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Red Sea Emerges As A New Front In Middle East Conflict; Maine Democrats Pick Troy Jackson As New Senate Nominee; NYC Stabbing Suspect Charged With Attempted Murder, Hate Crimes; France And Spain Battle Wildfires, 250K Forced To Flee; Police: Berlin Pride Parade Called Off After Car Hits Crowds; Trump Imposes New Tariffs Targeting Dozens Of Countries; Trump Takes Aim At Trading Partners With New Sweeping Tariffs; States Negotiate Sharing Water As Colorado River Dries Up; Colorado River's Two Big Lakes Hit Record Lows. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired July 25, 2026 - 17:00   ET

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

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[17:00:35]

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome in. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Danny Freeman in New York.

Tonight, we begin with the war between the U.S. and Iran widening to a new front. Houthis carrying out attacks against Saudi Arabia this morning. The armed rebel group in Yemen, backed by Iran, targeted Saudi facilities on the Red Sea after attacking Saudi commercial ships earlier this week.

Meanwhile, last night marked the first break in nearly two weeks of U.S. strikes against Iran. There were also no immediate reports of any overnight strikes by Iran against U.S. regional allies.

For more on this, we have CNN senior White House reporter Betsy Klein joining us now. Betsy, what are we hearing from the Trump administration on where this conflict currently stands?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Danny, it's unclear at this point how much we should be reading into what appears to be a halt in these strikes after those 13 consecutive nights of the U.S. striking Iran. There were no reports of any attacks last night into today.

But U.S. intelligence agencies in recent days have assessed, according to two sources familiar with the matter, that the types of strikes that the U.S. has been carrying out are unlikely to shift Iran's negotiating position, as of now.

Trump, on his words, says Iran is not ready to make a deal yet. Listen to where his mindset is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Look, we're talking to them right now. I think they're getting more and more serious as the days go by for maybe the obvious reason. But we are talking to them right now.

Look, there are two ways. I consider that the smarter way. But the other's probably the easier way doing what we're doing. And we can take that to a much higher level if we want to.

You know, we're prepared to do that as you know. We're locked and loaded.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: Now, the president has limited options here. There's diplomacy, which after that latest Memorandum of Understanding fell apart, has yet to prove successful. The status quo, continue these limited strikes, as well as the possibility of an escalation.

Now, the president has said he is -- thinking about attacking critical infrastructure. Things like roads, bridges, Kharg Island, that key oil hub, as well as Pickaxe Mountain, which is believed to be an Iranian nuclear site.

And so we're trying to ascertain at this point what to make of this pause in strikes. I asked the White House what should -- we should be thinking about this. A senior official telling me, quote, "President Trump has always been clear that his preference is diplomacy, but he has shown Iran what will happen if they fail to come to the table in a serious way."

This also comes after White House press secretary had some notable comments to "The Wall Street Journal". She said that the strikes are going to continue until they come to the table in what President Trump deems a meaningful way.

So the key question now is, does the Trump administration believe that that is happening, Danny.

FREEMAN: Yes, but notable silence, especially after continued strikes over the past couple of weeks.

Betsy Klein, thank you so much for that reporting. Appreciate it.

Next, I want to bring in CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson. He joins us from Jerusalem.

Nic, good to see you. Can you walk us through this emerging dynamic between the Saudis and the Houthis in Yemen? What's the significance of these latest strikes?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. The significance is it's another route for Saudi oil that's trying to get to the international markets down the Red Sea. about 5, 6, 7 percent of the energy needs, particularly of Asia, passes down the Red Sea, particularly now as the Strait of Hormuz is closed.

So, the fact that the Houthis have said they're putting a blockade on it for Saudi tankers, with Saudi oil on board, and they've hit a couple.

Then the Saudis struck their Port of Hudaydah last night. Then this morning, the Houthis upped the ante again, hitting not just ships in the Red Sea, but actually Saudi energy facilities on land.

The port city of Jizan, the Houthis claimed that they targeted Aramco Energy facilities there. And in Yanbu (ph), further north, a key vital point in Saudi oil distribution network because that's the hub of where the pipeline that comes all the way across Saudi Arabia gets to export the oil on the Red Sea.

[17:04:48]

ROBERTSON: Now, sirens did go off. The air defense system in Yanbu was put on alert, but no signs of impact there. But around Jizan, a lot of black smoke was seen coming up.

