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Trump Touts EU Deal; Trump Posts on Truth Social about Beyonce; Ciaran Donnelly is interviewed about Malnutrition in Gaza; Courtenay Brown is Interviewed about Tariffs. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired July 28, 2025 - 06:30   ET

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

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[06:30:25]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This was the big one. This is the biggest of them all. We're looking at deals with three or four other countries.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Today, President Trump meets with the prime minister of the U.K. after securing a massive trade deal with the European Union.

Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. Thank you for joining me on CNN THIS MORNING.

It is 6:30 here on the East Coast, and here's what's happening right now.

As President Trump talks tariffs in Scotland today, his Treasury secretary is in Sweden for the next round of trade talks with China. The goal, to shore up and extend a truce, keeping tariffs at bay. They're facing an August 12th deadline.

A suspect in Michigan charged with terrorism and assault with intent to murder after a stabbing spree at a Walmart in Michigan. Police say nearly a dozen people were injured in what appears to be a random attack. One bystander used a grocery cart to ram the suspect in the ankle. Then he and others cornered the suspect until police arrived.

And this just in, leaders from Cambodia and Thailand have agreed to an unconditional ceasefire. The Malaysian prime minister, who hosted the talks, said the ceasefire will start at midnight local time. It comes after days of deadly clashes at their long-disputed border.

And in about half an hour, President Trump will be meeting face to face with U.K. Prime Minster Keir Starmer. Topics on the table include trade, Ukraine and Gaza. The two will then travel to northeastern Scotland for dinner. Now, over the weekend, the president was not greeted warmly by some.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wish he never had the golf courses here. His mom's 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 islands. I'm very disappointed he's got Scottish blood in him. And we just don't want him here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think he's just the worst thing that has happened to your country. And to the world. And a threat to all of us. A threat to democracy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Tomorrow, the presidential trip turns to personal business. The president will open his 18-hole golf course in Turnberry.

Joining me from Scotland is CNN's chief national affairs correspondent, Jeff Zeleny.

So, Jeff, tell us what the mood there is in Scotland. We saw some of the signs, clever signs people had at the protest. What's expected today?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Audie, certainly some colorful protests here in Scotland over the weekend. Not returning the love to President Trump and the fondness that he has exhibited, or at least expressed.

Of course, Scotland is the home of his mother. He talks about the country a lot. He'll be dedicating that golf course in honor and in name of his mother tomorrow.

But this is largely a working weekend. A bit of golf. But there was a significant deal announced yesterday. The largest trade agreement that the Trump administration has reached. The tariff policies certainly have been a big through line of this Trump administration. But meeting with the European Union commission president, the U.S. president struck a deal at his golf course.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And it's -- I think you were saying, this is probably the biggest deal ever reached in any capacity, trade or beyond trade.

URSULA VON DER LEYEN, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: It is.

TRUMP: It's a -- it's a giant deal with lots of countries because, as you know, Ursula represents a lot of countries, not one country.

VON DER LEYEN: It will bring predictability. That's very important for our businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.

It was tough negotiations. I knew it at the beginning and it was indeed very tough. But we came to a good conclusion for both sides. TRUMP: We did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So, no doubt that it adds some certainty to what has been uncertainty. And a good deal for the U.S. However, for American consumers, get ready to pay more for French perfumes. Just one example. Other imports from Europe. But there's no doubt that this averts a transatlantic trade war. That deadline was coming up on Friday for a 30 percent tariff. There had been a discussion of retaliatory threats as well. So, that is now off the table. That agreement was reached yesterday.

As far as coming up, the British prime minister will be meeting with the U.S. president again at one of his golf resorts. But Gaza and the deepening humanitarian crisis is front and center in that conversation, Audie.

[06:35:06]

CORNISH: All right, Jeff Zeleny, thanks so much.

While President Trump is abroad, he's still managing to stir up another distraction here at home. This week he's setting his sights on Beyonce. In a social media post over the weekend, the president falsely claimed Beyonce was paid $11 million for her endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. And he wrote, quote, "they should all be prosecuted." There's no record or evidence presented by the president or anyone else of multimillion dollar payments for Beyonce's appearance at a Houston rally last October. The campaign did, however, pay $165,000 for production related expenses for the event. And paying for endorsements is also legal. But a campaign's got to disclose it. And the camp -- and the Harris campaign only recorded one kind of payment in that style for $75,000 to the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund last June.

Beyonce not losing her breath by all of this, pulling off a surprise appearance with her former Destiny's Child co-stars at the final show of the Cowboy Carter Tour in Las Vegas this weekend.

Group chat is back.

