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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Government Shutdown Could Begin At 12:01 a.m. Wednesday; Interview With Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY); Interview With Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI); City Of Portland And State Of Oregon File Suit Against Trump Over National Guard Deployment; President Trump Says Gaza Ceasefire Is Closer Than Ever As He Releases 20-Point Peace Plan; Officials Crack Down On Cartel Smuggling Operations In AZ. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired September 29, 2025 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Reports that Trump's family, all combined is now worth an estimated $10 billion, nearly doubling their net worth since the election. Think about that, nearly doubling since the election.
And before we go, don't miss Jim Cramer of "Mad Money." He is going to be right here tomorrow night. Cramer and I of course go back many, many, many years, dear friends and tomorrow together again talking shutdown, trade war, and why, well, why he was screaming in that video. Don't miss it, that's all coming up tomorrow, thanks for joining us. Anderson starts now.
[20:00:35]
JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Tonight on 360, with just a day and a night until the government shuts down, the ones who could stop it didn't. Instead, staking out positions and starting to point fingers. Joining us, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Also tonight, all we are learning about the gunman, the church he shot up and burned and the trail he left in his last moments alive.
Plus, the latest from Chicago and Portland, Oregon. The two latest cities the President is calling war zones and making them look more like war zones by sending troops. Their pushback and a closer look at what it's really like in both those cities tonight.
Good evening everyone, John Berman here in for Anderson. And take a look at the clock counting down to midnight tomorrow night. That's when the many nonessential and even some essential federal government functions will stop, well, functioning.
In addition, according to a memo, CNN obtained The White House budget office has directed federal agencies to, "Use this opportunity to prepare sweeping new layoffs in the event of a shutdown."
Late today, Republican Congressional leaders who are pushing for temporary legislation to fund the government, and Democrats who want Republicans to reverse Medicaid cuts and extend health insurance subsidies they met at The White House and came away with no agreement to speak of but several lines to draw.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY):We have very large differences. Their bill has not one iota of Democratic input. That is never how we've done this before.
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): Democrats are fighting to protect the healthcare of the American people, and we are not going to support a partisan Republican spending bill that continues to gut the healthcare of everyday Americans, period, full stop.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: That's house minority leader Jeffries, who joins us shortly. And senate minority leader Schumer, now Vice-President Vance and Senate majority leader Thune.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J.D. VANCE (R) VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We have disagreements about healthcare policy. But you don't shut the government down. You don't use your policy disagreements as leverage to not pay our troops, to not have a Social Services of government actually function.
SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): This right here, ladies and gentlemen, is what we're talking about, 24 pages. It's a Continuing Resolution to fund the government through November the 21st. I don't know where they're saying this is some huge partisan thing. This is purely and simply hostage taking on behalf of the Democrats.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: As for what the President said on the subject today, well, he hasn't. He took no questions after he and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu briefed reporters on new Gaza peace plan. And though on social media in the last 24 hours, he weighed in on that protecting North Carolina furniture makers. New York's Democratic mayoral candidate and the NFL's new kickoff rules. He did not mention averting a government shutdown.
In on Capitol Hill, the House today gaveled in at ten this morning and then just moments later gaveled proceedings closed for the day at 10:02. All of which was purely ceremonial because Speaker Johnson is keeping Republican members out of town before the deadline.
Just a few moments ago, I spoke with Michigan Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin. Here's some of what she had to say about reaching a budget deal, which she says needs to involve healthcare spending.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ELISSA SLOTKIN (D-MI): A conversation is a negotiation where we all give some. We all accept we don't get exactly what we want. And like adults, we compromise and we pass a budget and move on with our lives. That's what we want. Now, I'm going to need to see from this President some assurances that he's not going to just take another round of cash and spend it the way he wants, right? There's a Constitution, and in the constitution, the Congress appropriates the funds and the President takes it in the Executive Branch and spends it on those things that were appropriated by Congress. That's just the Constitution.
If you're a fan of the Constitution, then that's the way it works. The President has violated that. So, I'm not going to just take his word for a deal. I have to see it in black and white. You know, I'm a Reagan gal on that trust but verify. But the first part of it is sitting down and having a conversation and negotiation, and the power is in their hands to do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Again, house minority leader Jeffries will join us live in just a moment. First, CNN chief White House correspondent and anchor of "The Source," Kaitlan Collins is with us now from The White House. Caitlin, what are your sources telling you about how this meeting unfolded behind closed doors?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I mean, it clearly didn't yield any breakthroughs, John. I mean, they went into that meeting, basically came out of it with the same positioning where The White House is blaming Democrats for letting a shutdown happen.