So this is a dynamic where the Saudis really have made a lot of preparations already for the possibility of not just continued strikes against the Houthis, but the potential for ground forces, ground operations against the Houthis. That's all sort of up in the air at the moment, let's say. We don't know if it's going to escalate or how it's going to play out.

Looking across at the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S.-Iran dynamic, I think it's significant.

There are a couple of things that have happened. The Omanis have sent a negotiating delegation to Tehran. They're not sort of official mediators in this at the moment, but they have been in the past. So they sent a delegation to Tehran.

The Qataris have told their shipping, that it'll be free to travel tomorrow out through wherever it wants to go, providing it normally takes proper safety protocols.

This does seem to signal that there is some hope in the region at the moment, and certainly that's my understanding that the diplomats who are close to the process, who are looking at what happens tonight, and if there is no exchange of fire between the U.S. and Iran tonight, then they'll be feeling that this is some kind of unofficial, if you will, behind-the-scenes type ceasefire deal.

So I think there's some hope in the region that if tonight is quiet, then perhaps we're entering a new phase or a new step in the current phase at least. But it really is very, very, very difficult to say which way it will go.

FREEMAN: Yes, certainly. But again, that would be good news if diplomacy is on the horizon compared to what we've seen over the past several weeks.

Nic Robertson in Jerusalem, thank you so much for staying up late for us this evening.

All right. We're joined now by CNN global affairs analyst Kim Dozier. Kim, thank you for sharing a little bit of expertise at this very interesting moment. What, if anything, are you reading into this pause in strikes overnight?

KIM DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: It is an opportunity for peace talks to make some progress. It's a good faith gesture, perhaps, but it also comes right ahead of Bibi Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister's visit to Washington this coming week, in which, on the fringes of the funeral service for Senator Lindsey Graham, Netanyahu and Trump, could talk about restarting joint attacks again if this latest effort at peace talks doesn't work.

And all we're hearing is that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is the sticking point in much of these negotiations. They don't want to put nuclear on the table. and they think that they are making enough progress just by causing the Trump administration economic pain and withstanding whatever the U.S. throws at them.

FREEMAN: Kim, can we talk a little bit more about this trip that we learned that Netanyahu is going to make to D.C.? Because, of course, he is someone that I think we wouldn't be surprised if he tried to lobby for some sort of increase in attacks.

I mean, what's your take here? What does this timing of this visit mean for next steps with Iran?

DOZIER: It's an opportunity. I think he might not have had a way to get here if not for the unfortunate loss of Senator Graham. But he will seize on any chance he gets to talk Trump back into a joint effort.

The Israelis have been clear and public about it. They don't think the job is finished. They think that Iran still has too much military capability, as evidenced by Iran's military attacks that have caused the loss of U.S. soldiers' lives, and really menaced -- continued to menace Gulf allies over the past several weeks.

FREEMAN: Can we talk a little bit more about the Gulf allies? Because another front on this war, kind of newly-developing between the Houthis in Yemen and Saudi -- Saudi Arabia? Can you just talk us through this dynamic because it's something that we haven't really seen play out in this exact way until the past few days.

DOZIER: Yes. As Nic was saying, a lot of this conflict right now is between the Yemenis and Saudi Arabia. The Yemeni Houthis, who control much of the north of the country that border Saudi Arabia, they say they got involved in this because Saudis or Saudi-backed forces rocketed the airport that they control in Sanaa. The jury's out on that. Nobody has independent confirmation on who hit what.

[17:09:46]

DOZIER: But they seized on that as a reason to threaten Saudi traffic going through the Bab El-Mandeb strait, which heads up to the Suez Canal.

And at this point they seem to be signaling to the Trump administration that this is just about them and the Saudis. Yes, they are an Iranian ally. Yes, this is convenient for Iran, that it's going to increase the market pressure on oil overall, because the Bab El- Mandeb Strait is one of the ways the Saudis were getting their oil out while the Strait of Hormuz was closed.

You might remember so the geography is a little complicated, but the Bab El-Mandeb Strait is the one that goes up and leads to the Suez Canal. And you might recall a few years back, there was that massive container ship that got sideways in the Suez Canal. And it stopped something like $10 billion of traffic every day for the roughly week that it was stuck there.

That's how much traffic goes through the Bab El-Mandeb on the way to the Suez Canal. So, the Houthis could really turn this up a notch. Right now, they're just holding fire and just hitting the Saudis.

