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Senate Votes On Funding Cuts To Public Broadcasting, Foreign Aid; Report: FAA Considers Hiring Foreign Air Traffic Controllers; Trump Administration Sends Migrants To "Safe Third Country" Destinations; Trump's Tariffs Take Hold, Inflation Spikes In June. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired July 16, 2025 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:03]

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: And more than a billion in funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, also on the chopping block, which, of course, affects NPR. We're also learning that one key GOP vote that supported the presidents spending bill may not be there for this one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI (R-AK): What we're getting now is a direction from the white house and being told, this is the priority. We want you to execute on it. We'll be back with you with another round.

I don't accept that. I'm going to be voting no.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Joining the group chat, Maria Cardona, CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist, and Nia-Malika is here with us still.

So, there are two things going on here. One, all the boxes, images you saw of people like walking their stuff out of federal offices, this makes that law, right?

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah, I think that's right.

Listen, there are all sorts of ideas when Trump came into the office that he couldn't do this, that congress had the power of the purse, and we saw them dismantle USAID, the Trump administration, obviously, getting the go ahead from the Supreme Court, to dismantle --

CORNISH: The Supreme Court said you can fire people. And that opened this door.

HENDERSON: Yeah. And Congress just rolled over. Murkowski among I think, three Republicans who were saying, no, you can't take away Congress's power in this way to fund programs, to fund NPR and PBS and all sorts of public radio stations across the country, which rural voters and depend on. And these are -- these are these are people who Trump won in many ways.

CORNISH: You mentioned Murkowski. We also -- Susan Collins of Maine is another person people are watching. I think Mitch McConnell.

HENDERSON: Yeah.

CORNISH: Let me play for you something that Susan Collins is trying to do. Basically, she's trying to figure out if she can save a particular program. And she says the rescission package has a big problem. Nobody really knows what program reductions are in it. Could this wavering GOP support basically, you know, signal something? Is this really wavering support? So far, these bills have passed. That's just the fact.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: And I think that's the key question, Audie. But I do think what it indicates is this underlying massive anxiety among Republicans as to how much this can hurt them in the midterms, because Democrats are already seizing on all of these things, including this big, horrible bill. And you showed the polling from earlier. Americans do not like it.

This on top of that is going to enable Democrats to communicate very clearly. I believe, and very authentically the message that Trump and his Republicans, who are focused on loyalty to him instead of loyalty to his -- to their own voters, to the people that they promised they would lower prices. Inflation is going up. They're taking programs away from them that voters depend on.

CORNISH: I just want to ask you something in particular, as a Democratic strategist, the public has not risen up in support of foreign aid. It's one thing about Medicaid, which they feel directly, Medicare, which they feel directly, and even something like public media. I used to work at NPR. There are stations in states that will close. That could happen.

It's very different to say to someone in the midterms, what about the democracy fund? Right? What about like, is that even something you can campaign on?

CARDONA: Well, I think it can be kind of an add on, if you will. But the focused message should be -- and this is part of it, right? The programs that Republicans are taking away from you, the voter from you, our constituent, the local news stations, the emergency alerts, Audie, how important have we learned in the past several weeks the importance of having emergency alerts?

So, you can talk about the fact that Republicans are causing the death of millions of kids around the globe. That's not a pretty message for them, but I think you can also wrap it around more directly into the programs that Republicans are taking away from kids here. That could also cause their death. And taking away of --

CORNISH: I hear you saying just -- it's the taking away that you're leaning in on in terms of the message. CARDONA: Exactly.

CORNISH: You guys stay with me. We're going to talk more about this, but I want to talk about something else that, frankly, is related to the cuts we've been describing. President Trump has been clear that he doesn't want immigrants doing jobs that able-bodied Americans can do.

There seems to be an exception. With the nation facing a chronic shortage of air traffic controllers, the Trump administration is considering hiring foreign workers to fill the openings. That's according to reporting in "The Atlantic". The FAA estimates 3,000 controllers need to be hired to get staffing up to -- to full speed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN DUFFY, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: We do have enough controllers to control the airspace. There's a lot of overtime. As Nick will tell you, there's a lot of stress on the controllers. So we need more air traffic controllers to come in to this -- this profession.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:35:02]

CORNISH: It didn't help matters when President Trump and Elon Musk offered buyouts to air traffic controllers earlier this year.

