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Early Start with Rahel Solomon
Trump Takes Victory Lap In Iowa Ahead Of Megabill Signing; Holiday Travel; Russia's War On Ukraine; Israel-Hamas War. Aired 4- 4:30a ET
Aired July 04, 2025 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:30]
MJ LEE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to our viewers joining us from the United States and all around the world. Rahel Solomon is off, I'm MJ Lee. It's Friday, July 4, 2025, Independence Day here in the US. It's 4:00am here in Washington, D.C.
And straight ahead on Early Start.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: Not one Democrat voted for us. And I think we use it in the campaign that's coming up, the midterms.
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): This disgusting abomination, the GOP tax scam. Millions of Americans will lose their health care.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sunday will be the biggest at airports. That's when TSA anticipates screening 2.9 million people at airports nationwide. Pretty close to the all time high.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was so shocked, I sprung out of bed immediately and I couldn't believe it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEE: President Trump is set to celebrate Independence Day today in the US by signing his massive tax and spending bill into law. Lawmakers in the House finally approved the measure on Thursday after a marathon overnight session. Republican leaders had to convince a handful of who holdouts to change their votes.
President Trump bragged about the bill during a rally in Des Moines, Iowa on Thursday, calling it a phenomenal victory for the American people. He also railed against Democrats who opposed the cuts, deep cuts to social safety net programs, including food assistance and Medicaid.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Not one Democrat voted for us. And I think we use it in the campaign that's coming up, the midterms, because we got to beat them. But all of the things that we've given and they wouldn't vote only because they hate Trump. But I hate them, too, you know that?
So it's sort of -- I really do, I hate them. I cannot stand them because I really believe they hate our country. You want to know the truth?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEE: More now from CNN's Jeff Zeleny traveling with the President in Iowa.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: President Trump celebrated the passage of his landmark policy bill Thursday night at this rally in Des Moines, Iowa. The President returning to the Fairgrounds in Iowa, of course, the birthplace of his political rise from 10 ago. He said he kept all of his campaign promises that are now turned into law.
TRUMP: There could be no better birthday present for America than the phenomenal victory we achieved just hours ago when Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill to make America great again. With this bill, every major promise I made to the people of Iowa in 2024 became a promise kept.
ZELENY: The victory lap coincided with the President celebrating America 250, marking a year long moment, the 250th birthday celebration of the United States that he said will culminate next year into a series of American state fairs, finally with an event on the National Mall. With the President also marking an extraordinary two weeks of his presidency, beginning with the strike on the Iranian nuclear facilities, as well as a big Supreme Court win and, of course, that landmark legislative victory as well.
The pilots who flew that mission will be on hand at the White House on Friday as the President signs his landmark bill into law. And he's also talking about what he believes is a moment where he has more power for the rest of his presidency.
He, of course, touted his strong support in the Republican Party, only losing two votes in the House of Representatives, three votes in the United States Senate. But now the race to define this bill is well underway, effectively ringing the opening bell of the 2026 midterm election campaign. Democrats are seizing on many of the policy items in the bill, even as the President celebrates it as the biggest bill history has ever seen. Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Des Moines.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEE: House Speaker Mike Johnson says he doesn't think any of the Republican holdouts got any specific commitments from President Trump to change their minds, and he took a victory lap of his own for getting the legislation through so quickly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), US HOUSE SPEAKER: Everything was an absolute disaster under the Biden-Harris radical woke progressive Democrat regime. And we took the best effort that we could in One Big, Beautiful Bill to fix as much of it as we could. And I am so grateful to God that we got that done as we did because of the dedication.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[04:05:12]
LEE: Max Yoeli is a Senior Research Fellow in the US and the Americas Programme at Chatham House. He joins me live from London now. Max, it's great to see you.
This was a major legislative victory for President Trump. And core to this bill is the extension of his 2017 tax cuts. Let's talk about that first. Who is going to benefit the most and what is the economic impact?
MAX YOELI, SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW, US AND THE AMERICAS PROGRAMME- CHATHAM HOUSE: Well, it's good to be with you. And I think the passage of President Trump's landmark legislative agenda will reshape the political and economic environment heading into the 2026 midterms and beyond. And as you rightly noted, at the heart of this bill is the extension of his 2017 tax cuts.
And I think there are two particularly striking aspects of the extension of that tax cut and the addition of some new tax cuts as well. First is the deficit impact. So the US Fiscal trajectory is already in not a great place, with the country spending more on interest on its debt than national defense.
This bill adds over $3 trillion to that debt over the next 10 years, with some estimates pushing it towards $4 trillion or even $5.5 trillion if the provisions are made permanent over time. I think the second point with respect to the extension of the 2017 tax cuts is the really stark distributional impact. And what I mean by that is the benefits of these tax cut extensions accrue largely to those at the top of the income and wealth spectrum, while those at the bottom of the spectrum, those who are more vulnerable, will actually become less well off, in particular as they suffer cuts to significant health and food benefits. With some 12 million Americans estimated to lose health care coverage under the bill.
