Return to Transcripts main page
The Brief with Jim Sciutto
161 People Still Missing Kerr County; Death Toll In Texas Floods Rises To 110; Kerr County Wanted Flood Warning System Funds; Trump And Netanyahu's Second Day Of Talks; Trump And Netanyahu Meets Again For Gaza Ceasefire; U.S. Will Send More Weapons To Ukraine; Trump's Big Beautiful Bill Deals A Major Blow To Green Energy Sector. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired July 08, 2025 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:00]
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington. And you're watching
"The Brief."
Just ahead this hour, Texas Governor Greg Abbott says that now at least 161 people are still missing after last week's deadly flooding in Kerr County,
significantly more than previous reports and estimates. President Trump says the U.S. will now send more weapons to Ukraine, apparently reversing
last week's pause by his administration on some shipments. And the stars turn out for the premier of "Superman" as it hopes to soar in the box
office. All of that more coming up.
We do begin though with the catastrophic flooding and aftermath in Texas. The death toll has now risen to at least 110. Texas Governor Greg Abbott
says at least 173 people are known to be missing, that that number could rise. Questions raised about if local officials gave residents enough
warning. When asked the simple question of who is to be held responsible for the deaths and the aftermath, the governor said that questions about
who's to blame are for losers, his words, and then tried to compare this tragedy here to losing a football game.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): Let me explain one thing about Texas, and that is Texas, every square inch of our state cares about football. It could be in
Hunt, Texas, Huntsville, Texas, Houston, Texas, any size community, they care about football. High school, Friday night lights, college football, or
pro. And know this, every football team makes mistakes.
The losing teams are the ones that try to point out who's to blame. The championship teams are the ones that say, don't worry about it, man. We got
this. We're going to make sure that we go score again, that we're going to win this game. The way winners talk is not to point fingers. They talk
about solutions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Well, one might say the parents of all those lost children have reasonable questions about who's responsible. Our Isabel Rosales is in
Center Point, Texas. And just to hear that number of missing rise so significantly, I believe the latest numbers now above 170, that shows just
how much more work is still to be done.
ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, Jim, in particular, that is a number that community members, volunteers have been asking for since day
one, acknowledging that that is a complex figure to come to. But that number is so important because those are human beings that -- and that's
also a goal for these volunteers of who they should be looking for, how many people they should be looking for while they are scouring the
Guadalupe River.
It is a -- we've -- so far, we've had the number of missing mostly centered around Camp Mystic. But now, we're getting a clearer picture as to the
extent of this devastation with that figure of over 160 people missing in Kerr County alone, which is the hardest hit.
So, I'm in Center Point. And you can see here just the devastation that has been left behind. These cypress trees that are huge and have deep root,
just flung away and broken like matchsticks. You can see a trailer over there flipped upside down. And over there, as we zoom in the distance, you
can see some of the volunteers that are spread out 25 plus miles from right here where I'm at, Center Point, all the way to Hunt where Camp Mystic is
located and beyond, and they are searching through the Guadalupe River, its banks, its tributaries, it spans out like a spider web, searching for
answers for these families who so desperately want to know what happened to their loved one.
Over in that direction is a quarry, a rock quarry, where they discover two more vehicles, one buried underneath the gravel, its axle sticking up. They
want to get access to that to see if someone's inside. And another one underneath the water, they're using a pump over there to get all of that
water out. It's not part of the river, that came from all the flash flooding. And again, to see if somebody might be trapped in that vehicle.
[18:05:00]
So, clearly, this is going to take a long time. There's so many people that are passionately putting in their time from, of course, the professionals,
the first responders, so many of them that are here throughout the State of Texas and beyond. And also, just regular people coming with walking sticks,
with dogs, ATVs, even on horseback to try to get, again, answers for these families that are in anguish, heartbroken, trying to figure out what
happened.
SCIUTTO: So, as I understand, Isabel, there's new reporting that Camp Mystic was inspected just days before this flood?
ROSALES: Yes, that is correct. So, two days. CNN obtained new reports two days before the floods, there was actually a state inspector on the grounds
at Camp Mystic that certified that the camp had an emergency plan in place and actually went to all of these buildings and camps sites, cabins,
including Bubble Inn, where we know they kept the youngest of campers, all of which were found dead. And certified that these buildings were safe.
Now, this inspector from the Texas Department of State and Health Services confirmed that Camp Mystic had a state mandated a plan for, quote,
"emergency shelter and for evacuation in case of an emergency." So, in light of this, this report, it's raising you questions about whether that
disaster plan was adequate and how closely it was followed. We've reached out to Camp Mystic for answers via phone calls and e-mails. We've not
received a phone call back.
