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Trump Announces Deal on Tariffs With Indonesia; Trump Says Ukraine Should Not Target Moscow; Trump Wants the Fed to Lower the Rate Immediately; Inflation Rises in June to Highest Level in Four Months; Measles Cases Surge to Record High Since Disease Was Declared Eliminated in the U.S.; Veterans Unemployment Rose Year-over-year, Especially Among Women Veterans. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired July 15, 2025 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[13:30:00]
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: -- valuable earths and various other materials. One of the things, as you know, they're known for is very high-quality copper, which we'll be using.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President. (Inaudible) for inflation to increase last month. Do you think they had any role?
TRUMP: Well, we had very little inflation. I don't know. Who do you work for?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: USA Today.
TRUMP: What?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: USA Today.
TRUMP: Oh. Well, they wrote me a beautiful article the other day, so I can't get angry at you. USA Today just wrote a very good article about me. What's that all about? So, I can't get angry at you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On Texas, sir.
TRUMP: No, there was very little inflation as you know. The numbers were very good, very much inside the margin. So we've had no inflation. All we have is we're making a fortune. We are taking in hundreds of billions of dollars. You saw we had a surplus of $25 billion last month, which we haven't had in many, many years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On Texas --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: We are -- do it because I got to -- because I'm able to do it, nobody else would be able to do it. We have tariffs going on because we want tariffs and we want the money coming into the United States. But more important than the money, there's two aspects of tariffs. There's the money which comes in. The other aspect is that rather than paying the tariffs, the country or the company will build in the United States, make their product in the United States, and that creates jobs. And I would say of the two, probably the more important to me is that. Yeah?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On Texas, how many --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you on the Ukrainian side now?
TRUMP: No, I'm on nobody's side. I'm on no --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why?
TRUMP: I want to -- you know the side I'm on? Humanity's side. I want to stop the killing of thousands of people a week. I want to stop the killing. I want the killing to stop in the Ukraine-Russia war. That's the site I'm on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, your daughter-in-law said that that there should be transparency in the Epstein case. Do you agree with her, sir?
TRUMP: The Attorney General has handled that very well. She has really done a very good job. And I think that when you look at it, you'll understand that. I would like to see that also. But I think the Attorney General, the credibility is very important. And you want credible evidence for something like that. And I think the Attorney General has handled it very well.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Attorney General briefed you on the DOJ and FBI review, the findings of that review, the Attorney General briefed you on --
TRUMP: On what? On the?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On the DOJ and FBI --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: On what? On what subject?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Epstein -- on Epstein.
TRUMP: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The review of the files, Attorney General Pam Bondi --
TRUMP: A very, very quick briefing. Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did she tell you -- what did she tell you about the review and specifically, did she tell you at all that your name appeared in the file? TRUMP: No. She's given us just a very quick briefing and in terms of the credibility of the different things that they've seen. And I would say that these files were made up by Comey. They were made up by Obama. They were made up by the Biden -- we -- and we went through years of that with the Russia -- Russia hoax, with all of the different things that we had to go through. We've gone through years of it, but she's handled it very well. And it's going to be up to her. Whatever she thinks is credible, she should release. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On Texas, how many more seats do you want the Republicans to draw?
TRUMP: Five.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then, what if California, New York, Illinois, and other blue states decide to do this?
TRUMP: Yeah. Well, that's OK too, but five, I think we get five. And there could be some other states. We're going to get another three or four or five in addition. Texas would be the biggest one. And that would be five.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, are you -- are you calling in for a complete redrawing of the congressional map (inaudible)?
TRUMP: No, no, just a very simple redrawing. We pick up five seats. But we have a couple of other states where we'll pick up seats also.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jerome Powell, when was the last time you spoke with him?
TRUMP: Well, when he was in my office.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did you tell him when he was in your office?
TRUMP: I told him he is doing a very bad job. He's way late. That's why I call him too late. Jerome Powell is too late. He's way late. Interest rates should be coming down. We're -- we have a very, very successful country. We should have the lowest interest rate anywhere in the world, and we don't. Jerome Powell has done a terrible job, and frankly, I don't think he could do a worse job. He's called everything wrong. So they had a report come out the other day, 71 different economists and me, you know who is right? Me. Did you know that? I was right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, are you going to appoint Mr. Powell to another term as Fed Chair?
TRUMP: You must be kidding.
(LAUGH)
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, what are your thoughts on Andrew Cuomo?
TRUMP: You had to waste a question like this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (inaudible) with the E.U.?
TRUMP: No, we are talking to the E.U. and we're making progress.
