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Israel Ready to Negotiate to End Gaza War; President Trump to Send Weapons to Ukraine Through NATO, U.K. and France State Plans Supporting Ukraine; Chinese Nationals Arrested in Ukraine for Espionage; Search Continues for the Missing in Central Texas Floods as President Trump Visit Flood Site; ICC: Rape, Sexual Violence Used As Weapons Of War In Sudan; Syrian Designer Makes History At Paris Haute Couture Week. Aired 2-2:45a ET

Aired July 11, 2025 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN HOST: Welcome to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is "CNN Newsroom." An Israeli strike in Gaza kills people waiting in line for medical treatment. Plus, details on efforts to reach a ceasefire with Hamas.

Donald Trump clarifies his position on getting desperately needed weapons to Ukraine as Russia ramps up its bombardment of Kyiv. And the U.S. president will soon get a first-hand look at the extent of the damage in flood-ravaged Texas. We'll have the latest on where recovery efforts stand.

After 20 months of brutal fighting, tens of thousands of dead and hundreds of thousands more forced to flee their homes. Israel's prime minister says his country is finally ready to talk about a permanent peace in Gaza. His statement came on the final day of his visit to Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISTAEL (through translation): At the beginning of the ceasefire, we will enter negotiations for a permanent end of the war, meaning a permanent ceasefire. If it can't be achieved in 60 days of talks, we'll achieve it by other means, by using the power of our heroic army.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Benjamin Netanyahu made it clear Israel isn't backing away from its original demands that Hamas must be disarmed and removed from political power in Gaza. The militant group has been demanding assurances that its ongoing truce talks with Israel would lead to negotiations about a permanent end of the war. But Hamas still accuses Netanyahu of placing obstacles in the way of a ceasefire deal.

Now, despite the prospect of a truce, the daily struggle to survive in Gaza remains intense. Palestinian authorities say at least 15 people were killed in an Israeli strike outside a U.S.-run medical facility on Thursday. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has the story, but I just want to warn you the images you're about to see are very graphic and difficult to watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Children screams pierce through the smoke-filled air in central Gaza. But screams alone cannot prepare you for the scale of the carnage unleashed by this Israeli airstrike. This street is filled with the bodies of dead and injured children, whose bodies are quickly loaded onto donkey carts. And then there are those barely clinging to life, like this woman splayed on the ground.

They took my daughter, she says. Her daughter's fate has already been sealed. In her blood-stained white dress, four-year-old Aya (ph) is one of eight children killed in this strike. Aya and her mother were among several families waiting to enter a health clinic run by Project Hope, an American nonprofit whose operations were known to the Israeli military.

In her white dress, Aya (ph) is impossible to miss. Minutes later, two men walk by the clinic. And then an explosion fills the air. That smoke is soon replaced by an outpouring of grief.

Not my sister, no, not my sister, this boy cries. The Israeli military said it, quote, "regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals," and is reviewing the incident. It said it was targeting a Hamas militant who infiltrated Israel during the October 7 attacks, but declined to provide his name.

These four children killed in the targeting of a single militant do have names, Amir (ph), Mohammed (ph), Yasmin (ph) and Ayah (ph), still in her bloodstained dress. Mohammed (ph), wearing a makeshift plastic diaper, is a testament to the desperate circumstances that brought his family to that clinic, amid shortages of diaper and baby formula. Speak to me, Amir's (ph) father pleads, hugging his son's lifeless body.

His brother Nidal (ph) joins him in mourning, but he hasn't just lost a nephew. His 14-year-old daughter Sama (ph) was also killed. What happened is indescribable. It's a massacre, its genocide, it's a crime against children, Nidal (ph) says.

[02:05:00]

My daughter woke up with a headache and went to get checked at the clinic. Suddenly we heard the sound and came running to see all the children dead. Sama's (ph) twin sister is inconsolable. Please wake her up. She's lying. I know her. I swear she's lying. As one sister mourns another, a father pleads for it all to end. Sama (ph) is gone and the war is still ongoing, Nidal (ph) says. May the war be gone with Sama (ph). Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BRUNHUBER: President Trump says he's made a deal with NATO to get weapons to Ukraine. It comes after Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with the Russian foreign minister and said that the U.S. is actively talking to European countries about sharing Patriot batteries with Ukraine.