And then the state is telling us that that plan, Jim, would've included what to do in the case of flooding. But of course, we know that so many
counselors and we're trying to get those kids out and give -- bring them up to higher ground, but the water, it came so quickly.
SCIUTTO: Good Lord. And that the youngest campers there too lost in that one building, just heartbreaking. Isabel Rosales, thanks so much. Well,
flooding in the area surrounding the Guadalupe River in Texas happen so frequently that many locals were referred to it as Flash Flood Alley. The
majority of those killed in this latest catastrophe were in Kerr County, where officials, for nearly a decade, have not just acknowledged, but
warned about the risk of deadly flooding. CNN's Josh Campbell investigates why efforts to improve the county's early warning system were repeatedly
put off.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE HERRING JR., KERRVILLE, TEXAS MAYOR: I think everyone in Kerrville, everyone in Kerr County wishes to God we'd had some way to warn them.
JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As authorities continue search and rescue efforts in the Texas Hill Country, questions are
sharpening over whether more could have been done to avert a tragedy that has claimed more than 100 lives.
Local officials have yet to provide a clear accounting of weather and ominous warning from the National Weather Service early Friday morning was
pushed down via cell phone alert to people in the flood path.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not that easy, and you just push a button. OK. There's a lot more to that.
DALTON RICE, KERRVILLE, TEXAS CITY MANAGER: Well, evacuation is a delicate balance.
CAMPBELL (voice-over): Local officials say the decision to order public evacuations is a complex one.
RICE: Because if you evacuate too late, you then risk putting buses, you know, or cars or vehicles or campers on roads into low water areas trying
to get them out.
RICK SPINRAD, FORMER NOAA ADMINISTRATOR: The Weather Service did their job, the watches and warnings went out. Clearly, the heartbreak with respect to
this development is that those warnings were not received.
CAMPBELL (voice-over): In addition to text alerts, questions have been raised about the lack of an audible warning system to alert residents of
danger.
DAN PATRICK, TEXAS LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR: It's clear that one thing that could help in the future, it would seem, no matter what other redundancies
we have, are sirens that could blast very loudly.
CAMPBELL (voice-over): A CNN investigation found multiple efforts in Kerr County to build a more substantial flood warning system. Former Kerr County
Commissioner Tom Moser told CNN the area is perhaps the most flood prone in the State of Texas, and described the county's early warning system as
pretty antiquated and marginal at best.
Moser said he studied how a nearby county installed sirens and suggested Kerr County do the same. But the idea was met with resistance. He said, due
to budget concerns and noise. According to a transcript of one local government meeting in 2016, another county commissioner said, the thought
of our beautiful Kerr County having these damn sirens going off in the middle of the night, I'm going to have to start drinking again to put up
with you all.
MARK ROSE, FORMER GENERAL MANAGER, LOWER COLORADO RIVER AUTHORITY: Sirens are important, but a siren, a weather forecast is always going to run the
risk of being too late.
CAMPBELL (voice-over): Another area under scrutiny, the number of gauges along the Guadalupe River that can alert officials in real-time to rising
waters. The upper Guadalupe River authority does have at least five gauges on the river in Kerr County, but experts say that number should be doubled
or even tripled.
[18:10:00]
ROSE: How can you have a timely warning when you have no system? How can you have a timely warning when you have no data?
CAMPBELL (voice-over): One major hurdle, cost. Electronic gauge systems can cost tens of millions of dollars, often far beyond what one county can
afford. River Management Veterans say it's past time for the State of Texas to do its part to cover the price.
ROSE: There's only one lesson that comes out of this to me that's worth anything, and that is that the State of Texas steps up because if they
don't, the world's watching us and what a failure that'll be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Yes, deadly failure in the end. Keri Blakinger is a senior investigative reporter for the Houston Chronicle. Her reporting has
revealed that Kerr County repeatedly asked the state for help in paying for a flood warning system years before the disaster, but didn't get it. Keri
joins me now from Houston, Texas. Thanks so much.
KERI BLAKINGER, SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, HOUSTON CHRONICLE: Hi. Thanks for having me.
SCIUTTO: So, you've combed through years of county transcripts and planning documents, why were there Federal and state funding requests denied, as I
understand it, multiple times, even after previous disasters?
