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ICE Raids Turning Parts of Los Angeles into Ghost Towns; Torrential Storms Bring Deadly Flooding to Central Texas; A Comic Prediction Sows Real Fear of a Japan Megaquake. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired July 04, 2025 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:30:00]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: The Trump administration's immigration crackdown in Southern California is starting to take a toll on businesses there. Some undocumented immigrants are shuttering their businesses and going into hiding, fearing that they'll be swept up in the ICE raids. Parts of downtown LA's bustling fashion district have been hit hard, especially.
We have CNN's Veronica Miracle taking a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no.
VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If President Trump's hardline immigration policies aim to scare people, here in Southern California they're working.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's your name?
MIRACLE (voice-over): In recent weeks, businesses have shuttered as ICE raids and arrests have sent many undocumented people into hiding, except 63-year-old taco stand owner Urbano. For 43 years he's lived in the United States undocumented, but this past month, when he's been able to push through the fear of being deported and open his stand, he's had hardly any customers.
MIRACLE: So he says that business is really slow. You can see a lot of businesses in the area have closed. Can you tell me, have you been in hiding at all or have you been out every day working?
URBANO, UNDOCUMENTED WORKER (through translator): We have to go out to work because if not, who is going to pay our rent? Who is going to pay our taxes like I'm paying taxes? Can you imagine?
MIRACLE (voice-over): Urbano's story is one of many. In fact, one in five California immigrant workers is undocumented. That's according to a study by the Bay Area Council Economic Institute. So to see the largescale impact of the ICE raids we went to L.A.'s Fashion District.
MIRACLE: Can you show me down Santee Alley?
ANTHONY RODRIGUEZ, PRESIDENT AND CEO, FASHION DISTRICT BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT: Absolutely.
MIRACLE (voice-over): Anthony Rodriguez is the Business Improvement District president and CEO.
RODRIGUEZ: Probably 90 percent of these businesses are immigrant- owned.
[14:35:00]
MIRACLE (voice-over): Rodriguez says there are roughly 100 shops along this alley alone. A majority of shop owners are too scared to operate, he says.
RODRIGUEZ: Unfortunately, even when it isn't -- there isn't actual activity the fear of people, you know, someone thinks they hear something and that alone will shut down the entire area.
MIRACLE: On a typical weekend day I'm told that this is packed shoulder-to-shoulder you could hardly move through Santee Alley. But since the ICE raids happened, started about three weeks ago, there has been a 45 percent drop in foot traffic.
What's going on, on Santee Alley?
CHRISTOPHER PEREZ, L.A. FASHION DISTRICT VENDOR: Well, a lot of people are scared to come out.
MIRACLE (voice-over): Christopher Perez says he hasn't seen his neighboring vendors open for weeks.
PEREZ: It's sad seeing my own people get arrested and harassed by the ICE agents, but it's pretty much -- I hope it all ends soon.
MIRACLE (voice-over): And just a few miles away from Santee Alley we found a similar situation.
MIRACLE: We're on Olvera Street. It's one of the oldest streets in all of Los Angeles and this is actually considered the birthplace of this city. And yet you take a look around at this cultural landmark and all of these businesses, these vendors, they've shuttered their doors.
MIRACLE (voice-over): Those that are open are struggling to make ends meet.
VILMA MEDINA, OLVERA STREET VENDOR BUSINESS OWNER: There will be days that are like I've sold, like, $10 the whole day. It's bad. All of us are trying to, like, hold on and we're just trying to do the best we can.
MIRACLE (voice-over): Leaders and business owners all tell us the long-term economic impact of these raids is not clear. But if the nearly 2.3 million undocumented immigrants in California were all deported, researchers at the Bay Area Council Economic Institute estimate the state's GDP would decline by over $278 billion.
ABBY RAISZ, RESEARCH DIRECTOR, BAY AREA COUNCIL ECONOMIC INSTITUTE: That's nine percent of our GDP. That GDP value is larger than the entire state of Nevada than the entire state of Oregon. These are not small outputs.
