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Gavin Newsom's Presidential Prospects?; Texas Set to Redraw Congressional Maps; D.C. Crackdown; Hurricane Erin Impacts East Coast; Menendez Brothers Face Parole Board. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired August 21, 2025 - 13:00   ET

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

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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Finding out their fate. The first ever parole hearing in the Menendez brothers case is under way. Will Erik and Lyle Menendez be granted release after spending more than 30 years in prison for murdering their parents?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Plus, Hurricane Erin making its closest approach yet to the United States, the storm producing dangerous flooding, waves of more than 20 feet and shutting down major roadways on the East Coast. We're going to get you a live update.

And Russia launching its largest missile and drone attack on Ukraine in more than a month, including a strike on a U.S.-owned manufacturing company. Now President Trump appears to suggest Ukraine go on offense, as any momentum for a peace deal or peace talks appear to have stalled.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming your way on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

We will get to those stories in just a moment, but we are following breaking news this hour from the White House, President Trump just announcing that he will be on the streets of Washington, D.C., tonight, joining law enforcement and military personnel taking part in his crime crackdown.

Let's go straight to CNN White House correspondent Kristen Holmes.

Kristen, what are you hearing about what Trump is planning tonight?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, I'm told by both White House officials and law enforcement officials that all those details are still being worked out. All we know is that President Trump announced during an interview he did last hour that he'd be with law enforcement on the streets of D.C., watching them essentially arrest people, see them do their job later tonight.

Again, no real details on what this will look like. Of course, this follows what we saw yesterday with the vice president, J.D. Vance, as well as the secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth. They were in Union Station meeting with members of the National Guard, talking about that D.C. crackdown.

It is important to note that President Trump has been touting both publicly and privately that he believes that this is working in terms of crime. We have obviously seen the administration push out every single night the number of arrests, what people were arrested for.

And all of this is part of a large experimentation and bringing in federalization into a city and using law enforcement, something that President Trump has long talked about doing, to kind of patrol the streets and get crime down.

Now, there has been a lot of pushback from the residents of Washington, D.C., so we will certainly be watching closely to see how this would all work. He made it sound as though he'd be walking around patrolling the streets with law enforcement. It seems like it'd be very difficult to do just from a security perspective.

So we will see how this ends up playing out later tonight.

SANCHEZ: Kristen Holmes live for us at the White House, we will be watching tonight. Thanks so much -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Right now, a pivotal hearing is under way in California, where the Menendez brothers have their closest chance at freedom in nearly three decades.

In May, a judge reduced the sentences of Erik and Lyle Menendez for the 1989 murders of their parents. They have been serving life without parole for the killings. Erik's parole hearing is happening right now and Lyle's is tomorrow.

Both men have maintained they killed their parents in self-defense after years of abuse by their father, Jose Menendez. If they're granted parole, their release won't be immediate. California Governor Gavin Newsom would have the final say there.

CNN's Jean Casarez is following the story for us.

Jean, huge interest in the outcome of this hearing today, which also could give us a sense of what will happen tomorrow.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely.

And we believe that, at the conclusion, we will ultimately find out today if Erik will be recommended for release. Now, this will then go through an assessment process, a review process. It would not happen immediately, and ultimately would go into the hands of the governor of California.

And he would look at it and he would actually be the one to say yes or no. Now, it's interesting, because Sirhan Sirhan several years ago went through a parole proceeding and it was believed that he was going to get out and the board recommended that he get out. But when it went to the governor's hands, he determined that because there had not been that acceptance of responsibility, of remorse for what was really done, that it was not justified.

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And the primary thing that they will be looking at today is really, is the offender, is Erik Menendez a risk to society, a risk to his community? They will look at the crime. This was a double homicide of both of the parents.

It was extremely premeditated, going from gun store to gun store to try to find the gun that they could get, realizing that the bird shot would not be strong enough, the next day getting buck shot for their pump shot guns that they got, over 12 rounds into the heads of their father, his kneecaps to make it look like it was a mafia hit.

And when their mother wasn't quite dead, they both went out together, reloaded the guns, went back in and made sure she was dead. And Erik had said to his counselor when he actually confessed, his psychiatrist, he said, why did you kill your mother? Well, she was going to be a witness to all of it.

