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At Least 120 Dead, 160 Missing After Catastrophic Texas Floods; Russian Drones Swarm Kyiv From All Sides in Shift of Tactics; Rubio Meets With Russian Foreign Minister After Trump Slams Putin; Several Secret Service Agents Suspended Over Trump Pennsylvania Rally. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired July 10, 2025 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:00:18]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Did red tape slow down FEMA's emergency response to the catastrophic Texas floods? Four FEMA officials tell CNN that critical help delayed its response because of new cost controls put in place by the Homeland Security Secretary. At least 160 people are still missing with urgent search efforts in their seventh day now. And nearly one year since the assassination attempt on President Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania, sources tell CNN the Secret Service has suspended several agents.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Plus, jury selection begins for Colorado Dentist accused of killing his wife. Police say he poisoned her protein shakes. We are following these major developing stories and many more, they're all coming in right here to "CNN News Central."

WHITFIELD: Happening now, while the search for victims from the tragic Texas floods disaster is now in its seventh day, questions are intensifying about FEMA's response and the leadership of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Four officials inside FEMA tell CNN that cost controls implemented by Secretary Noem, requiring her sign off for anything over $100,000 slowed down the FEMA response. CNN's Brian Todd joins us now with more on this. What are you learning?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, this is new reporting from our colleagues, Gabe Cohen and Michael Williams. They cite four officials inside of FEMA saying that the -- almost instantly, as the flood waters rose in Texas last week, officials at FEMA who leapt into action ran into bureaucratic obstacles. They say that multiple agency sources tell CNN that in the past, FEMA would've been able to quickly stage urban search and rescue teams from a network of those -- of teams from across the country close to the disaster zone in anticipation of urgent requests.

Now, there are -- these are teams that are specifically trained for situations including catastrophic floods. But this time, as those areas in Texas were getting submerged, FEMA officials realized they could not pre-position those teams. One reason, they needed approval from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem before moving those assets in place. Noem's Department oversees FEMA and CNN has previously reported Noem recently enacted a sweeping rule aimed at cutting spending. The rule requires every contract and grant of over $100,000 to have her personal sign off before money can be released.

Multiple sources tell CNN Noem did not authorize FEMA's deployment of urban search and rescue teams until Monday, more than 72 hours after the flooding began. Now, we do have to point out, Texas has one of the most robust emergency management systems in the country and has managed this disaster largely on its own. Local search and rescue teams from Texas were deployed in the early hours of this disaster as were teams from other parts of the federal government.

But what we do not know is what effect those additional expert search and rescue teams would've had here. There was also a delay in approving a request from Texas for aerial imagery and a delay in approving more people to staff a phone bank at a disaster call center according to CNN sources, which meant longer wait times. Kristi Noem pushed back on CNN's reporting today on Fox News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTI NOEM, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Our Coast Guard, our Border Patrol, BORTAC teams were there immediately. Every single thing I was on, they asked for, we were there. Nobody there has said anything about that they didn't get everything that they wanted immediately or that they needed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: Now, we should point out that Kristi Noem herself was on site early on in the disaster. Also, the Department of Homeland Security told CNN that Noem did not need to authorize additional FEMA resources right away because the department did use those other search and rescue assets that she mentioned in that sound clip, including from the Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection. And a DHS spokeswoman added that over time, as a need for FEMA resources arose, those requests did receive Noem's approval.

But there are concerns remaining that among FEMA sources who CNN spoke to, that had this been a wider disaster, stretched over more than one state, that the slow response could have been a much bigger issue, Fredricka.

Whitfield: Wow. It's incredible. Thank you so much for bringing that reporting and let us know any follow-up. Brian Todd, appreciate it. Jessica?

DEAN: Officials in Kerr County, Texas say at least 150 people are still missing. More than 2,100 responders are currently on the ground as the desperate search for victims continues. I want to go now to CNN's Shimon Prokupecz, who is in the FEMA State Disaster Recovery Center there in Kerrville. Shimon, I know you've been pressuring officials to get more information. How are things going right now?

