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Interview With Rep. Morgan McGarvey (D-KY); Texas Flooding; Republicans Facing Outrage Over Medicaid Cuts; Russia Unleashes on Ukraine After Trump-Putin Call. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired July 04, 2025 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:03]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Kyiv on fire, Russia unleashing a record number of drones on Ukraine just hours after President Trump's call with Vladimir Putin.

President Trump speaking with Ukraine's President Zelenskyy today, what we're learning about that talk.

On the same day President Trump will sign his major domestic policy bill, Democrats are plotting to use it against him. We have new details on their strategy to try and flip the House next November.

And some people have it, some people don't, that cool factor. Now researchers have figured out the magic set of personality traits that make them that way.

We're following these major stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

Happy Independence Day. I'm Brianna Keilar in the nation's capital on this busy day for President Trump. He is about to sign his mega agenda bill into law during a special July 4 ceremony, but the fireworks are already going off, Democrats hoping for a winning midterm message as Republicans face outrage over Medicaid cuts and the trillions that the bill adds to the nation's debt over the next decade.

Plus, putting nations on tariff notice. With just five days left to strike trade deals, the president lobs a new 70 percent threat,.

But, first, a terrifying night in Kyiv. President Trump speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy just hours after a record Russian strike. We have new details on what he told Zelenskyy after telling the world that he doesn't think Putin is looking to stop this war.

CNN's Kevin Liptak is at the White House.

Kevin, what are you learning about this high-stakes call?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, an official saying it lasted a little bit under an hour, describing it as a good conversation. But I think that overnight barrage from Russia directed towards Ukraine was an important backdrop to that conversation, President Zelenskyy clearly trying to use this assault as rationale for trying to convince President Trump that American weapons, defensive systems are still necessary to protect Ukraine as this war grinds on.

And I think that was really his objective in this conversation to get some more clarity from President Trump about where the U.S. assistance actually stands. Remember, just last week at the NATO summit, President Trump met Zelenskyy and emerged saying that he was prepared to send new Patriot missiles to Ukraine, but just this week the administration announcing a halt on those weapons amid concerns about dwindling U.S. stockpiles.

Now, according to the Ukrainians, the president did seem open to continuing those weapons shipments. Zelenskyy saying on social media that the president was well-informed about the situation in Ukraine and saying that he agreed to strengthen the protection of our skies.

Now, we also heard from President Trump last evening talking about this question of American assistance to Ukraine. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Why did you pause weapon shipments?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We haven't. We're giving weapons, but we have given so many weapons, but we are giving weapons. And we're working with them and trying to help them, but we haven't. Biden emptied out our whole country giving them weapons, and we have to make sure that we have enough for ourselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIPTAK: Now, the reason this is also important, a number of these Russian missile types that have been fired into Ukraine overnight can only be intercepted by the American Patriot missiles.

And we understand that President Trump has also been on the phone today with the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, the French president, Emmanuel Macron. There has been discussion about potentially Germany buying some Patriot missile batteries from the U.S. and transferring them to Ukraine.

So you can see how all of these leaders now discussing how to ramp up protection for Kyiv. We also heard from President Trump yesterday talking about his conversation with Putin. He did not sound particularly optimistic. He said it was disappointing. He said he had made no progress with Putin in trying to bring these sides to a resolution.

And I think it just underscores, for all of the successes that the president has had over the last week, whether it's in Congress, whether it's in the Middle East, whether it's at the Supreme Court, this question of the Ukraine war is still a glaring example of a place where the president so far has not been able to -- much progress at all.

KEILAR: Yes, he seemed very unhappy with Putin. The question is, what's he going to do with that dissatisfaction?

Kevin Liptak, live for us at the White House, thank you so much for the report.

Let's get the view from CNN's Nick Paton Walsh, who has reported extensively from Ukraine since the war began and beforehand.

Nick, what is President Zelenskyy saying about this call?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, it's been extraordinary to hear, frankly, the lack of specifics, when basically Ukrainians are desperate to know how they're going to be able to make up for the perceived gap in the Patriot interceptor missiles they so desperately need to take down Russian ballistic missiles.

But the messaging from Kyiv in Zelenskyy's posting was broadly positive, complimentary again to President Trump, his chief of staff suggesting how Trump had essentially played the perfect golf shot during these conversations.

[13:05:09]

What we don't really know, though, is how we have gone from a matter of hours ago President Trump confirming that Patriot interceptors were in very short supply in the United States and may well be paused, as had been the suggestion by his Pentagon officials, indeed, some held up, it seemed, in Poland, to now where we have a very satisfied- sounding Ukraine.