On Thursday, President Trump told NBC, quote, "we're sending weapons to NATO and NATO is paying for those weapons 100 percent." He went on to say, quote, "we're going to be sending Patriots to NATO and then NATO will distribute that."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that all signals towards the United States resuming its aid to Ukraine. I made those comments while speaking to reporters at the Ukraine Recovery Conference happening now in Rome. This comes as Ukraine continues to fend off non-stop Russian attacks. A new U.N. report shows that June saw the highest number of civilians killed or injured in Ukraine in three years.

Kremlin says it doesn't believe the Ukraine peace process has stalled. The spokesperson claims they're waiting for Kyiv to signal whether it's ready for a third round of direct talks.

The U.K. and France have unveiled plans to support Ukraine in case of a ceasefire. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron made the announcement after a three-day state visit in London this week. CNN's Nic Robertson has more.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATION DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: So British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, along with French President Emmanuel Macron, laid out their vision, their plans of what should happen if there's a ceasefire in Ukraine within hours. They want to have a force that's able to go into Ukraine to help stabilize it militarily, to help rebuild it militarily, to help it be able to defend its seas and its skies and its territory from Russian aggression.

And it would have a two-star general heading it based in Kyiv. That's their vision. This of course diametrically opposed to what President Putin said he's willing to tolerate in any vision. Any ceasefire deal going forward for Ukraine, absolutely diametrically opposed and said he will not tolerate NATO troops going on the ground inside of Ukraine.

This was a result and came out of the Ukraine coalition of the willing meeting that was chaired by Prime Minister Starmer and President Macron, and involved President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, Georgia Meloni of Italy, the Prime Minister there, and for the first time a U.S. official, President Trump's envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, was involved in that meeting along with a couple of U.S. Senators. This is how Keir Starmer laid out the vision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We have just co-chaired a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing, including representatives from the United States for the first time. We announced plans for a new multinational force Ukraine, headquartered in Paris, so that we're ready to support a peace deal when it comes. But while Putin turns his back on peace, we are rallying more support for Ukraine right now to defend their people and force Putin to the table.

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ROBERTSON: And another not insignificant message coming out of that meeting, both leaders said that they would join their nuclear deterrents to work together to protect Europe. This also appears to be a signal to President Trump as well, not just President Putin. In absence of a U.S. nuclear deterrent coming to NATO's aid to protect Europe, France, the U.K. here taking a new step forward in this dimension. President Macron explaining it like this.

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EMMANUEL MACRON, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE (through translation): These fundamental decisions that we've taken today in the agreement signed, our two countries remain independent and sovereign, but we're giving ourselves the means when necessary to work together in keeping with the markedly more threatening environment that we now face.

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ROBERTSON: It's probably worth saying that while these sound like very robust positions to be taking, there isn't a ceasefire yet between Ukraine and Russia. There isn't even sight of it coming. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had a meeting with his Russian opposite number (ph) in Malaysia, Sergey Lavrov.

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There he told Lavrov of President Trump's disappointment and frustration that President Putin hasn't started moving towards a ceasefire yet and continues a very heavy bombardment of Ukraine. But he did say, Rubio did say, that Lavrov had put forward some new ideas that he would be taking to President Trump later. The European position though is becoming clearer. Whether or not it can be enacted, that's an entirely different thing. Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

BRUNHUBER: China says it's trying to verify reports that Ukraine has arrested two Chinese citizens accused of spying. The secret service of Ukraine says a father and son were trying to gain information on Kyiv's Neptune missile system and send it back to China. Here's what Beijing's Foreign Ministry spokesperson told reporters on Thursday.

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MAO NING, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON: We are still verifying the relevant situation. If Chinese citizens are involved, we will safeguard their legitimate rights and interests in accordance with the law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Ukrainian official told Reuters the two men are the first Chinese nationals arrested for espionage since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

U.S. president is threatening steep new tariffs for Canada. He said goods imported from the United States' northern neighbor could face a 35 percent across-the-board tariff. That would be a dramatic escalation in the country's ongoing trade war. Canada is the third largest exporter of goods to the U.S. And this latest threat comes after Donald Trump sent a flurry of letters to world leaders promising even more tariffs by August 1st.

