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Flash Flooding Kills Three in New Mexico; Lynn Budd is Interviewed about Texas Flooding; Hegseth Didn't Inform White House on Weapons Pause; Tech Giants Invest in Training Teachers; James Gunn Talks about "Superman". Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired July 09, 2025 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:30:51]

JOHN BERMAN, This morning, new, devastating and deadly floods. Not Texas, but in New Mexico. Two children and a third person are dead after flash floods hit in the same area where huge wildfires scorched tens of thousands of acres last summer.

Let's get right to meteorologist Derek Van Dam for the latest on this.

And those two are very much connected, Derek.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, and I think what's really important to note too, here, John, is that the flood warning and the guidance from the National Weather Service was issued about 15 hours in advance of this wall of water, which you're seeing directly behind me. This is this perfect combination, the confluence of the heavy rainfall falling over a burn scar from the recent wildfires last year in Lincoln County. And then, of course, the topography.

But what's really struck me is just the amount of force that this torrent of debris, look at the logs, full trees. And then we've seen the video of the home that was completely washed away by this flash flood.

And I want to reemphasize that, this is flash flooding because of this rapid rise in the river. And this part of the western U.S. is so susceptible to it. Because of these recent burn scars, it creates this impermeable surface. So, when we have heavy rain events, like what just happened in Ruidoso, New Mexico. This water just basically runs right off the top of the soil surface that has been scarred by the recent wildfire activity. And that allows for that sliding of the water to fall. You can see that home just being taken down river several miles per hour, right? That's the torrent.

And there is the record-breaking peak with this still needs to be confirmed by the National Weather Service, but that's just incredible to see.

So, about three and a half inches of rain caused this flash flooding. And we know that over 20 inches of rain fell in some parts of the Texas hill country.

There is another flood watch in place for the Lincoln County region. Same locations. But what's different on the other side of the country is a high risk of flooding across the megalopolis that is the Mid- Atlantic. And the difference here, John, is the fact that this area has impermeable surfaces, but its more concrete. So, we get heavy rainfall, has nowhere to go, and that's what we expect with the potential of flash flooding across this region today.

John.

BERMAN: All right, we will be watching that very carefully.

Derek Van Dam, thank you very much.

Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, state and local officials are facing questions about the emergency alert system in Texas as search and recovery efforts enter day six. Residents are wondering if officials did enough in the hours ahead of the storm to warn people in the area. The president of the National Emergency Management Association, Lynn Budd, is joining me right now.

First, I want to get to this. Trump has said he wants to eliminate FEMA by the end of November and to shift more responsibility for emergency management, as well as more of the cost, to the states themselves. What do you think the impact of that would be? Is it a good idea?

LYNN BUDD, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION: Well, thank you for having me on today. We appreciate it.

FEMA, you know, there -- there certainly are things that we can do to improve our emergency management system. The costs being shifted to the state and to the local level (INAUDIBLE) take time for us to build that capacity and work with our legislative bodies and things to have that funding come to emergency management.

SIDNER: Do you think FEMA is a necessary organization, one that should stay in place for the role that it plays?

BUDD: Yes. Yes, I do. FEMA is the coordinating agency for federal resources in support of states and local jurisdictions. That same model is -- happens at the state level, where state emergency management agencies are the coordinators of state and federal resources in support of those local jurisdictions. It's a coordination job, and we need them to be there to do that.

SIDNER: I want to ask you a little bit about what we've heard from Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who profusely thanked Donald Trump for authorizing FEMA aid for these -- these really deadly, horrific floods there in the hill country.

[09:35:03]

He said that "the swift and very robust action by President Trump is an extraordinary help to the response."

Abbott is on the president's council that's tasked with recommending changes to FEMA and potentially phasing it out. And at that very first meeting of the FEMA review council in May, Governor Abbott said something very different. He said, "FEMA is slow and clunky and doesn't solve the needs of those who need it the most. States have proven that we can move more nimbly, more swiftly and more effectively." We have heard complaints about FEMA before. How do you see it?

BUDD: Well, I think, again, there's room for improvement and there's room for better coordination between the federal level and the state level. States do have a lot of capability. In fact, in FY '23, states handled about 24,000 natural disasters in support of local jurisdictions, and only 60 of those turned into presidential disaster declarations.

So, the states are capable. However, we do need the assistance from FEMA to continue that technical expertise that you may not have inherent in your program at the state level. And then also, again, the coordination of those other federal resources to support you.

SIDNER: Can you imagine a world without FEMA? I mean, what would that look like for states having to be, for example, maybe reimbursed later, not have the amount of people to come out to help coordinate? What might that look like in a disaster?

BUDD: Well, we do have another system in place called the EMAC system, or the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, where there are governor-to-governor agreements to share resources. In fact, right now in Texas, 11 states are providing resources to Texas with over 246 personnel deployed from those states assisting.

So, we do have systems in place that need to continue to be supported. But there are those times when we, at the state level, do not have the capability that is needed. And that's where FEMA comes in to support.