[13:35:00]
But look, we already have a deal with the E.U. It's called the letter that was sent out. I think it was 30 percent. That's the E.U. But we, at the same time, we are talking.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, Mr. President, your reaction to Andrew Cuomo staying in the New York City Mayor's race? Andrew Cuomo staying in the New York City Mayor's race?
TRUMP: I think he should stay. I think he has a shot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you prefer him over -- ?
TRUMP: Well, I don't want to say, I'm a Republican. He's a Democrat or an independent. No, I think Andrew would have a good shot of winning. He's got to run a tough campaign. You know, he's running against the communist. I would think that he would have a good shot of winning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tell us about your trip to Scotland, sir. What are you going to do on your trip to Scotland?
TRUMP: We're going to be meeting with the British Prime Minister, very respectful. And we are going to have a meeting with him probably in Aberdeen. And we're going to do a lot of different things. And we're going to also refine the trade deal that we've made. So, we'll be meeting mostly with the -- at probably one of my properties or maybe not, depending on what happens. But, we'll be in Aberdeen, in Scotland, meeting with the prime minister.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: , Mr. President, a message for the E.U. if they retaliate to the tariffs.
TRUMP: Well, I don't know how they can retaliate. They've made a lot of money. They've treated us very badly. But now, they're treating us very nicely and I think we'll end up -- I think everybody's going to be happy with the E.U.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there any plans to meet with Pope Leo in the near future, sir?
TRUMP: Not a plan. I would do it. I have a lot of respect. I really like his brother. His brother is a major serious Trumper. You know that. He's MAGA all the way. I like the Pope's brother and I think I'd like the Pope. But the Pope's brother lives in Florida. I met him and he is MAGA. He's got MAGA signs all over the house. He likes Trump and I like him.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, what's the latest on Iran?
TRUMP: How about you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Iran.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have plans to meet President Putin (inaudible) death?
TRUMP: Well, we're going to see what happens with President Putin. So far, I've been very disappointed with President Putin. I've solved a lot of wars in the last three months, but I haven't gotten this one yet. This is a Biden war. It's not a Trump war. I'm here to try and get us out of that mess.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Any messages for what?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible).
TRUMP: Yeah, go ahead. Do I have a what?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm from (inaudible) Brazil. For the people of Brazil (inaudible)?
TRUMP: For the Brazil?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
TRUMP: Are you from Brazil?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah. (Inaudible).
TRUMP: He's going to trial now, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
TRUMP: When is that trial starting?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible).
TRUMP: When is the trial for Bolsonaro starting?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When it started?
TRUMP: When is it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Months ago. TRUMP: How is it going?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now? They're asking him (inaudible) guilty.
TRUMP: But they haven't found him guilty, have they?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But, what are you saying -- ?
TRUMP: But have they found him guilty? No. Look, he's -- President Bolsonaro is a good man. I've gotten to know a lot of prime ministers and presidents and kings and queens, and I know him and I'm pretty good at this. President Bolsonaro is not a dishonest man. He loves the people of Brazil. He fought hard for the people of Brazil. He negotiated trade deals against me for the people of Brazil. And he was very tough.
And he was tough because he wanted to do a good deal for his country. He was not a dishonest man. And I believe it's a witch hunt and it shouldn't be happening. And it's not that I know him that -- look, he's not like a friend of mine. He's somebody that I know, and I know him as a representative of millions of people.
Brazilians, they're great people and he loves the country, and he fought hard for those people. And they want to put him in jail. And I think that's a witch hunt. And I think it's very unfortunate. And nobody's happy with what Brazil is doing because Bolsonaro was a respected president, very respected president.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you Adam Schiff brought to justice?
TRUMP: I'd love to see him brought to justice. I think -- I'll tell you what, I think Adam Schiff is one of the lowest of the low. I would love to see him brought to justice. He is a dishonest, crooked guy. I don't know about the individual charge if that even happens, but Adam Schiff is a serious lowlife.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And tomorrow morning, you're watching this AOC --
[13:40:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Adam Schiff for breakfast (ph). Adam Schiff, I believe.
TRUMP: I'd love to be, I'd really love to go. I mean, I look forward to meeting them both. I know them both very well through what I read and through what I see. Look, he's a communist. I don't think our country is ready for a communist, but we're going to see. And I don't think that race is over yet either. You do have a couple of people running against and it'll be an interesting thing. Things are coming out about him, which aren't good.
