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CNN This Morning
Trump Issues 50-Day Warning To Russia For Ukraine Ceasefire; Trump Threatens Tariffs For Countries Who Buy Russian Oil; Cuomo To Run New York Mayor As Third Party Candidate; Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired July 15, 2025 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[6:00:05]
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump issues an ultimatum to Vladimir Putin, cut a deal or face the consequences. Is that tough enough? "CNN This Morning" starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don't have a deal in 50 days.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Trump's demand the deadline and what comes next.
And they called it a holding facility for the worst of the worst. But is that who is really inside Alligator Alcatraz?
And monopoly, It is not a new interactive game, reimagines the events of January 6th. We'll talk to one of the men behind the idea.
Plus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN SHAPIRO, AMERICAN COMMENTATOR: This is not a movie about illegal immigration. It's not a movie about ICE. Russia-Ukraine. Israeli, the Palestinians.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Is the new Superman super woke? Why some are saying politics plays into the plot line?
And Beyonce fans want to know what's next after her country era. But the answer to all that is now in the hands of a thief?
Plus, the blowback continues over the Jeffrey Epstein case. Can Trump get MAGA world to let it go?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): It's not wrong to continue to push for it and ask for it. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: It's 6:00 A.M. here on the East Coast, 3:00 A.M. in California, where a SpaceX Dragon capsule just splashed down. Four astronauts now safely back to Earth. You can see that image there.
Everybody, thank you so much for waking up with me. I'm Audie Cornish and this is "CNN This Morning." And here's where we start.
President Trump applying new pressure on Russia. But will it be enough to end the war in the next 50 days? The President unveiled a new deal to send Patriot missiles to Ukraine without the U.S. paying for it. The news also comes with an ultimatum for Vladimir Putin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I'm disappointed in President Putin because I thought we would have had a deal two months ago, but it doesn't seem to get there.
So based on that, we're going to be doing second-year tariffs if we don't have a deal in 50 days. It's very simple and they'll be at 100 percent. And that's the way it is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: That means Trump is giving Russia roughly until September to either agree to a ceasefire or to change his mind to avoid a new round of sanctions. Those sanctions would also target Russian partners, say India or China, just for buying Russian oil.
A Senate proposal would hit those countries even harder, with 500 percent tariffs on any country buying Russian energy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Fifty days will go quicker than you think. Now, I'm hoping we can get Putin to the table and end this war, but I know what will happen on day 51. Those who continue to help Putin prop up his war machine, you will get crushed by the United States economically.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: But with Russian bombardments ramping up to record levels across Ukraine, will it be enough to force Russia to make a deal?
Joining me now in the "Group Chat" to talk about this, Jasmine Wright, White House correspondent for NOTUS. Chuck Rocha, democratic strategist and former advisor to Bernie Sanders presidential campaign. And Ashley Davis, former White House official under George W. Bush.
You guys, thank you so much for being with me this morning.
So, I -- I want talk about whether or not this is a kind of final breaking point that we've just witnessed when it comes to Trump and -- and Putin's relationship. Our Matthew Chance writes that Kremlin insiders suspect that the 50-day window, before any new U.S. sanctions, is actually plenty of time for their military push in Ukraine to pay off or failing that for a notoriously changeable Trump to change his mind on Russia once -- once again.
So, a little bit of skepticism there. What are you hearing from the White House?
JASMINE WRIGHT, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, NOTUS: Sure. I mean, look, it took six months basically from the White House to go from being optimistic that they get a deal to not optimistic that they get a deal. And that's why you're seeing President Trump put forth this 50 days to really put pressure on Russia, hoping that something changes, but they're not optimistic that it would. So the president is prepared to do more.
They feel that this new deal that President Trump has put on the table here comes after numerous, numerous, numerous conversations with both parties, both Putin and Zelenskyy, and they just haven't gone anywhere.
[6:05:07]
And so you've heard President Trump say just how dissatisfied he is, which is a remarkable 180 change from the more, you know, pleasant tone that he took with Putin in the beginning.
