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Police: Multiple People Injured at Kentucky Church after Suspect Shot Trooper; Ground Search Operations Suspended in Kerrville Due to Flood Threats; Ukrainian Security Shot Dead on Thursday Morning in Kyiv. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired July 13, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: -- in a beautiful Pennsylvania field, an assassin's bullet ripped through my ear, but I felt then and believe even more so now that my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: He said that God saved his life and put him there and so it is something that has continued to really shape not only how he views his role in the White House, but also how many of his team views his role as well.

Just recently, Susie Wiles, the President's White House Chief-of-Staff on the campaign, she was Trump's 2024 campaign manager, she said the same thing. She believed that God had a hand in saving his life. And so a year on out, I think when you look back on what happened in Butler, it has completely shaped the way that Donald Trump views his role as commander-in-chief and how many of the people around him have really looked back on Butler as something that has strengthened the movement and his supporters in a way that never really had previously.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Alayna Treene, thank you so much.

[15:01:05]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: And hello again. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I am Fredricka Whitfield. All right, this breaking news just in to CNN. Multiple people have been injured at a church in Lexington, Kentucky after a suspect shot a State Trooper. The incident happened around 11:30 this morning when the unidentified suspect shot at a Trooper and then fled the scene before ending up at a Richmond Road Baptist Church. That's according to Kentucky State Police.

The suspect is dead. The injured Trooper is receiving medical attention, according to police. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear has commented, saying this "Please pray for everyone affected by these senseless acts of violence and let's give thanks for the swift response by the Lexington Police Department and Kentucky State Police." The Governor said all of that in a post on X.

We will bring you more details as we get them. And more breaking news as parts of Central Texas are under mandatory evacuation orders due to a flash flood emergency that's happening right now, just a week after a devastating flooding ravaged parts of the state. Heavy rain and rapidly rising rivers are impacting many of the same areas. The weather also forcing ground search operations to be suspended in Kerrville due to the ongoing danger there.

The Guadalupe River near Hunt, Texas is expected to reach over 14 feet this afternoon. Kerrville and places downriver will feel the impacts sometime after that.

Let's bring in now CNN correspondent, Julia Vargas Jones, who is joining us live from Kerrville, Texas where that memorial has been set up behind you. A lot of people there on this Sunday, and Julia, also tell us about this new reporting about FEMA's response.

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred, this is reporting that says that for 72 hours, FEMA could not move people to this area of Central Texas due to what they called bureaucratic obstacles, and this has to do with the new rule that was implemented by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, where she has to personally approve expenses that go above $100,000.00.

Now, the four officials that spoke to CNN said that this stripped their agency, much of their autonomy. What FEMA usually does in situations like this one is to pre-position teams that are around the entire country as the flood waters would have started to rise before the former authorization. That is what they said they were not able to do in this case.

Now, the DHS Secretary pushed back on that, saying that the response was swift earlier this morning. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTI NOEM, U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: You know, those claims have -- are absolutely false. Within just an hour or two after the flooding, we had resources from the Department of Homeland Security there, helping those individuals in Texas. It was a heartbreaking scene.

And I think it has been well-covered about what the Coast Guard did, how they were deployed immediately and helped rescue so many individuals from those flood waters. And we had Border Patrol down there with their tactical teams, and FEMA was there just within a few hours as well.

So those claims are false. They're from people who won't put their name behind those claims. And those call centers were fully staffed and responsive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And it is true the Coast Guard has been quite responsive in this disaster, but that call center that she mentions there, Fred, that also has to do with some "New York Times" reporting that said that as contracts with the DHS expired on July 5th, they were not renewed for days, and that led to a response rate dropping to all the way down to 15 percent on the third day after this disaster, so many people, thousands of people were left without being able to speak to FEMA as they looked for assistance with this disaster.

[15:05:12]

Now, today, as you mentioned, those flood waters expected to rise again. Those rivers expected to rise again and rain here? What we are hearing from the search and rescue operations is that they cannot get out on the ground and look for those people who are still missing until those warnings are lifted -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Julia Vargas Jones, thank you so much. We will check back with you.

All right, let's now turn to CNN meteorologist, Chris Warren with the latest on the flash flooding and what we can expect later in the week.

CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Fredricka, overnight and throughout the day today, there has been enough rain to bring some of these rivers back up to flood stage and that does include in Kerr County.

Now, going forward, what we are expecting is still to see some showers, but the heaviest of rain will be moving. So it will be transient, not necessarily staying over some of the same areas. The Future Radar has been showing that and through the overnight hours tonight and into tomorrow, there will be some showers. The threat is not going to be as great as it was today, but some of these isolated showers, if they end up bringing enough rain too fast, there could be some localized flooding with near Kerr County.

Some of the forecasts showing by tomorrow night, a few showers, but again not anticipating it to set up and linger too long with rainfall totals generally in that two to four-inch range, it would be more in this four to six, maybe six plus range in a short period of time to get more of the flooding. But localized problems can't be ruled out and that is the rainfall risk here.

It is on the lower end, but there is a color on this map. High is rare, but this just shows that this is a possibility with a little bit of green showing up on the map. And then another chance, Fredricka for showers on Tuesday, and then a considerable drying trend for the rest of the week.

WHITFIELD: All right, thank you so much, Chris Warren.

All right, turning now to Russia's war in Ukraine, two Russian special service agents have been killed after they were suspected of assassinating a senior Ukrainian intelligence officer. That's according to Ukraine's main security service.

I want to go now to CNN's Nada Bashir in London.

Nada, what are you learning? NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Well, we've been getting updates, Fredricka, from the Ukrainian Security Service. As you mentioned, this all comes after the killing of a security service -- Ukrainian security service officer, earlier this week. He was shot dead on Thursday morning in Kyiv in authorities in Ukraine have described as a suspected assassination. Now the Ukrainian security service has said that it has killed two Russian security officers, security operatives who they believe and suspect to have carried out that suspected assassination on Thursday.

And there has been a statement from the head of the Ukrainian security service. I will just read you a bit from that statement, saying as a result of covert investigative and active counterintelligence measures, the enemy's lair was discovered. According to this statement, the pair resisted arrest and there was an exchange of fire before they were killed.

And of course, this all comes as we continue to see Russia ramping up its military offensive and aerial attacks on Ukraine. Just over the course of this weekend, we have seen the second largest round of aerial attacks, according to Ukrainian authorities carried out since the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

We have seen the impact of that, of course, in civilian areas as well. And of course, we are also hearing parallel to all of this is a note of frustration and disappointment now coming directly from U.S. President Donald Trump towards the Russian President, Vladimir Putin about Russia's actions in Ukraine.

Of course, we are expecting to see Trump's envoy for Russia-Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, traveling to Ukraine this weekend, expecting to hear a statement from Trump on Russia as early as tomorrow -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Nada Bashir in London, thank you so much.

All right, I want to discuss more now with former CIA analyst, David Gioe. He is also a professor of Intelligence and International Security at King's College in London.

David, great to see you. So what's your reaction to this news?

DAVID GIOE, FORMER CIA ANALYST, PROFESSOR OF INTELLIGENCE AND INTERNATIONAL SECURITY AT KING'S COLLEGE IN LONDON: Well, I think that report goes to show you that there is actually a war within the war in Ukraine, right? There is the war that we see, the conventional war, the awful war, Putin's war on innocent Ukrainians, of course, but there is a war of sabotage, a war of assassination, a war of cyberattacks, a war of subversion, a war of disinformation, and that's important angle for us to keep an eye on as we assess Russia's continued war on Ukraine.

WHITFIELD: President Trump says he is going to make what he calls a major statement on Russia, and that would be as early as tomorrow, and lately, Trump has been escalating his criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin, someone he once spoke rather highly of, and even touted that he knew him well. [15:10:10]

So what do you read into this shift in tone?

GIOE: Well, it seems that President Trump has finally lost patience with President Putin, and I certainly hope that's the case.

President Trump said early on that he suspected President Putin was tapping him along, certainly, stringing out the President's various offers to try to bring a ceasefire, and I think now as the President has said himself, Putin says nice things, but it is all a bunch of nonsense and it is meaningless and Putin is a dictator who only understands force. And so it is very heartening to hear that the President hopefully will unleash some much needed volume and capability of weapons for Ukraine, and I am hoping that we will see that announcement tomorrow, along with perhaps a tightening of sanctions here in the near future as well.

