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Trump to Sign His Megabill Into Law At Major July 4th Ceremony; Trump to Speak With Zelenskyy After Massive Russian Air Attack; Undocumented Migrants are 4-5% of U.S. Workforce; EPA Suspends, Investigating Employees Who Signed Public Letter. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired July 04, 2025 - 09:00   ET

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

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[09:01:21]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: The countdown is on to a major 4th of July celebration for President Trump at the White House, capping off a major legislative victory. We will be signing his big, beautiful bill into law at the White House today. The President calling this a great win for Americans. Democrats calling it a major setback.

Plus, the president of El Salvador now hitting back after claims that Kilmar Abrego Garcia was tortured in an El Salvador prison, just releasing new video, which appears to paint a different picture than the one described by Abrego Garcia's attorneys.

And if you're planning a little last minute summer vacation, the good news is you have not waited too long. We will tell you where to find and how to book the best travel deals just ahead this summer.

I'm Erica Hill, in on this 4th for John, Kate and Sara. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

Barbecues, fireworks, maybe a little beach time. And for President Trump, the big, beautiful bill getting signed into law later today during a ceremony at the White House. The House, of course, narrowly passed that measure yesterday, mostly along party lines, just two Republicans voted against the bill.

After the president met with lawmakers at the White House and spent some 20 hours working the phones, pushing the holdouts to drop their objections and move on over to his side to vote for that signature piece of legislation. The objections included concerns about ballooning the national debt and also cutting nearly a trillion dollars in Medicaid funds. Now, the president and Republicans will have to start selling the bill.

Polls have shown it is largely unpopular with the American people. CNN's Kevin Liptak is at the White House this morning.

So, Kevin, where does the messaging stand at this point as they move into this next phase? KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, and it is a valedictory mood here at the White House. You saw the President start that victory lap last night in Iowa. That will continue today out on the South Lawn, the president turning the traditional July 4th picnic into a celebration of this, the most decisive legislative win of his second term so far.

And you know, we've heard the band practicing. You can hear the grills or smell the grills firing up. I think the biggest moment of this event, aside from the signing itself, will be a flyover of those two B-2 bombers who dropped bunker busters on those Iranian nuclear facilities last month, which I do think kind of illustrates what a consequential two weeks this has actually been for President Trump beginning with those strikes on Iran.

We also saw that very important NATO summit in the Netherlands last week where allies agreed to boost their defense spending. We saw quite an impactful decision by the Supreme Court that really expanded the president's executive power. And then, of course, this very decisive legislative victory.

Now the president, I think, is at the height of his political power. Certainly he thinks that. He said yesterday he thinks he's now more powerful than he was during his first term in office. We have seen his power over the Republican Party, only two defections in the House after this bill was passed. The president really did spend the last week or so cajoling Republicans into supporting this package. That process is now over, but an entirely new process will now begin.

The president really working to sell this bill to the American people. You know, whether you're for this bill, whether you're against it, most people agree that it will now form a big part of the president's domestic legacy. And I think the work now is to define what exactly that will mean.

You know, recent presidential history is sort of littered with commanders in chief who used their majorities in Congress to pass big pieces of legislation only to later come regret not selling it better to the American people when those majorities were lost in the midterm elections. And so, the real battle for the American public's perception of this bill now just getting underway.

[09:05:14]

HILL: Kevin Liptak, appreciate it. Thank you.

Well, as the White House is celebrating Democrats now working on their best way to respond to President Trump's legislative win, joining us now Democratic Congressman Adam Smith of Washington state. He's also the Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee.

Congressman, good to see you this morning. Happy Fourth to you. What do you believe that message should be --

REP. ADAM SMITH (D-WA): Happy Fourth as well. HILL: Thank you very much. What do you believe that message should be going forward? I would say we got hints of it, right? We certainly had some of it in Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries magic minute, eight plus hour magic minute. But what is going to be the most effective messaging strategy for you moving forward, given that some of the initial broader wins, if you will, that Americans will feel from this bill are what will go into effect first, not the cuts that come after the midterms.