And so, remember, two homicides, and those could be looked at individually also in all of this, but they have got a lot on their side, because they have instrumentally developed programs in the prison for the other inmates. They do have some prison violations. We don't know what they are through the years, but we also know the family support is there, 12 members inside that room, vying for them, wanting them to be released, 12 others remotely.

And we do know that the Menendez brothers are not in the actual parole room. They are videocast from the prison in San Diego, where they are in the same unit at this point.

KEILAR: Has the governor said what he might do if the Parole Board makes a decision here?

CASAREZ: No, he hasn't, but it sure is an interesting question, because he did not agree to allowing Sirhan Sirhan out.

Now, if you remember, if we look at this, the district attorney, Gascon, who was up for reelection in Los Angeles, L.A. district attorney, he lost, and he made it his platform that he wanted them out.

And Hochman, district attorney currently, actually went the other direction and got many, many more percentage points in that election.

KEILAR: All right, Jean, thank you so much. We will be watching this very carefully -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Let's discuss with defense and trial attorney Misty Marris.

Misty, good afternoon. Great to see you, as always.

So talk to us about what the Parole Board is going to use as criteria to determine whether the brothers pose this unreasonable risk of danger to society that will determine what they do. MISTY MARRIS, DEFENSE AND TRIAL ATTORNEY: Yes, very consequential day

to day.

So they're going to be looking at a few factors. They're going to be looking at rehabilitation, remorse and reintegration. So, rehabilitation, focusing on, what have the Menendez brothers, and, today, Erik, because remember, they're being looked at as individuals, what has their conduct been like behind bars, whether that be some infractions or issues, or the positives, what they have contributed while they have been incarcerated?

Remorse, we know this is a central question. Have they taken accountability for their actions? And then the last piece, reintegration. What happens when -- if they are released from prison and reintegrated into society? And the overarching question, Boris, are they a threat or a danger to the community?

And that's what they're going to be digging into by review of thousands and thousands of pages of prison records, going back to the facts and circumstances of the case, the information that came out in the trial, letters of support. And also remember there's a risk assessment. That was done by the Parole Board, which includes psychological evaluation, as well as a determination about what the risk factors are.

So that's all in the hands of the commissioners, who will make this decision today.

SANCHEZ: Yes. And in one of those psychological evaluations that was done of the brothers separately, there was some dispute about the results of it. CNN hasn't had a chance to review it. But it is interesting that even those details are now up for debate.

I want to ask you about what impact you think family members might have on this, because we know that about a dozen of them are going to speak on the brothers' behalf. Some 20 Menendez family members are going to be at the hearing. But we know that there are some family members who are not eager to back their release.

What impact could they have, given that they're not only the members of the suspects, the convicted killers' families, but also families with the victims?

MARRIS: Absolutely. That is a unique factor in this particular case, that those who are advocating for the release of the Menendez brothers are also themselves victims because they killed their parents or their family members of the victims.

That is absolutely going to be a factor that the Parole Board and the commissioners today will take into consideration. And it's interesting, because it's not an exact science. It's not as clear as sometimes when we talk about other areas of the law, like sentencing guidelines, where there is a numerical score that is given.

[13:10:11] The Parole Board is going to be able to take many, many different factors into consideration, ultimately looking at that danger to society. And just an interesting way that the parole process operates,it's very conversational, Boris.

So we're used to in many legal proceedings defense attorneys stepping in, saying, objection, you can't ask that question. It is not like that in this process. It is going to be a dialogue between today Erik and tomorrow Lyle with those commissioners, who are going to be asking these critical questions and taking many of those factors into account.

SANCHEZ: Yes, it was interesting. When Governor Gavin Newsom was asked about this, he sort of deferred on directly answering the question, except to note that he had previously gone against the recommendation of the Parole Board, specifically in the case of Sirhan Sirhan, right?

I wonder what you think -- if you can discern anything from his public statements, what you think he might do?

MARRIS: Well, he is one that has taken cases where the Parole Board has recommended release and analyzes those cases independently and really goes through them and doesn't just accept what the Parole Board says and takes his role as the ultimate decision-maker seriously.

