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CNN This Morning
Trump's Massive Bill Passed, Signing to Be at Spectacle Today; Trump on Pausing Weapons to Ukraine: 'We Have to Have Enough for Ourselves'; Caitlin Clark's Rise Sparks Debate on Race, Power & Privilege. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired July 04, 2025 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Start to see that counterclockwise spin. If we get enough of that, this could maybe potentially work its way into a depression or weak tropical storm.
[06:00:10]
We'll monitor this closely for the beaches of the Carolinas. Rip current risks certainly a threat, not to mention the potential for strong gusty winds and brief heavy downpours.
Back to you.
M.J. LEE, CNN ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT: And thank you for joining us here on EARLY START. I'm M.J. Lee in Washington. And happy Fourth of July to everyone here in the U.S. And CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: It is the Fourth of July. And here's what's happening right now on CNN THIS MORNING.
President Trump's first big legislative win. And today he signs it into law. But is the Big, Beautiful Bill a victory for the American economy?
Plus, no progress at all. President Trump says his call with Russia's leader yielded nothing. Is there any path to peace left for Ukraine?
And national pride is at a record low on this Fourth of July. We're going to talk about what's driving the dip in America's patriotism.
It's 6 a.m. here on the East Coast. Here is a live look at New York City. Good morning, New York. Good morning to everybody. And happy Independence Day.
I'm Audie Cornish. I want to thank you for waking up with us. Here's where we're going to start.
This legislative win for the wealthy, for some small businesses, and big corporations; and a loss for Americans who rely on SNAP for food and Medicaid for their health care.
The president celebrated his bill's passage last night with a July Fourth kickoff rally in Iowa after spending the past week getting holdouts in his party to fall in line.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Deport the illegals and slash hundreds of billions of dollars of waste and fraud. And that's what we're doing with this bill. Every major promise I made to the people of Iowa in 2024 became a promise kept.
You know, we -- actually, they had a report today on some crazy fake station, but it wasn't fake in this regard. They said, you know, this guy actually did more than he promised. I did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: House Republicans handed Trump his big legislative victory. No Democratic lawmakers joined, but only a handful of GOP lawmakers voted against it. Some felt the changes to Medicaid went too far for millions of Americans. Others believed the spending cuts didn't go far enough to reduce the deficit.
Today, the president signs that bill into law, and it's expected to be a made-for-TV spectacle on this Fourth of July.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think I have more power now. I do. You know, I could say, oh, gee, I don't know. I think I probably do, because we've had a great record of success.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Joining me now to discuss: Jackie Kucinich, CNN political analyst and Washington bureau chief for "The Boston Globe"; Michelle Price, White House reporter for the Associated Press; and Betsy Klein, CNN senior White House reporter.
All right, you guys. Thank you so much for being with me on a holiday. I really appreciate it.
One of the things I was thinking about is that this is definitely a win for Trump. As we can see, "The New York Post" calling it "Tired of Winning Yet?"
Also, a win for Mike Johnson, who I think, as House Republican speaker, House speaker, may be the most successful Republican speaker in a decade.
JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Let's think about how he got here. Right? Just to start. I mean, after that drama with Kevin McCarthy, he filled a leadership vacuum. And I think a lot of us who were observers didn't really know who he was and didn't know how long he would last.
However, he does have a heavy behind him in the president, and so it's hard to say. And, you know, when you talk to members, they really like him. They like his approach. But he also has truly the power of the presidency behind him. And
that's who was making the calls last night. But you're right: he really has secured himself a real place in this Republican conference.
CORNISH: We also just heard Trump there saying, I am more powerful, which, you know, I think is really interesting. I want to play for you guys conservative holdout Chip Roy, because he was talking about what the president was doing to try and change minds: coming there and making the case to them directly. Here's how he explained it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX): Well, first of all, yesterday we got in significant conversations with the executive branch about what they can do to deal with the ridiculous amendment that was thrown in at the last minute, the 11th hour in the Senate on the green new scam subsidies.
We were also able to get some significant, I think, assurances on what they're doing on spending. Things they can do, as we've been talking about; rescissions through the pocket rescission process that the executive branch is carrying out; plus other things that I can't quite get into at the moment that I think will have significant impact on spending.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: I don't know. Who was it in the reporting, talking about what you can't get into. Like there's going to be more revealed about this bill over time, right?
[06:05:03]
MICHELLE PRICE, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, ASSOCIATED PRESS: I mean, I think that what we're also hearing from some of these members is that the rescissions package was part of -- that the Congress will be taking up; will be something that they're kind of taking into calculation, as in they're not happy with the cost of this bill. But they see spending cuts coming down the line.
But what's really interesting is, you know, the idea of Trump being more powerful. He is more powerful. But he also has a Congress that is much less willing to stand up to him. They have less political cover. So, it's a very lonely vote to go up against this president.
