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DHS Secretary Noem Renews Call To "Eliminate" And Remake FEMA; NY Taxpayers Paying For Cuomo's Legal Defense Against #MeToo Accusers; Doctor Invokes 5th Amendment In House Probe Of Former President. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired July 10, 2025 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: I mean, disaster -- this is your expertise. Do you see problems in how this unfolded and what we know publicly so far?

KERI STEPHENS, COMMUNICATION STUDIES PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN (via Webex by Cisco): Well, first of all, let me say my heart really does go out to everyone. And I think the reason we're having these conversations is to be sure that we can fix things in the future and make sure that we are always doing the best job that we can.

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

STEPHENS: This is a really complicated situation. We definitely have alerts and warnings that have gone out, that can go out, but I'm sure that we're going to find areas after the fact that we're going to be able to improve in in the future.

BOLDUAN: It's now nearly a week after the floods and we really saw yesterday some officials on the ground there facing some questions -- continued questions about who knew what and when, and how it was alerted to the public. And they are, I'll say, deflecting but they're saying we don't know right now. Saying that it's going to take time to determine that timeline, if you will.

In your opinion, how long should it take to figure that baseline out -- to provide some of that clarity that they say they want to provide to the community?

STEPHENS: So there are typically alerts, some warnings -- a lot of people that are involved. And so I do think it will take them a little bit of time to figure out what all happened when. We tend to do after- action reports and that's when you go back when things have calmed down. When we've rescued as many people as we can. That's whenever we can look at it and say who did what, when, and really start to put that together.

So I think it is going to take us some time to truly understand how everything unfolded.

BOLDUAN: One aspect of the emergency system is sending alerts to mobile phones. We know that area, especially that was hardest hit, was known to have poor cell service. I know this is a technology that you study quite a bit.

How do you account for that bad cell service when you're trying to plan the best alert system for a specific community?

STEPHENS: So my research suggests that we always need to have multiple ways that we are notifying people, and we need to send multiple messages. So definitely, in rural areas in Texas we have a lot of spotty cell service. We also have power that goes out. That is a reality that I don't know that we're going to be able to change quickly.

However, what we can do is we have multiple ways to contact people. And so perhaps we'll look into and decide that sirens would be an additional way. But I think we also need to be sure that we're talking to the people and understanding how things are happening on the ground. A lot of rural areas have informal networks where one person calls another person and says, "Hey, watch the river" or "Be sure you're listening to the National Weather Service."

BOLDUAN: Very interesting.

Keri Stephens, thank you so much. Your expertise very, very important right now. Thank you -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. New this morning tariffs meet January 6, in a way.

President Trump is threatening a crippling tariff of up to 50 percent on goods from Brazil if it does not stop the trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro is standing trial for allegedly planning a coup to stay in power after losing his re-election bid to the current President Lula da Silva back in 2022. Overnight, Lula responded to the tariff threat vowing retaliation if President Trump follows through.

With us now, CNN's Matt Egan. This is a very different type of threat from President Trump on a country, by the way, with whom the U.S. has a trade surplus.

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Exactly, John. Look, this is very new territory when it comes to the rationale for tariffs, right? President Trump has used tariffs to try to revive American manufacturing. To slash the trade deficit. Even for national security purposes.

But now we've got to add a whole new rationale here, and that's to stop witch hunts, right, because the president is saying that he's very frustrated with the treatment of former Brazilian president Bolsonaro. He has written this letter to the country saying that this trial of Bolsonaro "should not be taking place. It is a witch hunt that should end immediately." Not something that you would typically see in a letter about trade and tariffs.

The other factor here is that Trump is frustrated with Brazil's treatment of U.S. tech companies.

[07:35:00]

But no matter the reason here this is really the biggest divergence yet between what the president announced in early April and these new tariffs and letters coming out this week. Because back in early April Brazil faced the bare minimum in this world --

BERMAN: Right.

EGAN: -- which is 10 percent. Now 50 percent tariffs as of August 1.

And these very high tariffs would impact a wide range of goods that the U.S. imports from Brazil. Everything from iron and coffee to aircraft and also crude oil. Brazil, last year, was the fourth-biggest source of foreign oil into the United States. And, of course, oil is the main component for gasoline.