So it could certainly go either way. I have heard him make public statements which would tend to say that he's going to review this with that lens, and also keeping in mind, yes, there's all these factors that inure to the benefit of the Menendez brothers. We know that they have done tremendous work while behind bars.

We know that many people are advocating, family members, for their release, but this is also a double homicide. So the facts and circumstances of the case and what happened on that fateful day, that is not going to be lost on the analysis either.

So all of that will be taken into account. I think he's done a great job of not showing his hand. And I do think that, no matter what the Parole Board decides, he will do that independent analysis.

SANCHEZ: Misty Marris, thanks so much for the analysis. Appreciate it -- Brianna.

KEILAR: We are also keeping a very close eye on Hurricane Erin. The still unusually large storm is impacting almost the entire East Coast all the way from Florida to Maine, even though it's staying well offshore.

And, right now, Erin is moving north-northeast as a Category 2 hurricane. It is roughing up seas hundreds of miles from its center, fueling dangerous rip currents, storm surge and flood risks just because of the sheer size of the storm. The cloud field extends more than 1,500 miles north to south. That is just huge.

North Carolina most impacted by this storm, and that is where CNN's Dianne Gallagher is.

Dianne, you're there in Nags Head on the Outer Banks. How's it looking there?

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, Brianna, we have had a bunch of these gusts of wind that have come up throughout the day today. And you can kind of see out into the ocean right now. There's one again of those gusts there.

Kind of coming to the ocean, you see that it's a little spicy, it's a little angry right now. The point is, we don't need people in the water swimming. And it remains a double red flag day, as they kind of take stock of what happened as Hurricane Erin passed by the Outer Banks.

The sea is angry all along this area here. The big concern, of course, is North Carolina Highway 12, that highway that connects all of these different islands and essentially sandbars creating the Outer Banks. It is effectively closed at this point because of overwash in some of the areas like Ocracoke and Hatteras Village.

They're trying to assess and clean up to determine how much damage, if there is significant damage. And they have said, please be patient with us. It's going to take some time.

Also, even though the hurricane itself is passing up, going north and our neighbors to the north up in New England and in Maryland and such are the ones who are going to be getting some of these rougher seas as well, we could still experience some coastal flooding here in the Outer Banks when high tide comes back in around 7:00 p.m.

North Carolina remains in a state of emergency today, as, again, they clean up and try to determine just how much of an effect Erin may have had here.

KEILAR: Yes, that is some messy-looking surf behind you there.

Dianne Gallagher, thank you for this update as we continue to watch this hurricane.

And still to come: Governor Newsom tries to Uno reverse card, as the kids say, the president, using one of Trump's own moves against him. And could it also be a soft launch perhaps of a Newsom 2028 campaign? We have got our brilliant California political minds here to discuss.

Plus, Russia launches its biggest attack in more than a month, while accusing Ukraine of not being interested in peace. Now President Trump appears to be changing his tune on Moscow again.

And then later: When you think of national security threats, you probably don't think of a lack of childcare, but you should. Military families say they're barely getting by, many spouses forced to quit their jobs and threaten their families' finances, as they scramble to find childcare.

[13:15:09] These important stories and more all ahead this hour on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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SANCHEZ: The Texas Senate just cleared a key hurdle, setting up a potential final vote on Republican plans to drastically alter the state's voting map.

If passed, the plan would swing at least five Texas districts in Republicans' favor. It's part of a plan that President Trump pushed to maintain Republican control of Congress, but Democrats are vowing to take their fight to the courts after ending their weeks-long standoff to stop votes from even happening.

Let's go live to Austin with CNN's Arlette Saenz, who's at the Texas Statehouse.

So, Arlette, where do things go from here?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, these new congressional maps are expected to breeze through the Senate. The chamber could vote as soon as this evening to make these maps into law.

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Then the Texas governor, Greg Abbott, could sign the bill in a matter of days. That could potentially set off a major scramble within the Democratic Party, as there are several Democratic members of Congress who would be at risk as these five districts would now trend more Republican.

