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Trump Defends Bondi Amid MAGA Fallout Over Her Handling Of Epstein Case; Acting Head Of FEMA Makes First Visit To Flood-Ravaged Texas; DHS Outlines Future Of FEMA After Texas Flooding Response; FEMA Removed Camp Mystic Buildings From 100-Year Flood Map; Central Texas Flash Flood Risk Grows As More Rain Expected Today; Florida Lawmakers Finally Tour "Alligator Alcatraz" Facility After Delays; DHS Maintains "Alligator Alcatraz" Kept To High Standards; Trump Announces 30 Percent Tariffs On E.U., Mexico Starting August 1; Federal Government Freezes $6.8 Billion In Education Grants. Senate Reports Shows Secret Service Had Major "Failures" Ahead Of Butler Assassination Attempt; Jury Selection Begins In Trial Of Dentist Accused Of Poisoning Wife; "Live Aid: When Rock N' Roll Took On The World" Premieres At 9PM ET. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired July 13, 2025 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:43]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: You're up early. Welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. It's Sunday, July 13th. I'm Victor Blackwell.

Here's what we're working on for you this morning. President Trump is defending his attorney general, Pam Bondi, because she's facing criticism from his base over the Jeffrey Epstein memo. We'll tell you how the president is trying to tamp down the criticism.

Also, the acting head of FEMA was in Texas yesterday after mounting criticism of his absence after the floods there. We'll show you what happened when CNN tried to ask him about FEMA's response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEVI BURNFIN, HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER: It's devastating. Truthfully, it's an attack on programs that directly support these students.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And the Trump administration is withholding billions of dollars worth of grants from school districts across the country. The impact that's having on communities now and as millions of kids are getting ready to head back into the classroom.

CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And this morning, millions under flood alerts right now. Who's at the greatest risk? We'll look at that coming up.

BLACKWELL: All right. Right off the top, President Trump brushing off criticism from the MAGA base over his administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein memo. In a social media post last night, the president publicly doubled down on his support for Attorney General Pam Bondi. He has reportedly expressed his support privately as well.

Now, some of his most vocal supporters are calling for her to step down after the release of the Epstein memo. CNN's sources say that some of that criticism is coming from within the administration, too. Now, the two top officials at the FBI were historically some of the staunchest supporters of conspiracy theories about Epstein. CNN's Betsy Klein explains the fallout for us.

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER AND WRITER: Well, there has been a lot of friction in MAGA world from some of the president's closest allies and loyalists over the release of a memo on Jeffrey Epstein. Now, that memo concluded that Epstein died by suicide and that there was no so-called client list. Of course, that had been a conspiracy theory pushed even by some top administration officials, including Attorney General Pamela Bondi.

But there is a lot of frustration that has really reverberated across MAGA world and frustration with Bondi's handling of these so-called Epstein files. The infighting between the Department of Justice and the FBI came to a head on Wednesday at an explosive meeting where deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino and FBI director Kash Patel were confronted about whether they were behind the story that said the FBI wanted more information released but was ultimately stymied by the Department of Justice.

Now, after that, Bongino told people he was considering resigning and he did not go to work on Friday. But Bongino has publicly expressed unhappiness with his role in the past, saying he gave up everything for the job. And Patel, for his part, says he will continue to serve in this administration in a post to social media on Saturday.

But President Trump clearly trying to rein in this infighting and also doubling down on his support for his attorney general. He writes, quote, "What's going on with my boys and, in some cases, gals? They're all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a fantastic job. We're all on one team, MAGA, and I don't like what's happening."

Now, the president also issued a directive to Kash Patel, who he says, quote, "must be focused on investigating voter fraud, political corruption, ActBlue, the rigged and stolen election of 2020, and arresting thugs and criminals, instead of spending month after month looking at nothing but the same radical left inspired documents on Jeffrey Epstein." He went on to say, let Pam Bondi do her job. She's great.

Now we are also learning, according to reporting from our colleague Kristen Holmes, that the president is privately doubling down on Bondi. His advisers have called on some of her most vocal critics, including Laura Loomer, essentially asking them to cool it.

Betsy Klein, CNN, traveling with the president in New Jersey.

