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Air Drops Begin, Aid Trucks Move Into Gaza As Hunger Crisis Grow; Israel Eases Aid Blockade As Gaza Hunger Crisis Draws Global Condemnation; Passengers Evacuate An American Airlines Plane After Landing Gear Issue Sparks Fire; Eleven Injured In Stabbing Attack At Walmart In Michigan; President Trump Visits Scotland For Golf, Trade Talks; President Trump Doubles Down On Urging Senate Recess Cancellation; Alabama Toddler Dies After Being Left In Hot Car While In State's Care; Thailand And Cambodia Battle On Despite Ceasefire Talks; Nearly 4,000 NASA Workers Accept Buyout In Major Restructure; Scientists Track Asteroid That Could Hit The Moon In 2032; Cuomo Changes Tactics In Final Sprint Of New York Mayoral Race; Trump And Powell Clash Over Fed Renovation Cost. Federal Reserve Meets This Week On Interest Rates; WSJ: Kennedy Expected To Dismiss Expert Panel On Preventive Care; Flooding Fills Missouri Walking Tunnel In Just One Hour; Death Toll In Central Texas Flooding Disaster Rises To At Least 136; Researchers Trying To Keep People Safe From Future Floods; "Live Aid: When Rock N' Roll Took On The World" A New Episode Airs Tonight At 9PM ET. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired July 27, 2025 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:43]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good to see you're up early. Welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. It is Sunday, July 27th. I'm Victor Blackwell.

Here's what's happening this morning. Aid convoys are now headed toward Gaza. It's happening right now. The IDF declared a humanitarian pause in fighting. You know, Israel has been under pressure as people in Gaza are starving to death. We're live in the region.

Man, can you imagine passengers on an American Airlines flight scrambled down emergency slides after a fire broke out just before takeoff. We'll tell you what caused it.

And a man in Michigan has been arrested. Police say he started stabbing people at a Walmart. What police are saying about that.

Also down, but not out. After a stunning loss in the Democratic primary, former New York governor Andrew Cuomo is shifting his strategy now. We asked him about what's different this time.

And look at this time lapse video. It's out of Missouri. It shows how fast floodwaters can rise. Could there be a way to predict where the next flash flood will happen even before it rains?

We're starting this morning, though, with the breaking news. It's just coming in to CNN. A Gaza hospital is reporting more people killed while trying to get food at an aid site. This comes just as the Israeli military says it is pausing fighting in parts of Gaza to allow humanitarian aid to move in.

Now, overnight Egyptian TV broadcast images of Gaza aid trucks arriving at the Israeli border. The IDF also released this video. It shows airdrops of aid into Gaza. Israel has drawn heavy criticism internationally over Palestinians starving to death in Gaza.

Let's get to CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson now with new details. What can you tell us about the breaking news, Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, we understand from Gaza health officials that another six people have died from malnutrition or starvation in the past 24 hours, two of them children.

The IDF has moved to open up what they're calling humanitarian corridors and allowing humanitarian pauses in Gaza to try to alleviate the humanitarian situation in Gaza. They say, however, that the narrative that the IDF is trying to starve or Israel is trying to starve the people in Gaza, they say, is a fiction. It's not true, something put about by Hamas.

But what they are doing, these humanitarian corridors go back to the way that the IDF and Israel was allowing aid to be delivered in Gaza more than six months ago now. There are specific routes that are designated for specific pauses in the fighting. We're talking here about periods of maybe six hours to 10 hours long for humanitarian aid to get in.

And what we're hearing from Egyptian officials is that a hundred trucks, aid trucks, are on their way through Egypt on the way to the border to go into Gaza. Sixty trucks coming from Jordan. The Egyptians say there are 1,200 tons of humanitarian aid on those trucks, including 840 tons of flour. Of course, this is much, much needed inside of Gaza.

Aid officials, though, from U.N. groups, are saying, number one, that Israel has kind of announced this at such short notice they won't be able to ramp up their collection and distribution quickly enough. They say they'll be able to do that, you know, in fairly short order, but not at the flick of a switch.