So, I think, yes, everyone is watching to see if these 50 days, if something will happen. But this White House feels as though this plan on the table here is pulling levers that the Biden administration would not pull. I think we just have to see whether or not it actually happens.
CORNISH: Well, we know that there has always been some kind of movement in the Senate, right? There's been senators who are like, let's do this.
We know there also, however, was reluctance in the House. And I just want to talk about the domestic pressures for Trump. So for instance, Marjorie Taylor Greene, she spoke about this Ukraine announcement when she was asked about these new moves.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREENE: It started with bombing Iran, but that settled down quickly. But this Epstein situation has been significant. And -- and now it's -- it's continuing with weapons being sold to -- to NATO. Ukraine is not a part of NATO. And people are just very much against any U.S. involvement in the Ukraine war.
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So the president should be aware of this?
GREENE: Oh, of course. And I've -- I mean, I've let him know myself, as well as many people in the administration.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: One of those things is not like the other. But the point is, I think, she was describing a string of disappointments. Is that the right read, Ashley?
ASHELY DAVIS, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY OFFICIAL: Absolutely. And that does -- she does in line with the rest of kind of the extreme right of the party. However, her vote's really not going to matter at the end of the day, because Democrats are going to vote in the House and the Senate to support the extra sanctions on Russia.
And the speaker did say, along with obviously the leader Thune that they are going to wait and see what the president does over the next 50 days, but they are ready to go with their stricter sanctions.
But I think you're exactly right. The president thought he could -- could strike a deal with Putin. And he was not able to do it.
CORNISH: But why does he think that?
DAVIS: I think --
CORNISH: Given that no one else had, and most of Europe was like, what are you doing?
DAVIS: I think that what he's always said was that he thought Putin had different respect or -- or nervousness about what he would do to retaliate. And that he was going to be able to strike a deal.
CHUCK ROCHA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I remember on the campaign trail when he said he would end all these wars on day one, and we're at day six months now.
There's a political implications here that folks aren't thinking about. And Marjorie Taylor Greene actually brought them up. She starts talking about a litany of things that the base Trump -- that Trump's base is not happy with right now. I know we'll talk about Epstein later.
But there's a number of things. As we move into an off-year election, you've talked about this. Only the most motivated voters actually show up in an off-year. And we both parties fight to try to get their base out, because really that's the only ones we vote. And now they have a trouble in that motivation factor.
CORNISH: I want to play this one last thing, because it seems like there has been some kind of lesson learned by Trump. He was asked by the BBC about his thoughts on Putin. And whether he was -- whether Trump is basically giving up on a piece altogether. Here's how that went down.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you done with him? I mean, I know that sounds a simplistic thing.
TRUMP: No, I'm not done. But I'm disappointed in him. But I'm not done with him, but I'm disappointed in him.
I thought we have a deal done four times, and then you go home and you see it just attacked a nursing home --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
TRUMP: -- or something. And Kyiv, I said, what the hell was that all about?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you trust him?
TRUMP: I trust almost nobody.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DAVIS: One of the things he said yesterday or over the weekend that was very interesting was he talks nice on the phone during the day, and then at night, he bombs Ukraine.
And so I think that -- and I remember my old boss, President Bush, said he looked into Putin's eyes and saw his soul. I mean, there is this relationship that is fake with President Putin.
However, they realize that they need him because of other geopolitical issues.
CORNISH: OK. Stay with us. We've got a lot to talk about today.
And we've got, honestly, some more images here. We've got some breaking news off the West Coast looking in California, where those four astronauts are having splashed down back to Earth. This is the crew of the Axiom 4 mission. They splashed down in the Pacific Ocean near California.
This just happened in the last hour. And you're looking at live pictures of them outside of that SpaceX capsule. Basically, out of the water was a two-week mission, a first for all three countries who actually who had never sent anyone to the International Space Station. It was astronauts from India and Hungary and Poland. So, we're looking forward to hearing how it went for those astronauts out in California.
