strikes on the Iranian nuclear facilities in Fordow a year ago. So, it's been an ongoing conflict.

Iran today has lost almost all of its surrogates or proxies. Hamas and Hezbollah are in a ceasefire with Israel occupying part of their territory.

The Houthis and the Iraqi militias, you notice, set out this last conflict. And Iran has had most of its nuclear facilities and its highly enriched

uranium bombed either to bits or in the case of the uranium buried under a lot of rock.

So, Iran is basically out of options with one important exception. And that is, of course, closing the Straits, which is what even after they agreed

not to continue doing it, they're doing today.

[18:15:00]

SCIUTTO: President Trump at the NATO summit effectively declared victory on the nuclear issue, declaring Iran denuclearized, saying that the highly

enriched uranium, which he called nuclear dust, I believe, is inaccessible, buried underground. In effect, claiming, it seemed to some degree, that a

large portion of Iran's nuclear facilities, a large portion of his goals regarding Iran's nuclear program have already been met. Is that accurate?

Is that true?

JEFFREY: Like many administration statements by this one and by ones that I was in, you have to pass the words. The Iranian nuclear infrastructure

has been largely smashed, destroyed, scattered or buried. But they have the knowledge and most of us believe they have the intent to create a nuclear

weapon or at least the threat of one.

And so, unless you get an agreement, and of course that is what the ceasefire agreement laid out, a 60-day negotiating period to actually get

real commitments by Iran, similar to probably what we got in 2015 to halt long-term Iranian development of a weapon or the weapons capability. And as

long as you do not have that kind of commitment from the Iranians, they can dig down in the rubble and they can present a danger to all of us sooner or

later.

SCIUTTO: Ambassador James Jeffrey, appreciate having you on.

JEFFREY: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Well, just ahead, one of Asia's largest tech firms is set to make its NASDAQ debut on Friday. SK Hynix selling shares in the U.S. as global

demand for memory chips, particularly those used in A.I., soars. What that all means for the A.I. trade, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: The U.S. carries out new strikes and weighs its next steps in Iran, CNN's Pamela Brown has gained exclusive access to the USS Abraham

Lincoln for an up-close look at its fighter jets and other aircraft in action. It's important to note a U.S. official says the aircraft carrier is

not striking Iran, and the carrier's aircraft are flying what we're told are routine missions over and near the Strait of Hormuz.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Well, let me just set the stage, first of all. You're seeing what's called a walk to look for any

debris. This is an exercise making sure that they pick up anything that could end up in an engine, because we're here in the hangar, and these are

some of the fighter jets that have been used during this conflict from very early on.

[18:20:00]

So, this includes maintenance crews and pilots. As we talk about this ongoing conflict, the last two nights of strikes, what I can tell you is

here on the USS Abraham Lincoln, things are heating up and those are the exact words from the captain here of the ship, Dan Keeler. He said that the

White House and the administration, has told the ship to be on high alert. He says that's always the case. There's always a high state of readiness.

But the context here is that tensions are escalating. There's already been two nights of strikes and there is uncertainty about what is to come,

whether there will be more strikes or not.

Now, I want to show you this. As I mentioned, these F-18s and also the F- 35s have really been fighter jet workhorses during this war. And 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.

Every single fighter jet I've seen, or just about everyone I've seen here in the hangar and up above on the flight deck has these symbols. They also

have other ones like dropping bombs, how many bombs the fighter jets have dropped, as well as submarine buster stickers that they put on there if

they've taken down a submarine. I saw one earlier today that had taken down an Iranian submarine. So, they put these symbols on to mark what these

fighter jets have done so far in the conflict.

And people here on board the ship, they know that this is not over. As one official told me, the ceasefire is up for at least temporarily seized. And

we've now learned that in these last two nights, around 170 targets have been hit at Iran.

And as you all have been talking about, there is a lot of speculation and talk and increased rhetoric about what's going to come next in this

conflict.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: From the USS Lincoln there. In Today's Business Breakout, U.S. stocks finished Thursday's session higher despite fresh evidence that the

U.S.-Iran ceasefire is all broken down. Oil fell, chip stocks rallied. Micron shares rose more than four and a half percent after announcing it

will boost U.S. investments significantly all the way through 2035 amid soaring demand for its memory chips, which A.I. firms are using.

