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The Situation Room

Republican Congressman Announces Depression Diagnosis; Weak U.S. Jobs Report; Man Rescued From Rubble in Venezuela; Dangerous Heat Wave. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired July 02, 2026 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:02]

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Breakout star Folarin Balogun lit the fuse early, burying the opener, breaking out the LeBron James silencer celebration. King James gave his royal seal of approval on social media.

Then you had the plot twist, though, Balogun given a red card. So there were 30 nerve-racking minutes of 10 versus 11, but Malik Tillman uncorked a laser from 20 meters out after a yellow card. And cue the bedlam. The U.S. win 2-0, first World Cup knockout wins since 2002, only their second ever, America marching on to the Round of 16.

I asked the always soft-spoken Tillman how he felt after he scored.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALIK TILLMAN, U.S. WORLD CUP PLAYER: For me, I'm a different type of person on the pitch. Of course, maybe you know it. You don't really see my emotions. But, if you score a goal like this, I think also you guys saw my emotions. And then that's -- it's a great feeling and, of course, a very proud moment for me.

CHRIS RICHARDS, U.S. WORLD CUP PLAYER: I think it's a proud moment, and it's a moment that we can gain a lot of confidence from. We have kept two clean sheets in the last four games.

And I think, before then, we didn't quite have the best record when it came to clean sheets. So, again, it gives us a lot of confidence going to the next round.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: All right, bad news for the U.S. they will be without their star when they face Belgium next in Seattle. He is suspended for another match.

American fans floating on cloud nine, maybe 10 after advancing, but still heartbroken they will be without Balogun. We will see how the team responds despite this adversity.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: All right, Coy Wire, we shall see. Thank you so much. Great to see you. WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: And the next hour of THE SITUATION ROOM

starts right now.

BROWN: Happening now: state fair snags, sparse crowds and no A.C. -- what was supposed to be an extravagant celebration of the nation's 250th birthday not quite turning out as planned.

BLITZER: And raking it in. Brand-new information about President Trump's record revenue from his Florida resorts. And the numbers are fueling more questions about the intersection of money and power.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

Happening now: a summer swelter. A very dangerous heat wave is making its way across the country. More than 160 million people face what is described as a major or extreme heat risk through this holiday weekend. Temperatures could cross into triple digits, with New York City's heat index potentially hitting -- get this -- 110 degrees today.

The Energy Department has issued orders in an effort to try to prevent blackouts. And East Coast cities are setting up cooling centers and other resources to try to beat the heat.

BROWN: Several cities could see record highs in the coming days including right here in Washington, D.C. The forecast shows it's reaching -- it could reach 102 degrees on Saturday, the hottest July 4 on record.

And the scorching temperatures will, of course, bake the nation's capitalist, as President Trump's Great American State Fair takes place on the National Mall. He's expected to speak there Saturday regardless of how hot it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: On July 4, it's going to be approximately 107 degrees out. And I'm going to go and I'm going to make a really long speech just to show that I can do anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar is live in Atlanta. It's among the major cities under a heat dome.

But, first, I'm going to go to CNN White House reporter Adam Cancryn here in THE SITUATION ROOM with how that state far is -- state fair, I should say, is dealing with the weather.

ADAM CANCRYN, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, it's hot. It's hot, and it's been one of the kind of major stumbling blocks that we have seen just over the past week-and-a-half of this fair. When CNN's been down there, the crowds have been pretty sparse.

The state booths that were supposed to be this kind of main attraction, some have been really great. Arizona is one that we have heard has been really built out and a lot of people have gone to, others really not -- just kind of lackluster. And one of the main issues, the air conditioning, it was out yesterday in several booths, including Washington, D.C.'s.

That's not great for folks who already can't bring bottled water or food or even chairs into the fairgrounds.

BROWN: So what is the White House saying about this?

CANCRYN: Well, it's generating a lot of angst in the White House in the White House, especially leading up to this July 4 speech.

BROWN: We know how much President Trump cares about crowds.

CANCRYN: The crowd size is everything.

And, if you remember, he gave a speech on the National Mall last week. White House sources are telling us that he was infuriated by the size of the crowd. He saw an aerial photo afterwards. Not happy with the turnout.

