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Isa Soares Tonight
Massive Search and Rescue Underway In Texas After Devastating Floods; Trump Lashes Out at Putin; Trump To Meet Netanyahu Again Tuesday; Katz Orders Plans For Mass Relocation; Trump and Netanyahu To Meet Again; 60 Plus Killed in Israeli Airstrike in Gaza Today; Death Toll Rises To 108 In Texas Floods; President Macron Begins State Visit To U.K. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired July 08, 2025 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:00]
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, HOST, ISA SOARES TONIGHT: A very warm welcome to the show, everyone, I'm Christina Macfarlane in for ISA SOARES TONIGHT. A
massive rescue operation is underway in Texas as rescuers search for survivors following deadly floods. We'll have an update from the ground.
Then Donald Trump uses some surprising language when talking about his Russian counterparts. What's causing the U.S. President to lash out at
Vladimir Putin? Plus, a second White House visit. Soon, Mr. Trump will meet with Benjamin Netanyahu again as U.S. -- the U.S. continues pushing for a
Gaza ceasefire deal. We'll have those details.
First, devastation and a demand for answers. At least, 108 people have died from the catastrophic floods in Texas, and a massive search effort is
underway in the hopes of finding more survivors. As the death toll rises, key questions remain unanswered. What actions did Kerr County officials
take to warn residents?
And why wasn't there an organized evacuation effort before the Guadalupe River overflowed its banks? A short time ago, the sheriff of Kerr County
had this to say about the timeline.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY LEITHA, SHERIFF, KERR COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: We're in the process of trying to put a timeline. You know, that's going to take a little bit of
time. As I've told you several times, that is not my priority at this time. There's three priorities, that's locating the people out there, identifying
and notifying the next of kin. That is what I'm taking as my job as sheriff here to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Well, Kerr County officials also say five Camp Mystic campers and one counselor remain unaccounted for. We know that at least, 27 campers
and counselors there were killed. Later this evening, we expect to hear from Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Well, Gustavo Valdes is tracking the
ongoing search efforts.
He joins us now from Hunt, Texas. Gustavo, before we get to those questions of accountability, rescue efforts are continuing where you are, they're
clearly on the ground in the hope of finding survivors. But those hopes are dwindling. Just talk us through some of the difficulties those search and
rescue teams are facing there due to the conditions.
GUSTAVO VALDES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is very difficult just to walk in the area. Behind me, that's the Guadalupe River. That would be the natural flow
of this river, but you can see all the debris that was left as the current grew, as the level of the river rose and the force of the water really just
pulled everything. There are areas in which we've seen as far as a 100 meters away from what normal banks --
MACFARLANE: Unfortunately, as you can see there, we have lost Gustavo's life. But we will attempt to get him back for us within the hour. Well,
let's turn now to my next guest is Samantha Elfmont from the World Central Kitchen. Her team is providing fresh, hot meals to families impacted by the
disaster as well as emergency responders.
She's joining us now from Kerrville, Texas. Thank you so much for your time. I know how busy you are in this moment. You're, of course, on the
ground there helping the community. Just talk to us about what you're seeing, the biggest needs that are there right now, and the type of the
people that you're helping.
SAMANTHA ELFMONT, DIRECTOR, RESPONSE, WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN: Absolutely, thanks for having us. I quite literally pulled over on the side of the road
to make sure that I could talk to everyone, as I just delivered meals here to local residents along with our ground team while my heart is breaking,
especially as a mom, myself, as the search continues with a six and nine year-old myself.
We also want to make sure we're taking care of them, but also the first responders in the local residents. So, I'm here in Kerrville, heading to
Hunt now, and I know connectivity there is going down as well.
MACFARLANE: Yes, well, we really appreciate you pulling --
ELFMONT: So, we're here on this side providing --
MACFARLANE: Yes, we really appreciate you pulling over on the side of the road. In terms of the food need there and what you're seeing, how much
longer do you think you're going to need to continue providing assistance?
ELFMONT: So, what we say at World Central Kitchen is we are there when mouths need us.
[14:05:00]
So, we are there. We don't leave until where there no longer is a need. Right now, people are not taking care of themselves. So, we want to make
sure that they have either a cold sandwich, an ice cold water with an electrolyte if they're out in the hot Texas sun, or when they finally find
somewhere to go at night, they have a hot meal, make it barbecue, Italian, like local favorites, and that they're there.
So, we'll be here as long as we're needed, and we're coordinating with other food organizations, other logistics --
MACFARLANE: Unfortunately, as you can see, we've lost Samantha as well. So, not doing so well tonight, are we? That's signal dropping just there.
However, let's move on. Earlier today, U.S. President Donald Trump held his sixth cabinet meeting since his inauguration. He took time to acknowledge
the devastation in Texas, and said he would be visiting the area with the first lady on Friday.