BLAKINGER: Yes, that did happen repeatedly. So, the first time they -- it's not entirely clear why they were denied, but the project was just not
prioritized among the state's priorities that year. This was federal funding that was being administered by the state, and when they asked for
it again, just after Harvey, Harvey obviously ended up being the priority in that situation.
And then, they have, more recently, in the past couple of years, also asked for more state funding. And in that case, they didn't get enough of a
match. They only got a 5 percent of the total cost, which would've been around a million dollars. Only about 5 percent was covered. And the locals
decided that covering 95 percent of it was not feasible. That grant ended up at the pre-application stage and is technically still pending. So, they
could complete it. And if they determine that there's a way to pay for 95 percent of the cost, then they could potentially go through and finish that
grant process and get that funded.
SCIUTTO: In your reporting, have state or federal officials explained those decisions to reject that request for funding or help?
BLAKINGER: So, we did speak to some people at the State Water Board today, and they said that they explained that this is a formula and they -- when
they determine what percent of the grant is covered by the state, it really just comes down to specific factors that they're looking at, such as what
the median household income is in the area, whether it's rural or urban. So, in this situation, presumably, the median income might have worked
against them, but the fact that they're rural probably would've worked in their favor. And in the end, it ended up being a 5 percent match.
So, I mean that -- we got an explanation on that one. I haven't gotten a specific explanation so far or any clear comment explaining why the earlier
grants had been denied, although we do know that in one case that year Harvey related projects were getting prioritized.
SCIUTTO: Right. In your piece, you mentioned that camps preferred an informal system of neighbors calling neighbors. I wonder, was there
evidence in past instances of flooding where that informal network did the job, worked?
BLAKINGER: So, we heard from a lot of locals who said that this did work in some instances, and that -- especially with the camps that they were family
owned, and they tended to have a good sense of at what point they needed to alert each other or if the water was at a certain point here, then that
means that further down the stream it'll be at, you know, 10 feet or 20 feet. And they would have some sense of when they would need to evacuate.
But there obviously have been past disasters. And in the 1987 flood, you know, 10 kids died and that was a situation in which they did not evacuate.
SCIUTTO: Good lord. Such a sad and tragic history there along the river. Keri Blakinger, thanks so much for sharing your reporting.
BLAKINGER: Thanks for having me.
SCIUTTO: The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump holding another round of talks at the White House this hour
amid some hopes for an Israeli-Hamas ceasefire. After a third day of negotiations in Doha, an Israeli official says that both sides there are
making progress on humanitarian aid and hostage for prisoner swaps, but that, once again, sticking points remain. Prime Minister Netanyahu said
this about the prospects for a deal earlier.
[18:15:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: We think that we've gotten closer to it. And I hope we can cross the line. That is our purpose. But I
think the less I speak about it publicly, the more likely that we might get it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: President Trump's Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, says a Gaza ceasefire deal could come by the end of the week. All this is medics say
more than 60 people were killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza just today.
Joining me now, Kevin Liptak. And, Kevin, you know, you and I have talked about the prospects for ceasefire and hostage deal repeatedly over the last
several months. And listen, you know, back in January when there was a first instance of this there was talk of a multi-phase process. Of course,
that went away. What's the reality? Are they truly close?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: It really depends on who you talk to. The White House does feel like this is the closest they have been
since that deal that you mentioned fell apart in March. And I think one of the reasons is President Trump really feels like he has some leverage on
Netanyahu at the moment.
He has really tried to pull him close over the last couple of weeks, whether it was joining the Israeli strikes on Iran, whether it was calling
for the cancellation of his criminal trial in Israel, really kind of an unprecedented foray into its domestic politics. The president feels like he
has done so much for Netanyahu over the last few weeks that he really does expect something in return, and that would be agreeing to this Gaza
ceasefire.
But of course, he also --
SCIUTTO: So, that's the Israeli side.
LIPTAK: Yes, exactly.
SCIUTTO: But what about the Hamas side? I mean, you know --
LIPTAK: Yes. You also have to get Hamas to sign off on this. I think from the White House's view, they feel like the humanitarian situation in Gaza
has gotten so bad that Gazans eventually we're going to put enough pressure on Hamas, sort of internally to try and come up with some kind of
agreement. And they do feel like that there are examples in this deal of Hamas agreeing to certain things that they hadn't agreed to previously. So,
they do feel like they're getting close.
And the fact that President Trump is dispatching Steve Witkoff to Qatar this week, which is where these discussions are happening, is an indication
that they think that something could happen soon. But nothing's final until it's final. And everyone involved in this process has been down this road
before and has seen these deals vaporize, but they do feel like they're getting somewhere.