Also, they do point out that what we're talking about today is 160 trucks incoming to Gaza. Gaza needs 600 trucks a day. That's -- that is the sort of normal accepted level of aid that's required. Israel is saying, look, over the past week, 600 trucks of aid were distributed inside of Gaza. But again, that figure 600 over a period of a week versus the required 600 trucks a day.

However, as you say, this is Israel responding to the international pressure over the malnutrition and deaths. And also, you mentioned at the very beginning there that more people were killed as they went to aid distribution points in parts of Gaza in the center and the north.

[06:05:08]

Twenty-four people killed today as they went towards those distribution centers, Victor. BLACKWELL: Yes, and this pause for a short period. The question is, where will the ceasefire talks go to potentially extend aid coming in to Gaza? Nic Robertson for us. Nic, thank you so much.

More than 150 passengers were forced to evacuate an American airlines flight after a landing gear issue sparked a fire. This happened just before takeoff. Watch.

Passengers say they heard a loud bang. They saw flames. One witness says that the plane started shaking really violently before tilting to the side on the runway.

American says that the fire started from a combination of blown tires and the plane decelerating as it braked. One person was injured during that evacuation.

You might remember that this is the second airline incident in just a couple of days. A Southwest flight had to rapidly descend on Friday after a privately owned fighter jet crossed less than two miles in front of it.

Eleven people were injured in a random, as police call it a stabbing attack at a Walmart in Michigan. The suspect is 42 years old, allegedly used a folding knife style weapon and was taken into custody. Grand Traverse County sheriff said that this was a citizen involvement in the arrest and in helping the injured on the scene. Authorities believe the suspect acted alone and called the stabbings a series of random attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF MICHAEL SHEA, GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY: It appears that these were all random acts. The weapon appears to be a folding knife. At this time, we have six male victims and five female victims, ages unknown at this time. Three are undergoing surgery and we are awaiting the life status of all involved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: The hospital treating the victims from the incident also gave an update. Six of those victims are in critical condition. Five are in serious condition. We'll bring you more information, of course, as this story develops.

President Trump's Scotland visit, it was met with protests. A lot of protesters gathered outside the U.S. consulate in Edinburgh. They did not hold back in their opinions about the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His mom is from Stornoway in the island of Lewis. When he went up there, he was embarrassed that, you know, it was a council house. He stayed for a photo op and that was it. He didn't interact with anybody from the island.

I'm very disappointed. He's got Scottish blood in him. And we just don't want him here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Now, the president's visit was largely to play golf, but he's also working on some trade deals. CNN's Jeff Zeleny explains what's next on his agenda.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: President Trump is scheduled to meet on Sunday here in Scotland with Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission negotiating E.U. tariffs on behalf of the member countries, hoping to avoid a transatlantic trade war.

Now the Trump administration, of course, has used the threat of tariffs throughout its first six months in office, on again, off again. But this new deadline is approaching in August, and the Trump administration is threatening a 30 percent across the board tariff rate for all European Union nations. They are desperately in scrambling to lower that with a proposal of 15 percent. A deal could be at hand as President Trump signaled as he arrived in Scotland.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In terms of a deal, we're meeting with the European Union. And that would be actually the biggest deal of them all if we make it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So, that meeting between the U.S. president and the chief of the European Union Commission is set for Sunday at the Trump Turnberry golf course. Now, on Monday, the president is scheduled to meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, also going over the U.K. trade deal, which already has been reached. But there is no doubt this working trip here in Scotland largely golf, but also mixing in some time for trade and tariff talks, Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right. Jeff Zeleny, thanks so much. President Trump was on social media during his trip to handle some business back home. He is urging Senate Republicans to cancel the upcoming August recess. He wants them to push through confirmation of 135 pending nominees.

He reposted a message from Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah, who said if the Senate recesses, it should actually recess non pro-forma sessions. It's supposed to start August 4th. It's not the first time the president has urged the Senate to get going on the confirmations.

[06:10:03]

Last week, he called on Senate Majority Leader John Thune to cancel the recess. This morning, we're learning more about a case involving a three-year-old boy who died Tuesday after he was left in a hot car for hours. Now, this toddler was in the care of a contract employee with Alabama's Department of Human Resources, the state's child protective services agency. CNN's Rafael Romo has more. Rafael. RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor, the day the three-year-old boy, identified as Ke'Torrius Starkes, was allegedly left strapped inside the car. It was humid with temperatures ranging from 93 to 96 degrees during the five hours in the afternoon he was left alone. According to our own CNN meteorologist, those temperatures felt like 101 to 105 degrees, with heat index values not only considering the car the boy was in was in direct sunlight, the family's attorney claims.