And that is fueling some fears that we're going to see a repeat July 4, just given the heat, triple digits. People don't want to stand out there, and also the security measures and this idea of, like, it's going to be a late hour. This is a family-friendly event, usually, July 4. We could be pushing 9:00-10:00 p.m. by the time the Trump is up there. So...

[11:05:08]

BROWN: That's a good point, because, people with little kids, that's way past their bedtime.

CANCRYN: And to stand out there the entire time, yes, really difficult.

BROWN: Yes. All right, Adam Cancryn, we will see how the turnout is on the Fourth of July. Thanks so much.

BLITZER: Want to check in right now with CNN's Allison Chinchar.

Allison, what else can we expect to see this weekend? You're our meteorologist.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I mean, it's going to stay hot. That's the thing.

It's already getting very warm out here, temperatures well into the 90s already for many areas. From Georgia all the way up to Maine is really where the concern is going to be as we go through the next few days. One thing to note is that you have all of those heat alerts in place because it's going to also be a prolonged event.

You have some of these areas that are going to be dealing with record- breaking temperatures, not just today, but for the next three to four days in a row. Now, one thing also too to keep in mind is, officials are telling people, stay indoors, especially in the heat part -- the peak heating part of the day, which really means from about noon all the way until the evening hours.

Get to an air-conditioned area, stay hydrated. These are all the things that you can do to protect yourself. For some of these areas, we're talking not just a few records. We are looking at well over 100 records that could be broken over the next few days.

And some of those cities could end up breaking records two or even three days in a row. So, again, this is not just a simple, we're a couple degrees above average type of scenario. This is extreme heat for many of these areas.

The other concern too is those overnight low temperatures. For a lot of these areas, those lows are not going to dip below 80 degrees. That's not good for your body. It doesn't allow the body to really cool off effectively at night in order to be able to rebound when those temperatures get warmer later on throughout the day.

Now, we have started to see a few people starting to mill around out here, but I have seen people holding umbrellas. They have got their drinks with them. They're ready. They know the temperatures are expected to get really high later on here today, and really for the next few days.

Another thing to note, Atlanta's one of them, but many cities have types of events that they are planning to celebrate July 4 on Saturday, including a race. There is a very famous race here in Atlanta that's held every year on July 4, but other cities are also having races. We're talking 5Ks, 10Ks, half marathons.

A lot of the event organizers are telling people, we're going to have extra water stations. Take extra breaks, anything you can do to help combat the heat and help keep you safe.

BLITZER: All right, Allison Chinchar, thanks very much. Good advice.

And don't forget -- this is for our viewers -- CNN's new weather app has all the insight you need about conditions in your area and beyond. You can get it now in the Apple App Store -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right, still ahead here in THE SITUATION ROOM, we're going to ask an economist how we should be reading a weaker-than-expected jobs report, as the data shows inflation is doing a number on wages.

BLITZER: And after weeks of speculation, the wedding celebration for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce reportedly starts today. The massive effort to secure the event and keep things under wraps, we have details.

You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:12:46] BROWN: Breaking news: We have more shocking images from Venezuela. A rescue crew just pulled a man from the rubble of a building that collapsed in last week's earthquakes. He spent the last eight days buried under the debris.

I want to bring in our CNN contributor Stefano Pozzebon in Venezuela's capital of Caracas.

What more can you tell us about this incredible rescue, Stefano?

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I mean, these are the sort of miracles that this nation are currently fueling on.

We are here talking to you after more than a week since that devastating earthquake, the two earthquakes that brought this country really to its knees.

And the story of (INAUDIBLE) will be (INAUDIBLE) rescued alive by an international team after spending 7.5 days trapped underground.

BROWN: OK, Stefano, we're going to interrupt because we need to get a better connection with you, and we hope to connect with you again soon here on the show to learn about this incredible rescue, a man who was rescued from the rubble after eight days under the debris in Venezuela -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, the pictures are really amazing, what's going on down there.

BROWN: Yes.

BLITZER: All right, we're following other breaking news as well. The jobs report here in the United States just released this morning from the Bureau of Labor Statistics finds the U.S. added just 57,000 jobs in June.

Economists had expected almost twice that number, and it marks a cooldown from May's gains of 129,000 jobs. The unemployment rate did tick down slightly to 4.2 percent.