Now, beyond Texas, the President also blasted Russian President Vladimir Putin and expressed frustration that his administration hasn't been able to
stop the fighting between Russia and Ukraine. I want to bring in our Kristen Holmes, who is at the White House. And Kristen, this was a really
wide-ranging cabinet meeting, touching on many of those important topics, also tariffs as well.
But I think it's worth highlighting aside from those comments about Vladimir Putin, that with Benjamin Netanyahu still visiting, still
currently at the White House, it was announced that the two leaders will be meeting again to discuss the ceasefire deal in Gaza.
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think that is incredibly important. Now, what we do know right now is that Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu is across the way, he stays at the Blair House. He's not physically at the White House until 4:30 East Coast time. He was there last
night.
They've been talking about the ceasefire deal. And I talked to a number of White House administration officials across the board before Netanyahu got
here, and there really was a hope that they'd already have reached this deal. Israel had signed off on the conditions that were presented in a
proposal to Hamas, and they were hoping that they could actually announce the deal at some point this week.
Netanyahu is going to be here all week. Obviously, that is not the case, although they say they are still making a lot of progress. We heard from
the U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff in that meeting, talking about those negotiations, saying that he believes they're in a very good place, saying
they're working through some of the sticking points with Hamas, with Israel.
And so, we'll see how this all plays out. Again, Netanyahu is here in Washington through the end of the week, which, of course, raises the
question, do they expect something potentially by the end of the week? That's a lot of time to spend here in Washington while they're kind of
negotiating through this deal.
The other things that he brought up, as you noted, he talked about his tariffs. He said that, that August 1st deadline after yesterday, saying
that it was not a 100 percent firm, said it was firm, that it was always going to be August 1st. It was not. It was supposed to actually be
tomorrow.
But then he talked about how the countries were ripping us off and the letters he was sending, and essentially said that if they don't come to the
table, that we're just going to charge them, something we have heard before. He also talked about the European Union, which was interesting in
terms of tariffs.
At one point, he seemed to say that negotiating with the European Union was actually harder than negotiating with China, something we hadn't heard
before. And he also said that he was about two days away from sending one of the letters we saw yesterday to the European Union.
He asked Scott Bessent to talk a little bit about the tariffs and about how much money they were bringing in. But again, as you noted, this is wide-
ranging. He clearly wanted to talk to the press. He clearly wanted to take questions. And he was really all over the map. I think, you know, one of
the things you mentioned was this attack that he made on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
We have heard him since NATO getting escalatingly more intense in his rhetoric against Putin. You can see he's growing frustrated. At this point,
he said he gets a lot of B.S., but he actually said that, thrown at them by Putin. He also said he was very angry with Putin. The other part of this
that was so fascinating, we've seen this last night too, is that Trump appeared to do a 180, and said that the United States would be sending more
weapons to Ukraine.
And now, he was asked about that pause from the Pentagon in some of the munitions that were going to Ukraine. He said that it was not him who
ordered that pause. But then when he was asked who did it? He said he didn't know. He deflected on that question. And I'll tell you this,
covering this administration, there's not really much that President Trump isn't briefed on or doesn't know about, particularly as of now.
But it was interesting to hear him say that it was not him that did it. And now, they are going to be sending this ammo or these different missiles to
Ukraine, saying that these Ukrainians needed to protect themselves. At one point, he was talking about the soldiers, saying they were brave and they
needed to be able to fight back.
MACFARLANE: Yes, very interesting comments from Trump today in light of that surprising reversal we heard. Kristen Holmes for now. Thank you.
[14:10:00]
We're going to talk a little bit more about tariffs, because copper is surging, touching an all-time high after U.S. President Donald Trump said
he plans to levy 50 percent tariffs on the metal. Copper prices have soared 38 percent this year as the President's tariffs is set to hike the cost of
importing the metal. But Wall Street is still looking mostly flat after down day on Monday.
That selloff was sparked by a new round of tariff threats from the President. And we're tracking changes on the trade front. Mr. Trump
insisting there will be no extensions on his new August 1st tariff deadline. That's the cut-off date for foreign governments to make a deal to
avoid his new levies.
The deadline had been this Wednesday, but he's ramping up the pressure by sending out a wave of letters, setting out how high tariffs will go if
other countries don't come to a trade deal. Leaders in some countries receiving those letters, like South Korea and South Africa are speaking
out. CNN's Anna Stewart is here with me tracking all of this for us. And Anna, I think I want to start with that. We know there's a lot there, but I
want to start --
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It could be a few hours, Christina.
