Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) is Interviewed about Iran; Platner to Announce Exit from Maine Race; Crews Race to Stabilize New York City High-Rise. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired July 08, 2026 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now, of course, they'll drop some mines if they can, you know, if they can do it. But it's hard because we're taking out those little boats now with the same weapon we used to take out the drug lords and the boats coming in by sea. Think of it, 97 percent. For years we had fentanyl and all the other drugs coming in from different countries, including Venezuela. And it was, you know, they arrest them. They'd bring them to a court. They'd be released. And they'd be back on another boat the next -- 97 percent. It had -- what was done in the past had no impact. Ninety- seven percent drugs down coming in by sea. And now we're going to start doing it by land.

The land is easy when we had to do sea first. And nobody -- I mean, I think the three percent of the people that still do that, I think they're the bravest people in the world. They may be -- we should probably give them a medal for bravery because it's a -- and we're using the same exact missile to take out the mines -- the mine drop. They call them mine droppers.

But we have minesweepers. And one of the things that came up today is that European nations, the NATO group, they're sending minesweepers. We don't need them now. We have pretty much the mines are cleared up. But they'll probably drop some more.

They're evil people. They're sick people. They're really -- they're mentally disturbed people. And it should have been done 47 years ago.

Thank you everybody.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, press. Thank you, press. Thank you, press. Thank you, guys. Thank you. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This way, press. This way, please.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, press. Thank you guys. Keep moving.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, press.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, guys. Keep moving. Cameras, thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, guys.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, President Trump wrapping up a meeting with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in Ankara, in Turkey.

A few things I want to point out here. First, he was asked about Iran. Earlier today the president said he believed the ceasefire with Iran was effectively over. He just basically announced the U.S. was going to hit Iran again tonight. He said it's very likely the U.S. hits Iran again hard tonight. He called Iranian leader's cuckoo. He said, "there's something wrong with these people," and says, at this point, he does not see the possibility of a deal. So, that was the situation with Iran there.

On Ukraine, a rather important announcement. He said he was going to grant Ukraine the license, basically the ability, to produce their own Patriot missiles. This is something Ukrainians very much want to create an air defense in Kyiv, which has been hit hard by Russians over the last several weeks.

Now, it was notable is this was a very different Volodymyr Zelenskyy than we've seen with President Trump in the past. He did seem empowered. A very different situation. Things have actually been going fairly well for Ukraine. And the president seemed to treat him very differently there.

At one point Zelenskyy even joked, Trump was saying that Putin wanted to meet in Moscow, and Zelenskyy joked, you know what, there are a lot of Ukrainian drones there now. So, that was interesting.

And I also just want to note, there were a few times when President Trump misspoke, notably in this news conference. He couldn't seem to come up with the initials for the JCPOA. That was the Obama era nuclear agreement. He seemed to confuse the name Putin with Zelenskyy, though he caught himself and tried to clean that up. And he suggested the USS Abraham Lincoln was hit by the Islamic Republic of Japan. Those were just a few instances there where the president seemed to misspeak.

But again, meeting with Zelenskyy, talking about Ukraine, also talking about the situation in Iran.

With us now is Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan, a Democrat from Pennsylvania. She's an Air Force veteran and sits on the Armed Services Committee.

Congresswoman, great to see you.

I do want to start with the situation in Iran because that seems the most urgent for the world. The president indicating he thinks the ceasefire is over. How surprised are you by the developments over the last 24 hours?

REP. CHRISSY HOULAHAN (D-PA): Thank you for having me.

Nobody should be surprised that this is a very difficult piece to negotiate and to -- and to barter. And nobody should be surprised at the actions of the Iranians. They are not good actors.

But I don't think that President Trump had any idea when he began this war, which he is a war of his own choice, that this would be as complicated as it is.

There's a reason why this has been going on for decades. It's really hard to find peace in the Middle East. And I think that nobody -- nobody should be surprised by the fact that this ceasefire has been called off.

BERMAN: I want to play you the contrast between what Vice President Vance was saying just a few weeks ago about sort of the warm feelings, or at least the openness in the discussions, and what President Trump is saying now about the Iranians.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The coolest thing about the progress we've made over the last few weeks is that you see people within the Iranian system, senior leadership, even IRGC officials say, you know what, we may have some animosity, we may have some mistrust, but we recognize the way that we've done business with the United States for 47 years is a mistake. Let's try something else.

[09:35:00]

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: To me, I think it's over. I don't want to deal with them anymore. They're scum. You know what scum is? They're scum. They're sick people. They're led by sick people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: It was like three weeks ago Vice President Vance was saying the coolest room was sitting -- coolest thing was sitting in the room with them. Today, President Trump says "scum," cuckoo. Do you think that this administration is fundamentally misjudged the Iranian regime?