MIRACLE: Do you have any message to President Trump?
URBANO (through translator): Mr. President, well, let us work because we came to work. We didn't come to steal. We came to build in this country. We came to make the country better.
MIRACLE (voice-over): Veronica Miracle, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: And still to come, crews racing to save people from raging floodwaters in Texas today. New pictures coming in as we cover that breaking story.
[14:40:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: Right now, Texas Governor Greg Abbott says that his state is, quote, surging all available resources to respond to deadly flooding in Kerr County, which is northwest of San Antonio.
Several months' worth of rain fell in the course of just hours in some areas there. You are looking now at the surging Guadalupe River in the city of Kerrville, where water rescues and evacuations are underway.
CNN has some new video of a resident being alerted by a police officer to the rising floodwaters early this morning. The officer tells them there are people screaming in the river. They then urge the resident to get everybody out of the house.
Authorities say there have been fatalities. They are, though, withholding details on the identities of those until they can notify their next of kin.
And in Japan, fears are gripping tourists and locals after a prediction of a July 5th megaquake has gone viral. But the prediction is not coming from scientists. No, it is coming from a Japanese comic book, which is known as Manga. Even so, the natural disaster claim is scaring away even some tourists. Earthquakes are common in Japan, and the government warns a catastrophic one could strike in the next two to three decades. But it's, of course, impossible to predict exactly when. CNN's Hanako Montgomery has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Japan, the ground never stays still. It's one of the most earthquake-prone countries on Earth, and tremors strike every single day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God, the building's going to fall.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): About 1,500 annually, some more deadly than others. As a correspondent here, covering earthquakes comes with the territory.
MONTGOMERY: So this is our storage room. And in here, it's always fully stocked with our emergency gear. You have freeze-dried foods, sleeping bag, first aid kits, medical supplies, everything we need to cover a natural disaster like an earthquake.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): But never in my career have I seen this much fear over an earthquake prediction made in a Manga.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So this is the book that's predicting a massive tsunami hitting Japan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (translated text): She predicted a tsunami in July 2025.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): You should be familiar with book in my hand. Don't go to Japan in July.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): The comic claims that in July of this year, a massive jolt will hit off the Philippines coast, triggering a giant tsunami that will inundate Japan. The rumors caused so much unfounded panic that some tourists are canceling their summer trips. Hong Kong Airlines has even cut flights to the country due to lower demand amid this baseless gossip.
MONTGOMERY: You do get fortune tellers sometimes predicting when the next big one will hit Japan. But I think the reason why some people believe this artist is because in 1999, she dreamt of a major disaster in March 2011. And that just so happens to be when a huge earthquake and tsunami hit northern Japan and killed thousands of people.
[14:45:00]
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): The government's calling the July rumor a hoax, emphasizing that predicting when an earthquake would hit is scientifically impossible.
YOSHIHIRO ITO, SEISMOLOGIST, KYOTO UNIVERSITY (translated text): It is extremely difficult to make predictions with our current data. First, we only had access to modern seismic observation networks for about 30 to 40 years. Another reason, and this is the main reason, is that we can't directly measure the stress state because it's underground.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): For decades, Japan has warned about the big one, the Nankai trough megathrust earthquake.
In a worst case scenario, it could measure as high as eight or nine in magnitude. Nearly 300,000 people could die. Damage could reach $1.81 trillion or nearly half of Japan's total gross domestic product.
Like most massive quakes in Japan, the Nankai trough megaquake is expected to trigger a tsunami too. Waves could reach up to 30 meters. But even small ripples can be deadly, something Taro Arikawa, who studies tsunamis, wants people to grasp through his simulation.
TARO ARIKAWA, DOCTOR OF ENGINEERING, PROFESSOR AT CHUO UNIVERSITY (translated text): In a controlled Environment like this, you're just swept away and it's over. But, in real life, you don't know what's waiting downstream. Once you're swept off your feet, even by a small wave You lose control. At that point, it really becomes a life-or- death situation.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): To test the force of just a 40 centimeter wave, I gave the simulation a try.