SIDNER: All right, Lynn Budd, thank you so much for being here. I know this has been a very difficult time, you watching all of this happen, knowing that this can happen in any state. We're seeing some of the flooding, for example, in New Mexico right now. But you're joining us there from Cheyenne, Wyoming. And we do appreciate you.

John.

BERMAN: We've got new CNN reporting on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Sources say he did not tell the White House before approving a pause in weapons shipments to Ukraine, setting up a pretty awkward public moment between he and the president.

And, big tech and teachers unions joined forces in a $23 million push to bring artificial intelligence into classrooms. Could this reshape how students learn and how teachers teach?

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[09:42:15]

BERMAN: All right, breaking overnight, Russia launched its largest drone attack on Ukraine since the beginning of the war. Ukrainian officials say at least one person was killed. The assault comes after President Trump lashed out at Vladimir Putin and said the U.S. will send Ukraine more weapons. This seems to be a notable turnaround. Just last week his administration paused the delivery of some weapons to Ukraine.

Our Kaitlan Collins pushed him on this inside the Cabinet Room.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: So, who ordered the pause last week?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't know. Why don't you tell me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right, so the president made those comments with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sitting right next to him. And we've got new CNN reporting on what happened behind the scenes with that pause on weapons in the Pentagon.

Let's get right to CNN's Zach Cohen on this.

Zach, you're part of the reporting team that broke this. What have you learned?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, John, it's interesting that Donald Trump did not turn to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth yesterday during that cabinet meeting when he was asked about this pause and who ordered it. Donald Trump obviously saying that he wasn't sure when he was asked by our Kaitlan Collins. But we're told by our sources that the person who ultimately gave the final sign off to initiate that pause of weapons to Ukraine was Hegseth.

And this came after a recommendation that Hegseth received from other top political appointees at the Pentagon. But the issue here, John, is that Hegseth, we're told, did not inform the White House before he authorized the pause. And that caught the president himself, as well as several other top national security officials within the administration, flat-footed and off guard.

And look, the other issue here, too, is that the decision to pause this -- these arms shipments does not align with this recent shift in rhetoric we've heard from the president as it relates to Russian President Vladimir Putin. He's obviously taken on a much more aggressive and frustrated tone with his Russian counterpart in recent days and saying in reversing Hegseth's decision that Ukraine needs weapons to defend itself. He's also still seeking a deal with Russia to bring an end to the war in Ukraine.

So, this really does raise new questions about Hegseth's future within the administration. Obviously, the White House still publicly standing by Hegseth. But we know that there's been frustration simmering underneath the surface as Hegseth has really been at the forefront of several controversies in his very short tenure in this job.

BERMAN: Yes, I mean, the president pushed back on Kaitlan Collins saying, why don't you tell me who authorized them, when the person sitting right next to him, the defense secretary, is the one who could definitively answer that question.

Zach Cohen, great reporting. Thank you very much.

Sara.

SIDNER: New this morning, some big names in tech are teaming up with several teachers unions to train hundreds of thousands of teachers on how to use artificial intelligence. But there is consternation, as you might imagine, in schools and with parents about A.I. and how it might be used in classrooms.

[09:45:03]

CNN's Clare Duffy has new reporting on this and joins me now.

What -- what are you learning about this new initiative? I know that there are some schools already fully using A.I. in some classrooms.

CLARE DUFFY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, schools have faced huge questions about whether to use A.I. in classrooms, how to keep kids from cheating, if teachers are using it, are kids getting the full benefit of their education? There are big questions. And some schools have gone on in and some schools have said we're banning this all together.

So now this group of tech companies and teachers unions wants to create a national model for how teachers can use A.I. safely, ethically in the classroom. This is Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic, the American Federation of Teachers, the United Federation of Teachers, they are creating the National Academy of A.I. Instruction. And this is a total of $23 million that is being invested in hopes of training 400,000 K-12 teachers over the next five years in how to use A.I. There is going to be an in-person campus in New York City, of course, online instruction.

And this is all with the goal of making sure teachers really know how to get the full benefit of artificial intelligence so that kids to know how to use this technology that is transforming the economy. That is what the tech companies really say their goal is here.

Chris Lehane is OpenAI's chief global affairs officer. He spoke at this event in New York City announcing the initiative yesterday. He said, "how can we make sure that, in the K-12 context, that we're equipping those kids, those students, with the skills that they're going to need to be able to succeed in what we think of as the intelligence age. You can't do that unless it's actually given to the teachers to do that work." But, of course, for the tech companies, there is a benefit here too in

that their technology is going to get into the hands of teachers and students across the country.

SIDNER: Yes, there's a reason for it, that they want to sort of push this. However, it is true that it's happening.

DUFFY: It's happening.

SIDNER: Whether or not we learn it is a whole different thing. And so, this brings up a lot of questions, a lot of ethical questions as well, as to whether it's good for your brain, it's good for the kids.