MACFARLANE: With the copper tariff, the 50 percent copper tariff just announced as well as a tariff -- a proposed tariff of 200 percent on
pharmaceuticals, which up to now had been exempt. Talk to us about the impact of that, the effect it's having on the markets we just saw there.
STEWART: So, while we've all been talking a lot about all the tariffs on various countries around the world, and we've been talking about that for
many months, there are also these sectoral tariffs. There was the 25 percent tariff on cars, the 25, and then it became a 50 percent tariff on
steel and aluminum.
And in the works, there were another number of sectors being investigated now. One was copper, and we're now told that as of today, copper will face
a tariff of 50 percent. We're not quite sure when it will actually kick in. And copper prices have risen just today, futures by nearly 18 percent. This
is the biggest rise I've seen in copper, I think since the 1980s. This is quite extraordinary.
MACFARLANE: Yes --
STEWART: And as you mentioned, pharmaceuticals maybe will be announced by the end of the month. That's the noise we're hearing from Howard Lutnick;
the Secretary of Commerce, who is currently on "CNBC". He thinks some of these tariffs will be worked out by the end of the month.
But for pharmaceuticals, it's unlikely it would be implemented for a year or year-and-a-half. But it could be 200 percent. So, then you look at
copper, you look at pharmaceuticals, you think which countries are most likely to be impacted for pharma, the big pharmaceutical sort of country
bases that export to the U.S., maybe Ireland and Switzerland.
If we're looking at copper, it's Chile, Canada and Peru. China is the biggest producer, but those are the countries that sort of export the most
to the U.S. So, all this just coming in the last few hours --
MACFARLANE: Yes --
STEWART: Is a lot to take in --
MACFARLANE: And you know, given the track record of tariffs and Trump in the last few months, it's hard to know what will stay, what will stick and
what will -- what will go. But it was interesting to see Truth Social posts from President Trump earlier today highlighting that August the 1st will be
the new deadline for tariffs.
Perhaps some, you know, accusing him of crying wolf in the past over those stated deadlines. But he's obviously trying to enforce the idea that this
is here to stay.
STEWART: There was a 90-day pause on the so-called Liberation Day tariffs that was due to end 90 days. Afterwards, on the 9th of July, which is
tomorrow, the new deadline is the 1st of August, but we are told repeatedly by the President, this is not a new deadline, this was always the deadline,
and nothing has changed.
So, it's kind of hard to square that circle. But the latest round of tariffs that relate to all these letters will be implemented on the 1st of
August, which means all of these trading partners do have more wiggle room. There is in many ways a reprieve. They've got more time to argue their case
and to try and reach a deal.
And I'll also add a new development as of the last couple of hours, the President is calling the letters he is sending out deals. Now, that's quite
a difference from what we thought, because the letters, as we understood, were being sent to those countries that were unable to reach a trade deal,
and therefore had to resort to some sort of tariff. It's a very one-sided deal if this is what we are now framing it --
MACFARLANE: Very one-sided and still to be sort of played out and wait to see what will come from it, Anna, thank you very much. All right, still to
come tonight, President Trump does a 180 on how to deal with Ukraine's fight against Russia. What he now says he plans to do. And we're following
French President Macron's trip to the U.K. Details on that just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:15:00]
MACFARLANE: President Trump is venting his frustrations about brokering a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, calling out Russian President
Vladimir Putin a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're not happy with Putin, I'm not happy with Putin. I can tell you that much right now because he's
killing a lot of people, and a lot of them are his soldiers, his soldiers and they are soldiers mostly. And it's now up to 7,000 a week, and I'm not
happy with Putin.
We get -- we get -- we get a lot of -- thrown at us by Putin if you want to know the truth. He's very nice all the time, but it turns out to be
meaningless.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you want to sanction him? Lindsey Graham has a sanctions bill on Russia. Do you want him to move ahead with that?
TRUMP: I'm looking at it. Yes -- no, I'm looking -- the Senate is passing and passed a very tough sanction. Yes, I'm looking at it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you'd sign that?
TRUMP: It's an optional bill. It's totally at my option. They pass it totally at my option.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: The comments come after the U.S. says it will now send additional weapons to Ukraine, a contrast from last week when the White
House announced it would be pausing certain weapons shipments following a review of military spending. A pause, President Trump said he knew nothing
about.
Let's get out to our Kevin Liptak who is following the story. And Kevin, how much do you think these comments we've just heard from President Trump
in the last few hours are laying bare Trump's motivation for that abrupt reversal of policy yesterday, when he said he would now be sending
additional defense weapons to Ukraine.
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, I think it's certainly all connected. And those comments from the President, I think by far, you
know, the harshest that he has ever been towards his Russian counterpart. And this is someone, President Trump, who has spent the last ten years
really offering more conciliatory statements towards Vladimir Putin.
