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Questions About U.S. Support Loom Over Ukraine Conference; Donald Trump Threatens Brazil With 50 Percent Tariffs Over Jair Bolsonaro Trial; Key Players Indicate Progress In Gaza cease fire Talks; At Least 120 Dead And 160 Plus Missing After Texas Floods; World Leaders Gather for Ukraine Recovery Conference; Kremlin Says It's Taking Trump's Rhetoric Calmly; X's Grok Chatbot Suddenly Posting Anti-Semitic Tropes. Aired 2-2:45a ET

Aired July 10, 2025 - 02:00   ET

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

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[02:00:31]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world and streaming us on CNN Max, I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, Kyiv is facing another heavy Russian aerial assault. Just as world leaders gather for some critical summits, we will look at what's at stake for Ukraine in those high level meetings.

Plus, Donald Trump is talking tough on tariffs yet again, even threatening Brazil with new levees for no economic reason, whatsoever.

And people in Central Texas are digging through the damage caused by the catastrophic floods. What volunteers on the ground are now hoping for.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Appreciate you joining us. Well, Russia is carrying out another intense aerial assault on Kyiv just hours before world leaders are set to meet for the fourth Ukraine recovery conference in Rome. Authorities in Kyiv say at least two people were killed and more than a dozen were wounded as Russia launched drones and missiles on the Ukrainian capital overnight.

CNN staff in Kyiv reported hearing strong explosions around the capital. Officials are urging residents to stay in shelters. This assault comes less than 24 hours after Russia launched its largest drone attack on Ukraine since the start of the full scale invasion. More than 700 drones and missiles were fired in total.

Ukraine's Air Force says the deadly assault was largely repelled.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he discussed weapons supplies, air defenses and joint defense production with the Trump administration's envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, at a meeting in Rome.

Well, U.S. weapons shipments to Ukraine have now resumed. That is, according to a senior official, and that's after the (AUDIO GAP) some deliveries last week, including critical air defense systems. That pause led to some frustration and confusion inside the Trump administration. The lingering questions about U.S. support are looming over the Ukraine recovery conference about to get underway in Rome.

CNN's Ben Wedeman is there and has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Italy is hosting this Thursday and Friday, the fourth Ukraine recovery conference. What's different this time is that one of the major participants the United States is under new management, a Trump administration that is highly unpredictable. It recently announced, for instance, it was suspending the supply of weapons to Ukraine. But then, as multiple sources have told CNN, the Defense Department had not informed the White House of the suspension, and President Trump came out on Tuesday and insisted the U.S. will continue to provide defensive weapons to Kyiv.

The American president who vowed to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war on his first day in office, appears to be increasingly frustrated with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Overnight Tuesday, Russia fired more than 700 drones in Ukraine, the biggest such attack since the start of the war. This spring, the Trump administration briefly suspended the provision of weapons and intelligence to Ukraine shortly after that stormy Oval Office meeting between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance.

Almost six months into the second Trump administration, it's clear European leaders aren't confident of the kind of U.S. support they've taken for granted since the end of World War II.

This week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen put it bluntly, we cannot, she said, rely on others to defend Europe.

I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN, reporting from Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: A bipartisan Russia sanctions bill is gaining support in the U.S. Senate and Republican Leader John Thune says it could come to a vote before their August recess.

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[02:05:00]

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): We've also made substantial progress on Senator Graham's overwhelmingly bipartisan Russia sanctions legislation to enhance President Trump's leverage at the negotiating table and help end the bloodshed in Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The bill would put heavy tariffs on imports from countries that purchase Russian uranium gas and oil. Sponsors of the legislation say it will give President Trump more options for dealing with Russia, including the ability to waive sanctions at a later date. But Thune has suggested he will not advance the bill without the president's approval.

The U.S. president has threatened Brazil with a crippling 50 percent tariff set to kick in next month, not because of a trade deficit. The U.S. actually has a trade surplus with Brazil. Now, Donald Trump is going after Brazil, in part because of what he calls a witch hunt against Jair Bolsonaro. The right-wing former president who has boasted about his closeness to President Trump, is on trial for allegedly trying to stage a coup. More now from CNN's Marc Stewart.