New dispatched audio recordings reveal how one emergency responder tried to save lives hours before the flooding disaster in Central Texas. We also have the latest on the grim search for victims.

Plus, President Trump is set to survey some of the Texas flood damage in the coming hours amid criticism of the federal disaster response. Stay with us.

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UNKNOWN: Is there any way we can send a CodeRED out to our Hunt residents asking them to find higher ground or stay home?

UNKNOWN: Ten-four. Standby, we have to get that approved with our supervisor.

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BRUNHUBER: Well, that was an audio recording of a volunteer firefighter in Texas that was shared with CNN. As you heard, he was asking that an alert be set out to warn residents in the small community of Hunt about the surging floodwaters. It took nearly six hours before some residents got that alert.

On Thursday, the death toll rose to 121. At least 150 people are reported missing in Kerr County alone where the river begins and Governor Greg Abbott asked that more counties be added to the president's major disaster declaration. CNN's Isabel Rosales has more now on the arduous search for the victims.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JORDY MARKS, OWNER, LA DRONE SERVICES: You hear a dog barking right now.

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A hit from a cadaver dog.

(On camera): So you're thinking that there could be remains in there?

MARKS: Yes ma'am.

UNKNOWN: Possibly.

ROSALES (voice-over): Sends Jordy Marks and his team into action. The private drone company owner launching a surveillance drone over the Guadalupe River to aid the Cajun Navy and first responders in their search.

MARKS: We just Heard the dogs get a hit, so I'm gonna scan that area and make sure, you know, make sure there's nothing there.

ROSALES (voice-over): With more than 2,000 emergency workers on the ground, the search for the missing intensifying, nearly a week after floods devastated this idyllic part of Central Texas.

MARKS: What I'm looking for is anything that's different in the water. Anything that stands out in the water. I'm going to zoom in the area.

ROSALES (voice-over): It took days for the drones to get authorization to join the search after a private drone operating in the restricted airspace over the flood area struck an emergency helicopter on Monday. It was forced to make an emergency landing and all drones were grounded from what has proven to be a challenging search.

For the second day in a row there remains at least 160 people still missing.

MARKS: The current was so strong I think they -- it took people and put them in the debris and if people are just trapped in the debris and while the water is receding then we can start seeing more people.

ROSALES (voice-over): Now they join teams continuing their search in the water and on the ground. Heavy machinery doing the heavy lifting, flipping over river swept vehicles. FEMA task force is now on site, setting up command along the Guadalupe River. Search crews wading its waters, moving debris piece by piece. Cadaver dogs actively scanning miles of riverbanks. Helicopters assisting overhead. while ambulances wait on site, all in the grim search for victims of the flood.

RYAN LOGUE, DEPUTY INCIDENT COMMANDER, UNITED CAJUN NAVY: The efforts get more complicated by the day. We covered a lot of area, but now it's the detailed work of getting through all this debris and destruction and making sure that we find every last victim.

ROSALES (voice-over): Isabel Rosales, CNN, CenterPoint, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: U.S. President Donald Trump will head to Kerrville, Texas in the hours ahead to survey the aftermath. Now comes as his administration pushes back on suggestions that its policies weaken the government defenses against disaster threats. I want to bring in Ron Brownstein, who is CNN's senior political analyst and Bloomberg opinion columnist. He joins us now from Los Angeles.

[02:19:55]

Ron, so after what we just saw in that piece there, it may seem a bit crass to talk about the politics of this disaster when so many people are still searching for loved ones, residents there are still in the early stages of recovery, but that is the reality. There are often real political calculations being made in the wake of disasters like this.

We've seen both sides immediately point fingers, liberals blaming, you know, DOGE cuts and Trump initially suggesting Biden was somehow responsible. So politically for Trump, when he goes to Texas, what's at stake here?

RON BROWNTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, you know, protecting the population at moments of crisis is the first job of government at every level. And, you know, it's really more than politics, Kim. It's really about policies that either increase or reduce our risk to these kinds of tragedies.

Now, you know, we have -- I'm watching this, I feel this sense of deja vu about the aftermath of the wildfires in Los Angeles earlier this year when there were all sorts of questions about whether the response was sufficient on every front. But the underlying issue really is not being discussed enough and is inescapable, which is that these kinds of mass, you know, weather-related disasters are becoming more frequent.