But if you're an insurance company insuring a tanker or a container ship that's going through that 20-mile-wide, narrow strait, just like the Strait of Hormuz, you're going to be raising your prices.

FREEMAN: So let me ask you then, Kim, do you -- are you at all concerned that these skirmishes would draw the U.S. into more of a conflict here? Or again, because you said that there's a signaling that this is just a Saudi and Houthi kind of conflict, that that's not something that the U.S. would ultimately take any military action for?

DOZIER: Well, at the first year of the Trump administration, of course, the Houthis were threatening Israel and the Trump administration unleashed billions of dollars' worth of weapons on them.

And that was only settled through a peace deal that was connected to the release of the Israeli hostages and the Hamas ceasefire deal with the Israelis. So that got put to bed for a bit.

The Houthis do not want to go back to being on the receiving end of the full military might of the United States.

So I think we can bookmark that. But it's going to rumble along. And every single exchange of fire with the Saudis, there's a risk that this could escalate.

Meanwhile, we don't know what --

FREEMAN: Oh, I think we lost Kim there. But Kim Dozier, as always, really do appreciate your analysis on a complex part of the region and moment.

Still ahead, Maine Democrats have a new candidate to challenge Senator Susan Collins in November, with just over 100 days until election day. We have more on that.

Plus a quarter million people forced to flee as wildfires are ripping across Europe. We're live from France's wine-growing region, one of the hardest hit areas. And serious concerns across the western United States, where lakes and rivers sit at historically low levels. We're going to tell you why experts are calling this an environmental crisis.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

[17:13:02]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREEMAN: Maine Democrats have selected a new challenger as they try to unseat incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins in the upcoming midterms. Delegates in the state have picked Troy Jackson to be the Democratic nominee to replace Graham Platner, who dropped out earlier this month.

Platner was accused of rape, an accusation he denies. But his exit sparked chaos in the highly-anticipated Senate race.

Jackson, for his part, is the former Maine state senate president who lost a bid for governor earlier this year. He now has just over three months until election day, and Collins has a significant fundraising advantage.

We'll have more on that story in the next hour.

To this now. The man accused of two separate stabbing attacks in New York City on Thursday is facing a long list of hate crime charges. 51- year-old Raul Morales surrendered after police officers yesterday spent nearly an hour trying to get him to come out of his apartment. He's being held without bond.

Prosecutors say he stabbed two men, one Asian and one Jewish, in separate unprovoked attacks in broad daylight. Both are expected to survive.

CNN's Mark Morales joins us now. Mark, what exactly is this man charged with?

MARK MORALES, CNN REPORTER: Well, Danny, it's a number of hate crime charges. And the top charge here is two counts of attempted murder as a hate crime.

And this was the big question that we all needed the answer to. Police made the arrest shortly after the incident on Thursday, but they said they needed a little more time to collect evidence to see if they could charge a hate crime.

Now, not only were they able to do that, but prosecutors were able to hit him with a slew of hate crime charges following this.

Now, if you remember the incident itself, it's just as important to what happened is what he said.

Now if you remember, he attacked the Asian male from behind, stabbing him in the back with a knife. Later on, he found his next victim, a Jewish man stabbed him in the chest with a screwdriver.

But during both attacks, he said the phrase "Allah Akbar". And that's not only just a phrase that's said in the -- in the Muslim religion, but it's also something that law enforcement uses to determine whether or not something is either classified as an act of terrorism or a hate crime.

[17:19:44]

MORALES: In this situation, after talking to the victims themselves and a number of witnesses, they were able to stand that up and actually make these hate crime charges.

Now, the suspect did go before a judge late Friday night. Prosecutors made the argument that because of his mental health issues and because of the violent nature of the crimes, he had to be remanded back into custody.

The judge agreed. And that's where he is right now. He's behind bars.

But it's also important to note about the climate of New York City right now. Murders are down. Shootings are down. For the most part, violent crime is down.

When you look at the -- when you look at these hate crime incidents, they're up slightly for the first half of this year when you compare them to the same time period last year.

But when you take a longer look at the victims here, they represent communities that have been on edge for a number of years now. It's not too long ago that Asian people were being targeted in random attacks following the COVID 19 pandemic.

And of course, there's been a lot of anti-Semitic incidents that have happened after October 7th and since the war in Iran. And all this with this attacker now, this incident that happened on the upper west side. He's due back in court next Friday, Danny.