You heard what the Majority Leader John Thune had to say there in terms of what they are asking Democrats to agree to. But Senator Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries came out and basically were making the argument that they do believe that there is an area for common ground and for negotiations with the White House in terms of what they are wanting to do when it comes to extending those health care subsidies. And also, what we've talked about with rural hospitals as well. But that was not kind of the message that we heard just moments later when you saw Mike Johnson and John Thune and the Vice-President, JD Vance and the Budget Director, Russ Vought, come out.
I mean, I think the fact that the Vice-President was even out there kind of spoke to how dug in The White House is to its position and its belief that they don't need to be negotiating with Democrats. The Democrats need to come over to their agreements in terms of what they are demanding.
[20:05:56]
And I actually asked Vice-President JD Vance about a claim that Senator Schumer had just made a few moments before, where he said there were moments during that meeting where President Trump was listening and kind of paused when they were talking about the ramifications for healthcare. If these subsidies are not extended, and if rural hospitals don't get more funding. And I asked the Vice- President if that was their version, and this is what he told me, John.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Can you respond to what Senator Schumer said, that there were aspects about healthcare ending for certain people, that the President was learning about for the first time in that meeting? And was the President open to a deal on the ACA subsidies?
VANCE: Well, I'm highly skeptical that the President was learning about it for the first time, thanks to Chuck Schumer. But what I what I will say is, look, we have put a $50 billion rural hospital fund into the actual the Big Beautiful Bill that we passed a few months ago, because we know that under Biden Administrations policies, there are a lot of small town hospitals, a lot of rural health care that was getting shut down and that was struggling. We're trying to fix that problem. In fact, were happy to work with Democrats to fix that problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Now, of course, the $50 billion was put in there because there were real concerns about how little funding there was for rural hospitals. We saw people like Senator Josh Hawley demanding that. Democrats are saying they want a lot more than $50 billion. But clearly, what was demonstrated by that is they are very far apart on this, John. And they -- the Vice-President himself said, a shutdown looks likely for tomorrow.
BERMAN: So, how concerned -- quickly, Kaitlan, is The White House that if there is a shutdown that the President and Republicans will be blamed for it?
COLLINS: They seem to be arguing, John, and they have told us repeatedly, privately and in public, they think Democrats will bear the blame of this. Of course, Republicans do control the House, the Senate and The White House. But The White House is betting that because of the demands that Democrats are making, they will get the blame for this.
BERMAN: Kaitlan Collins, thank you very much. We'll see you at the top of the hour for "The Source."
With us now is House Minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, who met with President Trump and Republican Congressional leaders late today. Leader, thank you so much for being with us. You walked out of that meeting just a couple hours ago. How much closer are you to averting a shutdown?
JEFFRIES: Well, we're under 30 hours until a government shutdown, and it's unfortunate if Republicans decide that they want to shut the government down because of their unwillingness to deal with the healthcare crisis that they themselves have created, the largest cut to Medicaid in American history. Hospitals and nursing homes and community-based health clinics closing as a result of what they've done with the "One Big Ugly Bill."
The Republican's refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax Credits, which will impact working class Americans all across this country who are about to experience dramatically increased premiums, co-pays and deductibles at a time when the cost of living in the United States of America is already too high.
We are willing to find a bipartisan path forward and reach a spending agreement that keeps the government open. But that agreement has to meet the needs of the American people in terms of elevating their quality of life, as opposed to continuing Republican efforts to gut their health care.
BERMAN: You used the words "has to." In this deal, do you have to extend Obamacare subsidies or bust? How non-negotiable is an extension of Obamacare subsidies for you?
JEFFRIES: This is not simply a negotiating tactic. This relates to the well-being and the health of the American people. More than 20 million Americans are on the verge of experiencing increased healthcare costs because of the Republican refusal to address the Affordable Care Act Tax Credits that benefit working class Americans.
The overwhelming majority of the people who rely upon these tax credits make less than $63,000.00 a year. These are people in rural America, urban America, small town America, the Heartland of America, and Black and Brown communities all throughout America who are already being victimized by the Republican all-out assault on their healthcare and being victimized by the fact that these tariffs are actually increasing costs on the average American family by thousands of dollars a year.
