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Rep. Mike Flood (R-NE) is Interviewed about the Epstein Files; Jeremy Edwards is Interviewed about FEMA; Testimony Resumes in Dentist Murder Trial; FDA A.I. Tool Issues. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired July 23, 2025 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Federal documents on Epstein. Despite that now being pushed off, and the speaker saying behind closed doors that the White House needs time to deal with the Epstein issue, many Republican lawmakers say this is not going away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. RALPH NORMAN (R-SC): It's not going to die down. No. If you assume that, the public decides that anyway. I don't assume anything, particularly with this. You had -- this transcends politics.

REP. KEITH SELF (R-TX): Seventy-nine percent of the American public want some sort of transparency.

REP. ERIC BURLISON (R-MO): It's the number one phone call that we get by far. It's probably 500 to one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Joining us right now, Republican Congressman Mike Flood of Nebraska.

Congressman, thanks for being here.

You have not signed on to this measure that Congressman Massie has -- had been putting forward to force a vote to release the files. Why not?

REP. MIKE FLOOD (R-NE): I've never signed a discharge petition. There's been a lot of different issues that come forward. If you're in the majority, you've elected House leadership, you have to support the leaders that run the House. And so it's not this issue.

For me, I think anybody that sexually assaults a child should go to prison, get the death penalty. You're done. Game over. No more.

And on this issue, Merrick Garland had the better part of four years to prosecute everybody that's there.

If it's up to me, I say, yes, send out the -- send out the reports. People want to see it. I totally understand that. But right now, we have a process. The president is asking the

Department of Justice to get a judge to sign off on getting the grand jury testimony out of there. We're talking about bringing in Ms. Maxwell to the Oversight Committee. The speaker is working on a resolution. I mean, this is all happening, and it will resolve itself as we go into August. We will come back and we'll talk about what really matters, and that is the budget, in September.

BOLDUAN: Well, and that's -- and I do want to get to those -- those other -- those real -- other responsibilities that you have before you, especially when you return.

On Comer, the chairman of House Oversight, now saying that he is going to move to subpoena Ghislaine Maxwell for a deposition, do you support that move?

FLOOD: Absolutely. And he's the right guy to do it. Like, this -- this member, Mr. Comer, has experience in oversight, in subpoenas, in testimony, in depositions. He's the oversight arm of the Republican House majority. I'm pleased and I'm thrilled that he's doing this because, you know, all the folks you just talked to are right, people back home want transparency. We also have to remember that we have victims who are going to be identified in this information who should never, ever, ever be revictimized. And, obviously, we have sensitive information that Merrick Garland chose not to put out there. I would have to think that if there was a child sex predator in there that -- that we don't already know about, that the Justice Department would be on top of it, far before President Trump is sworn into office in January.

BOLDUAN: Yes. I mean, and you heard Eric Burlison say, I think it was to Manu just yesterday, that they're getting basically flooded by phone calls into the -- into their -- into their office about the Epstein files. He says it's probably 500 to one. Is your office getting calls like that?

FLOOD: We're not getting a lot of calls on it. I mean, I'm getting calls about things like wanting more clarification on -- on how the one big, beautiful bill is going to work for the child tax credit, how the -- the low income tax credits work.

I'm looking forward to having a town hall in August to talk about what the one big, beautiful bill does and directly address all the misinformation that's been put out there by so many of our Democratic colleagues. Scaring and fear mongering Americans to think they're losing their health care. They're not losing their health care. We protected Medicaid. And that's what I want to talk about in August.

BOLDUAN: You faced some intense questions from constituents at town halls back in May over, over, over the bill. And to your credit, you're holding town halls, right? Like this is something that we've definitely talked about with a lot of lawmakers.

You -- when you are hold -- are -- what are you preparing for at these town halls? Because, yes, you -- you will face questions for sure about the -- about the bill, what is now the law being signed by the president, the tax cut and spending law, but also you -- what are you prepared for in terms of questions on this Epstein situation?

FLOOD: Well, I think just the conversation we're having here. I mean, I think people need to know, the Oversight Committees is acting, the president's acting, the speaker is working on a resolution. We have other members that are pursuing other avenues. If I'm on the House floor and I come back in September and this isn't resolved, and there's something that we can consider not using a discharge petition, it has to run through our process. It has to run through Rules Committee. It has to run through the speaker, the whip, the leader, then we'll present this and we'll deal with it.

But I actually think this is going to work itself out as information comes out.

[09:35:02]

And, you know, the fact that James Comer is -- is on top of it makes me feel really good about the direction were going.

BOLDUAN: Do you actually -- do you think that this could go away by September, which is clearly, it appears, what the speaker might be hoping for here?

FLOOD: I think we will have anywhere from 10 to 50 new crises that crop up hour by hour every single day for the next 60 days, just like we've had for the last ten years. That's the nature of the political life these days.

And, yes, we're talking about this today because we're going to recess.

