Return to Transcripts main page

CNN This Morning

24 Dead And More Than 20 Children Missing In Texas; Trump Claims Victory As He Signs Controversial Budget And Tax Bill Into Law; Donald Trump Tells Farmers They Can Vouch For Immigrants; Tropical Depression Forms Off Southeast Coast. Tropical Depression Forms Off Southeast U.S. Coast; Group Gathers in Pennsylvania in Project to Bridge Political Differences; Trump: U.S. Considering More Patriot Missile Systems to Ukraine. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired July 05, 2025 - 06:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:00:29]

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning and welcome to CNN This Morning. It is Saturday, July 5th. I hope you all had a lovely holiday yesterday. I'm Danny Freeman in for Victor Blackwell. Here's what's happening this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R) TEXAS: We will stop at nothing to ensure that every asset and person and plane and whatever is needed is going to be involved in the process of rescuing every last person.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Search and rescue teams in Texas have been working through the night to find people still unaccounted for after deadly flooding hit parts of the state. At least 24 people are dead. Among the missing, several teenage girls who are away at camp.

Plus, President Trump took a victory lap yesterday, signing that mega agenda bill in a ceremony at the White House. We'll tell you what's in it and how Democrats are hoping to use it to hit Republicans in the upcoming midterms.

And could TikTok soon get a lifeline. What President Trump said last night about a potential deal to keep TikTok available in the United States.

And we're watching a new tropical depression off the southeast coast. It could become a name storm really at any moment. Potential impacts coming up.

Plus, Victor sits down with the cast of the new "Superman" film. What it was like for the actors to step up into this iconic franchise. All that coming up. But we begin this morning with the deadly flooding in Central Texas

that has taken the lives of at least 24 people so far. Rescue crews worked nonstop overnight to locate those left stranded or swept away by the catastrophic flooding that began early Friday morning.

More than 20 girls who were at a private Christian summer camp near the Guadalupe River are still unaccounted for. Now officials say 237 people have been rescued so far, with the majority of the rescues conducted by helicopter. Texas Governor Abbott briefed the public on Friday on the ongoing rescue efforts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABBOTT: They will continue in the darkness of night. They will be taking place when the sun rises in the morning. They will be nonstop seeking to find everybody who is unaccounted for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Now, even though this area of Texas is used to seeing flooding, residents say they were caught off guard by the amount of rain they saw and just how fast those waters rose. Here's one witness who describes how he and his wife survived being swept away by the floods.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT WALDEN, KERRVILLE RESIDENT: But I had no idea that something like this could happen. And then holy, stuff started to hit the walls. And my wife jumped up and looked out the back porch and it was a river. The water got up there in the door about this high. And I looked at my wife and it was like, we need to get out of here.

We went ahead and jumped out and we got washed down three houses and we finally ended up snagged on a big bush. So we hung onto the bush until we got rescued.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Just incredible stories there. Officials in Kerrville County say weather remains a concern through the weekend and that any additional rain would cause more flash flooding. All right. Joining me now for all of this is meteorologist Chris Warren. Chris, what's the latest on the rains happening in Texas?

CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, there is an ongoing situation that is life threatening. I'm going to get to in just a moment, but I want to show you right now how we came to the point of where we are all of this devastation.

The amount of rain falling, more than a foot of rain in some locations, that's well over a whole summer's worth of rain. Taking you back now to Thursday, but it was really on the 4th of July. It was yesterday when the rain in this area intense, not just one round, but several rounds. And at times this coming in, stalling out, bringing this unbelievable amount of rain that fell in this area. Now this morning, all of the rain with the flash flood emergency and

the flash flood warnings here on the Guadalupe River, that's where all the devastation happened. This is what's going on right now. Another life threatening situation currently with the heavy rain that's falling in the flash flooding here. This is now northwest of Austin.

Thunderstorms ongoing. So when's it all going to end? That's the big question because any more rain just makes things that much more worse for the search and recovery efforts here and the rescue efforts that are ongoing.

So through this afternoon, more scattered showers. At times, thunderstorms are going to be a possibility.

[06:05:02]

And then again tomorrow, another round. Not expecting what we saw over the past couple of days. But again, these thunderstorms can cause localized serious issues. Now, the amount of rain that we're looking at, the amount of rain that we're expecting at times could be, when you add it all up to about 10 inches of rain.