FREEMAN: A scary story.

All right. Mark Morales, thank you so much for that reporting. Appreciate it.

All right. Coming up in just a moment. Devastating wildfires in France and Spain. Hundreds of thousands of people forced to flee as the fires rage toward major cities. We have the massive effort underway to contain the flames.

Coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM after a quick break.

[17:21:13]

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FREEMAN: Tonight, breaking news out of France and Spain. Firefighters battle raging wildfires tearing through southwest Europe with at least 250,000 people having to evacuate their homes.

Now, the fires in France are tearing across the Gironde inland areas with intense flames sweeping through forests and burning homes down. Authorities in France also deploying Europe's biggest military cargo plane today to help fight the fires.

The French prime minister warning tonight that the coming hours may be difficult as conditions worsen.

Now many people are heading to shelters around the Bordeaux area. Thousands of camp beds have been delivered to these shelters. The fires are fueled by climate change driven heat waves and have also erupted in other parts of Europe as well.

CNN's Melissa Bell joins us now from Bordeaux. Melissa, what are you seeing there at this area?

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is the one of the big exhibition centers in the heart of Bordeaux. And as you can see behind me, it's been turned into this makeshift camp for people that were evacuated over the last couple of days from what is the biggest wildfire currently raging here in France.

And what you're talking about, Danny, is a wildfire that's raging about 20 kilometers from here and these are pine forests.

Now, these are naturally fairly flammable trees because of the resin inside. But the conditions have just meant that this particular wildfire has been raging over the last couple of days in a way that is entirely uncontrolled.

We've had heat wave after heat wave. The conditions on the ground are extremely dry. You could see it even before this started. And then you've had this series of wildfires already.

Since the start of the year, France has seen a record number of wildfires, 300 rather than the normal 93 per year that we generally see.

This one that's currently raging near Bordeaux, it's one of two that's actually raging now, that's led to those 200,000 evacuations that you mentioned in the Gironde region.

Many of the people now sleeping out behind me, families, the elderly taken from residential homes, families who basically at 3:00, 4:00 a.m. had these alarms on their phones saying, leave your homes now.

So they've turned up here with a bag that they could carry, their pet, their children, and they were hoping to get home tonight. There is no sign of that yet.

This is a wildfire that is as yet uncontrolled. And as you say, we've been hearing from the prime minister who suggested that there was a moment when they'd hoped to contain it because the conditions had improved. But in fact, that is not the case. The fire still raging beyond control, just that fire has now taken

32,000 hectares of land. It is huge. And for now, burning uncontrollably despite the best efforts of the more than 1,500 firemen and women who've been deployed.

There are also 1,500 military personnel, ordinary national security personnel, policemen and gendarmes to try and help with the evacuation process because the logistics of this is huge.

There has been, Danny, no evacuation of this scale in France since World War II. So the logistics of that are fairly huge. The discomfort, of course, to people who've been displaced, the uncertainty about what's happening to their home and the fact that for now, these fires are as yet uncontained.

What we heard from the prime minister tonight is that there were currently 30 wildfires now raging inside of France. But as I say, the very biggest one right here just outside of Bordeaux, Danny.

FREEMAN: Wow. So nerve wracking, especially for those families.

Melissa, before you go, can you tell us about these fires that are also raging in Spain as well?

BELL: That's right. You're talking about fires that are in several different parts of Spain as well. But some of the worst ones had been to the west of Madrid, so the capital. And had seen there, as you've seen here in Bordeaux, the towns to the outskirts of the main city being evacuated, some 60,000 people evacuated there.

And we've been hearing from Pedro Sanchez, the Spanish prime minister, saying that there are two records that are being set. It is already 130,000 hectares of land that have been burned by these wildfires in Spain, whereas the national average, normally, in a normal year, is about 100,000.

We're in the middle of the summer, of course, but again, it is on either side of the border. These record temperatures, the fact that we've had these relentless heat waves, records broken in terms of temperatures, and these successive heat waves that have just kept getting worse, causing the conditions to worsen and the ground to get drier and drier.

[17:29:45]

BELL: The moisture levels in the ground are at near historic lows. So very difficult to see that any improvement is in sight.

All the more, Danny, that we expect a new heat wave to kick off next week.

FREEMAN: Oh man. Thinking of those first responders and, of course, those families there behind you.

