A curated roundup of the most fascinating interviews of the day so far…
Topics: texas floods, tariff deals, budget bill, nyc mayor, nato, iran crackdowns, american revolution, middle east peace, bridget jones diary...and so much more...
This morning the news is dominated by the fallout from the devastating floods in Central Texas and the focus is on whether or not Texas officials were adequately funded and staffed to sufficiently warn the population. The cable channels and networks had many interviews today with flood victims and rescuers and incredible first person accounts.
Here is a round up:
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem joined Fox this morning to discuss the 'horrific' flooding in Texas and the response from the Trump administration. “The national weather service is an ancient system that needed to be upgraded,” she said, “but that installation isn't complete and that technology isn't fully installed but the alerts went out. We can continue to learn from every single situation.” When asked if there was a breakdown in the warnings systems, “not that we know of,” she said.
Watch here:
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries was also on MSNBC this weekend pushing for answers on the Texas Flood warnings.
“I think we are going to have to figure out what happened, why did it happen, and how do we prevent this type of tragedy from ever happening again. And so the question of readiness is certainly something that Congress should be able to explore in a bipartisan way, particularly as we head into a summer where we can expect intensifying extreme weather events.”
Watch here:
NBC News interviewed Texas flood survivors Doug Fuller and his wife Libby Evans-Fuller. They joined to describe their harrowing ordeal as floodwaters filled their home and swept them out and what it was like having to cling to a post for hours to stay alive.
Watch here:
It was a “'True miracle”, said Carl, a hero who saved a woman after treading floodwaters for more than 20 miles across Texas. He spoke to the San Antonio station, KENS 5 and told the incredible story of heroism and survival.
Watch here:
13 year old camper Stella Thompson joined NBC News to talk about how she was rescued from Camp Mystic. “It didn’t look like Camp Mystic anymore,” she said.
Watch here:
Holly Kate Hurley a counselor at Camp Mystic joined Fox News to share her firsthand account of the flash flooding that devastated Camp Mystic. “Two of the cabins with the 7 year old girls were wiped away,” she said through tears.
Watch here:
Petty Officer Scott Ruskan is being hailed as a hero for his efforts to rescue dozens of people in the devastating floods at Camp Mystic. He spoke to ABC News.
Watch here:
Tragically many people are still trying to locate their missing family members. Jaeme Pagard Behrendt says she will be traveling to Texas to help search for her father, his wife and their missing dog, Poppy, after deadly floods struck Texas. She spoke to NBC News. “I know he’s a strong swimmer,” said about her father.
Watch here:
Another flooding survivor, Amanda Sue Jones joined CNN to shares details about how she and her family survived the HTR Campground flooding in Texas
Watch here:.
Camp Mystic counselor Katherine Somerville details her and her campers' escape from the flooding, her tribute to the camp director who died during the flood and more. She spoke to Fox News.
Watch here:
As searches for Texas flooding victims continued, the bodies of an elderly couple as well as children were discovered by a pregnant neighbor. Ilda Mendoza, a Kerr County employee and Hunt, Texas resident said Alicia and José Olvera "were holding hands when they got washed away," Just weeks away from delivering a child, she said said bodies of children were discovered during her group's search, too."It's just been so sad," Mendoza said. Watch her interview with the Austin American Statesman here:
IN OTHER NEWS:
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent joined CNBC this morning to discuss the current budget deficit, how strong growth can assuage deficit fears. Asked about when we can expect trade deals, “we are going to have several announcements in the next 48 hours,” he said. “He has started herding the cats and trying to get everyone across the finish line,” he said about President Trump. “My mail box was full with lots of new offers.”
Watch here:
White House Econ Advisor Kevin Hassett was asked on CBS Face the Nation about the deals. "The rough outlines of the deals are becoming clear to everybody," Hassett said. He said he can’t say who is going to get a deal. The negotiations are still ongoing.
Watch here:
New York City Mayor Eric Adams joined CNBC to discuss the race for mayor in New York City, Adams' challenges to winning the race and much more.