BLACKWELL: All right. Betsy, thank you very much. Also, acting FEMA Director David Richardson, he made his first visit to central Texas since the deadly flooding devastation in the region. His visit comes as criticism builds over FEMA's response to the floods, with "The New York Times" reporting that the agency did not answer nearly two-thirds of the calls to its disaster assistance line.

[06:05:11]

Despite the mounting criticism, the mayor of Kerrville praised the federal response to the floods in a statement yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR JOE HERRING JR., KERRVILLE, TEXAS: When Kerrville and Kerr County asked for help, the state and the federal government answered that call. They showed up in force and they've been here every day since, working 24/7.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: CNN's Julia Vargas Jones has more from Kerrville -- Julia.

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor, the acting head of FEMA, David Richardson, made his first visit to Kerrville on Saturday, coming to this FEMA site. But he did not answer our questions about this "New York Times" reporting that says that two days after the floods, FEMA did not answer almost two-thirds of the calls that came in to its disaster assistance line.

And this reporting details exactly how those numbers started to drop as the contracts with call centers expired. It is also worth noting that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has a new rule where she needs to personally approve expenses that go above $100,000.

CNN's reporting from earlier this week also has that FEMA search and rescue operations took longer than 72 hours to be OKed because as administrators inside the agency said they faced administrative obstacles. And on Saturday, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said that this will be the new normal for this administration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTI NOEM, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Some of what you saw for our response in Texas is going to be a lot of how President Trump envisions what FEMA would look like into the future. Emergencies are locally executed. They are state managed. The state then manages -- the federal government comes in and supports.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: Despite all of that, Victor, Governor Greg Abbott praised FEMA's response to this disaster, saying that it was swift and effective during Donald Trump's visit to Kerrville in the area on Friday. Now, we are also learning FEMA removed dozens of Camp Mystic buildings from this 100-year-old flood map before their expansion.

Basically, Camp Mystic was inside a special flood hazard area in this national flood insurance map for Kerr County that dated back to 2011. This meant that it was required to have flood insurance, that it would have faced tighter regulations for any future construction projects. And some of the camp's cabins were in this part that had one percent chance of flooding each year, which would have required officials to get special approval from the county and government to build there.

But in 2013, an appeal was granted to the camp and 15 of those buildings were removed, were exempted from that flood area. And that, Victor, happened again in 2019, another 15 buildings removed from this flood area map. This -- we have to mention as well as Kerr County officials, just last year in October, submitted a report to FEMA that warned that this area could very well have a flood that was possible in the next year, Victor. All this just pointing towards how many people were aware of the risks of this flooding and of this proportion in the central Texas area, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Still, a lot of questions that need answers. Julia Vargas Jones for us there in Kerrville, thank you so much. We know that there are now flood watches throughout the day for parts of Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma. We're talking about at least 18 million people affected. Meteorologist Chris Warren is with us now. What's the latest that we know?

WARREN: Well, this is an ongoing flood threat right now, Victor, with flash flood warnings, flash flood emergency in effect all being driven right now by a slow-moving system focusing a lot of this rain over central Texas. Here's the rain that came down yesterday and overnight, and where the rain is still falling. So, this is a big factor when looking at the potential for flooding and flash flood warnings.

Green areas watches, flood watches, conditions favorable for the development of flash flooding. The red, those are the flash flood warnings. And then this white outlined area that is a flash flood emergency, this includes Colorado Bend State Park. A particularly dangerous situation right now. Warnings mean you need to take action, seek higher ground right now, that white outlined area.

And this is the rain that's falling right now. And it's when that rain starts falling several inches happening in a short period of time, with more to come, helps trigger these flash flood warnings. The National Weather Service sees that and the warnings start to get issued.

So, this is happening as the rain is falling and more rain is falling. More rain is expected to fall throughout the day. Future radar shows some of that rain drifting farther to the south in and around Kerrville later on this afternoon, into the evening, and then getting a bit of a break.