Melissa Bell, thank you so much for that reporting. Appreciate it. All right. Coming up in just a moment, President Trump's trade war is

back on. And he's targeting some of America's closest allies. We're going to take a look at the possible fallout.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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[17:34:57]

FREEMAN: We are following breaking news now out of Berlin, where the Christopher Street Day Pride Parade has been called off by organizers after a car crashed into a crowd, leaving people injured, according to police.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN (voice over): This is a live picture right here of emergency responders at the scene. Police say they are searching intensively for suspects at this time, and this celebration is one of Europe's largest pride events, hosting thousands of people.

Again, we will continue to monitor the story throughout the hour.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: OK, to this now. President Trump's trade war is back. On Friday, new tariffs kicked in on goods from 60 trading partners, ranging from 10 to 12-1/2 percent. The latest round of tariffs comes as Trump's earlier 10 percent tariffs lapsed after they were deemed unlawful by the Supreme Court.

But that's not all. President Trump, this week also announced 50 percent tariffs on certain Canadian goods, including hockey sticks. We are joined now by Josh Lipsky. He is the chair of international economics at the Atlantic Council, where he is also senior director of the Geo Economic Center.

Josh, thanks so much for joining us this evening. OK. So, these sweeping tariffs are not entirely surprising. President Trump has been moving this way even before that Supreme Court ruling. But from your perspective, is this what you were expecting?

JOSH LIPSKY, CHAIR OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS, ATLANTIC COUNCIL: So, most of what happened was exactly in line with what we expected and what the administration telegraphed following their loss at the Supreme Court back in February.

You have to remember the day they lost that case. They put on what I call band-aid tariffs immediately,10 percent on the entire world for the next five months. Those expired yesterday. So, we knew they had to come up with something, and they told us it was going to be something much more legally durable. That was their words. They were rebuilding the tariff wall and rebuilding it stronger, and that's what we got with the tariffs on 60 countries between 10 and 12-1/2 percent yesterday. What was surprising, though, was what you mentioned about Canada. They used a different legal provision to threaten that. It's not in place yet. It's just a threat, and they use something from the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 that's never been used or tried before for tariffs.

We don't know if that will hold up in Court. Hockey sticks were surprising. Everything about it, the 50 percent rate, we didn't see that one coming.

So, a mix of what we thought and some surprises. But the bottom line is, tariffs are here to stay, and the world's largest economy is going to be more protectionist for the foreseeable future.

FREEMAN: Josh, you wrote an op-ed in the New York Times this week that actually I thought was pretty stunning. And you argued that the biggest obstacle to undoing President Trump's tariffs for whoever is the next president, OK, not just for the immediate future, will not be legal but financial.

I was just wondering if you can explain your thinking here.

LIPSKY: So, I think there is a lot of quiet conversations happening within companies and certainly within countries that once Trump leaves office, his tariff wall will come tumbling down. And I wanted to write this piece to explain why that's more complicated than many people think.

And the legal issues are not the biggest obstacles. Another president can remove the legal authorities from these tariffs, but these tariffs are generating between a hundred and 200 billion in revenue annually. And yes, a tariff is an import tax, and we all pay it, and there are costs associated with that, inflation included. But it does generate revenue for the U.S. government.

And the next president is going to have their own domestic priorities, their legislative priorities. This president used the funds from tariffs to help finance the tax cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill. The next president is going to try to pay for things. A divided Congress may put up a fight, and they may look to the tariff revenue as a way to fund it.

So, I don't think it's going to be so easy to just walk away from a hundred or 200 billion in revenue. And what I was trying to point out in the piece is that tariffs are becoming wired into the financial plumbing of the country, there are certainly costs associated with that, but we shouldn't be naive to think the tariffs are going away. And remember, Joe Biden kept all of Donald Trump's first-term tariffs.

FREEMAN: Yes, it was interesting. Your perspective being basically that we, whether we like it or not, as a country, have started to become hooked on tariffs and that revenue.

I'm curious, though, what do you see as the long-term impacts of President Trump's tariff strategy on our relationship with our allies.

LIPSKY: Well, this was something else I brought up in the piece. Just because we may have to live with tariffs, doesn't mean we have to live with them in the same way. And what I suggested was we should lower tariffs on our allies, and we should target where the real source of our trade imbalances come from, and that's China.