LEE: And, you know, in his marathon speech on the House floor yesterday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said this about the so-called Big Beautiful Bill. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFFRIES: I rise today in strong opposition to Donald Trump's one big ugly bill, this disgusting abomination, the GOP tax scam. Millions of Americans who are eligible, who are hardworking, who are deserving, will lose their health care.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LEE: Tell us, Max, how we can understand the impact on people who depend on Medicaid and food assistance programs, which are all about to see some really serious cuts, as you mentioned.
YOELI: Yes. I think you're looking at a very deleterious impact for some of the Americans who are least well-positioned to bear additional burdens in their lives. The addition of work requirements on medical benefits, for instance, is something that in the past has been shown to not increase work, but to increase suffering, to worsen health outcomes.
So I think Congressman Jeffries is right to highlight that impact and that disparity. And furthermore, I think the fact that he spent eight or nine hours on the House floor decrying this bill is evidence of what Democrats see as a political opportunity. This is a bill that has pulled generally underwater, being less popular than it is popular. And I think the more voters learn about the bill, they seem to like it less and less.
So Democrats seem to be making a political bet that as the politics and the policy of this bill play out over the coming months and years, as some of the effects become more apparent, that this will be an asset to them going into the midterms, especially with their Republican colleagues on the record taking some really difficult votes that will hurt their constituents or drive up energy prices or put the United States in a more vulnerable fiscal situation. So I think this really is kind of the starting gun for the 2026 midterm fight, and we're already seeing that messaging battle play out.
LEE: You also mentioned earlier the $3.3 trillion that the CBO says will be added to the national deficit over 10 years. And, you know, just because Republicans used an accounting gimmick to pretend that's not the reality doesn't mean that the national debt is going away. Help us understand what exactly this will end up doing to the fiscal health of the country.
YOELI: I think it's useful to look at the 2017 tax cut as a comparison point. You know, then the conversation around the addition to the deficit was very different because interest rates were so much lower. Today, interest rates are about three times what they were during the passage of that bill. So it's more expensive to service the United States ample debt.
This bill will balloon the deficit and create a new vulnerability for the United States going forward, because the $3.3 trillion spent on this bill is fiscal space that cannot then be spent on future national priorities, on emergencies. And I think at a time when the United States is pushing partners and allies around the world away, giving international investors reason for skepticism that the foundations of the US economy that make it such a desirable place to invest are what they have always been, it's a dangerous time to give investors one more reason to look at the United States with skepticism.
[04:10:23]
And in terms of the accounting gimmick you mentioned, for Congress to essentially extend tax cuts pretending that they are costless using the gimmick that they used sets a really unfortunate precedent that Congresses of either party can then use going forward to pass really expansive, far reaching legislation without considering fully the fiscal impact. So this is setting a damaging precedent and I think really mortgaging the future of the United States fiscally for what will ultimately prove to be quite a modest growth bump in the short term.
LEE: Max Yoeli in London, thank you so much for that discussion.
YOELI: Thank you.
LEE: Millions of Americans are expected to travel this holiday weekend. The American Automobile Association predicts more than 72 million people will be on the move. CNN's Pete Muntean takes a look at what you can expect at airports and on the road this weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: You might think of this as only a driving holiday but it's also huge for air travel. The FAA says Thursday will be the biggest of the rush in terms of the number of flights in the air. The TSA says when this rush is over, it'll screen a total of 18.5 million people at airport checkpoints nationwide.
Sunday will be the biggest at airports. That's when TSA anticipates screening 2.9 million people at airports nationwide. Pretty close to the all time high when TSA screened 3.1 million people on June 22, right after the Juneteenth holiday.
Here are the busiest airports of this weekend, according to travel site Hopper, Atlanta, Dallas, Fort Worth, Denver, Chicago, O'Hare and LAX, but pretty hard to avoid those because some of those are huge hubs for airlines. It'll also be hard to avoid the traffic on the roads.
Leave early in the morning or late at night because AAA says nationwide another 1.3 million people will drive 50 miles or more compared to the last July 4th rush. Maybe because summer gas prices are the lowest they've been since 2021. The nationwide average down about 35 cents compared to a year ago.
Independence Day falling on a Friday this year, also making things interesting. Technically, that's when the federal holiday is observed. But a lot of people are getting a jump on things early. Wednesday was forecast to be the busiest day on the roads before the holiday, but we are not out of the woods yet.