In the last year we've had the flooding in Asheville, the wildfires in California, now this. Events that are described as once in a hundred year or even once in every thousand year events are now kind of coming, you know, tumbling after each other. And really, I think until we are willing to address the underlying issue that we are changing the climate, we are going to be running after these kinds of aftermaths more and more.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, that seems unlikely, frankly, with this administration given their policies so far.

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.

BRUNHUBER: I want to pick up on something you said, and that was that Trump seems to have approached disasters very differently in red versus blue states.

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.

BRUNHUBER: As you pointed out there, he was very critical of California's wildfire response, but seems to be showing solidarity with Texas. It seems like quite a partisan approach to disaster management from a president.

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah, and it really fits in with a larger kind of structure of his presidency. You know, I said in his first term, I think it's more true in his second term that he governs as a wartime president with Blue America rather than any foreign adversary as the enemy. I mean, you know, look what we have seen in Los Angeles with the deployment of not only the National Guard, but also the Marines.

And then not only their use to guard federal buildings, but to accompany ICE on raids. They were armored, you know, military vehicles and National Guard troops in full combat regalia set basically to occupy a public park in Los Angeles, in a major American city this week. And that obviously is very different than the tone and tenor and the actions toward Texas.

So, yes. I mean, I do not think that Trump, you know -- consistently, Trump does not behave as if he sees himself as the president of the whole country.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah.

BRWONSTEIN: He views himself primarily as the president of red America. And, again, you know, if -- but the bigger issue is that there really is no way to respond to this case and magnitude of natural disasters that we are experiencing. There's always going to be inadequacies in the response. The larger issue is are we willing to confront, and as you say, so far, this administration is not, the underlying reality that we are facing more and more.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, finally, you know, you want to talk about policies here. We're learning that the new Trump administration spending approval requirements possibly delayed --

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.

BRUNHUBER: -- FEMA's pre-positioning of search and rescue teams by over 72 hours. Trump officials are now doubling down on plans to eliminate FEMA even as this, you know, recovery is still ongoing. I mean, it seems a bit incongruous visiting a disaster site while at the same time proposing to dismantle the federal agency responding to it. I mean, could Republicans pay a political price for this approach?

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah. I think some, but you know, ultimately this has not been, you know, a first-tier issue compared to the economy and so forth for voters. I mean, look, just think about what we've been talking about. The pace and intensity a billion dollar disasters is accelerating without question. The administration is dismantling infrastructure to kind of track them, predict them, respond to them.

And as we're saying in terms of climate, you know, in the long run, prevent them. It just utterly incongruous. It's a form of unilateral disarmament in the face of what is really a growing threat to, you know, kind of the rhythms of life in America. These kinds of disasters are becoming routine in a very scary way.

And as I like to say, climate change doesn't care if we believe in it or not. It is coming. It is here. We are seeing the effects all the time.

[02:24:57]

And to be dismantling our systems both to anticipate and respond to these kinds of challenges at this moment is a really profound act that is real -- that I think is not getting enough discussion even as we go through, you know, the debate about whether the response is sufficient on each one of these disastrous events.

BRUNHUBER: Have to leave it there. Really appreciate it. Ron Brownstein in Los Angeles, thanks so much.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

BRUNHUBER: A deepening civil war is creating a humanitarian crisis in Darfur and the International Criminal Court says it believes war crimes and crimes against humanity are taking an even heavier toll. Details on that, coming up here on CNN. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: The International Criminal Court is warning that systemic sexual violence is being used as a weapon of war in Darfur. The court's deputy prosecutor told the U.N. Security Council the ICC has reasonable grounds to believe war crimes and crimes against humanity are being committed in the region if the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces escalates.

The U.S. ambassador to the U.N. called for accountability for the genocide in Sudan, saying the Rapid Support Forces have murdered men, boys, even infants on an ethnic basis and engaged in brutal acts of sexual violence against women and girls.

I want to bring in Alan Boswell, who's the Horn of Africa project director for the International Crisis Group, and he's with us from Doha.

Thanks so much for being here to talk about this.