And seeing him use the powers of that office, even literally using the Oval Office, bringing in some of the moderate members, some of the conservative holdouts.
We saw some of them leaving with merchandise, you know, signed Trump merchandise, talking about how cool it was to go to the Oval Office. If you're one of 435 members, you don't necessarily get to go sit down with the president all the time.
And so, we're seeing him use kind of the trappings of the office to sway some of these folks. And it seems like it has worked in some of these cases.
CORNISH: Are you seeing all this? I know you talked about the bill basically being too big to fail, just in terms of its sheer size.
But what do you make of, like --
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
CORNISH: -- his power, the deal making, kind of the dynamics here.
KLEIN: Well, for exactly that reason, I think this just underscores the power that Trump has amassed within his own party.
These lawmakers are reluctant to say no. As you mentioned, it's a lonely place to be. And those anti-Trump Republicans have effectively been eradicated from Congress. That is what we saw over the last few weeks, even when they took what was really a difficult vote.
And the president was so emphatic that this be one Big, Beautiful Bill, as he calls it. He wanted it to all be in one. There was some discussion about putting it into a couple of different bills, and ultimately, he felt that he could get this all through. And we saw him deliver.
CORNISH: Yes. Especially coming off the momentum of the first 100 days. Right? So, this is a momentous day for the president.
Group chat, stay with me. We've got lots more to talk about today.
Coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, President Trump will call Ukraine's president after a disappointing talk about peace with Russia.
Plus, is it the Caitlin Clark effect that's behind the rise in women's sports?
And we're digging into the impacts the president's policy agenda could have on rural hospitals and their patients across the country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These places aren't just amazing places of healthcare. They're also sometimes the biggest employer in the community. So, when a hospital leaves, communities dry up. People are scared to death.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:12:01]
CORNISH: So, the last two weeks have been filled with domestic policy wins for President Trump. When it comes to foreign policy, though, there has been a setback.
Basically, there was a phone call with Vladimir Putin, and it did not go as well as Trump had expected, failing to move the needle on a peace deal with Ukraine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Speaking to President Zelenskyy tomorrow, early in the morning. And you know, I'm very disappointed with the conversation I had today with President Putin, because I don't think he's there. I don't think he's there. And I'm very disappointed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
TRUMP: Well, it's not -- I'm just saying I don't think he's looking to stop.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(EXPLOSION)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Russia launched a wave of airstrikes on Kyiv, forcing thousands to take shelter, wounding nearly two dozen people, all while the Pentagon confirms the U.S. is halting some missile and ammunition shipments to Ukraine.
This is at a critical point in the war.
Joining me now to discuss, CNN global affairs analyst Kim Dozier.
Kim, before we get started, I want you to hear what the president had to say when he was asked about why the U.S. would be halting ammunitions to Ukraine in this moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why did you pause weapons?
TRUMP: We haven't. We're giving weapons, but we've given so many weapons. But we are giving weapons, and we're working with them and trying to help them. But we haven't.
You know, Biden emptied out our whole country, giving them weapons, and we have to make sure that we have enough for ourselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Can you help me fact check this?
KIM DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: So, the Biden administration did give Ukraine a number of old munitions supplies, basically emptied out the storehouses of things that had been sitting around for decades. And the U.S. manufacturing community hasn't caught up with that yet.
This means the U.S. is going to have to send orders to various defense companies and refill the stocks. And some of that was already being done.
But the new staff in the Pentagon have decided that those stocks are too low and that they've got to be replenished before the U.S. gives more stocks to Ukraine.
But they didn't warn Kyiv this was coming. And as we saw from the overnight blitz on Kyiv, probably the worst since Russia's invasion in 2022 of the whole country, they really need air defenses.
CORNISH: Yes. You know, you're talking about this kind of increase in missile attacks --
DOZIER: Yes.
CORNISH: -- on the Ukrainians. And President Putin, you know, appears to be determined to keep fighting. Right? That's what we're looking at here. I want you to hear this Kremlin aide, Yuri Ushakov, talking about this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YURI USHAKOV, KREMLIN AIDE (through translator): Our president also said that Russia will seek to reach the goals it has set: that is the elimination of the well-known root causes that led to the current state of affairs, to the current acute confrontation. And Russia will not back down from these goals.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[06:15:14]
DOZIER: Yes. Root causes. Those root causes include the existence of Ukraine in its current form.
One of Putin's regular talking points is that the 2014 Maidan Revolution that brought the current government structure in power, which also brought Zelenskyy to office, was instigated by the West and NATO.
So, he wants the government to change. He wants the borders to change.
CORNISH: He doesn't want them in NATO or anyone else. Yes.