AAA says Sunday will be the busiest on the roads after the holiday. The advice from AAA, avoid the afternoon rush. In general, the worst times are between 2:00 PM and 6:00 PM so try to hit it before noon. Much after that, best to wait until 8:00 or 9: 00 at night.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEE: New York and DC will get some near perfect weather for the holiday weekend, but in parts of the Southeast, the tropical system is threatening to spoil the fun. CNN Derek Van Dam has more.
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Parades, picnics, barbecues and fireworks, doesn't get much more Fourth of July than that. But let's add in at least going to the beach as part of your options this weekend. We have something that could maybe put a hamper on your outdoor plans, especially if you're located across the Southeast.
Take note of that swirling mass of shower and thunderstorm activity. We're watching that for potential tropical mischief. More on that in just a moment. But let's head to the Gulf Coast where the water temperatures are like bathwater. We're talking upwards of 84 to 86 degrees from the beaches near Galveston all the way to Destin.
The good news out of this forecast, we should generally stay dry. But it's a different story across the Florida peninsula with this kind of tropical entity meandering nearby. This could bring some heftier rain showers across the Florida Peninsula, so that could impact your outdoor plans.
Tampa, Jacksonville to Miami. But more of a concern here is across the Carolinas. Check this out. Myrtle Beach, Charleston, even as far south as Savannah, depending on how this system develops in the coming days, that will certainly bring the potential here for heavy rain, strong gusty winds and the potential for rip currents as well. So be careful along these beaches.
The further north we travel along the Eastern Seaboard, conditions settle down and we look prime. In fact, optimal for places like Atlantic City as well as Virginia Beach. Now we know that Mother Nature has had its own fireworks display here the past couple of days across the Northeast, but we will settle things down for the big show.
The Fourth of July fireworks displays along the east coast, at least from DC to New York and Boston, should stay dry. Maybe a few showers and thunderstorms popping up across the Midwest. But here's a detailed outlook for your fireworks forecasts.
Here's New York City, the Big Apple. You can see a dry looking outlook for one of the most beautiful fireworks displays in my humble opinion. DC looking good as well. So maybe you can watch that on CNN later tonight. But the good news is these two locations should stay dry.
[04:15:10]
Now, this southeast tropical entity that I talked about, well, it's all thanks to a trailing cold front that's kind of stalled out over this region. And depending on exactly how the winds develop around this area of low pressure, we can start to see that counterclockwise spin. If we get enough of that, this could maybe potentially work its way into a depression or weak tropical storm.
So we'll monitor this closely for the beaches of the Carolina's rip current risk, certainly a threat, not to mention the potential for strong gusty winds and brief heavy downpours. Back to you.
LEE: Still ahead, Russia launches a record number of attack drones at Ukraine, prompting many people in Kyiv to take shelter underground. What we know about the latest assault after the break. Plus, the US President says he's not happy after a phone call with his Russian counterpart. Details on their conversation and the efforts for a ceasefire in Ukraine next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:20:30]
LEE: Ukraine's Air Force says Russia launched a record number of attack drones and missiles at the country overnight. Thousands of residents spent the night in shelters, including in subway stations or underground parking lots as explosions and the sound of drones echoed through the city during the attack, which lasted 13 hours. Ukraine's military says Russia launched nearly 540 drones plus 11 ballistic and cruise missiles in the early hours of Friday. The mayor of Kyiv says at least 23 people were wounded.
The massive attack came just hours after Ukraine's president said a US company will produce hundreds of thousands of drones this year for the country. This comes as the Trump administration pauses some weapons shipments to Ukraine. President Trump earlier gave an update on his efforts to get a ceasefire in Ukraine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I'm speaking to President Zelenskyy tomorrow, early in the morning. And yes, I'm very disappointed with the conversation I had today with President Putin, because I don't think he's there. I don't think he's there. And I'm very disappointed.
Well, it's not -- I'm just saying I don't think he's looking to stop and that's too bad. This is Biden. This isn't me. This is Biden's war. It wouldn't have happened if I were president. It wouldn't have happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEE: Those comments came after President Trump said on Thursday that he did not make any progress toward a ceasefire during his lengthy talk with Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to Russian state media, President Trump talked about ending the war in Ukraine as early as possible. The Kremlin quoted President Putin saying he would continue to try to solve what he called the "root causes" of Russia's so-called special military operation in Ukraine.
More now on President Trump's call with Vladimir Putin from CNN's Kristen Holmes at the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The White House did not provide any sort of readout of this call. However, President Trump, stopping to talk to reporters, said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: We had a call. It was a pretty long call. We talked about a lot of things, including Iran. And we also talked about, as you know, the war with Ukraine, and I'm not happy about that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, impressed by a reporter if he had made any progress in terms of a Ukraine ceasefire, President Trump said they didn't make any progress at all. But again, no real readout from the White House or the President about what happened on this call.