The thing that we're not talking about is that we're 60 days away from the end of the fiscal year. And some of my colleagues on the right and the left are talking about a continuing resolution. Like, we have some of the most talented members on our Appropriations Committee on both sides of the aisle. Let them do what they do best, put a budget together, wrap it all up in a bow, and let us come back and vote for something. That's what I want to talk about. That's what I think the American people want us to be doing. And that's, quite frankly, one of our core responsibilities under Article One of the Constitution. And if we're serious about it, let's do it.

BOLDUAN: I was going to say, getting back to actually what the job -- what the job is that you all are elected to do, for sure. And you were just elected to be the new chair of the Main Street Caucus, which this is one of its main focuses and priorities, which I know you'll be pushing when you all are coming back in September.

Congressman, thank you for the time. Looking forward to seeing you at those town halls.

Coming up for us, here's a quote for you, "just for the record, I will never drug you." Allegedly saying the man -- says the man accused of drugging and killing his wife. The text messages that prosecutors say that he sent to his mistress.

And a couple says "I do" in knee deep water. Why they refused to let a typhoon get in the way of their big day.

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[09:41:19]

BOLDUAN: Minutes from now, the acting head of FEMA will be testifying on Capitol Hill. And this is David Richardson's first time before lawmakers in this post. And he's expected to face some tough questions about FEMA's future and its current disaster response, just after those devastating floods in Texas. And just on Monday, the head of FEMA's urban search and rescue unit voluntarily resigned. And sources say that he told colleagues that delays in FEMA's response to Texas, because of new bureaucratic hurdles, was what was the tipping point for him.

Joining us right now is FEMA's former press secretary under President Biden, Jeremy Edwards.

It's good to see you, Jeremy. Thank you so much for being here.

With your perspective from inside the agency and what can be learned from it, what do you think lawmakers should be asking Administrator Richardson today? Because there's a lot of scrutiny FEMA is facing right now.

JEREMY EDWARDS, FORMER FEMA PRESS SECRETARY AND DEP. DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS: Yes. Thanks for having me, Kate. Happy to be here.

I think one of the more important questions that they need to be asking is, what does he think FEMA's role is going to be under this administration, and give some clarity to lawmakers because there's been a lot of back and forth on whether or not FEMA should exist, according to this president, according to his secretary of Homeland Security. So, I think they need to be asking him, should FEMA exist and what is he going to do to support the agency to make them more flexible and more autonomous, to be able to provide a swift disaster relief when -- when these types of catastrophes are happening?

BOLDUAN: Well, and -- and swift disaster relief is something that is in question right now because you have the -- now the former head of FEMA's urban search and rescue branch resigning. And he told colleagues that it was delays in getting approval to essentially launch the teams. That was what led to his departure. And also after months of frustration with the administration's kind of efforts to dismantle the agency.

I mean having worked in FEMA and coordinated with the urban search and rescue unit, how serious is this, what we're -- what we're hearing now from him?

EDWARDS: I think it's very serious and it's very unfortunate. And it represents actually a larger pattern that's happening at the agency. Beyond just search and rescue, we've seen over a dozen senior level officials leave the agency due to the same type of constraints that this person felt themselves. People who are in charge of the National Response Coordination Center left. People who were in charge of the regional FEMA in Texas. We saw it in Georgia. We've seen people leave there. We've seen people across the agency leave due to these types of frustrations. And given basically the bureaucratic hurdles that the secretary's placed on this agency under the guise of efficiency, but is actually just creating more chaos and confusion.

So, my hope is that lawmakers can get to the bottom of what this administrator plans to do to reduce some of that red tape, to give FEMA a little more flexibility. And speaking specifically to urban search and rescue, any single minute that they are on the ground there is a minute wasted, is a minute that could have been used to save somebody's life, to remove them from floodwater, to get them out from under the rubble. So, I understand that the -- the secretary has stated that they approved these requests within 24 hours. You know, reporting at CNN and others have suggested that it was actually closer to 72. Either way, any -- any -- any delay in getting these people on the ground to save lives is going to be insanely problematic and is going to ultimately harm people.

BOLDUAN: Yes, it -- with -- with the -- with the goal of efficiency or fixing problems within FEMA that many people have acknowledged, the -- the response reaction and the fix so far, they will be facing more questions for sure about that today when the acting administrator appears before lawmakers.

[09:45:14]

Jeremy, thank you so much for coming in. I really appreciate your time.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, it was supposed to help, but FDA workers say their new A.I. assistant is inventing studies and misleading research. Why Elsa may be giving more fiction than fact.

And your sweet tooth is about to feel the sting. Why your candy bar might start costing premium prices.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:50:05]

BOLDUAN: So, they say rain on your wedding day is good luck. So, what does a typhoon mean. It means you'll be able to live forever. One couple in the Philippines is putting it to the test. Instead of canceling their big day, the couple tied the knot in a church very clearly flooded by rains brought on by a typhoon. They called it, quote, "just a test" that they needed to overcome. The typhoon brought heavy rains and deadly flooding to the Philippines after making landfall Tuesday in Vietnam. But, man, are those some cool wedding photos.