[06:10:05]

The chance for more showers, more storms will be around tonight and then again tomorrow. Not as good of a chance over the next couple of days. And the expected rainfall, generally, the areas in the orange and the red, Victor, are going to be the areas that are more likely to flood. And again, that risk does continue again tomorrow. BLACKWELL: All right. Chris Warren, we'll talk to you in just a minute. So, some Florida members of Congress, Democrats specifically, they finally got a chance to go inside the state's new detention facility in the Florida Everglades. You've heard it referred to as the Alligator Alcatraz. That's the name that the state's attorney general has given it. It's also embraced by the Trump administration.

And while Florida officials, the state officials, maintain the conditions there are better than in some U.S. prisons Democratic lawmakers, they're not convinced.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D-FL): What we saw, the conditions that we saw inside this internment camp, which it is nothing less than that description, were really appalling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Now, they say they were not allowed to see the units where migrants were actually being detained, just some empty units. CNN's Rafael Romo has more for us. Rafael, good morning.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor, good morning. The state of Florida's Division of Emergency Management agreed to allow a group of lawmakers at the state and federal levels to tour the facility dubbed Alligator Alcatraz. This happened after earlier this month, a group of state legislators was denied entry.

After touring the detention center for migrants in the middle of the Everglades, Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat, called it, quote, "an internment camp." Surrounded by other Democratic state and federal elected officials, Schultz also said that temperature was 85 degrees in the medical intake area, that there is no privacy in the shower area, and the detainees are fed food portions that, in her opinion, are smaller than they should be.

Another lawmaker called it a, quote, "cruel political stunt," while Wasserman Schultz added that there were bugs everywhere. The Florida representative also said she's concerned about the amount of people being held in every holding unit. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: The only thing inside those cages are the bunk -- there are bunk beds, and there are three tiny toilets that are toilet units that have a sink attached to it. So, they essentially drink -- they get their drinking water and they brush their teeth where they poop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: On Thursday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said people need to remember that Alligator Alcatraz is not a hotel. DeSantis also said that all the standards are a lot higher than what was even required. A Republican Florida state senator who also toured the facility Saturday, agrees with the governor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLAISE INGOGLIA (R), FLORIDA STATE SENATOR: The rhetoric does not match the reality from what you guys have been hearing from, I would say Democrats, especially Congressional Democrats. It's actually a very well-run facility. The idea that the detainees are in there and they're in squalid conditions is just not accurate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: Several days ago, I spoke with a Guatemalan woman whose husband is detained at Alligator Alcatraz. Among other things, she told me her husband is enduring mosquitoes, unbearable heat and humidity, insufficient washing facilities, hard beds, and bad food. She also told me her husband was only able to take one shower in a six-day period, and that he has not had access to an attorney so far.

In a statement published on X, the Department of Homeland Security said that ICE has higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens. All detainees are provided with proper meals, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with lawyers and their family members.

Earlier this month, Florida officials said the migrant detention center has capacity for 3,000 people. Victor, now back to you.

BLACKWELL: Rafael Romo, thank you for the report. All right. Still to come, President Trump has threatened to impose a new round of tariffs on Mexico and the European Union. Why he says they're necessary.

Plus, the Trump administration also withholding billions of dollars worth of education grants from school districts across the country. And educators say it's already having real impact on their communities.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:19:20]

BLACKWELL: President Trump is re-upping tariff talks after a three- month break. That 90-day pause on his slew of tariffs ended this week. But the deadline has been extended until August 1st, and he's threatening aggressive tariffs before the deadline, and now add Mexico and the European Union to the list. CNN's Betsy Klein is back with a report on how both are responding.

KLEIN: Well, President Trump launched a global trade war back in April, reshaping the economic world order with his tariffs and rocking markets in the process. The president then issuing a 90-day pause to allow his team to negotiate bespoke trade deals that, with two exceptions, has really proven elusive for the Trump team so far but that 90-day pause ended this week.

[06:20:06] The president extending that deadline to August 1st for his team to allow a little bit more time to negotiate as the president sends a series of letters to world leaders with new and aggressive tariff rates before that August 1st deadline. On Saturday, he sent a pair of letters to the European Union and Mexico, two of the United States' biggest trading partners.

And by the numbers, U.S.-Mexico trade totaled $840 billion last year. U.S.-E.U. trade closer to $1 trillion. But the president, now setting a tariff rate of 30 percent for both if a deal is not reached by August 1st.