WHITFIELD: Okay. And then this week, Trump is also set to meet with NATO's Secretary General after saying the U.S. would be willing to supply weapons to Ukraine through NATO allies.

Do you think this causes Putin to rethink his calculus on Ukraine at all? Does it impact him in any way?

GIOE: It will impact him once the weapons start impacting Russian territory. Once the Ukrainians have the ability to bring the fighting to Russia in real and sustained ways, Putin will have questions to answer to his own people about how the so-called Special Military Operation is now in its third year, and it was supposed to take three days.

So hopefully, we will really see some force delivered. Not only with defensive weapons, but also with offensive weapons as one astute commentator said, every weapon given to Ukraine is a defensive weapon because they're fighting a defensive war and it seems that President Trump has now seen that that's what Putin is going to listen to and hopefully Putin is on borrowed time. Will the President all of a sudden change his mind, as we've seen in the past? You certainly can't count it out.

But he has been teasing something big coming and he does seem to be committed to it. And as an observer of this war, and I hope it is true.

WHITFIELD: Okay, and before I let you go, I want to ask you about your new piece in "Foreign Affairs" Magazine where you argue that Trump is breaking American intelligence by politicizing it. What do you see the dangers as being?

GIOE: Right. Well, there are two foundational building blocks to the argument that General Hayden and I wanted to make. And I should note, it didn't give us any particular pleasure to write the piece, but as Intelligence officers, you know, sort of trained and inculcated in that tradition, we see a weakness in U.S. National Security, and we just felt a sort of professional compunction to write the piece. And so it really rests on a few pillars. The first one is that good intelligence is the sine qua non of good statecraft. It is critical for National Security and for America to work and operate in a complex world.

The second part is that the U.S. National Intelligence Community is the envy of the entire world, not just its resources and not just its capabilities, but the apolitical nature of the U.S. Intelligence Community is something that's really hard -- those norms are really hard to create. And if you look around the world, most countries don't enjoy an apolitical intelligence community.

And yet we've seen President Trump take specific actions vis a vis the U.S. Intelligence Community from ignoring intelligence, from sidelining it, from casting aspersions on those who might disagree with his public statements and so over time, this erodes not only norms, but it also erodes capabilities because it is sending us in various directions that General Hayden and I don't think are particularly wise.

Just to give you a couple of examples, the first one is doing a full court press in the FBI on immigration and certainly cracking down on violent crime is a wonderful goal. But the FBI has a whole panoply of threats that it has to manage, and so it can't go entirely toward any one single resource. Right? There's still counterintelligence, there's counterterrorism, there's cyber operations on and on.

Second of all, we saw the Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard decide that she wanted to have a collection emphasis on Greenland, which is, of course, a sovereign territory of a NATO ally, Denmark.

And so what we argue is that, we are wasting time running around, you know, sort of doing performative intelligence theater is actually taking our eye off the ball. Its keeping us -- it is keeping us weak. And then, of course, when you add into this various reductions in force, you know, firings and firings for reasons that I think are totally unclear to those who are still serving, and there is this sort of chilling effect, right, because they can't figure out, am I going to get fired for making a hard political -- for a hard analytical call for political reasons?

[15:15:21]

Am I going to get in trouble for giving the President information that he doesn't want to hear, but that he needs to know?

WHITFIELD: Yes, undermines the entire objective.

GIOE: It does.

WHITFIELD: David Gioe, thank you so much. Really appreciate having you.

GIOE: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, still ahead, how new technology could change how communities plan for future flood threats.

Plus, a new CNN interview with Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski amid the backlash from her pivotal vote to help pass President Trump's agenda, and more fallout over the DOJ's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case. Trump loyalists speaking to CNN as the President defends his U.S. Attorney General.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that Donald Trump he promised them, so he needs to do it. No matter who is on them, we need to release the Epstein files.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:20:47]

WHITFIELD: President Trump is coming to the defense of his U.S. Attorney General, Pam Bondi, after some of his most faithful supporters criticized her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.

CNN senior White House reporter, Betsy Klein is joining us right now from New Jersey, where the President is spending the weekend.

Betsy, we are hearing Bondi is joining the President at the FIFA Club World Cup Final, which is happening right now in New Jersey, which they are attending together.

