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Trump Arrives In Texas To Meet Flood Victims, First Responders; Urgent Search For At Least 160 Still Missing After Texas Floods; Trump Plans A Major Statement On Russia On Monday; Deputy FBI Director Bongino Has Told People He Is Considering Resigning Amid Epstein Files Fallout; Today, State Department Begins Firing More Than 1,300 Employees; Two Arkansas Prison Employees Fired After Prisoner Escape. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired July 11, 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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[14:00:57]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": President Trump is in Kerrville, Texas to survey the impact of the devastating floods that ravaged that region one week ago, as officials face questions about the emergency response. Plus, a dramatic overhaul of the U.S. State Department, more than a thousand employees being laid off today, and hundreds of offices and bureaus are either being eliminated or seeing additional staff cuts.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": And people near the north rim of the Grand Canyon are told to evacuate as dangerous wildfire spread. The area is under an extreme heat warning. We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to "CNN News Central."

DEAN: Happening right now, President Trump getting his first up close look at the absolute devastation in flood ravaged central Texas. He arrived there a short time ago. It's now been one week since the catastrophic floods ripped through the Texas Hill Country and searchers continuing to scour the countryside, looking for those people who are still missing, often in sweltering conditions. They're hoping to find at least 160 people who are still missing right now.

Emergency officials confirming 121 people were killed by the flooding. Many of them, of course, children who were at summer camp. CNN's Ed Lavandera is now in Kerrville -- is live in Kerrville. Ed, I know you've been there in the last week, you've seen a lot of the damage up close and personal. What is the president expected to see today?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're not exactly clear on what parts of the Guadalupe River in the areas that have been damaged, the president will visit. He touched down at the county airport here. Just a short while ago, he was greeted by Governor Greg Abbott here in Texas. He is expected to hold a round table and meet with local officials as well as flooding victim families as well, as we understand. But where exactly he will see damage is not clear. We've been -- we're here on the banks of the Guadalupe River. We have not seen the president's helicopter fly by or anything like that at this moment.

But, all of that is now under the process of beginning here. And along -- I can tell you, along that stretch of the county airport, we drove by there this morning to see, there were small groups of supporters, and waiting for the president to touch down here. And obviously, a massive security footprint as DPS state troopers were lined up and down the highway there in front of the airport. So, where exactly the president will go to, Jessica, to see the damage before he meets with people, if that's indeed what's going to happen, we don't just know quite yet.

DEAN: All right, so more to come. Ed Lavandera there in Kerrville, Texas. Thank you so much for that update. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right. Last week, more than an entire summer's worth of rain fell in some areas of central Texas in just a matter of hours, leading to this disaster. Joining us right now, someone who has been watching the weather in Texas for decades now, Meteorologist Troy Kimmel. Troy, great to see you. So, what do you see will be overall lessons learned here on how critical information gathered by the National Weather Service or local meteorologists can most reliably be shared with vulnerable communities?

TROY KIMMEL, VETERAN TEXAS METEOROLOGIST: How we get that message, Fredricka, is what -- how we get out to the local communities is really the key question that I think everyone is asking. It's -- on this very sad week in Texas, it's good to be with you today and with CNN. I look at, I saw Ed's live shots in the last hour and I'm so glad that we're able to show that because that's what we're going through and I know we want answers, but I'm going to back up, Fredricka, a little bit and say that we've got to get closure for these families. And I heard you say 150. I think that's CNN's number of the missing. We've got to get closure for those families.

And we have thousands of people, first responders, police officers, volunteers that are all out there trying to do that. We've got to do that.

[14:05:00]

We've got to offer some closure for these folks. But you know what, Fredricka? We need to find out what went right with this and what went wrong. I will tell you, it's my opinion. I've been pretty outspoken on this as an Incident Response Meteorologist working with emergency management support for them, that I believe the National Weather Service did a good job. Have they seen job cuts in Austin, San Antonio? Have they seen people leave? Yes. But they had five people in the office Thursday night into Friday morning. Fredricka, those people in that office are friends of mine. I know those people. I trust them.

The people that hit the buttons, I trust them with my life. I know these people and I can tell you they did their job. But we've got to sit back and through an investigation, look, this -- Fredricka, this is not something, in the United States, should be happening. Now, can we next week -- I know the job cuts didn't affect us last week, in my opinion, but we can't continue this job surging with offices short of people next week and the week after that, and the week after that. If that's the case, then we're going to have weather service people that simply burn out. And I think that's something we've got to consider.

We need to get people back in these offices and get them back working. And we need to look at state and local level, and see what's happening. We'll find out what went wrong. But I guess, my response for you right now, let's offer some closure for these families.

WHITFIELD: Sure.

KIMMEL: And it's so sad. Our Weather Service, Fredricka, is devastated by this. I can tell you, the people that I know in that office are devastated.