Some of those districts could see some primary battles within the Democratic Party as well. There's Julie Johnson and Marc Veasey in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. And then there is Congressman Greg Casar and Congressman Lloyd Doggett. That potentially might be the most bruising Democratic Party.

Casar's district, currently 35, is completely being broken up and partly being merged with the Congressional District 33, which is right here in Austin. Both of those lawmakers have vowed that they are going to run for this seat. It could also set up a generational battle as well. There are also some changes being made in a Houston area seat, as well as down in Southern Texas.

But really Democrats did not have much in their tool -- legislative toolbox to stop this bill from going forward. They are hoping that the courts will step in. Democrats are planning to file a number of lawsuits in the coming weeks, hoping that the courts will block this map from going into effect.

Now, also still playing out in the Texas House is this debate about how to potentially punish those Democrats who broke quorum and fled the state to try to block that redistricting effort from going forward. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has actually asked lawmakers in the House and Senate to consider legislation this very special session that would punish them, institute some penalties against them.

Here's what the Texas governor had to say earlier today.

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GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): I believe that breaking quorum the way that it was done here violates the Constitution, and there have to be consequences for that. There have been several proposals already offered up in both the House and Senate. That's a good starting point.

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SAENZ: So we will see how all of that develops in what has been a very heated fight between the GOP and Democrats in this state around these new congressional maps.

SANCHEZ: Arlette Saenz live for us in Austin, thank you so much -- Brianna.

KEILAR: In California. Democrats are trying to nullify those additional House seats that Republicans are projected to pick up with their new congressional map in Texas.

Governor Gavin Newsom is spearheading an effort to redraw his state's congressional map, but it's not an easy path. California voters not only have to approve a new map, but the state will have to hold a special election so they can vote on it, and that's what the state Assembly and Senate is working on today.

Newsom's plan has won the support of former President Barack Obama, and as the California governor takes a page out of President Trump's playbook, it's kind of giving Newsom 2028.

So let's talk about that with two brilliant political minds who are, by the way, some of our favorite Californians, Kendra Barkoff, former press secretary to then-Vice President Joe Biden and now a managing director at SKDK, and Lanhee Chen, former policy director for Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign.

And, Lanhee, you recently wrote an op-ed in "The L.A. Times" about this redistricting. You call it a cynical ploy. But I do want to ask you, since it is crafted to be triggered as a response to a Republican redistricting effort in another state, do you think that voters in what's a pretty blue state are going to see it as a cynical ploy?

LANHEE CHEN, FORMER POLICY DIRECTOR, MITT ROMNEY CAMPAIGN: I think voters are skeptical, in part because the system we have in California was a voter-passed system from 2008 and 2010 that placed the power to redistrict in the hands of an independent commission that wasn't to be run by politicians, that wasn't to take account of things like partisanship.

And what the governor is proposing to do here is to eviscerate that system, and I think voters are going to be rightfully very skeptical. We will see. This will be a compressed election, probably a low turnout election. Both sides are going to put a lot of money into this.

And, obviously, Governor Newsom needs this to be successful if he wants to run for president in 2028. So this is going to be, I think, the premier political battle in the country going into this November's election.

KEILAR: Kendra, what do you think?

KENDRA BARKOFF, FORMER BIDEN PRESS SECRETARY: I think we have to remember why we're here to begin with, which is Trump drafted maps, handed them over to the governor of Texas to redistrict the state of Texas.

The legislatures, the Democrats, they did not want this. They pushed back as much as they could. But, ultimately, this is the Republicans that started this fight, and so the Democrats are pushing back in the way that they know how, which is redistricting in California.

Democrats ultimately wanted to talk to about the bills that matter. There were 135 victims of floods. That's what they should have -- been talked about. That is what they should have been voting on, and instead they completely politicized this, Republicans did, and turned this into gerrymandering these districts.

KEILAR: And, Lanhee, I do wonder, because it's pretty clear that Trump is looking at this broadly. He posted: "Texas never lets us down." Florida, Indiana, and others are looking to do the same thing.

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If actually losing a handful of Republicans in California is collateral damage that he's willing to accept if he comes out with more seats to gain overall, it seems like a pretty lonely place to be one of these threatened California Republicans right now.