In other news related to A.I., Meta publicly launched a new version of its A.I. model, Muse Spark, its first push into A.I. coding. The move puts it

in direct competition with rivals Anthropic and OpenAI. Some fear an A.I. coding price war.

Investors also gearing up for a big A.I.-related IPO on Friday. Shares of South Korean memory chip giant SK Hynix are set to begin trading on the

NASDAQ. It could raise a record amount on Wall Street for an overseas firm.

Paul La Monica joins me now. He's senior markets writer for Barron's. So, Paul, let's first begin with the SK Hynix listing. Shares already have a

market cap of $1 trillion in South Korea. Why raising money over here in the U.S. markets now?

PAUL R. LA MONICA, SENIOR MARKETS WRITER, BARRON'S: Yes, I think SK Hynix recognizes, Jim, that there is this memory chip arms race. Micron in the

U.S. is a major competitor, but there's also Samsung, another South Korean company. These three dominate the market. And I think SK Hynix wants to try

and do everything they can raising more money in order to stay competitive and on top of this very lucrative portion of the chip market that's fueling

A.I. and their stock prices.

SCIUTTO: Is there any sign in demand for this IPO of fears about, I won't say necessarily an A.I. bubble, but at least overpricing of A.I.-related

stocks?

LA MONICA: Yes, there have been definite concerns, Jim, because these companies, Micron, SK Hynix in South Korea, they've been very volatile as

of late. I think investors are recognizing that there is this euphoria surrounding these A.I.-related chip companies. We used to have it with

NVIDIA. NVIDIA is now cooled off a little bit and all the momentum seems to be flowing to Micron and SK Hynix.

You know, there's an ETF, DRAM, that owns Micron, SK Hynix, and the South Korean shares in Samsung as the top three holdings. It's been one of the

most successful ETF launches of all time. You know, just a couple of months ago, it debuted and that DRAM ETF has soared because it offers investors an

opportunity to invest in all these companies.

SCIUTTO: Meta is, of course, under pressure to show some payoff from its massive A.I. investments. Is this new coding product going to move the

needle for them?

[18:25:00]

LA MONICA: Investors seemed excited about it today. At least Meta stock did rise. But I think, Jim, that there are still legitimate worries about

whether or not Meta is both spending too much on A.I. from a CapEx perspective as a hyper scaler. Those are concerns that are dragging down

Microsoft as well this year.

But are they too late to the coding game? Is this an area where open A.I. and Anthropic, which is a company that's looking to potentially go public

later this year or next year, as well as SpaceX, now public, they own xAI and are a big player in A.I. also. Is Meta too late or are they going to

launch some sort of price war that's damaging to everyone in the industry from an investment standpoint? It's great for the customers if A.I.

services are cheaper.

And remember, there's also competition from a lot of Chinese low-cost A.I. service providers as well that all these companies have to contend with.

SCIUTTO: Lots to follow. Paul La Monica, thanks so much for helping us.

LA MONICA: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Checking some of today's other business headlines, Fed Chair Kevin Warsh has announced the names of the people who will sit on his new

committees plotting the central bank's future. In addition to academics and former central bankers, members include former Walmart CEO, Doug McMillon,

and Microsoft executive, Asha Sharma. The five task forces will discuss issues such as federal communication, inflation and A.I.'s impact on jobs.

Sources tell CNN that a group of state attorneys general are now likely to file a suit challenging the Paramount-Warner Brothers merger as soon as

next week. Sources say the details of the lawsuit are being finalized now. If that suit is filed, it could disrupt Paramount's plan to buy WBD, which

is a parent of CNN. The two companies had been hoping to complete the merger within the next few weeks.

New York's attorney general announced a lawsuit Thursday targeting major chemical firms such as 3M and DuPont. Letitia James is accusing the

companies of hiding the health risks of so-called forever chemicals, which are used in consumer products and take many years to break down in the

environment. She wants the companies to help fund cleanup efforts and to warn consumers about health risks.

