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The Brief with Jim Sciutto

At Least 95 Dead In Texas Floods, Dozens Still Missing; Mercy Chefs Providing Meals To First Responders In Texas; Soon: Netanyahu Sits Down With Trump At The White House; U.S. Stocks Fall As Trump Begins Revealing Tariff Rates; Tesla Shares Plunging After Musk Forms "America Party"; Trump Admin: Will Deport Abrego Garcia If Released From Criminal Custody. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired July 07, 2025 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:26]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers. Joining us from all around the world, I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington, and you're watching

"The Brief."

Just to add this hour, rescue efforts continue after devastating flooding in Texas has killed at least 95 people, many of them children.

Donald Trump announces new tariffs of up to 40 percent on a long list of countries around the world. And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

is expected at the White House this hour amid hopes of a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of remaining hostages.

I'm going to speak to Ruby Chen, the father of Itay Chen, a U.S.-Israeli hostage held by Hamas.

We do begin, though, with the devastating heartbreaking flooding in Texas. At least 95 people dead now. That death toll sadly rising. An all-girls

summer camp confirmed that 27 campers and counselors died. There's one of them, 11 are still unaccounted for.

Local and national leaders are raising questions now about why there weren't alerts, why they weren't set out earlier. The Kerrville Mayor spoke

earlier to CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE HERRING JR., KERRVILLE MAYOR: It all happened upriver at the worst possible place. And I think everyone in Kerrville, everyone in Kerr County,

wishes that God we've had some way to warn -- to warn those people.

I've lost two friends. We loved them. And they're gone. They're now -- they're gone.

Everyone here, if we could have warned them, we would have done so. And we didn't even have a warning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: So much loss. Responders are still sifting through the debris. The danger's not over. Flash flooding, more of it, is still a threat.

Isabel Rosales joins me now from Center Point, Texas. And, Isabel, this is just such a devastating tragedy on -- on so many levels. I think of those

parents who -- who lost their children are still waiting for their children to be found.

Tell us what you're hearing from residents there. In particular, are they angry that there weren't more warnings?

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They have so many questions, Jim. So many questions of when these alerts came through, who actually got them,

could more have been done for these little girls, for adults all over the place that have lost their lives and are now missing?

This is also the driving force for these volunteers that have come out by the hundreds. They are -- they just got a briefing here by their team

leader, and they're scattered all over the place.

To my right here is the Guadalupe River. They are following the river down in all of those miles from Hunt, where Camp Mystic is at, to where I'm at,

at Central Point. So, you're talking about 30 miles and all the tributaries, all the bodies of water that -- that -- that feeds into the

river.

So, you're talking about a spider web here that they need to search. A needle in a haystack is what they tell me.

And look over here, as I come right over here. Can you see this on top of the tree? As we zoom in, that is a paddle boat. Up there, all the way in

the tree, that goes to show you the strength of the currents of the flood waters that have just destroyed lives and personal memories, clothing.

People's homes are all over the place. They're looking for signs of life.

But as the time dwindles here, they think that's more and more unlikely. Watch.

SCIUTTO: Texas is grieving right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSALES (voice-over): Grieving and bracing for more rain as urgent rescues are still underway for dozens who are missing after the devastating floods

that ravage Central Texas over the holiday weekend.

Bursting the seams of the Guadalupe River and taking the lives of at least 95 people, including 27 campers and counselors from a summer camp in Kerr

County.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): There's still 10 girls and one counselor from Camp Mystic that are unaccounted for. And the pain and agony of not knowing your

child's whereabouts, it's the worst thing imaginable.

[12:05:16]

Four months of raid fell in a matter of hours. The destructive and fast moving floodwater beginning just before sunrise on the 4th of July. And

many are asking why alerts weren't received and evacuations didn't take place.

DALTON RICE, KERRVILLE CITY MANAGER: Well, evacuation is a delicate balance because if you evacuate too late, you then risk putting buses or cars or

vehicles or campers on roads into low water areas trying to get them out, which then can make it even more challenging because these flash floods

happen very quickly. It's very tough to make those calls, because what we also don't want to do is cry wolf.

ROSALES: But many families wishing they had taken that chance. The timeline, as we know it now, the first flood watch was issued on Thursday

in the afternoon and in the early evening at 6:30 Central Time.

Then the first emergency alert came out at 1:14 the morning of the 4th, and then again at 4:03 in the morning. Just an hour before the river bursts at

around 5:00 in the morning. Then a second emergency alert was issued for Kerrville at 5:24 A.M.