According to officials and the family's attorney, a worker employed with a company contracted by the Alabama Department of Human Resources picked up the boy, who went by K.J., from daycare at 9:00 in the morning on Tuesday for a supervised visit with his father. The visit, they say, ended around 11:30 a.m.

But instead of returning the boy to daycare, the family's attorney says the contract worker made several personal errands with K.J. buckled in a car seat in the back of her car. The attorney says the worker finally returned home by 12:30 p.m., parking her car and leaving the three-year-old boy strapped inside the vehicle with all windows up and the car engine off.

It was not until five hours later, Victor, around 5:30 in the afternoon, when the worker received a call from the daycare asking why the boy had not been returned, that she apparently realized what had happened. This, according to a timeline the attorney provided.

Nine-one-one was called and K.J. was pronounced dead at 6:03 p.m. This is how the boy's father told CNN affiliate WVTM he will remember his son.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KETORRIUS STARKES SR., FATHER: Small, brilliant, bright little child. I'm talking about when I say yes, yes, yes, respectful. I'm talking about knew how to count, knew his colors. Three years old, knew all the animals. I'm talking about he was very intelligent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, he was bro. He was really nice and all that.

STARKES: He was joyful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: I had an opportunity to speak with Courtney French, the family's attorney. He told me he spoke with the family about what they're going through right now, and they're understandably having a hard time coping with the loss of their child.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COURTNEY FRENCH, FAMILY'S ATTORNEY: It's just hard to comprehend that you would leave a baby in a hot car and just have no recollection whatsoever that the baby, a three-year-old child, is trapped in your car. He died a brutal death.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: CNN also obtained a statement from the Alabama Department of Human Resources. A child in DHR custody, the statement reads, was being transported by a contract provider when the incident occurred. Due to confidentiality, DHR cannot comment further regarding the identity of the child or the exact circumstances.

According to Kids and Car Safety, an organization dedicated to raising awareness about the dangers of hot cars for children and pets, this is the first hot car death to occur in Alabama this year and the 16th nationwide. Victor, now back to you.

BLACKWELL: Rafael Romo reporting for us there. Thank you. Still to come, President Trump expected to meet with the president of the European Commission today and the British prime minister on Monday to talk about tariffs.

Plus, we're looking ahead to a big week for the Fed. We'll explain what's happening there.

Also, parts of Missouri are reeling from flooding caused by massive storms. We'll give you a longer look at just how quickly the floodwaters rose.

And CNN caught up with Andrew Cuomo in New York. What the now independent mayoral candidate is saying about his campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW CUOMO, INDEPENDENT NEW YORK MAYORAL CANDIDATE: People want -- they want change. They want a solution. But it has to be a real solution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:18:51]

BLACKWELL: This morning between -- the fighting between Thailand and Cambodia continues for a fourth straight day. This is hours after President Trump said that both sides agreed to start ceasefire talks. At least 32 people have been killed and more than 200,000 forced from their homes since Thursday.

Thailand says it's not ready to stop military actions and claims Cambodia is still firing on civilians. Explosions have hit homes and areas near historic temple. Each country accuses the other of starting this violence.

NASA is shrinking its workforce by more than 20 percent. This is part of a major government wide push under President Trump. Nearly 4,000 employees have accepted buyouts or early retirement. That brings the agency's civil servant staff down to around 14,000.

NASA says that safety is still a top priority, even as it works to become more efficient. Critics, including hundreds of current and former scientists, warn that the cuts could put future missions and astronauts safety at risk. An asteroid the size of a building may be headed for the moon.

[06:20:00]

And while Earth is safe, scientists say the possible impact could still cause problems. The asteroid is known as 2024 YR4. It won't hit our planet. It could strike the moon in 2032. But that kind of crash would kick up dust and debris that might reach Earth, putting satellites at risk. It could disrupt navigation and communication. At the moment, the asteroid is out of view, but astronomers are watching closely as they wait for it to reappear.