So around Austin, expecting to see rainfall, rain. So rain falling within an hour, about three inches, two to three inches, maybe even more at times, another two to five inches total is a possibility. So again, with the ongoing recovery efforts over here and the ongoing flooding that's happening right now, that is a very serious situation.

Danny, there is still a lot to watch throughout the day and through the weekend.

FREEMAN: Quite a lot to watch. I hope people stay safe and heed your forecast. Chris Warren, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

All right. It's the celebration President Donald Trump has been waiting for. He signed off on his big, beautiful bill on July 4, complete with a bomber jet flyover and a fireworks show.

Now, despite lingering concerns over Medicaid cuts and deficit expansion, he touted its success.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: What we've done is put everything into one bill. It's never happened before. It's the biggest bill of its type in history. We've never had anything like that before. Nothing like that they thought would be possible to get passed.

And actually I liked it because we had so much in there that no matter who you are, there was something in that bill that would make your congressman or your senator or your congresswoman much more importantly raise their hand and support.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Now, importantly, the measure cuts a trillion dollars from Medicaid and other programs. But analysis from the Congressional Budget Office estimates it will add more than $3 trillion to the federal deficit. CNN's Camila DeChalus joins me now from Washington, DC. Camila, tell us more about this so called One Big Beautiful Bill.

CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN REPORTER: Well, Danny, President Donald Trump is really hailing this as one of his biggest victories yet while being in office for his second term. Now, if you remember, this took days of the White House implying intense pressure to a group of Republican holdouts after some were very public about saying that they were willing to block the bill from getting passed because of their concerns about the cuts to Medicaid and its impact to rural hospitals.

And now that the bill is passed, it's pretty notable of how they're still crafting messaging around this bill now that they have to sell it back to the American people. Take a listen to what President Trump said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They've developed a standard line and we can't let them get away with it. Oh, it's dangerous. Oh, everybody's going to die. It's actually just the opposite. Everybody's going to live. This is just the opposite. And I just want you to know if you see anything negative put out by Democrats, it's all a con job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DECHALUS: So as you can see there, Republicans are very much aware that this is something that Democrats are going to be focusing on as they look towards the midterm elections. But we're told that they're really going to focus on two big things on this bill, one of how it includes language for tax cuts and the second how it also includes provisions for funding for border security.

FREEMAN: Well, Camila, along those lines, are we expecting to hear more from Democrats frankly, out on the trail and in their own districts again trying to rally against this bill?

DECHALUS: Yes. House Democrats have made it no secret that they are eyeing to flip the House center in Congress. And they're making it clear that they're going to do that by really focusing on Trump agenda and focusing on this bill and the fact that it was passed and the negative ramifications of this. So they're focusing on how to really translate what this bill does and how this impacts people in their everyday life.

So they're focusing on messaging around, you know, if Americans are waiting long lines for doctors' appointments or they're having difficulty at hospitals, they're really trying to tie this messaging back to Republicans, really making it clear that they are eyeing to really flip the House and also key voters and battleground states.

FREEMAN: All right, Camila DeChalus, thank you so much for breaking all that down. And joining me now is Ali Bianco, POLITICO playbook reporter. Ali, thank you for joining us on this holiday weekend and what a week it has been. Listen, President Trump able to push his so called big beautiful bill

through Congress, a huge success for him and Republicans. But listen, all throughout this bill has been unpopular, gotten plenty of criticism from his own party. Can Trump push America to like this legislation?

ALI BIANCO, POLITICO PLAYBOOK REPORTER: Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me. And I think that's going to be sort of the essential question of 2026. Right. Obviously, Trump himself is not on the ballot and he is not eligible to run for reelection.

But in many ways, we're already seeing the ways in which 2026 is going to be a referendum on this very week that we've just lived leading up to this holiday. We can expect to hear about this week for the better part of the next year and a half.

[06:10:00]

So the main thing that's going to be on the minds of a lot of Republicans is really how they craft this messaging to avoid some of these hits from Democrats in terms of Medicaid cuts, in terms of, you know, a potential hit to household costs and for working class families, which turned out in droves for Trump in the last election.