And then at 5:34, an emergency alert was issued for the Guadalupe River area. But phone alerts were reportedly not received by some people in an

area known to have spotty cell service. Nineteen different local and state agencies are working urgently to find those still missing before the next

deluge of expected rainfall, including many who have come out to volunteer and search.

MICHAEL GUYER, VOLUNTEER: I figured, I can at least come and help relieve them of some stress and exhaustion. Now, I know that up towards Hunt and

everything, they're still expecting possibly more storm surges. So, we have to be --

ROSALES: That's a big problem.

GUYER: Yes. And we have to be on the lookout for that too.

ROSALES: And why officials are asking volunteers to stay out of the way.

RICE: Because if -- if we start getting weather reports and all, you know, and all the -- the other complications that are out there, we then have to

pull off of those search and rescue missions to be able to communicate to those volunteers to get off to make sure that they don't become victims

themselves.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROSALES: And all over along this river are RV resorts and campsites. I thought that that's important to note. For so many days, I saw volunteers

coming out here and working with their bare hands with walking sticks, trying to look underneath all of this debris.

Obviously, now they have brought in some heavy equipment to clear the site and make this search effort easier for them. Jim.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Well, it's got to be difficult on so many levels. Isabel Rosales, thanks so much.

Well, Mercy Chefs is one organization now doing its best to help in Texas providing hot meals to first responders. The co-founder Gary LeBlanc joins

me now. Gary, good to have you. Thanks for taking the time.

Thank you for having me on. You must be meeting a community that's just reeling now from all the loss and all the heartbreak.

GARY LEBLANC, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND CO-FOUNDER, MERCY CHEFS: Yes. Everybody that we meet here in the community knows somebody that was a

boss. There's somebody that's missing. And it's one of the things that's repeated over and over.

You know, we worked with our 18 course staff here, but we have 70 to 100 volunteers from the community working with us every day. And for them, it's

a form of therapy. They just want to be out doing something to take their mind off of thinking the worst and its neighbors, helping neighbors and

they just want to put their hands on it.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Tell me of the importance of the comfort you provide. I imagine a -- a hot meal or a cold drink, right? Given the weather down

there must be -- must be comforting.

LEBLANC: Well, the first meals that we served here in Kerr County were Saturday through the first responders and search and rescue teams, many of

which hadn't eaten since they started. And for them to sit down to a hot meal was one of the most joyous things I've ever seen. It was so welcome

for them.

But we believe at Mercy Chefs that amazing things happen over a shared meal. And we often are doing that with people on the worst day of their

life. And we -- we always intend for it to bring a moment of comfort, a moment of hope, maybe a time where they can think about trying to move

forward.

SCIUTTO: We understand there's more rain, perhaps even more flash flooding on the way. That must make the relief work like the work you're doing more

difficult.

LEBLANC: Well, we're distributing out to about 10 or 12 sites around the county. And so we've had to be extra careful with our routes tonight,

making sure that all of our delivery drivers are in touch with us constantly and check back in. So, we're taking every precaution we can.

The last thing that's needed is for somebody else to become a victim of this storm because we weren't paying attention.

[18:10:09]

SCIUTTO: For folks watching right now who might want to help you out, is there -- is there a way that folks who aren't in the area can -- can help

or -- or donate?

LEBLANC: Absolutely. Well, the biggest thing I'm asking people to do right now is pray for the families that have lost loved ones and pray especially

for those families that are still waiting and -- and worrying about the news that may come.

And when we get through that prayer, when we get through that time, people that want to help support Mercy Chefs can go to mercychefs.com and they're

able to -- to support us financially here.

You can also volunteer to come out and serve with us on that website as well. So mercychefs.com.

SCIUTTO: Well, Gary, thanks to you and the teams for the work you're doing out there. It's got to be difficult.

LEBLANC: It's difficult, but it's incredibly rewarding.

SCIUTTO: All right. Take care. We certainly think of all the victims and all their families.

Well, overseas now, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Washington to meet with President Trump. He's expected to arrive at the

White House, in fact, in just a few minutes for his third meeting with the U.S. president this year. They're going to discuss how to end Israel's war

against Hamas.

This comes as Israel and Hamas hold indirect talks in Qatar. President Trump expressed optimism about a Gaza ceasefire deal on Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think there's a good chance we have a deal with Hamas during the week -- during the coming week,

pertaining to quite a few of the hostages.