These ICC allegations that war crimes and crimes against humanity are being committed. What do you make of those allegations and why it's taken so long to come to that conclusion?

ALAN BOSWELL, PROJECT DIRECTOR, HORN OF AFRICA, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: Well, these are not new allegations. And it looks like what the ICC is looking into are crimes that have essentially been well- documented already, some by human rights watch, some by others. The U.S. government itself declared that genocide. There was reasons to believe genocide was occurring.

So, these are -- these are not new. As to why it's taken so long, I imagine it's just a bit slower moving for the for the ICC. But I will say it's sad because two decades the ICC has a mandate on Darfur because it was given it two decades ago. So, we're just seeing history repeat itself. It was given this mandate back in 2005, and now here we are in 2025 talking about very similar things.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah. Well, speaking of history, I mean, some of the same actors involved in those previous Darfur atrocities are leading todays conflict. So how is the failure to properly hold them accountable contributed to the crisis we're seeing now?

BOSWELL: Yeah. Well, this is clearly a failure of attempts to have some sort of system of international justice that that holds people responsible for these crimes. I think Sudan is sadly, even before this new war broke out, was a case in point.

You had the Sudan's former president, Omar al-Bashir, was himself indicted at the ICC, has never faced trial. And others further down the chain, most of them also never, never face trial as well.

And now we see it all repeating itself. So, I mean, I think it's well understood at this point that, you know, this system hasn't worked.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah. And, you know, the result, of course, is this, absolutely dire humanitarian crisis that is engulfing the country. Particularly, I want to point the spotlight at El Fasher, which is under siege. Civilians are cut off from aid. I mean, what's it going to take to change that?

BOSWELL: Well, you have aid workers and you have some diplomats who've been -- who've been working over, you know, essentially the last year trying to get more supplies into El Fasher to break what's been a very long running, mostly a siege by the Rapid Support Forces, the paramilitary force which controls most of Darfur. But they've had very little, you know, but both warring sides at various points have resisted efforts to try to get a ceasefire, depending on who feels the most pressure at the time.

But it's been absolutely horrific for all the residents who are -- who are stuck in El Fasher itself and in the surrounding areas. And you've had many communities have to try to flee through essentially a hostile paramilitary force. And the sort of accounts you get from those who have had to try to flee on foot are just truly horrific.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, absolutely horrific. Exactly right. Now, despite this being called the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, Sudan's $4.2 billion humanitarian response plan is only 21 percent funded. Now, the Trump administration will be holding a meeting in Washington about Sudan.

I mean, can we expect anything to come from it?

BOSWELL: Correct. We are finally seeing signs of life for U.S. diplomacy again, on Sudan with this -- with this new Trump administration. It's a -- what they are doing is not actually calling the warring parties themselves yet on Sudan to try to get peace talks.

They're bringing three Arab countries who all have a lot of influence over this war. That's Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. They -- the U.S. is trying to have a level at the at the foreign minister -- meeting at the foreign minister level in Washington in a few weeks to try to see if they can get more alignment.

Some of these countries are on opposite sides of the war, and it's been a really big problem to try to end this war, partly because of all the outside regional involvement.

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So, this is a very nascent attempt. And, you know, obviously Sudan is not -- has not been a priority of the new administration. And it wasn't really a priority of the previous administration either, which is a big reason why we are talking, you know, about all these horrific things and not much has changed.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah. Exactly right. Let's hope we see some action because as you correctly note, I mean, this crisis is something the international community and the U.S. especially hasn't made a priority.

We'll have to leave it there. Alan Boswell in Doha, thanks so much.

BOSWELL: Thanks, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right. We'll be right back. Stay with us.

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[02:40:16]

BRUNHUBER: Well, it's a history making debut at Paris Haute Couture Week. Have a look at some of the creations from the first Syrian designer to debut a collection during fashion's biggest week.

Rami Al Ali is known for his elegant evening wear. He's dressed superstars like Beyonce and Jennifer Lopez. Al Ali's first runway shows being called a landmark for Arab representation. He says it symbolizes hope for Syria's future.

All right. Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Kim Brunhuber.

"WORLD SPORT" is up next. I'll be back in 15 minutes with more CNN NEWSROOM.

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