Now, in his letter to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, the president said that he believed in his view, Mexico was not doing enough to secure the border and also urged Mexican companies to move their manufacturing to the United States.

Following that letter, a top Mexican economic official said that they had conveyed that that 30 percent tariff marked, quote, "unfair treatment" and that they did not agree, but agreed to continue to talk to protect businesses and jobs on both sides of the border. And on the European Union side, Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen said they are ready to continue working toward an agreement by August 1st.

We also heard from one of the president's top negotiators, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who said in a post to social media on Saturday, quote, "The U.K. trade team smartly secured an early deal. Let this be a lesson to other countries. Earnest, good faith negotiations can produce powerful results that benefit both sides of the table."

Of course, all of this contributing to mounting uncertainty for businesses, investors and consumers alike heading into that August 1st deadline. Betsy Klein, CNN, traveling with the president in New Jersey.

BLACKWELL: The federal government has frozen more than $6.8 billion in education grants, and the money was supposed to be distributed starting July 1st.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BURNFIN: It's devastating. Truthfully, it's an attack on programs that directly support these students.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: The migrants -- the migrant education, training for teachers, after school summer programs, that's what this money pays for.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BURNFIN: When those programs go away, I don't know what the federal legislators would expect to happen besides literacy rates continuing to drop. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: So, let's discuss this with Sasha Pudelski. She's the director of Advocacy for AASA, the School Superintendents Association, and co-leader for the National Coalition for Public Education. Welcome to the show.

So, let's go specifically, if you can give us some examples of how this disruption of the billions of dollars being held back right now, how that's impacting students?

SASHA PUDELSKI, AASA-THE SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS ASSOCIATION: Yes. Thanks for having me. It is having a direct impact already on students, unfortunately. Parents are getting notifications that after school programs that they had planned to send their children to, that they rely on for their jobs to send their kids to, are no longer going to be offered for the school year.

In many places, the school year starts as early as the first two weeks of August, and that means that teachers who are planning to be hired to work with students, particularly students in poverty, are also being told that those positions are no longer available. And now those kids will go without the educators that they need to be successful.

BLACKWELL: Yes. You know, my grandmother used to say that idle hands are the devil's workshop. And so, some of these students, and you talk about, in many cases, low-income communities, not having the after- school program, not having the summer program. And parents who have to go to work that has, I'd imagine, a community impact beyond just not having the money for the program in school. So, let's talk about the broader impact on communities that this disruption may cause.

PUDELSKI: Yes, it's the equivalent of your employer telling you that they're going to pay you on a Friday, and then Friday comes and there's no money in your account. That's the situation that schools are in right now where they were told on July 1st this money would be there and now it's not.

And so, these are -- these are districts that really need these funds to be able to support their students. And some of them are going to be able to maybe float by for a week or two, just like a family could, and maybe move some money around. But already we know in our highest poverty districts that receive the bulk of this funding and meet the bulk of this funding right away, they're having to make impossible choices. These schools are backed into a corner and are trying to figure out, you know, what can we cut that will do the least amount of harm?

[06:25:01]

Is it our art and music programs? Is it our STEM programs? Is it some of the professionals that we are planning to hire in our classrooms to support our English learners?

There are no good choices here, and this is a totally -- a totally preventable, excuse me, situation. If Congress just let the funds go, we wouldn't be here.

BLACKWELL: Let me read for you some of the "Associated Press" reporting on this. The programs count for more than 20 percent of the federal money for the District of Columbia that they receive for K through 12 education. According to an analysis by the Learning Policy Institute, one in five education dollars being pulled out of a budget. Is the triaging happening now, or is this something that is happening a month or two from now?

PUDELSKI: I think it's going to be dependent on the community. There are certainly districts that are already in triage mode, who have already let educators and families and communities know that the things they were counting on are not going to be here as soon as next week, as soon as in the next few weeks, when the school year really begins.

So again, I would equate it to a family not getting that paycheck where, you know, some families are going to be better positioned to be able to have some money they can pull in in the interim. But it's absolutely essential that congressional Republicans pressure the administration to release these funds. Otherwise, they're really going to have devastating consequences for many kids across the country.