HOULAHAN: I think what has been misjudged is that the Iranian regime and the Iranian people are playing a really, really long game. In many cases, a game that can last thousands of years. They have very long memories in that way. And we are playing a game where we think that we can just bomb somebody and it -- and it will all be over. And that's clearly a very different way of approaching things.

President Trump also seems to have a very deliberate strategy of saying positive things one day and then negative things the next day. And you're seeing that go on, not only, you know, over time, over several weeks, but also within the span of that -- that conference that we just heard. Head spinning contradictions. Head spinning hypocrisy and inaccuracies, as you pointed out as well.

I don't know how anybody can negotiate in good faith with President Trump because he doesn't -- he doesn't stay consistent from one moment to the other, let alone one week to the other. And that makes it pretty darn hard for us to understand how we're going to find a peace in the -- in the, in the Middle East and also in Ukraine. I was struck by the fact that he came back again to the eight wars that he solved, the several wars that he started, make us less safe and also, frankly, have really affected our economy, really affected the price of gas and the price of our lives. And I'm stunned that the leader of the free world had all of that time to share random, meandering thoughts with the world, rather than actually dealing with the things that he has caused and started and the things that are his responsibility to fix.

BERMAN: In terms of the internal contradictions in this news conference, one of the things he did was to talk about how much better the deal he made with Iran was than the Obama-era nuclear deal. He said he had a great deal. Then, in the very same news conference, he said, I'm not sure we have a deal, and said the ceasefire is effectively over earlier today.

I want to talk about Ukraine. The announcement, and it did seem to be definitive, that he was going to allow Ukraine to produce its own Patriot missiles. How helpful will that be to Ukraine?

HOULIHAN: So, Ukraine does desperately need Patriot missiles. They do desperately need help and help now in that area for their own defense and for the continuation of the war that Putin started.

It struck me that he was almost making news himself while he was saying that. It sounded like that he was deciding that they were going to provide the opportunity for Ukraine to manufacture these missiles. As he was talking, it almost sounded like that he was going to inform industry of this after he got off of the press conference.

And this is the kind of haphazard leadership that we've grown to expect from this administration. I'm certain that the people standing behind him were just as flabbergasted as I was when he made that announcement. And now there's probably a great scramble going on to make sure that we can follow through on what he just said.

BERMAN: A little more than a year ago, President Trump sat in the Oval Office and told President Zelenskyy that he had no cards in Ukraine.

HOULIHAN: Yes.

BERMAN: How different do you see the situation today?

HOULIHAN: Very different. I think there's one thing that we've all collectively done, which is underestimated the Ukrainian people. For years we've done that. And the will that they have to fight and defend their nation and the skills that they have to do that have been, have been astounding. And it seems as though the cards are now in Zelenskyy's hand in many ways. And I'm happy for that and hopeful that we will be able to find some sort of resolution. But I really do think that we need to be spending time, rather than in

press conferences, actually, in those rooms with real conversations with grown up people. This is not a playground fight. This is global security and global peace. And it's really that important.

BERMAN: One question about domestic politics, if I can. Graham Platner, in Maine, still has not left the Senate race up there. What lessons do you think the Democratic Party should learn with what's happened in Maine?

HOULIHAN: I'm not so certain that this is sort of a Democratic issue or a Republican issue. I think that we're at a place where we need to be able to have people who are running for office who embody the values that I think most Americans have. And I struggle with the fact that we've gotten to a place where that doesn't necessarily happen, that we're not putting forward candidates that have that character that I think is really important. And that starts with the leadership at the top of our country.

When it's OK to behave like a boar (ph), then we end up getting candidates like that because that's the people who run.

[09:40:04]

And when we make it hard on the people who serve and violate their individuality and their -- and their privacy in the ways that we have, then we shouldn't be surprised when we end up with candidates that are suboptimal.

And so, I don't think that this is a party issue. I think that this is a political and country issue.

BERMAN: Representative Chrissy Houlahan from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, we appreciate you sticking with us, waiting through that news conference, and watching alongside of us. Thank you very much for your time.

Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thank you, John.

Ahead, crumpling structural columns in a New York high-rise, fueling fears of a partial collapse. Officials now saying it's stable, but they're working to figure out what caused this dangerous problem and how to deal with it going forward.

Plus, speaking of Graham Platner, there are some new details that we are learning. A person close to the Maine Senate candidate who has not yet left the race, even though many, many Democrats are asking him to, he says this could and should end today, potentially.

Those stories and more ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:45:13] KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: There are important new developments now coming out of Maine. CNN has the reporting just in that Graham Platner could very soon announce his next move when it comes to his candidacy for Senate. As a person close to Platner tells now -- tells CNN now, this could and should end today.