You know, we've gotten a lot of the hostages out, but pertaining to the remaining hostages, quite a few of them will be coming out. We think we'll

have that done this week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Joining me now is former U.S. ambassador to Israel, Dan Shapiro. Ambassador, thanks so much for taking the time.

DAN SHAPIRO, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL: Thanks, Jim. Good to be with you.

SCIUTTO: You hear the president there expecting -- expressing rather confidence of a deal this week. Sad fact is we've seen deals get close and

then disappear. Do you think that the ingredients are there now for a ceasefire and hostage release deal?

SHAPIRO: At the moment, the talks which are going on in Qatar and parallel to the Prime Minister's visit to Washington seem really still stuck on the

same issues that have bedeviled the previous negotiations and actually led to the previous ceasefire not being extended. That is Hamas wants a

guarantee that this is an end of the war.

And Prime Minister Netanyahu wants to be able, after the 60 days and the return of 10 hostages, to be able to return to fighting so that he can

eliminate Hamas and destroy its ability to rule Gaza.

President Trump's going to have to cut through that. I think he has some leverage with Prime Minister Netanyahu since he just came to Israel's

support in the battle against Iran and bombed its nuclear facilities and could say to him, look, for us to take advantage of the real opportunities

we have right now to reshape the Middle East, to bring about normalization between Israel and more of its neighbors, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, for

example, we have to get this war over. We also have to get the hostages home And see if that can make the prime minister be more flexible than he's

been.

Meanwhile, Qatar, who is the interlock (TECHNICAL DIFFICULTY) you're weaker because Iran, you're after the Israeli and U.S. strikes, it's time for you

to show more flexibility as well.

SCIUTTO: The -- the trouble is that there's a big divide between those positions right there of ending the war entirely and not ending it. What is

the middle ground, if any middle ground?

SHAPIRO: The middle ground seems to be to get into a 60-day ceasefire in which 10 of the live hostages and a number of the deceased hostages will be

relief -- released and a significant amount of humanitarian aid will enter Gaza.

And then from the 60-day ceasefire extended into something permanent. So, it may be that this is how you get there. It's an -- it's an on-ramp, if

you will, to the permanent ceasefire. And the prime minister is not willing to admit that or acknowledge that when it first occurs, but there's an

understanding between him and the -- and the President that really this is the beginning of the end of the war.

That's something actually most Israelis want. Most polls in Israel show that Israelis, by 70 percent margins, prefer and prioritize releasing all

the hostages, which would be associated with the full end of the war, then these partial deals that leave a significant number, maybe 10 or 12 or more

live hostages still languishing in those tunnels.

So, he has support to do it. He has some problems in his coalition, some right wing, far right wing ministers who have threatened to pull out of his

coalition.

But again, he's stronger, the prime minister is, after the strikes against Iran, which were pretty successful. So, he has some political standing to

go with what the majority of Israeli public wants.

SCIUTTO: There are also Israeli leaders, including members of this government who have spoken openly of removing Palestinians entirely from --

from Gaza.

[18:15:09]

Will there be any guarantee in such a deal that that will not happen? Will -- will -- will the people of Gaza get any assurances?

SHAPIRO: Well, it shouldn't happen. You know, President Trump contributed to this problem. When Prime Minister Netanyahu visited Washington in

February, the President, kind of out of nowhere, came up with this proposal of what he called the Gaza Riviera, all Palestinians in Gaza leaving to

unknown destinations. The United States taking over and building a -- a hotel strip on the beach. That was not a serious proposal. It was never

going to happen. He's kind of backed away from it.

But it did, unfortunately, wet the appetite of some of these far-right members of the Israeli government who think, oh, that's the day after plan.

We want to get these Palestinians to leave. The problem is, there isn't anywhere really for them to go, some won't want to leave, and I can't be

forced to leave under international law.

So, I think a ceasefire that gets 60 days guaranteed upfront with the on- ramp to a more permanent ceasefire and a big influx of humanitarian aid, in the meantime, is a good way to take that issue and put it off the table

where it belongs.

Then the goal should be to work with Arab states to get the remaining Hamas leaders exiled from -- from Gaza to bring in a more responsible Palestinian

government and then have Arab states support the reconstruction of Gaza for Palestinians who want to live in peace alongside Israel.

SCIUTTO: Ambassador Dan Shapiro, thanks so much for joining us.