And AOC, look, I think she's very nice, but she's very low IQ and we really don't need low IQ. Between her and Crockett, we're going to give them both an IQ test to see who comes out best. Now, I took my test -- I took a real test at Walter Reed Medical Center and I aced it. I got every one of all those questions right. Now, it's time for them to take a test. Anyway, have a good time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible) Dan Bongino?
TRUMP: I like Dan Bongino. Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, do you think Putin respects you?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": All right. As the president is there on the South Lawn taking a number of questions from reporters, just to note he misrepresented what is happening with inflation. He obviously wants interest rates lowered, and he said there's very low inflation. It actually accelerated in June because of tariffs, and that's according to numbers from the Trump administration. We actually have a finance expert standing by to take us through some of that. He was also asked if President Zelenskyy of Ukraine should target Moscow. And he said no, which was certainly noteworthy.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Yeah, he said he was disappointed in Vladimir Putin amid their ongoing discussions, but that he still wants to see what happens. It's important to point out that on the campaign trail, Donald Trump said that he would resolve this conflict in Ukraine within 48 hours. I think at one point, he said on day one, nevertheless, it still lingers.
I think he also made some interesting remarks related to the ongoing Jeffrey Epstein file saga, this discord between members of his MAGA base and his administration, including the Attorney General Pam Bondi, the Deputy Director of the FBI Dan Bongino there. At the end, the president saying that he likes Dan Bongino. Apparently, the president is pleased with how Attorney General Pam Bondi handled this, saying that he would like to see transparency, but the credibility of the files, assuming that he's talking about what he was briefed on by the Attorney General and others, they -- that that credibility is in question, saying that they were made up, saying that James Comey is someone who made that up.
It's important to point out that James Comey was fired by Donald Trump as FBI Director back in May, I believe, of 2017. Jeffrey Epstein wasn't arrested or tried for the crimes that he apparently or allegedly committed until 2019. So, the files weren't gathered until years after James Comey was out of the FBI. A lot to process there from the president, but at least that's how he sees the situation.
KEILAR: Yeah. Let's go to Rick Newman, a Senior Columnist at Yahoo Finance, to take us through the money piece of this. Rick, just take us through what these numbers from the government are showing us today about what's happening with the economy, with this jump in inflation, this jump that we're seeing and how the -- what the president is saying about it.
RICK NEWMAN, SENIOR COLUMNIST, YAHOO FINANCE: Sure. President Trump just there, he said inflation is very low. Well, inflation is 2.7 percent. That's not crisis levels, but it went from 2.4 percent the month before now up to 2.7 percent. And I think what's most worrying about this is this is exactly the sort of effect economists have been watching for from the tariffs that Trump has put on nearly $3 trillion worth of imports.
And more than that, we saw unusual increases in a few product categories such as sporting goods and toys and appliances that are dominated by imports. So that tells you that the tax on imports that Trump has put on all these products is starting to filter through to the economy. And if that continues, then it becomes more worrisome. That's where we could get inflation going over 3 percent, maybe as high as 4 percent. It's not going to be as bad as it was in 2022 when inflation hit 9 percent, but we're getting to back-to-school shopping season and price hikes in clothing, electronics, and other things that might be coming are not at all what shoppers are hoping for.
SANCHEZ: It's interesting that Trump there has said that it was within the margin, seeming to suggest that he was expecting some kind of change in inflation. Would you qualify this uptick as being within the margin, as the president put it?
NEWMAN: It was an uptick. I mean, there can be a million kinds of margins. I guess, what he was talking about was what economists were forecasting beforehand. So, it was pretty close to that. But if that's the metric, I mean, again, economists generally are saying we're going to get an inflation rate of 3.5 percent to 4 percent by the end of 2025.
[13:45:00]
So I guess, if we get that, Trump could by the same logic say, well, we're within the margin because that's what the economists were forecasting, but that still means higher prices for consumers. So, I don't think that's going to make anybody feel any better, that you're within the margin of forecast expectation.
SANCHEZ: Rick Newman, thanks so much for sharing your point of view.
NEWMAN: Thanks, guys.
SANCHEZ: Stay with "CNN News Central." We're back in just moments.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: A new report estimates that more than 14 million children worldwide have never received a single dose of any vaccine. The study by the World Health Organization and the U.N.'s Children's Fund points to global conflicts as threatening some of the progress in immunization efforts in low- and middle-income countries. And in many high-income countries, immunization has been affected by vaccine hesitancy and distrust in institutions, leading to a resurgence in diseases like measles.
