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Trump to Tour Texas Flood Zone as Death Toll Hits 121; Trump Administration Threatens to Increase Tariffs on Canada and Other Nations; Israeli Strikes in Gaza Continue Amid Ceasefire Talks; Interview with Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) about Trump's Visit to Texas; Mahmoud Khalil on Three Months in ICE Detention; Is There Political Will for a Gaza Ceasefire and Mideast Peace? Aired 10-11a ET
Aired July 11, 2025 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:08]
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD, with Becky Anderson.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: It's good to have you on board. This is the second hour of the show. I'm Becky Anderson, coming to you live
from our Middle East programming headquarters here in Abu Dhabi where the time is just after 6:00 p.m. in the evening. And the time in Texas, excuse
me, is just after 9:00 a.m. in the morning where U.S. President Donald Trump and the first lady will be arriving just a few hours from now to tour
flood ravaged areas and emergency operations centers there.
The president also threatening additional tariffs on neighbor Canada following a heavy number levied on Brazil just a day ago. Donald Trump says
his tariffs are meant to revive American manufacturing jobs. But according to new reporting, his shock and awe campaign off to a slow start.
And in this region, all eyes back on Gaza as the world awaits for a lasting ceasefire deal. But for the Palestinians living there, the killing and
starvation continues with at least 500 killed this week alone.
Well, we start this hour with President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump set to depart for Texas to tour an area still reeling from these
catastrophic and deadly floods. They're expected to talk with some of the survivors and meet with first responders as the Trump administration pushes
back on criticism that it is taking steps that weaken preparedness and the government's ability to respond to natural disasters.
These floods have killed more than 120 people. At least 160 are missing statewide. In Texas, 150 of those are in Kerr County, the epicenter of the
flooding.
CNN senior White House reporter Betsy Klein joining me now.
What are the expectations for this trip?
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, President Trump and the first lady departed just moments ago as this show was
starting. Marine One taking off from the South Lawn. And we do expect the president to step in to that time honored role of consoler-in-chief as he
heads to Central Texas alongside Melania Trump. We do expect the president to survey the storm's aftermath. That is likely something that he will be
able to see from the sky as he makes his descent into this area.
He's also going to participate in a roundtable with first responders and local officials. He will receive a briefing. He's also expected to meet
with some of the families that have been affected by this truly horrific flooding. He will be joined by Governor Abbott of Texas, as well as Texas
Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn. And all of this comes, as you mentioned, as the president has suggested, the possibility of phasing out FEMA, the
Federal Emergency Management Agency, as soon as the end of this year's hurricane season later this fall.
The president has been asked about that repeatedly in the aftermath of this flooding, and has offered varying responses. But a White House official
told me just moments ago that there is a FEMA review council, which actually includes Texas Governor Greg Abbott. They have met multiple times,
most recently this week. And in that meeting they discussed the possibility of phasing out FEMA and abolishing the agency, as well as the possibility
of reforming it, really rebranding what has become a quite beleaguered agency under the Trump administration.
They are expected to issue a report this fall, but discussions really remain ongoing at this phase, according to a White House official. It is
possible that FEMA is remade, reshaped. It's also still possible the agency gets abolished at this stage. But FEMA officials that had been trying to
preposition search and rescue crews following this disaster ran into some bureaucratic hurdles.
CNN reported earlier this week, our colleague Gabe Cohen said that FEMA ran up against these approval requirements that were put in place by Homeland
Security Secretary Kristi Noem, which really impacted the speed with which they were able to get on the ground and assist in that search and rescue
and recovery.
But I spoke to one Texas official who told me they view Texas as really a model for how disaster response can look going forward. We've seen FEMA
play somewhat of a secondary role to the state here, and that is, I think, how we should expect this to proceed going forward. Of course, all states
have different levels of disaster response and preparedness -- Becky.
ANDERSON: All right. Betsy is at the White House and more on the president's trip there as we get it, of course.
Well, he is meantime, threatening to slap new steep tariffs on Canada. Donald Trump said Thursday goods from Canada could soon face a 35 percent
blanket tariff.
[10:05:06]
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said his government would continue to defend its workers and businesses. This move comes as the Trump
administration says it will increase tariffs on other nations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: At the end of the day, the United States has built these tremendous trade imbalances over the last 30 or 40 years.
