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Trump Travels to Texas Flooding; Kevin Jones is Interviewed about Surviving the Flooding; Agents and Protesters Clash at Cannabis Farm; Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) is Interviewed about Weapons for Ukraine. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired July 11, 2025 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

CAM SRIVASTAVA, REPORTER, "THE HARVARD CRIMSON": Student life, the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations, these are offices that have a central role in many students' lives. You know, they -- they have faculty and staff members, but then they also have student interns and they hold events every year promoting their causes. And so, you know, there's been no clear indication as to if there's going to be personnel changes at these offices or, you know, whether they will continue their operations at all moving forward. But I think there is worry, particularly among the groups that you just mentioned.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Cam Srivastava, thank you so much for your great reporting here at "The Harvard Crimson." We appreciate it.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, very shortly, President Trump leaves the White House for Texas to visit the flood zone. He often answers questions on the way out. So, we're standing by for that.

Breaking this morning, the FBI offering a reward for a man who appeared to fire a gun at ICE officials during a standoff between federal agents and protesters in California.

And why is the White House attacking building renovations at the headquarters of the Federal Reserve? Why is the president, who loves gold leaf, worry the Fed is being too opulent? Is this about construction or a way to get Fed Chair Jerome Powell out?

I'm John Berman, with Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And we are standing by to soon see President Trump. He'll be leaving for Texas this morning, headed there to see firsthand the damage from the catastrophic floods. It's now been one week since that disaster hit, and the toll just keeps climbing. At least 121 people killed and 160 still missing.

Also new this morning, CNN has obtained dispatch audio that reveals how emergency responders were trying to warn residents just as the floodwaters surged early on in the morning. A former I.T. director for Kerr County recorded hours of scanner audio during the storm, including the moment a firefighter called in to request an emergency alert to be sent out. And that was at 4:22 a.m.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FIREFIGHTER: Is there any way we can send a code red out to our Hunt residents asking them to find higher ground or stay home?

DISPATCHER: Ten four, stand by, we have to get that approved with our supervisor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And a source tells affiliate KSAT, KSAT, that it took nearly six hours before some residents got that code red alert.

We're also getting new images in from the moments of evacuation. Take a look at this. This is from a boy's camp in Hunt, Texas. It shows the campers clinging to the rafters of their cabin as the waters rose. Everyone was evacuated safely from that camp.

But Camp Mystic, the all-girls camp less than six miles away, was utterly devastated, as we know. And here's a new image showing part of the evacuation effort. At least 27 campers and counselors were killed there.

CNN's Julia Vargas Jones is in Kerrville this morning.

And, Julia, can you set the stage for us once again for -- for the president's visit today, what he is going to see when he lands?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, Well, Kate, we are right between the Guadalupe River and Route 39, which we've heard so much about, right, like the response to Route 39, all of the homes that were there.

Where we are standing right now, we just could not have been standing here a week ago. All of this was submerged.

I want to point, if we can, Jonathan, up to the top of these trees, where you see some of the bark out this. The owner of this RV park in Reston was telling our colleague, Gus Valdez from CNN Espanol, that this is where the cars that were floating on the river were hitting. And that's why you see the scars on the trees.

And, of course, the scars go way beyond the riverbanks. They go into this community. They go into the families that lost loved ones.

And that's what we're hearing, the president will speak to those, as well as being briefed by local officials here.

One of the objectives of this trip, aside from giving some -- some solace to this community, Kate, is also to push back on some of that mounting criticism. You talked about, you know, those six hours that we've been hearing about that took for response to get here. We're also hearing from local officials from Kern County, that they

submitted a report to FEMA in October warning of potential issues with their warning system, asking for potential -- to include sirens as part of this, because they believe that a flooding event like this one, of this magnitude, could happen.

[09:05:02]

Now, what we have been seeing here this morning is those search operations still ongoing from early hours here, Kate. We've been seeing folks out with flashlights. We just saw a convoy go by right before we went live with you.