DOZIER: He wants the language to change. Basically, "root causes" means erasing Ukraine as an individual entity and also getting NATO to agree to stop adding any members.
When it's not NATO that's trying to expand. It's various countries who feel threatened by Russia, who are applying for membership, because they want to be covered under Article V. They want -- they don't want to go what -- through what Ukraine or Georgia before them is going through.
CORNISH: We know that Trump has had this kind of military success against Iran.
DOZIER: Yes.
CORNISH: And dealing with Netanyahu in the Middle East crisis there. Can you give me a sense of this first six months with Russia? What am I looking at in terms of how Trump deals with Russia and is dealing with this war?
DOZIER: I think we're watching Trump finally catch up to what everybody else who's been watching Russia and watching this war understood: that Putin has no intention of stopping, unless he's under great duress, something that President Zelenskyy said publicly in the past 24 hours.
And one can only hope. The Ukrainians can only hope that Trump will start applying the kind of pressure he has against Iran, the kind of pressure he exerts occasionally over Netanyahu with the Gaza situation.
We may be seeing the announcement of a two-month Gaza ceasefire next week when Netanyahu visits the White House.
But Trump hasn't yet chosen to turn up that pressure on Putin. Maybe he needed to understand how intractable Putin was.
CORNISH: But it feels like less pressure, not more, over time.
DOZIER: It has been. He's just kind of going, oh, can't do anything. Whereas with other nations, he talks about everything from increasing sanctions to increasing trade barriers, to bombing them.
So, let's see if he's finally ready to turn a corner and understands that Putin is not stopping his war on Ukraine.
CORNISH: All right. Kimberly Dozier, thanks so much. Appreciate your time.
Ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, a controversial Supreme Court ruling clearing the way for the Trump administration to deport a group of migrants to south Sudan.
Plus, Caitlin Clark has transformed women's basketball. Not without controversy.
And as we go to break, here's a look at the sunrise over my hometown: Boston.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:22:26]
CORNISH: OK, I want to go off-script now to talk about the WNBA because, you know, it's having a moment. We've got Caitlin Clark to thank for that.
She's the Indiana Fever point guard who's not only changing the game, she's basically shifting the conversation around it. And so, you've got these analysts talking about the Caitlin Clark effect. So, according to the WNBA itself, ratings are up. So is the value of
the biggest franchises. And we're talking three digits, 180 percent.
Now her rise, however, is not without controversy. She's at the center of conversations about race, privilege, bias, and how we talk about women's sports.
And that's the focus of Christine Brennan's new book, "On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women's Sports."
We're joined here by the author herself. Thank you so much for being here.
CHRISTINE BRENNAN, AUTHOR, "ON HER GAME": It's great to see you. Thank you very much.
CORNISH: So, the thing people always talk about, of course, is the rivalry between her and Angel Reese. But what I noticed about it is we're putting a lot of pressure on two rookies here and putting a lot of story on them. Can you talk about the sports press role in this? Because I feel like it's always been part of the: you need a villain, and you need a hero to make the story?
BRENNAN: Well, without a doubt. Red Sox-Yankees, Michigan-Ohio State, Auburn-Alabama. We love -- my goodness. Soviet Union-U.S. in the Olympics, right?
CORNISH: Yes.
BRENNAN: So, rivalries make -- are easy to cover. Rivalries. You know, it's like, OK, we'll focus on that.
And both Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese have talked quite a bit, Audie. And Caitlin, certainly, in the book, I quote Angel in the book. She did not want to talk to me for the book, which is absolutely her right. I wish she had, but she didn't want to.
About, first of all, the respect for one another. They don't hate each other. And they go way back. They go back to AAU basketball.
CORNISH: Yes.
BRENNAN: With their respective teams: Angel's in Maryland and Caitlin's in Iowa. And then played against each other at Maryland. Because Angel first started at Maryland.
CORNISH: Yes.
BRENNAN: So, she was -- they saw each other.
CORNISH: I was a terrible high school basketball player. So, I could say with confidence, you talk a lot of "S" on the court. OK? That's like part of the game.
BRENNAN: Well, and, you know, Caitlin Clark does not need -- is not a victim. She does not need any defending. Caitlin Clark can give it as good as she takes it.
And she loves to rev up the crowd. She is feisty. She lives on that. I think her fans actually love that about her. And of course, Angel is the same.
Interestingly, they don't play the same position. So, we've made this -- to your point, we've kind of made this Angel and Caitlin, Caitlin and Angel, when in fact, you know, different positions. They don't -- as Caitlin says, they don't guard each other.
But it does make it a very easy -- kind of like the lowest common denominator story. Sports media: Let's go with that.
[06:25:01]
CORNISH: And it's also created this dynamic of sort of Caitlin and the league itself. And as she's described, the black women players who have played for a long time, who have not garnered the same kind of attention.