SMITH: It's two things. One, this is a massive giveaway that just adds to the debt and puts our country in a more fiscally precarious situation. I mean, it adds $3.5 trillion to the debt. And how do we know that the debt is a problem? Because just about every single Republican, including Donald Trump, who voted for this bill, told us this was a problem. This was part of their criticism of Joe Biden during the campaign, that he had been fiscally responsible and he'd spent all this money and all these things that had driven us into a situation where, you know, we were in a fiscally terrible situation.

And now they've added $3.5 trillion to the debt for giveaways, which primarily go to people who were wealthy. That's where tax breaks usually go. So, you've got that part. But then the second part is the bill is also incredibly cruel in that it takes money away from people who need it the most, people who need it to get access to health care, as we have seen somewhere between 11 and 17 million people are going to be booted off of health care and not have any insurance. And it takes away food assistance. It takes away the basic help that a lot of people need in order to pursue the American dream.

So, it's a giveaway to some people at the expense of our physical health, while at the same time punishing the people who most need help. I mean, a huge part of the Trump message was there's so many people out there who just don't have economic opportunity. We're going to give it back to them. And he's hurting the very people who he campaigned on a promise to help.

HILL: There will be quite the messaging battle, as we know, over the next year plus ahead of the midterms. I'm going to put that aside for the moment because I'd really like to get your take on what is happening with Ukraine. Of course, President Trump speaking in a phone call with Vladimir Putin yesterday. He was not at all happy after that call. He's set to speak with President Zelenskyy today. And there has been a lot made of this pause in approved weapons, a pause in those weapons being sent to Ukraine. The president was asked about that. Here's his response.

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DONALD TRUMP (R), U.S. PRESIDENT: We have it. We're giving weapons, but we've given so many weapons. But we are giving weapons and we're working with them and trying to help them. But we have it. You know, Biden emptied out our whole country, giving them weapons. And we have to make sure that we have enough for ourselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HILL: So, the President says that President Biden emptied -- emptied all the weapons. We have to make sure we have enough. But then on the heels of that, we also had the chief spokesperson for the Department of Defense saying, and I'm quoting Sean Parnell here, saying, quote, "Let it be known that our military has everything it needs to conduct any mission anywhere, anytime all around the world."

When asked about this, those comments from him were on Wednesday. What is your understanding of where the coffers are at in this moment? Has the stockpile really been emptied out or does the military have everything it needs?

SMITH: Well, first of all, let's understand that Donald Trump lies like most people breathe. It's just instinct to him. And what he just said there is a bald-faced lie.

Nothing has been emptied out. Our stockpiles are just about where they were three and three and a half years ago. We have met a number of demands, not just in Ukraine, but in the Middle East as well. But we are not emptied out. And I agree with the last assessment that said we have what we need to meet our national security needs.

Now, as always, we have to build more before the Ukrainian war started. You know, we have some areas that needed enhancing, but there is no way that we've been emptied out. That's just a bald-faced lie number one. Number two, Ukraine has used this assistance to stop Putin in his tracks and give them a real chance to force Putin to accept the fact that he's not going to be able to take over Ukraine.

But President Trump has come into office and just undermine Ukraine at every turn while making Putin think that if he just outweighs us, we'll abandon Ukraine. No pressure has been put on Putin.

Look, Trump said he was going to end the war on day one of his presidency, which was another lie, of course. But all he's done is pushed it in the opposite direction. The only way to end this war is to make it clear that Ukraine is going to stop Putin from taking over the country, to force Putin to accept a compromise.

[09:10:06]

Right now, because of everything that Trump has done, Putin doesn't think he has to accept that compromise. So, he is bombing Ukraine more, more aggressively attacking Ukraine than he has since the first weeks of the war, all because Donald Trump has given him a big green light to do so. This is a horrible decision for U.S. national security.

HILL: Congressman Adam Smith, appreciate your time this morning. Thank you.

SMITH: Thanks for the chance.