China is currently running the largest trade deficit surplus between the entire world in history right now. And so, we think that's the place to focus. Our allies have said, why are you targeting us with these tariffs? And there are legitimate trade issues between the E.U. and other countries. So, it's not to say we shouldn't deal with them, but I think the strategy going forward should be to reassess where we are focused on tariffs, where we can do the most good, how we can actually try to reshore some jobs, maintain some revenue that can be part of the equation, and reset with our allies?

And remember, our allies are facing a wave of exports from China as well, Europe in particular. So, I think if there was an allied approach, you would actually find more common ground than you would have a few years ago.

[17:40:06]

FREEMAN: Again, the fascinating piece, Josh, that you wrote in the New York Times. Really appreciate you coming on tonight and explaining it because tariffs, like you said, here to stay for now. Appreciate your time.

(CROSSTALK)

LIPSKY: Thanks very much.

FREEMAN: All right. Still to come: Drought conditions are threatening the water supply for millions of Americans. We are going to take a look at the communities that could be impacted, coming up next, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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[17:45:05]

FREEMAN: Truly a lifeline for 40 million people is at risk as the Colorado River dries up, with the crisis reaching a critical new milestone.

This month, two of the river's major reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, fell to their lowest levels on record.

Seven states depend on the river for drinking water, agriculture, and hydropower. It helps generate electricity for about 700,000 homes and irrigates more than five million acres of farmland across the Southwest.

CNN chief climate correspondent Bill Weir has more.

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Well, much the way we are seeing record-shattering temperatures across the American West and Southwest, we are seeing similar alarming levels when it comes to the water in the American Southwest.

40 million people depend on the Colorado River system. All the snowpack in the Rockies that falls in the winter should melt and flow downstream. Dozens of creeks and tributaries. Much of it is caught in Lake Powell. There is a dam there, and then released through the Colorado River. And then, Lake Mead is the other big reservoir. You can think of the two of them, that system as really the water tank of the West, and it is at record lows.

After the most recent evaluation, Lake Powell now at 23 percent of capacity. Lake Mead just over a quarter of capacity. And the fear is that if the drought continues, we are in a 25-year drought in this part of the country there. If it just continues, which is expected to, and there is another warm, dry winter like we just had last winter, that it could reach dead pool.

Lake Powell could get so low that there is not enough water to turn the turbines and make electricity. About 750,000 homes are powered by the water, the hydropower that flows down the Colorado River there. Not to mention all the drinking water, all the irrigation that is vital there as well.

And added to this debate, of course, the recent boom of data centers, which consume a lot of power and water. And Colorado River system only has so much of that right now.

Seven states share this under a compact that was written in 1922, one of the wettest years ever. So, it has been overallocated in many of the states, especially the upper basin in the mountains versus the lower basin states like Arizona and California and Nevada. There is a fight over conservation. Who is putting too much water on lawns or golf courses in this state versus that state? There is no agreement. The states blew past the February deadline from the federal government to come up with a plan on how to share this dwindling resource, but nothing has moved on this.

And right now, all the -- all the locals can do hope and pray for rain and then snow this winter. But as one expert told us, hope and prayer is no way to run a water policy for 40 million people.

I'm Bill Weir, CNN New York. Back to you.

FREEMAN: Bill Weir, thanks very much for that reporting. Joining me now is Jack Schmidt, director of the Center for Colorado River Studies at Utah State University.

Jack, thank you so much for coming on to discuss a very important topic. But tell us, how significant is this new record low?

JACK SCHMIDT, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR COLORADO RIVER STUDIES, UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY: Good to be with you. We are really in unprecedented times now. Lake Mead and Lake Powell collectively have never been this collectively low since Lake Powell ever existed.

We are now breaking records that take us all the way back to the late 1950s when Glen Canyon Dam was first being built. Lake Mead, that's sort of the combination of the two, because we should realize Lake Powell and Lake Mead really together are one gigantic reservoir, separated only by the Grand Canyon and the Grand Canyon National Park.

Wea are in unprecedented territory. Lake Mead is only seven tenths of a foot higher than its historic record low.

FREEMAN: Wow.

SCHMIDT: And when that record is certainly broken in the next week or two, we are going to slip all the way back to the 1930s when Lake Mead was first being created.

Lake Powell is now in record territory and is sliding back to conditions in the early 1960s. We have really never been here before.

FREEMAN: Jack, can you explain how much worse you expect things to get for everyday Americans, really, if these conditions continue, of course, I mean, Americans in the area that relies on this water supply.

