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Trump Resumes Weapon Shipments to Ukraine; Sen. Thom Tillis Blasts Hegseth; At Least 120 People Confirmed Dead in Texas. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired July 10, 2025 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: -- but without informing, without the approval, without the knowledge of the president of the United States. Here's what Pence said about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: When you've served at the level I've served at, it's a big government, and a lot of people in your agencies and in departments are making decisions all the time. But that one was troubling to me. And my bet is it's very troubling to the president. My expectation is that he'll get to the bottom of it. He will he will find out who initiated that decision. But the most important thing is that he reversed it. And made it clear in a phone call with President Zelenskyy last Friday that the support's going to continue to come.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And, Wolf, I asked the former vice president -- since he said get to the bottom of it, I asked him if he agrees with Republican Senator Thom Tillis, who suggested to Jake yesterday that he regrets his support of Pete Hegseth during his confirmation process through the Senate, and he disagreed with Thom Tillis, Pence did. He said he did not think his criticism was fair of Pete Hegseth's and that he thinks he's doing a good job at the Pentagon. Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Kate Bolduan, excellent interview. Thank you very, very much. I want to discuss this and a lot more with Republican Congressman Ryan Zinke of Montana. He's a key member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He was also the interior secretary during the first Trump Administration.

Congressman, thanks so much for joining us. We just heard the former vice president, Mike Pence, call out what he says are the isolationist voices surrounding the president right now? He says they've lost their footing. What's your reaction to that?

REP. RYAN ZINKE (R-MT), FORMER TRUMP INTERIOR SECRETARY AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: Well, I think he's actually correct. You know, Trump had to move, I think in Iran and he's been very clear, no nuclear weapons in Iran to continue to develop and enrich uranium. I think he's very, very frustrated with the Ukrainian. Remember the campaign promised, I'm going to end it at day one.

You know, obviously Putin is the aggressor and Putin has not been, I would say, fair nor has he been honest with President Trump. You know, a lot of rhetoric, but nothing is actually happening on the ground. Putin continues to be, you know, the aggressor. And look, in June, they had more casualties in June than the last three years.

So, it looks like, you know, they continuing to mount mass offenses. Ukraine's doing a pretty good job. I think the issue with defense was, look, we're shorthanded. You know, U.S., we're using missiles, we're using our defense, you know, systems at -- on almost an unprecedented rate considering what our supply chain is. So, we don't have the weapons systems and the military industrial complex to produce the weapons at the level we would like worldwide.

BLITZER: And it's interesting that today, and I think this is significant, Congressman, weapons shipments from the United States to Ukraine have resumed after suddenly being cut off last week. CNN has learned that the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, was behind that initial move last week and didn't actually inform the White House beforehand. I want to play something that Republican Senator Thom Tillis told our Jake Tapper yesterday about Hegseth. Listen and watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): I think it's clear he is out of his depth as a manager of a large complex organization.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. What was your reaction to the Signal gate situation?

TILLIS: Well, that's just one. I mean, this whole idea of having a pause in Ukraine defensive arms, that's just amateurish.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: You served in the U.S. Navy. Do you agree that the defense secretary is, quote "out of his depth" right now?

ZINKE: No, actually I don't. I like Pete Hegseth a lot. He's done marvelous things. But you know, also he is facing, you know, a war in the Middle East. And look, you know, missile systems, when we're launching as many missiles systems as we are, we just don't have the supply base. So, I think he looked at it, we got to shore up, you know, what we have in the Middle East and Fifth Fleet. We got to shore up what we have on torpedoes. We have to shore up on -- so, it was a balancing act on there.

You know, obviously, the president and administration is frustrated with Ukraine and Russia in that theater. And now, they look at -- looks -- we make sure they have the right defensive posture, which is unfortunately, you know, we don't have enough weapon systems. So, you got to look at where you're going to put them, what their priorities are. You have China continuing to be aggressive in Asia and the China -- South China Sea. We have Iran continuing, looks like, enriching uranium to the capacity they can. So, I think it was balanced. But I think Hegseth said has done a great job, you know. Thus far, he's going to have to reorganize the fence. That's a larger issue.