WHITFIELD: Yeah.

KIMMEL: And it's such a sad week in Texas.

WHITFIELD: Well know they are. But I think -- I think you are underscoring that there are lessons learned. This is valuable information coming from people who are so dedicated and disseminating that information is also at the core, how better to do that. And I wonder too, since you've been in the area for so long, this Texas Hill Country along the Guadalupe River is especially unique, right? While we have all gotten used to the moniker of Flash flood Alley, this is what people there have been living with for a very long time. So, explain the inherent challenges of forecasting there and getting the information out.

KIMMEL: Your question, Fredricka, is so important for everyone because flash floods means exactly what it said, flash floods. And here in south central Texas, Flash Flood Alley, we've got the hills, the Hill Country. That's why we call it that. And underneath those hills, Fredricka, we have a lot of sub-soil limestone layers, rock layers that may only be an inch or two below the soil surface. Folks, if you have heavy rain, four to seven inches of rain that falls in a short period of time, number one, it's not going to soak in very far. It's going to run down those hills.

And another issue we see that's more related to maybe sociology and growth is we have a tremendous amount of urbanization. Even in Kerrville, there's been a lot of development. You get east toward Austin, San Antonio, Fredricka, I've got eight people that died about 15 miles northwest of me in Travis County here. We have the urbanization when we have concrete and asphalt being put down. And I can tell you, four to seven inches of rain is not soaking into that. So, those are the three factors that make this area so unique.

And as you so well point out, this is not our first rodeo when it comes to flash floods. This area has a long history and we have to go forward. Hope -- this is something I'm saying, I have to give credit to Kevin Kloesel, who was at OU, Emergency Management, a meteorologist there. But Fredricka, he always said hope is not a plan. And even in the last couple of days, Fredricka, I've had people say I hope this doesn't happen again. I'm getting tired of hearing about hope. We've got to have a plan. We've got to have a plan that works. Something failed us here, we will find out what it is. And I'm trusting that we'll get it corrected.

WHITFIELD: So Troy, information is key, right? But especially now, misinformation is just as bad an obstacle as having no information. So, explain how combating trends like so-called weather modification is getting in the way there.

KIMMEL: Fredricka, I don't think -- I've seen a lot of stuff on the weather modification. We have projects that are ongoing across Texas. We always have, but it's -- they're very small. I don't believe -- I'm not an expert in weather modification, but I just don't believe this had any effect on that. I think that, as we go forward, we can look at things. I think our plans locally in communities and in counties and here in the state, we have Texas Division of Emergency Management, Fredricka. They're such a great organization. I'm honored to be able to work a little bit with them and work aside them and see some of the great work they do.

So, as we go forward, I'm more interested in the urbanization, how we get that message. And one of the things, Fredricka, that's so important with flash flooding that anyone at the National Weather Service will tell you is most people in flash flooding die at night.

[14:10:00]

And I will tell you, if you go back and look at our fatality count, and we're up to 121, you just reported. Every one of those, the majority of those people will have died at night.

WHITFIELD: Yeah.

KIMMEL: It's hard to communicate and get that message when everyone's asleep, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: That is the truth. Troy Kimmel, thank you so much. While you and I are talking, we're also looking at live pictures that are coming in right now. President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, you see the Texas Governor there, meeting first responders there in Kerrville, just moments ago. Of course, the president, arrived and now this appears to be the beginning of his firsthand view of the devastation there in central Texas. We'll continue to keep a close watch on things through this live view and through upcoming contact that he has with people there on the ground. Jessica?

DEAN: And in the meantime, that search continues for at least 160 people who are still missing. With us now, someone who's supporting those search efforts. Josh Gill is an Incident Commander for the United Cajun Navy. Josh, thank you for being here with us. I know you've been there on the ground. We are almost a week now, closing in on a week now. I'm curious how you all are holding up and how the search is going, one week later.

JOSH GILL, INCIDENT COMMANDER, UNITED CAJUN NAVY: Thank you for having me, Jessica. We're holding up great. And we've got a lot of community support, a lot of support from the state as well as locals, and it's going as well as can be expected. DEAN: Yeah. And take people who are watching from all around the country, who have been so heartbroken by what they've seen, take them to where you are. What are you guys doing throughout the day? It seems, in listening to people who are there on the ground with you, it's such a tedious process to try to make sure you're searching through all of this debris. What is it like?

GILL: Yes, ma'am. So we start our mornings up pretty early and we start with a prayer, praying to find survivors. That's our biggest hope and prayer. And then, we don't leave any stick unturned. We try and go through every pile, every piece of rubble, to look for anything that could possibly show us where somebody may be.

DEAN: What are the biggest challenges right now?