Our next guest reports the FAA security experts are losing their minds over the prospect of turning foreign nationals into key nodes of the U.S. aerospace system. Of particular concern is the access that they could gain to radars, communication networks, as well as sensitive information about military flight paths.

Joining me now to discuss is the person who did that reporting, Isaac Stanley-Becker, staff writer with "The Atlantic".

Good morning. Thank you. Isaac.

ISAAC STANLEY-BECKER, STAFF WRITER, THE ATLANTIC: Good to be with you, Audie.

CORNISH: Back in February, Elon Musk pleaded with air traffic controllers who took early retirement to reconsider and come back to work. We've been hearing about mandatory overtime. We've been hearing about staffing shortages, right? That's even caused people to take stress relief, take off because they're stressed.

How -- why wouldn't people want to embrace this among those -- among that community?

STANLEY-BECKER: Well, I think that when you speak to air traffic controllers, they're clear about what is necessary to stem attrition and boost morale within the workforce. And that's increased pay and vacation time.

And so, the notion that instead of taking those steps, they're looking to foreign nationals to fill some of these critical roles is really galling to the workforce that has been working six-day weeks, overnight shifts. And as you mentioned, racking up that overtime to keep the flying public safe.

CORNISH: This sounds so at odds with what we're hearing about immigrants and workers in general. Can you tell me what this memo said? What are they looking for and where are they looking for it?

STANLEY-BECKER: Well, at this point, they're studying the possibility of doing this. They're looking at different paths for potentially bringing in controllers who've done certain training and eligibility qualifications in other countries. It doesn't specify which specific locations they'd be looking for these new recruits, but interestingly, it does note that one of the models they're looking to, to figure out potentially how to do this is institutions that admit international students.

And I would just note the irony of the fact that the Trump administration is simultaneously cracking down on international students, notably at institutions like Harvard.

CORNISH: I want to play something President Trump said recently about the need to find qualified air traffic controllers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have to have our smartest people. It doesn't matter what they look like, how they speak, who they are. It matters. Intellect, talent, the word "talent". You have to be talented, naturally talented geniuses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: I was thinking about this in the context of after that plane crash where the president was blaming kind of DEI somehow for -- I still don't know. Can you help me understand this shift? Is this driven by Sean Duffy? Is it just the facts of, like, how many air traffic controllers we need? What do you think is making them reconsider?

STANLEY-BECKER: I think the rationale is that they're really in a dire situation. As you mentioned, 3,000 controllers short. And when I asked the FAA for comment on this, a spokesperson -- spokesperson suggested that this was somehow payback because foreign nations are recruiting air traffic controllers from the U.S. and again, that goes back to that question of pay and time off. Maybe they're simply better benefits in other countries.

And I don't want to pass judgment on the skills or qualifications of people from foreign countries who may be able to very effectively do this work. But the FAA's own regulations spell out the heightened security protocols, the type of background investigations that are necessary for this extremely sensitive work. And I do think that it's ironic that were looking to foreign nationals to do these jobs as the administration is touting its labor and immigration rhetoric, that there are U.S. born workers who should be doing jobs not just in the federal government, but across industries, meat processing, construction, and so on and so forth.

And it looks like when push comes to shove, they're singing a somewhat different tune, at least in this respect.

CORNISH: You can read this reporting from Isaac Stanley-Becker in "The Atlantic", where he is a staff writer. Isaac, thank you.

STANLEY-BECKER: Thanks very much.

CORNISH: Could the man the Trump administration mistakenly deported to El Salvador soon be heading to yet another country?

Today, Kilmar Abrego Garcia will appear in court in Tennessee as his lawyers press for his release from custody pending his criminal case. But there's a possibility he wouldn't be free for long. A senior ICE official recently testified the agency has not yet decided where Abrego Garcia would be deported if he is released from criminal custody, which could happen as soon as today.