The other thing that's unusual here is unlike with Japan and China and a lot of different other countries, to your point, we don't have a trade deficit with Brazil. We sell them more goods than we buy. In fact, so far this year we're looking at a U.S. trade surplus through May of more than a -- more than $3 billion.

And as you noted, Brazil is already --

BERMAN: Yeah.

EGAN: -- threatening to retaliate by putting tariffs on U.S. goods, and that's where you could get job loss in the United States.

And now we just wait to see if these tariffs actually kick in, for how long, and at what level.

BERMAN: And the markets seem to be saying eh, we'll see.

EGAN: Yeah.

BERMAN: We'll see.

Now in terms of tariffs affecting prices, which is something that economists say ultimately they will, maybe some evidence in the toy industry?

EGAN: Yeah, yeah. We're hearing a new warning from the CEO of Hasbro saying that because of tariffs toy prices will likely go up between August -- starting August and October -- between that frame. So that's right before the holiday season. This is, of course, bad news for parents and board game lovers because this is the company behind Play- Doh, Transformers, Candy Land, Monopoly.

And the company produces about half of its toys in the United States, but it has talked about how the other half would be really hard to make here because it's just more expensive, right? It costs more money to pay workers.

Take a listen to what the CEO of Hasbro, Chris Cocks, told CNN's Audie Cornish. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS COCKS, CEO, HASBRO TOYS: If you took that same toy with the same process to manufacture it in the U.S., just given U.S. labor costs, that toy would be 80 to 90 percent of the cost would be labor. And so it would be somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 to 60 percent more expensive to produce here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EGAN: Fifty to 60 percent more expensive to produce here.

So look, this is just another example of how tariffs are scrambling supply chains and could eventually cause sticker shock for all of us consumers.

BERMAN: All right, Matt Egan. Thank you very much for that.

EGAN: Thanks, John.

BERMAN: Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. First on CNN, Republican Sen. Thom Tillis has a lot to say about why he voted against President Trump's massive tax and spending cuts bill, calling the bill "politically devastating."

In an exclusive interview with our Jake Tapper, Tillis said he told the president the so-called big, beautiful bill legislation could cost the GOP their majority in the midterms next year.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny joins us now from the White House. What more did you learn from Sen. Tillis in this -- in this long conversation with Jake?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Sara, good morning.

A very interesting conversation with Thom Tillis. Of course, he was one of the three Republican senators who voted against that big, sweeping legislation. And he talked about how he actually sent a warning sign to the White House -- to the president specifically -- saying that this could be the president's Obamacare. By that, of course, he means it could be a big piece of legislation that would bring political fallout in the midterm elections.

But Sen. Tillis, the Republican from North Carolina, also said he was quite blunt with the president about the politics of the matter as well. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): I told the president that he's clearly got the votes. That I will try and work to get something done in the House. He didn't need my vote. And that I would be respectful and quiet and try to do my work on the House side. And then I got that text and I texted him -- or I saw the -- I never

read it, but I saw, like, the first sentence. I told the president in another text. I said now it's time to start looking for my replacement because I don't deal with that kind of bull****.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So there you go. It's an unvarnished look at really what when on behind the scenes in those hours of when the president called out Thom Tillis and said he would be looking for another Republican to primary challenge him next year. Well, then the senator said look, I am not running for re-election.

So that is one of the interesting fallouts, at least politically speaking, from that big vote just a couple of weeks ago.

But Sara, it also really raises the question about what many Republicans are feeling as they head into the midterm elections here about the fallout from the Medicaid cuts in particular. That's what the senator was so worried about -- the effects that it -- that he believed it would have on rural hospitals all across North Carolina.

SIDNER: Yeah, and that's one of the many things that he talked about. There is much more to discuss on this.

[07:40:05]

Thank you so much to you Jeff Zeleny there for us at the White House -- John.

BERMAN: All right. With us now CNN political commentator Karen Finney, and Republican strategist Doug Heye.

And I have to say this interview with Jake and Thom Tillis -- it had a lot in it. I want you to listen to this exchange between Jake and the senator on the Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. And remember that Tillis really cast the deciding vote that led to Hegseth's confirmation -- listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TILLIS: I think it's clear he's out of his depth as a manager of a large, complex organization. And so --

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

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

TAPPER: Right.

