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The Situation Room
White House Accuses Jerome Powell of Mismanagement; Trump Not Going to Fire Powell; Trump En Route to Flood-Ravaged Texas; Wildfire Evacuations at Grand Canyon. Aired 10:30-11a ET
Aired July 11, 2025 - 10:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:30:00]
OKSANA MARKAROVA, UKRAINIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES: -- sponsors of the sanctions bill, it is a great bill. I mean, we are very constructive. We are ready for peace. Ukraine is eager to discuss the modalities, but if Russia is refusing, then we have to move ahead with more weapons to Ukraine. And all of them are defensive because we are defending ourselves and more sanctions and isolation to Russia.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: This is clearly a critical moment in the Russian war against Ukraine. We'll see what happens. Ambassador Oksana Markarova, thanks as usual for joining us.
MARKAROVA: Thank you. And thank you to all Americans.
BLITZER: You're welcome. Thank you. And we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:35:00]
BLITZER: This morning, the White House has dramatically increasing its pressure on the Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome Powell. Only moments ago, the president's budget director blasted Powell, accusing him of mismanaging the Federal Reserve.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSSELL VOUGHT, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET: The president has a policy view with regard to we need lower rates. He has a policy view with regard to the fact that Jerome Powell has been late repeatedly. The Fed has been mismanaged.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: I want to go straight to CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich who is she's following the story for us. Vanessa, why is the White House going so dramatically and personally after Jerome Powell?
VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is just another administration official that is repeating a familiar refrain that we've heard from President Trump, which is that Jerome Powell essentially does not do a good job of managing the Federal Reserve. The president, and also you heard just now from Russell Vought, he's the budget director, who said that Jerome Powell has historically been too late to adjust interest rates, including in 2022 when inflation was out of control. He was too late to raise rates. And now, criticizing him for being too late to lower rates as inflation has come down, but not yet to the Federal Reserve's, 2 percent target.
Jerome Powell has maintained that the Federal Reserve is in wait and see mode because the price pressures from tariffs, Wolf, are just starting to take effect. Also, the head of the budget office sent a letter to Jerome Powell yesterday criticizing him for his management of renovations that are currently going on at the Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C. saying that the budget is out of control, but also saying that he's out of compliance with the National Capital Planning act, which would be something that would be considered breaking the law.
We heard from Jerome Powell a few weeks ago as he was testifying before Congress saying that a lot of that what was reported about this renovation including water features, a VIP dining room is just not true. All of this, Wolf, to say is the pressure is mounting on Jerome Powell, potentially forcing a resignation or building enough evidence that the president could potentially fire him.
President Trump said he's not going to do that, and many economists believe neither of those two options would happen, Wolf, because that would set markets absolutely reeling. Jerome Powell does have until May of 2026 left on his term. But certainly, a dramatic escalation in these attacks against the chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell Wolf.
BLITZER: And PRESIDENT TRUMP is not mincing any words. Only moments ago, as he was getting ready to leave the White House, he said, Jerome Powell is doing a terrible job. He says interest rates should be three points lower, and he then added that Jerome Powell is costing our country, he said, a lot of money. Vanessa Yurkevich, thanks very much. We'll stay on top of this very important story. Appreciate it very much.
Also, right now, President Trump is traveling to Texas as questions continue to grow over how local and federal officials responded to the devastating floods. Texas Republican Congressman Pete Sessions will be with the president throughout the day. They'll be there when the president arrives as well. He is joining us right now. Congressman, thanks so much for doing what you're doing. Thanks so much for joining us right now.
Multiple officials, as you know, inside FEMA are telling CNN the agency ran into the bureaucracy as they were preparing to deploy teams to Texas. The head of Homeland Security -- the secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, now requires her personally signing off on any contractor grant over $100,000. Is the Federal government, Congressman, reacting quickly enough to the challenges your beautiful State of Texas faces?
REP. PETE SESSIONS (R-TX), FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE AND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: Wolf, these are all important questions. We need and needed at the time, immediate relief. As you know, there were hundreds of people stranded around, up and down, not just this river, but across Texas. I believe that what happened is Governor Greg Abbott quickly not only alerted Texas officials, but in that coordination that the federal government did provide, the helicopter support that would be necessary.