SCIUTTO: Is the president telling Netanyahu to make a deal?
LIPTAK: I think he is. He said before this meeting yesterday and before the meeting today that he is going to be very firm with Netanyahu. Originally,
these meetings were all meant to be closed to the press, which I think is notable. You know, Netanyahu's been to the White House twice this term so
far. This is his third visit. Those previous visits were all before the cameras, they had press conferences that they had at the Oval Office
meeting.
This meeting was a dinner in the White House Blue Room, originally meant to be closed. They opened it up. And I think that just gives you a sense of
the atmospherics here. President Trump really wants to have an actual conversation with Netanyahu about what's going on. He wants this deal. You
saw Netanyahu yesterday bring that letter nominating for Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize. He clearly knows his audience here as kind of a host gift. The
ultimate form of flattery. But President Trump knows that if he's going to get that Nobel Prize, it's going to go through Netanyahu. He's got to agree
to this deal. And I think he had plans to be pretty firm with him in these thoughts.
SCIUTTO: It's amazing how often that desire for a Nobel Peace Prize crops up.
LIPTAK: Yes. Every day almost.
SCIUTTO: Many flashpoints around the world. Kevin Liptak, thanks so much. Well, in another war zone, President Trump promised to send U.S. weapons,
particularly air defense missiles to Ukraine once again after his administration paused such shipments. Will Republicans rally behind that
decision? And what's next for the U.S. policy towards Ukraine? We're going to speak to Republican Congressman French Hill next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:20:00]
SCIUTTO: President Trump says the U.S. will send more weapons to Ukraine, reversing his administration's pause last week on some weapons shipments,
including air defense missiles.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We're going to send some more weapons. We have to. They have to be able to defend themselves. They're getting hit
very hard now. They're getting hit very hard. We're going to have to send more weapons. Yes, defensive weapons primarily, but they're getting hit
very, very hard. So, many people are dying in that mess.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: The president also vented his growing frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Joining me now is Republican Congressman French Hill. He's a member of the House Intelligence Committee and also has visited Ukraine
himself a number of times. Congressman, we do appreciate you taking the time.
REP. FRENCH HILL (R-AK): Jim, good to be with you.
SCIUTTO: First, I wonder if I could ask your reaction to the administration restarting, or I suppose I should say, ending the pause on some of those
weapon shipments to Ukraine. The right move in your view?
HILL: It is the right move. We should continue to support Ukraine in their fight against Putin. Putin is a long line of blood lust from Stalin on
down. He is a mass murderer and he doesn't know anything but strength. And this was the mistake in the Obama administration of trying to placate him
and not doing anything in terms of deterring his takeover of the Crimea or his engagement in Donbas during that administration.
I appreciated President Trump arming the Ukrainians during his first term, but now, we've suffered through a mass illegal invasion, and we've got to
not only arm the Ukrainians, but back them financially, and we need to do both.
SCIUTTO: The back and forth on U.S. military assistance to Ukraine, just in the last several months, going back. Earlier this year, you had the pause
and intelligence sharing, and you've had different positions from the administration on continued weapon shipments. When you visit Ukraine and
you meet with Ukrainian officials there, does that back and forth, does that confuse them, and is it damaging to their war effort to not have
consistency?
HILL: Yes. Well, I think that's plagued Ukraine since the invasion in February of '22. Both the Europeans and the Biden administration slow
walked weapon systems, or they sent some, they didn't send what was requested and that went on month after month, sometimes at the direction of
the Biden administration, at other times at the direction of another European leader, say Germany, for example.
So, there's not been a consistent financial pressure put on Russia or a consistent weapons supply to the Ukrainians, which in my judgment has
drugged this conflict out in the way that it has, which has been catastrophic.
I think we should turn up the financial heat on Russia by seizing and converting their frozen assets in Europe and the United States. President
Trump has the authority to do that. President Biden refused to do it. And the Europeans dragged their feet on that. Now, with new elected leadership
in Europe, I think that's a possibility.
Secondly, we should sanction the Russian banking industry. My colleague, Zach Nunn of Iowa has an excellent bill to fully sanction and put on
secondary sanctions on those doing business with Russian banks facilitating their oil and gas revenues. And then, finally, yes, we should continue to
provide the arms, both offensive and defensive, that the Ukrainians need.