It's unfair to Americans and American workers and American, in addition, to threaten our industrial capacity, trade needed to be revisited. The
president campaigned on that, and that's what he's doing, and he's resetting it on a global scale.
If this was us targeting 10 countries or five countries, then I would understand why countries would be upset. But the truth of the matter is
we're resetting tariff levels with virtually every country in the world right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Right. That was Marco Rubio. Let's bring in CNN's Matt Egan from New York.
And you've been crunching some numbers for us. It's been another tariff and trade week, certainly full of rhetoric and potentially bluster. But you've
been looking at how these tariffs, as we understand them to date, might impact the U.S. economy. What have you got?
MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, one of the stated goals of the president's shock and awe campaign when it comes to tariffs is to
revive U.S. manufacturing jobs. And it's early, but this does seem to be off to a pretty slow start. The U.S. lost 7,000 manufacturing jobs in May
and in June. This was after very little change in manufacturing jobs in March and in April.
And when you look at manufacturing, hiring in the United States, it fell by 16 percent between April and May, and it dropped to the lowest level since
2016 back when President Barack Obama was in the White House.
Now, of course, this is notable because it's coming at a time when the United States does have sky high tariffs that are designed to prop up the
manufacturing industry, and economists and trade researchers, they tell me that not only has this tariff campaign failed to inspire a hiring boom, but
they believe it's actually backfired because the stop-start nature, all of the chaos and the haphazard application of tariffs, all of this has sowed
confusion and uncertainty.
And that's a problem because manufacturing executives, they need to have some level of confidence about where tariffs will be years from now. And
these days, it's hard to have any confidence about where tariffs are going to be at the end of the day, because there's been just this whirlwind of
activity and it's created a lot of instability.
This concern has played out in manufacturing surveys of executives. One manufacturing executive told the Institute for Supply Management, "The
tariff mess has utterly stopped sales globally and domestically. Everyone is on pause. Orders have collapsed."
And Becky, I would just note that I did reach out to the White House and they argued that the job loss was even steeper last year and that the
president's policies have already stopped some of the bleeding, and they're confident that in the long run, tariffs and tax cuts are going to help
revive manufacturing. We'll see -- Becky.
ANDERSON: What about these new threats on Canada, Matt?
EGAN: Yes. Another escalation here. The president saying that he's going to put a tariff of 35 percent on Canada starting August 1st. That is up from
the current level of 25 percent. Now, there was some uncertainty over which goods from Canada this applies to. But a White House official tells CNN
that this 35 percent tariff, the expectation is that it would only apply to goods that are not compliant with the USMCA trade agreement, and this would
also not apply to energy or to potash. Those goods currently face a 10 percent tariff level.
But still, this is a significant threat. Another significant threat, especially because Canada is really one of the most important trading
partners on the planet for the United States. It's one of the leading sources of inputs into imports into the U.S. It's a leading buyer of U.S.
goods. There's a lot of different goods that the United States gets from Canada, including autos and auto parts and energy and lumber and concrete.
So there is a lot at stake here.
But, Becky, as you sort of alluded to in the intro, we don't know at this point how serious this threat is. We don't know if the tariffs are going to
actually kick in.
ANDERSON: All right.
EGAN: And we do know that the president likes to use tariffs as a negotiating tool and a way to get leverage as these trade talks progress --
Becky.
[10:10:03]
ANDERSON: All right, Matt. Thank you.
And we will continue to keep an eye on the markets. And let's just bring those up very quickly. The markets have been open for about 40 minutes. And
certainly there is some sense of sort of insecurity by investors. These markets are off slightly.
Let's listen in now to U.S. President Donald Trump heading to Texas. This is what he said ahead of the trip.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We'll be there with some of the great families and others. The governor, everybody is going to be
there.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you plan to talk to the Brazilian president about the tariffs?
TRUMP: Maybe at some point I'll talk to him. Right now I'm not. They're treating President Bolsonaro very unfairly. He's a good man. You know I
know him well. I negotiated with him. He was a very tough negotiator, and I can tell you he was a very honest man, and he loved the people of Brazil.
He was a very tough guy to negotiate with.
I shouldn't like him because he was very tough and in negotiation. But he was also very honest. And I know the honest ones and I know the crooked
ones.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: In Canada, (INAUDIBLE)?