Independent mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo hit the streets yesterday, made his case to New Yorkers for why they should vote for him. Cuomo has admitted the mistakes that he made that led to his surprising loss in the Democratic primary to state assemblyman Zohran Mamdani. But now he's working to turn the race around before November. He's restarting his campaign.

CNN's Gloria Pazmino spoke with Cuomo about the race. Gloria.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Victor. You know, over the last several days, we've heard Andrew Cuomo talk about the mistakes of his primary campaign. He has acknowledged that he didn't do enough to talk directly to New York City voters. And we are starting to see a shift in his campaigning style now that he moves towards the general election in November.

We're seeing his campaign have a different social media footprint. They're putting out more social media videos, trying to use that medium of communication to reach more people. He's also hitting the pavement a lot more. We watched him be in full campaign mode here in East Harlem, trying to speak directly to voters.

We sat down with him and he told me that he hears a lot of anxiety from people about affordability and public safety. We also asked him about the Department of Justice lawsuit filed by the Trump administration last week against the city of New York over its sanctuary city policies. That's another area where he is going to try and differentiate himself from the other candidates, Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, and Mayor Eric Adams, who's the incumbent and also running for reelection. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: The answer is not. The Federal government then coming in and suing to overturn this sanctuary city laws or the sanctuary state laws. I passed the sanctuary state policy, and that gives the state and the city the right to control how we do disposition on immigration issues. And basically, what it does is it says we demand that due process be honored.

PAZMINO: Right. But would you make any changes to the existing law now to deal with perhaps some of the violent people that we are encountering, the way that he is proposing?

CUOMO: If a person is a violent criminal then -- we don't harbor criminals, then 100 percent they should be deported.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: Now, that's in reference to Eric Adams, who has had a difficult time in the last few months facing off against the Trump administration. Remember, several months ago, the Trump administration dropped Federal corruption charges against the mayor. And the mayor has really been hesitant to criticize the Trump administration. That has upset many New York City Democrats here who say that they want a mayor who is going to stand up to the Trump administration.

Now, another very important thing to flag here. Cuomo has made it clear he believes he has a better chance of beating Zohran Mamdani, but only if Eric Adams gets out of the race and he has encouraged him to do so. He believes that he has a better chance of winning against Mamdani than Adams against Mamdani. But Adams has also made it very clear he has no intention of getting out of this race.

So, we'll see what happens in the next several months between now and November, and whether this kind of campaigning style and these changes that he's making actually make any difference in the general election, Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right. Gloria, thank you very much. Still to come, a lot of people will be watching Jerome Powell to see if the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates when it meets this week. That and more on the economy ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:28:50]

BLACKWELL: Big week ahead for the economy. Tomorrow, President Trump meets with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. There are reports that Starmer will press for a deal to cut tariffs on U.K. steel imports.

Then on Tuesday, the Federal Reserve kicks off its two-day meeting. Wednesday, the Fed will announce a decision on interest rates.

Now last week you'll remember that was that tense tour of the Federal Reserve headquarters, the hard hat standoff. The building is undergoing major renovations. Fed Chair Jerome Powell and President Trump argued a little bit back and forth about the cost of the renovation.

With me now to discuss Tom Smith, economist and professor at Emory University. Good to have you.

TOM SMITH, ECONOMIST: Thanks for having me back.

BLACKWELL: All right. So, if we have time, we'll get back to that hard hat moment because we've talked about that a bit. But let's look ahead to the decision from the fed. SMITH: Yes.

BLACKWELL: After that moment, the president, he's a bit optimistic about a rate cut. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I think we had a very good meeting. Forgetting about the building that's out of control and all that. But I think we had a very good meeting on interest rates. And he said to me -- now, I don't know if he's going to say this on Thursday or whenever he speaks, but he said to me very strongly, the country is doing well.

[06:30:08]

He said, congratulations, the country is doing really well, and I got that to mean that I think he's going to start recommending lower rates.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: You think that's what's coming on Wednesday?

TOM SMITH, ECONOMIST: So I think when the Fed chair says that the country is doing well, what he's saying is that we're seeing job growth, we're seeing a little bit of inflation overall doing well, I think the Fed is going to say, let's stand pat with the current interest rates.