GILL: So weather challenges of course, in the time, it's extremely hot and so we're taking every precaution we can for our volunteers and our first responders. And then the time, like you said, we're closing in on a week and we're getting to that point where we just want to make sure that everybody is brought home to their families.

DEAN: And is that what's inspiring you, driving you right now?

GILL: Yes, ma'am, it is. It absolutely is. This is my 118th disaster and everyone seems a little bit different. But making sure that we provide that closure for the families, and then the relief and recovery options for the community is what's driving us.

DEAN: Yeah. And you know, I know you mentioned you've done a lot of these. A lot of times when there are these horrific disasters, there's a lot of adrenaline, a lot of attention at the beginning, especially from people like us. The media comes in and covers it, and then as the days go on, that attention, that adrenaline can dwindle and the reality can set in. Have you felt that at all? Are you all pushing back against that to make sure that all of these over 160 people are found and that everybody gets the help they need?

GILL: Ma'am, to be honest with you, the response coming from the volunteer community is absolutely great. We might lose one or two a day, but we'll pick up three or four the next day. The community has been extremely grateful and it's an outpouring of love from the community, back to the first responders and the volunteers. Volunteer fatigue is real. It's absolutely real and it's something that we deal with every day. And what we do to get through that is, we just provide the services back to the volunteers and the first responders, so we can get through every day.

DEAN: That's really beautiful. Well, certainly, we thank you for what you're doing and we hope for some miracles out there. Josh Gill, thank you so much.

GILL: Yes, ma'am. You're very welcome. Thank you.

DEAN: Thank you. Still to come, President Trump promising a "major statement on Russia next week." He says he struck a deal with NATO to send weapons to Ukraine. Who's going to pay for those weapons? That and more details.

WHITFIELD: Plus, the U.S. State Department says it is firing more than 1,000 staffers beginning today, why critics say this is a particularly bad time to overhaul that agency. And wildfires and extreme heat forcing visitors to evacuate parts of the Grand Canyon. That and much more coming up on "CNN News Central."

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[14:19:33]

WHITFIELD: All right, this breaking news, sources tell CNN that Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino has told people that he's considering resigning amid a major clash between the FBI and DOJ over the continued fallout from the release or lack thereof of the Jeffrey Epstein memo. Joining us right now in files -- joining us right now on the phone is CNN Anchor and Chief Whitehouse Correspondent, Kaitlan Collins. Kaitlan, what more are you learning?

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KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITEHOUSE CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Yeah, Fred, it remains to be seen if he actually follows through with what he has told colleagues. But what we do know is that Dan Bongino has told people he is considering resigning as the Deputy Director of the FBI over the fallout that has continued ever since this memo was released last Sunday. The anger inside the MAGA base has only continued to grow instead of going away, as some officials inside hoped it would.

And now, our colleagues, along with Kristen Holmes, Tanner Benowitz, and Evan Perez, we are hearing that he's considering resigning after they had this heated confrontation with the Attorney General Pam Bondi over the handling of this earlier this week. And basically, there was a meeting at the White House where the FBI Director Kash Patel was there, the White House Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles. They were questioned about whether they were part of a story, that there was basically some infighting over how this came out and this memo that said, we're not going to be releasing any more information related to Jeffrey Epstein.

And I should note that we are told Bongino denied leaking any story to this outlet that it was reported on, that there has been a lot of fighting between Attorney General Pam Bondi specifically, and the leadership over at the FBI, over who's to blame in this situation. I think the context here is obviously, Dan Bongino, Kash Patel, they came from this MAGA world where they themselves had pushed a lot of questions about the so-called client list that Epstein had beforehand. And now, the MAGA base is just not pleased or satisfied with what they've said in this memo that came out unsigned from the Justice Department and the FBI on Sunday night.

So, what we are told is Dan Bongino did not show up to work today, that he is essentially there out of -- not there out of protest. But whether or not he actually follows through on this, still remains to be seen. We're still reporting that out. But it just speaks to the backlash that the White House is very much feeling and understanding after this memo came out, despite President Trump the other day in the cabinet room asking, who still cares about this? One thing we know is the MAGA base certainly does.

WHITFIELD: All right, Kaitlan Collins, thanks so much for that. We'll check back with you as you learn more. CNN's Senior Justice Correspondent, Evan Perez is also with us. And so Evan, is it your understanding that if Bongino were to resign, it's as a result of the infighting, including with the AG Pam Bondi, or is it mostly over the disappointment of these Epstein files either non-existing or not being released?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, I think there -- Fred, there's a larger issue here. And I think, if you look at Dan Bongino, he was a very successful podcaster. He was very -- he had a very big following online, very -- certainly, very financially successful with his podcast that was appeal -- a very, very strong appeal inside MAGA world. And this job really hasn't been, I think, very much fun.