So, you know, Playbook reported earlier this week that there's been polling from one of, you know, MAGA world's biggest pollsters, Tony Fabrizio, who is really trying to capture this as a reduction in wasteful spending as, you know, keeping Medicaid for the people who are working who quote, unquote, deserve it because they are putting in the work and taking it out of populations that are sort of seen as freeloading.

There's a significant hit to immigrant communities and how much Medicaid and Obamacare they will be able to access after this bill fully goes into effect. So we're going to start seeing them hammer on some of those points.

But we've also seen the way that this week was really just kind of a call to action to support Trump. My political colleagues, including Jonathan Martin, wrote yesterday, I believe, about how this has really been a moment that showed how much control Trump has gained over Congress and how much the next election cycle is really going to be about aligning with the Trump agenda. And, you know, the primary first example of that is Senator Thom Tillis, who announced his retirement.

FREEMAN: Yes, no, absolutely. Well said. You know, it's interesting, Ali, I'm curious, though, of -- I'm curious if we're going to actually see congressional Republicans back in their district stumping for this bill, especially because it seems like Democrats would actually love that to be talking about this bill and in their view, how bad it is ahead of the midterms. What do you think?

BIANCO: Yes, I think there's absolutely going to be a lot of messaging coming out on both sides. I think one of the things that you'll see is the way that some of these Medicaid provisions, which were largely expanded in the Senate's version of the bill, are going to be a huge factor in the way that Republicans are presenting this.

Look no further than Senator Josh Hawley from Missouri, who was able to include an expansion that he's been touting for people who have suffered radiation poisoning. He was hugely against Medicaid cuts and was really concerned about what this would do specifically to rural hospitals.

We, I would not be surprised to see him based on, you know, the reporting that we've seen come from Hawley and the messaging that we're hearing from Hawley's office to see him talking to Missourians about, you know, this rural hospital fund that brings in, you know, millions to sort offset some of these Medicare cuts and also, you know, uplifting these victims of radiation exposure.

So really, it's going to be about what parts of the bill they can kind of utilize to put themselves at the forefront of that conversation and kind of get ahead of it.

But on the Democrat side, you know, there's been some great reporting also out of POLITICO this week about how a lot of Democratic states are sort of just sitting back and letting, like, letting Republicans deal with the aftermath, knowing that a lot of this is potentially going to sound very bad for them, especially as we get closer to 2026 and the impact of some of these tax cuts and the Medicaid cuts start to really be felt.

FREEMAN: Ali, I got to ask you about former first buddy Elon Musk because as of now, I believe his pinned post on X is a poll asking if folks to create a new political party because he's been so upset about this big legislative bill. Elon creating a party. Is this all theater or do you think this is a possibility?

BIANCO: I think Elon has proven to be the kind of political actor that is totally unpredictable. There is absolutely a world in which next year we see Elon Musk coming out pouring millions into the campaigns of people to potentially primary Trump.

There's also a world in which we could see him sort of reconciling again with the MAGA party. It's truly too early to tell. And a lot of the reporting that we've seen specifically when it comes to Elon Musk, is really how much his personal net worth, his relations with Tesla, with SpaceX, get very affected when he comes into politics. Even on Tuesday, when he started railing against the mega bill again, Tesla stock dipped by over 5 percent. There's a really volatile reaction with some of his personal holdings. He's also seen his net worth drop significantly, although he's still a billionaire.

To be clear, his net worth drop since he started really engaging with the White House. And so either way it goes, it's going to have an enormous impact on him and his companies. But he's already starting to sort of rally people around figures like Massie, Thomas Massie from Kentucky, who Trump has threatened to primary. So it will be really interesting to see, you know, if he puts money behind that coming into next year.

FREEMAN: Yes, I feel like with the end of this week, start of a bunch of new chapters in American politics. Ali Bianco, thank you so much for waking up this morning with us. Appreciate it.

BIANCO: Absolutely.

[06:15:02]

FREEMAN: And still ahead, as President Trump ramps up his crackdown on immigration, the agricultural industry is among those pushing for some leniency. We have new reporting on the conversations happening behind the scenes.

Plus, President Trump speaks on the phone with Ukraine's president and weighs in on their plea for the U.S. to keep sending them weapons.