[18:25:00]
SCIUTTO: I want to get to your op-ed in particular pushing for seizing some of those frozen Russian assets. Before I do, I understand the criticism of
decisions during the Biden administration, but do you believe the Trump administration has been guilty of -- well, of going back and forth on its
military support for Ukraine?
HILL: Look, I've certainly given the president my best advice on being consistent, both on sanctions and making it tough on Vladimir Putin,
providing the weapons. In addition to the mineral deal, which I support, I think that's an excellent partnership between America and Ukraine on the
future of the Ukrainian economy. I commend the president for that.
But I do think we need to have a tough measure, and I think Congress is prepared to work with the President to have a tough message to Putin.
You're not going to sing this bird out of the tree. He is a mass murderer. In Eastern Europe and Central Europe where I've spent a good part of my
career working on and off, they describe Putin as the wolf who kills even when he is not hungry. This is the man we're dealing with.
SCIUTTO: On the frozen funds, you talk about a number of steps here, three urgent steps to help Ukraine, escrow the frozen Russian funds, create a
trust for Ukraine and start transfers now. Do you believe that this will actually happen now? And I suppose I might ask, why has it taken so long?
Because to some degree, those frozen Russian assets have seemed an obvious target, right, to help fund the war effort?
HILL: Right. No. So, true. And that's why in 2024, the House passed our Repo Act that I worked on with the former Foreign Affairs chairman Mike
McCaul and Mr. Risch, and the Senate. We got a good piece of legislation giving the president the authority to take those frozen assets. There's
about $5 billion publicly in the United States that's controlled by the Russian Central Bank. Put those in a trust fund for the benefit of Ukraine.
But there was no consensus on that in Europe either.
I believe now with new governments in London and in Germany that potentially there could be more consensus to seize these frozen assets and
put them to work. All that we could get done in Europe last year at the end of the Biden administration was taking the earnings off a portion of the
frozen assets and making that available to Ukraine, and they've gotten about 28 billion euros as a result of that. That's good. I'm just saying to
send the ultimate message to Czar Putin, we need to take his money and he is not getting it back if he continues to attack Ukraine.
SCIUTTO: Yes. You mentioned that the sanctions bill, do you believe that sanctions bill moment is now, because it's been on the table for some time?
And I understand Senator Lindsey Graham at least thinks that he might have the votes.
HILL: Well, Senator Graham has a good bill in the Senate. There are 85 co- sponsors. We have a companion bill on the House led by Brian Fitzpatrick from Pennsylvania, who's the co-chair of our Ukrainian caucus in the House.
And I mentioned Zach Nunn has a bill targeted specifically at the banking industry to stop money going to the oil and gas treasury in Moscow.
All these are good ideas. And what do they do, Jim? They put more arrows in the quiver of Donald Trump to make it a better negotiation. If we take his
money, if we put on additional sanctions, if we shut down what is already a fledgling Russian economy, plus his war machine is damaged with our
confrontation with Iran and with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard on their back foot. So, we need to keep this pressure on. And I think a sanctions
bill, and I believe the Repo Act are part of the solution to keep that pressure up.
SCIUTTO: Yes, it's such an important point given how many of those Iranian Shahed drones are raining down on Ukraine. Just finally, before we go,
because we led into our conversation with the comments from the president regarding the BS that he said he hears from the Kremlin. Do you believe
that the president now is seeing what folks like yourself have been warning about for some time, is that Putin is not truly interested in negotiating?
HILL: I think President Trump is a realist. I think he wants peace. He wants to sue for peace, but he's also willing to use sanctions, financial
pressure, economic statecraft, diplomatic statecraft, and military action as in the case of Iran. And I think he's had six months of enough from
Putin. I think he is had it, and I'm glad to see it because I could have told him that -- he saw the real Putin in his first term and he saw what
appeasement gets from President Obama, which is the loss of Donbas and the Crimea.
[18:30:00]
It's time for the Transatlantic partnership and other allies around the world to just say, enough is enough. And if this is green-lighted in any
way then President Trump has the same challenge that President Biden did when he had his failed pullout, that was terribly done from Afghanistan.
All you're doing is sending clues to President Xi around the world.
SCIUTTO: Well, Congressman Hill, we appreciate the work you do overseas and we appreciate you taking the time this afternoon.
HILL: Thanks so much. Good to be with you.
SCIUTTO: Still ahead, fast moving developments in the Israel-Hamas ceasefire negotiations. The state of the talks, topic number one is
President Trump and the Israeli prime minister continue their meetings in Washington. We're going to have the very latest on those talks coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCIUTTO: Welcome back to "The Brief." I'm Jim Sciutto. Here are more international headlines we're watching today.