We are ready to find a bipartisan agreement. But that bipartisan agreement needs to address the health care crisis that exists in the United States of America and the cost of living crisis that exists in the United States of America right now.
[20:10:25]
BERMAN: Leader Jeffries, but what specifically could they offer you on Obamacare subsidies in the next 36 hours that would get you to agree to a deal?
JEFFRIES: In the conversation, we made clear that the Republicans have a position, and that position is that they're uninterested in addressing the healthcare needs of the American people, and that our position with respect to the Affordable Care Act tax credits is a permanent extension. And we're waiting to hear back from Republicans after that meeting as to whether they are willing to actually sit down over the next 30 hours or so and find a bipartisan path forward.
House Republicans are on vacation right now. House Democrats are here. Here, ready to do the work of the American people. Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans are here in the Capitol, and it appears, at least to me, that a decision has been made by House Republican leaders, perhaps blessed by the administration to shut the government down. Why did they cancel votes? Why are they on vacation spread out across the country and the world when were on the brink of a government shutdown? BERMAN: So, Leader Schumer told reporters today that it seemed like
the President was unaware of the ramifications of some of the expiring Obamacare subsidies, something that the Vice President and speaker refuted. But what did you see in here from President Trump on that issue?
JEFFRIES: It was a frank, sharp and candid discussion about our views related to the healthcare crisis that Republicans have created. There was a difference of opinion as it relates to the implications of that crisis. But we were very clear as it relates to our defense of Medicaid and Medicare and hospitals and nursing homes and community- based health clinics and the Affordable Care Act and medical research and the fact that in this Republican Appropriations Bill in the House, they are going after the National Institute of Health and going after the Centers for Disease Control in ways that will hurt the average American family.
BERMAN: What I was asking is that Senator Schumer suggested there were things that the President was unaware of. Senator Vance actually said that there were certain times where you were Senator Schumer would say things and President Trump would agree with them. What were they? What were those things?
JEFFRIES: Listen, we had a conversation about the importance of health care generally to the American people. There was a difference of opinion in terms of the implications as it relates to the one big ugly bill. We were very firm in our resolve to address the issues that related to the health, the safety and the economic well-being of the American people.
BERMAN: You told -- we have a source who says that you told some Democrats after this meeting, that President Trump actually did a fair amount of listening when you were meeting. What was he listening on? How much more of a receptive ear do you think he might have than your Republican counterparts in Congress?
JEFFRIES: I'm thankful that the meeting took place. It's unfortunate that Republicans in the House and the Senate have effectively tried to steamroll Democrats up until this point, and we've made clear we're not going to back down, particularly as it relates to defending the healthcare of the American people. So, the four legislative leaders were brought together. President Trump called the meeting, and we were able to actually finally have a discussion about our priorities in defense of the American people, about the Republican position and about the need to find common ground.
So, there was a lot of listening and a back and forth discussion throughout that meeting. Sharp disagreements, but sharp disagreements in the context of both sides being able to fully articulate our positions.
BERMAN: What about a seven to ten-day short-term funding bill so that you can keep talking about this? It will keep the government open for the next seven to ten days, and maybe you could keep talking more about Obamacare subsidies and the like.
JEFFRIES: We are a no, when it comes to kicking the can down the road, this issue needs to be dealt with immediately.
BERMAN: What about other people in the room? What was Vice-President Vance like to negotiate with?
JEFFRIES: Well, Vice-President Vance joined the meeting about halfway through and asked questions relative to the Democratic position. And we articulated our position as to why we believe there's an urgency in terms of addressing the Affordable Care Act Tax Credit issue. It's because more than 20 million Americans are on the brink of experiencing a dramatic increase in their healthcare cost.
We're talking thousands and thousands of dollars more per year all across the country. And in an environment where America is already too expensive, that's unacceptable. And we're fighting to bring down the high cost of living, which Republicans promised to do on day one. That hasn't happened. Costs aren't going down, they're going up.
[20:15:27]
BERMAN: The notices for people on the Obamacare subsidies go out very shortly. They don't actually expire until the end of the year. But I do understand what you are saying in terms of these negotiations. I said 36 hours, there aren't even 36 hours left, 24 hours, actually 28 hours until the government shuts down.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, we do appreciate your time tonight, could be a busy day and a little bit for you, appreciate it.
JEFFRIES: Thank you.