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MARC STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is not the first time we've seen President Trump use tariffs as a tool to intervene in a particular country's domestic policies. He threatened Colombia with tariffs if they didn't accept deportees from the U.S. It's been a point with Mexico, Canada and China on issues such as illegal migration and fentanyl.

In the case of Brazil, he posted a letter on Truth Social accusing Brazil's President Lula of undertaking a witch hunt that should end immediately. This stems from allegations of the country's former President Bolsonaro of staging a coup against President Lula, an allegation Bolsonaro denies.

In the past, Bolsonaro has bragged about a close relationship with President Trump. President Lula isn't being quiet, vowing to reciprocate if Trump follows through with this threat. This is significant because it's the first time in months another country has threatened to match a tariff threat from President Trump.

And on the topic of tariffs, as expected, President Trump announced a 50 percent tariff on copper imports. This is a commodity used by the Department of Defense, but partly dependent on other nations to get it. About half of it is imported, and according to the London Stock Exchange, most of it comes from China, where I am, Chile, Japan and Congo. Copper is needed for electrical wiring of semiconductors and is used in batteries and defense equipment. President Trump wants to build up the industry, saying, this is America's Golden Age.

Marc Stewart, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Key players are indicating they are making progress as they try to bring at least a temporary end to the brutal war in Gaza. U.S. President Donald Trump now says negotiators are very close to striking a deal on a 60-day cease fire, while Hamas says it's working, "Diligently and positively to overcome obstacles at the ongoing talks in Qatar."

It's also confirming earlier reports that the deal would involve the release of 10 living hostages. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has more.

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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's no question that there is progress being made in those negotiations between Israel and Hamas over a potential cease fire and hostage release deal, both in

the Qatari capital of Doha, where those proximity talks are taking place, but also in Washington, D.C., where critical negotiations are taking place between the Israeli prime minister and his team and President Trump and his administration.

But the fact that we saw President Trump sitting down with Prime Minister Netanyahu last night for the second time this week, but not inviting cameras in, not delivering any kind of statement afterwards, suggests that there's still quite a lot of work to be done and puts into question whether or not this deal can actually get done by the end of this week, as President Trump has repeatedly said he believes is possible.

The U.S. special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said yesterday that three of the four main sticking points have been closed out over the course of the last few days of those proximity talks. But a sticking point still remains.

And my sources have told me that one of the main issues here is the timeline and the location to which Israeli troops would withdraw during that 60-day cease fire, one of the main arguments that has arisen as both parties try and close out this agreement.

We know that the United States and President Trump in particular have provided assurances to the mediators, to Hamas, ultimately, that Israel will remain at the negotiating table and that the ultimate goal here during the 60-day cease fire is indeed to reach a deal over an end to the war altogether and the release of all of the remaining hostages being held there.

But there's no question that time is running out, not only for those hostages whose families and former hostages we have heard remind the world that their situation is urgent, that every single additional day they remain in captivity is another danger to their lives.

[02:10:17]

But also for the people of Gaza, who continue to suffer very intense Israeli bombardment, and also not only food shortages, but fuel shortages that are also affecting hospitals in the Gaza Strip. This image right here shows four newborn babies at Al Helou Hospital in Gaza, all crammed into one incubator that would normally be closed and normally just be for one premature baby.

But this is the kind of situation that Gaza's hospitals, after being decimated over the course of this war, are facing. Not enough NICUs and now fuel that is really posing a threat to the ability of these incubators to function. We have seen hospitals like Al Shifa Hospital shutting down its dialysis center, and the United Nations says hospitals are rationing fuel, ambulances are stalling, and water systems are on the brink.