TILLIS: -- that's just amateurish. I mean, that's from somebody who doesn't understand large organization dynamics.

So, you know, I don't regret the decision I made back then based on the facts as I knew them then, but today I am beginning to wonder if maybe armed services was a little bit generous with respect to their assessment of his capabilities as a manager of the world's largest, most complex, and arguably, consequential organization.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right, Karen. He doesn't regret the decision back then but now --

KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER AND SPOKESPERSON, HILLARY CLINTON 2016 CAMPAIGN: Now that I'm not running, I can tell you the truth, but I'm still going to say it in a measured way. This guy is in over his head is basically what he was saying. And I think we knew that before.

This is the conundrum that I think a lot of these Republican members are going to have. How do you explain to your voters in 2026 did you a make a decision that was good for them or that was good for you politically with the president? This was one that he made out of politics for the president and we're now seeing that it probably hasn't served America very well.

BERMAN: Yeah.

FINNEY: I'm just being a little bit honest.

BERMAN: Doug, what do you think about the way he said that because he still wasn't full-on saying I made a bad choice. And he was blaming the Senate Armed Services Committee there but yet he still doesn't think Hegseth is doing a good job.

DOUG HEYE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST, FORMER RNC COMMUNICATION DIRECTOR: Yeah. Look, it's a lot and it's hard to sort of figure out exactly what he means by that. What he was saying was rather opaque, but it did sound to me very similar to what we hear very much these days as more and more books come out of, you know, I stood by Joe Biden, and he was fully there at the time. Now, in retrospect, with time passing, I see that ultimately, Joe Biden wasn't there.

But this is why Thom Tillis isn't running for re-election and the reality is politics always play a role here. His election was going to be a very tough one. North Carolina has not had a double-digit Senate race since 1974. And obviously, he was going to have a very tough primary as well.

BERMAN: And again, despite clear difficulties with President Trump and President Trump threatening to have him primaried in that Senate race had he run, he stills seems very reluctant to criticize him directly.

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TILLIS: I don't have a problem with President Trump.

TAPPER: Right. TILLIS: I got to have -- I got a problem with some of the people I consider to be amateurs advising him.

TAPPER: What do you make when you -- when you go --

TILLIS: And so I want to make it very clear to them guys --

TAPPER: Yeah.

TILLIS: -- when you act like the president when he's out of the room, you don't impress me. And they'll hear more of that in the coming months.

TAPPER: All right. Who are you talking about specifically? Stephen Miller or --

TILLIS: We'll get to that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right. That was something, Doug, first of all, I have to say. But isn't in this second Trump term the term where Trump is supposed to be getting everything he wants? Doesn't this one counter to the notion in the first term it was the advisers that stopped him? But Tillis is saying oh, the advisers are all powerful now?

HEYE: Yeah. Look, I'm not sure what he means by that because in the previous clip that you had played, he blamed the president's tweet. Now, the president might not have typed that himself but that's his Twitter or his X accounts. So ultimately the decision he made was based on words that came directly from the president.

BERMAN: Karen?

FINNEY: It seemed more like he is aware he may not be running for office but he's still going to need a job when he's out. And by -- if you, you know, anger the president you still harm yourself and the Republican ecosystem. I think he's smart enough to know that.

But again, blaming the president's staff that -- you know, you still made some decisions that you should be accountable for. I'm glad that he didn't vote for the big, horrible bill.

At the same time I think he also knew politically. Again, how are you going to explain in a primary to voters, many of whom have been loyal to Trump. Then you've got to get to a general election.

And this is going to be a conundrum I think that a lot of members are going to have, particularly if you are in a swing state like North Carolina where you have a Democratic governor who is not going to lie about why things are costing more. Why hospitals are costing more.

He's going to be really honest that it's the big, ugly bill. And if you're someone like a Thom Tillis, you're not going to be able to explain that away either in a primary or a general election. I think you just saw the facts on the fall. BERMAN: And very quickly, Matt Egan was here talking about this new tariff threat from President Trump on Brazil that if they don't -- and it sort of had the implied threat that we're going to put 50 percent tariffs on your products if you don't back off this prosecution of the former president for trying to overthrow the election results there.