This is so remarkable. And it has shifted so quickly, really over the last several weeks. The President growing more and more frustrated publicly with
Vladimir Putin. You know, the idea that Putin says one thing and does another might not be fully on the up-and-up, would not be considered a
revelation to many world leaders.
In fact, many of them have been warning Trump of just this for quite some time. But it really does appear just in the last several days that it has
been sinking in with President Trump as Putin kind of rejects his overtures to try and bring the war in Ukraine to an end. And as Putin in fact, ramps
up his attacks on Ukraine, whether it's these new record-setting barrages of drones and missiles, or whether it's the 50,000 troops that he's massing
in the north of the country.
Clearly, President Trump is now very frustrated with his counterpart in ways that we really just have not seen up until this point. And the
question now is what he plans to do about it, how he plans to channel that anger going forward. You heard him there stopping short of saying that he
would apply new sanctions on Russia.
[14:20:00]
He has been reluctant to do that out of fears that it could push Putin further away from any potential negotiating table. But I think, notably,
they're not ruling out signing into law these sanctions that are being considered by the Senate, they haven't voted on them yet, but that,
according to President Trump, could be his option. The other thing that he's doing is now allowing these new shipments of defensive weapons to flow
into Ukraine.
After that pause that we heard about last week, the administration saying that it was part of this review of its stockpiles of the weapons. President
Trump today said he didn't actually know who ordered that pause to begin with, and sounding as if he's very willing to try and help Ukraine and help
its President Volodymyr Zelenskyy defend itself against the Russian attacks.
It did seem as if the President was sort of warming to this option last week after he spoke with Zelenskyy by telephone. It was, according to
Zelenskyy, their best conversation to date. Now, President Trump clearly coming down on the side of the Ukrainians, saying that whether you believe
the U.S. has provided too much assistance, whether you believe the U.S. has spent too many dollars on Ukraine, which at the end of the day is his
position, he ran on that as a candidate, and he has surrounded himself in his cabinet with people who hold that view.
But he's saying, whether you believe that or not, you have to agree that the Ukrainians have been very brave over the course of this conflict, both
by operating these weapons systems, which are very dangerous to operate, but also in sort of staving off a full Russian invasion of their country.
So, clearly, you hear the President evolving in his viewpoints, both on the necessity to provide these systems to Ukraine, but also on the Russian
leader who he is now very angry with.
MACFARLANE: Yes, and there's definitely been, as you say, Kevin, a sort of evolution of rhetoric. But the resumption of military supplies is a return,
more or less, I believe, to the sort of status quo of military assistance that the U.S. were giving already, or had historically been giving. So, how
much can we read this as Donald Trump embracing Ukraine's cause, perhaps harder than he once did before? How much can we read into it?
LIPTAK: Yes, I think it may be less him embracing Ukraine's cause and more lashing out at a foreign leader, Vladimir Putin, who he thought he had an
understanding with, who he thought he had a real friendship almost with. And you know, this relationship has been subject of so much fascination
over the last decade or so, President Trump, President Putin really sort of sparking so much interest in how they were dealing with each other.
President Trump, almost more often than not, adopting the Russian leaders view of the world and of Ukraine in ways that really startled and alarmed
whether people in Europe or, you know, even national security officials in the United States. President Trump clearly feels, I think, wronged by
someone who he thought he had more of an understanding with.
And so, I think if there is an explanation for what's going on right now, it's not necessarily that he's been swayed, that the U.S. has some sort of
moral role to defend Ukraine, to ensure its sovereignty, to protect it going forward. I think clearly, the President is just more frustrated that
his attempts to bring about an end to this war have so far been fruitless.
Remember, he said he would be able to do it within 24 hours of taking office. He later said that was sarcastic, but clearly, it has been more
difficult than he thought it was going to be because of Putin's resistance to any kind of ceasefire. Ukraine had actually agreed to that 30-day
ceasefire, Putin resisted and has in fact, ramped up his attacks.
And so, I think President Trump clearly now frustrated that these efforts are not going anywhere and laying blame squarely on Russia for standing in
the way.
MACFARLANE: All right, Kevin Liptak, appreciate your reporting. Thank you. Still to come tonight, U.S. President Trump has just announced he will meet
again soon with Israel's Prime Minister, saying the war in Gaza must be solved. Plus, we continue to follow the latest developments out of Texas.
We'll have more on the search and rescue efforts from the deadly flooding.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:25:00]
MACFARLANE: U.S. President Donald Trump says he'll meet again soon with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss a ceasefire deal for
Gaza. This follows their working group dinner at the White House Monday night. Israeli -- Israel and Hamas negotiators have been holding indirect
talks in Qatar on a 60-day ceasefire plan.