SHAPIRO: Thanks, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Still ahead, President Trump is extending his tariff deadline yet again. However, issuing blunt new warnings to some of America's most

trusted allies about the price of not reaching a trade deal.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: Welcome back to "The Brief."

President Trump today announced another abrupt change to his ever-shifting trade policy. The White House says the president will extend the tariff

pause that was supposed to run out on Wednesday to August 1st.

However, the president started to send out letters to training partners warning them of new higher tariffs if they do not reach a deal.

A wave of letters going out today to countries including major trading partners such as Japan and South Korea. Both will see tariff levels rise to

25 percent without reaching a trade agreement.

[18:20:01]

Two countries, Laos and Myanmar, got threatened with 40 percent tariffs. The president warned that countries -- they warned countries they'll see

even higher tariff rates if they retaliate.

However, they say that the tariffs will not be stacked. That is to say that product specific tariffs, such as those on cars and steel, will not be on

top of these tariff rates.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked today about how countries should interpret this newest deadline.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is the president at all concerned that these countries that are receiving the letters won't take them seriously because the

deadline seems to have shifted already and may shift again?

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: They will take the letter seriously because they have taken the president seriously. And that's why

the president's phone, I can tell you, rings off the hook from world leaders all the time who are begging him to come to a deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: In fact, as they've been saying in a long time and those deals have not happened, President Trump, on Monday, threatened an additional 10

percent tariff on the so-called BRIC nations, he says because their policies are anti-American.

U.S. stocks fell from their record highs on Monday amid those tariff threats and uncertainties. The Dow and Nasdaq fell almost one percent. Bond

yields, rose.

President Trump sent 14 tariff letters to countries today and posted them all on Truth Social. And if you study them closely, they all have a

startlingly similar language, some of them straight up verbatim.

Here is the letter he sent to Japan, beginning with the line, "It is a great honor for me to send you this letter and that it demonstrates the

strength and commitment to out trading -- to our trading relationship."

It goes on to say, quote, "We invite you to participate in the extraordinary economy of the United States, the number one market in the

world."

Further down in the copy, "Our relationship has been unfortunately far from reciprocal."

All right. So now, let's look at the letter sent to South Korea. As you see, we highlighted the very same language in that letter that you saw in

the letter to Japan. In fact, all 14 tariff letters sent today have the exact same language, verbatim in many places.

Joining me now, Neale Mahoney. He is the Director of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. Also former advisor for the White House

National Economic Council. Neale, thanks so much for joining.

NEALE MAHONEY, DIRECTOR, STANFORD INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC POLICY RESEARCH: Good to be with you.

SCIUTTO: So first, I want to start with the cost of this trade war as best as we can measure it right now. I mean, you see the market fall once again

and bond -- bond yields go up when the president announces new tariffs.

Has anybody been able to quantify the effect on economic growth internationally from this -- this trade war?

MAHONEY: So, it is a like bedrock principle in economics that tariffs and uncertainty are bad for economic growth. And so for U.S. trading partners,

exporters are being hit by new uncertainty going into the back-to-school shopping season and the holiday season. And importers are going to face

higher costs because of the exchange rate depreciation of their currencies.

And the last thing you mentioned is higher interest rates. Interest rates are going to be higher in the United States because of potential inflation

and that spreads to the rest of the globe. So, it's sort of a -- a trifecta of difficulties for economies across the globe.

SCIUTTO: Why isn't -- why hasn't this, in your view, sparked all these trade deals that the White House has been promising for weeks and months?

They kept saying 90 deals in 90 days, where at the end of the 90 days, that just hasn't happened yet.

I --I --I mean, is it simply that the fact that trade deals typically take months and years to negotiate? Or do they not quite believe the pressure?

What's the best guess?

MAHONEY: I think it's a combination of -- of the two things you highlighted. But if you sort of think about the timeline, we had Liberation

Day tariffs on April 2nd, then we had Trump backed down about a week later and announced 10 percent tariffs with a deadline of July 9th.

And I think nobody's surprised that we couldn't get 90 deals done in 90 days. Negotiating these deals is very difficult. Probably closer to nine

than 90. And so now we're facing a deadline of August 1st with higher tariffs on a number of countries.

[12:25:00]

And, you know, the -- the uncertainty is just harmful for everybody, for consumers who are trying to think about purchases, worry about their jobs,

for businesses that are trying to plan investments and order shipments, it's -- it's a really a difficult economic situation.