SCHMIDT: You bet. We are now in the period of the year when the reservoirs are being depleted.

[17:50:07]

There is really not much hope for reservoir storage to be built up in the next nine months. It could rain. This is a good monsoon season. That might decrease water use projections. But basically, we have to reduce the rate at which we are consuming water, and hope that next winter is snowy and we rebuild the reservoirs.

That is -- there is no -- there is nothing that's going to happen between now and next spring that's going to rebuild in any significant way the amount of water we have left in the system.

So, right now, we can move water around, but all we can really do is reduce use. That's it.

FREEMAN: You know, Jack, I want to get your perspective on something. In a few weeks, the Bureau of Reclamation will release new guidelines for states to figure out how to divide their share of this water.

This has been a long-standing battle, I know. But what framework would you like to see to help alleviate some of these issues?

SCHMIDT: Well, at the end of the day, if we use the analogy of our own personal bank accounts, if we have little money left in the bank account, and suddenly our income plummets, and we don't have any money coming into the bank account, then, there is absolutely no way to get out of the situation you are in except to spend less, and spend less means consume less water. There really is no alternative.

Now, the argument among the states is who is going to take the cuts. The argument is not whether the cuts need to be made, but the problem right now is because we are in a crisis, because we are setting records lows, decisions need to be made right now. For the last couple years, the states have argued about who is going to take the cuts/ But now, it's too late for that. The cuts must be made. The majority of the use is in the lower basin. California, Arizona use a vast bulk of the water, and significant cuts are going to have to be made in the lower basin.

At the same time, small cuts have to be made in the upper basin, which uses less water. But we are all in this together, and Mexico has also agreed to take cuts.

FREEMAN: Well, Jack Schmidt, I really do appreciate you not only studying this crucial issue but also breaking it down with us this evening. Really appreciate your time. Thank you very much for that.

SCHMIDT: Thanks. Good to be with you.

FREEMAN: All right. To this now. This evening, we're checking in on a CNN hero who turned his own struggles into a mission to help others.

Scott Strode founded the Phoenix Recovery Program after overcoming addiction. And as CNN Hero celebrates its 20th year, we are looking back at how he and his program have helped thousands of people find support, connection, and a fresh start.

Here is CNN's Anderson Cooper.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCOTT STRODE, FOUNDER, PHOENIX RECOVERY PROGRAM: To get on my bike and go ride up in the mountains, it really just brings peace. And in my drug and alcohol use, it was the opposite.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Scott Strode started using drugs and alcohol when he was 15. But through sports, he found a way out and overcame his addiction.

STRODE: When I got sober, I lost my group of friends because they were still out drinking and using. I got into boxing, triathlon, climbing. I had this new group of friends. I had completely redefined myself. So, I thought, how can we give this to other people.

Welcome to Friday night climbing. It's good to see all you here.

COOPER (voice over): In 2006, Strode started his nonprofit, now known as The Phoenix, that provides free fitness programs and social events to help people in recovery.

STRODE: We have this common connection. So, it's easy to make new friends. We do bike rides, hiking, triathlon training, strength training. It really is just a new community of folks to hang out with.

What's up, Phoenix?

COOPER (voice over): During the pandemic, community became even more vital for people in recovery. Strode quickly moved Phoenix programming online, keeping members connected through virtual classes and meetups. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For me, it was this point in my life where I was like, I have to get sober now, or else I'm going to be in this quarantine environment, and I'm just going to continue that downhill slide. And just having that community and knowing that at any point I could sign in and I could see friendly faces and people who could help support me through this recovery process, it was a huge turning point for me. So, there is no looking back now.

[17:55:00]

COOPER (voice over): Today, the organization has grown to serve 1 million members and become a movement. The Phoenix hopes to reach 10 million people by 2030, thanks to their free app, Newform. Launched last year, the app brings addiction recovery and mental health support together in one place, making it easy for people to connect with recovery and wellness communities wherever they are.

STRODE: We are having fun, and we are proud of being sober. So, come out and go climbing with us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREEMAN: Incredible story there. To learn more about The Phoenix or to nominate your hero, go to cnn.com/heroes.

OK, coming up next in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM: what started as a light-hearted speech from President Trump quickly took a turn, let's say.

We have got the big takeaways from the rescheduled and scaled-down White House Correspondents' Dinner. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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