Well, the numbers keep going up. The governor of Texas has now at least 173 people are missing after last week's just catastrophic flooding, and the
death toll has risen just in the last hour to 111. When asked who is to blame, Governor Greg Abbott said his state is focused on solutions rather
than accountability.
A cargo ship has been attacked in the Red Sea just a day after rebels based in Yemen sunk another ship. The Liberian flagged Greek-owned ship sustained
significant damage. Two crew members were killed. Houthis have not claimed responsibility for this new attack.
[18:35:00]
After nearly two decades, the TSA is phasing out the rule requiring travels to take off their shoes at U.S. airport security. Homeland Security
Secretary Kristi Noem has announced the change saying passengers will still pass-through multiple layers of screening. The rule was first implemented
five years after a failed shoe bombing plot back in 2001.
There is no breakthrough yet in the ongoing ceasefire and hostage release negotiations between Israel and Hamas in Doha. There is still hope though
that a deal could be in the offing. An Israeli official says progress is being made on key issues despite there being ongoing sticking points.
At the White House this hour, the Israeli prime minister, Netanyahu, President Donald Trump discussing the status of those negotiations, what a
ceasefire might look like. President Trump is pushing for a lasting peace agreement between the two sides after more than a year and a half of war.
Aaron David Miller joins me now. A senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Aaron, always good to have you. Listen, you know,
there have been a lot of moments like this where a deal is close and then it just doesn't happen. I wonder if you see the ingredients here that make
that prospect more realistic this time around?
AARON DAVID MILLER, FORMER U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR: I do, Jim. I think, number one, the prime minister has a little more room to
maneuver as a consequence of the success of Israeli strikes and the fact that he is persuaded an American president, the first Republican or
Democratic president to strike Iranian nuclear sites. And that brings me to the second issue, which is Trump, who's impatient, focused, wants an early
win and has more leverage now.
As far as Hamas' calculations are concerned, I think the group is increasingly desperate about its chances for survival. And this agreement,
if in fact it holds, will give them a needed respite. It'll also diminish the role of the Gaza Foundation -- Humanitarian Foundation, organizations
which have distributed aid at an incredibly bloody cost with respect to Palestinian deaths at four points in Central and Southern Gaza.
So, yes, I think it is possible that in effect and end of the week. Steve Witkoff is in this meeting today. Sources claim that he will not go to Doha
unless he is persuaded that he can close. So, let's see if he travels.
SCIUTTO: You have written that the Trump-Netanyahu bromance will last until it doesn't. Do you see it as being on, well, tender hooks at this point?
MILLER: No, actually. I think that the transactional situational nature of this relationship has now paid off enormous benefits to both Trump and
Netanyahu. But it is a transactional relationship. And we should remember, despite the sugar high that Trump provided Israel in 1.0, recognizing
Jerusalem, moving the embassy sovereignty over the Golan, ignoring Israeli settlement activity.
This president, over the last two months, has done things to and around Israel that no American president, Republican or Democrat, that I ever
worked for did. He opened up negotiations directly with Hamas in March without the approval of the U.S. government -- of the government of Israel.
He removed sanctions of the Shara (ph) government over the objections of Benjamin Netanyahu.
Speaking of the Red Sea and the Houthis, he cut a deal with the Houthis, which essentially accepted the reality, as long as these left American
shipping and naval assets alone, presumably they were free to do what they want with respect to launching strikes on Israel.
So, this president, I think, when you get in the middle between something Donald Trump wants and if you're in the middle of that, I think it's not a
very good place to be and I think Benjamin Netanyahu understands that. And I suspect that if he cannot -- Trump, if he cannot find a way to persuade
Netanyahu to end the war, and it's going to be very, very, very difficult to do so, you may see a toughening of the American position.
SCIUTTO: What does the next day look like after a ceasefire? I mean, the fact is it might just be a temporary one, right? And even with, say, the
ceasefire we've seen in Lebanon, Israel is still striking there when it sees targets. I mean, does the ceasefire really bring an end to the war on
Gaza? Does it lay the groundwork for people to be able to live there?
MILLER: I mean, it really depends on three unanswered questions, Jim, who's going to govern Gaza? Number one. Number two, what kind of security
arrangements are you going to be made that would persuade the Israelis to facilitate Israeli withdrawal and cease Israeli kinetic activity? And that
pertains very much to what happens to Hamas. And then number three, what is the Arab State role, both in terms of providing the billions of dollars
that are required for reconstruction, but then perhaps providing Arab boots on the ground to supervise a punitive Palestinian police force?