Look, Kyiv has learned not to sound displeased with this particular White House at their own peril, but there may well have been something that's hinted at in Zelenskyy's statements possibly involving the Germans. Yes, as Kevin said, there was a conversation between Trump and Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, in recent hours too.

Maybe there is a mechanism, like the Germans have long suggested, for them to purchase the Patriots. But, look, all of this comes with horrifying timing, frankly, doubling the anxiety of people in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, who've just endured probably one of the worst nights they have had in terms of drone attacks.

Ukraine's air force suggesting likely a record number, 539 drones fired at Ukraine, but so much of this focused on Kyiv itself, some startling images, frankly, and a sense from people on the ground that this may have been a night where the air defenses that have done remarkably, as we have seen nightly drone attacks go from about 100 to now 400 to 500.

Ukraine officials even suggest they might get to 1,000 in the coming months, a sense that maybe these air defenses may not be holding up as well as they could. Residents telling our team on the ground they have never seen anything like it in 3.5 years of war. This happened literally minutes, hours after Putin and Trump spoke.

And Trump emerged very disappointed, he said, from that conversation. So maybe we have seen a slight change in what Ukraine is going to get from the United States, but, as I say, no specifics at all, and those details are, frankly, life or death for many Ukrainians, but there's an important moment to remind people off here of the context of where we are in the war.

Yes, this is the fight for Ukraine's skies and that safety, but there is, quite separately, deep concern about the front lines in the north and the east. In the east, Ukraine says there's 110,000 Russian troops amassing near the strategic town of Pokrovsk -- now, that's a lot -- and 50,000 potentially to the north of Kyiv near a city called Sumy inside Russia.

That's potentially 160,000 troops if Kyiv's estimates are correct. That's slightly more, some say, than Russia initially invaded with. And with a force of that size, there clearly is, I think many analysts think, a wider Moscow plan here that may explain why they have been stalling on the diplomacy and, most importantly, may spell particularly dark months for Ukraine ahead.

They really are struggling with manpower and munitions. These are conversations, do we get Patriots, do we get U.S. munitions, they don't want to be having right now. They need to know the answers dead cert -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, it really matters.

Nick Paton Walsh, thank you.

We're joined now by Michael Bociurkiw. He's the former spokesperson for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and he's a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.

Michael, how are you interpreting this call between Trump and Zelenskyy in light of Trump saying that he's not happy with Putin right now? He said that after their phone call.

MICHAEL BOCIURKIW, FORMER SPOKESMAN, ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY AND CO- OPERATION IN EUROPE: Good to be with you, Brianna.

Well, as you all know better in the United States than I do, Trump can say one thing, one minute and actually do something the next. So it's very, very difficult to track his intentions.

I do believe that after watching Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada, Keir Starmer in the U.K., that buttering up Mr. Trump just doesn't do it anymore, could be that, if the aid does not come that is promised on the United States, that Ukraine has to take a different tack, perhaps send a pit bull ambassador to Washington to push things along.

That's what Mr. Trump seems to respect most, is people who are thugs, who are tough on him, but not people who say yes or are nice all the time. KEILAR: Trump spoke about air defense and opportunities for joint

weapons production, according to Zelenskyy, but the U.S. is pausing some weapons to Ukraine. How do these things impact the battlefield for Ukraine?

BOCIURKIW: Sure.

Well, according to CNN reporting, Ukraine has quoted -- sorry -- Zelenskyy has said that he needs up to 25 Patriot systems. They're very, very expensive. And, as you know, they're in short supply. Ukraine is said to have about a dozen so far.

And as we saw over the past few nights, it seems that Russia is employing the Iran tactic of really pummeling the cities with a mix of drones and missiles. Just isn't enough to stop them. In fact, just not far from where I'm sitting here in Odesa, the port was struck twice yesterday.

So if you combine that with what Nick was saying is happening at the front line, Brianna, the worst-case scenario, according to the East Europe Foundation -- they know the landscape here almost better than anyone -- if Russia intensifies, according to those numbers Nick quoted, the front line could move as much as 60 kilometers.

[13:10:12]

That could displace as much as a quarter-of-a million people. Where are they going to go? Not only in Ukraine, but to neighboring European states, putting a lot of pressure on them.

KEILAR: What is the objective, as you see that, between those amassing of the troops, these record strikes overnight and, as Zelenskyy noted, those first air raid alerts in the overnight attack starting almost simultaneously with the media reports of the Trump- Putin call?