But look, the bottom line is our supply chain, we don't have the industrial complex industry we did in World War II, and we need to shore it up.

[10:35:00]

BLITZER: Interesting.

ZINKE: And last of all, I said on the foreign military sales working group, and I can tell you on foreign military sales, how we deliver, you know, weapons systems for defense and deterrents overseas, we got to reorganize because we're not producing the weapons and we're not getting them to our allies. Taiwan, Ukraine in this case, even to Israel effectively. And the systems we deliver oftentimes are obsolete and antiquated because we can't get them there soon enough. And technology's changing.

BLITZER: Interesting points you're making, Congressman. After President Trump said that weapons shipments to Ukraine would resume, some in your Republican Party are now changing their tune when it comes to Ukraine. A Ukraine aid from the United States after previously being opposed, Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris, now says, and let me read to you what he says, quote, "Ukraine must be able to defend itself."

You've previously voted, Congressman, against sending various forms of military aid to Ukraine saying the war is being fought on the back of U.S. taxpayers, your words. Is President Trump wrong to send more military aid to Ukraine now?

ZINKE: Well, let me be clear, no blank checks with Ukraine. And delivering weapon systems without knowing where those weapons systems go and further and further into Russia, I think is a problem. Mine, and I'm sure the president's desire is peace. So, yes, no blank checks in Ukraine. And Europe has to step up. That I agree with.

But the -- what -- you know, right now, Putin continues to pound. And Putin has been a disingenuous, you know, individual as far as peace talks goes. Trump has had multiple conversations with Putin, and thus far, they've ended with zero. So, I do think we need to give the weapon systems for defense on Ukraine and push Europe to take the lead in that.

But look, Europe is even the worse position than we are. Europe let their defense industry atrophy to the point where they couldn't provide much, you know, when they would say, all right. we're going to surge on weapon systems, and they surge with six aircraft, that's not -- that doesn't really, you know, amount to a deterrence with Russia.

So, I think the president is correct. We'll continue to just provide, you know, defensive weapon systems, especially Patriots, but we're going to have to increase our industrial base, quite frankly, because every time a drone attack happens in the Red Sea and we're going to defend it, you know, those are million-dollar systems that take a long time to replace right now.

BLITZER: Congressman Ryan Zinke of Montana, thanks as usual for joining us.

ZINKE: My pleasure, Wolf.

BLITZER: And just ahead, we'll go back live to Kerrville, Texas to hear more stories of survival. We'll speak to two city workers who got the call about the flooding and jumped into action to save people.

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[10:40:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: And we are back with our breaking news coverage of the deadly flash floods in Central Texas. Just minutes from now at the top of the hour, officials are due to hold their next briefing. Well, six days after the floods hit in the early hours of July 4th, the numbers are grim. 120 people are confirmed dead, more than 160 people are still missing, and of those missing at least 150 are from Kerr County.

Our next guests are Kerrville City employees, Rosa Ledesma and Alex Benitez. So, you all are some of the heroes we've been talking to. I know that you're humble and you don't want to call yourselves that, but you are because you were able to evacuate everyone at the park where you work. Tell us more about that. Rosa, you received a call in the early morning hours. Tell us about that. What time and then what happened from there?

ROSA LEDESMA, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF PARKS AND RECREATION, CITY OF KERRVILLE: Yes. So, sometime between 5:00 and 6:00 a.m. I got a call that waters are rising and we need to assess the conditions in Kerrville Schreiner Park, which is the city's overnight camping park.

And so, I got dressed and got there as quickly as I could. I'm very fortunate that when I arrived, we had staff, maintenance staff, Alex and Daylen (ph) were on site, already doing assessments and checking on the riverside of the park, which at that point was -- I mean, everything was wet and the water had risen significantly. And so, there was --

BROWN: How high at that point?