And later on, we'll sit down with the cast of "Superman" to talk about the new film flying to theaters in just a few days.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:20:10]

FREEMAN: In this morning's headlines, eight detainees the U.S. is holding in Djibouti were cleared for deportation to South Sudan. A judge denied an emergency request from the migrants' attorneys to block their deportation.

Now, right now, it's not clear if they have been moved. They're from countries including Myanmar, Sudan, Mexico, Vietnam, Laos and Cuba. The detainees' lawyers argued the migrants could face torture in South Sudan.

Last night, the judge cited Thursday's Supreme Court decision in favor of the Trump administration on deportation. The judge said the migrants' attorneys raised, quote, substantially similar claims.

And happening today. Mourners are gathering for the funeral for Liverpool soccer star Diogo Jota in his hometown in Portugal. Mourners, including his family, attended the wake yesterday for the star forward and his younger brother. Both were killed in a car crash in Spain on Thursday. Jota just got married two weeks ago. He leaves behind his wife and three children.

And President Trump says he expects talks with China regarding TikTok to start early next week. The president said he, quote, pretty much has a deal with them. He calls it good for China and good for the U.S. but he's not confident China will approve the deal.

He has delayed enforcement of the law requiring a ban of the popular social media app if owner ByteDance didn't sell its U.S. operations. Supporters of the ban have cited national security concerns since TikTok is owned by a Chinese parent company.

And President Trump is trying to thread a needle, appeasing farmers who rely on migrant workers and pleasing his MAGA base who want mass deportations. The president told a crowd of Iowa farmers on Thursday they'll get a chance to vouch for their migrant farm workers.

CNN correspondent Priscilla Alvarez has more. Priscilla?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Danny, the Trump administration is grappling with how to avoid agitating industries like agriculture, hospitality and manufacturing, all of which rely on migrant workers, while also carrying out President Donald Trump deportation campaign.

Now, this has come up time and again from the president himself as he has said that he wants to protect farm workers who rely on migrants, but also while he's emboldened Immigration and Customs Enforcement to crack down and to carry out major sweeps.

Now, his comments on this have often been quite ambiguous and that has fueled uncertainty within certain industries, like, for example, manufacturing, where I spoke with a source who represents manufacturing and he told me that they are between a rock and a hard place as they try to discern what the president wants to do while also contend with the very real challenges of the immigration crackdown on a workforce that they depend on.

Now, the president, when he was in Iowa this week, appealed to farmers and said the following.

TRUMP: If a farmer is willing to vouch for these people in some way, Kristi, I think we're going to have to just say that's going to be good. Right? You know, we're going to be good with it because we don't want to do it where we take all of the workers off the farms. We want the farms to do great like they're doing right now.

ALVAREZ: The president there was acknowledging Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who he has tasked along with the secretaries of labor and agriculture to try to find a solution. Now, there are temporary worker visas that already exist, and an office has been set up by the administration to try to streamline any issues that may come up in that process for employers.

But that visa doesn't cover all industries and it is still temporary. So if there are employers who need workers longer, they may run into some challenges. It's unclear then what else the administration can do on this front. But behind the scenes, that urgency is certainly felt as they've received incoming not only from industry representatives, but also from immigration hardliners who are worried the president will go too far in its relief.

So all of this still in limbo as the administration tries to please key constituencies in, for example, agriculture, while also trying to carry out the immigration crackdown that hardliners voted for. Back to you.

FREEMAN: Priscilla Alvarez. Thank you very much for that. And coming up. Scary stuff right there. President Trump weighs in on whether he'll send more weapons to Ukraine. This is the country's capital of Kyiv reels from one of the worst attacks yet in the war with Russia. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:29:08]

FREEMAN: We're continuing to follow the deadly floods that have taken at least 24 lives in Central Texas. Search and rescue crews have been working through the night to locate any survivors. Parents of the more than 20 missing girls who are at a summer camp are anxiously waiting them.

The camp you see is along the Guadalupe River, which rose more than 20 feet in less than two hours. 237 people have been rescued or evacuated so far. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has issued a disaster declaration and President Trump says his administration is working with the governor and has pledged federal support in the aftermath.