WATCH HERE:
Leader Hakeem Jeffries joined the View this morning, he said he plans to meet with Zohran Mamdani next week.
Watch here:
https://x.com/TheView/status/1942248689134612752
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi did an interview with the PBS Newshour from inside Iran. “The Islamic Republic is using the war with Israel to intensify its crackdown,” she said.
Watch the full video of their conversation:
Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers was on ABC News “This Week” and he ripped into the new budget bill. “There is no economist anywhere, without a strong political agenda, who is saying that this bill is a positive for the economy. And the overwhelming view is that it is probably going to make the economy worse,” Summers said.
Watch here:
KY Gov. Andy Beshear was on CNN. He spoke about budget bill and its impact.
"These work requirements really aren't about getting people back to work. They are about increasing the paperwork on everybody. When somebody misses that one box, they are kicked off for 6 months or more. It's the single worst piece of legislation I've seen in my lifetime and it is a congressional Republican and presidential attack on rural America. In my state alone, 200k are gonna lose their coverage, 20k healthcare workers are gonna lose their jobs, and we've got up to 35 rural hospitals that may close."
Watch here:
Council of Economic Advisers Chair Stephen Miran on whether Trump might extend the tariff deadline, on ABC’s “This Week”: “My expectation would be that countries that are negotiating in good faith and making the concessions that they need to to get to a deal, but the deal is just not there yet because it needs more time, my expectation will be that those countries get a roll, you know, sort of get the date rolled.”
Watch here:
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte did an extended interview the New York Times and grabbed some headlines for praising President Trump. “When somebody deserves praise, that praise should be given,” Rutte says. “And President Trump deserves all the praise, because without his leadership, without him being re-elected president of the United States, the 2 percent this year and the 5 percent in 2035 — we would never, ever, ever have been able to achieve agreement on this.”
Watch here:
CNN's Fareed Zakaria sat down at the Aspen Ideas Festival with former national security advisers John Bolton and Susan Rice, and former CIA director and retired general David Petraeus, to discuss Iran's place in the Middle East, President Trump's decision to bomb Iran, and the possibility of regime change.
Watch the conversation here:
For the July 4th weekend, as the U.S. celebrates 249 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, CBS Evening News co-anchor John Dickerson spoke with documentarian Ken Burns about his new film on the American Revolution and the importance of telling the story of American history.
Watch here:
Academy Award-winning actor Renée Zellweger joined NBC News Willie Geist to discuss her return to the beloved character Bridget Jones in the latest installment of the blockbuster movie series, and the head-spinning whirlwind of her life after “Jerry Maguire."
Watch here:
Futures:
So what interesting interviews should we be looking out for, what are the network bookers working on today and what are interesting pursuits? Some of my ideas:
A push to interview Rob Kelly, the most senior Kerr County elected official on why his county doesn’t have an early warning system despite the fact that it is in a dangerous flash flood area. During a press conference this weekend he said: “Taxpayers won’t pay for it.” Asked if people might now reconsider after what happened this week: “I don’t know.”
A local news channel Austin’s KXAN did a report back in April 2025 - they named Paul Yura, the warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service Austin/San Antonio office as someone who took early retirement as part of NOAA’s cuts to personnel and budget. An interview with Paul Yura now would be very interesting. He spent over 32 years with that office. This report talked about what impact he had on weather forecasting.
Watch here:
Tucker Carlson teased that he will be dropping an interview with Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian this week.
Trump said over the weekend that he "pretty much" has a deal with China re: TikTok. "I think we're going to start Monday or Tuesday, asking, talking to China," he added. Watch for that. And…a new version of TikTok app will need to be loaded in too, soon the old one won’t work, reports The Information.
Trump also mentioned that he will most likely visit the Texas flood disaster area on Friday.
Big book to look out for by journalists Josh Dawsey, Tyler Pager and Isaac Arnsdorf, “2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America,” which is out tomorrow. Politico some of the bombshells in the book today, including the actual six-page memo that convinced President Joe Biden to push for an early debate with Donald Trump last June. Read about it here: https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2025/07/07/revealed-why-biden-wanted-the-cnn-debate-00441081