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Trump Threatens "Very Severe Tariffs" On Russia If No Ukraine Deal; Trump Demands Russia Reach Peace Deal Within 50 Days; 9 People Killed In Fire At Massachusetts Assisted Living Facility; Trump Defends AG Pam Bondi Over Handling Of Epstein Investigation; Trump Base Revolts Over Administration's Handling Of Epstein Files. Airs Sunday at 10PM ET/PT. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired July 14, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

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[15:00:46]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: President Donald Trump giving Moscow an ultimatum, make peace with Ukraine in 50 days or face 100 percent tariffs on Russian trade. The President also on board with a new plan to sell U.S. weapons to NATO countries that will then transfer them to Kyiv.

Plus, standing by his Attorney General President Trump defending Pam Bondi as she faces backlash from some of the most vocal MAGA supporters over her handling of the Epstein investigation.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And nine people died after flames engulfed an assisted living facility in Massachusetts. Fire crews seen pulling some elderly residents from windows as other parts of the building burned.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SANCHEZ: We start this hour with the breaking news out of Washington. President Trump threatening to target Russia's economy as he aims to pressure Vladimir Putin into forging a peace deal with Ukraine. Speaking alongside NATO Secretary General at the White House, the President announced severe tariffs on Russia and their trading partners coming in just 50 days if the Kremlin does not strike an agreement.

Trump reiterated his growing frustration about the war, the negotiations and with President Putin himself saying that he's unhappy with the whole situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We want to see it end and I'm disappointed in President Putin because I thought we would have had a deal two months ago but it doesn't seem to get there. So, based on that we're going to be doing secondary tariffs if we don't have a deal in 50 days. It's very simple. (END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The White House also announcing that it has a new deal in place to support Ukraine defensively. Trump announcing plans to sell top-of-the-line weapons like U.S. Patriot missiles to NATO allies who will then ship them to Ukraine. Let's take you to the White House now with CNN's Kristen Holmes.

Kristen, what more is the White House saying about all of this?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, we've really seen an evolution here on President Trump's view of the situation in Ukraine, of the war and also of Russian President Vladimir Putin. A lot of this is stemming from his frustration which we've seen play out both privately and publicly at Putin. He has said in various terms in the last couple of weeks that he's making no progress with Putin and that he is very frustrated with the fact that he thought it was going to be easier to come to a deal and get a ceasefire in Ukraine than it has been. I want you to listen to just some of what he said about Putin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I've been hearing so much talk, it's all talk. It's all talk and then missiles go into Kyiv and kill 60 people. It's got to stop. It's got to stop. I felt that we had a deal about four times and here we are still talking about it.

We thought and I thought we should have had a deal done a long time ago, but it just keeps going on and on and on and every night people are dying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, there have been a number of times since President Trump took office in which he suggested that financial incentives like tariffs or sanctions were not something that he was going to consider because they would not work. And Boris, just to be clear about what these secondary tariffs are, these are not direct tariffs on Russia. We don't do enough trading with Russia for that to be impactful. What they are is they would be big tariffs, a hundred percent as he said in 50 days on some of the intermediaries, people who do business with both Russia and the United States. For example, China buying oil. Anything like that that they do big business with Russia and they would then be tariffed as hundred percent.

The other part of this as you noted was really President Trump trying to thread the needle here between what he said on the campaign which was that he wasn't going to provide any more resources or money to Ukraine but also this understanding that he seems to have come to that the Ukrainians need to be able to defend themselves in a situation with Russia.

So, NATO was sitting there with the Secretary General talking about the fact that NATO is going to pay or these NATO countries are going to pay for the actual weapons and then the weapons will be dispersed to Ukraine.

[15:05:08]

And we are told that this is going to happen almost immediately because some of these countries already have access to the missiles, the Patriot systems. Those are going to be sent to Ukraine very quickly and then the United States is going to ramp up its production and send those weapons back to the countries as sort of a backfill for us.

SANCHEZ: Kristen Holmes from the White House, thank you so much. Brianna?

KEILAR: And we're joined now by former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor. He is now a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council. And we just heard that President Zelenskyy actually thanked President Trump in his nightly address for readiness to support the defense of Ukraine. How are you seeing this plan of Trump's?