BOCIURKIW: Simply to wear Ukraine down and to, in the meantime also, by what is happening, pummeling these cities, forcing displacement, changing the demographics of Ukraine.

I think Nick was right. There are reports now that Russia could strike with up to 1,000 drones a day. Ukraine cannot handle that. And I think the Russian intention here is to a war of attrition, force Ukraine to the bargaining table. But, as we all know, the conditions set by Mr. Putin are unacceptable to any Ukrainian president, to anyone here in Ukraine.

So we're in a very, very tough spot right now. It is not looking good.

KEILAR: Michael Bociurkiw, always great to get your perspective. Thank you very much.

BOCIURKIW: Thank you.

KEILAR: Ahead, we have breaking news out of Texas. Water rescues and evacuations are under way after what officials are calling a catastrophic flooding event. We're following the latest there.

Plus, Democrats mapping out their midterm game plan. And at the center of it is the president's megabill that he will be signing into law just hours from now.

And it is the Fourth of July. And to quote "Legally Blonde," makes me want to hot dog real bad. Joey Chestnut, the king of Coney Island, crushing the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest again. Did we have any doubts, folks? Not really.

You're watching CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:16:27]

KEILAR: Here in just a few hours, a huge Fourth of July celebration for President Trump at the White House, as he is capping off a major legislative victory by signing his One Big Beautiful Bill into law.

But now Democratic leaders like Congressman Hakeem Jeffries say they plan to make the bill the centerpiece of their drive to flip the House next year.

With us now is Democratic Congressman Morgan McGarvey of Kentucky. He's also a member of the Budget Committee.

Sir, you don't like this bill. Democrats cite the projections of millions of people losing their health insurance. But there are some provisions for the middle class in the bill, no tax on tips and overtime up to a certain point, expanded child tax credits, extended tax cuts for the middle class, and, yes, a lot for the wealthy.

How do you make the case for how this is going to hurt the middle class when it is going to help some in the middle class?

REP. MORGAN MCGARVEY (D-KY): Yes, first of all, this bill is a slap in the face to every single Kentuckian.

Look at my state; 133,000 rural Kentuckians are predicted to lose their health care, more than any other state; 35 of our rural hospitals are set to close, more than any other state. We're about to lose $10 billion in Medicaid reimbursements. This will jack everybody's rate up and is going to be truly awful.

I mean, you look at this bill, what it does, it gives permanent tax cuts to the richest billionaires in America, while driving our nation to trillions of dollars more in debt. I mean, when I look at this bill -- and you talk to a lot of people behind closed doors, Republican legislators. They know it's bad.

I don't ever want to hear another Republican say they care about rural America or the debt ever again if they voted for this bill.

KEILAR: But what do you say to a Kentuckian who maybe they're not on Medicaid, and the tips part of this or the overtime part that is going to help them and actually their bottom line is going to be better?

MCGARVEY: Yes, well, first of all, what I would say to the Kentuckian who asked that question is, when 35 hospitals here close because of the Medicaid cuts, that impacts everyone whether you're on Medicaid or not.

We don't have to imagine what this is going to be like. You live in Kentucky and someone in your family gets sick or hurt or a heart attack or a stroke and minutes matter, and you have to drive an extra 30 minutes to go to the hospital, this is the difference between life and death.

Now, you talk about tax on tips and overtime, look, in the Senate, the Democrats voted unanimously, this passed unanimously, to get rid of the tax on tips and an overtime. Of course, we support those things. But look in the bill.

The tax cuts for the billionaires are permanent. The taking away people's health care is permanent. The taking food off of veterans and seniors' plates is permanent. The tax on tips is temporary. So is the tax on overtime.

And for the tax on tips, it has a cap and you have to itemize your receipts. We want to actually make it a meaningful bill, where the middle class and working Americans get the permanent, real relief, not the billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.

KEILAR: Yes, the O.T. and tips part does expire in 2028, as you note.

So, nearly 200,000 in your district on Medicaid, that's more than one in four people, 12 percent of households participating in SNAP. How will Kentucky as a state make up for the federal cuts to those programs?

MCGARVEY: I served in the state legislature here for 10 years before going to Congress. I was minority leader of the state Senate, in fact.

They can't make it up. We get more in Kentucky every year in federal Medicaid dollars than the entirety of the Kentucky state budget. Think about that. There is no way in the Kentucky state budget to make up that loss. That's why I tell you, it's going to hurt everybody, whether the hospital nearest to you closes, whether your health insurance rates go up because people are kicked off their Medicaid here.