They say they urgently need fuel to get into Gaza. We've reached out to COGAT, the Israeli authorities responsible for coordinating that aid. They have yet to respond to our request for comment.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: -- whether cuts to federal agencies or new regulations may have affected the emergency response in Texas, what they're telling CNN, that's just ahead.

And cleanup operations and the search for the missing continue in Central Texas and may go on for some time, those stories and much more after a short break.

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[02:16:16]

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Volunteer rescue crews in Texas say searching for victims along the Guadalupe River could take days, if not weeks. Teams continue to look for the missing with reports of more than 160 people still unaccounted for after deadly flash flooding over the weekend killed at least 120 people.

House Democrat Lloyd Doggett has asked the Trump administration for a thorough investigation into whether cuts to federal weather agencies impacted early warnings about the storm.

He's also pushing back against the Texas governor, who described the state's response using a football analogy, saying in part, "Every football team makes mistakes." Here's more of his comments from Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): My focus isn't on trying to say, oh, you did wrong, or you should have done better there. My job is to bring Texas and Texans together and make sure that we immediately start delivering on solutions. You talk about the heroic effort and no one has seen the level of response as what Texas has provided over the past four days or so, and we continue to maintain that response here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: CNN's Isabel Rosales has more on the continuing recovery efforts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SHERIFF LARRY LEITHA, KERR COUNTY: Sometimes evacuations is not the safest. Sometimes it's better to shelter in place. The Hill Country is not a one-size-fits-all all place.

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Local officials defending their team's actions today in flood-ravaged Texas before facing heated questions from reporters and promising that answers are coming.

LEITHA: We're in the process of trying to put a timeline, you know, that's going to take a little bit of time.

ROSALES (voiceover): CNN affiliate KSAT now reporting a firefighter in nearby Ingram, Texas, requested the Kerr County Sheriff's office issue a code red. Nearly six hours passed until that code was issued. The sheriff asked today about that lapse in time.

LEITHA: I believe those questions need to be answered to the family of the missed loved ones, to the public, you know, to the people that put me in this office. We're not running. We're not going to hide.

ROSALES (voiceover): Search and rescue teams are in day six of this exhaustive search, focusing now on combing through piles of debris looking for victims.

KOURTNEY RAND, VOLUNTEER: We're getting down in places that normally people can't get to by foot, more harder terrain.

ROSALES (voiceover): Dozens of volunteers have joined state and local agencies coming out on foot, boat, ATVs, horses, and even mules who can help carry heavy equipment. This volunteer talked to CNN about his reaction to seeing the damage when arriving to help.

DUSTIN BERTARO, MISSION MULES: Water damage, how high the water got on trees. The debris piles around like bridges and, you know, parts of homes and stuff like fridges or water heaters.

MICHAEL TOBERER, PRESIDENT OF MISSION MULES: That amount of people getting taken like that just tells me that just nobody was ready for it.

ROSALES (voice over): Drew Yancy owns this RV resort park.

The July 4th weekend is his busiest of the year, but he managed to safely evacuate all of his guests.

DREW YANCEY, OWNER, GUADALUPE KEYS RV RESORT: We lost ten trailers.

REPORTER: You lost ten trailers?

YANCEY: Ten trailers.

REPORTER: Out of how many?

YANCE: 12. We pulled two out. That's all we could get. That's all we had time for.

ROSALES (voice over): At least 160 people remain missing, and authorities say they have a long way to go. Maybe even weeks.

ROSALES: And what we're seeing here at Drew's park is strangers coming together. They just showed up, is what Drew told me, landing their time, their hands, having machinery to try to get all of this clear, to try to help these families that have been impacted turn the next page, the next chapter in this horrible moment, all as first responders are scouring the Guadalupe River, trying to find all of these people that are still missing, getting their families some answers.

[02:20:08]

Isabel Rosales, CNN, Center Point Texas.

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CHURCH: Brian Trascher is the Vice President of the United Cajun Navy, a volunteer based nonprofit that provides support and recovery assistance during natural disasters. Thank you Brian for talking with us.