WILLIAM TAYLOR, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: I think this is a big deal, Brianna. I think this demonstrates that President Trump has figured out that Putin's the problem. To be - to give President Trump credit, he's been trying to fix this problem, he's been trying to solve this problem. On the campaign trail he said, 24 hours, for a long time they've put a lot of effort into this. He's now concluded that Putin is standing in the way of that. He's the problem. Putin is the problem. We have to deal with that problem.

KEILAR: He has faced opposition within his own party about directing so many weapons to Ukraine and you've seen that as there's been this withholding of military aid at certain points and there's been a tension in that. This plan, which would be America selling weapons to NATO allies who would then provide them to Ukraine, does that thread the needle?

TAYLOR: I think it does. I think it does. It's actually even better than that. The Allies will provide those weapons right now, right away. And then the Europeans will buy backfill, will buy other weapons to bring in replacement for those ones sent to Ukraine. So, that means it can come quickly. And the Americans, the U.S. Treasury doesn't have to pay for that.

KEILAR: How quickly do you see this actually making a difference at the front lines and how big of a difference might we see beyond the status quo?

TAYLOR: It'll have an immediate difference on morale. The Ukrainians are going to be so pleased that the Americans have now stepped up both militarily and diplomatically and economically. And they were worried. Frankly, the Ukrainians were worried that we weren't there and now they see that they're getting weapons paid for by the Europeans (INAUDIBLE) with the Ukrainians. That can have an effect. And as I say, the Patriots are in Germany and other places and they can go in there very quickly, so that can have an effect on the battlefield soon. KEILAR: There is this 50 days, right, before you would see those

economic impacts on Russia and I wonder how you think Putin might see this. Does he see this as - or should he see it as, oh, this is a rope that is kind of tightening around Russia right now? Or might he see it as, oh, I have 50 days of rope that extends me almost into the fall?

TAYLOR: The 50 days is the weakest part. That is, we've seen other two-week deadlines that have been blown through. So that's a long time and Putin could figure - however, that also gives the nations like the Chinese and the Indians some time if they think that a hundred percent tariffs on their goods to the United States, which are not out of the question, 500 percent might be out of the question. A hundred percent is, you know, it's close to what they've done - what Trump had done before.

The Chinese may start to reduce the amount of oil they buy from the Russians. The Indians might reduce the amount of oil they buy from Russians and that's the effect that we're looking for.

KEILAR: How telling is Putin's reaction - is Russia's military reaction to this going to be? Because so often we see where the President may amp up the rhetoric on Russia, on Putin, and yet - then, we'll see them respond with a record or near-record military strikes on Ukraine.

TAYLOR: I don't know that there's a relationship there. I don't know that they're listening to Trump and then reacting with attacks on Ukraine. I think they are attacking Ukraine because they - their goal, Putin's goal, is all along has said to dominate, to eliminate Ukraine as a nation. And that's what they've been doing and they've been increasing it.

They might know that the time's running out. They may know that there's - there is this noose squeezing them down and they want to get as much of that as they can. I think that's the response rather than talking about what Trump has said.

KEILAR: And now we're looking at - and I'm sure you're tracking this very carefully, these mass layoffs at the State Department. Do you have concerns about how that could impact Ukraine?

TAYLOR: I do. I do. I have colleagues that worked in the State Department, contributed to the State Department for a very long time. I also have colleagues who are still deep in the game and are still really working on this issue. And they're worried, but they're doing their job. They're doing their job. They're trying to see how they can put the pressure on the Russians so that they can end this war.

KEILAR: Ambassador William Taylor, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

TAYLOR: Thanks, Brianna.

KEILAR: Boris?

[15:10:09] SANCHEZ: We're getting some harrowing new details from survivors of a

deadly fire that ripped through an assisted living facility overnight in Fall River, Massachusetts. Officials say nine people were killed and more than 30 others were injured, including some elderly residents who were seen pleading for help while hanging out of their windows. CNN's Jason Carroll is outside that facility in Fall River.

Jason, what are residents sharing with you?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, as you can imagine, they're telling us really horrific stories about tales of survival, tales of what happened. Last night, it was at about 9:45 in the evening. That's when residents first started to realize something was wrong. Some of them heard banging on the doors.

You can see what it looks like now behind me. This is the charred remains of the Gabriel House. Now, apparently, what we're hearing from investigators is that the fire and all likelihood started somewhere at the front entrance and was contained primarily, the fire that is, to the front entrance of this facility. But it was the smoke, Boris. The smoke just permeated very quickly throughout the entire building.