BERMAN: All right, next, a live report from Michigan, the scene of yesterday's deadly armed assault on an LDS Church, which the gunman also set on fire.
And later, the remarkable access CNN got to both sides of the drug war now unfolding in this country and the role that social media is playing in it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:20:30]
BERMAN: Shock and deep sorrow tonight in a community just south of Flint, Michigan, after a gunman drove his vehicle through the front doors of an LDS Church during Sunday's services, started shooting, then set the church on fire. A day later, we are learning more about who the now dead killer was and what may have driven him to do the unspeakable things he did. CNN's Leigh Waldman has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAM RENYE, GRAN BLANC TOWNSHIP POLICE DEPARTMENT: Evil, this was an evil act of violence.
LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Congregants and residents in shock after at least four were killed in a deadly attack at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan.
CINDY WALSH, GRAND BLANC TOWNSHIP RESIDENT: Everybody in my neighborhood, they're so devastated.
BRANDT MALONE, NORTH OAKLAND COUNTY RESIDENT: My wife and my daughter were just up here on Saturday night for a for a youth activity. So, it's a really raw thing to see it.
WALDMAN (voice over): A peaceful Sunday service cut short by violence when a gunman drove a vehicle into the church, began shooting, then set the building ablaze, authorities say.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lifetime of memories has just gone.
WALDMAN (voice over): In an exchange of gunfire, officers killed the gunman they identified as a 40-year-old Iraq War veteran from a nearby city. Complicating the investigation, on Monday, a 21-year-old drove a sedan through a barricade at the scene and was quickly apprehended by police. Photos taken by a CNN crew shows what appears to be a long gun in the front seat of the car. Authorities have not provided additional details about the individual or the motive.
RENYE: We are still in the process of investigating that incident, whether or not its related or not.
WALDMAN (voice over): The motive in the attack remains unclear. Chris Johns, a candidate for a Michigan City Council, told CNN he spoke to the alleged shooter a week ago while door knocking on the campaign trail.
CHRIS JOHNS, CANDIDATE FOR BURTON, MICHIGAN CITY COUNCIL: He did make the statement that Mormons are the anti-Christ, which is a shocking statement.
This is somebody you're just meeting for the first time. He had very strong opinions. Nothing that was related to violence that would indicate violence. Just somebody who had a very, very strong held belief that really he had maybe a philosophical animus, but not necessarily a desire to do what he did.
WALDMAN (voice over): Eight people were injured in the attack, and everyone else has now been accounted for, officials say.
SLOTKIN: It doesn't matter what party you're from. This kind of thing just chills you to the bone.
WALDMAN (voice over): Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin surveyed the scene on Monday. It's near her home
SLOTKIN: No community can ever believe that they would be on the receiving end of an attack like this.
GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D-MI):This place has been shattered by bullets and broken glass. And this might be a familiar pain, but it hurts all the same, every time. We cannot keep living our lives like this.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALDMAN (on camera): We spoke with the sheriff of the community here about those evacuations, taking people out of that church once the gunman was neutralized. And he said that when they were brought to a reunification center, it was the children who were the most stoic, who knew exactly what to do. He told us they've been trained for this in their elementary schools and in their middle schools.
And John, it's just a heartbreaking reality of the lives that these kids and members of these communities now have to live.
BERMAN: It is heartbreaking. Leigh Waldman, you did a great job covering it out there. Thanks so much for being with us tonight.
Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin, who we heard from on the shutdown deadline at the top of the hour lives not far from Grand Blanc and knows the community well. This is our conversation about that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: Senator, I know this attack was literally close to home for you. What did you observe when you surveyed the scene this morning?
SLOTKIN: I mean, first we started out having, you know, a conversation with all the elected leaders, the police chief, the fire chief this morning, state, local, federal, getting everyone on the same page.
Unfortunately, Michigan has seen, I think, five mass shootings in the past four years. So, we do have some idea of how to deal with this kind of a crisis. But going over to the scene today, I mean, the church is basically gone. And I just -- you really cannot imagine it's just burnt down to the bricks. And the -- you know, unimaginable terror that went on in that place of worship during a church service -- it is just, it's hard to take in.
Obviously, law enforcement have done an incredible job. Again, federal and local and state are all working together. It's like it's how the government is supposed to work in a crisis. And I'm really proud of how everyone's conducted themselves. But were here again. I mean, we're doing this again, and you know, I just spoke on the Senate floor and, you know, on how I'm worried, again, even just personally about how we get desensitized to these kinds of events. And you know, we made the point, Democrats and Republicans standing together, doing media together.