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER AND WRITER: That's exactly right, Fredricka.

And this really comes as we are essentially witnessing a loyalty test between President Trump and the MAGA movement that he created. The Justice Department and the FBI released a memo Monday on Jeffrey Epstein that concluded he died by suicide and there was no evidence of any so-called client list of powerful men who participated in sex trafficking and pedophilia.

Now, that was directly at odds with the conspiracy theories that had been pushed by the President and some of his top lieutenants, including the Attorney General. But after years of big promises to the President's base, MAGA is now in revolt, pitting some of the President's closest allies against each other, which we continue to see this week at the Turning Point USA Summit.

But the infighting between the DOJ and the FBI really came to a head on Wednesday at this explosive meeting where FBI Director Kash Patel and his Deputy, Dan Bongino, were confronted about whether they were behind a story that said the FBI wanted more information on Epstein released, but was ultimately stymied by the Department of Justice.

Now, after that meeting, Bongino told people he was considering resigning and he did not come to work on Friday. His status in the administration remains uncertain at this stage. Now, Patel, for his part, posted to social media on Saturday that he would continue to serve in the Trump administration. But Attorney General Pamela Bondi has really borne the brunt of the frustration from the President's MAGA supporters and Trump is now clearly trying to reign in this infighting, saying in a post to social media: "They're all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a fantastic job. We are on one team, MAGA, and I don't like what's happening."

The president also issuing a directive to Kash Patel, who he says, "Must be focused on investigating voter fraud, political corruption, ActBlue, the rigged and stolen election of 2020 and arresting thugs and criminals instead of spending month after month looking at nothing but the same radical left inspired documents on Jeffrey Epstein." The President goes on to say, "Let Pam Bondi do her job. She's great."

Now we've learned that privately, Trump has doubled down on his support for Bondi. Members of his inner circle, reaching out to her critics to essentially say, cool it -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Betsy Klein, thank you so much.

All right, CNN's Donie O'Sullivan went to a pro-Trump conservative conference in Florida this weekend where talks about the Epstein files dominated the conversations.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And this is the first topic that all of us as Americans, not as Democrats, not as liberals, not as Republicans, are actually lining together and saying, we all want the Epstein files as it -- come on, Donald, give us those files.

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: We are here at the Turning Point USA Summit in Tampa, Florida. It is a big gathering of Trump supporters, and one thing everybody seems to be talking about here this weekend, Jeffrey Epstein.

STEVE BANNON, TRUMP SUPPORTER: We need to get to the bottom of Epstein because Epstein is the key that picks the lock.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let me just ask you, make some noise if you care about Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

O'SULLIVAN: What do you think is going to happen?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think they're going to maybe give us pieces and maybe not the whole thing, and think that that's going to suffice. And I don't think people are going to be quiet about it until they really do it. But who knows if we will ever know the true story.

O'SULLIVAN: Can't Trump just say, look, release everything?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you know anything about him, he can do and say whatever he wants. Do they have to listen? I don't know the legalities of that or the policies and procedures. [15:25:05]

O'SULLIVAN: This is Turning Point USA Student Action Summit. It is an event aimed at mobilizing young conservatives.

Ultimately, I mean, how bad do you think it would be for the MAGA movement, for young people's trust in Trump, if by the end of his term they don't release everything they know about Epstein?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I think that if they don't release the Epstein files, whatever J.D. Vance says then is irrelevant because it is like everybody is going to take it as like a lie because of what Donald Trump did.

But I think J.D. Vance wants these files released as well. And I think that Donald Trump, he promised them, so he needs to do it. No matter who is on them. We need to release the Epstein files.

O'SULLIVAN: Because right now the whole debate is about Bongino versus Bondi. But ultimately it is Trump's decision, right? I mean, he has the power.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Its Trump's decision. It's Trump's decision.

I think -- I think, again, and I am not going to make the decision for the President. It is not my job. It is not my place. But I do think the way that I am seeing it played out is that Bongino will be here and Pam Bondi will be the fall guy.