[06:40:10]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON SANDOVAL-MOSHENBERG, ABREGO GARCIA'S ATTORNEY: It's unclear whether he would be allowed to remain in any such country, or whether that country would simply re deport him onto El Salvador, his country of citizenship. All those are issues that need to be decided by an immigration judge, not this court. But we can't even get in front of an immigration judge if they're going to whisk him onto a plane. You know, as soon as they hit, as soon as he hits ICE custody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: The case comes on the heels of a recent Supreme Court ruling, which now allows the Trump administration to deport migrants to countries other than their homeland with little to no notice. Recent flights sent migrants from Jamaica, Laos, Cuba, Yemen and Vietnam to countries in Africa like Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland and South Sudan.

Joining me now to discuss is CNN correspondent Victoria Rubadiri, who is in Kenya.

Victoria, good morning.

VICTORIA RUBADIRI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Audie. Thanks for having me.

CORNISH: We saw several African leaders meeting with President Trump actually, just last week. I'm wondering if the administration is going around asking these countries to take migrants that aren't from those lands.

RUBADIRI: It isn't immediately clear whether these countries have formalized these agreements or arrangements with the U.S. to take these third country deportees. We can speak to South Sudan, for instance. We've been trying to get comment from the ministry of foreign affairs on their well-being, on their safety, for instance.

There was a statement that was released last week by the ministry saying that they had been screened. That's all we know so far.

The minister for foreign affairs for South Sudan has actually been in Washington, D.C. for what they said are bilateral talks. We wanted to get more specifics on what that actually means, whether we would see a formal bilateral agreement between South Sudan and the U.S., whether these deportees would be released into civilian life, and just how long they would be held in government custody. So, no clear comment from the government so far.

But I did manage to speak to a civil society actor in Juba. He's been monitoring the situation since the deportees have arrived in the country. And what he was able to tell me, at least from information from immigration officials, is they have been screened so far, they remain in government custody. In fact, the facility where they are is a facility that holds political detainees.

He says that files have been opened with the police criminal unit. But as of where they will end up after this, that is still unclear. Many questions on what those talks between South Sudan and the U.S. will entail.

CORNISH: How are people talking about this? We talked about it in the U.S., the immigration attorneys who are upset, these communities are upset. In some of these countries, do we have -- like, what do we know about the reaction there?

RUBADIRI: From what we're seeing, at least from reactions online, from different individuals is in the overwhelming sentiment is that Africa is not a dumping ground for these illegal migrants. Many of them feel that the U.S. is not doing enough to get them to their home countries. Some feel that the sovereignty of some of these African nations isn't being respected, or whether these governments are getting a fair shake in these arrangements. Again, from what we've seen in the South Sudan or Eswatini cases, there isn't a formal arrangement, no bilateral arrangement between these governments and the U.S.

And so, this lack of clarity is making them really concerned. Some of these host countries, people are wondering will they be safe? The citizens, especially for some of these individuals who have committed very serious crimes in the U.S.

So, these are a lot of concerns that they've raised.

CORNISH: CNN correspondent Victoria Rubadiri, thank you so much. Speaking to us from Kenya.

Up next on CNN this morning, Visine eye drops and a protein shake mixed with poison. That's how prosecutors say a dentist killed his wife. The defense, say, is arguing he was a doting husband.

And more Republicans are jumping on board calling for transparency about the Jeffrey Epstein case. The president says it's pretty boring stuff. More on that from the group chat after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:49:03]

CORNISH: It's 48 minutes past the hour. And here is your "Morning Roundup".

Today, the first witnesses will take the stand in the trial for the man accused of killing his wife. The allegations are that he poisoned her protein shake. In opening statements today, prosecutors laid out a timeline, including when they say James Craig ordered 12 containers of Visine and Cyanide. His wife's cause of death, a lethal dose of cyanide and a decongestant found in eyedrops. The defense argues he was a doting husband but also a broken man.

The U.S. and Indonesia strike a deal on trade, something negotiators in Jakarta described as an extraordinary struggle. The deal drops the U.S. tariffs on imports to 19 percent, down from the initial threat of 32 percent. It also includes U.S. investments in energy and agriculture and 50 Boeing jets.

And it's happening. The South Lawn of the White House will be transformed into a UFC octagon next summer as part of America's 250th birthday celebration.