We're also tracking a tropical system forming off the Atlantic coast. Meteorologist Chris Warren is back with us. Chris, what's the latest on this other system that's approaching?

WARREN: Danny, this tropical depression is getting better organized. It has done so overnight. 35-mile per hour winds, just a few miles away from being a tropical storm.

[06:30:04]

Just a few miles an hour away from being a tropical storm. And with that, some heavy rain is expected over the next couple of days. Here's the track for it with tropical storm watches in yellow here posted for these areas.

Tropical storm conditions is expected, so strong winds close to 40 miles an hour or stronger, possible into tomorrow morning, even into midday tomorrow. And then by Monday, it's going to be in Virginia, and even up still lingering in parts of North Carolina. Rain is going to be a big factor with this. So, the big dangers will be rain.

Also, rough surf and rip currents, a possibility in these coastal areas in South and North Carolina. So, the holiday weekend going to be a bit of a bumpy go at the beaches here in the southeast coast. The amount of rainfall that's anticipated here, 2 to 4, maybe even up to about 5 or 6 inches of rain, and that could be lingering right into Monday morning as well.

And if this ends up getting a name, Danny, Chantal is the name it will get. Still very early in the hurricane season.

DANNY FREEMAN, ANCHOR, CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND: Wow, Chris, thank you for breaking that down. Hope that it's not too wet for a lot of those beach goers. Appreciate it. All right, on this 4th of July weekend, there is actually hope for bridging the deep political divisions in our country.

In Pennsylvania, a group of Americans of different political persuasions came together to actually try and find some common ground. I had a chance to speak with them about what impact this has all made.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a federal issue, not a state issue.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They'll fix it before it's a problem at the border.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Americans don't want those jobs.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, they do not.

FREEMAN (voice-over): On a June weekend in Philadelphia, some of the most consequential voters in the country sat together to talk politics and try to find common ground.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If my green card expires, that means I am here illegally, same thing my visa's expired.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Correct --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, I don't know --

FREEMAN: Welcome to America in one room, a project that uses a technique known as deliberative polling. The initiative think part focus group, part polling exercise gathers voters of all political stripes to see how they're thinking about some of the country's most daunting problems, and see if they can agree on solutions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What needs to be done to make the legal system more efficient?

FREEMAN: The typically national exercise for the first time, focusing on one state. This group featuring 175 voters from across Pennsylvania, a pivotal presidential battleground.

HENRY ELKUS, FOUNDER & CEO, HELENA: If we can demonstrate, we can do it in one of the most crucial swing states, we can do it everywhere else. And that's a key reason that we're here.

FREEMAN: The organizers of this multi-day experiment say the goal is restoring faith in democracy through deliberating.

JAMES FISHKIN, DIRECTOR, DELIBERATIVE DEMOCRACY LAB, STANFORD UNIVERSITY: We're not trying to sell anybody on any solution. We're just asking the public to consider in a balanced and thoughtful way, proposals that might help address our shared problems.

FREEMAN: But Pennsylvanians in the first year of President Trump's second term in office, presented a fresh challenge.

KATHY BASH, HARRISBURG DEMOCRAT: I am just sad to see so much division.

FREEMAN: When these voters were polled at the beginning of the weekend, nearly 75 percent of them were dissatisfied with how our democracy and electoral systems are working. Kathy Bash, a Democrat from Harrisburg, felt polarization is unavoidable.

BASH: Nobody can agree on anything. Everybody is just no, yes, no, yes --

FREEMAN: But as the weekend progressed and the dialogue continued, some felt more optimistic about the state of the country. Like Richard Woods, who lives in northeast Pennsylvania and describes himself as a right-leaning independent.

RICHARD WOODS, WAYNE COUNTY INDEPENDENT: I think we're going in the right direction. I think things will get better. You know, the job market seems to be getting better, stock market little by little.

FREEMAN: Day-by-day, the level of dissatisfaction with our democracy dropped across party lines. And some consensus was reached from local to global issues. Topics from subsidies for trade schools to military aid for Taiwan got bipartisan support. But other issues remained challenging, with voters split on certain immigration policies and repealing the Affordable Care Act.

Also, throughout the weekend, Democrats and Republicans expressed frustration with their own party leadership.