Still to come tonight, a family in mourning and a community outrage. What we're learning about the fatal shooting by immigration agents of a Mexican

living in Texas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

SCIUTTO: Welcome back to "The Brief," I'm Jim Sciutto, and here are the international headlines we're watching today.

Sources tell CNN Pakistan and Qatar are scrambling to revive negotiations between the U.S. and Iran. Their effort comes as Iran is blaming the U.S.

for new explosions on its territory witnessed today. You see one there. Tehran says it has fired itself missiles at a U.S. base in Jordan. Shipping

through the Strait of Hormuz has dropped dramatically, even though oil prices turned lower today.

We're now learning more about why President Trump was forced to switch to an older version of Air Force One to depart the NATO summit in Turkey

instead of the jet gifted to him by Qatar. Four U.S. officials tell CNN the decision was driven in part by security concerns resulting from the

conflict with Iran. Officials say security personnel felt more comfortable with the president aboard the older aircraft manufactured here in the U.S.

Democrats in Maine are scrambling to replace Senate candidate Graham Platner. He dropped out of the race last night, days after an ex-girlfriend

accused him of rape. Platner calls that allegation false. Democrats now have two weeks to nominate a new candidate to take on Republican Senator

Susan Collins in November.

In Texas, there is outrage and a demand for answers after a father of three was fatally shot by U.S. immigration agents. The family of 52-year-old

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo say he was shot during a traffic stop involving unmarked vehicles while he was on his way to work. And a spokesperson says

he tried to resist arrest and rammed his car into a law enforcement vehicle. His family is disputing that account. A source now reveals that

the victim was not the target of ICE operations in Houston.

This is the Department of Homeland Security, says the officers involved were not wearing body cams. They blame Democrats for government shutdowns

as the cause of that. The Department of Homeland Security, which is ICE's parent agency, says it will investigate, but Democrats are calling for an

independent investigation.

Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia is among those calling for such a probe. She joins us now from Houston. Congresswoman, thanks so much for taking the

time.

REP. SYLVIA GARCIA (D-TX): Well, thank you for having me, Jim.

SCIUTTO: So, once again, we have an ICE explanation that at least raises questions and contradicts some of the details we're getting from the family

here. Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday ICE officers were targeting him because he was living in the country without legal

permission. They say that he used his car as a weapon, that they were firing in self-defense. Do your constituents have reason to doubt that

account?

GARCIA: Absolutely. This is a repeat of the playbook that ICE uses every single time, and it's just getting to be an old, broken record. This is the

same thing they said after the killing of Renee Good, that she recognized her car, that she resisted arrest, that she tried to run him down, and they

acted in self-defense.

Well, here's some of the facts we know now. A, we don't have any video because they do not have body cam video. They do not have dash cam video.

They had no lights, no sirens, and they were unmarked cars. Now we know, just talking from this afternoon to the acting director of ICE, that he was

never a target. Mr. Salgado was never a target.

The target, it was not a traffic stop. They've changed their tune. It's no longer a traffic stop. It was a result of an order for immediate removal on

one of the passengers, one of the workers that he was picking up, a part of his crew, because he is a contractor. He builds homes. He's a father, a

husband. You know, this is a man who's been a Houston resident for 35 years, and he's given back to our community. He was simply picking up two

workers. Apparently, one of them had a removal order. He was never a target, but somehow, he ends up being a fatality.

[18:35:00]

So, it's a broken record, and the lawyer for two of the three tells me that he has written statements. And none of the three ever saw an ICE officer in

front of the van. You can't run over somebody if you're not in front of the vehicle.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

GARCIA: I mean, that's just common sense. So, there's conflicting stories --

SCIUTTO: To the point of, you know, to the point of an investigation, the DHS's Office of inspector general said they're going to have an

investigation. But if we look at the precedent here, because, of course, we heard quite similar after the shooting deaths of Renee Good and Alex

Pretti. Do you have, one, confidence?

GARCIA: Absolutely.

SCIUTTO: Do you have any confidence in the DHS's willingness to investigate this?

GARCIA: No, no, no, no. No. You know, that's like the fox guarding the hen house. When you've got the internal OIG, and, again, when you look at the

Good case, it's been over six months. We've not had a report. There's been no accountability. There's been no charges on anyone.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

GARCIA: Houston's not going to stand for that. We are united. We're in grief. We are there standing shoulder to shoulder with the Araujo family.