TRUMP: We're going to see. It was sent yesterday. They called. I think it was fairly well received, but it's what we need. So we'll see what happens.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The Russian drones hit a maternity hospital in Ukraine overnight.
TRUMP: I know. You'll be seeing things happening.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Now that you are going to Texas, are you planning on delivering any type of help for undocumented families that lost everything,
including their children?
TRUMP: I think we've done very well on immigration. We were given a very bad hand by Biden. He allowed 25 million people to come in totally
unchecked, unvetted. We're getting the criminals out and we're getting them out fast. The courts have ultimately done the right thing. Amazingly
they've really done the right thing, and they understand it's really the survival of our country.
It's a very important thing. We can't have like 11,888 murderers. And you know, something that you should have that you haven't reported, as you
know, 300,000 children are missing, right? 300,000 under Biden. We've already gotten back 10,000 of those children. And we have a lot more
planned to come back. We're getting them back by the thousands. But 300,000, and we've, as of this morning, over 10,000 we've gotten back.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What is your advice -- what is your advice to countries worldwide ahead of the upcoming tariff deadline?
TRUMP: Oh, I think just keep working hard. You know, we've been taken advantage of for many, many years by countries both, both friend and foe.
And frankly, the friends have been worse than the foes in many cases. So I would say just keep working. It's all going to work out.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Jerome Powell, the Fed chair.
TRUMP: No. I think he's doing a terrible job. I think we should be --
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Are you going to fire him?
TRUMP: No. I think we should be three points lower interest rate. He's costing our country a lot of money. We should be number one. And we're not.
And that's because of Jerome Powell. In terms of interest we are number one in the world. Look, I'll tell you a little simple, a little simple
language. One year ago our country was a dead country. We were going nowhere except down. We were the laughing stock all over the world.
And now we're the hottest country anywhere in the world. We're number one everywhere anywhere in the world. And that's all they're talking about is
our country. One year ago, it was a dead country. Now it's the hottest country anywhere in the world.
Thank you.
(CROSSTALK)
[10:15:20]
ANDERSON: All right. Donald Trump making some remarks on the lawn ahead of his trip down to Texas to see the effect impact of the devastating floods
there, along with Melania Trump. He made some comments both on what he expects when he gets down to Texas and what the sort of idea is there, but
also repeating his rhetoric on tariffs and trade, suggesting that, you know, people will come around to his way of thinking, talking about the
former president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, calling him a tough negotiator, didn't like him when he was negotiating with him, he said, Tough guy, but
he's -- he said, being treated very unfairly.
And that is, I guess, the reason that he is, he says he slapped a 50 percent tariff on Brazil at the moment, very much politicizing his tariff
rhetoric at present. Lula da Silva, of course, the current president there.
Right. Still to come, we will be joined by Texas congressman to discuss the Trump administration's response to the devastating floods ahead of the
president's arrival there a couple of hours or an hour or so from now. Plus new details on the harrowing Israeli airstrike that killed 15 Palestinians
waiting for medical supplies in Gaza.
You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson. Just after a quarter past 6:00 from our Middle East headquarters here in Abu Dhabi. Stay
with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Right. Hamas is accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of obstructing a temporary ceasefire deal in Gaza. That comes
just hours after Netanyahu delivered this message from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): At the beginning of the ceasefire, we will enter negotiations for a permanent end
of the war, meaning a permanent ceasefire. If it can't be achieved in 60 days of talks, we'll achieve it by other means, by using the power of our
heroic army.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, he also said Israel is not backing away from its original demands that Hamas must be disarmed and removed from political power. The
militant group has been demanding assurances that its ongoing truce talks with Israel would lead to negotiations about a permanent end to the war.
Well, meantime, the reality on the ground in Gaza is unimaginable as Israeli airstrikes continue unabated. Yesterday we brought you the breaking
news of an Israeli bombing near a medical clinic as civilians stood in line for supplies there.
[10:20:05]
And we've got more details about the victims of that strike. Many are young children. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has the full story. I've got to warn you,
though, the images that you are about to see in Jeremy's piece are graphic, and for some of you, they will be extremely difficult to watch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Children's screams pierced through the smoke filled air in central Gaza. But screams
alone cannot prepare you for the scale of the carnage unleashed by this Israeli airstrike.