An Israeli source says progress has been made, but several hurdles remain. Mr. Trump, who has called for Gaza to be emptied of Palestinians and turned
into a giant real estate project, suggested there's also been progress on a mass relocation plan. Mr. Netanyahu said they're close to finding several
countries that would take in Palestinians who choose to leave.
Well, Israel's National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, says the ceasefire talks should be called off and complete cease imposed on Gaza
after five Israeli soldiers were killed there on Monday night. The IDF is issuing new evacuation orders for parts of Gaza as it launches deadly new
strikes.
Medics say more than 60 people have been killed today, about half of them living in tents that turned into mass graves. Some of those tents were in
Al-Mawasi, an area previously described by Israel as a safe zone. Israel's Defense Minister says the entire population of Gaza will eventually be held
in Rafah.
Israeli media says Israel's Katz -- Israel Katz gave a briefing on plans on Monday. He said some 600,000 Palestinians would be held at first in what he
called a humanitarian city built on Rafah's ruins. He said once there, they would not be allowed to leave, and said Israel intends to pursue an
emigration plan.
Now, Israeli human rights lawyer tells CNN that would amount to forcible transfer and could be a war crime. Over and over, we've heard people say in
Gaza that despite the toll of the war, they do not want to leave their land.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We reject this plan. We reject being forced from our land. We have the right to move freely and travel to other countries, but
to be uprooted and expelled from our land, these are schemes that we as Palestinians completely reject.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[14:30:00]
MACFARLANE: Well, CNN's Jeremy Diamond is joining us from Tel Aviv for more. And, Jeremy, we know that talks are currently being -- or are
currently underway in Doha to organize a framework in which to move forward with negotiations. But we know that there are significant sticking points
or hurdles that still remain when it comes to negotiating the ceasefire deal. Can you talk to us about where things stand right now and also the
significance of President Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu meeting once again in the White House this evening?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, very significant. And what it really shows us is that as much as these negotiations are happening
between Israel and Hamas in Doha in a forum now known as Proximity Talks, where basically you have messengers going between the two delegations,
trying to reach rapid agreement on the remaining sticking points, as much as those negotiations are happening and are important, there are also
negotiations happening in Washington, and that's where -- that's the context through which to view this meeting that is coming up in a couple of
hours between President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu.
President Trump, earlier today, making clear that Gaza will basically be the main topic, if not the only topic that the two men are going to be
discussing today as President Trump tries to bring this ceasefire deal across the finish line. Last week, of course, it was a U.S. sponsored
ceasefire proposal, crafted very much closely with the Israelis, which Israel agreed to, that was then sent to Hamas. Hamas then giving a positive
response, but still trying to seek several changes.
And over the course of the last few days, we've seen those proximity talks unfold. The U.S. special envoy, Steve Witkoff, now saying that most of the
sticking points have been resolved in just. These last three days of negotiations, but there are still some that remain. One of those issues,
I'm told is the timeline and the location to which Israeli troops would withdraw from parts of the Gaza Strip over the course of this 60-day
ceasefire. That may be one of the issues that President Trump needs to speak directly with Prime Minister Netanyahu.
And overall, we also know that Hamas has been seeking, you know, strong, strong guarantees from the United States that this 60-day ceasefire will
ultimately lead to a permanent ceasefire, an end to the war in Gaza, the withdrawal of all Israeli troops.
And while the United States has provided some assurances to that effect, telling Hamas that Israel will stay at the negotiating table and that the
U.S. is going to guarantee that, President Trump may be seeking, you know, to have a conversation with Benjamin Netanyahu about the fact that he wants
this 60-day ceasefire to actually lead to an end of the war. And that's because Netanyahu has yet to actually commit to that, despite it being the
desired outcome for a majority of Israelis, for the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza, Prime Minister Netanyahu and his right-wing
governing allies have resisted agreeing to an end of the war in exchange for the release of all the hostages because of the political implications
that it holds for him and his right-wing base.
So, you can expect that that will be a part of the conversation happening between Netanyahu and Trump this evening. The real question, whether or not
this deal can get done this week. As I said, there are still a number of sticking points. And the Qataris today suggesting that it may take some
time to actually reach that agreement. But President Trump saying he wants this wrapped up this week.
MACFARLANE: And, Jeremy, while these negotiations continue, as you say in Washington, in Doha, the people of Gaza continue to be bombed. The numbers
we have overnight for Palestinians killed are 60. What more are you learning about the situation for them?
DIAMOND: Yes. Well, we have seen, you know, really over the course of the last week or so, in particular as these ceasefire negotiations have
reached, you know, what could be their final stage, we have seen Israel ramping up its attacks in Gaza, which follows a pattern that we've seen
before during, you know, the final days of the war before ceasefire kicks in. The two other times that we have seen ceasefires in the Gaza Strip. And
indeed, it's been exactly that over the course of this past week.