DUFFY: Absolutely. And the tech companies say they really want to sort of co-create new technologies, along with teachers, take feedback from the teachers so that everybody is hopefully getting the most benefit possible from this.

SIDNER: It is good to have a guide, generally speaking. So, this will be interesting. I know you'll be watching it.

Clare Duffy, thank you so much for your reporting this morning.

DUFFY: Thank you.

SIDNER: All right, "Superman" soars into theaters tomorrow. John has his cape ready. CNN sat down with director James Gunn for an exclusive look inside the making of the years most anticipated superhero film.

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[09:52:00]

SIDNER: All right, we are looking at some new video just into CNN. No, that is not Texas. That is a time lapse from New Mexico showing just how quickly flood rose there and how high they got. My goodness. A surveillance camera shows the room filling up with water. You see those packages there, just everything being lifted up. It is extremely fast. And that is why, when people get caught in these floods, it is hard for them to get to safety. It apparently, at this point, this is located 130 miles southeast from Albuquerque. Three people have been killed in these New Mexico floods.

BERMAN: All right, we'll watch those very carefully.

In the meantime, it is here very nearly. The new Superman film hits theaters tomorrow. Superman, a well-known journalist and solid coworker. CNN and Warner Brothers are now part of the same company, at least for now.

CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister sat down with writer and director James Gunn.

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DAVID CORENSWET, ACTOR, "SUPERMAN": Eyes up here. ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice over):

Just as Superman has the weight of the world on his shoulders --

JAMES GUNN, WRITER AND DIRECTOR, "SUPERMAN": My wife, who's sitting over there, tries to calm me down.

WAGMEISTER (voice over): James Gunn has the weight of a movie studio on his. Not only does he write and direct "Superman," but he's the CEO of the new DC Studios. This is its first film.

GUNN: I'll try to be as sober as I possibly can. I really try to live with a stoic philosophy about these things.

WAGMEISTER (voice over): As an early comic book fan, Gunn was born for this role.

GUNN: And I started reading comics when I was very young. I learned to read on comic books and started reading them at three. I was looking at pictures, starting to read it four and five.

WAGMEISTER (voice over): Gunn, who directed blockbusters like "Guardians of the Galaxy," calls "Superman" the hardest movie he's ever made.

GUNN: We had to shoot in extreme cold. We had to shoot in extreme heat.

WAGMEISTER (voice over): To say nothing of casting the right Superman.

CORENSWET: What is this?

WAGMEISTER (voice over): David Corenswet, like Christopher Reeve in 1978, is not a household name. But Gunn's instincts made Chris Pratt a superstar, and he thinks he's about to strike again.

GUNN: Yes, I have a bit of an ego about it. I think I'm really good at finding people who become huge stars. I think David Corenswet is the biggest movie star in the world and people don't know it yet. And that's what I -- I said that about Chris Pratt early on too.

CORENSWET: People were going to die.

GUNN: There are very, very few people that have the acting chops, the comedy chops, and happen to be extraordinarily handsome at the same time.

CORENSWET: I wear my trunks on the outside of my pants.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

CORENSWET: Like, it's liberating.

WAGMEISTER (voice over): The film reflects today's world with TV and social media used to sow doubt and fear about Superman's intentions, all for the benefit of political and corporate interest.

GUNN: And the story was, what if Superman really existed in a world that was somewhat like ours?

WAGMEISTER (voice over): Lex Luthor is the selfish corporate villain, but Gunn insists he's not a stand in for anyone in real life.

[09:55:00]

GUNN: I did want him to have some of this Wall Street machismo. You know, corporations have become so incredibly powerful. They're almost as powerful as governments are now, maybe more powerful than governments.

CORENSWET: Ow. Ow. Stop it. Stop.

WAGMEISTER (voice over): Still, this Superman is lighter and arguably funnier than those of the recent past.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We feed the canine, but he is unruly.

WAGMEISTER (voice over): And with a cute dog in a cape, inspired by Gunn's own chaotic canine, how can you miss?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that -- is that your Baby Yoda?

GUNN: I -- I don't know about that, but people definitely like Krypto a lot, I'll tell you that.

CORENSWET: Sit. Sit. Stay.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WAGMEISTER: Superhero films used to be a sure thing at the box office, with many films in the genre crossing the billion-dollar line. But lately, and particularly in 2025, the two superhero movies to come out have fizzled at the box office. So, all eyes are on "Superman," of course, with nostalgic IP and a big price tag.

Back to you.

SIDNER: I mean, with James Gunn -- you got your t-shirt? You got your cape?

BERMAN: I -- I have my tights, more importantly.

SIDNER: OK. I mean, you do you. You wear what you need to wear to be part of the film. That's nice.

Thank you for joining us. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "SITUATION ROOM" is up next.

I'm visualizing.

BERMAN: There's nothing wrong with tights. Tights are OK.

SIDNER: They're fine.

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