BRIAN TRASCHER, VICE PRESIDENT, UNITED CAJUN NAVY: Thank you for having me.

CHURCH: So, what is the latest information that you have on this desperate search for victims in the wake of these catastrophic flash floods in Texas?

TRASCHER: Well, the search and rescue and recovery is ongoing as multiple federal and state agencies are working together, as well as nonprofits on the ground, just like the United Cajun Navy. We've been mainly focused on recovery. There was a lot of areas early on that needed to be evacuated, and it was best to leave that to the Coast Guard, with their helicopters and their experienced rescue operators.

And so, in the process, we have been searching a lot of grids that the Emergency Operations Center has given us further down river and where those waters are starting to recede in low lying areas where they flooded. And one thing we noticed is that we started seeing vehicles appear. Tops of vehicles, RVs, things like that appear as the flood waters recede.

CHURCH: And of course, no one has been found alive since Friday, and that grim realization means that search and rescue efforts may soon move officially to search and recovery. Who makes that grim call, and what's the process involved in getting to that point?

TRASCHER: Typically, the governor will make that call. And normally -- and you know, governor has been very adamant about staying on the job until everyone is found. So, he may just as a matter of as process just not call a transition. I don't think it's going to change much.

As far as the processes that are going on, we've been using canine dogs for four or five days now. We had our mule team arrive today, and they are very experienced in this hilly and mountainous terrain, getting equipment, carrying heavy equipment, chain saws and access things that can help clear debris and open vehicles that were submerged, things like that. So, they've been very helpful.

CHURCH: And Brian, what all do locals need at this time? And how do you comfort those who have lost loved ones, and of course, everything they own?

TRASCHER: Well, when we first learned that, you know, a lot of these potential victims were children, we knew this was going to be a different kind of mission altogether. We have our own chaplain, Tony Dickey, who's got decades of bereavement counseling experience after trauma and natural disasters in particular.

Normally, we wait a couple weeks for a lot of the heavy work to be done before we start bringing him in. We brought him in immediately. We knew that these families were going to be sitting at the EOC daily briefings, waiting here any word about their loved ones. And that's when Tony shines. He's in there. He's praying with them, he's hugging them, he's crying with them.

And you know this community is you can just tell, even though they may not know any of the victims just going to public places, you can see people are being quiet, somber, heads down. It's you know, not just a typical beautiful summer day in Kerrville, these people are hurting really bad.

CHURCH: And Brian, what is the toughest part for you and your search teams when you help in these search and recovery efforts after a disaster of this magnitude?

TRASCHER: You know, the hardest part -- the hardest thing you'll ever do in the type of work we do is come across a deceased child. I made the call early on that we were only going to take special ops volunteers on this mission. Almost all of them are combat veterans, and they just have sort of mental toughness and emotional hardness to be able to handle something like that and go on with the mission to keep working.

We also brought -- or Tony, I should say, brought one of his friends from Florida who specializes in first responder counseling. And what we see a large in cases like this national casualty, especially a lot of children are involved, we see a spike in first responder suicide, and so we brought that specialized counselor along, not just for our guys, but for any first responders that is suffering emotionally from the devastation that they've seen. I think that's been helpful and impactful.

And other than that, it's just going out every day hoping that we'll find some kind of miracle. We know that the missing persons list keeps going up, and every day we're finding fewer and fewer recoveries. So, we just hope that the state's plan to find everybody works out, but it's a big, big search area.

[02:25:04] CHURCH: And we certainly hope for that miracle that you talk of and what incredible work you and your teams do. Brian Trascher, thank you so much for talking with us. Appreciate it.

TRASCHER: Thank you for having us on, I appreciate it.

CHURCH: And we are keeping an eye on Rome, where the fourth Ukraine recovery conference will soon get underway, while the Ukrainian capital endures another massive Russian bombardment. We'll have the very latest just ahead.

Plus, we'll have reaction from the Kremlin one day after Donald Trump angrily criticized Vladimir Putin over the stalled peace efforts in Ukraine, back in just a moment.