[18:40:00]
The image I'm painting is an image more appropriate to galaxy far, far away than back here on planet Earth, but it does require decisions on the part
of the Netanyahu government, on the part of Palestinian leadership, Arab states, and Washington. I just don't see how Netanyahu squares and
reconciles that sort of vision with the constraints of his coalition. And Mr. Smotrich and Ben-Gvir who will pull out if he doesn't adhere to total
victory in Gaza.
SCIUTTO: Yes. And that has often been influential in his decision making. Aaron David Miller, thanks so much.
MILLER: Thanks, Jim. Take care.
SCIUTTO: Still ahead, President Trump, once again takes aim at the clean energy sector. How that industry is being hobbled by a politically hostile
White House.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCIUTTO: Welcome back to "The Brief." U.S. stocks closed, mostly lower Tuesday, amid another surprise tariff announcement from President Trump.
President says he will soon impose a 50 percent tariff on copper imports. He also threatened, once again, to levy sweeping tariffs on
pharmaceuticals. Copper futures rose to all-time highs on that news, soaring more than 9 percent.
The president insisted in social media posts that his new August 1st tariff extension deadline on trading partners will be the last extension, even
though just on Monday he said the new deadline was not a hundred percent firm.
The so-called big beautiful bill that President Trump signed at a law last week deals a major blow to the green energy industry in the U.S., phasing
out tax incentives for electric vehicles, cutting tax credits for renewable energy products. President Trump delivered a fresh attack on the sector
late Monday by signing an executive order that would further limit tax incentives for renewables calling green energy sources, quote,
"unreliable." Though not a lot of facts to pack that up. Publicly traded clean energy firms such as Enphase, Sunrun, and First Solar fell sharply on
that news.
[18:45:00]
These new attacks on clean energy rolled back many of the provisions contained in former President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, which in
part hope to limit America's reliance on fossil fuels over time, which much of the world is doing as well. It is in sharp contrast to what is happening
in China. Beijing's massive investments in green energy put it firmly on track to become the globe's dominant green energy player in a big growing
sector of the world economy.
Leah Stokes joins me now. She's a political scientist, associate professor at UC Santa Barbara. Thanks so much for joining.
LEAH STOKES, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, UC SANTA BARBARA: Oh, thanks so much for having me on.
SCIUTTO: So, this is so much about politics in this country, right? It's become a political target of this administration. Globally, though,
renewables are one of the fastest growing industries in the world. So, the question becomes for the U.S. economy, does it make economic sense to pull
back?
STOKES: Yes. Well, it's not just the world that's seeing wind and solar and batteries surge, it's also the United States. Last year, 94 percent of the
new capacity, the electricity system built, was wind and solar and batteries. So, if you want to continue to keep pace with the growing
electricity demand from things like A.I. and data center centers, and of course electric vehicles and heat pumps, you're going to need to rely on
the very reliable solar and battery power. That's just what the United States is building.
Because if you wanted to build a natural gas plant, which of course I don't think we should do given climate change, but let's just say you want to do
that, you've got to wait five years just to get the physical infrastructure, the turbine necessary to do it. So, if we want to keep the
lights on in the United States, it's going to be solar and batteries and wind. It's really just that simple.
SCIUTTO: Speaking about the energy demands of A.I., Trump administration officials have said the future is nuclear gas and coal. Does anybody else
in the world believe that those three sources are the future?
STOKES: Let's be real. The fact is that the coal plants that are still operating in the United States are the most expensive source of
electricity. You could shut down basically every single coal plant tomorrow in the United States and replace it with solar and batteries or wind, and
it would save people money.
So, President Trump, for example, has stopped the closure of a plant in Michigan, a coal plant, and it's going to cost those rate payers so much
money on their bills. And so, this chaotic policy that Trump is putting forward is increasing electricity bills.
So, people can really thank President Trump when they see their electricity bills rise in the coming years by something like $200 a year. And I don't
think anyone wants to spend $200 more on their electricity bills, but that's the kind of chaos that Trump is pushing when he continues to prop up
very expensive and dirty coal plants.
SCIUTTO: The recession of the tax credits are certainly going to impact renewable companies, but are renewable companies and projects looking
further down the line and saying, listen, short-term pain, long-term gain, that they imagine they'll get through this period and therefore, still
investing or is this moving them out, right, or significantly reducing their investments in this space and their growth prospects in this space?