As you mentioned today, more than 60 people killed in Gaza as a result of Israeli airstrikes. We have also seen Israeli gunfire directed at
Palestinians who are headed towards those Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, as well as violence that has broken out alongside some of these U.N.
aid trucks in Gaza due to the scarcity, the lack of secure roots that are being provided by the IDF.
And really, this is kind of speaks to the broader implications of the ceasefire. We're talking not only about the release of hostages who would
get out during the 60-day ceasefire, we're talking about, you know, the fear of bombing going away for 2 million Palestinians who still live in
Gaza for at least the next 60 days if the ceasefire goes into effect.
[14:35:00]
And of course, we're also talking about a major, major alleviation of the humanitarian conditions in Gaza, which remain quite dire. You know, the
World Food Programme just yesterday saying that one in three Palestinians are still going several days at a time often without meals, more than
90,000 women and children in urgent need of treatment for acute malnutrition. These are all issues that would be remedied, at least
temporarily and perhaps for the long-term if this ceasefire agreement goes into place, into effect, and if indeed it ultimately gets extended into a
permanent ceasefire.
MACFARLANE: A stark reminder of what's at stake here. Jeremy Diamond, thank you. I'm joined now by Colin Clarke, director of Policy and Research at the
Soufan Group. Great to have you back on the show.
COLIN CLARKE, DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH, THE SOUFAN GROUP AND AUTHOR, "AFTER THE CALIPHATE": Thank you.
MACFARLANE: Before I get your thoughts on the upcoming meeting between President Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu tonight, we heard Jeremy there
talking about the existing sticking points that remain in the ceasefire negotiations. What do you view as the chances of both sides being able to
mediate through these sticking points, especially the central one, which is the total withdrawal of IDF troops on agreement of a ceasefire?
CLARKE: Well, I think the odds of breakthrough now are a lot higher than they were a few weeks ago. Netanyahu's got his, quote/unquote, "victory"
with everything that's taken place against Iran. That's something he can take back to his far-right ministers and say, look, you know, we've
achieved our objectives in that sense. But the phase withdrawal of the IDF is going to be very difficult.
Last February I wrote an article in Foreign Affairs warning against Israeli mission creep here, basically saying this could turn into a total quagmire.
We've seen that in the past. They spent 18 years in Lebanon, 1982 to 2000. We see the humanitarian catastrophe that's taken place, and Israeli
soldiers are still being killed. They're pushing the Palestinians into a smaller and smaller enclave. I think President Trump really wants a win
here. And given the fact that Netanyahu's staying for another night, there are chances that we could see a breakthrough.
MACFARLANE: Yes. President Trump really wants to win, and there was a sense that the 12-day war against Iran had kind of created favorable
circumstances for in negotiation a cease fighter happen in Gaza, not least because Netanyahu would have a hard time saying no to Trump given the
assistance they've given them.
So, what is your read on how hard the president is going to push and what his expectations might be for this upcoming meeting?
CLARKE: I think this is the quid pro quo. So, the United States engaged militarily on behalf of the Israelis with the bunker busters, and now it's
Trump calling in his favor. He clearly wants a Nobel Peace Prize. Netanyahu has nominated him for one for Trump. This right now is the Holy Grail,
getting some kind of an agreement here, getting a ceasefire in place and getting the hostages back.
MACFARLANE: But you know, that's also in the balance -- what's in the balance here is whether or not or how hard Benjamin Netanyahu is still
being pushed by his right-wingers within his cabinet. I mean, one could argue he also has more leverage to be flexible given, you know, the events
of the U.S. strikes against Iran. How much though are that right-wing faction still factoring very much into these negotiations?
CLARKE: It's a huge factor. But also, you know, many have speculated that Netanyahu has dragged this war on because he did -- he wanted to avoid
facing the trial, the public corruption trial. And now, you see Trump weighing in on that on Truth Social, you know, basically saying they should
drop all these charges. So, Trump's aware of those optics. The fact that he's mentioning it multiple times shows you he knows that it's important to
kind of getting Netanyahu, getting Ben-Gvir, getting Smotrich to kind of finally come to the table and agree to something here.
MACFARLANE: I just want to get your thoughts quickly on what has been a very concerning plan announced by Israel's defense minister, Katz, a plan
to move Palestinians or actually confine them, let's be honest, to what he's calling a humanitarian city on the former city of Rafah,l which raises
massive human rights concerns.
Do you suspect this is being talked about at this point of negotiations now as a practical plan or perhaps to incentivize Arab nations to step up and
take a role in whatever post-war Gaza is going to look like?