HILL: President Trump pitching a new plan to allow undocumented migrants to stay in the country if farmers vouch for them. Also this morning, more than 100 EPA employees now placed on leave,

accused of trying to undermine the administration's agenda, what they did.

Plus, a tomb destroyed, a casket pried open. Now, a mother in Missouri says someone desecrated the grave where her son was laid to rest some 30 years ago.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was just like somebody had just dug it up and it looked like they had put dynamite and just blew it open.

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[09:15:47]

HILL: As the Trump administration doubles down on its immigration crackdown, a stark side effect is emerging. With deportations, also comes a loss of migrant workers. The President himself has waffled on this topic, at times suggesting certain industries should be exempt from ICE raids and going back on that. Well, now, sources tell CNN senior administration officials are trying to figure out new ways to grant certain workers legal status. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez joins me now.

So, in terms of these potential changes, Priscilla, what more do we know?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Erica, it's still very unclear what kind of solutions the administration can do on their own, that is, without the help of Congress. But it is very real, the challenges that industries are facing across the board. As one source who represents manufacturing told me, they are between a rock and a hard place.

That's because they are reliant on migrant workers, some of whom are undocumented and others who had protections to work in the United States, but those protections were stripped under the Trump administration. So, in some ways they are newly undocumented.

Now, behind the scenes, administration officials have been quietly working to find solutions. They've also been hearing from different industries like agriculture, hospitality and manufacturing who are worried about the dwindling of their workforce because of this immigration crackdown. And the President himself in his public comments has acknowledged some of the difficulties that farmers face, including yesterday in Iowa.

Take a listen.

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TRUMP: If a farmer is willing to vouch for these people, in some way, Kristi, I think we're going to have to just say that's going to be good, right? You know, we're going to be -- we're going to be good with it because we don't want to do it where we take all of the workers off the farms. We want the farms to do great like they're doing right now.

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ALVAREZ: Now, you heard there the president nodding to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. He has tasked her as well as the secretaries of labor and agriculture to work together to find, again, some type of solution here.

Now, I will say there are guest worker visas for certain industries, but they're temporary. So, that means that sometimes they're not year- round, which makes it very difficult for some and others, the industries just aren't covered. So, that leaves them in sort of this limbo, particularly when there is a crackdown of this magnitude happening across the country. There have been immigration sweeps at work sites, which is what has caused this concern.

And I'll give you some data to show you why this has been bubbling up, including to the President himself with undocumented immigrants making up four to five percent of the U.S. workforce. That number increases when you're looking at food processing and crops to 15% to 20%. So, you can start to see here how this becomes concerning, particularly as industries look to or worry about reducing or demand reducing and then prices going up.

Now, the other part of this, though, are the immigration hardliners, those voters who want the crackdown against undocumented immigrants. And I spoke with them, too, and they are concerned that the president may go too far in providing relief. So, certainly the President and the administration are sort of caught in the crosshairs of this debate as to what to do when it comes to the migrant workforce, when at the same token they are trying to execute this mass deportation campaign.

HILL: Yeah. You mentioned -- just a quick question for you, Priscilla. You mentioned that the President had tasked, right, Secretary Noem and others with trying to figure out they need to figure out some solutions. Is there any sort of a timeline that they have or is it work on this and get back to me?

ALVAREZ: No timeline necessarily. But I will tell you, Erica, in talking to sources, they are working urgently on this because they know that it is a main concern. And you can just tell by the president's remarks in Iowa appealing to farmers there on this very issue. So, clearly it is top of mind. Just this week, it has come up multiple times by the President himself.

HILL: Yeah. Priscilla, really appreciate it. Thank you.

As of this morning, roughly 140 employees at the Environmental Protection Agency are now on administrative leave. That's after they signed a public letter criticizing the agency. That letter expressed concern about the treatment of federal employees and the Trump administration's regulations when it comes to climate and public health.

[09:20:06]

Here's CNN's Rene Marsh with more.

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica, the EPA has suspended and is now investigating about 140 of its employees who signed an open letter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin expressing concern. The Trump administration was politicizing the agency, sidelining science and the EPA's mission. CNN has been told that a large number of the suspended EPA employees were escorted out of their workplaces.