This street is filled with the bodies of dead and injured children whose bodies are quickly loaded onto donkey carts. And then there are those
barely clinging to life like this woman splayed on the ground.
"They took my daughter," she says.
Her daughter's fate has already been sealed. In her bloodstained white dress, 4-year-old Aya is one of eight children killed in this strike. Aya
and her mother were among several families waiting to enter a health clinic run by Project Hope, an American nonprofit whose operations were known to
the Israeli military.
In her white dress, Aya is impossible to miss. Minutes later, two men walk by the clinic and then an explosion fills the air. That smoke is soon
replaced by an outpouring of grief.
"Not my sister. No, not my sister," this boy cries.
The Israeli military said it, quote, "regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals," and is reviewing the incident. It said it was targeting a
Hamas militant who infiltrated Israel during the October 7th attacks, but declined to provide his name.
These four children killed in the targeting of a single militant do have names. Amir, Mohammed, Yasmin and Aya, still in her bloodstained dress.
Mohammed, wearing a makeshift plastic diaper, is a testament to the desperate circumstances that brought his family to that clinic amid
shortages of diaper and baby formula.
"Speak to me," Amir's father pleads, hugging his son's lifeless body. His brother Nidal joins him in mourning, but he hasn't just lost a nephew. His
14-year-old daughter, Sama, was also killed.
"What happened is indescribable. It's a massacre. It's genocide. It's a crime against children," Nidal says. "My daughter woke up with a headache
and went to get checked at the clinic. Suddenly we heard the sound and came running to see all the children dead."
Sama's twin sister is inconsolable.
"Please wake her up. She is lying, I know her, I swear she's lying."
As one sister mourns another, a father pleads for it all to end.
"Sama is gone and the war is still ongoing," Nidal says. "May the war be gone with Sama."
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, as the bloodshed continues, Israeli officials are reportedly laying the groundwork for the process of expelling Palestinians
from the enclave. That is, according to local media, after Defense Minister Israel Katz briefed reporters earlier this week. He is reported to have
said that he directed the military to advance plans for what he calls a humanitarian city in a small area of southern Gaza, where Gaza's entire
population will eventually be held.
Katz then vowed to implement a plan first floated by U.S. President Donald Trump, to have the Palestinian population leave Gaza for other countries.
Human rights experts have heavily condemned such plans. One Israeli lawyer saying they could amount to a crime against humanity.
Well, there is a lot to unpack here. The question in this region where I am, I'm obviously in the Gulf, you know, when and how will this carnage
end. Well, I'm joined now by Edward Djerejian, the former U.S. ambassador to Israel.
And sir, it's good to have you with us. Thank you very much indeed for joining us. Let's start with that. Will we have a deal by the end of this
week, an end -- a deal by the end of next week? What's your sense at this point?
EDWARD DJEREJIAN, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL: Well, Becky, we simply don't know. We don't know what the real issues trying to be resolved are.
We do know that President Trump has sent Steve Witkoff off to negotiate the final deal. And they have stated that by the end of this week, there should
be a deal. But we'll see.
[10:25:02]
But you know what? If you take a look back, what strikes me is that this deal could have been made months ago. We're talking about fundamentally the
same issues on the table. Basically, the end of the war, a ceasefire, the release of the Israeli hostages, the release of Palestinian prisoners,
humanitarian assistance being put -- poured into Gaza, which is in desperate need as your -- your programs have underscored.
And then establishing a framework for the stabilization of Gaza, preferably with, of course, not with Hamas ruling, but with the Palestinian Authority
bolstered by the Gulf states to come in and in a transitional period, rebuild Gaza and then, and then, if we still have statecraft in our, in our
policy in the United States and elsewhere, to start putting down a political horizon to really address the key Israeli-Palestinian issue.
ANDERSON: Right. And you've argued that now is the time for a grand bargain in the Middle East, starting, of course, with the ending of the war in
Gaza. Next step, you say, is Israel halting annexation policies in the occupied West Bank and negotiating a two-state solution. Today, ironically,
marks the 25th anniversary of the Camp David summit, where a two-state solution was meant to be inked. Looking back now, it seems, well, it does
seem at least today, as if we're as far away as we have ever been.
Is that your assessment?