RASHEED KNOWLES, WEST PHILADELPHIA DEMOCRAT: It feels like we have been bamboozled a little bit. I think the term is sandbagged.

BEVERLY COLLIER, PITTSBURGH REPUBLICAN: I'm sure there's a lot of government excess and spending that needs to be controlled, but the way they are going, it just seemed very indiscriminate.

FREEMAN: In the end, the vast majority of these Pennsylvanians said they walked away with cooler heads, saying they're more willing to compromise, to find solutions to big problems.

MOLLY LEMKE, LEANS DEMOCRAT: It just feels really cathartic to be able to discuss what is happening with more people than just our peers. It feels impactful.

FREEMAN: A step toward bridging the political divide.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[06:35:00]

FREEMAN: And I've got to say, I just love that so many people of all political stripes, really were willing to sit down at the table and have those hard conversations. Great initiative there. All right, we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREEMAN: President Trump says the United States is considering Ukraine's request for more Patriot Missile Defense Systems. That comes after what Mr. Trump says was a very good phone call on Friday with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

[06:40:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We had a good call. We

talked about everything, it seems -- we had a very good call. I think a very strategic call. We've been helping them and we'll continue to help them. It's a pretty tough situation. We'll see what happens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: The two spoke just hours after Russia launched a record number of attack drones at Ukraine, in a day after Trump said he did not make any progress towards a ceasefire during his phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Joining me now to discuss, CNN military analyst and retired Colonel Cedric Leighton.

Thank you so much, colonel, for joining us on this holiday weekend morning. But let's get into this. This really seems to fly in the face of reporting earlier this week that the U.S. was pausing some shipments of weapons to Ukraine, including air defense missiles. What do you make of it all?

CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, Danny, good morning. There are a lot of different aspects to this, but one of the key aspects is that the administration is basically having two -- announcing two policies at the same time. One of the issues here is that the Department of Defense, as you mentioned, has stopped at least, temporarily, shipments of weapons to Ukraine, weapons and ammunitions.

That, of course, is a real problem for the Ukrainians because they are dependent on U.S. munitions, especially munitions for the Patriot batteries, which are exactly what's needed for the air defense and missile defense of populated areas in Ukraine. So, of course, we saw within the last few nights, the massive Russian air and missile attacks against major Ukrainian cities.

And it really shows that these air and missile defenses are critical for the Ukrainian defense effort. Now, on the side of the President, with him speaking to Zelenskyy after his, not so successful phone call with Putin, at least, that's how President Trump characterized it. I think that shows that there is, you know, certainly a possibility that the United States may shift its policy from a -- you know, semi- neutral or even somewhat pro-Russian stance to a pro-Ukrainian stance. And the Russian intransigence is what's -- I think, causing that.

FREEMAN: Yes, I mean, the images of the attack from earlier this week, I mean, truly harrowing to see. But following that attack earlier this week, Ukraine's President Zelenskyy said that his country is ready to buy American systems to strengthen its air defense. "Politico" reported though Ukraine may also go through Europe.

And I was curious of your perspective on this, colonel, is that a viable option for Ukraine to get American weapons, but through European allies?

LEIGHTON: Yes, it's a little bit of a unique situation, Danny, because if the weapon is of U.S. origin, U.S. manufacture, it still needs to be the sales, it still needs to be approved by the U.S., but yes, financially, it's possible for them to -- in essence, go through a third party, in this case, the Europeans.

Politically, it probably makes sense to do that if they can, you know, clear that last hurdle of U.S. approval, so it can be done. It should be done. Basically, all the things that the Ukrainians need are going to be, you know, critical to get to the front lines. And I think in this particular case, they're going to have to, you know, find innovative solutions to get from A to B, so-to-speak.

FREEMAN: Right, logistics, I imagine, play a big role in that as well. President Trump --

LEIGHTON: Yes --

FREEMAN: Seems to be getting though, more and more frustrated with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as you alluded to. Let's take a listen to what he said about this earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I told you, I was very unhappy with my call with President Putin, and it just seems like he wants to go all the way and just keep killing people. No good. It's not good. I wasn't happy with him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: It's interesting, colonel, because this is kind of the message that Ukraine is trying to tell President Trump for quite a long time, right?