LEDESMA: At that point it was probably -- I mean, in total, it probably raised anywhere from 15 to 20 feet. And at that point it was probably 10 feet.

BROWN: Wow.

LEDESMA: And so, we had thought, you know, we've got time to get people out. And that very quickly turned into there was no time, and we needed to get people out now. And so, these guys worked very, very quickly under pressure to make sure that everyone was accounted for and evacuated.

BROWN: And so, you were going to knock on the doors of these RVs and some people weren't even believing you, right?

ALEX BENITEZ, KERRVILLE-SCHREINER PARK MAINTENANCE CREW LEADER, CITY OF KERRVILLE: No. Like I said, I got there around 6:00 in the morning. Literally between 6:00 and 6:20, water was already rushing. We knocked on the doors. They were still -- I mean, we had a knock two, three times at times just because they were still sleeping. And they come out in pajamas and asking what's going on, and we're like, hey, we have flood waters coming. We need you to get up, start moving yourselves, moving your RVs. You all still have a little bit of time to -- just right now. But then, that just totally turned into we just got to get you out.

BROWN: Yes. Because it was so dark they couldn't see the -- how high the water was.

BENITEZ: Correct.

BROWN: Right?

BENITEZ: I mean, it was still -- we were still raining, I mean, throughout the whole day, Friday, it was raining the whole time. But in the morning, you could literally not see -- you can hear the water, but you couldn't see really the water.

[10:45:00]

LEDESMA: Yes, we were walking in, you know, what felt like ankle deep water and within minutes we were shin to knee deep in water.

BROWN: Within minutes. So, when it turned into this, we don't have any time. We got to get people out now. Bring us into that and what that was like for you, Alex.

BENITEZ: So, with that, we just told them, hey, we can't wait for --

BROWN: You're basically going?

BENITEZ: Yes, we can't wait for you all to disconnect, try to connect your RVs. because especially with -- we only have one road that fits two cars. By the time they were trying to move, we had two roads, we couldn't even see the road no more. So, then people were trying to drive on the grass. And then, with them doing that, especially with the RV weights, they were just sinking into the grass.

We had one guy that turned around, got stuck in there and he -- we had to push him out with our -- pull him out with the trunk and leave his RV there. And the -- it's -- it was just -- everything was wet. So, it was -- we were just trying to move around and try to get out of there.

BROWN: Did you ever feel like, oh, my gosh, what if we don't get everyone out or -- I mean, your own life is at risk doing this.

LEDESMA: Yes. I think that, again, you know, we showed up ready to do anything and we were prepared or so focused on the safety of our guests that I didn't even think about myself. And I think these guys feel the same way, that they were just so ready to get customers to safety, that they were willing to do anything. I mean, there were points where we were -- the dumpsters were floating away and we were pushing dumpsters out of the way just to get vehicles out. And so, yes, these guys worked really, really hard and diligently to ensure everyone's safety.

BROWN: And we should remind everyone, it was the 4th of July holiday, right? I mean, people were coming, the parks were packed, right? They were at capacity.

BENITEZ: Correct.

BROWN: So, tell us about that, like how many people, and --

BENITEZ: We were going to -- we anticipated having a full park since 4th of July. I mean, our cabins, all our -- we have eight cabins along the river. All of them were going to be booked. We had 10 sites right next or -- 10 RV sites right next to them. Most of them were already there when -- you know, by Thursday the afternoon. So, we were just kind of waiting for everybody else to show up. But we had to --

BROWN: Let me just ask you quickly, because I know you all monitor the weather too, like, did you have any sense that this was going to happen or any alerts on your phone?

LEDESMA: I didn't get any alerts on my phone. The day before we had gotten the National Weather Service alerts that, hey, there's a potential for rain, but what -- we were not prepared or expecting what actually came. And it was a shock to me and I think staff.