Coming up on "CNN This Morning," I want to talk about those mass firings at the Education Department. That could soon pick back up as the Supreme Court clears the way with another win for the White House.
Plus, unreleased Beyonce music stolen. The investigation into the robbery while on her Cowboy Carter Tour.
And the MAGA meltdown continues over the Jeffrey Epstein case fallout.
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[6:10:06]
STEPHEN COLBERT, LATE NIGHT SHOW HOST: No credible evidence that Epstein blackmail prominent individuals. You can't take this away from your base. That is MAGA's favorite conspiracy.
What are we going to find out next, that immigrants aren't eating cats?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CORNISH: It's now 14 minutes past the hour and here is your morning roundup.
The U.S. Supreme Court handing another victory to the Trump administration clearing the way for mass firings at the Department of Education. The unsigned order lifts a lower court ruling, which it froze the layoffs while legal challenges played out.
[6:15:12]
Now in their dissent, the court's three liberal justices called the decision, quote, indefensible.
And check this out. Four teens in New York City were arrested after a drone caught them on top of the train subway surfing. The drone was being operated by New York's transit drone team. The train was stopped and the boys were arrested. The youngest was just 12 years old.
And unreleased Beyonce tracks stolen in Atlanta while the singer was in town for her Cowboy Carter Tour.
Police say a car being rented by her choreographer was broken into. Two laptops and hard drives containing unreleased music, footage, plans and future set lists were among the items stolen. An arrest warrant has been issued for an unnamed suspect.
Straight ahead on CNN this morning, it's an interactive show that looks to answer the question, what about America is worth fighting for? I'll talk to the co-creator of the game that's got theatergoers reenacting the January 6th riots and the inspiration behind it.
Plus, who exactly is in Alligator Alcatraz? It turns out it's not just the worst of the worst.
Good morning to Cincinnati, beautiful sunrise over the city there.
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[6:20:49]
CORNISH: Cuomo is not calling it quits. The former New York governor says he's staying in the race for New York City's mayor as an independent.
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ANDREW CUOMO, FORMER GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK: The fight to save our city isn't over. Only 13 percent of New Yorkers voted in the June primary. The general election is in November and I am in it to win it.
My opponent, Mr. Mamdani, offers slick slogans but no real solutions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Now, Cuomo lost the democratic primary in June to Zohran Mamdani by 12 points.
Now, also still in the race, New York's current mayor, Eric Adams, also running as a third-party candidate.
So you basically have two established Democrats running as independents. What's it going to take for Mamdani to keep his momentum going? Bring it back to the "Group Chat."
And before we started, Chuck, you actually cracked your knuckles on this one. You were so interested in talking about this.
ROCHA: No reform policy. Let's talk about --
CORNISH: OK.
ROCHA: -- the election.
CORNISH: So, what's the deal?
ROCHA: The deal is, is there's a general election in November where more people should show up to vote than in a primary. In a primary of a smaller group of folks. We all know that. I don't mean to talk so elementary this early in the morning, but there was a poll out yesterday that didn't surprise me where Mamdani had about 40 percent of the support.
That means that 60 percent of New Yorkers would like to vote for somebody else. That sounds great for Mr. Cuomo.
Here's the bad news. Is that's going to be split up amongst, as you mentioned, at least three credible candidates too for sure with the mayor that's currently there and Cuomo who was the governor?
So, the only way that they have a chance really to beat him is they have to consolidate. They need to have a meeting and be like, OK, let's all work together and have one of us run, or it's going to be really hard to beat him in November.
CORNISH: What kind of test is this for Mamdani and more importantly like the coalition he represents?
WRIGHT: Well, it's going to require him to go beyond the coalition that he won with that 13 percent. Andrew Cuomo is not wrong about that. He might be wrong about a host of other things, but he's not wrong about that.
So, it's going to require Mamdani to go beyond. Obviously, he'll be in D.C. He's going to be looking for more money so that they can do more things on social media and they can basically track a larger footprint. But I don't necessarily see him watering down his policies.
CORNISH: Well, why if you have two -- ooh, thank you. Why if you have two kind of establishment guys running on similar type things you're nodding?