LEIGHTON: Oh, yes, absolutely. Really since the beginning of the war, they've been trying to tell all American Presidents, both President Biden and President Trump, the same basic thing. At the end, Biden listened to that message, you know, more or less. And Trump has had to basically, a predilection for, I think President Putin's regime in Russia.

And in this particular case, he's getting a dose of reality that the Russians are the aggressors in this case. They started this war. And if it weren't for that aggression, the Ukrainians wouldn't have to be fighting like this.

FREEMAN: Yes, I'm thinking back to that picture of President Zelenskyy with President Trump at the Vatican a little bit more closely now. Just one last quick thing, colonel, if that's all right. President Trump said he's optimistic about a ceasefire deal in Gaza. What's your take on this? Do you think that this might be close to reality?

[06:45:00]

LEIGHTON: It could be. I think one of the things that we're seeing is that the efforts by the administration may have paid off in this particular case, Hamas has come out saying that they basically accept the tenets of a ceasefire proposal, and that we've been here before. So, I would urge a little bit of caution, you know, when it comes to, you know, this kind of assessment. And so, it's possible things could go south, so-to-speak, in a very

quick way. But I think the prospects are good that there will be some kind of ceasefire very soon in Gaza, at least, that's what it looks like right now.

FREEMAN: Wow, incredible in so many moving parts overseas. Colonel Cedric Leighton, thank you so much, as always for your insight.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Danny, anytime.

FREEMAN: All right, coming up. It's a bird. It's a plane -- no, in fact, it's Victor Blackwell interviewing the stars of "Superman". Coming up ahead, the band of heroes that back up the man of steel, give us the scoop on their roles in the new film. Yes, that looks fun.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty two people in the hospital, over 20 million in property damage. It does make you wonder.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wonder what?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As great as he is, maybe "Superman" didn't completely -- been through the ramifications of the brave, you think.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This guy is even from Bravia(ph) --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you mean, his name is the hammer of Bravia(ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I doubt his parents named him that, Jimmy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have no clue what his actual goal is here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's pretty obvious, the goal was kicking Superman's ass.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, he didn't, he didn't completely kick Superman's ass.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pretty thoroughly, Clark.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Who is that guy in the glasses? Either it's reporter Clark Kent or Cryptonian, hello, you can always count on Superman to save the day, just like you can always count on Victor Blackwell to bring the great interviews even when he's off. This week, Victor spoke to some of the stars of the new "Superman" film ahead of its release next week. Check it out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm here with the justice gang,

hawkgirl, Isabela Merced, Mister Terrific, Edi Gathegi, Metamorpho, Anthony Carrigan. Welcome to you all.

ISABELA MERCED, ACTRESS: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: All right, so, yes, "Superman" is on the poster, right? So, he gets a lot of shine. But the justice gang in this movie, you guys have a lot of screen time. We learn a lot about you. How did you prepare for the character.

MERCED: Well, I prepared kind of in advance. It was interesting because I was also learning arms training and then swords training at the same time. So, that was -- that was interesting. It was for two different projects, but yes, it was a lot of fun. I think the wire work, there was a lot more than I anticipated.

BLACKWELL: Yes --

MERCED: I don't know why my brain didn't put the two together, that if I was playing a bird person, I would also be flying.

BLACKWELL: But yes, usually comes with the wings.

MERCED: Yes, I don't know. I was just -- I was like they're going to make me float, right? Zero gravity --

BLACKWELL: Yes --

MERCED: Obviously. But yes, it was cool to see my wings as well. It was an amazing process.

BLACKWELL: Yes, Edi, how about you?

EDI GATHEGI, ACTOR: That's a great thing about being in a comic book movie is, there are comics --

BLACKWELL: Yes --

GATHEGI: So, you can -- and they gave us a link to the D.C. database, so, we had access to every single comic that's basically ever being made.

BLACKWELL: Yes --

GATHEGI: So, we just did as deep of a dive as we wanted to do. Big time.

ANTHONY CARRIGAN, ACTOR: Yes, for me, at least, the costume, getting into the costume was, you know -- I mean, it was intense. It was like five and half hours in the make-up chair, all -- you know, prosthetics, so, you know, it was really nice that it was kind of a return to, you know, this real makeup.