In speaking to some of these volunteers, what they're saying is that, yes, they have searched a lot of these river banks, but there's still much more to go. And now they're doubling back and going back to those locations where they may not have found anyone. But now that the water is lower, it is more likely that they will find some of those at least 160 people that have been missing. But that effort is just huge. It means digging. It means going through debris and gravel. All of that has been moved with the currents of this river. Just a huge effort here, Kate, to look for those people. But that is where the hearts of these volunteers are today. They're telling us that they won't rest until they find every single one of them.

BOLDUAN: Julia, thank you so much for being there.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, joining me now is Kevin Jones, a Marine veteran who survived the floods. He has now joined the volunteer effort in Texas with Team Rubicon.

Thank you for being here this morning after all that you've been through.

You said, "I've been to war. This tested me more." What did you and your fiance experience when the floodwaters began to rise near your home in Kerr County?

KEVIN JONES, MARINE VETERAN WHO LOST HOME IN TEXAS FLOODS: Yes. Well, hey, Sara. Thank you for having us on here.

Instinct kicks in. And, you know, essentially, we just had to get out of that home. We know -- I mean we weren't sure of how high the waters were going to get. And, you know, she smashed the window out and we -- we got out of there. And we held to the support beam on our awning. And the water -- we just rode the awning up as the waters continued to rise. And, you know, I'm trying, you know, it was us and our next-door neighbors. And we're just trying to -- I'm trying to keep everyone calm, right?

SIDNER: Yes.

JONES: You lose your cool. That's when -- that's when you start doing things, making mistakes. So, I'm -- we're out there. We're hanging on for life. We've got propane tanks blowing up. You got cars floating by. My vehicles are gone. It was just -- you just got to keep a positive mental attitude. That's what it comes down to.

SIDNER: How hard was it? How --

JONES: So, we survived it. We --

SIDNER: Yes, how quickly did -- did -- did this happen?

JONES: Go ahead.

SIDNER: Because you described, you know, you were -- your -- your -- your fiance was sort of up and you could hear, you know, things coming.

JONES: Yes.

SIDNER: You could hear the -- the storm. How quickly did this happen, where it went from, you have a little bit of water to, oh my gosh, we are having to hold on to a beam to try and keep from being swept away?

JONES: Absolutely. So, she -- she was up at 4:30. No one really got much sleep because the storm had been just -- the thunder and lightning all night, just crackling. Just loud thunder. So, she's up at 4:30. I got up with her. She had to be at work at six.

So, you know, I look outside, 4:30-ish and, you know, there's water starting to come, because I live directly across the street from the -- the Guadalupe River, the Ingram Dam.

SIDNER: OK.

JONES: And, you know, the water is starting to come in, into the parking lot. I'm like, OK. Well, then it starts to slowly trickle into the house. By 4:45, 4:50, it's already waist high.

SIDNER: Whoa. Wow.

JONES: So, 15, 20 minutes. It came in that fast. And, you know, we got out of the house. And by, you know, 5:00 a.m., it's all the way up. You know, we measured with a tape measure, and my home is about -- a little over seven foot inside.

SIDNER: My God. Like --

JONES: So, yes, it -- you know --

SIDNER: That is -- it's so fast.

JONES: Yes.

SIDNER: Like -- like, I wanted you to explain -- explain that because I don't think people understand how fast this happens and why people who are closer to the river could not get to their cars and get out, even when they felt the water coming into their homes or noticed it. And you all were up. Many people were -- were sleeping. What is left of your home? You said it got to seven feet.

JONES: And -- seven feet within the home, yes. That's where the water line is. So, you know, it's a sad thing. And prayers out to everyone. But I just want to give a shout out to this community and how everyone has come together, has stuck together. I mean, we've got people from all over the state of Texas. That's why I love this state. We support each other and we back each other up.

You know, we've even got, you know, entities and support from outside, you know, other states here too. So, you know, this tragic event, we just have to pick up the pieces and move on. That's all you can do. We can't change the past. We have to move forward in the future.

[09:10:05]

SIDNER: And I know you're about moving forward. I know you've been helping also in this effort, even though you and your fiance have suffered so much loss to your home and your things.

I do want to ask you about warning systems there. There has been a lot of talk about it. There has been some new audio that came out of a firefighter asking for help to make sure to get it to people, and how long that took, about six hours after the call came in. I'm curious if you got a warning, if you had anything come in on your phone, and what you think needs to -- to maybe change in the future.