I have to say, there's been a long list of things that have been a deterrent from the Epstein story, and this one is the most -- you're nodding. This is -- is that how you see it as well?

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, it's a distraction. But at the same time, I think, there are a couple of things going on here. The first one is, it almost feels like whenever somebody else is in the headlines, the president tries to besmirch their moment in the spotlight because it's almost like they're competing with him for attention. So, even on a golf trip to Scotland over the weekend, he's trying to dominate the headlines back home.

CORNISH: That's a good point because it was the final stop of the tour. The ladies come out, Blue Ivy comes out, its Vegas. It was like, spectacle.

JERUSALEM DEMSAS, CONTRIBUTING WRITER, "THE ATLANTIC": Yes, I mean, to me I think that it's -- I mean it's obviously kind of funny, right. You see a Truth Social post from the president of the United States talking about Beyonce, et cetera. But the other level, it's another in a long line of free speech infringements, right? Because the point of a lot of this is to indicate that if you are not totally in line with this president, he will use the power of the bully pulpit, he will even threaten actions which are not legal, to silence you or to make you afraid, to make you raise lawyer legal costs. Like, Beyonce is fine. She's a billionaire. She'll be fine.

CORNISH: Yes.

DEMSAS: But regular people are realizing that this is going to apply to everyone. And if people like, I mean, we just talked about the EU trade deal a little bit --

CORNISH: Yes.

DEMSAS: But like, if the EU is capitulating on tariffs at 15 percent, I mean, who is going to fight back?

CORNISH: And we should say, back in May -- he talks about this, frankly, periodically. One of the cyclical gripes. Back in May he mentioned also Oprah and Bono and saying he's going to call a major investigation into this matter. Of course, he famously was bickering over Bruce Springsteen earlier this year.

Is this just about picking, you know, the competitive targets and the attention economy or what Jerusalem is saying?

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, there's also something deep seeded about Trump and the elites rejecting him, right? And the fact that he was never accepted before he had all of this power by a certain segment of the -- the entertainment and business elite.

CORNISH: Yes.

KUCINICH: So, the fact that now he feels like, you know, he's at this good place and he can throw these threats around, it feels like a lot more of that. In addition, I think -- I think everybody can be right on this. I think it's -- it's -- there are lots of things going on here.

CORNISH: No, this is -- I'm glad you guys engaged on this discussion with me because it's one of those moments in the group chat where you're like, why? Why is this happening?

You guys stay with us because we're going to get to more this hour.

Coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, this stunning claim from the prime minister of Israel. With children dying from malnutrition, Benjamin Netanyahu insists there is no starvation policy in Gaza.

Plus, why this is such a critical week for the U.S. economy. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:43:31]

CORNISH: It's 42 minutes past the hour. Here's your morning roundup.

Three people are dead and others seriously injured after a train derailed in southern Germany. There were about 100 people on board at the time. The cause still under investigation.

And conservative South Carolina Congressman Ralph Norman entered the state's 2026 governor's race, already crowded with Republican candidates. Many of his supporters held signs with his key slogan, quote, "term limits clean up Columbia" at Rock Hill on Sunday, where he announced his bid.

And Qatar just announced its new unconditional donation to the U.S. A new Air Force jet. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Qatari counterparts signed the deal yesterday. The Department of Justice concluded it's perfectly legal for the president to accept the gift on one condition, that it's transferred to the presidential library at the end of his term.

And Israel's prime minister responding to international outrage over the widening starvation crisis in Gaza. According to the World Health Organization, there have been 63 malnutrition related deaths in Gaza in July, with 24 being children under the age of five. The Palestinian health ministry reports 14 deaths from hunger in Gaza in the last 24 hours. According to Benjamin Netanyahu, however, there is no crisis.

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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Israel is presented as though we are applying a campaign of starvation in Gaza. What a bold- face lie.

[06:45:03]

There is no policy of starvation in Gaza, and there is no starvation in Gaza.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: In the meantime, in Gaza, here is a Palestinian father of six.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It is a tragedy. People go out without breakfast just to get flour. I swear to God, I didn't even drink a drop of water. I went out with a dry throat. There is nothing. I just want flour. We don't want negotiations. Just let food and water through. At least when I die, there will be blood left in my body to drip.

CORNISH: Jordan and the UAE began airdrops of aid on Sunday after the IDF announced a daily tactical pause in military activity.

I'm going to bring in now Ciaran Donnelly, senior vice president for international programs at the International Rescue Committee. First, I -- I want to address that parent walking with the flour. What is a typical day for a parent like that to get whatever aid there is.