CNN's Arlette Saenz has this new reporting. She's live in Portland, Maine, for us.

Arlette, tell us more about what you're learning.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, Graham Platner and a small team of strategists are right now trying to navigate an exit strategy from this consequential race without entirely squandering the movement that he built sources familiar with the matter said. He's not digging in or trying to find a path forward for his Senate campaign, and he's expected, once he's made this decision, to announce it in a video, which could potentially come a bit later today. As of this morning, that video had yet to be taped.

But this all comes as Democrats are really facing this mad scramble to try to sort out this Senate race in the wake of these latest allegations that Platner has been facing. We are hearing that behind the scenes there has been a very messy power struggle between the Maine Democratic Party and Platner's side. Something that is now beginning to spill into public view. The Maine Democratic Party has called for Platner to step aside. But last night its executive director accused the Platner campaign of trying to put their thumb on the scale as they are working through what a nominating process would look like to replace him should he drop out. The executive director, Devin Murphy Anderson, said that they have made clear to the Platner the campaign that they will have no process in selecting the next nominee or no role in determining what the nomination process might look like.

The Platner campaign has pushed back a bit on the characterization from the Maine Democratic Party, saying that they had reached out to try to learn more about what the process might entail, and that what they're trying to ensure is that the voters and volunteers here in Maine will be the ones picking the next nominee once he drops out, not the political establishment.

But it really highlights some of the tension that we have seen play out over the course of this campaign from Platner and many of his progressive supporters, and their concerns about what they have labeled as more establishment Democratic politicians.

Now, we spoke with Maine voters over the course of the past 24 hours, and they have been incredibly disappointed in these latest allegations, using words like heartbreaking and disqualifying. But they've also expressed some anxiety about what the process to replace Platner might look like.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KATE DALY, MAINE VOTER: I mean it's extremely disappointing and troubling, and I think probably disqualifying.

SAENZ: So, do you think he should drop out at this point?

DALY: I do, unfortunately.

ALEXANDRA LASH, MAINE VOTER: I think we were all rooting for change and hoping that that would come in the form of Graham Platner. So, I think it's really disappointing because nobody that I know wants Susan Collins any longer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have a very short window here to pull ourselves together and find somebody, and just praying to the universe, to the stars, that we can pull it together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, Platner has until Monday, that is five days away, to formally withdraw from this race. That would then give the Democratic Party in the state two weeks to find a replacement. But right now all eyes are on when Platner will officially announce that decision as he has been grappling with these allegations. And there's a lot up in the air about the future of this Maine Senate race in November.

BOLDUAN: To say the least. Arlette, thank you so much. Great reporting. Appreciate you bringing it to us. Sara.

SIDNER: All right, ahead, a high rise in New York stabilized for now after crews found the beams were buckling. But what went so wrong with this construction project? How did this happen? We'll have that story and more ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:53:32]

SIDNER: Breaking overnight, we can give you some new perspective on the madness that is happening in midtown Manhattan. New steel structures added to help support a New York City building at risk of partially collapsing. Crews were able to stabilize the floors after beams buckled in the middle of a project to add 19 stories to an existing building.

We want to give you some perspective on where exactly this instability is happening on that building. You can see here the building is in one of the most densely populated parts of the city in midtown. In the red, see the red there, this is the new addition that's under construction. But now we want to focus on where exactly those structural columns are buckling. It is here in the yellow. So, you see where that is, on the 21st floor. A major problem there with all those floors above it, crushing down on those buckling beams.

CNN's Gloria Pazmino is outside the building this morning.

What are you hearing? What are you learning about the status of the building now and what the future is for this building?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, frankly, Sara, I think the future of this building is the biggest open question at this moment. And what that means is that there's going to be a significant housing project that is going to be put on hold as a result of this. Unclear until when because there is no question that construction cannot continue as things stand right now.

They've made significant improvements overnight to bring in steel supports, emergency equipment, emergency jacks to try and shore up the building.

[09:55:06]

And they have been able to do so.

What happens now is really what we're trying to figure out, how long is it going to take for this project to move forward, if it can move forward at all. Because as you pointed out, the added floors that have been constructed on top of the existing structure is what appears to have caused the bending of those weight bearing beams. That's at least what the developer told "The Wall Street Journal" last night, that he believed that added weight on top of the structure led to the folding of those beams. The city is conducting an investigation. We are hoping to hear from the mayor in about an hour or so -- or so to get an update.

In the meantime, the perimeter around here continues to be closed off. You cannot get anywhere near the building. Some buildings are still under an evacuation order.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, Gloria, we will wait to see what the mayor says. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

BERMAN: A lot of New Yorkers looking up today.

SIDNER: Ah, yes.

BERMAN: All right, thank you all for joining us. This has been CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "THE SITUATION ROOM" up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:00:00]