[06:50:08]

UFC boss Dana White confirms he'll be flying to the White House soon to present design ideas for the venue to the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA WHITE, UFC PRESIDENT & CEO: This is a sphere, one of one unique event that will never happen again. And I will blow the doors off this thing. I'm going to make this one of the greatest events of all time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: The UFC CEO says President Trump's daughter, Ivanka, is also involved in the planning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every time you find yourself here, it's because you chose to come back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Apple TV+ and its hit "Severance", leading the pack with a total of 27 Emmy nominations, including for outstanding drama series and lead actor and actress. The biggest snub, the final season of "The Handmaid's Tale", which only received a single nod for guest actress.

President Trump's tariffs are taking hold. Prices are starting to rise. So, we're going to show you some numbers. This is the consumer price index from June. It's up 2.7 percent from a year ago. Translation, inflation is accelerating.

And that has the president turning up the heat on Jerome Powell. He's calling on the Fed chairman to slash interest rates by 3 percent, something Powell refuses to do. And now, the president is suggesting that there's something nefarious about a renovation project at the Federal Reserve.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Well, he spent $2.5 million building this place. I have to say, this, I think he's terrible. I think he's a total stiff. But the one thing I didn't see him as a guy that needed a palace to live in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Trump even suggested the renovations at the Fed could somehow be grounds for Powell's firing.

Bringing in Courtenay Brown, economics reporter at "Axios", into the group chat.

We know that the president has been pretty open about wanting to get rid of Jerome Powell, but I also want to show something to you, which is the head of JPMorgan Chase, the CEO Jamie Dimon, defending Powell. He was saying that there are inflationary factors out there. They have to react to all that. They're doing the right thing to wait and see before they decide. Can you talk to me about how Wall Street is hearing what the president is doing here in Washington?

COURTENAY BROWN, ECONOMICS REPORTER, AXIOS: There is a great deal of complacency on Wall Street. You may have noticed stocks are at a record high with all of this going on. It is, you know, among my sources, there is this underlying fear that if President Trump were to even attempt to try to oust Powell from the post, you know, that's a big risk for global financial markets. The U.S. is built on this idea that the central bank is politically independent, and the president does not install a Fed chair that would essentially do its -- do his bidding.

CORNISH: Yeah. So, is it a TACO situation? Do they just think he wouldn't do it?

BROWN: So glad you brought up TACO and not me.

CORNISH: Okay. Why? It was Trump always chickens out. This is an internet thing. I didn't make it up.

BROWN: This is the trade driving Wall Street.

And so, when I talk about complacency, it's this idea that President Trump won't actually move forward with trying to fire Powell. But the threats are real.

CORNISH: I want to talk about the politics of this because, Maria, we're looking at some messaging here, right? You want someone out all of a sudden in the media, there starts to be stories about this problem. And that problem. In this case, it's the renovation of the building, which very well may be out of control, right? But it's that -- it's coupled with -- well, you tell me.

Is it -- we called it that he's implying something nefarious. How do you see it?

CARDONA: I think that's exactly right. We know that that is Trump's go to move when he wants somebody out, he starts putting stories out there about how nefarious they are, about how --

CORNISH: Is that Trump only though? I mean, I feel like that's a political move.

CARDONA: I mean, it is a political move, but it is -- it is.

CORNISH: You've never done it, but it's --

CARDONA: Absolutely not. But it's Trump's go-to. We've seen this happen over and over with the people that he wants out. But it's also specific to him. You know we've been talking about how norms are kind of out the window in this group chat.

And for Trump, norms are out the window. This getting rid of the Fed chair has always been a hands-off, right? You don't do that, right? But Trump doesn't understand that. Nor does he care.

HENDERSON: And you know, he's clearly trying to set a predicate to make this within the bounds of sort of normalcy. And he did.

CARDONA: He has to be out, right.

HENDERSON: And this could possibly, sort of, be legal if he -- if he's fired for cause, the cause being then there's the policy question. Trump is denying the fact that inflation is spiking.

And I want to play this for you, Courtenay, because were showing these charts saying we're seeing the price index go up.

[06:55:02]

Here's what he had to say when talking about inflation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: There was very little inflation, as you know. The numbers were very good, very much inside the margin. So, we've had no inflation. All we have is we're making a fortune.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Okay. So we're going to put up our graph from earlier. Courtenay, help me interpret. Are we -- is this a sign inflation is going up?