The issue about Secretary Noem wanting to agree with all of this (INAUDIBLE) of money has not been something that has been brought to the Congress yet. I believe that the needs of Texas of immediately to rescuing people is well underway.
Secretary Duffy is aware that we have roads and bridges that are out. This takes an opportunity for the federal government through Kristi Noem, through Secretary Duffy to work with the State of Texas. I'm here to make sure that that negotiation is ongoing.
[10:40:00]
And I'm most appreciative to the president, just as we are to you, of telling the story to this, to the American people. The president is here for the right reasons and will be met with people who are thankful for his personal opportunity to come visit.
BLITZER: And, Congressman, you have a very, very important oversight role in the Congress right now in dealing with all of these extremely sensitive issues. So, let me ask you this question about FEMA leadership right now. The agencies acting administrator, David Richardson, hasn't been seen or heard from since these horrible floods in Texas happened. Do you have concerns at all about how this agency is being led? Should the acting administrator be on the ground in Texas to oversee the response?
SESSIONS: What I would say to you is, is that when the acting director, David Richardson, a few weeks ago, we met with him, which was before this. Mr. Mfume, who is the ranking member of our government operations subcommittee, met with David and he was very forthright to say he's active and he's involved.
He is just a phone call away from me. I find him easy to get with. But the bottom line is this became an emergency of getting people on board with aircraft in this area. I think once again, the work with FEMA, the work with Secretary Duffy, it had to clear out, not only the airspace that was here for many helicopters, drones, and other things that were necessary on an emergency basis.
I so far am very happy with the federal government response. And we'll talk to the FEMA acting administrator today, Mr. Richardson, and make sure that if he's not been down here, that he will come and I will work personally with him. And FEMA is an important part of this, and that is why the president showing up, will hear from me about my observations.
BLITZER: And it's impressive that you've been on the ground now there watching what's going on and learning what's going on for days. One of your Democratic colleagues, Congressman Jared Moskowitz, is criticizing the Homeland Security secretary, Kristi Noem, for her response to this disaster. I want you to listen to what he said earlier this morning, and then we'll discuss. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JARED MOSKOWITZ (D-FL): Kristi Noem doesn't know what she's doing. She has no idea what she is doing when it comes to FEMA. Look, FEMA needed reform. The emergency management industry has been saying that for a long period of time. I have a bill with Byron Donalds, who's running for Governor of Florida to take FEMA out of Homeland because we want FEMA to be faster. And Homeland is a giant bureaucracy with 22 other agencies. They're disabusing FEMA, making it do with the grants of all the other agencies within Homeland.
And so, there -- it needed reform, but that's not what the secretary did. What she did is she broke it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Congressman Moskowitz says Congress needs to formally, officially investigate FEMA. Do you support that?
SESSIONS: I have been a part of going not just to Florida, as the cleanup there was occurring with FEMA, and we did find some things that potentially were not taken care of. I went to Hawaii, held an extensive briefing and understood about Hawaii. We have been to North Carolina working with FEMA. We are now down in Kerrville, Texas to do the same. This is -- these operations are things that FEMA has worked with Nim Kidd who is the Texas Emergency Preparedness people.
Texas was better able immediately to turn this around because of the resources that we have in Texas. I will work with Mr. Moskowitz. He is a member of our committee and subcommittee, and I will point blank through Mr. Mfume, who is our ranking member, be pleased to hear from him about these issues.
But the bottom line is, I have not, in my evaluation, seen the problems that he is talking about from an organizational perspective. I have seen the working relationship with the State of Texas and we will continue to be on that pathway.
BLITZER: All right. Congressman Pete Sessions of Texas, thanks to all your -- for all you're doing and thanks very much for joining us. I'd love to continue our conversations down the road. Appreciate it very much.
SESSIONS: Well, Wolf, thank you. The United States, all Americans want to know that our federal government and the things, the needs are taken care of, and that is my duty and responsibility.