One of them telling me, quote, "I am shocked that signing a letter of dissent regarding the direction EPA's administration is taking us was met with such blatant retaliation."

Now, that letter of dissent that these employees signed outlined several key concerns, including the Trump administration's dismantling of the EPA Office of Research and Development, the canceling of environmental justice programs and grants, intimidating employees and ignoring science.

Now, an EPA spokesperson told CNN, quote, "It has zero tolerance policy for career bureaucrats unlawfully undermining, sabotaging and undercutting the administration's agenda, as voted for by the great people of this country last November.

Now, in speaking with several members of the union that represents EPA employees, they say that the suspensions are alarming, considering these employees were escorted out of their workplaces and essentially put on administrative leave simply for signing an open letter that was critical of the administration. They believe, Erica, that this is a violation of their First Amendment right.

Erica?

HILL: Rene, appreciate it. Thank you.

Well, from barbecues to fireworks, millions of Americans ready to celebrate America's birthday today. The big question is Mother Nature invited to the party. How is she going to play today? May depend on where you're at.

Derek Van Dam joining us with the holiday weekend forecast just ahead, plus tributes this morning pouring in for 28-year-old soccer star Diogo Jota. What we're learning about the car crash that killed him and his brother.

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[09:26:52]

HILL: On this 4th of July, President Trump of course planning to sign his big, beautiful bill into law during a big, beautiful celebration at the White House later today. That bill clearing the House after GOP holdouts fell in line to give the President the biggest legislative win of his second term so far. While the President celebrates in Washington, millions of Americans who should be enjoying the holiday as well, wondering about what the impact will be for them.

Joining me now, CNN Senior Political Analyst Ron Brownstein and CNN Political Analyst Seung Min Kim. Nice to see both of you. Happy 4th to you both.

As we look at, you know, sort of where things stand --

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Happy Fourth.

HILL: Thank you. I think we are firmly moving into what will become the messaging war, right, of the next several months before we hit the midterms. The polling is not in Republicans' favor when it comes to how Americans feel about this bill. I think we have some of the most recent polling out there. I mean, pretty much a majority in all of these polls when Americans were asked, they don't feel great about it.

But in this moment, Ron, who has the messaging win, given that the more broad benefits are what will kick in first? Those cuts that Democrats are warning about, they don't kick in until after the midterms.

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah, it's an interesting dynamic, and Republicans try to insulate themselves in that way. The problem is, is that for most people, the benefits are also going to be kind of difficult to put your finger on in the sense that the biggest impact of this bill is extending the tax rates that people are already experiencing, right?

You know, one budget expert pointed out to me that if, you know, you're a middle-income taxpayer, not that much changes for you from what you are experiencing today. And you are simultaneously hearing about the largest cuts in federal support for health care ever. 17 million people eventually losing coverage, big coverage cuts in food assistance and so forth.

You know, one last point that I think is relevant to your question, Erica, if you look at the places, the districts where the highest percentage of Medicaid -- people are on Medicaid and they have a Republican representative, those by and large are not the places Democrats are going to be targeting in 2026. Those are mostly very culturally conservative, blue collar, exurban rural areas. This bill may have a bigger impact in places where people are offended by it than they are affected by it. And those are those white-collar suburban districts which are on the top of the Democrats list anyway.

HILL: As we're watching all of this, too, Seung Min, there is the question of the math, which has been a little creative, depending on who is putting it out there when we're talking about the deficit. But the reality is the deficit is the deficit. And if it's going to grow, it's going to grow no matter how creative the math is.

I spoke with a Republican strategist earlier who said the -- the issue here is that this isn't really top of mind for Americans. That's not what's important to voters. It's not about the deficit. It's about what's in the bill. Does that track? SEUNG MIN KIM, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. Right. I mean, that's kind of the theory of the case for the White House. We were talking with senior White House officials last night after the passage of this legislation. And they said public polling really doesn't. They're kind of dismissing the public polling because they say that the public polling doesn't actually really drill down into the policy of what these.