We want answers. And telling us one side and expecting us to believe it, this is Texas. We don't put up with horseshit. We want to know the truth.

We want an independent, thorough investigation. And if they can't do it, we need to go to the Commission on Civil Rights. We need to ask the GAO. We

should even go to the U.N. Council on Human Rights, because every death at the hands of ICE is a human rights violation, and we need to get to the

bottom of this to make sure it never, ever happens again.

SCIUTTO: On the question of why they were not wearing body cameras, the DHS is blaming Democrats for government shutdowns, but as you know,

Republicans passed close to $70 billion in immigration enforcement funding through the end of President Trump's term. Is that a reasonable excuse as

to why these officers did not have cameras?

GARCIA: Again, I'm from Texas. It's just horseshit. I mean, Kristi Noem herself told us in February of 2026, four months ago, that she was going to

use those $20 million she already had in her budget to buy secure body cameras and she was going to send them out to the field. I asked the acting

director today why I didn't have them, and to his credit, he did tell me today, verbally, that he would make sure that they procured and secured

body cam cameras to make sure that everyone in the field would have them by the end of this month. And I'm not going to hold him to his word.

I want to make sure that on August 1st, we know that every field officer has a body cam camera because in addition to that $20 million, they had $75

billion in their big, ugly bill. Then they got another $38.4 billion just for ICE in the last thing that we did. So, to tell us now that, oh, well,

we didn't have the money, again, it's just horseshit.

They have more money than some countries do in their entire defense budget. And you're telling me they can't find money for one body cam camera on

every officer? It's just ludicrous. It is shameful that they're using this as an excuse.

SCIUTTO: Congressman Sylvia Garcia, we hope you get hard answers. Thanks so much for joining.

GARCIA: Thank you so much.

SCIUTTO: Just to add, a Democratic candidate has now suspended his bid for the U.S. Senate after he was accused of rape. We're going to break down

what this means for the midterm elections and what the next steps are for choosing a replacement right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:00]

SCIUTTO: Democrats are scrambling to replace the man who was their candidate in a key race for the U.S. Senate. Graham Platner was running as

an outsider in Maine, where he was trying to oust longtime Republican incumbent, Susan Collins. He suspended his campaign, though, on Wednesday

after a woman accused him of raping her five years ago. He denies the allegation. Platner made no mention of his accuser in his announcement.

Instead, he blamed Democratic leaders and the media.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRAHAM PLATNER, FORMER U.S. DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR SENATE: They would rather see Susan Collins win than have me be the next senator from Maine.

We are suspending campaign operations. This is incredibly difficult because I know that some will think it's an admission of guilt, and it most

certainly is not. We're not doing it because of the allegations. We're doing it because of the structures that are being taken away from us by

those in power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Platner's exit complicates the Democrats' strategy in the midterm elections. Maine is a Democratic-leaning state, the only one where the

party had a strong chance of unseating a Republican senator.

For more, I'm joined now by Arlette Saenz. And, Arlette, I know among Democrats there's quite, you know, reasonable concern about repeating the

Biden-Kamala Harris mistake, right, in the sense that, you know, how some party grantees are choosing the replacement here. So, walk us through this

convention process. How open will it be? How many candidates? And who actually decides?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim, a lot of the voters that we talked to here in Maine actually pointed back to what happened in 2024 and

worry that they're going to face a very similar scenario here with this race, as there are just now under four months for Democrats to select a new

nominee after Graham Platner dropped out.

Now, the Maine Democratic Party has announced that they plan on holding a nominating convention at some point towards the end of the month. That is

where Democrats here in Maine will have the opportunity to select the next nominee.

But there's still a lot of questions about how this process will play out, how they will select the people who go to that convention and ultimately

make the final decision about who the next nominee will be. We do anticipate that there could be around maybe 600 people voting in this

convention. That includes members of some of the state party's committees, but also, they're trying to sort out ways to have people from various

counties come and give their votes in this contest.