Chocolate lovers, consider yourselves warned. Hershey's says it's raising prices. The chocolate maker says prices will go up in the lower double-digit range compared to where they've been the last couple of years. A Hershey spokesperson says high cocoa prices are to blame. I will end it with, not today, Satan.

BERMAN: I just want you to say the -- the live forever thing again with your arms outstretched like that. That was very dramatic.

BOLDUAN: I know -- I'll try to apply it to all sorts of news stories from now on.

BERMAN: All right, we're just moments away from a new day of testimony in the murder trial against the dentist accused of killing his wife by poisoning her protein shakes. A key witness took the stand to testify about her affair with James Craig that she says started when the pair met at a dental conference. Dr. Karin Cain told jurors, Craig sent her photos of his dying wife and even asked her to visit him while Angela Craig was in and out of the hospital.

CNN's Whitney Wild following the case for us.

So, where do things stand as we head into court this morning?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: We expect to hear more witness testimony today, John.

Karin Cain is a central witness for the prosecution because they allege that James Craig murdered his wife, Angela Craig, because he wanted to carry out an affair with Dr. Karin Cain, an orthodontist from Marble Falls, Texas.

What they describe here is a really whirlwind romance that resulted in Angela Craig's death eventually. The two met at the end of February at a dental conference. Within days James Craig was confessing his love to her, saying that he wanted to be the man she needed him to be. They exchanged thousands of text messages over the course of a couple of weeks. And during that time, John, prosecutors say that that's when James Craig masterminded this plot to poison Angela Craig to death.

And so, what Karin Cain described here is a man who had, in very great fashion and very detailed way, presented a complete falsehood. He told Karin Cain that he was getting divorced. He was living apart from his wife. He was a dedicated father. He was worried about Angela's illness and said that Angela had actually accused him of poisoning her. And then he sent Dr. Karin Cain this text message where he says, "I will never poison you, in case that's something that you were wondering about."

So, you know, several -- several curious moments during the testimony, which was very compelling, again, a really central -- a central piece of evidence for the prosecution as they try to ramp up this theory that James Craig killed his wife so that he could be with Karin Cain.

Eventually, John, she visited Denver. She was there as Angela Craig was fighting for her life in the hospital. Angela Craig died while Karin Cain was there. And at the end of that trip, her entire world was shattered when -- when investigators knocked on her hotel door, said they had arrested James Craig and needed information from her. An investigator going through her phone, going through those thousands of text messages. And that is when she realized that everything James Craig had told her was a lie, and her world really turned upside down in that moment, John.

BERMAN: Yes, look, that text, "I will poison you," such a notable piece of evidence for the -- for the jury to process this morning.

Whitney Wild, thank you so much.

So, the FDA has a new A.I. tool that's intended to help employees and revolutionize drug approvals. It's meant to speed them up and help them with that. But several current and former FDA employees tell CNN, the new A.I. helper, which is called Elsa, is misrepresenting research and making up studies that do not exist.

CNN medical correspondent Meg Tirrell reports.

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, A.I. has been a major talking point of Trump administration health officials, saying that it's going to streamline work, even at the FDA, increase the speed of drug approvals. And this comes at a time that the Department of Health and Human Services has cut thousands of workers across health agencies.

But conversations with employees at the FDA, who are familiar with this tool, suggest perhaps it's at an earlier stage maybe than is being promised, at least when it comes to using it for things like drug approvals. One FDA employee telling us, quote, "anything that you don't have time to double check is unreliable. It hallucinates confidently." Another employee saying, quote, "A.I. is supposed to save our time, but I guarantee you that I waste a lot of extra time just due to the heightened vigilance that I have to have," because it can sometimes hallucinate these fake or misrepresented studies.

And so, what we're hearing is that perhaps it can be useful for maybe summarizing meetings or helping with emails, but it's not yet at the point where it can analyze data that's been submitted by a company on a drug or a product, for example.

[09:55:09]

The FDA does say that it's working on updating it, but we had a conversation with FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary about where this stands right now. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. MARTY MAKARY, FDA COMMISSIONER: The main purpose in which it's used, according to many of the scientists that I talked to, is it's organization ability. It is identifying a study in the literature. And so it's the responsibility of the scientific reviewer to click on that link that Elsa provides and look at the study and read the abstract.

You have to determine what is reliable information that I can make major decisions based on. And I think we do a great job of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TIRRELL: So, this is a tool called Elsa that was introduced in early June. Still clearly in the early days. And the FDA is saying it's working on updating it.

But at this point, according to this great reporting from our D.C. colleague, Sarah Owermohle, maybe not at the point that it is speeding up drug approvals to a great degree.

BERMAN: All right, our thanks to Meg Tirrell for that.

These machines, hallucinating. They really are just like us.

BOLDUAN: Stop.

At least like these two anchors today.

Thank you so much for -- on that note, thanks for being with us for three hours. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "THE SITUATION ROOM" is up next. Or is it? Or --

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