BLITZER: And you're a key member of the Oversight Committee, and that's your responsibility. Thanks so much for joining us.
SESSIONS: You bet.
[10:45:00]
BLITZER: And just ahead, evacuations underway over at the Grand Canyon right now because of wildfires, We'll have more on the breaking news just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Breaking this morning, a wildfire is forcing mandatory evacuations for parts of the Grand Canyon right now. The National Park Service says all visitors on the North Rim must evacuate immediately. Joining us now, our Meteorologist Derek Van Dam. Derek, what's the latest that you're seeing now on this horrible story?
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, listen, Wolf, this is not the site that visitors and tourists are used to seeing as they step outside into the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Look at how the smoke from the White Sage Fire that is advancing towards the region has settled into the Grand Canyon.
[10:50:00]
This is a live look from the Grand Canyon Conservancy webcam. You're looking north towards the North Rim and just an incredible amount of smoke, not only is that unhealthy for the tourists and the visitors, but there's a lot of hikers that visit this area as well.
So, what's happening with this wildfire? Well, on the ground, the fire looks like this. You can see some of these cleared videos into CNN. There is the White Sage Fire in the distance. There's just a lot of smoke that's billowing out.
Right now, we've got about 82 active large wildfires over the continental United States and also, including Alaska. A lot of them to our north in Alaska, but many of them burning over the Western parts of the U.S. and there's been a recent uptick in the wildfire activity. White Sage is a perfect example of that. There's 0 percent containment with this wildfire, and we've already burned a thousand acres.
No real rainfall in this forecast going forward. So, we're not going to have precipitation falling from the sky. But sometimes what we get is called a dry thunderstorm that moves over the region. So, we have rain that falls from the sky, but evaporates before it reaches the ground. We might have a lightning strike included with that. And unfortunately, that can spark additional wildfires and it's likely how this wildfire started.
And by the way, Wolf, we have an excessive heat alert for the Grand Canyon right now. At the base of the canyon, we could reach 115 degrees today. It's very hot, very dry.
BLITZER: And very awful situation indeed between the wildfires and the western part of the United States. The floods in Texas. This is awful all around. Derek Van Dam. Thank you very, very much.
Coming up sizzling matchup. Reigning world number one Jannik Sinner and 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic will face off at Wimbledon. We'll update you when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:55:00]
BLITZER: Happening now, the men's semi-finals are underway at Wimbledon as the iconic tennis tournament grapples with some of the hottest temperatures in its 147-year history. We're waiting for what's expected to be a blockbuster match between reigning world number one Yannick Sinner, and 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic.
Joining us now is CNN's Don Riddell. Don, these are two of the world's best tennis players as we all know. What are each of them bringing to the court today that makes this match one to certainly watch?
DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Hey, Wolf. Well, I think they're both going to be bringing it absolutely everything. I mean, it is fascinating. It's compelling before it's even got started. Jannick Sinner is the current world number one. Novak Djokovic, is hard to argue, is not the greatest of all time. Remember, he is going for what would be a record eighth Grand Slam title, tying in with Roger Federer and certainly a record 25 Grand Slam titles.
Sinner kind of has his number though. The last four times they have met, Sinner has won. However, when they've met at Wimbledon twice, Djokovic has won both those matches. This could be Nole's last ever Wimbledon tournament. He's 38 years of age now. We don't know what his plans are for next season. He would love to go out on a high and he certainly is not looking ahead to the final just yet. He knows that this semi-final coming up is going to be very, very difficult.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NOVAK DJOKOVIC, 24-TIME MAJOR CHAMPION: It's going to take the best of me at the moment to beat the Jannik. So, I mean, I know that. So, I'm -- that's the only thing I'm thinking about right now, just getting myself physically and mentally in the right state so I can fight with him for as long as it's necessary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIDDELL: All right. The first semi-final is happening actually as we speak. The fifth seeded American Taylor Fritz up against the two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz. Alcaraz currently leading by two sets to one, Wolf.
BLITZER: All right. We'll watch. Don Riddell, thank you very much for that update. And we'll be right back.
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[11:00:00]