BLACKWELL: So, freezing the rate for Wednesday?

SMITH: Yes, or just not an increase or a decrease, he's going to just say the Fed is recommending no changes to the federal funds rates.

BLACKWELL: OK, so after the meeting this week, there's still, what, three meetings left this year. The expectation had been that there would be a half point, at least some people expected a full point cut by the end of the year. Should people start to moderate those expectations for this year?

SMITH: I think that that still can happen. I think it actually makes sense for the Fed to do that a little bit later in the year.

Now, remember, we just saw a revision of GDP from the first quarter down a little bit, and we did see inflation tick up for June to about 2.7 percent. If I was the Fed chair, I would say, let's hold off and see how tariffs are impacting overall price levels. And if they aren't, then maybe we can decrease rates going into, you know, the last half of the year.

BLACKWELL: Yes, and of course, the Fed chair has referenced those tariffs as part of the uncertainty around why there has not been a drop in rates.

Let's talk about tariff conversation. SMITH: Right.

BLACKWELL: The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is meeting with the President today before the meeting with Keir Starmer tomorrow. And there is optimism in Europe that there could be a deal. The President says it's about a 50-50 chance.

What is the consequence? Because nobody knows if there will be a deal.

SMITH: Right.

BLACKWELL: What's the consequence if they cannot make one?

SMITH: So that's hard to know because we're not 100 percent sure exactly how Trump is going to roll through the tariffs with different commodities in the European Union.

So if we had a better plan for exactly this is the tariff on this commodity at this time, at this place, then we'd be able to know, OK, if we can't come to a deal, this is when we'd see these kind of prices increase for each of these commodities.

The way it stands, I think the President has put together a patchwork or a quiltwork of tariff plans --

BLACKWELL: Yes.

SMITH: -- perspectives. And -- but we're not always sure 100 percent when he's going to put them into play.

BLACKWELL: Yes. There was the promise of 90 deals in 90 days. And that came from Peter Navarro, who we're not seeing as much out front --

SMITH: Right.

BLACKWELL: -- speaking for the economic plan from the White House. That was then extended to August 1st. And there's still about 80-plus deals short.

SMITH: Right.

BLACKWELL: And so, what is the consequence of getting to that deadline without the deals? And those letters are going out now across the world.

SMITH: It's the letters, what you just mentioned. So I think the President had said, well, we don't actually need to make deals. We can just send out letters telling everybody this is exactly what their tariff rates are.

So I think that that's how they're navigating those last 80 deals, by just saying, well, we're just going to send out these letters. You're going to have to deal with the tariff that we're setting for you. But I think that there has to be room for negotiation, because countries are going to push back a little bit when they realize, well, this is what the tariff rates actually are. And then I think they're also likely to impose their own set of retaliatory tariffs --

BLACKWELL: Yes.

SMITH: -- on U.S. commodities. And so, I think negotiations have to be in play.

BLACKWELL: And of course, if those negotiations are not in play, what we saw back in April after the initial liberation day with those accelerated so-called reciprocal tariffs across the world was a massive drop in the market.

SMITH: Yes.

BLACKWELL: We have not seen that at the market yet, because we've not reached that point. We don't know if there will be another extension from the White House.

But explain what we're seeing with the market, because the S&P hit high, several of them in the last month.

SMITH: Yes.

BLACKWELL: The Dow flirted with the new record high in the last week.

SMITH: Right.

BLACKWELL: What is the market expecting? Are they expecting another extension?

SMITH: I think they're expecting that the President is likely to make an offer or put something out there and then rescind it or modify it or switch it around. So the President has shown that he is very willing to make changes last minute, if you will.

And so, I think the model is actually building that in, that the President is going to say he's going to do X, Y and Z, but that's probably not going to come to fruition.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

SMITH: And so, I think that the market is being smart here.

BLACKWELL: April 2nd, July 9th, August 1st. We'll see where it goes from there.

Tom Smith, thanks so much.

SMITH: Thank you very much.

BLACKWELL: All right, still to come, a new report says HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. plans to dismiss an expert panel on preventative care.