BLACKWELL: Are you expecting teacher layoffs if this delay goes for months?

PUDELSKI: Absolutely. I think I'm expecting teacher layoffs if this goes for another week or two. And again, these are professionals that do critical work with our kids. And we can't say that we're really serious about academic performance increasing in our public schools if we're trying to pull teachers out, many of whom are getting trained right -- who would be getting trained right now in the best ways of teaching reading and math, these core academic subjects. And so, it's really disingenuous for us to say, oh, we wish our public schools would do better, but we're not going to give them the funding right now to do that.

BLACKWELL: Yes, the administration says that they are delaying this release to determine -- to make sure that the taxpayer resources are spent in accordance with the president's priorities and the department statutory responsibilities. Thank you so much, Sasha Pudelski, for helping us understand the implications of this disruption.

Still ahead, it marks one year today since an attempt was made on President Trump's life. We'll take a look at the search for accountability.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:32:07]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning. A Senate committee report released just hours ago reveals major security failures by the Secret Service before the assassination attempt on President Trump at a rally one year ago today. It happened at that rally in Butler Pennsylvania. The committee was led by the Republicans and found agents were warned 45 minutes before the attack about suspicious behavior but did not act or share the important information. The report says that these were a series of avoidable mistakes that almost cost the President his life. one year later frustration continues over the agency's response and the lack of accountability.

With me now is Derek Mayer, former Deputy Special Agent in Charge for the Secret Service's Chicago field office. Good to have you with me.

And we're just getting kind of through this new report from the Senate committee. But a year on an event that almost cost the President his life that had so many communication failures, is the Secret Service of today of 2025 substantially better than it was a year ago when this happened?

DEREK MAYER, FMR DEPUTY SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, SECRET SERVICE: Well, the Secret Service continues to improve every day. So just like any other law enforcement agency we, the Secret Service continues to get better. So yes, I can say the Secret Service is better.

BLACKWELL: So, the communication failures ahead of Butler about an Iranian threat also the potential for a long-range threat meaning a sniper, there was some in the Pittsburgh office who weren't aware of one but they knew about the other. Have those been addressed and if so, how?

MAYER: Yes, the communication issues have been addressed obviously it was a congressional report. There was also the Secret Service did their own mission assurance report. And from those reports, from those findings, the Secret Service is improving and communications is one thing they will improve on.

BLACKWELL: Yes. CNN's reporting is that there is this deep sense of frustration and this is based on interviews with a dozen members of law enforcement, also lawmakers. About accountability and that even the top ranking agent who was there at Butler, he's been promoted and there's this delay of accountability.

And so, what is your thought on the accountability for the mishaps, for the delays, for the lack of communication a year on?

MAYER: Well after spending 25 years in the federal government, I can tell you that disciplinary actions do take a long time. I know it's been a year and I know obviously the reportings that six agents were suspended. So, there was due diligence there.

[06:35:04]

But just like any other federal agency the Secret Service has high standards for its employees, and there is due process, and it typically does take a lot of time to conduct an investigation on any type of federal employee.

BLACKWELL: Yes, and I think people understand that it takes some time. There was some immediate accountability in the days after this. The Secret Service director who was serving during the Biden administration, she was out. It didn't take very long.

But for Sean Curran, who, as I said, led the detail that day, for people who don't know the inner workings of the Secret Service, how is it possible with what we know about the failures of the day that he was promoted to director?

MAYER: Well, I can tell you this. I mean, Sean is an American hero. I mean, bullets were flying at him and his team, and they immediately sprung into action and, you know, saved the President's life. I think there is definitely trust there between the current administration and Sean Curran.

And, you know, the President gets to pick who he wants to be the director of the Secret Service, and Sean was his pick, and Sean is doing a great job.

BLACKWELL: Talk to me about staffing, because as we focused in on not just the first but the second assassination attempt as well, the concern was the staffing crisis, that there was this lack of an adequate number of agents.

How has that been addressed in the last year?

MAYER: So, I think everybody in law enforcement was struggling with numbers, you know, post-George Floyd. I think the good news is that the Secret Service applications are up over 200 percent. Secret Service has 30,000 applications since the first of the year.