DJEREJIAN: Yes. I wrote this paper at Harvard, the Kennedy School, the Middle East Initiative, basically saying that, really addressed to the
Trump administration, saying that there is the potential for a grand bargain that would involve forward movement on Israeli-Palestinian front
and forward movement on the Iranian front. The two key poles of conflict in the Middle East. And in it, I argue that a political horizon has to be
established on the Israeli-Palestinian front and new elections are going to obviously have to take place in Israel and in Palestine to bring new
leadership that would be willing to negotiate a Israeli-Palestinian agreement and preferably a two-state solution.
The -- on the Iranian front, we've already seen the military actions taken by Israel in the United States on nuclear targets there. So the landscape
has shifted. But again, the deal with Iran would be to get it -- to never gain a nuclear weapon, to stop its support of this axis of resistance, and
fundamentally to agree to whatever the Palestinians can agree to with the Israelis and the peace settlement.
There is a grand bargain that could be made out there, Becky. Look, I've served eight U.S. presidents, from JFK to Bill Clinton. I know when our
country has stood tall and we use statecraft. We had -- we've had failures in our diplomatic approaches, but we've also had successes. After the Yom
Kippur War, where Israel again was surprised by the attack on Israel, by Egypt and Syria, the political landscape shifted after that war. And we had
the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty brokered by a local by Jimmy Carter, but with a Likud prime minister and Anwar Sadat.
Bush 41 and Secretary Baker, we did the Madrid conference with another Likud prime minister, right-wing prime minister, and got the Israelis to
the table with all of its Arab neighbors to discuss what, to discuss final status agreements on all fronts. Where have we seen this recently? All
we're talking about, as tragic as it is, as your program has just indicated, we're just talking about a ceasefire and temporary arrangements.
ANDERSON: Yes. So I spoke earlier this week to the Emirati diplomat Lana Nusseibeh, who had penned a piece in the "FT" suggesting or imploring that
a comprehensive agreement is what is needed across this region. And she really very much reflects what I'm hearing around the Gulf region. She
says, the time is now for leadership, quote, "Who will lead?" And again, you know, pushing Donald Trump this week, this was ahead of Netanyahu's
visit to Washington, to take that leadership role.
Now, what have you seen this week which might suggest that he is absolutely determined to do that? I mean, Netanyahu himself, you know, offering him a
letter at supper which was nominating him for a Nobel Peace Prize.
[10:30:04]
We know that Donald Trump would like that. And he's talked about ending forever wars. Is he the man to force an agreement in Gaza, an agreement on
a Palestinian state and a wider, broader Middle East agreement at this point?
DJEREJIAN I think that President Trump has the rare historic opportunity to bring the parties to the negotiating table using the influence of the
United States on all the parties, the Israelis and the Arabs, and to bring in our European partners at the right time to really put out a political
horizon, which is there. We've been negotiating these issues for years. The dossiers are in the State Department. They can be reopened and adapted to
current circumstances.
Becky, let me make one point here that many, many people just don't -- don't know the in between, and we've heard this trope, in between the
Jordan River and the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Here's my take on that trope. In between the Jordan River and the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, there
are 7.2 million Palestinian Arabs, including those in Gaza, and approximately the same number of Israeli Jews in that narrow land.
Neither one is going anywhere. Even the extremists on both sides, be it Hamas can get -- cannot get rid of the Israeli Jews. And the most extreme
Israeli, extremists like Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, who want to expel the Palestinians from the West Bank and annex the biblical land of Judea and
Samaria, they can't get rid of 7.2 million Arabs. So the only way forward is statecraft, diplomacy to gain a two-state solution.
And the United States and President Trump has the power and the influence if they have the wisdom to put out a political horizon that will seek out
the common ground between the parties and go for the big picture. Where have we seen an initiative on Israeli peace? The last one, Camp David,
ended in failure, but it was an attempt.
ANDERSON: Yes.
DJEREJIAN The Obama administration tried it in 2014. Ehud Olmert, a Likud prime minister, put forward a very positive plan. But we have to get back
to the dealing with conflict resolution and not just managing the crisis.
ANDERSON: Right. And this crisis needs a solution which needs partners for peace. And at this point, those partners for peace are still a big question
mark.
I'm going to have to leave it there, but we really appreciate your time, sir. Thank you very much indeed for joining us.