However, the Kremlin said that President Trump did bring up ending any kind of military action in Ukraine on Putin's part as soon as possible, which is something that Putin pushed back on, essentially saying that they would not be doing that, saying they were going to be sticking to their goals that addressed the root cause of the issues. The Kremlin clarifying that meant that nothing was going to change in terms of their posture when it came to Ukraine.
One thing that didn't come up on the call, we are told, is the fact that the United States has paused some shipments of munitions to Ukraine. That has been part of a notable shift that we have seen from the White House, from the Pentagon. However, White House officials said that this was part of a review that looked at all of military spending, looked at all of the aid that the United States provides to other foreign nations as part of where they are going for President Trump's agenda.
But very interesting to see here this call much shorter than what we saw the first time around. And also President Trump, he is seemingly growing frustrated with his inability to solve the crisis in Ukraine. He said so as much that he had made, again, no progress in today's call. Kristen Holmes, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEE: CNN's Matthew Chance has more now on what information we can glean from the call between Presidents Trump and Putin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: It's the sixth call that we know about that the two leaders have had. Nothing really substantial seems to have come out of it, except you get a sort of growing sense of the sort of quite courteous relationship between these two political leaders, President Trump of the United States and President Putin of Russia.
[04:25:02]
But according to the readout from the Kremlin, they said that the issue of ending the military campaign in Ukraine, Russia's military campaign there, was raised pretty quickly in the conversation. But that Vladimir Putin essentially pushed back on it and said, look, we're not going to do that until we've achieved our objectives, our goals, the root causes, as he calls them.
That's usually code in Russia for, you know, them ending any form of NATO expansion in the country and also taking over the areas that they've already formally annexed, although not yet completely control inside Ukraine. And so look, I mean, essentially there was pushback from the Kremlin to the White House, to President Trump, about this idea of them bringing to an end in short order the conflict in Ukraine.
And from the White House side, doesn't seem to have been much in terms of consequences for that kind of defiance, that Kremlin defiance. Trump has not, for instance, increased sanctions or he doesn't seem to have threatened Vladimir Putin with any consequences for his refusal to stage a ceasefire, for instance.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEE: US President Donald Trump says Hamas will probably respond within 24 hours to the latest ceasefire plan for Gaza. He made the statement hours ago as headed back to the White House from a rally in Iowa. Hamas says it will announce its decision after consulting with other Palestinian factions. The group didn't say how long that will take.
We're also learning about details about the US proposal, which Israel has already accepted. A source familiar with the plan says it includes five hostage releases over 60 days. It also includes a surge of desperately needed aid into Gaza. And Israeli troops would withdraw from most of the territory, but would remain in the Philadelphia corridor along Gaza's border with Egypt.
The US Ambassador to Israel says the White House is hoping the cease fire is already a done deal, but he's still urging Hamas to say yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE HUCKABEE, US AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL: Let's hope that they finally come to their senses and that they recognize that it's time to let all the hostages go, all of them. Both Israel and the United States are on the same page when it comes to wanting to see all of this concluded.
And for the hostages to return to their families as well as for this conflict to end that has had so much suffering, not only to the people of Israel, but also to the civilian population in Gaza.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEE: In the last hour, we spoke with Alon Pinkas, the former Israeli consul general in New York, and he told us the ceasefire agreement could have and should have been already signed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALON PINKAS, FORMER ISRAELI CONSUL GENERAL IN NEW YORK: This agreement is exactly identical to the one that was violated in January. And it is identical to the three drafts that presidential envoy Steve Witkoff provided the sides throughout April and May. So it's really unfortunate, tragic that it's only now being considered.
Now, Israel accepted it. Hamas, by all indications, is accepting it. The problem that seems to be the only hurdle before this is concluded is Hamas's demands for some kind of American guarantees that the war, unlike the January agreement, which was violated by Israel in March, that this to provide that the US -- i'm sorry, will provide guarantees that there will be a permanent ceasefire following those 60 days.
Now, we can delve into the details and bore our viewers to death, but there is a simple truth here. Not only did this agreement -- not only had this agreement could have been signed months ago, it could have been signed last week. But it is waiting for Mr. Netanyahu's trip to Washington so he and Mr. Trump can thump their chests and high five each other for this achievement.
It's dreadful because you just saw in your report what this protraction leads to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEE: Despite the prospect of an agreement, Israeli strikes in Gaza are not letting up. Palestinian officials say dozens of people were killed on Thursday. Some of them were simply looking for food. Others had found temporary shelter after having to leave their homes. Paula Hancocks reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Smoke rises from the remnants of this school turned shelter. An Israeli airstrike killed at least 15 people here in the early hours of Thursday, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, a scene described as harrowing by medics on the ground.
We went to put out the fire to reach the victims, this eyewitness says. The bodies were boiling from the fire. These rockets struck them. They destroyed children, turned them into corpses.