I think you're seeing a great effort by the Secret Service. The Michael Bay commercial at the Super Bowl was wonderful, and the Secret Service is really putting a lot of time and effort into recruitment, and you will see that.

So, I definitely think there'll be an influx of human talent to help out the Secret Service.

BLACKWELL: Yes, that Michael Bay commercial, although it was cinematically wonderful, there were some who were really taken aback that there was $2 million invested in a commercial for the Secret Service, but we'll leave that there.

Culture change. There are members of Congress who say that to make this better and to eliminate some of these shortcomings, there needs to be a culture change.

Is there a culture change happening under this new director and in the wake of these two attempts?

MAYER: I think, you know, there needs to be confidence in every Secret Service agent. So as far as a culture change, you know, everybody has their opinion. I do not believe that the Secret Service needs an overall culture change.

The Secret Service is one of the best law enforcement agencies in the world, if not the best. So as far as a culture change, I think everybody can have a difference of opinion on that. BLACKWELL: All right, Derek Mayer, I appreciate your expertise. Thanks so much for being with me this Sunday morning.

All right, still to come, jury selection starts tomorrow for the Colorado dentist accused of poisoning his wife through her protein shakes. What to expect in that murder trial?

Coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:43:04]

BLACKWELL: Jury selection will continue tomorrow in the trial of a man in Colorado accused of killing his wife by poisoning her protein shakes.

James Craig, he's a former dentist. He's pleaded not guilty to first- degree murder and other charges. He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if he's convicted.

CNN's Jean Casarez tells us about the case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE

JAMES CRAIG, ACCUSED MURDER: My name is Dr. Jim Craig and I practice at Summerbrook Dental Group.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Craig and his wife, Angela, had all the appearances of a storybook life.

The couple lived outside of Denver where they were busy raising their six children. Craig ran a seemingly successful dental practice, but prosecutors will soon paint a very different picture of what was going on behind the scenes.

On March 6, 2023, Craig made Angela's daily protein shake, but after drinking it, she didn't feel well. She texted her husband, have you eaten anything? I had my protein shake and magnesium makes me weird. This is not hungry. Are you nauseous? No, I feel drugged.

Over the next 10 days, she went to the hospital three times, but they couldn't figure out what was wrong. On March 10, she texted her husband. Everything was negative or normal. They just did an ultrasound of my heart.

Investigators believe she continued to drink protein shakes at home. As his wife was fighting for her life, investigators say Craig had a girlfriend come visit. She spoke out to ABC News after his arrest.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think that James Craig allegedly poisoned his wife to clear the deck so he could be with you?

KARIN CAIN, DATED ACCUSED MURDER: There's no way I motive. There's been no planning a future.

CASAREZ (voice-over): News of her poisoning and the arrest of Craig rocked this small community.

MICHAEL LUCERO, FRIEND OF ANGELA & JAMES CRAIG: Just makes me sick.

KAREN LUCERO, FRIEND OF ANGELA & JAMES CRAIG: Didn't seem real.

M. LUCERO: Yes.

K. LUCERO: Didn't seem like something that he could ever do to her.

[06:45:01]

CASAREZ (voice-over): But prosecutors will point to computer searches allegedly made by Craig weeks before the murder on February 27, 2023, the day he ordered arsenic metal, and days later, potassium cyanide. How many grams of pure arsenic will kill a human? Top five undetectable poisons that show no signs of foul play.

Craig has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder as well as other charges. His defense, he claims his wife was depressed and had been suicidal for some time. Court documents say James believed that Angela was intentionally overdosing on opioids and another unknown substance, and he was sure Angela's toxicology would come back positive. Her autopsy report showed she had lethal concentrations of cyanide and arsenic poisoning in her system.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: All right, Jean Casarez reporting for us there.

Still to come, it was a defining moment in pop culture history, some of the biggest names in music gathering for Live Aid.

We're going to take a look at the impact on the world of music after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:36]

BLACKWELL: Forty years ago, Queen, U2, Elton John, The Who, Madonna, and on and on. They performed at a landmark music event to raise money for famine relief in Africa. More than 1.5 billion people watched the concert across 150 countries. It not only raised awareness for the famine and economic issues happening in Africa at the time, but also raised millions of dollars for that relief.