And still to come, Palestinian student activist Mahmoud Khalil speaks to CNN about the horrific conditions he says he faced in an ICE detention
center. That interview is just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:35:44]
ANDERSON: Welcome back. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson. Time here in Abu Dhabi is just after half past 6:00. In fact,
it's about 25 to 7:00.
Headlines, Ukrainian officials say at least 10 people were killed and dozens wounded in Russian strikes over the past 24 hours. Kharkiv's mayor
says a maternity hospital was evacuated after it was struck overnight. A new U.N. report shows that June saw the highest number of civilians killed
or injured in Ukraine in three years.
Well, Hamas is accusing the Israeli prime minister of obstructing a ceasefire deal as negotiations continue in Qatar. On the ground in Gaza,
more than 500 Palestinians have been killed this week by Israeli attacks, according to local health officials there.
U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump on their way to Texas now to tour areas impacted by last week's catastrophic flooding. His
administration is defending itself against criticism of efforts to downsize federal emergency preparedness. The floods killed at least 121 people, with
160 still missing.
While all eyes are on Texas, the Trump administration continues to face heavy criticism over the handling of the flooding disaster. It's also
getting backlash over his approach to Congress. My next guest writes, quote, "Desperate to protect his obedient GOP majorities, lock on Congress
and anxious that many GOP will lose, Trump directed Governor Abbott to find three to five new Texas Congress members through more crooked
gerrymandering. It is the latest power grab that citizens must rise up and resist."
And joining us now live from Austin, Texas, is Representative Lloyd Doggett.
And I wonder if we can just start with you explaining quite what you meant there.
REP. LLOYD DOGGETT (D-TX): On that post, well, we're about to have Trump directed gerrymandering of Texas. Republicans already have more
representation out of Texas than they deserve. But he's going to try to come in with A.I. and draw a very narrow districts to add to his majority
in the House, because he's desperate, recognizing that with all the bad votes they've cast, he's about to lose control of the House.
That would give us, as Democrats, the power to subpoena, the power to affect appropriations, the power to push back against Trump's drive to
tyranny.
ANDERSON: OK. Well, thank you for explaining that. Let's talk about Trump's trip to the U.S. state of Texas today. He is there to observe the damage
from these catastrophic floods, to meet survivors and to talk to officials.
You said recently, and I quote you, "I've been sounding the alarm about the danger to Central Texans from the Trump staffing cuts and hiring freeze at
the National Weather Service and NOAA."
Look, the White House has pushed back hard on suggestions that its policies weakened the government's defenses against such disaster threats. The White
House press secretary said in response, quote, "Many Democrat elected officials are trying to turn this into a political game, and it is not,"
she said earlier this week. "This is a national tragedy."
How do you, how do you respond to a suggestion that, you know, you know, you and others are turning this into a political game? It's not, says the
White House.
DOGGETT: Well, first, it is a national tragedy in this day and time with the technology we have to lose hundreds of people, including many children,
to a flood is totally unacceptable. The failure was not only at the federal level, it was with Republican government at the local level and at the
state level as well. And no one wants to accept accountability.
To have the Trump administration talk about politically exploiting a tragedy is almost a joke. How short the memory of when he was interfering
in making false conspiracy claims in North Carolina on flooding there in the past.
I've called for an investigation. I've called for some accountability because I think the cutbacks at the National Weather Service, at the
Federal Emergency Management Administration, are cutbacks that had a direct effect on this.
[10:40:12]
The night of this tragedy, the first flood warning came to people at 1:14 in the morning. The emergency declaration came at 4:03, when cabins were
already floating down the river. I have concerns that the meteorologist, who was responsible for working with local entities, had been retired by
the Trump administration. That a hydrologist who's responsible for rainfall and rain absorption was not there.
ANDERSON: All right.
DOGGETT: So it's those absences plus the delays of the FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Administration.
ANDERSON: Yes.
DOGGETT: That really had a negative impact.
ANDERSON: You have been very critical of Governor Greg Abbott, who, when asked who was to blame for the deadly flooding at a news conference
yesterday, said, and I quote, "Every football team makes mistakes. The losing teams are the ones that try to point out who's to blame. The way
winners talk is not to point fingers. They talk about solutions. What Texas is about is solutions."