O'SULLIVAN: Do you think that's fair?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think anything is fair in politics.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:30:27]

WHITFIELD: All right, Texas is not alone in seeing deadly record breaking weather events. CNN chief climate correspondent, Bill Weir takes a look at these extreme weather events, and why floods seem to be more intense and more frequent.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Were just upriver from Camp Mystic, and you don't have to look far to see the heartbreaking symbolism of the violence of this storm and what it took from people's lives here. We have probably laid out by search teams a photo album where the images have all been washed away by the floodwaters next to a child's chair.

And then framing it above, look at the canoe bent around that tree, a good 30 to 40 feet in the air.

The hydrology in these canyons, of course, have been dangerous for decades. We've known that.

This is Flash Flood Alley. Grandma and Grandpas in Hill Country have been talking about the big ones through the decades. There was a deadly one that took campers lives back in 1987.

But the planet is so much warmer now, and we are seeing in real time that these rain bomb events and the ensuing deadly flash floods are becoming even more violent.

Just Google last month, June flash floods around the world. You can see them just about on every continent. And so the water line, the life and death line in valleys like this is changing and the future health, wealth and happiness of these people depends on knowing where that line is.

And for example, here, if you look at Camp Mystic, about eight of their structures were inside FEMA's most dangerous flood plain there. But if you use a map used by the First Street Foundation, that number jumps to 17 buildings, because FEMA does not account for flash flooding in their Flood Risk Models. Isn't that crazy? It doesn't account for rain bombs and these kinds of events, only focuses on coastal flooding and big river systems.

So First Street Foundation does take into account these modern phenomenon and as a result, it doubles the number of Americans who are at risk of these kinds of flooding events, and not just in Hill Country of Texas or the Southwest deserts, but cities like New York, where a big chunk of folks live in flood zones, unwittingly, people in basements' most vulnerable because the dynamics there are the same as a canyon or arroyo. It is that water rushing on hard surfaces faster than you can run, and bringing such destruction in its path.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Bill Weir, thank you so much.

All right, new CNN reporting is raising major questions about the federal government's response to the deadly flash flooding in Texas last week. At least 120 people were killed, including dozens of young girls attending Camp Mystic.

The disaster, reminding us of the need for better extreme weather prediction and warning systems.

Joining us right now is David Munoz, a civil engineer, an Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech and the founder of Coral Lab, a compound flood hazard and risk assessment tool.

Professor, good to see you.

DAVID MUNOZ, CIVIL ENGINEER, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR AT VIRGINIA TECH AND THE FOUNDER OF CORAL LAB: Good to see you, too. Thank you very much for the opportunity.

WHITFIELD: So can you talk to us more about the Coral Lab, what it is and how does it work? MUNOZ: Okay, so the Coral Lab focuses on three aspects: Research, education, and outreach. So in terms of research, what we do is basically develop physics-based models similar to those that the National Weather Service or the Coastal Risk Assessment uses to predict flooding during the tropical cyclones.

In terms of education, we also work with kids to teach them about hurricanes, flooding aspects and mitigation measures as well. And in terms of outreach, we also train the next generation workforce of conform flood modelers, basically showing them how to build those models, how to use A.I. so data-driven models to predict flood events.

WHITFIELD: All right, so let's zero in a little bit more on the next frontier in the form of A.I. You're working on an A.I. model to predict extreme water levels along the Atlantic Coast. How might it work? What are you doing? What can you share about it?

MUNOZ: So the main difference of these data driven models or A.I. models is that instead of solving the complex equations of process based models, they learn from data.

[16:35:10]

So what we did in a study is basically process a large volume of data sets from about 40 years in the Atlantic Coast pertaining to different cyclones, tropical cyclones, extratropical cyclones and we develop a machine learning and deep learning model that tries to infer patterns, tries to learn some non-linear associations among the input data, and then say, hey, I've seen something similar in the past. This is what could happen in a given area.

And one of the benefits of this approach is that it also works in areas that you may not have available data. And the concept that we use is transfer learning, which basically learns from the data distributions of different locations and try to use that information to predict what will happen in data scarce areas.

WHITFIELD: So when it comes down to, you know, predicting extreme weather and risk assessment, and you're talking about areas that are not just low lying, but perhaps already they suffer from, you know, problems with communication, maybe the areas make it difficult to get clear signals. If that's one of the big obstacles, how -- what do you suggest on trying to, you know, alleviate that or answer to it?