[07:45:05]

FINNEY: Yeah. Doesn't that sound a little bit familiar? It's like he's trying to normalize his own crimes, whether it's white collar crimes, whether it's trying to overthrow an election. I mean, this is exactly what some voters were afraid of. He is using the power of the presidency to exact retribution and now he's doing it on a global scale.

BERMAN: Doug, what do you see about that? And again, you know, I will note that President Trump is no longer under even investigation for January 6 at this point, but there is an investigation and perhaps even a criminal trial coming up in Brazil.

HEYE: John, the reality is you could ask me about basically any tariff that has been talked about in the past two weeks and I'd tell you probably not a good idea, whether we're talking about Thailand or Brazil. Clearly using emergency powers, as Trump is trying to, to get into internal politics of Brazil doesn't seem like the best use of this president's time.

BERMAN: Karen Finney, Doug Heye, great to see both of you this morning. Appreciate it -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: So for the first time ever, chipmaker NVIDIA briefly hit $4 trillion in market value Wednesday. This makes it the first publicly traded company in the world to hit that milestone. The surge occurred Wednesday as NVIDIA's stock jumped 2.49 percent. The company ended the day only up 1.8 percent but giving it a market capital of, oh, a very, you know, not too shabby $3.97 trillion.

The U.S. chipmaker beat both Apple and Microsoft too. This $4 trillion mark securing its spot as one of the most favored stocks on Wall Street -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Thank you, Kate.

Still ahead, incredible video. A ship sinking after being attacked by a terror group in the Red Sea. More on that story ahead.

Plus, new CNN reporting this morning. Andrew Cuomo has spent millions on his legal defense against his #MeToo accusers. How New York taxpayers will be footing the bill. That story and more ahead.

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:51:40]

BOLDUAN: There is new CNN reporting coming in this morning. Andrew Cuomo is running for mayor of New York City -- we know that -- but four years after Cuomo resigned as New York governor over a sexual harassment scandal he is now still spending millions on an aggressive legal defense against his accusers, and New York taxpayers are footing the bill in this legal fight.

CNN's MJ Lee has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL ENTERPRISE CORRESPONDENT: It's been several years since Andrew Cuomo resigned as New York governor in 2021 after facing a number of #MeToo allegations. While over the last few years he has mounted an aggressive legal defense against three of his accusers who sued him, and those legal bills are largely being paid for by New York taxpayers. That's because there is a statute in New York state law that allows for much of his legal bills in those lawsuits to be covered by the state.

The New York state comptroller's office tells CNN that as of early July the state had expensed $20.5 million for the legal defense of Cuomo and several officials who worked with him in those three lawsuits. That is an eye-popping figure.

My colleague Sabrina Souza looked through hundreds of pages of legal documents from those lawsuits. We interviewed the plaintiffs' lawyers, Cuomo's advisers, legal and ethics experts, and we also spoke with several of Cuomo's accusers to try to understand Cuomo's legal defense strategy that has cost New Yorkers so much money already.

And what some legal experts told us is that Cuomo's defense team has, at times, used aggressive and unconventional tactics that appear intended to slow down the legal proceedings. For example, in one case they sought the plaintiff's gynecological, optometrist, and family therapy records. They've also tried to probe third-party accusers' romantic histories and past alleged experiences of sexual trauma, as well as their communications with members of the media.

Now, Cuomo has denied allegations of sexual harassment, and his advisers tell CNN he is not going to settle. They say yes, these ongoing lawsuits have been expensive and protracted but they blame who they describe as cash-hungry ex-employees who decided to sue him, as well as what they see as a political witch hunt orchestrated by New York Attorney General Letitia James. The AG's office conducted an investigation that found that Cuomo sexually harassed around a dozen employees.

Some experts also raised the concern with us that the Cuomo team's tactics are having the affect of intimidating and harassing individuals who have spoken out against Cuomo or could do so in the future. They also said that costly strategy has been made easier because Cuomo's legal fees in these cases are being covered by New York taxpayers.

And meanwhile, some of the former Cuomo employees who accused him of inappropriate behavior but never sued him are still being saddled with legal bills because they're being subpoenaed in some of the ongoing lawsuits.