I mean, you were very critical. You said, "This isn't a game. People's lives are at stake, and the losers are the ones that don't learn from
mistakes, that don't hold people accountable. In this case, I think there are accountability issues at every level of government."
Can you just, can you just explain further?
DOGGETT: Sure. I think that last part is the key point, because if we don't lose from our mistakes, just as a sports team has to learn from its
mistakes for the next season, if we don't make those mistakes again, if we fail to recognize and we make the same mistakes again, then the next
hurricane, the next tornado, the next firestorm will lead to many lives being lost unnecessarily, just as happened here in Texas.
This administration doesn't believe in accountability on anything. You never hear the Trump administration that it has made the slightest mistake.
It's always someone else's fault. In this case, there is fault to go around at every level of Republican government, from the county to the state to
the federal level. And what we need to be looking at is not blame, but accountability and how it is you learn from the mistakes and ensure they
don't happen again.
I think these terrible cutbacks that have been made that -- by the Trump administration, all against the background of his continued climate denial
and failure to recognize that the climate is changing so rapidly around the world that we have weather intensification much heavier rainfall occurring
here.
ANDERSON: All right.
DOGGETT: All those things Trump has failed to do and refuses to be held accountable. He's coming to Texas too late with too little.
ANDERSON: Right. Well, you are in Austin in Texas, Representative Lloyd Doggett. Thank you very much indeed for joining us ahead of Trump's arrival
there in the state.
Well, protesters -- I'm going to get you to a very short break. Back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:45:11]
ANDERSON: The Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil has filed a $20 million claim for damages against the Trump administration after being detained by
ICE for 104 days. A federal judge ordered his release from custody last month, saying the government's actions were likely unconstitutional. Well,
the Columbia University graduate was detained for deportation as part of President Trump's crackdown on student activists for alleged ties to
terrorist organizations. Khalil calls the allegations, quote, "absurd."
He talked about his time in detention with CNN's Christiane Amanpour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: I just spoke to Mahmoud Khalil in the first interview he's given to CNN since being
released from detention. He was arrested in March, as you know, as part of the Trump agenda against elite universities, against freedom of speech.
Also, its immigration and deportation agenda, all couched in combating antisemitism.
Khalil told me about the conditions of his ICE detention cell in Louisiana. And they were pretty bad. He also told me about what it was like to miss a
key moment in anybody's family life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAHMOUD KHALIL, DETAINED BY ICE FOR 104 DAYS: The moment you enter such facilities, such ICE facilities, you would -- your rights literally stay
outside. On the inside as you would expect, the food was as close as could be to inedible. I had to switch to vegetarian because the meat was -- I
threw up like after, after I ate the meat there. It was so cold. We had to ask for more blankets, but no one would answer us our requests.
AMANPOUR: You missed the birth of your first child, a boy. Everybody was very concerned about your wife who is an American citizen there without
you. What was that like? And then what was it like when you were first able to hold your child for the first time?
KHALIL: Missing the birth of my child I think that was the most difficult moment in my life. Especially because, like, this could have been avoided.
We put so many requests to be able to attend that moment. And I will not -- I don't think I would be able to forgive them for taking that moment away
from me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AMANPOUR: So Khalil was never charged. He is concerned about his future, of course, but he keeps talking up for the rights of Palestinians, especially
with the focus of what is happening and has been happening in Gaza. He also insists that amongst the protesters that he was with, there was a Jewish
contingent, of course, based on what he said, their Jewish values, he denied absolutely any charges of antisemitism.
You can watch the full interview online at CNN.com/Amanpour.
Back to you guys.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: And that's Christiane. And CNN Digital has more content from her interview with Mahmoud Khalil. We invite you to check that out. And we will
be back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:50:02]
ANDERSON: Finally tonight, this was meant to be Benjamin Netanyahu's big week in Washington. Trump had forecast that by the end of it, we could see
an initial ceasefire deal, a 60-day pause in fighting in exchange for the release of hostages. But as of this moment, no deal.
The key question now is whether the political will exists to land a deal, one that will end the war in Gaza and pave the way to broader peace.
Well, I started this week by speaking with senior Emirati diplomat Lana Nusseibeh who represents a key regional perspective. But now is the time to
go for the big prize, as it were, a comprehensive Middle East peace deal. That would mean the region expanding ties with Israel, as well as a path
towards a Palestinian state.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LANA NUSSEIBEH, UAE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPECIAL ENVOY: An expanded Abraham Accords in the region, an integrated Israel in the region, an integrated
Iran in the region, and states that are focused on economic development, prosperity, jobs for their youth and a non-extremist ideology as the basis
of their state building.