MUNOZ: I think that communication with coastal communities is key, because if you show all the models that you have, how it works, they can also give you a different perspective in terms of empirical knowledge to pay attention in areas that the models may not capture well flow dynamics, for example, and that relationship between, you know, researchers and coastal communities can help also, you know, communicate effectively and also make decisions timely, especially during flood events.

WHITFIELD: All right, Professor David Munoz, thank you so much for your time. All the best on your continued research and endeavors.

MUNOZ: Thank you very much for having me.

WHITFIELD: All right, coming up, Senator Lisa Murkowski cast the deciding vote for Trump's mega bill. Amid the backlash, does she regret her vote? She spoke exclusively to CNN's Manu Raju.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:42:17]

WHITFIELD: Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska has long been seen as the most unpredictable vote in the U.S. Senate. So as President Trump's massive agenda was on the line this month, it all came down to Murkowski. She ultimately voted "yes" despite her concerns over health care and food stamp cuts and after Alaska won big carve outs after Vice President Vance Broke the tie to send the bill to the House, Murkowski said, quoting now: "This bill needs more work across chambers and is not ready for the President's desk." But the House did not change the bill and sent it straight to Trump.

CNN chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju caught up with the senator, who had little to say about her decisive vote until now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Given that it passed and the people can suffer health care cuts and food stamp benefit cuts, do you regret voting for the Senate to pass?

SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI (R-AK): Manu, I did everything that I could to try to improve that bill and is it the bill that I would have designed? Of course not. But I had a couple of choices. Either try to make it less bad, which I think that I did not only -- not only for the people of Alaska, but for the country when we were able to double the funding for the Rural Health Transformation Fund. I think that's going to be -- that's going to help not only these hospitals, but all of the 50 states.

RAJU: Do you worry that people may lose their health care because of this bill?

MURKOWSKI: That was what we were trying -- that was what I was trying to do, along with others, to make sure that that is not going to be the case.

RAJU: What do you think people will say that it is naive to think that the House would make it better.

MURKOWSKI: I don't think it is naive to suggest that processes like Conference Committees cannot happen. We do conferences. We haven't done them like we should.

RAJU: Didn't you think they were just going to jam it through?

MURKOWSKI: They jammed it through the House the first time. I thought that there was an opportunity for a conference and actually had that discussion with other members, and the Vice President as well. RAJU: Did the Vice President suggest that they do it?

MURKOWSKI: The Vice President did not commit to it. But he heard me out, and I think it is important to recognize that we have -- we have two bodies here and when there are differences between the bodies, what happens is you work it out.

[15:45:08]

Sometimes it is an open conference process. Other times, it is what we call ping-ponging back and forth.

And so no, it was not naive to suggest that it could have happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Some of the measures in the bill take effect this year. Other provisions don't kick in for several years, notably after the 2026 midterm elections.

All right, still ahead, new reporting on the number of migrants currently detained at Alligator Alcatraz in the Florida Everglades as Democratic lawmakers report bugs, cramped quarters, and inhumane conditions.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:50:21]

WHITFIELD: All right, a new men's champion at Wimbledon. World number one, Jannik Sinner winning the title for the first time in his career getting revenge on the two-time defending champion in the Men's Final.

CNN World Sport anchor, Don Riddell is with us now. And a first -- the first Italian to win Wimbledon.

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT HOST: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Exciting.

RIDDELL: It was great and I think this is the Final that everybody wanted at the start of the tournament, partly because it was a rematch of the French Open Final five weeks ago, which was absolutely epic. It lasted 5.5 hours.

But, you know, tennis fans have, for the last 20 years, just reveled in the entertainment provided by the Big Three: Federer, Nadal and Djokovic. And two of them have retired. Djokovic is in the twilight months or years of his career, and nobody ever thought there could be anything as good.

And these two have quickly stepped into the breach --

WHITFIELD: Incredible.

RIDDELL: And they are amazing. And it just seems as though they raise each other's levels every time they play.

So, of course, Alcaraz came into this as the two-time defending champion at Wimbledon. He was going for three in a row. Sinner had never even made it to the final here at Wimbledon. Alcaraz took the first set. He broke Sinner twice in the first set. And so it perhaps, looked as though it was going to be Alcaraz's day again. But after that Sinner just stepped up and he definitely had a point to prove, I think, given what happened to him in Paris last month.