Joining us now is the president and founder of the Budget Lab at Yale Law School, Natasha Sarin. Natasha was also a counselor to former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

Thanks so much for joining us, Natasha.

First of all, what's your takeaway from these latest numbers and what could they signal about the U.S. economy?

NATASHA SARIN, YALE LAW SCHOOL: Yes, Wolf, I think we're in a situation where what economists call the break-even rate for employment, so the number of jobs that you need to see added in order for there to be net steady growth in the labor market, is somewhere between zero and 50,000 jobs.

So, although this print is sort of lower than expectations, you very much clear the bar with respect to that break-even rate. And that's why you saw unemployment actually tick down slightly this month. So the labor market is actually looking like it is in pretty good shape. The unemployment rate has essentially been stable over the course of the last year.

[11:15:16]

The real worrying sign from the perspective of the Federal Reserve and the economy writ large is what's happening to inflation and prices. And you actually started to get a sense of that in this report today as well, because you're seeing wage growth tick up, which is great news for the American people and American households, but is going to put upward pressure on prices.

BLITZER: Natasha, I want you to stand by, because I also want to bring in our White House correspondent, Alayna Treene.

Alayna, you and our White House team have been poring over President Trump's 1,000-page financial disclosure statement, and you're getting new insight right down into his wealth during his first year back in the White House. What can you tell us?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Wolf.

This disclosure report, as you mentioned, it's nearly 1,000 pages. And when we pored through it, I mean, one of the big takeaways that we really walked through yesterday was about how the president has made roughly $1.4 billion in money from cryptocurrency.

But if you take a deeper look and look at his two premier Florida properties, of course, Mar-a-Lago, but also his Doral resort in Florida, you're seeing he is bringing in a ton of money from those as well, and much -- at much higher levels than in previous years.

Just to break it down for you, over the 2025 year last year, when he was in office, he took in nearly $77.5 million from Mar-a-Lago. That is more than 50 percent over what it earned him in the previous year and triple what he was bringing in from the year 2020, just to give you some context. When you look at Doral, he brought in $122 million in 2025. He made $110 million in 2024.

A lot of experts, legal experts, ethical experts are arguing that part of this reason that you're seeing such a high spike in the revenues that Trump is making from these properties is because so many people want to become members, want to have their events at Mar-a-Lago and his other properties, in part because of that proximity to the president, this idea of trying to gain his ear when he's holding court, for example, on the patio of his Florida home.

Another big thing where you have seen a difference in recent years is that the membership fee at Mar-a-Lago has risen now to $1 million. That is obviously a huge amount. Compare that with what Trump was charging members at his Mar-a-Lago club before he ever ran for president before 2016. That membership fee was just $100,000. So, as you dig through all of this, really getting a better sense of

how Trump, his properties included, are really adding to his big wealth. At the same time as you hear the White House trying to argue that he's not profiting from his perch here in the White House, you're seeing a lot of spikes in this revenue and the money that he is making just over the last year when he is in office.

So it looks like this is good for his bottom line, Wolf.

BLITZER: It certainly does.

Alayna Treene at the White House for us.

Alayna, thanks very much.

I want to bring back Natasha Sarin right now. She's an economics expert.

These disclosures, Natasha, as you know, show President Trump netted more than $526 million from sales of crypto tokens tied to a firm managed in part by his sons. The White House has long said the president is not actively involved in managing his investments or his businesses. But how normal or abnormal, for that matter, are these profits?

SARIN: Well, they're incredibly significant, and it's sort of noteworthy that we're in a situation where the cryptocurrency industry is regulated by this administration and ultimately by the president.

And so the biggest concern from the perspective of ethics folks who are watching these report -- with this reporting, but also from the American people, is their concern about the nature of what this means for our democracy, is that you might be in a situation where, on the one hand, the administration and the president are enriching themselves, and, on the other hand, they might take or at least appear to take a lighter touch from a regulatory perspective to the industry that is so central to the president's portfolio.

And I think that is a real concern, and, frankly, even that appearance is a real concern. It's why, when you are in government, there are rules that sort of dictate that you cannot actively be investing in exactly the industries that you're exposed to as a policymaker.