BROWN: Yes. And those alerts, I mean, you're in a flood prone area. Like they come, right? I mean, we've heard a lot about people saying, we get alerts all the time and --

BENITEZ: Yes.

BROWN: All right. Rosa, Alex, thank you. And all these people, you know whose lives you saved, I know they're indebted to you as well, and you've been hearing from them, they've been calling the office. Thank you both.

LEDESMA: Yes.

BENITEZ: Thank you.

BROWN: And for more information about how you can help Texas flood victims, go to cnn.com/impact or text FLOOD to 707070. We're standing by for an update from officials in Central Texas. Much more ahead. Stay with us

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:50:00]

BLITZER: A new book out this week takes a very deep dive into a basketball superstar Caitlin Clark's meteoric rise. And it offers a glimpse behind the scenes from some of the more notable moments during Caitlin Clark's career so far, from joining the WNBA to being left off the 2024 U.S. Olympic team. The book is titled "On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and The Revolution in Women's Sports." It's written by CNN Sports Analyst and USA TODAY sports columnist Christine Brennan.

Christine, thanks so much for writing this terrific book. It's a must read for anyone not only interested in sports, but about women in America. It tells a great story. Your book talks about how the WNBA was not actually prepared for Caitlin Kaitlin Clark's arrival. And the attention her star power brought to the league. Tell us a little bit about what you learned from your reporting.

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST, SPORTS COLUMNIST, USA TODAY, AND AUTHOR, "ON HER GAME: CAITLIN CLARK AND THE REVOLUTION IN WOMEN'S SPORTS": You know, Wolf, when I was speaking with people after Caitlin Clark had announced that she was entering the draft, and of course we've seen her barnstorming, the huge crowds, 4 million more people watching the Women's Final with her and the NCA than watching the men's final. And I was talking to -- as I said, with officials at the WNBA, and one of them said to me, this is like the biggest thing since Maya Moore.

Maya Moore was a great player, but this is so much bigger than Maya Moore. And I just think with that reporting, and I put all this in the book, a journalistic look at this entire story, the magic of Caitlin Clark. And when you look at that and you say, how could they not see this coming and they were totally unprepared? And I think one of the reasons because the WNBA never got the coverage it deserved from the male dominated mainstream sports media, Wolf, I think they may not have thought it was even possible that finally they would reach the big time, but they have.

And with the racial issues with the 74 percent black league in our racially polarized society, a white woman coming in, obviously that makes sense. There would be some issues and conversations. And the WNBA simply failed to meet the moment.

BLITZER: And you write beautifully and brilliantly about all of these things in your new book. What is it about Caitlin Clark, Christine, that she was able to usher in this new level of success for women's basketball and for women in general and her ability to change, for all practical purposes, women's sports here in the United States?

BRENNAN: You know, Wolf, you're a big basketball fan. You and I talk about basketball a lot and, you know, women's basketball had never seen anything quite like this. And what am I talking about? The logo threes, right? She's shooting from the parking lot. She's shooting from the next county and it goes in the. Fast pace of her play, the beautiful passes as if on a string, sometimes the length of the court or three quarters or a half court as she finds a teammate perfectly. That's basketball. Absolutely, but it's also entertainment.

[10:55:00]

She is the high wire act, and that's what draws people who would otherwise never watch women's basketball or sports at all. They like, hey, I want to see that because it's entertaining to me. I've got voices throughout the book talking about that. And Caitlin herself answered quite a few questions that I asked her just about playing like that. She wants to run, she wants to move fast, and she knows that entertains those capacity crowds who come to see her.

BLITZER: It's really amazing what's been going on and you write about it. The book is entitled "On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and The Revolution in Women's Sports." It's a must read. Christine Brennan, thanks very much for writing this book. Thanks very much for joining us.

BRENNAN: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Any moment now, we're expecting an update from officials in Texas as crews are working around the clock. They're searching for at least 160 people, adults and children, who are still missing across the state after devastating flooding. Our live coverage from Kerrville, Texas picks up right after a short break.

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