So there is a comprehensive plan that we need to be thinking about. Just managing the conflict is what we've been doing for decades. It hasn't
worked, Becky, and that's why we're talking about let's go for the longer term picture.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, she penned a piece in the "Financial Times" where she asked, quote, "The time for a comprehensive deal is now. The question is,
who will dare lead the way?"
Well, her resounding answer is Donald Trump. But is he up to the task? Or is he, as "The Economist" puts it, quote, "Trump will have to keep up the
pressure on both sides. And the would-be peacemaker-in-chief is not known for his attention span."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NETANYAHU: I want to present to you, Mr. President, the letter I sent to the Nobel Prize Committee. It's nominating you for the Peace Prize.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Could the allure of a Nobel Peace Prize help keep Trump focused? Maybe. When it comes to the Israeli prime minister, he is signaling he
would discuss a permanent end to the war. There are those serious doubts about his interest in peace.
I spoke to a man who's been in his shoes before, former prime minister Ehud Olmert, who said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EHUD OLMERT, FORMER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Netanyahu prefers his political priorities and political interests, unfortunately, regrettably, over the
national interests of the state of Israel. So the question is, what is Netanyahu after? Is he after a greater Israel? Is he after deporting the
Gazans? Is he after continuing the war? Is he after losing the hostages? Is he after maybe causing the deaths of many non-involved Palestinians?
Is he after of expelling the West Bankers, the Palestinian West Bankers in order to allow the settlement movement of Ben-Gvir and Smotrich to settle
more and more in the West Bank? Or is he after peace?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, there was a less than promising sign from Netanyahu on that when he was asked about a future Palestinian state on Monday. Have a
listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NETANYAHU: We'll work out a peace with our Palestinian neighbors, those who don't want to destroy us, and we'll work out a peace in which our security,
the sovereign power of security, always remains in our hands. Now people will say it's not a complete state. It's not a state. It's not that. We
don't care.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Who else might dare to lead the way for a comprehensive Middle East peace. Well, it comes to the Europeans, "The Economist's" Gregg
Carlstrom has this to say, quote, "European officials are now basically think tank analysts. They can make assessments and maybe convene some two-
track dialogues. But they're otherwise irrelevant to the outcome."
Well, as for the Arab world, there is certainly enormous political will, certainly from the Gulf leaders I speak to here in the region where there
is an existential drive for peace and security.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Before our eyes, a new generation of leaders is transcending the ancient conflicts of tired divisions of the past and forging a future where
the Middle East is defined by commerce, not chaos, where it exports technology, not terrorism, and where people of different nations, religions
and creeds are building cities together, not bombing each other out of existence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: That was the speech Donald Trump made in region, of course, back in May. That was in Riyadh there praising the Gulf's vision for peace
during his visit. A vision where it appears the buck stops with him.
[10:55:01]
Olmert told me he sees only one real option to achieve any breakthroughs here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OLMERT: If the president will decide to use his authority and to exercise it in a very explicit manner, saying to Netanyahu, just the end has come
and you have to stop the war now so that the hostages will be released and the ceasefire agreement will be achieved. If he will decide to do it, I am
almost certain that he can do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, ultimately, as we watch to see whether political will and focus can will prevail, almost 300, or sorry, let me say that again. Almost
3,000 people have been killed in Gaza over the past month, according to health officials. At least 500 of them this past week.
We're on day 643 of this conflict. The hostages remain in captivity and the suffering of millions inside Gaza only grows more desperate. Still, there
is hope in this region for an end to the bloodshed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NUSSEIBEH: I think the message to all people in the region today is that we all want to extend our hand in peace to the countries of this region. Our
populations are tired of conflict and war. We have seen too much devastation across the region.
As my op-ed outlined, there is no military solution in the end to defeating extremist ideology. We do need to defeat it, but there isn't a military
victory that will get you that. There's no iron wall strategy that gets you that security you're looking for. So we need to provide a better
alternative, a better option, a better idea.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: I'm Becky Anderson. That is it for CONNECT THE WORLD.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