Now, we have already seen a slew of candidates jump into the race. Three of those candidates actually ran for governor back in June, but did not make

it through the Democratic primary. That includes Troy Jackson, Shenna Bellows, and Dr. Nirav Shah. He actually came in first place at the

beginning of that gubernatorial primary, but then landed in second once rank choice voting was considered. There is also a former congressional

candidate, Jordan Wood, who has entered this race, and the owner of a Maine brewery, Dan Kleban, who is trying to run as this outsider in this contest.

But there's still so much unknown about how this process will play out.

Technically, Graham Platner has suspended his campaign, but he still technically has to file paperwork to withdraw his name from the ballot. He

is waiting until Monday, which is the deadline to do so. There's really no explanation why he is waiting so long, but it really comes as Democrats are

eager to close this chapter of this saga and start to focus on selecting their new nominee to take on Susan Collins in November.

[18:45:00]

SCIUTTO: Yes. And certainly not the most remorseful announcement either from him. Arlette Saenz in Portland, thanks so much.

Well, some highlights now from the first match of the World Cup quarterfinals. France and Morocco met in a rematch of their 2022

quarterfinal. We'll have an update on the race for the Cup's Golden Boot as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: Well, one of the favorites, France, are now on their way to the semifinals of the World Cup after beating Morocco 2-nil. The game was a

rematch of the semifinal meeting at the last World Cup. The French captain, Kylian Mbappe, broke a scoreless tie at the 60-minute mark. He is now tied

with Argentina's Lionel Messi for the Golden Boot of this tournament. They both have eight goals.

France will now face either Spain or Belgium in the semifinal. Incidentally, that game is set for July 14th, which just happens to be

Bastille Day, the French national holiday.

Joining us now, Maria Santana in Boston. I mean, listen, France was one of the favorites, but Morocco was a very dangerous team, right? I mean, there

were no guarantees going into this.

MARIA SANTANA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And you know, fans here, fans of the Moroccan team, really believed that this was their year, that

they were going to beat Kylian Mbappe, that they would get revenge on that team that ousted them in the 2022 World Cup in the semifinals.

It was a historic run for this team. It continues to be, but you know, nature of the sport is some people like these guys, they end up really sad,

really sad.

How are you feeling? I know the feeling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we're getting better now. You know, we're trying to just accept it as it is. It's a sport at the end of the day. It's a

game. You know, win or lose, and we will come back, and we're going to do better than this year.

SANTANA: 2030.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 2030.

SANTANA: That's -- yes. Now, on the other side of that, of course, you have these guys, the French, the fans of France, who, you know, they're

really happy. What do you hope happens to your team now? Who do you want them to face if they do get to the finals?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we're super excited. We love this team. Allez les Bleus. I think we want to face Argentina because we need revenge from four

years ago. We need that rematch. Allez les gars.

SANTANA: So, as you can see, the fans here are hoping for another rematch of the 2022 World Cup. Kylian Mbappe versus Lionel Messi in the finals. I

actually spoke to baseball legend, Hall of Famer, pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, Pedro Martinez earlier. He all predicted that, you know, Morocco

would win this match, but, you know, that didn't happen, but he did say Argentina was going to win the whole thing. So, we'll see who's right,

who's right.

It's a game, and, you know, the excitement continues. This was the last match here in the host city of Boston, but the watch parties don't end.

There's a lot of World Cups still left. Jim.

SCIUTTO: No question. I'll be watching as well. Maria Santana, thanks so much.

[18:50:00]

Well, as new stars emerge on the soccer field, a new book looks at how one of baseball's biggest and longest running stars became a hero to the sport

and to his home state of Texas.

Nolan Ryan is a Hall of Famer, an easy one, who played at the very beginning of his career for my favorite team, the New York Mets, before

they let him go and went on to great heights for the Rangers, the Astros, and the Los Angeles Angels. He became one of the greatest pitchers, with

seven no-hitters, the most strikeouts in league history, and just a whizzing fastball well into his 40s.

Tim Brown is the author of "Nolan: The Singular Life of an American Original," and he joins me now. Tim, so good to have you.

TIM BROWN, AUTHOR, "NOLAN: THE SINGULAR LIFE OF AN AMERICAN ORIGINAL": Jim, how are you today?