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[02:30:18]

CHURCH: Right now, world leaders are gathering for the fourth Ukraine Recovery Conference. It comes as Russia has been carrying out another intense aerial assault on Kyiv. Authorities in the Ukrainian capital say at least two people were killed and more than a dozen were wounded by this latest wave of Russian drones and missiles in recent hours. Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he discussed weapon supplies, air defenses, and joint defense production with the Trump administration's envoy to Ukraine during their meeting on Wednesday.

A senior U.S. official says the U.S. has resumed weapon shipments to Ukraine after the Defense Department paused some deliveries last week. Well, meanwhile, the Kremlin says it's taking Donald Trump's anger in stride after the U.S. president used an exploitive when venting his frustration with Vladimir Putin over the stalled peace efforts, CNN's Matthew Chance reports.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Across Kremlin controlled television, outrage at a frustrated President Trump's remarks about Vladimir Trump.

[Foreign Language]

CHANCE (voice-over): After months of fawning coverage of the U.S. President in Russia, it's now turning hostile amid U.S. threats of new sanctions and military aid for Ukraine.

[Foreign Language]

CHANCE (voice-over): Threatening Russia is pointless; this state TV anchor reminds her viewers.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin.

CHANCE (voice-over): It was these unusually critical remarks that shocked many Russians who were used to praise from President Trump are now just confused.

[Foreign Language]

CHANCE (voice-over): Trump is first our friend who will give us Ukraine says this Russian official. Then he's an enemy who will impose sanctions, then a friend again. For its part, the Kremlin has played down any suggestion that President Trump's critical outburst has had much impact. We're taking it quite calmly, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call, adding that Trump in general tends to use a fairly tough style and expressions.

But back on state television, influential voices are far less diplomatic, warning of dire consequences of a renewed fallout between Russia and the U.S.

[Foreign Language]

CHANCE (voice-over): Trump is bringing a third world war closer with all of this, warns a prominent pro-Kremlin presenter, even though Trump said his main task he had was to prevent exactly that.

Matthew Chance, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: A few months ago, Elon Musk said he loved Donald Trump as much as a straight man can love another man. But their high-profile bromance came to an ugly end recently, and Trump's top aide says she isn't sure why. Rare comments from the White House chief of staff just ahead here on CNN.

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[02:38:15]

CHURCH: On the campaign trail last year, Elon Musk and Donald Trump seemed like the best of friends. The tech giant endorsed Trump and spent millions of dollars to help get him re-elected, but their relationship recently imploded as Musk left the administration and began bashing the president's domestic policy agenda. Trump retaliated by threatening to cut off government funding to Musk's businesses, while allies called for the South African native to be deported.

Now, in a rare interview with The New York Post "Pod Force One" podcast, White House Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, is commenting on the end of the bromance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUSIE WILES, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: It was a great thing when it was a great thing and had a very, I think, a very troublesome ending.

MIRANDA DEVINE, HOST OF "POD FORCE ONE" PODCAST: Why do you think that happened?

WILES: I don't know. DEVINE: Yeah.

WILES: I don't understand it. I don't know.

DEVINE: And do you think he got, I don't know, jealous because he wasn't getting Donald Trump's full attention? Or was it something else?

WILES: No, that doesn't sound like Elon. I don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meantime, a brain drain appears to be taking place inside some of Elon Musk's biggest companies. The CEO of his social media firm X, Linda Yaccarino announced her resignation Wednesday after two years on the job. Musk has also seen other top executives leave Tesla and xAI in recent months. Yaccarino did not say why she's leaving, but it comes amid controversy involving xAI's chatbot Grok. It's been responding to some user inquiries with anti-Semitic tropes weeks after Musk said he was fixing Grok because of responses, he said were too politically correct.

[02:40:00]

CHURCH: I want to thank you so much for joining us. I'm Rosewood Church. "World Sport" is coming up next. Then, I'll be back at the top of the hour with more "CNN Newsroom." Do stick around.

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[02:45:00]

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