[20:25:24]
I put out a video with a fellow Republican representative from that area to make the point that we cannot let social media and kind of the political football take over when people are just suffering like this. We have to be above that and we're just begging people not to believe the conspiracy theories and the political and politicizing that's going on of this event.
BERMAN: Well, how do you do that? How do you keep people from being desensitized? SLOTKIN: I think for me, it's about telling the personal stories of
people who are in there. You know, it's like you kind of hear a number, you hear another state that's gone through something. There were, you know, children in that room. There were Navy veterans in that room. There were people who pulled up, put up a fight and lost their lives as they were trying to deal with this shooter. There are religious leaders that I've spoken to today that are trying desperately through their own pain to lead their flock.
You know, everyone is feeling it. Everyone is raw and I think that that's okay. It's okay to be emotional about these things and to share those emotional stories, or else they do just become numbers, and so, we don't want that.
BERMAN: Yes, we get so obsessed with numbers. The most important number can be one. If that one person is your husband or wife or son or daughter or friend, that's what truly is important here.
The FBI says they're investigating this as an act of targeted violence. What are you hearing in terms of how close they are to determining a motive for this?
SLOTKIN: Well, look, I mean, they're doing their jobs, which takes time, but that's exploiting, you know, equipment from the shooter. That means interviewing a ton of witnesses, but also family members and friends. They're going through and obviously there's rumors out there that this man had a particular problem with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. And, we hope that's not the case, but we are hearing, you know, reports of that.
But again, I think the most important thing is to let the law enforcement do their job. I know that's difficult, and it's a community where a lot of people know each other. And so a lot of people are posting on Facebook, you know, what they think is happening. And we just ask people, to let law enforcement do their job. They came to protect us, and they're going to do that. They've just got to have a minute.
BERMAN: Senator Elissa Slotkin, I know it's been a busy day for you. Thanks so much for being with us tonight.
SLOTKIN: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: Up next, the President vowing to send troops into Portland, claiming ICE facilities need protection.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Do you see what's happening in Portland? This is like nobody's ever seen anything like it, every night. And this has gone on for years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Portland and Oregon are suing. We'll speak to the states attorney general.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:32:53]
BERMAN: The court hearing tonight in Portland, Oregon. Oregon officials are asking to block the President from ordering state National Guard troops into the streets of the city, or as the President put it in his announcement on Saturday, war ravaged Portland.
He also said he was directing Defense Secretary Hegseth to, quote, "provide all necessary troops to protect war ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE facilities under siege from attacks by Antifa and other domestic terrorists." Then he added, "I am also authorizing full force if necessary."
Now it is true that Portland's ICE facility has seen small scale protests outside almost nightly these days. There have been some acts of violence and vandalism. According to one local news outlet, about 100 people showed up on Saturday, somewhat more than normal, and that neighbors are fed up with the noise, the tear gas and the pepper balls.
The city also has well-known problems with homelessness and addiction. As for the President's grim description though, people are now posting under the hashtag war ravaged Portland, images of what they say the rest of the city looked like on this sunny September weekend and war ravaged, it isn't.
The President, however, has a lot to say lately about the Rose City as well as five years ago during the far more extensive Black Lives Matter protests.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Do you see what's happening in Portland? This is like, nobody's ever seen anything like it every night. And this has gone on for years. They just burned the place down. These are professional agitators.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
TRUMP: These are bad people. You go out to Portland, people die out there. Many people have died over the years in Portland. Portland is, I don't know how anybody lives there. It's amazing. But it's anarchy out there, and that's what they want.
I watched Portland, Oregon last night, burning to the ground, just burning with people. And these are agitators. And we're going to stop them. We're going to stop it all.
We could solve Portland in about, I'd say, 22 minutes. OK. They're anarchists. They're Antifa, they're radical left, but they're wise guys. We could solve that in two minutes.
When you look at a Portland, I want them to let us in.
These are anarchists. They're agitators. And either they do something or we're going to do it. Either they're going to clean up Portland soon or the federal government is going up and we're going to do it for them.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
[20:35:14]
BERMAN: Also today, in the wake of protests over the weekend in Chicago, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker announced that the Trump administration is preparing to deploy 100 troops to the city over his opposition. The President is also sending federal authorities to Memphis starting sometime this week, that's according to Tennessee Governor Bill Lee. Now, as for Portland, Judge Simon did not issue a ruling tonight, scheduling another hearing for Friday morning.