WHITFIELD: Sure.

RIDDELL: He had three championship points in that match and he blew it, but he got his revenge today.

I think it was an important result for their rivalry. But when you look at what the two of them are doing, the last seven Grand Slam tournaments have gone to these two, like it is just between them. It is one or the other.

WHITFIELD: And so fast. I mean, it is a heartfelt duel between them.

RIDDELL: Absolutely. I mean, just the athleticism, the speed, how hard they both hit it. I mean, they're different kinds of players, but the two of them going at it, as I say, they just seem to sort of raise each other over and over and over again.

And both of them, their accomplishments are incredible. What I kind of realized today was, as I mentioned, Sinner was so close to winning the French Open.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

RIDDELL: He was just a point away, in hindsight, from completing the Slam. If he had won France and today, he would have held all four at the same time. Only Rod Laver and Novak Djokovic have ever done that before. So that just shows you the level that Sinner is playing at. But Alcaraz, too.

WHITFIELD: I am sure it remains a goal. They're young, you know. They're the newest and the hottest and there is a lot of great potential still to kind of beat the other players.

RIDDELL: Absolutely. And in tennis in particular, you need rivalries. You know, having one player who is great and better than everyone else, that's just no fun.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

RIDDELL: But these two --

WHITFIELD: And it was fun to watch.

RIDDELL: -- it was just wonderful to watch them going.

WHITFIELD: It was really fun to watch.

All right, Don Riddell great to see you. Thanks so much.

All right, we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A new CNN Original Series goes inside the notorious Billionaire Boys Club of the 1980s. On the surface, it was a social and investment club, but in reality it was filled with greed, fraud and even murder.

CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL DOUGLAS, "WALL STREET" MOVIE ACTOR: Greed is good.

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: What Michael Douglas did for greed on "Wall Street" --

JUDD NELSON, "BILLIONAIRE BOYS CLUB" ACTOR: Lamborghinis, Ferraris --

WAGMEISTER: Judd Nelson did for greed in Los Angeles in the 1980s.

NELSON: A lot of excess, a lot of exuberance.

WAGMEISTER: At the height of his Brat Pack fame, Nelson played Joe Hunt in the hit T.V. mini "Billionaire Boys Club," based on the true story of an L.A. kid who scammed his way to a lavish life.

NELSON: He definitely wants to succeed, and he wants it to be shiny. He wants all the glitz and glamor of someone who makes a million dollars a year.

WAGMEISTER: It was an era of 80s excess, cocaine, cars, and the rise of the yuppie in search of it all.

NICOLE LAPIN, HOST, "SCAMS, MONEY & MURDER" PODCAST: I think L.A. in the 80s was all about image and the illusion of power. So what Joe Hunt did is he capitalized on that access.

He was not only running a scam, he was selling a dream.

WAGMEISTER: It all descended into another staple of a wild Hollywood story, murder, as chronicled in the new CNN docuseries "Billionaire Boys Club."

LAPIN: It was "American Psycho" meets "Wall Street" or "Gordon Gekko" and the media just went after it.

WAGMEISTER: Before the Menendez brothers, before O.J., the Billionaire Boys Club helped start the era of the celebrity trial.

LAPIN: It played out in the backdrop of Hollywood, covered by Hollywood. It read like a Hollywood movie. It still does. And that's why there is so much fascination decades later.

WAGMEISTER: It's a story Nelson has lived now for decades.

NELSON: Only in this kind of a profession can you play the guy and then 20 years later, play the guy's dad.

WAGMEISTER: In 2018, Nelson returned to play Hunt's father in a big screen version of the "Billionaire Boys Club." He says the new docuseries brings a timeless lesson to a new generation.

NELSON: Hiding in plain sight are many things that are dangerous to us, so we are vulnerable to people that say good things to us, that compliment us, that like us or pretend to like us. It is a cautionary tale.

WAGMEISTER: Elizabeth Wagmeister, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: The new CNN Original Series "Billionaire Boys Club" airs tonight 10:00 P.M. Eastern and Pacific, right here on CNN.

[16:00:35]