[06:35:07] We'll discuss how this could impact your family's health.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may take aim at another advisory panel. The Wall Street Journal reported that the Health and Human Services Secretary will soon target the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force.

[06:40:09]

The paper said that he plans to remove all of the advisers on that panel. It's been in place for more than 40 years. It's recommended preventative care services like cancer screenings that Americans currently receive at no cost. Kennedy has already called off this month's task force meeting.

Joining me now to discuss Dr. Farhan Bhatti, a family physician and the Michigan State lead for the Committee to Protect Healthcare. Dr. Bhatti, thanks for joining me.

First, just drive home for your wood so we understand the stakes and scope, what this committee does and how it impacts lives.

DR. FARHAN BHATTI, CEO, CARE FREE MEDICAL: So good morning, good to be with you.

What this committee does is it reviews mounds of evidence and then makes recommendations about all kinds of different health conditions, cancer screenings, cardiovascular disease screenings. And then doctors around the country and around the world look at these recommendations that are graded based on the strength of the evidence.

And then they use that to guide their clinical practice every day. Things like at what age to start breast cancer screening and colon cancer screening and cervical cancer screening and giving, you know, pregnant women at high risk of preeclampsia, giving them aspirin or giving statins to people that have high risk of cardiovascular disease. Things that aren't political and things that aren't controversial.

BLACKWELL: Yes. This is a nonpolitical panel. I should point that out as well. In a statement to CNN, the HHS spokesperson says no final decision has been made on how the USPSTF can better support HHS' mandate to Make America Healthy Again.

Secretary Kennedy disbanded the Vaccine Advisory Committee and then replaced some of the people with known vaccine skeptics. What's in jeopardy if these people who are being removed are replaced with people who are making questionable choices about that advice, about how they analyze the data that comes in?

BHATTI: Well, so it's common knowledge that the Secretary for a long time has been against vaccines. But I'm having a hard time coming up with any reason why anyone would be against breast cancer screening, colon cancer screening, lung cancer screening, cardiovascular protection.

And so, it's actually confusing to all of us in the medical profession why anybody would want to dismantle a highly credible committee that reviews data and that guides clinicians around the country and world on things that we can do that are going to maximize benefits and minimize the risks to our patients every day.

So, replacing the USPSTF with people who don't have the credentials to review the data and make decisions on topics like that, it's going to end up causing a lot of confusion amongst the public as well as amongst physicians around the world.

BLACKWELL: There's another development that's causing some confusion, domestically at least. A CNN review of HHS funding agreement shows that millions of dollars have been pulled from state and local vaccination programs with no explanation.

And so, at a time when you have more than 1,300 known measles cases in the U.S. and we're a couple of months out from the flu season, what's the impact in your office, in local offices across the country with the pullback of that money?

BHATTI: Well, many clinics around the country, including clinics like mine, rely on that funding to be able to provide immunizations to our patients, specifically VFC, Vaccines for Children. That's a government-funded program that provides immunizations to my pediatric patients who have Medicaid or who are uninsured.

And removing that funding will mean that even more children will not get the vaccines that they need. Starting with COVID, up until now, there's been a huge decrease in the number of children that are getting vaccinated. With vaccines, ultimately what's resulting is that our herd immunity is, you know, going down by the wayside and soon diseases that we thought had been eradicated from our country are going to make a huge comeback. And it's a huge concern for everybody who's working in public health.

BLACKWELL: Yes. And a huge concern for those who rely on you to do the job.

Dr. Farhan Bhatti, thank you so much for your time this morning.

Still to come, a timelapse video shows how quickly floodwaters rose after heavy rain in Missouri.

[06:45:03]

That and a look at some of the places that are highly vulnerable to sudden, destructive flash flooding.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: This morning, we have new video of flooding in Missouri. It shows water really quickly filling a walking trail tunnel in Belton during Friday's storms. The time stamp on the video, it's sped up. This is a security video. It shows the water rising from the floor to the tunnel to nearly reaching the ceiling in about an hour. The camera was 11 feet off the ground still ended up underwater.

[06:50:06]

The death toll from the catastrophic July 4th flooding in Central Texas is now at least 136. It took only two hours for flash flooding to overwhelm that area. It shows just how fast disaster can strike and why a warning system is so important.