And the president has argued that he's exempt from those rules, but I think they're in place for a reason, and they're in place exactly to prevent even the appearance of impropriety.

BLITZER: Good point.

The Supreme Court, as you know, Natasha, also recently made some significant decisions expanding President Trump's power to fire leaders of once rather independent federal agencies, but blocked the administration from ending the tenure of Fed Governor Lisa Cook.

[11:20:05]

Between these rulings, the jobs numbers and the markets, what's your big picture right now, your big picture view of the U.S. economy?

SARIN: Yes, I think the way to understand the court's major decisions this term is, they have given the president a lot of power, consistent with the view of many of the conservative justices that the executive branch's power should sit with the president and the president alone.

But you saw that the Supreme Court was very careful to sort of carve out the Federal Reserve and maintain that it's very important for that independent agency to be protected from even the appearance of political interference.

And so I think, from the perspective of those who are concerned, as I am, that a lot of what you have seen the administration and the president particularly do over the course of the last year-and-a-half is work to diminish the capacity of the Federal Reserve to operate independently and care exclusively about the trajectory of inflation and what's happening in the labor market and the signs we got earlier today, I think you should be kind of heartened by what you have seen the court do.

And I hope that it indicates that this is far from the last word. Even in the Lisa Cook case, it was remanded to lower courts. I suspect we will see it come up again. I hope it indicates that the direction of travel is that we are going to preserve and remain very focused on Federal Reserve independence.

BLITZER: Yes, good point.

Natasha Sarin of the Yale University Law School, thank you very, very much -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right, Wolf, up next here in THE SITUATION ROOM: A congressman's stunning admission about depression has revived the conversation around mental health, especially when it comes to men.

We will ask the president of the American Psychiatric Association about the old stigmas that just won't go away and how to address them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:26:29]

BROWN: Happening now: There is a renewed conversation about mental health here in the United States after Republican Congressman Tom Kean Jr. revealed that he was diagnosed with depression and had a long-term hospital stay for treatment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TOM KEAN (R-NJ): This is not a partisan issue. It touches every community, every family in every corner of this country. If sharing my story encourages even one person to seek help, if it gives one family the courage to have a difficult conversation, or if it reminds one person that recovery is possible, then this moment will have been worthwhile.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: With us now is Dr. Mark Rapaport. He is the president of the American Psychiatric Association.

Thank you for coming on.

Before we get started, I do want to note to our viewers this conversation will cover sensitive topics here about depression, which a lot of Americans actually deal with, including members of Congress, as you just heard there, Dr. Rapaport.

Congressman Kean kept his depression a secret for a while, and now lawmakers, including the House speaker, are saying they had said at the time that they wish he'd come out and said something. But, as you well know, mental health issues are a very private matter. I'm just wondering what your overall reaction is to all of this.

DR. MARK RAPAPORT, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATION: My overall reaction is, thank you.

I'm not Congressman Kean's physician, but what he did was tremendously important and valuable. The brain is the most amazing organ system in the body. It allows you to laugh and love and learn and to have memories and to create things. And we have stigmatized it.

We have stigmatized the most amazing organ system. And Congressman Kean, by speaking out and by saying 48 million people have depression, and people do get better and recover, and he's able to go back to work, that's an amazing message for everyone to hear.

BROWN: Why do you think it has such a stigma? When someone has asthma or a sprained ankle or something else, there's not that kind of stigma, right? But when it comes to mental health issues and the brain, there seems to still be that stigma, and people feel -- still feeling that shame when it comes to it.

I know when I have battled with my own anxiety in the past, it's scary to talk about it.

RAPAPORT: Yes, you're absolutely right.

Unfortunately, because the brain has been so important to us, one of two things happens. Either people have trivialized anxiety or depression and said, oh, if they only prayed more, if they only were stronger, they'd get better, or the other thing that happens is that people are so frightened by diseases of the brain that they say, oh, my goodness, I'm just going to ignore this. I'm just going to just to really push it to the side and not deal with it at all.

But the reality is, is, these are just disorders just like you have with heart or the lungs.

BROWN: Yes, and so much can go into it. I know there's circumstantial depression that people experience, or maybe something that's more related to their genetics and biology.

How can -- how can one understand sort of what they're going through when it comes to depression and where it's stemming from?

RAPAPORT: Yes.