And with us now is Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield. Mr. Attorney General, thanks so much for being with us. Can you just lay out the legal grounds for your state's lawsuit and why you're fighting this deployment?
DAN RAYFIELD (D), OREGON ATTORNEY GENERAL: The legal grounds for the lawsuit are really based in common sense, right? We've lived all of our lives. We've gone through our communities. And the one thing that we haven't seen is the United States military in our cities.
There's a reason for that, right? They're not trained for law enforcement purposes. Great people. That's not their role. And we have a law that the President has to meet certain very extreme requirements if you want to federalize the National Guard in our communities and really go against who we are as Americans, where you would see the United States military.
So think about it, right? It's pretty common sense. If there's an invasion, of course, you might be able to federalize the National Guard. If there's a rebellion, absolutely, you might be able to federalize the National Guard. If the President isn't able to effectuate the laws of the United States, then you could do that.
Well, here in Oregon, none of those conditions, absolutely none of them have been met. And that's really the crux of the lawsuit that's before the court right now.
BERMAN: Why is this different than the situation in California?
RAYFIELD: What you could see is the facts here in Oregon are very clear. If you walk the streets, you have the Portland police, you have the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office, you have the Oregon State Police, you have a functional district attorney's office, a good district attorney that is keeping the community safe.
And what you would see if you read our pleadings, one of the most stark things is the Portland police will tell you it is more lively to police Portland's nightlife scene than it is outside the ICE facility here in Portland. So what you have is the President is basing his factual assertions off of social media gossip.
In fact, one of the times he even used a 2020 video, not even current video, to make informed decisions about what's going on in Portland. So he's just flat out wrong and is unwilling to listen.
BERMAN: Why did you file this suit ahead of the actual deployment? And when do you think that those troops will actually show up?
RAYFIELD: Well, this is one of those things right now in our society. You have a President that is pushing against freedom of speech, that is pushing against having an independent judiciary, that is openly talking about our elections and how we need to rig them. And you have right now this normalization of the United States military in our cities, from California to Memphis to Washington, D.C.
He's talking about Illinois and it's coming in Oregon. And so we wanted to draw a very distinct line in the sand that this is not OK. This is un-American in the way that you're doing it. And we're going to fight like hell to make sure that you follow the laws in our country, because this is absolutely unacceptable. That's why we did it so quickly.
BERMAN: Well, we will see what the judge ends up ruling.
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, we appreciate your time tonight. Thank you very much.
Other news, President Trump said late today that he believes an end to the war in Gaza is closer than ever. This follows his meeting at the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who agreed to the President's new 20-point peace plan. It calls for a ceasefire.
The release of all hostages in exchange, the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and the disarming of Hamas, which still must agree to the plan. But it may be a tough sell to Hamas because it contains provisions the group has rejected in the past.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
TRUMP: I hope that we're going to have a deal for peace. And if Hamas rejects the deal, which is always possible, they're the only one left. Everyone else has accepted it. But I have a feeling that we're going to have a positive answer. But if not, as you know, maybe you'd have more full backing to do what you would have to do.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: If Hamas rejects your plan, Mr. President, or if they supposedly accept it and then basically do everything to counter it, then Israel will finish the job by itself.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
[20:40:01]
BERMAN: You will recall that earlier this month, Israel launched strikes on the Qatari capital, Doha, to eliminate Hamas leaders infuriating President Trump, who was fearful it could derail efforts to bring about a ceasefire.
Today, before Trump and Netanyahu's announcement, the Israeli leader, quote, "expressed his deep regret" in a phone call with Qatar's prime minister that the strike killed a Qatari serviceman. We will continue to report developments on the peace plan throughout the night.
All right, coming up, a rare look inside America's drug war, both with law enforcement waging the battle and the cartel leaders they're fighting.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
DAVID CULVER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You all are using social media to get to young people, young teens, and recruiting them to be part of it. Some of them, many of them are American citizens, too.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:45:25]
BERMAN: CNN's David Culver got some incredible access to both sides of the drug war playing out in America, both with the Mexican drug cartels and the federal and local authorities trying to stop them. He discovered the cartels are feeling the heat from the Trump administration and increasingly using social media to recruit American teens into their operations.