CHEN: It is. It is a lonely political place. It's always been a lonely political place, at least in recent history, for Republicans in California.

But here's the challenge with Governor Newsom's reaction on this to what's happening in Texas. Democrats in the long run here have a real challenge, because, if you look at the other states that could go to redistricting, states like Indiana, potentially Florida, there are more Republican seats to be gained than seats for the Democrats.

So this notion that Gavin Newsom is doing this as some kind of response to the president, if the goal is to advance the representation of Democrats in the Congress, I'm not sure that governor is going to get there, because if you look at all the other states that are left out there, there are many more opportunities for Republicans.

So this really comes down, Brianna, to Gavin Newsom running for president and the way in which he positions himself in that battle.

KEILAR: Well, let's talk about that because he is positioning himself as a little bit of a troll when it comes to Trump on X, all caps. That's sort of a Trumpism.

And here's what Charlamagne tha God had to say about how he's looking at how Newsom is approaching this.

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CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Gavin Newsom for the past week and some change has been doing what I have wanted a Democrat to do for a long time. OK, see Michelle Obama once said, when they go low, we go high.

And your uncle Charla has never agreed with that. OK, when they go low, either you ignore them and mind your business, they doing the work, or, when they go low, you go to hell, OK? And Gavin Newsom over the last week-and-a-half has been going to hell with the Trump administration, not even really going to hell, just matching energy. And I like it.

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KEILAR: All right, Charlamagne tha God likes it.

But, Kendra, matching Trump energy with Trump energy, we have seen people try. It can be difficult. Are there pitfalls to this kind of approach?

BARKOFF: I think we need to try everything. It's clear that what we tried to do in the last election did not work. The Republicans took over both seats of Congress and have the White House.

And so what -- Gavin Newsom is trying something different, and it's clearly working to the extent that it's getting under the White House's skin. Trump is tweeting about it. It's getting under many MAGA, FOX News commentators. You saw Steve Bannon talking about it. You saw Dana Perino talking about it.

Clearly, something is working because it is being talked about in those circles. And he's trying to do something different that's authentic to his voice. It's working.

KEILAR: Lanhee, talk about it in pure political terms and what this means for Governor Newsom. I mean, do you think that this works for him?

CHEN: Well, I think if his goal is to convince a primary electorate of Democrats, it very well could work for him, because you have got a party that's completely in the wilderness, doesn't appear to have a vision for the future of the country.

And really what it comes down to is individual leaders staking their claim. And I think Governor Newsom, by engaging in this redistricting gambit, puts himself in a very unique position. And if you look at his positioning in survey research in recent polls, it's clear that what he's doing is breaking through with Democratic primary voters, so, from that perspective, a very savvy move by the governor. KEILAR: Let's talk about where Democrats are, Kendra, because "The

New York Times" reports that Dem registration is really at a crisis point. Of the 30 states that track voter registration by political party, Democrats lost ground to Republicans in every single one between the 2020 and 2024 elections and often by a lot.

I mean, that is -- that's alarms.

BARKOFF: Not great.

KEILAR: It is not great.

BARKOFF: It is not great.

KEILAR: That's an understatement.

All right, so when you're looking at Newsom, is he the guy? I mean, does he have the appeal when it comes to realigned formerly Dem voters or even moderate Republicans who might be looking for a home?

BARKOFF: I think we have to be able to do multiple things at once. I think we need to remind the electorate that Donald Trump is not lowering our gas prices. He's not lowering our grocery prices, our energy prices.

We have to continue to remind folks that there are policies in place that will help the American people. Trump is not that person. At the same time, Democrats do need to try something different. As we're talking about, there -- clearly, something is not going right here. If the registration is what is being reported, we need to be doing better. We need to be thinking differently about how we approach this.

KEILAR: Kendra Barkoff, Lanhee Chen, thank you so much to both of you for the conversation. Really appreciate it.

BARKOFF: Thanks.

KEILAR: And the details of a U.S.-E.U. trade agreement have now been released. We're going to take a look at what's in President Trump's latest deal.

In the meantime, Trump's tariffs are giving shoppers some back-to- school sticker shock, so what you need to be prepared to pay -- next.

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