[14:05:00] SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Look, it's tough here and people really, really need help right now, especially in some of the areas that we're not really talking about, like Ingram, where I've just met a resident here who's at the Disaster Relief Recovery Center, trying to get help. Her name is Ann Carr. Anne, tell me why you are here today and what's been going on.

ANN CARR, LIVES IN INGRAM, TEXAS: Well, we came here from a suggestion from a lady at Walmart. We walked up to the Salvation Army truck and we were trying to find out where can we get some help for our neighbors. And she pointed us to this location and she said that this is where you start. And we didn't know because we would get on the FEMA website and we didn't know where to begin. So we're grateful to be here, but we're concerned about our community.

PROKUPECZ: Tell me what's happening in the community? We were talking earlier, you were telling me how bad the situation is. Tell -- describe that for me.

CARR: Well, it's dire. And the reason that I say that is we live in an area that is saturated with elderly people. Some are recently retired, others have been retired a long time. And as everybody knows, Social Security only goes so far. The homes in Ingram, they're not fancy. They're small little houses, a lot of them are mobile homes. And just to get in and out of Ingram every day is a task because they've got the bridge cut off at Johnson Creek. So, you might face an hour or two traffic just to get out of Ingram in the evenings and in the mornings, it's not quite as bad.

PROKUPECZ: And what is -- you were talking about the people who live there, what are some of your neighbors facing? You were saying earlier to me that some of them are having difficulty leaving their homes.

CARR: Financially, it's tough, but then also just physically, our water -- our road, pardon me, was washed out. And so, just to get in and out of our community is -- you are not only facing all of this traffic, there's emergency vehicles.

PROKUPECZ: But, you guys need help right now?

CARR: We do need -- we need help and we need this FEMA system to be more streamlined. I just found out from a neighbor that in order for us to qualify, every resident in our neighborhood, which is 13, has to come in and fill out a FEMA application. And not everybody can do that.

PROKUPECZ: Because of their age, they're elderly people. So you want them out in the communities doing this?

CARR: Yes.

PROKUPECZ: They need to come to your community?

CARR: They need to get closer to Ingram, perhaps even Ingram Tom Moore High School. Yes. PROKUPECZ: OK. Well, Ann, thanks.

CARR: Yes, sir.

PROKUPECZ: -- for talking to us.

CARR: Thank you.

PROKUPECZ: And I think it's incredible that you're here fighting for your neighbors.

CARR: Thank you for being here.

PROKUPECZ: Yeah, well, thank you. One of the things that, I'm certainly finding right now is that getting word out that FEMA is even here has been a hard part because there's no communication. And as you heard Ann say that she only learned that FEMA was here through people in the streets. That's been one of the difficulties. So, we're not seeing a lot of people show up, but certainly, we've seen a number of people showing up here who are at the worst point in their lives, not only dealing with the loss of loved ones, but friends and neighbors, and they have lost everything. Everything is gone.

And they're just hoping to get some help, especially in some of these communities like Ingram, some of -- in more these, these areas where there are some elderly folk and people who are not getting as much attention, and that's what's happening now. They're trying to get attention to these communities to make sure they're not forgotten and that they can get the help that they need. But, it's really a horrific situation here right now. And people just really, really need help here in some of these areas, more than others, certainly.

DEAN: Yeah. Shimon, it is good to hear from Ann and you're right, what an amazing thing, she is there making sure that her community is being looked after and hopefully, they get the help they need. So many people, as Shimon notes, still really, really struggling. Thank you so much. We really appreciate that. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right, Jessica, with me right now is Ryan Logue. He is the Deputy Incident Commander for the United Cajun Navy, which has been helping in the search and rescue in central Texas. So great to see you. So, how is your team holding up right now? How much more complicated are your efforts becoming?

RYAN LOGUE, DEPUTY INCIDENT COMMANDER, UNITED CAJUN NAVY: At this point, the efforts get more complicated by the day. We've exhausted a lot of our ground searching a lot of the areas with all the volunteers we had out there for the first couple days. So much area was covered visually, with what we could see without having to cut down anything or make any amendments to areas. We covered a lot of area, but now it's the detailed work of getting through all this debris and destruction, and making sure that we find every last victim.