You know, not just CGI, but honestly, once I would -- got in that -- in that wardrobe, you know, it really started to feel real. BLACKWELL: Is this the first live action metamorpho?

CARRIGAN: Yes, it is.

BLACKWELL: How do you take that into consideration in creating the -- what I saw was a lot of sensitivity in this character.

CARRIGAN: Yes, well, fortunately, I mean, so much of it is imbued in the script, right? I mean, like Edi was saying, you know, that we have this database of comic books to kind of look at the source material and want to do it justice, but James Gunn's script is so good, and has such nuance with each of these characters. So, the blueprints there.

BLACKWELL: Yes, and Mister Terrific, this is the first time I believe we're seeing a live action Mister Terrific, right?

GATHEGI: A live action Michael Holt.

BLACKWELL: OK --

GATHEGI: There has been a live action Curtis Holt, but this is the first time we're seeing a live action Michael --

BLACKWELL: Yes, and so when you got into that suit, and I was so impressed with the mask, I mean, that to me was just so fly. What did you feel?

GATHEGI: I felt like a superhero. I felt like I was staring at someone who can save the world. It was very empowering. And then, it was the manifestation of, you know, a childhood dream. So, I mean, I don't think the words have been invented to describe the level of joy of being a part of something like this.

BLACKWELL: Yes, i think terror and bliss together --

CARRIGAN: Yes, it's the all --

GATHEGI: Might be the closest combination of words.

BLACKWELL: Terror and bliss.

GATHEGI: Terror and bliss --

MERCED: That's good --

BLACKWELL: OK --

MERCED: Yes --

BLACKWELL: Yes. Now, so, Anthony mentioned James Gunn, and he uses humor a lot, but there's also the complexity here. Sometimes, there are moments that are heavy. There are moments where I'm watching a movie, and it feels like I'm watching a version of news. And so, when you're seeing all this together, why is this the "Superman" for now.

MERCED: I feel like it's really balanced -- BLACKWELL: Yes --

MERCED: So, they don't lean too much into one emotion or the other. But I really love how it centers on journalism, because now more than ever, maybe it's because I'm getting older, but I'm listening to a lot of news, and it's part of like my daily routine, and I'm learning the value of it. And I think it would be really cool if some kids went to see this movie. They realized how you can be superhero if you know -- if you're intelligent --

BLACKWELL: Yes --

MERCED: And you can save the world in that way. And maybe want to be journalists like that, that's such an exciting idea to me. And that's how I feel like, it's very modern because we're in taking it all the time on our iPhones and everything.

BLACKWELL: Yes --

[06:55:00]

GATHEGI: And this is a world that -- our world is a little bit on fire right now. And this is a story that really centers hope, and being a good person. So, Ii feel like it couldn't be more timely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Man, what a great conversation. And it will continue in our 8 O'clock hour when you'll hear what the cast thinks of their fellow star, who was picked to play "Superman". "Superman" in theaters July 11th, and I should say, both CNN and Warner Brothers pictures are part of Warner Brothers Discovery.

Tomorrow night on "SEARCHING FOR SPAIN", Eva Longoria opens the doors to her home in Marbella, the sunny town on the southern coast. Let's take a look at a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EVA LONGORIA, ACTRESS: I feel like everybody in Marbella knows you as a restaurateur. But you are a football player.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was, yes.

LONGORIA: When he moved to Marbella ten years ago, Zazo(ph) swapped his passion for football for food, and his rise has been meteoric.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I started with one restaurant, and now I have four like you know --

LONGORIA: No, you started washing dishes. You didn't start --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course, of course --

LONGORIA: With a restaurant --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I of course, yes, sure. I didn't know you knew that.

LONGORIA: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I came here, and you know this knife? I wash like a thousand knives like this. I learned a lot, and I love my work --

LONGORIA: Yes --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, I love my work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: All right, the special two-hour finale of Eva Longoria, "SEARCHING FOR SPAIN" airs tomorrow night at 8:00 and 9:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific only on CNN. Still ahead, we continue to follow the breaking news out of Texas. Search and rescue efforts are ongoing after deadly flash flooding hit the state. We'll tell you where things stand right now coming up after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)