CIARAN DONNELLY, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS, INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE: So, for -- for weeks and for months now parents across Gaza have woken up every day wondering if they'll be able to get food for their children over the course of the day, and going out, taking incredible risks, walking through war zones and standing in line for hours in very difficult and dangerous conditions to try to get any small amount of food they can.

When they do get something, a scrap of bread, some lentils, some rice, they're prioritizing feeding their kids. They're going without. Many of the people we speak to on the ground tell us they're going without food for two, three, four days at a time in order to try and feed their kids. But it's not enough. And they're seeing their children waste away in front of their eyes.

Malnutrition means that children start to rapidly lose body weight as their muscles and fat start to be consumed, so they get sicker and sicker. Over the course of malnutrition, they become susceptible to very simply treatable and preventable diseases, but that their bodies are too weak to fight off. And then when their parents try to seek care for them, they go to places run by aid organizations which don't have sufficient supplies. And often they -- they risk bombing and being -- being shot or killed en route to those places.

So, it's just an incredibly fraught and difficult place. It's impossible to -- to really convey the agony of parents in Gaza today.

CORNISH: You have Netanyahu saying that there's not a starvation policy. You, of course, have Israeli government officials talking about the role of Hamas in all this, saying that it's a man made crisis due to their actions.

Can you talk about your response to that? How are you seeing it for people on the ground?

DONNELLY: So, the images are -- are widespread and really speak for themselves in terms of the extent of human suffering and -- and hunger in Gaza today. They're corroborated by reports from our own staff on the ground, as well as aid agencies, U.N. agencies and NGOs who are operating there.

We are on the brink, if not already at the -- past a tipping point of a significant hunger and malnutrition crisis in Gaza that is claiming the lives of children and civilians today, but is going to claim the lives of many more if it is allowed to continue unchecked.

Now, the solution to this is relatively straightforward. The infrastructure and the expertise to deliver, not just food aid, but specialized treatment for malnutrition and other services at scale and rapidly exists on the ground in the U.N. and in humanitarian NGOs. But we face significant barriers to access to Gaza an ability to operate inside Gaza, and are holding us back from being able to reach these people.

CORNISH: Ciaran, is it fair to say, though, that certainly Netanyahu does not trust the aid organizations you're talking about and does not trust that supplies of any kind take fuel or construction won't end up in the hands of Hamas? How does that affect this process?

DONNELLY: Well, organizations like ours operate in war zones all over the world, in places that are under the control of many different groups. Many of them are proscribed groups or so-called terrorist organizations. That's true in Gaza as well. We are able to operate with funding from every major international humanitarian government donor because they know that we have systems in place, processes, to ensure that aid goes to civilians, to those who need it most, and that we are able to assure them that the aid that we provide and supervise does not benefit the armed groups operating in any country where -- and that remains true in Gaza.

CORNISH: Ciran Donnelly is a senior vice president for the IRC, that's the International Rescue Committee.

Thanks so much for speaking with us.

DONNELLY: Thanks, Audie.

CORNISH: Now this week we're going to be hit with a ton of economic data that will give us a clearer picture of Trump's economy.

[06:50:00]

The U.S. jobs report, inflation and the effect on prices, the consumer confidence index, corporate earnings, the latest GDP numbers, and perhaps, most importantly, the Federal Reserve will decide whether to cut interest rates or hold steady.

Now, the president is trying to reshape the U.S. economy and push for new trade deals across the globe. And he clinched one such agreement with the European Union on Sunday. The 15 percent tariff on European goods means Americans will face higher prices in the long term. But here's how he framed it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And we were able to make a deal that's very satisfactory to both sides. So, it's very -- it's a -- its a tremendously -- it's a very powerful deal. It's a very big deal. It's the biggest of all the deals. It will be the biggest of all the deals.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Courtenay Brown, economics reporter with "Axios" joins the group chat.

Welcome back. COURTENAY BROWN, ECONOMICS REPORTER, "AXIOS": Thank you for having me.

CORNISH: OK, this is Mardi Gras for you. You have a whole week of numbers coming out. I'm sure you're excited.

BROWN: Excited and anxious. And also just genuinely curious what we're going to learn about the Trump economy. Every day this week we learn something new. And what we're looking for is evidence of these trade wars doing damage on the economy, hitting consumers with higher prices, any impact on the labor market, et cetera. That's what we're looking for.

CORNISH: The other thing that's strange is, while he's talking about these tariffs and the deadline for the deal and striking these deals, there's actually, like, a court case saying that the tariffs are not legal and there's going to be oral arguments that begin this week. I didn't know this case was getting that far. Can you talk about its significance?