WHITFIELD: Do you have the equipment to get through a lot of that debris? Are you hoping in coordination with other volunteer organizations or perhaps state and local resources that you can navigate better?

[14:10:00]

LOGUE: If something like this was going to happen, it was -- it needed to happen in Texas because there's one thing that we have and it's equipment and people that know to use that equipment. The amount of donations that have come in from ranchers, farmers, just everyday people who have paid for 10 days of us having a tractor or donating their tractors and their time, whatever it is. We have so much equipment, we have so much manpower that it's -- there's government organizations, fire stations, whoever it is that are assisting and providing everything, but it's the people of Texas, it's the people of America that are doing so much of this right now.

And as the operations go on, our needs are going to change. And every need that we have is being covered by different individuals, some organizations, companies, it does -- you name it, people are donating whatever it is that we need to make sure that there's closure to the situation and that we find everybody that is out there.

WHITFIELD: Yeah. And you all have been donating your time, your resources. You are based in neighboring Louisiana, but we've seen you spring into action across the country for a lot of disasters on the regular. But I also want to ask you too about your assessments. You were on the air with my colleague Erin Burnett a few nights ago and said, by your estimation, you believe upwards of 500 people are missing. Texas authorities in their latest have said the death toll is now 120, about 160 remain missing. Based on what you have been seeing and experiencing, do you still feel that your number is more accurate? And if so, how are you assessing that?

LOGUE: I'll start with how I'm assessing that, and I'm assessing that with -- I don't think there's an equation that I could tell you, to be honest. I don't think I'm doing this with any sort of equation other than just taking everything that I've been given, all the information I've seen in just my life experiences and I'm looking at it, and that's what my brain says, but that's just me. That's -- I mean, I'm one person. What that number is only God knows.

And hopefully, one day, we know that number. We know everybody that we lost, so everybody can get closure. But at this point, I said that number, but I said that because I just -- it's so hard to believe that it's the number that they're saying. And after doing math in my head, that's what I came up with. But I don't ever want anybody to put too much into what I say because I'm just one person just trying to make sure that these people get closure. That is all I am, I'm nothing special.

WHITFIELD: Yeah, I got it. Based on a lot of what you've seen. And then, it's hard to believe, but tomorrow will be one week. How are you perhaps scaling your efforts? What changes do you feel like you as an organization will have to make and at the same time, try to continue to get results?

LOGUE: I mean, our biggest objective as an organization is to assist the government, assist the community, assist anybody who needs assisting. And so as this operation goes on, everything's going to change. The needs of the community are going to change, the needs of the government, special operations, doing certain search and rescue operations that we're performing, our needs are going to change. And so, I wake up every day and I sit there and I just go, all these challenges are going to come to me. We just have to figure out a solution to them. But I mean, that's -- to ever be able to describe what those may be, I mean, I wish I could tell you so I could sleep a little better at night, but I couldn't tell you.

WHITFIELD: Yeah. Well, you're doing extraordinary work, all of you are, coupled with all the volunteers and first responders that remain in that area, trying to help in the best way that you're able to. Ryan Logue of the United Cajun Navy, thank you so much. All the best.

LOGUE: Thank you, ma'am. Have a blessed day.

WHITFIELD: Still to come, hundreds of Russian drones attack Kyiv from all sides for a second consecutive night. Could this signal a tactical shift from Moscow? We'll discuss. Plus, several U.S. Secret Service agents suspended, the agency moving to sideline those assigned to protect President Trump during an attempted assassination at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. And later, a Colorado dentist accused of killing his wife by poisoning her protein shake is in court today. He could face life in prison if convicted. That and much more coming up on "CNN News Central."

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[14:19:33]

DEAN: Right now, Kyiv is trying to recover after a dramatic escalation of Russian attacks. For the second straight night, the Kremlin launched swarms of drones on the Ukrainian city. The daily bombardments ramping up as the White House resumes sending weapons shipments to Ukraine. Now, earlier today, Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Malaysia. Now, this was their first face-to-face meeting since President Trump lashed out at Putin's talk of peace as quote "BS and meaningless."