DAVIS: Well, no, that's what I was going to ask my friend Chucky here. Do you really think that the current mayor and Cuomo can come together? Because I agree with you 100 percent. I do think the establishment voters are going to come out during the general that they maybe didn't during the primary because they're nervous about Mamdani winning.
But do you think the two egos can combine?
ROCHA: It's really hard. In politics, there's things that politicians really love and normally that's themselves. And that's what the problem is with these meetings that nobody told happen.
And I've been in a lots of them where if --
CORNISH: Yes. I was trying to say this meeting sounds like fanfic to me. Like you're going to sit down and two egos are going to be like, no, no, no. I'll comment.
WRIGHT: He was really (INAUDIBLE).
ROCHA: There's one thing for sure though that there's no way anybody's going to beat Mamdani. And he's running a good campaign. Like we're not giving him credit for really doing something very special. And so like he's running a good campaign.
And the only way to defeat him in November, ironically, I found out yesterday that a bunch of the bot. This is breaking news here at CNN, a bunch of Biden-Harris consultants are working for Cuomo. So they're still a little mad and they're still losing every day. So, I'm sure they're trying to figure out one way to spend more money.
CORNISH: Also on X, Dan Pfeiffer, former staffer for former President Obama, talking about this campaign ad that -- that we saw and saying, "This is one of the least compelling campaign videos that I've ever seen. No message, no charisma, no compelling visuals. Just a visibly annoyed man wearing an ill-fitting shirt saying things he clearly doesn't believe."
ROCHA: Hmm. Just like --
CORNISH: Well, I agree with that.
ROCHA: Just Harris and Biden. I just -- you just made my part for me. Like it's the same group of folks making the same thing and we expect different results. Please help me this early in the morning.
CORNISH: OMG.
WRIGHT: He said it.
CORNISH: Not me. About the shirt, the visuals. What -- the message, what part?
WRIGHT: This is hit after it, after it.
ROCHA: While Mamdani is running up and down the streets of -- of talking to folks.
WRIGHT: Yes. I mean, I just think it's frankly just so apparent that Cuomo puts off such a huge sector of New Yorkers and maybe that's why only 13 percent of people voted. And so I think they really have to work on whether or not he is a likeable candidate.
[6:25:10]
Now, Eric Adams, you know, he may not be a likeable mayor, but people do like him. They find him funny. They find him engaging. And they never know what he's going to say. Cuomo doesn't have that effect.
And so he has to figure out what it is that he can bring to the race that's not just kind of this elder statesman that feels out of touch.
CORNISH: Yes. The other thing is, do they find you useful? Meaning in this Trump era, what can you do for the city? And I raise that because there are Republicans in New York City, there are independents, there are people who were so concerned about crime or immigration, et cetera, that we saw really surface in the last election.
DAVIS: And that's the Eric I mean, I would say that they would vote for, the current mayor.
ROCHA: And they vote the general. That's the point --
CORNISH: Yes. Yes.
ROCHA: -- I was trying to make earlier. There's only 13 percent in the general. There'll be a -- there'll be double that for the general and independents and Republicans could actually vote in the general election.
CORNISH: Is there anything -- and I want to leave this with you. Is there anything that you're going to see Mamdani do that other young Democrats are starting to do around the country?
I -- I was noticing a -- a young Deja Foxx. She's an activist --
ROCHA: Election day is today.
CORNISH: In Arizona. But if you want to break through, has he created some kind of template?
ROCHA: There's two things you have to do really good. And even old Bernie Sanders back in the day kind of hit this. You got a really good field and actually still run a media program that's really based around social media and digital.
Digital forward campaigns or the campaigns of the future, that's what the relics of the old Democratic Party needs to get used to. CORNISH: OK. You guys stick around, we've got more to talk about in this hour. After the break on "CNN This Morning," is the president losing his base over the Epstein scandal?
And could his own Justice Department also be fracturing over this case?
Plus, they call him the big dumper, a new history-making Home Run Derby champ is crowned.
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