And if you see, you've seen him doing some of his interviews in, right-leaning media and conservative media, he has said as much. He has said that this job is taking a toll on his life, on his personal life, with his family. He's having to essentially be separated from them while he's here in Washington doing this job. It's not nearly what he's used to back in the days, obviously. He is someone who came from law enforcement. So, I think there's a bigger story here in terms of what Bongino is thinking, but I certainly think part of what Kaitlan laid out just now is partly the story here.

And that is that there is some daylight between top FBI officials and top Justice Department officials over the handling of this -- these -- this Epstein matter. You'll remember that back in February, the Attorney General Pam Bondi, led this event at the White House where they brought in all these MAGA influencers, these conservative influencers on social media and gave them, with great ceremony, these binders that were supposed to contain these Epstein files. Turns out though, most of the files were actually out there for years.

And so, it was a great embarrassment both to Bondi and to FBI officials who really didn't have much role in this. And so, that's where some of this begins and where you see some of the distance. And so I'll point out one quick thing that I'll -- on social media today, Todd Blanche, the Deputy Attorney General, has tried to respond to some of the pushback from Laura Loomer and some of the other -- and she -- and he has basically tried to point out that Kash Patel and Don Bongino and the Justice Department leadership are all on the same page, that there is no daylight.

If you look at the tweet, he says, the suggestion by anyone that there was any daylight between the FBI and DOJ leadership on this memo's composition and release is patently false.

[14:25:00] Now, he's referring to the memo that went out this week where they said there's no, there, there (ph). We're not releasing anything else. It is very clear, Fred, that there is daylight between the FBI and the Justice Department over the handling of this. And so, we'll see how this plays out in the coming days and weeks. We don't know whether Bongino is coming back to work next week. It appears he's taken the day off. He's down in Florida somewhere.

And so, we don't know whether he's going to be back to work next week, but we certainly know that this is not a story that is going to go away because, as Kaitlan pointed out just now, certainly MAGA world is not done with this. They want more and they want to see more from those documents that the FBI still has.

WHITFIELD: And it is evident this is just the latest in what seems to be a litany of turmoil that we're seeing in recent days and weeks involving top leadership in this administration. All right, Evan Perez, thank you so much. Jessica?

DEAN: Today, a State Department of official tells CNN the agency has begun firing more than 1,300 employees as part of a major re- organization and another big step in President Trump's larger plan to shrink the federal workforce. I'm going to go now to CNN's Jennifer Hansler, who's live at the State Department. How is this impacting the department? What more are you learning, Jenny?

JENNIFER HANSLER, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT REPORTER: Well, Jessica, these layoffs have been looming over the State Department for weeks. So today, 1,300 people are finding out whether they are losing their jobs that they may have had for years, if not decades. Those layoff notices are being transmitted over email over the course of today, and it is going according to an internal memo to 1,107 members of the civil service and 246 foreign service officers.

In total, there are 3,000 people who are going to be leaving from the Washington, D.C. offices. That includes those who are being fired today, as well as people who took things like early retirement or some of those buyout options. Now, opponents of these cuts, former diplomats, current diplomas, say they are coming at a time when diplomacy and expertise in foreign affairs is as important as ever, especially with the crises raging around the world. These are things that the Trump administration has said that they want to resolve.

The American Foreign Service Association, which is the union that represents foreign service officers, said in a statement today, "At a moment of great global instability with war raging in Ukraine, conflict between Israel and Iran, and authoritarian regimes testing the boundaries of international order, the United States has chosen to gut its frontline diplomatic workforce. We oppose this decision in the strongest terms. We stand with the entire State Department workforce and with every American who understands that professional non-partisan diplomacy is not expendable. It is essential."

Now, State Department officials, when they were rolling out these cuts, which are part of this larger re-organization of the building, have said that they were necessary to decrease what they called bloating here. They said it was to get rid of redundancies and a senior State Department official told us that they weren't looking at personnel, they were looking at functions when they made these cuts. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio was asked about the cuts yesterday in Kuala Lumpur. This is what he had to say.

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MARCO RUBIO, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: We went very specifically through and re-organized the State Department. And when you re-organize the State Department, there were certain bureaus, we wanted to empower the regional bureaus, and there were certain bureaus, these functional bureaus that were closed. Our intent is to move forward with the plans that we've notified Congress of weeks ago and that we took months to design.

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HANSLER: Now, of course, there is a lot of emotion and a lot of sadness in the building here today, Jessica, as people are losing their jobs. There's been a station set up to out process these folks and we expect some sort of rally in front of the building later today. Jessica?

DEAN: All right. A big day there at the State Department. Jennifer Hansler, thank you so much for that reporting. Still ahead, here, we are learning new details about how a convicted killer was able to walk right out of prison. Stay with us.

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