STOKES: Well, one of the biggest things that President Biden did was he started to build manufacturing in the United States and things like solar
and batteries and heat pumps, all the clean technologies of the future. And the good news was that a huge amount of those investments were going to
Republican districts. You know, we're talking about 80 percent of the new clean power being in Republican districts and 75 percent of those new jobs.
And these, this wasn't just small amounts of jobs. We're talking about 250,000 new jobs. We're talking about $250 billion of investments. And
these were really good paying jobs that we're paying people in some counties, for example, in North Carolina, way above the median income.
And that's probably why Senator Tillis broke with President Trump, the Republican from North Carolina, and said, I won't back this ugly bill. It's
wrong and it's going to hurt my constituents and I'd rather not run for reelection in the Senate than do the wrong thing.
So, you know, this really is what is the future building clean energy. And we can do it in Republican districts, we can do it in Democratic districts,
but we should be doing it in the United States. And President Trump claims to want to build things in the United States, but he creates so much chaos
for the clean energy industry that a lot of those jobs could be lost.
SCIUTTO: Leah Stokes, thanks so much for walking us through it.
STOKES: Thanks so much for having me on.
SCIUTTO: Coming up highlights from the Wimbledon quarterfinals. The world's number one seeded woman fought back to avoid elimination as the reigning
men's champion cruised to victory.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:50:00]
SCIUTTO: The first day of quarterfinals for men's and women's singles have wrapped up at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships. Highlights include reigning
champ Carlos Alcaraz knocking out his opponents. Really cruising in straight sets.
And in women's play, number one ranked Aryna Sabalenka just narrowly defeating her challenger. Let's bring in CNN World Sports Don Riddell.
Alcaraz looked really good, including with all those drop shots, man. I mean, he is a magician.
DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORTS: He is amazing. And honestly, it's getting harder and harder to see how anybody can stop him, particularly here at
Wimbledon, which is fast becoming his favorite tournament. He booked his place in a third consecutive semi-final, leaving him now just two wind shy
of a third consecutive title here on the most hallowed of grass courts.
Alcaraz up against the last British player standing in the single straw Cameron Norrie. Now, before the match, Alcaraz had said that playing the
lefty he can be a bit of a nightmare. But Alcaraz, I think, will be sleeping soundly tonight after sweeping his opponent in straight sets.
So, to put all of this into context, that is now a 19th consecutive match 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.
You know, with so many top seeds gone from the women's draw and many of them going very early, you would think that 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. She had never been past the second round in the singles draw here at Wimbledon, but Siegmund 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 if you listen to what she said afterwards, she knew that she 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. 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: Sabalenka's next match might also be testing for her. She's going to be playing the American Amanda Anisimova, who has a winning record
against her.
SCIUTTO: Yes, she was down a break in that third set. She's kind of lucky to have escaped. So, you got the semi-finals of Wimbledon taking shape, but
also the final for the new look FIFA Club World Cup. Tell us what's happening with Chelsea.
RIDDELL: Yes, great day for Chelsea advancing to the title match with the two-nil win against Fluminense. And, Jim. The story of this game was
Chelsea's new Brazilian forward Joao Pedro.
[18:55:00]
He's only just joined the club and he was playing against his boyhood team. Pedro spent nine years growing and developing as a player at Fluminense.
So, you can only imagine how conflicted he must have been when he did that in the 18th minute. His first goal for Chelsea was an absolute beauty. But
out of respect, he didn't want to celebrate it. And look at this, in the second half, Pedro did it again. Another terrific goal for a two-nil
Chelsea lead. And again, he looked almost embarrassed about it, but what an impact this young man has made. He's only been at Chelsea, what, five
minutes and he's taken them into the Club World Cup tournament final. They'll play either Paris Saint-Germain or Real Madrid for the title in the
same stadium on Sunday.
SCIUTTO: Yes. That took some forbearance not to celebrate two goals at this level. Don Riddell, thanks so much.
RIDDELL: All right.
SCIUTTO: In today's Good Brief, Hollywood turned out Monday for the premier of the new "Superman." Director James Gunn joined the stars of the movie,
including David Corenswet, the new Clark Kent, or Superman. It's rolling out in international theaters on Wednesday and in the U.S. and Canada on
Friday. The movie is aiming to reinvigorate Warner Brother Discoveries D.C. Studios, which we should note, of course, under the same parent company as
CNN.
Thanks so much for your company today. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington. You've been watching "The Brief." Please do stay with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:00:00]
END