JONES: Well, yes, there -- there were warnings that were coming in, but no one, no one could predict -- could have predicted this rush of water. The -- the -- just the magnitude of it that came in.

I know that some of these smaller surrounding towns around us have like a -- an audible system, sort of like a tornado warning that go off.

SIDNER: Siren. Uh-huh.

JONES: Yes. Yes, a siren to -- to notify people. You know, I -- I'm not an engineer. I'm not going to speak on that. I don't know. But I think just the more we can do to let people know and to get them educated on what they're receiving, what they're seeing, what they're hearing, that's -- that's what it's going to come down to.

SIDNER: I just want to, Kevin, just mention again that you have been out trying to help as well, even though you're going through your own difficulties as this storm swept through your home. Thank you to you for coming here and talking to us and for what you are doing for your community. I know this has been extremely difficult for you and your fiance.

JONES: Absolutely. But we're -- guess what? We're -- we're taking it day by day and we're going to be just fine.

SIDNER: All right, thank you. I really appreciate it.

John. BERMAN: All right, we are standing by for the opening bell. We've got

our eye on market futures, which are a little bit grumpy this morning after President Trump issued threats of new tariffs and seemed to go after the Fed chair, Jerome Powell, in a very new way overnight.

Breaking this morning, an urgent search. The FBI looking for a man they say fired at an agent during a standoff between protesters and ICE in California.

And overnight, a new round of Russian strikes on Kyiv, as President Trump says a deal has been reached to send weapons to Ukraine through NATO allies.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:17:09]

BERMAN: All right, breaking overnight, a tense standoff between federal immigration agents and protesters outside a cannabis farm in California. Video shows agents clashing with protesters and deploying some kind of gas or smoke into the crowd. The FBI says it is focused on a person who appears to fire toward the agents. A $50,000 reward is being offered for anyone with information. This is what the White House borders czar Tom Homan said this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM HOMAN, BORDER CZAR: People are welcome to protest. They have their First Amendment rights but they can't cross that line. They can't impede us from doing our job. That's a felony. They certainly can't put arms -- put hands on an agent. That's a felony. So, what happened in California is just another example of protesters becoming criminals.

ICE agents are simply enforcing the law that members of Congress enacted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The latest now from CNN's veronica Miracle.

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're learning that ten people under the age of 18 were discovered at these marijuana farms. That's according to the Customs and Border Protection commissioner, Rodney Scott. He says that eight of those children were unaccompanied minors. And he also says this is now a case involving child labor violations.

These raids happened at Glass House Farms. It's a marijuana facility with two different locations, and raids happened at both of those locations.

And it quickly devolved. Protesters descended on those locations. At one point, in the city of Camarillo, one of the farms, they blocked the entrances, the two entrances, and access points into one of those farms. And so, there were skirmish lines on either side of the farm. It quickly got out of control. Here's what protesters had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They started throwing pepper balls, tear gas, smoke, everything, just trying to disperse us because they're scared. They know that we're going to push back against it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're here united. We're not let -- we're not letting ICE agents in. We're not letting ICE agents out. We've been trying to block in since we're not giving them what they want.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MIRACLE: A spokesperson for Homeland Security tells CNN that they were conducting criminal warrants at the farm. But it is not clear at this hour how many people were arrested. This went on for hours. And we could see from aerial footage that busloads of people were being taken away. We also saw people lined up next to one of the facilities appearing to be detained. Multiple people. And so we're still waiting for information on exactly what happened at these farms and what exactly will unfold from here.

But we do know that the FBI says that during the -- the -- the protesters clashing with law enforcement, at least one man may have fired a weapon towards officers. The FBI now offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.

Back to you.

BOLDUAN: Veronica, thank you so much for that.

Coming up for us, President Trump says he's reached a deal to send more weapons to Ukraine through NATO allies, adding that those weapons will be paid for 100 percent by NATO.