SANCHEZ: And in fact, there have been more measles cases in the United States this year than any other since the disease was declared eliminated a quarter century ago. Here is Health and Human Services Secretary, RFK Jr. on the rise in measles cases.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: Most of the cases are unvaccinated Americans. There are some populations that do not want to vaccinate. We're making sure that there are protocols for treating people who actually get measles. So, if the -- in the individual states, if there are issues, we are there for them. But I -- we don't at this point consider it a national emergency.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[13:50:00]
SANCHEZ: Joining us now for some perspective is Dr. Paul Offit. He's a member of the FDA's Vaccine Advisory Committee and the Director for Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital at Philadelphia. Doctor, thanks so much for being with us. Do you see this measles outbreak as an emergency?
DR. PAUL OFFIT, FDA'S VACCINE ADVISORY COMMITTEE: Well, it's the biggest measles outbreak we've had in this country in 33 years. We've had two healthy young children at eight and six-year-old little girls in West Texas who died from measles. That's the first death of a child in this country since 2003, and that child in 2003 was immune compromised. Yes, I consider it emergency, and I think what Robert F. Kennedy Jr. should do as Head of Health and Human Services is use his platform, stand up, and loudly and clearly say we need to vaccinate our children.
I think the statement that you just played was pretty weak. I think he needs to get up there and take his position and make it clear that these are preventable deaths and it's unconscionable that children in this country are dying of measles when it is a preventable disease.
KEILAR: How would you describe, doctor, describe what he and what HHS have been doing when it comes to vaccines?
OFFIT: Well, this outbreak is a perfect example. I mean, if you look on the CDC's website, it says that there's been roughly 1,300 cases of measles. That is a vast underestimate of the actual number. If you talk to people on the ground, they think it's at least 3,000 cases. And worse, if you -- for example, there was immunization clinics in Dallas. There were about 21 immunization clinics that were set to go, but yet, they had their funding cutback, so they couldn't vaccinate children in high-risk areas. We're not doing what we need to do in this country, in large part because of cutbacks in surveillance for measles with -- from the CDC and also in local health departments. It's hard to watch.
SANCHEZ: This report also looks overseas and I'm wondering, with the dismantling of USAID, where are some of these low- and middle-income countries around the world that struggle with immunization efforts going to get help in doing that?
OFFIT: Right. Not just USAID. I mean, Robert F Kennedy Jr. stood up recently and said that he is not going to fulfill the obligation that was put forward by the Biden administration of giving $1.2 billion to GAVI, the Global Alliance Vaccine Initiative. He holds up this bogus paper that says that the AP vaccine was unsafe, which was completely wrong. And says we're not going to be giving the $1.2 billion to GAVI that we said we were going to do because the world is not paying attention to safety issues.
So, this is what happens when you have an anti-vaccine activist and science denialist in a position of power. And so, it's been hard to watch. I mean, we're a wealthy country. We're a technologically advanced country. I think we have an obligation to helping those who are less fortunate and we're doing exactly the opposite.
KEILAR: Dr. Offit, what is your message then to parents who are concerned about vaccinating their kids?
OFFIT: I think it's reasonable to be concerned about anything we put into our children's bodies, but you should be reassured that there is abundant evidence that vaccines are safe and effective, and we can't allow this erosion in vaccine rates to cause children to suffer and be hospitalized and die. There's so much in medicine we don't know. There's so much we can't do. This we know; this we can do. And it's very hard to watch the way this is playing out.
KEILAR: Dr. Offit, thank you so much for being with us. We really appreciate it.
OFFIT: Thank you.
KEILAR: In our home front segment today, the number of veterans without jobs is ticking higher, especially among female veterans. The unemployment rate for veterans rose to 3.7 percent in June compared to 2.8 percent during the same time last year. And among female veterans, that number is higher, 4.4 percent compared to 3.2 percent a year before. Historically, veterans have lower unemployment than non- veterans. Heather Long, a Chief Economist at the Navy Federal Credit Union says one driver has changed things significantly this year. She tells Yahoo, the biggest factor of all is really what's going on with federal government hiring. The job cuts across the federal workforce have been troubling news, and that is especially true for women veterans.
A Senior Fellow at the National Partnership for Women and Families puts it this way, "More than one in six women veterans actually works for the federal government, which is way higher than the rates you see across the population." When asked about that veteran unemployment rate, the Office of Personnel Management, the agency behind the federal workforce changes, says that it "recognizes the dedication and service of all federal employees, including our veteran workforce, and remains committed to supporting them during this transition."
[13:55:00]
When we come back, President Trump would like for people to stop talking about the Jeffrey Epstein case. But new polling into CNN shows half of Americans are unhappy with the amount of information the federal government has released on it. We'll have much more on that just ahead.
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