SCIUTTO: How about domestically? The budget lab at Yale calculated that the combination of the 2025 tariffs and the Big, Beautiful Act, as it's known,

reduces the incomes on average of the bottom 80 percent of U.S. households. We've got a graphic that -- that demonstrates this.

How come we haven't seen more effect on the headline numbers, headline economic numbers in the U.S., yet GDP growth, job market, et cetera? Or do

you believe -- still believe those are lagging indicators in effect?

MAHONEY: So, you know, if we look historically at how long it takes for tariffs to show up in the hard data, it does take a number of months. And

so I wasn't expecting immediate effects. But we are seeing, you know, large tariff duties paid by importers. And I do think it is only a question of

time until we see those in the inflation numbers.

But the other thing is that the U.S. economy has been, I think, surprisingly and -- and reassuringly strong. The labor market has been

strong. So, the unemployment claims, the job growth numbers has -- have been stronger than -- than many people feared. And so the U.S. economy may

be strong enough to weather this uncertainty shock.

SCIUTTO: Final question. It was the bond market that moved Trump at the start of this liberation day when he saw yields rise and -- and got a lot

of advice, including from Scott Bessent who had seem to -- had to back off.

Bond yields went up a bit with -- with this. As you look at the bond market, do you see similar dangers of a spike in yields thereby driving up

interest rates as in response to this latest salvo?

MAHONEY: I think it's -- it's hard to predict the bond market. There are certainly two forms of pressure. One is the -- the large increases in the

deficits and the debt, including from the One Big Beautiful Bill, combining that with the pressure we're seeing from -- from tariffs, I think there are

risks there.

But also predicting Trump's behavior is -- is a fool's errands. I don't even know, if we see more pressure in the bond market what Trump will do.

SCIUTTO: Well, Neale Mahoney, I'm sure it's not the last time we talk about this. We do appreciate you joining today.

MAHONEY: Good to be on.

SCIUTTO: And coming up, President Trump and the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just about to sit down behind closed doors in the White

House. Might this meeting pave the way finally for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal? We'll take a look coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:14]

SCIUTTO: Welcome back to "The Brief." I'm Jim Sciutto. Here are more international headlines we're watching today.

The death toll from last week's just devastating floods in Central Texas have now risen to at least 104 people, many of them children. Rescuers are

still searching for dozens of them missing, 11 of those missing were an all-girls summer camp near the Guadalupe River.

Camp Mystic has already confirmed 27 campers and counselors died. The rain is expected to ease up, finally, over the next few days.

The Russian politician was found dead just hours after President Vladimir Putin fired him. The Russian Investigative Committee says former Russian

Transport Minister Roman Starovoyt was found in a car with a gunshot wound, and that, quote, the main theory is suicide.

The Australian woman accused of killing three of her estranged husband's relatives with poisonous mushrooms has been found guilty.

A jury found Erin Patterson poisoned them by serving a beef wellington laced with death cap mushrooms. A fourth person survived after extensive

hospitalization. Sentence will come at a later date.

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scheduled to meet President Trump sometime in that building in the next several minutes at the White

House, as Washington pushes for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal.

This as Israel and Hamas are holding indirect talks in Qatar. The Prime Minister said opportunities have now opened up for the return of the

remaining hostages.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): So far, we have freed 205 out of 255 hostages, including 148 alive. There are 20

living hostages remaining and 30 deceased. I am determined, we are determined to bring them all back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: President Trump voiced confidence yesterday that Israel, the U.S., Hamas, etc., could reach a ceasefire deal this week.

Joining me now is Ruby Chen. He's the father of Israeli-American IDF soldier, Itay Chen. The Israeli military says his body is still held in

Gaza. Always good to talk to you. Thanks for joining me.

RUBY CHEN, FATHER OF ITAY CHEN: Thank you for having me.

SCIUTTO: I know it's your birthday today. This is not the way you wanted to be -- celebrating is not the right word, but you didn't want to be dealing

with this on your birthday.

CHEN: No. This is the second, you know, birthday of mine. It's been 640 days, which is 21 months. And we just feel it's time. Like when you look at

the bigger picture, the Middle East is at a inflection point, a historical inflection point, what would happen with Iran, with Hezbollah and Lebanon,

with Hamas.