BROWN: The hearing is one day before August 1st, the deadline that the Trump administration set for a bunch of countries. If there's no deal, they will face higher tariffs. But as you say, there is a court hearing that might ultimately decide that a huge set of these tariffs are not even legal, at least not under the law that the White House has put them forth under.

So, we'll have to see what happens this week in that court case. I'm not sure what's going to happen.

CORNISH: Yes.

BROWN: But, just the -- just the reminder that these tariffs might not be legal is important to remember.

CORNISH: One more thing for you, and the group also, this sort of campaign against the Fed chair with the president constantly sort of talking about the ways he's insufficient in his job. I was also reading in "The Wall Street Journal," they're sort of criticizing this handling of the economy.

What are you going to be listening for this week from the Fed?

BROWN: We know that the Fed is likely not to do anything with interest rates this week. The Fed is going to stay probably in its wait and see mode. Fed Chair Powell has been --

CORNISH: This is the mode Trump least likes.

BROWN: Oh, he hates this. He hates this.

CORNISH: Right. I mean, like, if you think of the last week, this is not what -- I don't know if anyone else wants to jump in here, but, like, he's wanting to see action from the Fed.

DEMSAS: I mean it's -- it's difficult because the Fed is an independent agency. It's not like HHS. It's not like the Treasury Department. Powell does not report to Donald Trump.

CORNISH: You can't gut it and defund it.

DEMSAS: And -- yes. I mean -- I mean -- I mean there -- there are congressional means of changing that statute, the way the Fed operates. But at the same time, in this current environment, it's very difficult for Trump to realize that a large part of how the macroeconomy is handled and managed is basically outside of his direct control. And that is not something that he likes to see. I mean, we saw this in his first term. He really, really wanted to be able to run the economy hot, and he made tons of these tweets (ph).

CORNISH: But he is making fundamental changes, right? I mean, we see this deal. It was -- the head of the European Commission sitting there politely waiting her turn to -- to make deals.

COLLINSON: Right. And she did what you have to do when you do a deal with Trump, say it's a great deal. It's the biggest deal ever. Which is really not true. But that's the way you have to do business.

I think what this deal does is, a couple of things. First of all, it shows that what Trump really cares about, it's less deals. He wants tariffs. And that is a change to the global economic system, which he is really pulling off. And that's important. And the Fed situation, it's not just he's going after Powell. He's sending a message that the next Fed chief that comes in next year will be someone who will probably do what he wants. And that is when the real economic impact this could come and help (ph).

CORNISH: How are CEOs feeling about that?

BROWN: They don't like this idea. It is important. We've talked about this before. It is so important for the Fed to be seen as an independent agency.

CORNISH: But will they say stuff like in the earnings call or like is there a moment, a tipping point moment, where the business community will express displeasure about this particular --

BROWN: We're not there yet.

CORNISH: We're not there yet?

BROWN: I would --

DEMSAS: I think -- I think -- I think --

KUCINICH: Oh, no. No, I was just going to say, I think, as you were saying -- as you were starting to say, Courtenay, that the Fed being independent is very important, which is why, while Trump can fire Powell, he has not done it because he knows the repercussions of that would be quite stark in terms of the bond market.

BROWN: Well, Powell would stay. Powell's already said that they're trying to --

CORNISH: Yes, he's said outright, he's not going anywhere.

(CROSS TALK)

DEMSAS: I mean I also just think that there's a level to which Powell and the Fed in general are seen in the -- at least the markets are like, well, no matter how much Trump says something, Powell will keep things OK.

[06:55:02]

So, if Trump really were to threaten the independence of the Fed in a serious way and to install someone that the -- the markets believed would be devastating for the management of unemployment and inflation expectations, like, I really do think that would create a reaction that would stun Trump. We've seen, when markets seriously react, he'll pull back. I mean that's --

CORNISH: Well, the bond market in that case, right?

DEMSAS: Yes. Yes. Yes.

CORNISH: So, can I ask one other question. Fundamentally, the president has set out to reshape the U.S. economy and specifically its relationship to other countries. And as these numbers come out this week, I mean, I'm starting to think, well, yes, he is doing that. People may feel the pain of it, but it's happening. And I need an economics reporter to tell me no.

BROWN: Sorry. That's not going to be me.

CORNISH: Yes.

BROWN: But I do think --

CORNISH: But is that the case -- like, are we seeing fundamental shifts here? Is he making it happen?

BROWN: We are going to see a fundamental shift.

CORNISH: OK.

BROWN: When and how it shows up in the data, that's the open question. But you cannot impose almost universal double digit tariffs across the board and not expect for the economy to have some sort of inflationary, broader economic reaction.