BROWN: Line go up means inflation go up.

(LAUGHTER)

CORNISH: I -- you know, honestly --

BROWN: I don't -- look, I don't want to overstate it. Right. We have come a long way from the peak of inflation at nearly 9 percent in 2020.

CORNISH: Yes, you can see that even just January 2025. So Trump had done good work.

BROWN: Right. So why -- you know, I'm concerned why my sources who are economists are concerned. It's not -- it's the trajectory. It's that we're starting to see the signs of tariffs raising prices. All of the categories in yesterday's consumer price index that you would expect to go up from tariffs, clothing, shoes, appliances, furniture, things that come from elsewhere are going up in price.

That's concerning for Fed Chair Powell who again is not worried about inflation right now. He's worried about the trajectory.

CORNISH: But to tie it together for people when the prices are going up, that's not when you want to bring down interest rates right. Am I correct about that? Because then more people will spend and inflation will keep going. I think we saw that lesson in the pandemic.

BROWN: Exactly. This is why it is so important that the Fed is politically independent. If the Fed just existed to do the president's bidding. I mean, everyone wants low interest rates.

CORNISH: Right.

BROWBN: That's how you get an economic boom. But it has to be politically independent so that they control inflation in America. It's what --

CORNISH: We know people care about inflation. Obviously, Democrats learned that last year.

I want to turn to another story because it won't go away. The calls are growing from within President Trump's party to release more information about the case around Jeffrey Epstein. So, as the base continues to revolt over Epstein into the second week, some of the president's House allies basically want to see more transparency. Earlier this year, Pam Bondi, attorney general, told Fox News a list of Epstein clients was, quote, sitting on her desk for review.

You can see an image there of Mike Johnson, who's also moved on this issue. Sources are now telling CNN that she was actually referring to files, which were later given to right wing influencers at the White House, and big folders labeled the Epstein files phase one.

President Trump still seems confused why so many in his party are preoccupied with this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: I don't understand why the Jeffrey Epstein case would be of interest to anybody. It's pretty boring stuff. It's sordid, but it's boring, and I don't understand why it keeps going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Group chat is back. CNN has done some polling on the issue and found that 3 percent of Americans are satisfied with the amount of information released on this case, that dissatisfaction along party lines isn't even that far off. As always, I care about the independents number, which is now at 52 percent.

And Democrats getting religion very interested now. Maria, 56 percent are like, hey, we need more information.

I don't know who wants to jump in here. Is there a clean way out?

CARDONA: I think politically for Democrats right now they are doing the right thing in terms of fanning the flames because this is something that is going to be very detrimental to Trump and Republicans if they don't quell their base. That's the point. The fanning of the flames for Democrats needs to show MAGA base. The podcasters who were so supportive of Trump are the ones who are now saying, we need more information. He's not doing what we thought he was going to do. We did not vote for this.

If Democrats continue to underscore that, as opposed to just chiming in ourselves about how this needs to be something because it's important for the American people, right? Thats what we need to be doing, is underscoring how this could be the one thing, Audie, we have always asked, what is the one thing, if it exists, that would make the MAGA base turn on Trump?

It certainly wasn't him shooting somebody on Fifth Avenue. This could be it.

CORNISH: And I should show a Truth Social post from the president basically saying, why are we giving publicity to files written by Obama, crooked Hillary? I mean, it's the rogues gallery. It's all the things, all the things just put them in there.

HENDERSON: Yeah.

CORNISH: And the response in general has not been great.

Can I give the last few seconds?

HENDERSON: Yeah. That's right. Not this goes to Donald Trump's core, right? This idea that he was an outsider who was going to come in and crack heads --

CORNISH: And in turn, he's the savior.

HENDERSON: He is the savior to do this. And now for him to say, oh, there's nothing to see here. Why are people up in arms? It goes directly against his identity and the identity of people he picked for these offices. Kash Patel, Pam Bondi, so --

CORNISH: Dan Bongino, especially.

HENDERSON: Dan Bongino, exactly.

CORNISH: All right, you guys, we're going to keep an eye on this the next couple of days because obviously, there's a lot to talk about. I want to thank to the group chat here. Thank you for waking up with me.

I'm Audie Cornish and "CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.

[07:00:00]