Now is the time to cut a deal out of strength and build something that has a permanent future, you know, a vision. And the bottleneck to making that

happen is the hostage deal in Gaza.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

CHEN: And we hope that this is what is going to happen today. We are hearing positive signs coming out that we hear where Mr. Witkoff might be

heading out again to the region. And it all kind of comes together to say that the United States has strategic interests in the Middle East.

And to fulfill those strategic interests, it needs to move forward with this piece of the puzzle. We hope it's happening.

SCIUTTO: During your meetings this week, and I know you can't divulge everything that -- that took place in those meetings, but did you emerge

from them with more confidence that a deal can be reached?

[18:35:03]

CHEN: Yes and no. We -- on one hand feel that the Prime Minister might be a bit obligated to his coalition. And for that, we do not see a deal for the

last hostage.

And I have to say, Jim, you know, we are scared, like there are two U.S. citizens that are still being held hostage. And we just don't know, you

know, where they fall inside of this deal. And I think this is why we here to tell to the President of the United States, Mr. Steve Witkoff, there is

an obligation.

Fourth -- 12 U.S. citizens have come out. We've seen all the Russians come out, hostages. We've seen all of the Thai hostages come out. We've seen all

of the Argentinian hostages come out. How is it that we still have U.S. hostages?

And we hope to believe that the President is aware of that fact. Edan Alexander came out about a month and a half ago. And we were told then by

Steve Witkoff, it just wasn't our time. I think now is the time.

SCIUTTO: Are you surprised it took this long. And -- and do you feel that there is leverage that President Trump has not exercised over the Israeli

prime minister to get the Americans out, including your son?

CHEN: Well, I think that there are a number of levers that will not use sufficiently enough. You know, we had from the prime minister more military

pressure will bring Hamas to a deal. Well, that hasn't happened for 21 months.

Economic pressure. You know, I've been multiple times at OFAC at Treasury. We've only seen some sanctions coming out, economic sanctions. We do not

see Europe adopting those sanctions, which is a very difficult thing to see.

Iran is still able to generate capital, money, selling oil through different places inside of Europe. So, it can't just be the United States

that is putting pressure. We need to see our allies inside of Europe.

It's very difficult to say also Turkey is a financial hub for moving money. And they are a NATO ally and they need to decide what they are. Are they

with us? Are they against us? Because what happened to us to U.S. citizens?

It should be a liability, not an asset to take and hold U.S. citizens. And there should be consequences associated to that. And that is when meeting

Pam Bondi, the Attorney General, that is also what we've been advocating for.

And we just hope that, you know, there are more pressure by the United States to get us to where we need to get to, which is, you know, my wish on

my birthday is pretty simple. I guess everybody knows what I want.

And I hope that my next birthday we can watch it over a ball game --

SCIUTTO: Yes, you know, I --

CHEN: -- you know, take him there.

SCIUTTO: You just want your son home. If there is a deal, do you see Israelis and the Palestinian people getting on the other side of this in

some way, getting on some path to healing?

CHEN: I think it's a prerequisite to get to that healing process. Also from the state of Israel. The Israelis have been stuck in this place for a long

time, because all of the nation has been wanting to see the last of the hostages coming out.

And it's unfortunate that when you look at the components of the deal that is being talked about in the media, it looks pretty similar to what we saw

in May 24 and you're saying, OK --

SCIUTTO: Sat on the table for months. Yes.

CHEN: So what's the delta? What is different now that it wasn't a year ago?

CHEN: And I think now that maybe the prime minister feels that now he has the political components that he was looking for, which is highly

unfortunate for us to feel as families and we will compromise.

Because this is not the best deal out there, Jim. The best deal would be 60 days. All the hostages coming out with us having a time when that's going

to happen, so we don't have to live in some sort of sick reality show of who is the next hostage coming out and who's the one that's going to be

left behind and who's the one that's going to be waiting after 60 days.

So what we need and demand is that day one, day one that the ceasefire comes into play, both sides start negotiating. And there's also an

effective mechanism to overview this agreement that the one that needs to decide if someone is in violation could only be the United States.

Because last time in January, me and my wife, we went Doha. And I asked the U.S. negotiators, what about my son? And he said, look, if we start the

first phase, the second phase is going to happen. You have nothing to worry about. It's going to happen.

SCIUTTO: And of course it didn't. Yes.

CHEN: Because why? Because there was no enforcement of the deal that happened in January. We need that enforcement mechanism by the United

States to take that responsibility. That is what we'd want to ask from the -- from Steve Witkoff.