One woman, a former Cuomo aide named Ana Liss -- she told me that she had an eight-hour deposition with Cuomo's lawyer two summers ago. And she told me that she chose to not have her lawyer present for it, which is obviously not advisable, because she wanted to spare herself additional legal bills. She says her legal bills related to Cuomo have already totaled some $30,000.

[07:55:15]

Back to you guys.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: All right. Our thanks to MJ Lee for that.

All right. New this morning Houthi rebels sank their second cargo ship in a week in the Red Sea. Just stunning video there. We just learned 10 people have been rescued but others kidnapped, and we believe four people to be dead. The Houthis also claimed responsibility for a similar assault on Sunday which targeted a different ship.

Both ships flew flags from Liberia and were operated by Greek firms. Some of their sister ships made calls to Israeli ports in the past year. That's according to shipping data analysis.

Again, just stunning video.

President Trump has named Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy as the interim head of NASA. This comes weeks after the president pulled the nomination of tech billionaire Jared Isaacman for the job. Isaacman is close to Elon Musk whose feud with the president recently reignited after the passage of the president's huge tax and spending bill.

The president said on Truth Social that it would be inappropriate to have Musk's very close friend run NASA.

Happening today a hearing is set for the man who allegedly tried to assassinate President Trump at his West Palm Beach golf course in Florida last year. Ryan Routh wants to replace the public defenders assigned to his case. He has, so far, failed to have his case tossed after several attempts and indicated he would make claims of insanity. Prosecutors say he set up a sniper's nest in the outer perimeter of the president's Florida golf course -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Former President Biden's doctor invoked the Fifth Amendment and declined to answer questions during a Republican-led House investigation into the former president's mental fitness. Dr. Kevin O'Connor was on Capitol Hill yesterday for a closed-door deposition. O'Connor's attorney cited doctor-patient privilege after the panel refused to narrow the scope of the interview.

Let's get to our senior CNN reporter Annie Grayer, who is there for us in Washington. What can you tell us about this?

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: So the president's doctor showed up yesterday and did not answer any questions and left pretty quickly. And that's because he invoked his Fifth Amendment rights, as you mentioned, which is his right to not answer any questions. And the reason that he did that was he said that Republicans would not limit the scope of the interview, and he was worried that he would be -- he would be breaking his doctor-patient privilege.

And also, he was worried about the ongoing criminal investigation that was -- that's happening at the same time. President Trump has directed his Department of Justice to look into Biden and his use of the autopen. And Dr. O'Connor was saying that he does not want to show up for his congressional investigation interview until that criminal probe is wrapped up.

The House Oversight Committee released footage of this deposition. Watch a clip of what Dr. O'Connor told them yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. KEVIN O'CONNOR, PRESIDENT BIDEN'S WHITE HOUSE PHYSICIAN: On the advice of counsel, I must respectfully decline to answer based on the physician-patient privilege and reliance on my right under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution. I am not a lawyer, and I must follow my lawyer's advice in this matter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRAYER: Now, Republicans are seizing on this. They say this is further evidence of a coverup of the former president's physical and mental decline. House Oversight Chair James Comer has released multiple statements and talked extensively about is, whereas Democrats say this is a political stunt and just a waste of time.

But this investigation is just getting started. House Oversight Chair James Comer, who is leading this probe, has called nearly a dozen of Biden's closest former aides and allies.

And now that the Trump White House has waived executive privilege this investigation has gotten more complicated. We've already seen at least one witness close to Biden and his wife Jill Biden, Anthony Bernal, not show up for his interview -- his voluntary interview because of concerns of this waiving of executive privilege.

We've also seen some disputes over testimony when Neera Tanden, another former Biden aide, came in there was a dispute between Republicans and Democrats over what she had to say.

So House Oversight Chair James Comer, who led the Biden impeachment inquiry that did not result in an impeachment of the president, is now picking up where he left off trying to now probe deeper into what -- who knew what about the president's decline and was there a potential coverup. Democrats are, every step of the way, calling this a complete political witch hunt.

But this dynamic is going to keep unfolding as these interviews are going to be happening throughout the summer.

SIDNER: All right, Annie Grayer. Thank you so much for your reporting there from Washington for us.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

The death toll climbing as the desperate search continues for the missing in Texas.