[13:20:06]

And guess what? When people are kicked off their Medicaid, they're still going to get sick. They're still going to get injured. They're still going to need medical care. And under current law, anyone who goes to an emergency room with emergency care does get treated. That is the law in this country. That's going to impact every single one of us.

KEILAR: You clearly outline the people and the things that are projected to be losers under this bill. But you're also aware of what a political communicator President Trump is. And do you think that he may be able still to sell this to the American people and convince them that this is that they should be happy with?

MCGARVEY: What he sold to the American people is that he wouldn't touch Medicaid. That was his campaign promise. Now he has given the largest Medicaid cut in American history.

It is going to take health insurance away from kids in my district; 46 percent of Kentucky's kids are on Medicaid. That's what he communicated. And guess what? That's where we're going to go on offense, not for partisan reasons, but for accountability. And I think every single Republican who voted for this bill, we are going to be on offense, recruiting, training, mobilizing, organizing, holding town halls in the districts where they refuse to hold town halls.

Now, remember, Republicans were refusing to hold town halls on this before the bill actually passed. You know, there's no way they're going to do it now to have to answer for what they did in this bill. We're going to do that as we head towards 2026.

KEILAR: So you are the recruitment co-chair for the DCCC, the campaign arm of House Democrats this cycle. Are you looking for candidates who fit more of the mold that we have seen in some of these gubernatorial primaries in Virginia and New Jersey, more of the moderate national security field Democrats?

Or are you looking for someone more like AOC-backed Zohran Mamdani, someone who maybe a Democratic socialist or leans towards those kind of policies, who really inspires the base?

MCGARVEY: You know, it's funny you would say that.

I was recruiting candidates when I was in the state Senate in Kentucky that we just talked about. And recruiting candidates, you can try to get people to run and try to encourage people to run. The reality is, you can't make anybody run, you can't keep anybody from running.

What I want to see in someone who's running for Congress right now is someone who has the passion to actually hold these Republicans accountable for what they just did, taking health care away from kids and seniors, taking food away from veterans and families, giving the largest tax break to the billionaire class in American history.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: But, Congressman, let me challenge you on that, because that's not all you do when you're looking to recruit, and we have seen this in cycle after cycle. There's sort of an idea. If you are looking to challenge someone in a purple district, you have an idea of what you want, right?

So speak to that a little bit, because it isn't just about someone who can message against this bill. What are you looking for? MCGARVEY: Yes, so what I look for, the first thing I look for -- I

tell people, everybody this -- I talk to about this. First thing I look for is what I call the want to.

I really want somebody who wants to do this, who wants to go to the fish fries and the picnics in the summer months, when it's hot, who wants to do the things they have to do to get in office, and then once they get the job, who wants to be here, who wants to fight every day to make America a better place.

We're looking for people who represent their communities, right? And that can look different across the country. We want people who have that. Sometimes, you have candidates with a certain background that matches a district. Maybe you're in a really high military area and you look for those sides of things.

So there isn't -- I think that's -- what I push back against you is that there's one prototype of a candidate for 435 districts quite literally in every single corner of this country.

KEILAR: Oh, yes, and I certainly would not expect that, for sure.

Congressman Morgan McGarvey, we appreciate you being with us. Thank you.

MCGARVEY: Thank you.

KEILAR: Still ahead: President Trump pitching a new plan to allow undocumented migrants to stay in the country, but only if farmers vouch for them.

Stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:28:49]

KEILAR: We have breaking news.

Water rescues and evacuations are under way in Central Texas after some areas got an entire summer's worth of rain in just a span of hours. River levels are surging in places like Kerrville, which is an hour north of San Antonio. This is a video of the Guadalupe River rushing just below the Kerrville Bridge.

The Kerr County Sheriff's Office says that there have been fatalities. They are not, though, releasing further information until they have notified next of kin.

CNN's Derek Van Dam is following the very latest from the CNN Weather Center.

The pictures are just really horrific there that we're taking a look at, Derek. When is this rain going to let up?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, that's right. It has been just an absolutely catastrophic past 12 hours across the

Hill Country of Texas. Get this. There was one river gauge in Comfort, Texas -- that's along the Guadalupe River -- it rose 26 feet in a matter of 45 minutes. Folks, that is flash flooding. And this is the result.

This is the Guadalupe River in Kerr County. Look at the trees toppled over. And then you will see the camera pan a little bit to the right. And what you're going to notice is, this cement block here, that is a foundation of a home that used to exist. It'll zoom in to an area.