[18:40:00]

SCIUTTO: Well, listen, we hope you and -- and your wife and your family get the news you've been waiting for this week. Thanks so much for joining.

CHEN: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: This should have passed. And we will be right back.

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SCIUTTO: Elon Musk is hoping that his newly launched America Party will succeed where numerous other third parties and third party attempts in the

U.S. have failed. Musk announced the political party over the weekend to protest the Trump-backed mega bill that passed Congress last week.

His initial goal is to try to defeat Republican lawmakers who supported the bill which he warns will bankrupt the U.S.

President Trump says Musk has, quote, gone off the rails. Tesla shares tumbled almost seven percent on Monday on increasing concern that Musk's

political activity will hurt his companies and could even jeopardize their U.S. contracts. Trump has said he might target them.

Joining me now is Larry Sabato, Founder and Director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. Larry, good to have you.

LARRY SABATO, FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CENTER FOR POLITICS: Thank you so much, Jim.

SCIUTTO: So first basic question, what -- which party, Republican and Democrat, would a third party like this be most likely to pull votes from

or would it pull evenly?

SABATO: No, not evenly. In fact, almost certainly it would attract far more Republican or maybe former Republican votes than democratic votes. Why Elon

Musk's current popularity ratings, favorability ratings among Democrats are depending on the poll between one percent and three percent? Whereas among

Republicans even after the spat with Trump, his favorability is between two-thirds and three-quarters favorable. That tells you right there.

SCIUTTO: It does. His plan, and this is notable, right? Because national third parties have struggled. His plan is to focus, he said on a handful of

House and Senate seats. In which districts and states, if you were advising him, might a third party make the most difference potentially?

SABATO: You would want to pick the swing states, you know, the seven swing states that Trump carried as he tells us all the time. And you would want

to pick one of or several of the maybe 30 to 35 competitive House of Representatives districts. They're 435 of them. Only 30 to 35 sadly are

competitive.

[18:45:03]

So, he could focus on that. He's got all the money in the world. But remember, you have to have good candidates --

SCIUTTO: Yes.

SABATO: -- and you have to have good issues. And you have to be able to attract people away from their party ID. Good luck with that.

SCIUTTO: I suppose it's possible he doesn't win races, or his party doesn't win races, but it could turn races by stealing enough votes from -- from

one candidate. I mean, much like we saw Ross Perot do in -- in --in the '90s.

SABATO: That's why you picked the really close competitive races, because there, if your candidate wins even five percent, probably

disproportionately is going to be taken from one party, likely the Republicans, and then boom, you've elected a Democrat, you made your point.

SCIUTTO: Yes. And that might be why you're hearing Trump targeted. Thinking along the same lines.

Larry Sabato, thanks so much for joining.

SABATO: Thank you, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Well, the Trump administration says it will deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia before he goes to trial in Tennessee if he's released from criminal

custody. Those comments came up during a court hearing about the administration's plan for the Salvadoran.

Abrego Garcia, you may remember, was recently returned to the U.S. to face new human trafficking charges. This, after he was deported to El Salvador

in March, by mistake, as the administration acknowledged. He is still currently sitting in a federal prison.

Rina Gandhi is an immigration attorney representing Abrego Garcia, and she joins me now. Thanks so much for taking the time.

RINA GANDHI, IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY FOR KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA: OK.

SCIUTTO: So first question, quite basically, can the administration deport him if he were to be released from criminal custody?

GANDHI: They can, and there are so many people who have been granted relief, called withholding of removal to a third country. Unlike what Ms.

Bondi said, he cannot be returned to El Salvador. That was and always was a mistake, but he could be removed to a third country if the government has

their way.

SCIUTTO: Federal courts, as you know, in that case, in -- in part because of due process concerns, protected him.

I wonder, do you have faith that the courts, or that via the courts, you could find a way to protect him if that were to happen again?

GANDHI: So, what we're asking for is, honestly, basic human decency and due process, right? To allow him the opportunity to know where he's going this

time, instead of being put on a plane with a no knowledge of where he's going, and being given the opportunity to defend himself for why he

shouldn't be removed to that country, that random country that he has no connection or ties to.

SCIUTTO: Now, that seemed to be part of the message of the Supreme Court's involvement in this case, was that people do need, at least, to have some

due process.

Do you think that he would have a chance to challenge based on that, in part, on that -- on that ruling?