So where could this happen next? Well, CNN's chief climate correspondent, Bill Weir, has a new analysis.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On a hot day in the mountains of North Georgia, few places are more inviting than the Chattahoochee River. And tubing the hooch on days like this makes it easy to forget that the same waterway providing so much joy can take life and property in a flash. And when the Chattahoochee turned deadly 16 years back, it changed both Georgia and Laura Belanger, one of the top hydrologists in the South.

LAURA BELANGER, SENIOR SERVICE HYDROLOGIST, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA: So, I am in the position I'm in today because of the September 2009 floods. I was young in my career at the time and there were 10 fatalities in the state of Georgia. That left a lasting impression on me and wanting to kind of see how we could do better with our hydro services and getting those warnings out. That's what helped be a catalyst for those flash flood warnings to be included in wireless emergency alerts.

WEIR: Today in the tourist town of Helen, Georgia, those wireless alerts and weather radios are the only sources of flash flood warning. Because in a place like this, sirens might confuse people to run for low ground from a tornado instead of high ground from a flash flood.

It's been a long time since the water topped that 10-foot marker, it hit 12 feet back in '67. And while there have been some swift water rescues in recent weeks, most people don't remember really high water.

That's the thing that struck me in Texas there, it was, it reminded me more of covering a tsunami in Japan where children were swept away while they debated what to do because no one could imagine the worst.

BELANGER: Yes.

WEIR: And when you're watching tubers here, you can't imagine that water turning deadly.

BELANGER: It's hard to get, especially with how shallow it is at the moment. It is hard to digest what a big amount of water coming through here would look like and how it's inundated. WEIR (voice-over): And she is especially worried about Enchanted Valley just over the hills. The folks living in these permanent trailers sit smack dab on the Hiawassee River next to one of the flashiest river gauges in the nation.

BELANGER: And so those are the places that keep me up at night, regardless of the amount of readiness or preparation, the fact that there are people and property that close to the river, that's what the concern is.

The biggest question we get is when we see a hundred-year floodplain and maybe the water level has risen to this point and someone says, oh, thank goodness we don't have to deal with this for 99 more years. And it happens.

The reality is what that means is that there's a one in 100 chance of occurrence in a given year of that happening again.

WEIR: Right. But that math is changing. Right?

BELANGER: But that math changes over time --

WEIR: Yes.

BELANGER: -- as you see flooding occur more frequently.

WEIR: The kind of flood that happened once every hundred years could now happen every decade, the experts tell us, from the First Street Foundation. This is a nonprofit that maps flood risk around the country. The CNN climate team partnered with them to try to evaluate which communities are most vulnerable to a disaster like we saw in Texas and from Santa Barbara, California to the Catskills of New York, from Nogales, Arizona to Appalachia.

We found this combination of topography that creates the flashiest floods, lack of warning systems, a lot of tourists who may not understand the risks. And as the flood flash flood warning set new records in 2025, knowledge is power and possibly life or death.

Bill Weir, CNN, Helen, Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: All right, Bill, thank you for that report.

Forty years ago this summer, the biggest rock stars in the world performed at a landmark music event to raise money for famine relief in Africa. See how the legendary concerts came together in a new episode of the "CNN ORIGINAL SERIES LIVE AID: WHEN ROCK N' ROLL TOOK ON THE WORLD."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, we haven't played together for eight years. You know, so this was a big event.

(MUSIC)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I remember talking to Pete Townshend a lot, who was my sort of hero at the time, no question. No one was allowed at the side of the stage at any time. But Pete said, why don't you just walk up with me when we go on?

I stayed with Pete, walked up to the side of the stage. And when they started playing, I just got the full bass shock hitting me. But that was an amazing experience.

[06:55:18]

PETE TOWNSHEND, MUSICIAN: History has proved it to be a good thing in one respect, which is that Bob has not taken a penny from it, and has had to stand by it all these years, you know, through thick and thin, sometimes being accused of doing it for his own ego, which is absolute nonsense.

It was trying to do something that would make sure that it didn't happen again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: A new episode of "LIVE AID: WHEN ROCK N' ROLL TOOK ON THE WORLD," airs tonight at 9:00 pm Eastern on CNN.

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