That's why people like Albert Almanza, for example, was in his unit when he says he heard some people talking about fire. He went to look outside, saw that there were firefighters outside. But he said the smoke was there so quickly, it wasn't long where he literally could not see his hands in front of his face.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALBERT ALMANZA, RESIDENT, GABRIEL HOUSE ASSISTED LIVING RESIDENCE: I went to my apartment door, my room door. I opened it. All the smoke from the hall went right in my face and all I could do was just stand there and choke. And I thought it was going to be the end of everything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: He was able to reach a firefighter who put out his hand and said, grab my hand, grab my hand. And he was able to be pulled to safety. I also spoke to a woman. Her name is Lorraine Ferrara, not long ago.

She said she was up there on the second floor. Someone was banging on her door. She said she got to the door. But by the time she opened her front door, Boris, there was so much smoke there she couldn't escape through that route. So, she then went to the bathroom. But the window was - she thought was too small. She said she wasn't sure she would be able to get outside of that window. But before she knew it, there was a ladder. There was a firefighter right there at that window who was able to pull her to safety.

Now, we have spoken to fire officials who say that they had to execute some - more than a dozen ladder rescues here at the facility last night, saying they did all they could to save as many people as they could. But as you said there, nine people died in this fire, many more injured at this point, still trying to get to exactly what caused the deadly blaze.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

CARROLL: Boris.

SANCHEZ: And our hearts go out to their families. Jason Carroll in Fall River, Mass. for us, thank you so much.

We have some breaking news just in to CNN. Andrew Cuomo is confirming he will run for New York mayor as a third-party candidate. This comes just weeks after he lost the Democratic primary to Zohran Mamdani. In a video, Cuomo says, quote, "The general election is in November, and I am in it to win it."

Cuomo was the governor of New York State, but resigned in 2021 after he was accused of sexual harassment. He set to face the Democratic nominee in Mamdani, as well as the current mayor, Eric Adams, who's running as an independent as well in the election this fall.

Still to come, a divide among MAGA, how President Trump is getting personally involved in defending Attorney General Pam Bondi's handling of the Epstein files.

Plus, leaders in Kerr County, Texas meeting for the first time since catastrophic flooding there killed at least 132 people. The sheriff says that search efforts could continue for months with more rain in the forecast.

And later, the President says he is considering taking away Rosie O'Donnell citizenship. A decades' long feud. This just the latest chapter. We'll have the newest details in moments.

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[15:18:48]

KEILAR: Where is Dan Bongino? As of this morning, no one in DOJ leadership had spoken to the deputy FBI director since last Wednesday, which is when sources say Bongino suggested he could no longer continue in his role as long as Pam Bondi remained attorney general.

Bondi and Bongino recently had a major falling out over Bondi's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. According to sources, Bongino's threat to leave his post infuriated President Trump. Trump has since dug in on backing Bondi and has urged supporters to move on from Epstein. But many in MAGA world are resisting that. They're calling for transparency after promises like this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Yes, I'd be inclined to do the Epstein. I'd have no problem with it.

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Seriously, we need to release the Epstein list. That is an important thing.

KASH PATEL, DIRECTOR, FBI: Put on your big boy pants and let us know who the pedophiles are.

DAN BONGINO, DEPUTY FBI DIRECTOR: I'm not ever going to let this story go because of what I heard from a source about Bill Clinton on a plane with Jeffrey Epstein. I'm not letting it go ever, ever.

ALINA HABBA, INTERIM U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY: We have flight logs, we have information names that will come out.

PAM BONDI, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: President Trump has given a very strong directive and that's going to be followed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow. Okay. So ...

BONDI: A lot of documents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Okay. All right. So, people can expect actual movement on this. It's not just empty promises.

[15:20:05]

BONDI: Donald Trump doesn't make empty promises.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: We're joined now by Marc Short. He served as White House legislative affairs director during the first Trump administration, and he was also chief of staff to former Vice President Mike Pence. He's currently board chair of Advancing American Freedom.

So, let's sort of fast forward from all of those sound bites because Trump wrote on Truth Social: "Why are we giving publicity to files written by Obama, Crooked Hillary, Comey, Brennan and the Losers and Criminals of the Biden administration?" What do you think of quite a change in his rhetoric?