[09:20:01]

And a live look, we'll show you this morning, at market futures as the White House ramps up its pressure campaign against Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right, new this morning, President Trump says he has a deal with NATO to send U.S. weapons to Ukraine through the alliance. He told NBC News, quote, "we're sending weapons to NATO, and NATO is paying for those weapons 100 percent.

[09:25:01]

So, what we're doing is the weapons that are going out are going to NATO, and then NATO is going to be giving those weapons to Ukraine, and NATO is paying for those weapons." With us now is Congressman Mike Quigley, a Democrat from Illinois. He

is co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus.

Congressman, thank you so much for being with us.

What do you think of this transfer of weapons to Ukraine and the timeliness of them?

REP. MIKE QUIGLEY (D-IL): Look, I welcome any assistance to Ukraine at this critical juncture. I am hoping that the ongoing agreements we already have with Ukraine will continue without the stops that this president has put in place several times.

The implication here from the president that NATO has to pay for all these, it implies that this is NATO's issue, it's NATO's problem. We know all too well that it's a moral imperative for us, but a strategic one as well. General Milley, Secretary Austin, all -- and many others have said repeatedly, Putin's aims go well beyond Ukraine. And if we don't meet his aggression here, we're emboldening him, but tyrants across the world who would do such things. And it will be a threat to the United States ultimately.

BERMAN: How much faith do you have in what appears to be an attitude shift from President Trump toward Russian leader Vladimir Putin?

QUIGLEY: I have absolutely no faith that the president will be consistent in any actions diplomatically, militarily, anywhere in the world.

This is an isolationist. This is an appeaser. And I have little faith that that strategy worked in 1939, that it will work now. But the president will -- will somehow disavow it.

The fact that, what, six weeks ago he gave Putin two weeks and -- and now he's finally coming to the realization that he may be, as he -- the president said, tapping him along? Well, comes the dawn, Mr. President. This is a -- an evil tyrant you can't trust.

The only thing Putin understands is strength. So, we need to pass this additional sanctions law without his ability to veto any part of it. And we need to do our own supplemental.

Putin wins a war of attrition. The president has done nothing but help Putin so far.

BERMAN: Congressman, I want to ask you about a story in "The New York Times" this morning that says that FBI personnel are be giving -- being given polygraphs, which in itself is not unusual, but they're being asked about what they've said about the FBI director, Kash Patel. Let me read you a quote. "Since Kash Patel took office as director of the FBI, the bureau has significantly stepped up the use of the lie detector test, at times subjecting personnel to a question as specific as whether they have cast aspersions on Patel himself."

Now, last we checked, the FBI hadn't responded to "The New York Times" about this article. But how do you feel about agents being asked if they've said anything about the director in the past?

QUIGLEY: Look, this is a really dangerous precedent, right? I understand if you're talking about a political appointee, but these are just public servants who put their lives at risk. Their own personal opinions about how they feel about the FBI director, those are theirs. And we can't have this purity test.

Look, I don't need a lie detector test to tell the American people that Kash Patel is an extraordinarily unqualified sycophant who will do what the president of the United States says, even if it violates the Constitution, even, in my mind, if it -- if it goes against the national security of the United States, if it only serves to please the president of the United States. That scares me.

And this is just additional evidence of the fact that his primary concern is defending the president. The oath these officers swear is to the Constitution, not to the president of the United States.

BERMAN: I've got my eye on -- on market futures. The markets open in just about a minute. And they're down a tick this morning after the president issued new tariff threats on Canada and others.

And this comes a day after he issued this -- this threat to hike tariffs on Brazil 50 percent. And in the letter he specifically cited the legal case, the prosecution of the former president, Bolsonaro, who is being investigated and taken to court for trying to overthrow the 2022 election in that country. What do you think of, a, the politics of including that threat in a threat about tariffs, and, b, even the legality of it?

QUIGLEY: First of all, most of what the president is doing on tariffs is illegal. He has emergency powers, but no one thinks the economy is in any peril. So, I think it's grossly illegal.

Let's understand that tariffs have a role, right? We understand that they are to counter unfair trade practices by a country, perhaps flooding the market.

[09:30:02]

The president's tariffs aren't doing any of that. It's raising costs, uncertainty, which dramatically in -- affects investment