[14:20:00]

CNN's Nic Robertson is tracking it all from London for us, Nic, let's start first with these overnight strikes. Take us to Kyiv. What's happening there?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah. Over 400 drones, 18 different cruise and ballistic missiles. Interestingly here, Russia tried a different tactic with the drones that were focused on Kyiv. Some came in on the usual trajectory that were seen, the Ukrainians kind of know how to intercept drones. They're pretty effective at it. But where they found Russia differing in its tactics last night, Russia flew some of the drones past Kyiv, turned them around and flew them back.

So, the effect on Kyiv was being targeted from all directions. And of course, that makes these drones very, very hard to intercept. Two people killed, one of them a young 22-year-old police officer. This for the people in Kyiv, again, another terrible hard night. People taking to basements and subway stations to try to get some safety and shelter. The bigger picture across Ukraine is this continued bombardment at a much more -- much greater level. See -- has -- shows no signs of letting up and concerns that Russia is really ramping up its production of drones, so it can continue this level and even greater levels of drone attacks in the coming days to come.

DEAN: And Nic, as all of this is unfolding, the Secretary of State here in the United States, Marco Rubio, having what he described as a frank conversation with Russia's foreign minister in Malaysia. What do you know about any movement there?

ROBERTSON: Yeah, I mean, what was interesting from that, Secretary Rubio did say that Sergey Lavrov, his Russian counterpart, had come up and put forward some new ideas that he would be calling through to President Trump later in the day with, to put those forward, if you will. But he didn't characterize them. He didn't say what they were. But he did say that he'd expressed what President Trump had described as his frustration and disappointment with Vladimir Putin. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: The president's been pretty clear. He is disappointed and frustrated that there's not been more flexibility on the Russian side to bring about an end to this conflict. And we hope that can change, and we're going to continue to stay involved where we see opportunities to make a difference.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: And the other thing that's happened as well on the Ukraine front, today, you've had a meeting in Rome of the Ukraine Recovery Committee meeting. President Zelenskyy, Giorgia Meloni, Italian Prime Minister there as well. Keith Kellogg, President Trump's Envoy to Ukraine there as well. And interestingly, he joined yet another Ukraine discussion, the coalition of the willing, Macron -- Emmanuel Macron, the French President, Keir Starmer, the British Prime Minister, both meeting today in the U.K. Joining a video call with some of those leaders, including Keith Kellogg and actually Senator Richard Blumenthal and -- on this call.

It is the first time there's been American officials joining this coalition of the willing and the coalition of the willing now spelling out in detail how they will put troops on the ground in Ukraine in the days after a ceasefire. And that's something President Putin in Russia has been vehemently opposed to. Absolutely. He said he wouldn't have any NATO boots on the ground as part of a ceasefire deal. Well, the Europeans with the U.S. present at that meeting, have now put forward a plan to do just that.

DEAN: Isn't that interesting? All right, Nic Robertson, as always, thank you so much for that. Still to come, nearly one year since the assassination attempt of President Trump in Pennsylvania and sources are telling CNN, the Secret Service issued suspensions for several agents involved in securing that event. We'll have details on that next.

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[14:28:42]

WHITFIELD: All right. Sources tell CNN, the Secret Service has issued suspensions for several agents involved in securing the Pennsylvania rally where a would-be assassin shot at President Trump. This Sunday will mark one year since that shooting incident that left the then candidate Trump with a bloodied ear. The attack killed rally-goer Corey Comperatore. His wife says she is not surprised by the lack of accountability.

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HELEN COMPERATORE, WIDOW OF COREY COMPERATORE: They're hiding the Secret Service for some reason, they're just hiding them. I don't know why they will not come out and say what they did wrong and admit their fault in all this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Two other people at the rally were critically wounded in that assassination attempt. Congressional and federal investigations found multiple failures that day. Joining us right now is former U.S. Secret Service Agent Jonathan Wackrow. Great to see you.

JONATHAN WACKROW, FORMER UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE AGENT: So, there was a universal expectation that there would be suspensions of some sort. 10 days after the assassination attempt in Pennsylvania, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned. Why do you believe these six suspensions, ranging from 10 to 42 days, are coming now just day shy of the July 13th year mark of the shooting?

Well, Fred, good afternoon and but, I think it's actually important to address why we are --