The impact of Live Aid is still being seen today, both in the world of music and philanthropy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two, three, four.

GARY KEMP, SPANDAU BALLET: This was 25-year-old kids, working-class kids, trying to change something so huge, intercontinental. And that energy was naive in many ways. MIDGE URE, ULTRAVOX: There's something about pop music, rock music, whatever you want to call it, it is inherently working-class because it comes from nothing.

I was born in a tenement slum on the outskirts of Glasgow. That element doesn't go away. We have empathy, you know. We feel things, that's why we write things, that's why we create things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Joining me now to discuss Live Aid's lasting legacy and impact is author John O'Farrell. Good morning to you.

So you wrote the musical Just For One Day, which is now playing in London. It focuses on the day of Live Aid in July of '85. So we know the music was great, but what is it about the --

JOHN O'FARRELL, AUTHOR, JUST FOR ONE DAY MUSICAL: Yes.

BLACKWELL: -- story, about how it came together and how all of these massive talents donated their time and energy to this industry and this effort that's so compelling?

I think it's because back then we were not the connected world that we are now, the global village that the 21st century Earth has become.

So to have a live concert on both sides of the Atlantic with all these incredible bands and for people to donate from all around the world, that was something new back in 1985. They'd had four satellites for the Los Angeles Olympics the year before. For Live Aid, they had 10 satellites.

They've got military satellites, they've got all sorts of governments helping them. And they did something really special for people a long way away that they would never meet, but they knew they had to reach out and help.

BLACKWELL: Yes. You know, this is 1985, also the year that We Are The World was released. And so that collaboration of that year, and specifically on Live Aid, do you think that it changed the expectation of artists? Changed, I guess, what artists believe they could do to help in these tragedies around the world?

O'FARRELL: Yes, I think so. My musical, Just For One Day, which is still playing in London, sort of tracks the whole journey of some, you know, humble pop stars seeing this terrible thing happening. Harry Belafonte was the one who took the lead in America and said, hey, these Brits are doing this thing, we should do something too. And that's how We Are The World came about.

And these songs, these incredible songs have been put together to tell the story of how they raised the money, how they went out to Ethiopia and saw what was happening and how they put on the greatest day in the history of rock and roll, which is a real treat for me to write the story of with all these fantastic songs.

BLACKWELL: Do you think Live Aid could happen today?

O'FARRELL: I think it would have to be something different. I mean, if you remember, 20 years after Live Aid, there was Live Aid, and that went a long way to helping cancel debt from the poorer countries around the world when George Bush and Tony Blair and Chirac and even Putin was there.

I don't know if the world is capable of coming together like that right now, but I hope that music fans and artists around the world still want to think how they can use their talents to help people less fortunate than them.

BLACKWELL: And just, you know, I kind of glossed over it in the intro so I could get to the conversation with you, but what was the accomplishment of Live Aid and how did they help?

[06:55:08]

O'FARRELL: Well, there were terrible famines in northern Ethiopia and millions were raised. There wasn't enough money raised by the records to buy the lorries and the ships that they needed to break the cartels in the Horn of Africa.

And so, they went one step further and put on this incredible concert. And that money continues to go into that region today. The musical that we are doing in the West End raises money every night for building a new hospital in Tigray province. And it's the problems haven't gone away.

You know, rock stars can't solve poverty, but you can continue to try and make a difference. And probably millions of lives, it's impossible to measure, but probably millions of lives have been saved over the past 40 years by the money that has gone into that area and the food and the aid and the medicinal relief that has been provided by USA for Africa and for the Band Aid Trust.

BLACKWELL: Well, John O'Farrell, I thank you for your time and the conversation and a reminder for everyone, "LIVE AID: WHEN ROCK N' ROLL TOOK ON THE WORLD," it premieres tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

There's much more ahead on the next hour of "CNN This Morning Weekend." Lawmakers, they finally got inside Florida's controversial detention center that some are calling Alligator Alcatraz. We'll hear from one lawmaker on what she saw.

That's after the break.

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