MARC SHORT, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF TO VP MIKE PENCE: Yes, it's quite an evolution, Brianna. I guess, you know, if you would ask six months ago in any governing coalition, there's going to be tension. If you'd ask where that tension would be, I would have said probably funding for Ukraine, a protectionist tariff policy. It wouldn't have expected to be on Jeffrey Epstein files.

But it's been quite an evolution from just a couple months ago to saying that more or less these air prominent Democrat liberals who are involved in some sort of sex trafficking. We get the bottom and release it to saying the files on my desk, to saying the files are in the folders given to a handful of social media influencers, to them saying there are no files and announcing who would want the files because they're actually been put together by Jim Comey, Hillary Clinton and John Brennan and leftist Democrats.

So, that's quite an arc on that narrative in a very short amount of time. But, you know, I think that a lot of Donald Trump supporters are people who have a healthy distrust of the government, and I think they look at it and they believe that he's going to unearth these things. But sometimes when you light the flame, it's hard to go from arsonist to firefighter on an issue like this.

KEILAR: Yes. So, how - I mean, how do you see historically here in the last few years, MAGA world or let's say Trump and those officials who hold a lot of power have tried to harness that suspicion of these folks who seem to care very much about there being a list of clients or what have you of Epstein's? How have they tried to channel that perhaps over promising?

SHORT: Well, I think that the President is actually very good at that harness, as you say. He's often beta testing messages, whether or not it's in media interviews or on social media to see what the reaction is and then seeing what he wants to pursue. And I think that obviously this was a red-hot issue for a lot of people in the base and so, he leaned into it. But again, I think there are a lot of promises made that they seem unable to deliver on.

KEILAR: So, we talked about - you mentioned Ukraine. You thought this would sort of be the tension point.

SHORT: Yes.

KEILAR: Okay. Well, here we have this announcement today. And President Zelenskyy has just thanked President Trump for what he's doing, which is there's these 50 days for an economic punishment, basically. And then there's also the selling of weapons to NATO countries that can then provide them to Ukraine.

And we just heard from the former ambassador to Ukraine, Bill Taylor. This is a big deal. He sees this is substantive. What do you think of this announcement from Trump and sort of the calculations he's now doing about Putin?

SHORT: I think it is a big change. It is a big announcement. I think that, you know, there's party Brianna that even though I welcome this, the reality is that, you know, Putin has been a - he was a KGB officer, and he's always said he wants the reunification the former Soviet Union. And so, why it's taken this long is a question and giving him an additional 50 days. I don't like to see because he'll probably just continue to pummel Ukraine for 50 days until you get to that mark.

But look, it's a change in direction from the Trump administration that I think we should welcome. I think it's more consistent with where the first Trump administration was in a very hard policy toward Russia that contained Russia. And so, I think we do have to celebrate this change in direction. But I wish it wasn't a 50-day to give Russia the continued opportunity to continue to pummel Ukraine.

KEILAR: For Republicans who have taken issue with how much military aid has gone from the U.S. to Ukraine. Do you think this threads the needle for them sort selling it to NATO allies who then provide it to Ukraine?

SHORT: Well, again, I think even last year you saw Republicans continue to vote to support aid to Ukraine. So, a lot of this they do want to follow the President's direction, but left their own devices. They do support helping Ukraine defend itself from aggression.

I think that the President as well - I think there's been a change, because when he struck Iran, I think he deserves credit for that as well. Many of the isolation his side criticized him. And so, I think they've lost some of the influence, perhaps, they had in the administration and maybe he's turning back to where he was in the first administration of foreign policy.

KEILAR: Do you think Trump finally has Putin's number? Like, he finally understands maybe what motivates him and where he's going to go and where he isn't?

SHORT: I don't know about that. I think he's probably just frustrated. He's frustrated that for this long he's tried to reach a peace deal, and I think he feels like he's been played. And so, I think he's changing course. But I - again, I think we should celebrate that and welcome the change of direction.

[15:25:02]

KEILAR: We certainly heard that from Ambassador Taylor and other people who are happy to see this development and President Zelenskyy, we should mention.

SHORT: Of course.

KEILAR: Marc Short, great to have you. Thank you so much.

SHORT: Thanks, Brianna.

KEILAR: Local officials are asking residents for patience as the search efforts in Kerr County, Texas might be taking months to continue to find all of those who are missing. We're going to discuss with a former county commissioner next.

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