Here's David with the investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll do another drive by westbound.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Copy, I'm moving in.
And then we'll do kind of like a felony stop.
CULVER: Right now we're with several Cochise County deputies in several different units as they're moving in on their targets.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You guys just hunker down where you're at.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, we'll stay in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hands up!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please don't move!
CULVER: Some of them you'll notice are undercover. You won't see their faces. You won't hear their names.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And is there anyone else in the car with you?
CULVER: And they're fanned out here just north of the U.S. southern border. To dismantle a smuggling network, one arrest at a time.
An investigation, mind you, that's been going on for 18 months.
It's not just your everyday criminal. It's definitely taking the bigger fish off the streets.
The suspect's just handed over his phone, revealing what investigators say are key details about a migrant smuggling operation that's happening right now.
It's a coordinated pickup. That's all playing out in real time.
And there's several more that you're trying to arrest.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eighteen in total.
CULVER: Eighteen in total?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's inspection right now. All eyes on the car.
CULVER: Are these Americans we're talking about?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With the exception of one, all are U.S. citizens.
CULVER: Wow. They're tied to a faction of the cartel. They are a tight-knit crew all working together for the betterment of a larger organization.
CULVER (voice-over): Cochise County spans 83 miles of border. South of this line, an underground network tied to the fractured but powerful Sinaloa cartel. Plaza bosses control each corridor, deciding who and what gets through, with lookouts posted on nearby hills constantly watching for U.S. patrols.
To keep undetected, migrants and their cartel-backed guides often dress in camouflage, moving through the rocky desert terrain. They follow a pin drop, often to a road a few miles from the border. Drivers race in for the pickup and cash payout. Many are young Americans recruited online.
For six months, we tracked hundreds of cartel recruitment posts on social media, some aimed at luring teens. Coded language, emojis and cash offers, offering thousands per pickup.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not seeing a duke in the parking lot yet.
CULVER (voice-over): Deputies are going after the drivers. In the past six months, the Justice Department reports 431 people charged with smuggling in Arizona alone, many recruited online. Attorneys say most of their clients are between 18 and 25.
After the pickup, drivers head to stash houses on the U.S. side, run by cartel syndicates.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're looking for a bright orange trailer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're after to something (ph).
CULVER (voice-over): Inside, deputies say they hold people, drugs and weapons.
Guns, sourced in the U.S., head south into Mexico. Migrants and narcotics move north to Tucson, Phoenix and beyond. Every step closely coordinated.
To understand the impact this cartel crackdown is having, we spend weeks trying to get a senior cartel leader to speak with us. He finally agrees, meeting us in a Phoenix parking lot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I work with the Sinaloa.
CULVER: The Sinaloa cartel.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
CULVER (voice-over): From killing to coordinating smuggling operations, he says he's done it all
CULVER: Do you help in bringing people, drugs, weapons?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People and drugs.
CULVER: Are you a citizen here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, sir.
CULVER: No. And so you're able to still come in and out?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
CULVER (voice-over): Among those helping with transportation, U.S. citizens.
CULVER: You all are using social media to get to young people, young teens, and recruiting them to be part of it. Some of them, many of them, are American citizens, too.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's life. It's just like that.
CULVER: That's life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like that, you know?
CULVER: So even though they may get caught and spend many years in prison, that's their fault, as you see?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
CULVER: When you see, for example, the impact of violence and everything that is caused from the cartel movements, from essentially your employer, do you feel that you're part of this problem? [20:50:11]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. You know, because I got kids, I got, you know, family, and when they want to kill you, you want to defend.
CULVER: So you see it as defending yourself?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. That's what I say. I don't like problem. You have something wrong to me, I do something bad to you.
CULVER (voice-over): A not-so-subtle threat. And yet he seems to regret some of his own life choices.
CULVER: What is your motivation for wanting to talk?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why I come to here?
CULVER: Exactly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What people listen, and I tell them it's not a life, it's not a good, you know, it's not good, it's not --
CULVER: Have you had to kill people?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Yes, you've asked them.
CULVER: And does that not weigh on you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because I'm not bad. I'm not a bad person, you know?
CULVER: You don't think you're a bad person?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not a bad person, but I do what I have to do, you know?
CULVER: Why do you say you do what you have to do? Couldn't you stop doing this?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
CULVER: You can't.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in Foreign Language).
CULVER: Once you get in, you can't get out. Do you think what President Trump has been doing has been making your job tougher?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes. Yes.