ARIKAWA, (translated text): The first wave should hit just below your knees. So, I don't think you'll be swept away. I think you will be fine.
MONTGOMERY: You saw how easily it got washed away. So you can imagine that when the waves are a lot bigger than this, just how much more powerful and fatal they could be.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Fears of this megaquake were renewed last August, a major tremor shook the edge of the trough, activating Japan's first ever megaquake advisory. Some scientists criticize the warning as seeding unfounded panic over a megaquake that may never come.
But others believe it's only a matter of time.
ITO (through translated text): Regardless of whether it happens in the next 30 years Or not, The point is, it will happen.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): The truth is, no one knows when disaster will hit Japan, but in a country where the ground never rests, preparation is the only certainty.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: Our thanks to Hanako Montgomery for that report.
And still to come, Russia launches a large drone attack, a record size one on Ukraine overnight just after President Trump says that he was not happy with Vladimir Putin after their phone call. We'll have details on that and what it could mean for U.S. aid to Ukraine next.
[14:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: CNN asked viewers to send in their favorite cities to visit across the country, and hundreds of responses poured in and our travel team narrowed the list to the top 10. Today, we are down to numero uno. So drumroll, please.
And since I'm alone here, I'm going to do it myself, taking the number one spot this year, Ithaca, New York. CNN's Victor Blackwell taking a trip there, getting to know some of this nature loving community.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN: This is beautiful. Wow, wow, wow. JOSH TEETER, ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATOR, NEW YORK STATE OFFICE OF PARKS:
Yes, never gets old.
BLACKWELL (voice-over): Taughannock Falls is located just outside Ithaca, New York, at 215 feet. It's the tallest waterfall in the state.
TEETER: Not that we're competing, but it's 33 feet higher than Niagara Falls.
BLACKWELL (voice-over): It's just one reason why the area's become known as a destination for clean, healthy living, a place where you can relax and recharge and be mindful.
BLACKWELL: My sound machine is doing a terrible job because this is so calming. I could just stand here -- I mean, I know we have a job to do -- and just listen for the rest of the morning.
BLACKWELL (voice-over): Taughannock is one of more than 150 waterfalls around Ithaca, a region shaped by melting glacial ice. It's absolutely gorgeous here or should I say gorges.
THOMAS: Welcome to downtown Ithaca.
BLACKWELL (voice-over): And it's not just the nature that's gorgeous. Over the last 15 years, a nonprofit called Ithaca Murals has worked with artists to transform the city's gray spaces into public art. Today, more than 400 murals showcase the city's community spirit and creativity.
CALEB R. THOMAS, ITHACA MURALS: We went to City Hall and they said, you know, we're going to give you pre-permission for all the parking garages and all the electrical boxes and all the retaining walls. And so it's about shifting our cultural cityscape to really honor the people and the values that live here.
BLACKWELL (voice-over): At Ithaca's famous farmers market, local vendors highlight the region's fresh, healthy produce and emerging chefs like Kuukua Yomekpe can test out new dishes. Her pop-up serves up soulful, plant-based West African cuisine.
KUUKUA YOMEKPE, CHEF: The peanut stew is really good. It's got a bit of a kick. So, OK.
BLACKWELL (voice-over): She also has a restaurant downtown.
BLACKWELL: This looks fantastic. So how has a West African, specifically Ghanaian, restaurant been received in Ithaca?
YOMEKPE: It's been amazing. We have regulars that come to us at least once a week. I've been very blessed and feeling impressed by the community.
BLACKWELL (voice-over): The last place I expected to visit in Central New York is a monastery that serves as the Dalai Lama's North American hub for Buddhist studies. BLACKWELL: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your welcome.
BLACKWELL (voice-over): It's the only place in the world that houses the complete written works of the 14th Dalai Lama, his personal 1966 Range Rover. And all are welcome to join their guided meditations.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: Our thanks to Victor Blackwell for that.
And still to come, fireworks, hot dogs and the megabill. President Trump set to celebrate the 4th of July at the White House by signing his legislation into law.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