SCIUTTO: So, I know this book captures a lot. I do want to start with what is his signature quality, which was his longevity, pitching well into his

40s. Then when you compare him to some of the other greats, I mean, 27 seasons to Sandy Koufax's 12, for instance, another great pitcher. How did

he manage to stay in it so long and so good?

BROWN: Well, I think part of it was luck, right? So much of the game rests on this inch-long ligament in every pitcher's elbow that decides careers

and seasons and who you're going to be over the course of your career.

But I think what I came to learn was that much of his work ethic, much of who he wanted to be, stemmed from how he was raised in this tiny little

town south of Houston called Alvin, Texas. His father worked two jobs. All of his role models were these very hard-working men of the earth who I

think set an example of what you want to be, how you want to do it. And at the end of the day, I think that that was the thing that led him to those

27 seasons.

He -- my answer is always, he pitched that long because he wanted to. And I think his role models established that for him.

SCIUTTO: Devoted to baseball, no question, but devoted to his family as well. And you tell stories of his generosity through the years, too. I

mean, this is a book about character, isn't it?

BROWN: It absolutely is. It's about -- it's a love story. He and his wife, Ruth, have been married for 60 years. It's about raising a family in Texas,

primarily. It's about helping people who needed a hand. There's a story in the book about a young bat boy for the Houston Astros, and Nolan helped him

through college because he felt like this was someone who had earned it.

And years later, when they met again, and this young man told Nolan, I remember what you did for me, and I'm going to pay you back. Nolan said,

no, please just do the same thing for the next guy. And I think that Nolan sort of exemplified who we all want to be in a lot of ways. A hard

competitor on the field, a good man off the field. And I think that -- you know, I think it still stands today. He's going on 80 years old. I thought

it was a good time to look back on Nolan, both in terms of the man and in terms of through the lens of today's game.

SCIUTTO: I have to ask you this because in the current stats focused, one might even say stats obsessed environment, the way pitchers are measured,

the way players and pitchers are measured and age is not an asset today, right? I mean, the teams give up on players long before they're in their

late 40s. I mean, would Nolan Ryan have had this kind of career in today's Major League Baseball?

BROWN: Well, one of the points I make in the book is that there will never be another Nolan Ryan because the game won't allow it. You know, forget

about the longevity for a second and think about what he did in the course of his career, throwing 300 plus innings. He threw 235 pitches in a single

game, making 40 plus starts a year.

All of these things, you know, because of the obsession with velocity, because of the fear of what can happen to a pitcher's arm, we have come to

coddle perhaps, baby perhaps, today's pitchers. And I think that because of that, there is no room anymore for the outlier, for the next Nolan Ryan.

And I think that's a shame.

We see -- just in the past few days, we've seen two perfect games die, not on the pitcher's mound, not in the batter's box, but on the top step of the

dugout. And these are all pitch count decisions or inning decisions and things like that. So, it's a real shame, I think.

SCIUTTO: No question. I mean, you can imagine a pitcher going over 300 innings today. I mean, now over 200 and you're a workhorse. Well, the book

is "Nolan: The Singular Life of an American Original. Tim Brown, we appreciate you joining.

[18:55:00]

BROWN: Thank you for having me. Have a great night.

SCIUTTO: Well, finally, "Turnaround Bright Eyes," a pop music lyric that spanned generations. Bonnie Tyler, the raspy-voiced singer behind the power

ballad, "Total Eclipse of the Heart," has died at the age of 75. A statement on her website says she passed away in Portugal after a recent

illness.

Born Gaynor Hopkins in Wales, Tyler also sang "Holding Out for a Hero" from the 1984 "Footloose" soundtrack, and "It's a Heartache." Tyler spoke to

CNN's John Berman back in 2017.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: What's your favorite line? Can you give us your favorite verse from the song?

BONNIE TYLER, SINGER: I need you more than ever. And if you only hold me tight, we'll be holding on forever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Still that raspy edge to the voice. Tyler was nominated for awards at both the Grammys and the Brits and was made a member of the Order

of the British Empire back in 2023.

Well, thanks so much for joining. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington. You've been watching "The Brief." Please do stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:00:00]

END