CLARKE: I do think there's a little bit of both. I mean, I think there are real tangible folks inside the Israeli government that think this is
something that's doable. The optics are disastrous. Any tactical gains that the Israelis have made would be totally reversed by doing something like
this. International public opinion is already against the Israelis. This would really be kind of the nail and the coffin there.
MACFARLANE: All right. Colin, always great to have you on the show. Thank you.
CLARKE: Thank you.
MACFARLANE: All right. Still to come tonight, we have the latest on the deadly floods in Texas where the conditions expected to improve and search
rescue efforts continue. Meteorologist Derek Van Dam will join us with the latest forecast.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:40:00]
MACFARLANE: We are continuing to follow breaking news out of Central Texas. At least 108 people have been killed by the flooding that began last week.
The majority of those deaths have occurred in Kerr County. Among them dead -- among the dead are more than 30 children, many from Camp Mystic summer
camp. The search efforts for victims continue with more than 20 state agencies and hundreds of volunteers.
And amidst all the tragic news of those who's died are stories of survival. Christian Fell tell CNN he survived for three hours by hanging on to the
meter box on the side of his house so the current wouldn't pull him away. Here's how he described the experience.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTIAN FELL, HUNT, TEXAS RESIDENT: I woke up to the sound of thunder and I didn't think anything of it. I thought it was just like any other storm
and until I heard some odd noises coming from deeper in the house. And so, I get up to investigate and when I swing my feet over the side of the bed,
I realized I was standing in water. And you know, that's not -- never a normal circumstance to be in. And so, I go to investigate and I realize
that the whole portion of the house is ripped up and there's water flooding through the floor.
It definitely is a -- I think, a blessing that the meter box was there, because I don't even think I remembered that that was on that side of the
building. So, as I started to climb it, I just realized I needed to get out of the water as quickly as I could and just find something to hold onto so
the water couldn't take me away. And I mean, I just saw cars getting carried away with their hazard lights flashing on and off and industrial
sized propane tanks just floating down through a park that used to be there.
Standing there with nothing else to hold onto, but a metal pipe, you know, screwed into a wall it's not like an ideal situation. Just -- I just have
to be thankful that the rest of the house stayed in place, because I saw everything else that happened afterwards and, you know, I'm just -- I'm
really thankful to be here. And I'm quite blessed, to be honest.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Incredible. Well, for the first time since the 3rd of July, there is no flood watch in Central Texas right now, which Derek Van Dam is
joining us now is much needed relief, Derek.
[14:45:00]
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it sure is, Christina. It's a glimmer of good news out of a really tragic situation too, across the Texas
Hill Country. So, this is the first time since last Thursday without any kind of flood watch. There is rain in the area, but it's generally east,
which I'll show you on the radar here in just a second.
A lot of it is popping up to the east of the hardest hit areas. Just notice on this map, you can see kind of a lighter coloring to that, that's
actually the Hill Country or one of the plateaus that stretches westward towards the Great Basin. This is the area where some of the worst flooding
took place. And you can see the rainfall is really initializing east of that region.
There's Kerrville a lot of the story unfolding in Kerr County, which is located right there, the Guadalupe River. Some places to the north also
flooded, causing destruction. But the water has to go somewhere. Just because it stopped raining in these locations doesn't mean the water has
completely exited the rivers.
In fact, there was rainfall yesterday that caused this second spike in the San Saba River just to the north and west of Austin where we're
anticipating at least minor flood stage values to be reached by tomorrow morning, local time. So, that's not good. Kind of adding more misery to the
pain that's already taking place here.
There is the potential for a few pop-up showers and storms across the Hill Valley region for the day tomorrow. But for the most part, the seven-day
forecast looks generally dry. Conditions should help with the recovery efforts for this area. You can see, especially into the weekend, we
continue to dry out this weather forecast. And we really need it too because it has been a rough, rough past few days and our hearts just break
for the people who have been impacted by this flood disaster, Christina.
MACFARLANE: Yes. And so, many still impacted those search and rescue teams still out there looking for people. Derek, we appreciate the update. Thank
you. And we'll be right back after this. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: Now, to the U.K. where French President Emmanuel Macron has just started his three-day state visit. He's already received quite the
welcome from the Royal family. And after a busy day at Westminster, he's attending a state banquet. Melissa Bell has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A royal welcome for French President Emmanuel Macron, the first state visit by a European
leader since Brexit with no pump and circumstance spared.
[14:50:00]
Welcomed first by the prince and princess of Wales, then greeted by King Charles and Queen Camilla onto a procession through the streets of Windsor,
along with the French first lady, Brigitte Macron.
The pageantry and the tone a stark contrast from the Brexit fallout that so tested the U.K.'s relations with its European neighbors.
EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT: Amid these upheavals, the alliance between France and the United Kingdom has not faltered. It has even become
stronger. Yes. During the past few years, this alliance became stronger.
BELL (voice-over): Speaking to Parliament at the Palace of Westminster's Royal Gallery, the French president vowed that together they would bring an
end to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
Over the three-day visit, President Macron and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer are also expected to address U.S. tariff wars, post-Brexit trade,
and migration.
MACRON: We love monarchy, but especially when it's not at home.
BELL (voice-over): Whilst much still divides them, there was also a reminder of their shared past and the suggestion from the French president
that it might just be time to lay their differences to rest.
Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Wimbledon quarterfinals are underway and we've already seen history made with the fastest serve in the history of the tournament made
during the first round. And players like Ben Shelton who ended up reaching his first Wimbledon quarterfinal has been absolutely outstanding.
So, what more can we expect at tennis's best? Hoping it to make center courts immaculate green grass as the week progresses. For his thoughts,
let's bring in CNN's Don Riddell joining me from Atlanta. Good to see you, Don. And I saw a short while ago that Carlos Alcaraz is through having
defeated a British hopeful, Cam Norrie, in straight sets. So, let's talk about the men's draw. It's hard, Don, isn't it, to look past a Sinner-
Alcaraz final at this point? They're merging as the sort of Rafa-Roger of this era.
DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Well, they are, although if you watched Jannick Sinner yesterday, you perhaps wouldn't be banking on him to make it
all the way to the final because he was incredibly lucky to get past Grigor Dimitrov. Remember Dimitrov two sets up and then he was injured and that's
how Sinner kind of got through.
I think, certainly, all the money would be on Alcaraz at this point. I mean, he just continues to roll at Wimbledon. On Tuesday on Center Court,
he booked his place in a third consecutive semi-final at the All England Club, leaving him just two wins short of a third consecutive title on the
most hallowed grass court.
Alcaraz was up against the last British player standing, Cam Norrie. Before the match Alcaraz had said that playing the lefty can be a bit of a
nightmare, but Alcaraz will be sleeping soundly tonight after sweeping his opponent in straight sets.
So, get this, that is a 19th consecutive win for Alcaraz at Wimbledon, and having won the Italian Open, the French Open and Queens in the buildup,
he's now on the longest winning streak of his career. 23 matches.
Next up for him, the American Taylor Fritz after two previous quarter final defeats. The fifth seed made it to the semis here for the first time with a
four-set victory against Karen Khachanov. This will be Fritz's second major semi. He made it all the way to the U.S. Open final last season, and it's
going to be his third match against Alcaraz. He's lost the previous two.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TAYLOR FRITZ, SEEKING FIRST MAJOR TITLE: It's an amazing feeling, obviously, having played the quarterfinals here twice and lost in five
twice. I don't think I could have taken another one. So, I'm really happy. I'm really happy to I'm going to get to play the semis here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIDDELL: Really happy and a bit relieved by the looks of it, Christina.
MACFARLANE: Yes, very much so. As for the women, Don, it was a bit of a scare, I believe, for Aryna Sabalenka earlier today who is, of course, top
seed. But she appears to have survived the curse of the top seeds during this tournament by winning in three sets.
RIDDELL: Yes. I mean, so many of the top seeds have already gone from the women's draw, and a lot of them went really, really early. So, given all
that, you would think this would be Aryna Sabalenka's tournament to lose. But the world number one was in danger of crashing out herself on Tuesday.
Sabalenka up against the world number 104 Laura Siegemund, who'd never got past the second round in the singles draw here at Wimbledon.
But Siegemund won the first set. And her style of play was really getting under Sabalenka's skin. The three-time Grand Slam champion dug deep though.
She won 10 of her last 13 points to see it through in just under three hours. And Sabalenka knew that she had dodged a bullet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARYNA SABALENKA, WORLD NUMBER 1: I need some time to cool down and to recover after this much. She pushed me so much. And honestly, after the
first set, I was just like looking at my books, thinking like, guys, I mean, like book the tickets, you know, I think we're about to leave this
beautiful city, country, place.
[14:55:00]
I didn't want her to see that I was annoyed or anything by her, even if I was a little bit at some points. But I was just trying not to give her that
energy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIDDELL: Some very, very honest reflection from Aryna Sabalenka there. Her next match might also be testing. She's going to be playing the 13th seed
American Amanda Anisimova, who has a winning record against Aryna Sabalenka. Christina, back to you.
MACFARLANE: All right. Don, and we know that the temperatures in the U.K. are set to hit 30 or 31, I think, again later this week. So, we'll see how
the players handle that heat with the finals. All right. Don, thanks very much.
And thank you so much for watching with us tonight. Stay with CNN. "What We Know" with my colleague Paula Newton is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:00:00]
END