I want to point out one quick dynamic on the Fed meeting that's important for -- for viewers to remember. There are two Fed governors who have already come out and said, both appointed by Trump, that they support a rate cut this week. So, what we might see is two Fed officials saying, I don't agree with this decision. We haven't seen that in more than 30 years.

CORNISH: Feeling comfortable saying that.

BROWN: Yes. CORNISH: Yes, usually like the Fed talks and there's like an Obi Wan factor. Like, people kind of sit there, like, what did that mean? Am I the only one who sees that, right?

BROWN: There are some very consensus driven.

CORNISH: Yes.

BROWN: Not a lot of disagreement. So, that would be a big moment if we do, in fact, see that on Wednesday.

CORNISH: OK.

DEMSAS: I think too the political economy of tariffs is a bit concerning because let's say a future president wants to overturn some of these policies. Tariffs create a political constituency for defending them. So, right then there will be companies that spring up whose entire business model is based around the fact that its more expensive to get aluminum and steel outside the United States.

Now, to Trump, that's the tariffs working. That's the tariffs creating domestic production. But in the future, if we're paying so much more for aluminum and steel, which are massive inputs to much of our economic production, then how do we overturn that when we have all of these lobbying groups created for the purpose of maintaining them?

CORNISH: I have to geek out about one more thing. For months during the Biden economy there was, like, there's going to be a recession, there's going to be a recession. There was no recession. And now we're in these months where people are like, prices are going to rise, prices are going to rise. They've nipped up here and there, but we've not seen this across the board spike. Is this another case where economists are like, it's coming, it's coming, it's coming, and we're all kind of waiting?

BROWN: That is definitely the talking point from the White House right now, that all of the mainstream economists have been wrong. You said there was going to be a recession. You said there was going to be inflation. Where is it?

We know that the last inflation report, we started to see under the hood, prices going up for key consumer goods that already have been hit with tariffs. And I think the expectation is that will continue.

CORNISH: OK. Last question. What's actually in your group chat? I know in this group chat I make you talk about international affairs.

Stephen Collinson, what are you talking about?

COLLINSON: I mean, I guess my group chat might be a little bit boring, but it -- it is, to your point. I just came back from a trip across the Atlantic, and the extent to which Trump is imposing personal power and changing things, like the European trade system, the way he's making governments and people make choices that perhaps discount the United States as always being in a position of leadership is absolutely palpable in the U.K. and -- CORNISH: And in their domestic politics. Yes.

COLLINSON: Look, today, you have a British prime minister who is almost being summoned to visit Trump on the territory of his own country, and he's flying across Scotland with Trump. That is an example of Trump's power. Trump supporters say that's exactly the way it should be, but it's changing the way America is viewed.

CORNISH: Who else?

DEMSAS: Well --

KUCINICH: I mean, mine's so shallow.

CORNISH: OK. OK. Bring us shallow on this very dark Monday.

KUCINICH: I mean, so my -- my group chats, we try to have some levity. And so we've been talking about the Savannah Bananas, which is --

CORNISH: Savannah Bananas. Don't -- don't say it quite. Say it with your whole chest.

KUCINICH: The Savannah Bananas. Because the -- the Savannah Bananas, OK. It's -- I had no idea what it was. One of my friends took -- took her kids. And I asked. It's -- it's been described to me as the Harlem Globetrotters of baseball.

But the bottom line, it's -- it's -- there's no politics involved. The way it's been described to me is a place you can take your family, just have fun, kind of put everything aside for a little bit. Much like my group chats. And -- and, yes, watch baseball players dance in (INAUDIBLE). So, that's --

CORNISH: I'll -- I'll take it, honestly.

KUCINICH: We -- we try to keep it light, because everything else is so heavy.

CORNISH: Bananas confirmed.

Jerusalem, you get the last few minutes. Last minute.

DEMSAS: I'm -- I'm also boring, I guess, but my group chat has really been dominated by what's going on in Gaza. I mean these images and the videos that are coming through I think are striking a chord with people who have been opposed, agnostic.

[07:00:01]

CORNISH: Yes but spread quickly through social.

DEMSAS: Spread quickly through social media. And I think the images are really -- I mean we've seen this before in other conflicts. People see the images of starving children and it just -- it wipes out so much of whatever else they might believe about a conflict. They just think, no matter what, this has to stop. And I think that's the kind of pressure we're seeing and why Netanyahu feels so compelled to respond. And to even, as we're seeing today, remove and stop some military operations to allow aid to come in. So --

CORNISH: Yes. And it's expected to be a topic with the meeting with the U.K. prime minister.

I want to thank you guys for being with us. Thank you for waking up with us. I'm Audie Cornish, and CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts now.