CULVER: Yes?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
CULVER: But it's becoming more difficult, you think?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
CULVER (voice-over): For now, the cartels are still at it.
CULVER: Where we're at right now, it's a very remote area.
CULVER (voice-over): And so too are the Cochise County deputies jumping in to help Border Patrol.
CULVER: Camera lost visual shortly after he watched them cross the border.
CULVER (voice-over): They're tracking four people who crossed illegally, either by scaling or cutting open a section of the border wall, or by walking through open floodgates like these.
CULVER: This is all being coordinated, and they're being guided by the cartel.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's about a mile that way.
CULVER: It sounded like somebody had eyes because they called him running.
CULVER (voice-over): After a nearly two-hour pursuit, agents catch up with the migrants and their suspected cartel-backed guide.
CULVER: I think what stands out to us is going back to late last year when we were last here, you would have never seen this many Border Patrol focused on four individuals. Most of that was because they simply didn't have the bandwidth.
CULVER (voice-over): With fewer migrants crossing, agents say they can finally focus on enforcement. As for local deputies, they press ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got some pending charges, right, dude?
CULVER (voice-over): Not so much targeting the migrants, but rather those who they're paying to cross illegally.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you going to be charged with criminal syndicate?
CULVER (voice-over): A criminal enterprise that they warn is growing increasingly desperate.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
CULVER (on-camera): John, you heard that cartel boss say that his job is getting tougher. And because of that, officials say cartels are now charging much more to get migrants across. It's jumped from about $6,500 a person that they were charging earlier this year to now nearly $10,000 that they're charging, according to the deputies.
A lot of migrants simply cannot afford that. And so deputies say roughly a third who have crossed through Cochise County alone admit to them that they still owe the cartels. It's something they call migrant debt. Some are essentially put on cartel payment plans. Others are forced to work for the cartels in some capacity so as to pay down that debt.
It's just another layer, John, of this constantly evolving criminal enterprise that law enforcement is battling.
BERMAN: David Culver, I have to say, what extraordinary perspective you just had there. Thank you very much.
And just ahead, YouTube agrees to pay millions to settle a lawsuit filed by President Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
[20:58:27]
BERMAN: More breaking news tonight, YouTube is paying $24.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by President Trump. He sued three of the big social media companies after they suspended him from their platforms following the insurrection on Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021. YouTube is the last company to settle.
CNN Chief Data Analyst Harry Enten is with us this evening. Harry, what were some of the other settlements from the other companies?
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA REPORTER: Yes, Twitter/X, they settled with him for about $10 million. Obviously, they settled with Meta as well for a -- about similar amount that they settled with YouTube for about $25 million. But here's the thing I think is important to point out is that none of this money is going directly to Donald Trump.
Some of it's going to legal fees, attorney fees. Some of it is going to other plaintiffs. And most of it, in fact, is going to things, let's say, on the overall companies like building future presidential libraries.
BERMAN: So $24.5 million is a lot of money. But how much is it for YouTube? How much are they worth?
ENTEN: Yes, I mean, at the end of the day, I don't really think this is about the money as much as it is perhaps scaring social media companies as well as making them look bad. Because if you look at the market capitalization for YouTube, what are we talking about? We're talking north of $2 trillion.
What does that mean? I did the math on it. It means that the amount that they settled with him for is about 1 in 120,000th of their net worth. That's what we're talking about. One, then divide it by 120, then a comma, and then three zeros. That's how much YouTube is really giving at the end of the day. It's not very much.
But here's the thing to also keep in mind is that YouTube is the big shark that's sort of out there in terms of the important social media clients. Because when you look at the popularity of the different platforms, the vast, vast majority of Americans have been on YouTube in terms of the important social media clients. Because when you look at the popularity of the different platforms, the vast, vast majority of Americans have been on YouTube.
What we see is north of 80 percent of Americans use YouTube compared to 70 percent for Facebook and just 21 percent for Twitter/X. So this was really the last sort of shark that Donald Trump was able to reel in.
BERMAN: YouTube, the kids love it. So do the grown-ups. Popular with everyone.
ENTEN: It's popular with me too.
BERMAN: Harry Enten, great to see you.
Bet, I'll see you tomorrow morning.
ENTEN: I bet you as well.
BERMAN: All right. Thank you all so much.
The news continues. The Source with Kaitlan Collins starts now.