GANDHI: Oh, yes. I mean, everybody, in theory, going through this process, should be given the right to know where they're going and to defend

themselves from that -- that decision by DHS. The -- the sentiment that we're being told is they don't intend to give him that.

SCIUTTO: Now, I want to ask your assessment of the criminal case against him, because, of course, when he came back, the Justice Department has now

accused him of human trafficking. And a number of lawyers have questioned the merits of this case.

What -- what is your assessment of -- of how solid that case is and how he might fare in court?

GANDHI: Unfortunately, under judge's orders, I'm unable to talk about his criminal case and we represented him in his immigration process.

SCIUTTO: OK. No problem.

Well, moving on, this would be Garcia's second deportation, of course, here. What would the precedent be? What precedent, in your view, is the

administration setting here?

GANDHI: Well, it's setting that if we make a mistake, we don't aim to make it right. We aim to get even for being called -- called out on making that

mistake.

Let's remember where we started here. Mr. Kilmar Abrego Garcia was granted relief by the Trump administration. An immigration judge under the Trump

administration granted him withholding of removal.

He has been able to live here with granted a work permit, is allowed to remain here. And, you know, they're -- they're attempting to take that all

away because they made a mistake.

SCIUTTO: Rina Gandhi, thanks so much for joining us.

GANDHI: Thank you for having me.

SCIUTTO: Still to come, world number one, Jannik Sinner reaches the quarter finals at Wimbledon, though, when his opponent retired. We're going to have

highlights of the tournament coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:50:04]

SCIUTTO: World number one, Jannik Sinner has reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, though after his opponent, Grigor Dimitrov, was forced to retire

due to an injury to his pectoral muscle.

Bulgarian had been in just superb form leading Italy's Sinner by two sets to nothing before the match ended.

CNN's Don Riddell joins me now. Don, so hard to watch. I mean, Dimitrov was just rolling there and he -- he had -- he had to leave.

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: It was -- it was really, really quite upsetting to watch, to be honest. It really did seem as though we were on

the verge of a big upset in this tournament.

Jannik Sinner doesn't often lose tennis matches. And he was really under pressure here. He was kind of struggling himself. He had an elbow injury.

He seemed really, really uncomfortable.

Dimitrov was flying until a couple of points in the third set where you could tell that he was struggling. And then there was this moment where he

just kind of collapsed to the grass. And you could see in how much distress he was in. And it was difficult for the fans. It was really, really

difficult for Jannik Sinner to kind of experience that.

It was clear that Dimitraff couldn't continue. Look at this. He couldn't even lift his arm by itself. He had to hold his arm up just to shake the

umpire's hand.

So, from a losing position, Sinner looked like he was going out of the tournament. Now he's into the quarterfinals, but afterwards he said, he

didn't feel much like a winner.

JANNIK SINNER, TENNIS PLAYER: Well, honest -- I don't know what -- what to say because he is an incredible player. I think we all saw this today. And,

you know.

You know, very, very unlucky from -- from his side. I don't take this as a win at all. And then we all saw this, you know, with his reaction, how --

how much he cares about the sport. He is one of the most hardworking players on tour.

And, yes, it's very unfortunate. Thank you for coming. But this is not the -- the end we -- we wanted to see. And it's a very -- it's very sad. And,

yes, we all -- we all wish him only the best. Let's give all our an applause for him and then his team and --

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIDDELL: Tragically, that is the fifth consecutive Grand Slam tournament in which Dimitrov has had to withdraw.

Meanwhile, the former world number one, the legendary Novak Djokovic continues. He is now just three wins away from what would be a record 25th

Grand Slam title and an 8th Wimbledon title.

He had to do it the hard way, though. He lost the first set against Alex de Minaur by six games. The one he was four-one down in the fourth set when he

managed to turn it around.

So, he continues. And he did this all under the watchful eye of his former rival, Roger Federer, who was watching on from the Royal Box. And it sounds

like Djokovic was happy to get a win here for more reasons than one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[18:55:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's it like to play on center court in front of, you know, who?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC, TENNIS PLAYER: Well, I mean, this is -- I mean, it's probably the first time he's watching me and I won the match. The last

couple, I lost. So good to break the curse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIDDELL: So, if Djokovic goes all the way here, and this, by the way Jim, could be his last ever Wimbledon tournament. He would have eight Wimbledon

titles which would tie him with the great Roger Federer.

SCIUTTO: Hard to watch -- hard to play when you're watched by greatness, right? Don Riddell, thanks so much.

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

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