But, you know, I was really interested. It was a few months ago, but UCONN coach Geno Auriemma was sort of asked about what she could expect in her first year and what all this pressure was. And I want to play that clip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GENO AURIEMMA, UCONN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL HEAD COACH: The delusional fan base that follows her disrespected the WNBA players by saying she's going to go in that league and tear it apart. There were actually odds on what are -- like she's third or fourth in betting odds of being MVP at WNBA.
These people are so disrespectful and so unknowledgeable and so stupid that it gives women's basketball a bad name.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Characteristically candid, there.
BRENNAN: Yes.
CORNISH: Now, obviously, she has played well.
BRENNAN: Yes.
CORNISH: But can you talk about what he has to say there about the fandoms and kind of how that has impacted things?
BRENNAN: Well, certainly.
CORNISH: Because he said it set her up for failure, in some ways.
BRENNAN: He did. Now, I have to say: that is one of the worst sports predictions I've seen in a while. And I presented that to Geno, because I know him well -- CORNISH: Yes.
BRENNAN: -- and like him a lot. Obviously, a great character, great leader, terrific. Twelve national championships at UCONN, of course. He just had his 12th.
And you know, he -- he of course, kind of came back off that a little bit.
I think it surprised a lot of people how good Caitlin Clark was so quickly coming out of Iowa, then into the pros. So, the -- he was not alone in thinking that she would have trouble within a few games.
CORNISH: It has been a far more physical game than she expected.
BRENNAN: Well, yes.
CORNISH: Right? And people have talked about whether or not the league is protecting her, given what an economic force she is for them.
BRENNAN: And that's the conundrum, right? I mean, she wants to play -- be played tough, and she wants to play tough. But she's also -- when -- we know when she was injured the last time, missing five games, Audie, that the -- more than half of the viewership of the WNBA disappeared.
You know, I covered Tiger the length of his career. Those kind of numbers. They didn't -- more than 50 percent gone? No. Michael Jordan? No.
So, she is so important. She is the economic rocket fuel for this league. And yet, of course, they need to guard her. And of course, we're talking about a 74 percent black league and a white superstar.
I've covered the league, the length basically from the Atlanta Olympics in '96, which was where it was launched, and started in '97. And there were so many great players; in fact, many of them young Caitlin Clark's heroes like Maya Moore, Seimone Augustus, others, who never got the attention they deserved.
And so, we can understand some of the jealousy, some of the anger, some of the issues that have popped up. Because the leadership of the WNBA did not help the players. Not because they're damsels in distress. They are not. They're tough, strong college graduates.
But this was such a unique situation. And I think the league should have done much more.
CORNISH: But is it that? I mean, we were talking during the break. There was Larry Bird. There's -- there's always, like, a white player that garners a lot of attention, both for their play, but for also the perception of unusualness, since the integration of the game and the predominance of black players.
So, what is all that different about her experience?
BRENNAN: Because the WNBA never, ever was getting the coverage it deserved from the male-dominated mainstream sports media until now.
So, whereas the NBA had had Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain and great stars from the past, it had reached a peak. The WNBA was never given the chance to reach that peak.
I tried. I was covering it. I was telling our sports editors, we should do more with it, going from the '90s into this century, and it wasn't happening.
Again, the sexism, the racism, whatever it was in the -- in the mainstream sports media that said, we don't want to cover this.
I'd be on radio shows, Audie. I'd get laughed at by the -- the sports commentators, saying, oh, women's basketball. They're just rolling around the floor.
CORNISH: Yes.
BRENNAN: You know, it's just jump-balls.
CORNISH: And you actually still hear a version of that, of sort of -- there's Caitlin Clark, and then everyone else is trash. That's sort of how it is talked about --
BRENNAN: Yes, well, that's wrong.
CORNISH: -- in some corners of the media.
BRENNAN: Right.
CORNISH: And I want to ask you about that. What kind of reflection or kind of reconsideration have you had about the sports press and their role in this? Because it's not just -- there's, like, the world of podcasts.
BRENNAN: Yes.
CORNISH: And all of the barstool experts, so to speak, literally. I mean, people, you know, at home. Are they making it worse?
BRENNAN: You know, on one hand, you can make the case that any -- any coverage brings eyeballs, you know? And again, as much as a neutral --
CORNISH: But I mean, crafting the story.
BRENNAN: Right.
CORNISH: Because as just political reporters, we're always accused of how are you telling this story?
BRENNAN: Right.
CORNISH: How are you framing this story? Is there something like that to be done for the sports press?
BRENNAN: I certainly wish all of these journalists and sports writers and commentators and broadcasters, Audie, had been around a lot longer.
In other words, where were you when the great Maya Moore was playing, winning four titles, coming out of UCONN.
