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National Guard Troops Carrying Weapons in D.C.; Trump Administration Plans Military Crackdown in Chicago; Lisa Hernandez is Interviewed about a Military Crackdown in Chicago; Abrego Garcia in ICE Custody; Trump Welcomes South Korean President to White House; Extreme Heat Fuels Wildfires. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired August 25, 2025 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Andre The Giant, best bigfoot ever.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR: I'm going to have to take your word for it.

New hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts now.

All right, everyone, new this morning, armed in the nation's capital. Some National Guard troops are now patrolling with weapons in D.C., as President Trump says he could send more troops to Democratic-led cities in his crackdown on crime.

Now, President Trump's terror fight -- tariff fight, I should say, has a new target as well, furniture. And that could mean higher prices for you soon.

And what caused a star player to smash his racket in the middle of a match at the U.S. Open? We'll talk about it. We'll show you. You decide.

Sara and Kate are out today. I'm Omar Jimenez, with John Berman. And this is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BERMAN: And breaking overnight, the Trump administration adding firepower to its federal takeover of policing in Washington, D.C. New images of some National Guard troops carrying weapons in the nation's capital after the Pentagon gave it the OK. You can see the sidearms right there.

We're getting a better idea of which U.S. cities could be next on the list for a military deployment. The latest city the president seems to be targeting is Baltimore, despite statistics from the mayor's office there showing violent crime is down 17 percent from this time last year.

It's coming as his back and forth with Maryland's governor, a Democrat, Wes Moore, who invited the president on a public safety walk in Baltimore, the back and forth there is escalating. The president didn't like one bit that Moore invited him to a safety walk there. Said that Governor Moore used a, quote, "rather nasty and provocative tone." In Chicago, two officials told CNN that plans have been in the works

for weeks to send the National Guard there, though Chicago police have reported a 23 percent drop in violent crime from last year.

Let's get right to CNN's Zach Cohen, who is outside on the streets of Washington, where National Guard troops are carrying weapons.

Zach.

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, John, a significant development here because just a few weeks ago these troops were unarmed, essentially providing support to law enforcement. Now we are seeing them carrying their weapons.

And it's not just their sidearms. We had a CNN reporter observe several troops patrolling the streets of D.C. carrying long guns, or rifles, just last night.

And it's worth noting, too, John, that this is -- this development is taking place on what is the first day of school for many kids here in D.C. It also comes, as you mentioned, as the Trump administration seems to be signaling it plans to expand its crackdown on crime in predominantly Democrat-led cities.

Now, we've heard from the president talk about potentially sending the National Guard to places like Baltimore, to places like Chicago, to places like even New York, really citing crime statistics that don't really seem to line up with what the reality is.

Now here in D.C., since August 12th, that was the first full day of this federal takeover of the law enforcement entities here. There has been a moderate drop in reported crime. A CNN analysis of government data, though, also shows a significant surge in arrests of immigrants. So, an immigration element, it seems, is a big part of this National Guard deployment in D.C.

And as we look ahead to seeing what -- which cities could be next, take a listen to what the president of the United States said when he was asked by our colleague Alayna Treene if any concrete steps are being taken to plan -- in terms of planning to deploy the National Guard to Chicago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: You said Chicago might be next.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Chicago, maybe.

TREENE: Are you making -- have there been concrete steps that the administration is taking to do that? Or what other cities as well?

TRUMP: Yes, I haven't spoken -- I haven't spoken to him. He's grossly incompetent. I haven't spoken to the mayor. No, when we're ready, we'll go in and we'll straighten out Chicago, just like we did D.C.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: So, it remains to be seen if Chicago or Baltimore will be next. But the president has made clear he plans to replicate this mission in other cities, again, predominantly Democrat-led cities. But we'll have to wait and see what sort of shape that takes and ultimately when it might happen.

BERMAN: Zach Cohen for us outside in Washington.

Zach, great to see you. Thank you very much.

Omar.

JIMENEZ: Well, Illinois' attorney general says the state is ready to challenge President Trump legally if he follows through on his threat to send National Guard troops into Chicago. Now, the president's push comes as Chicago's city leaders say there's been a significant drop in crime in the city. Just last month, for example, Chicago police say homicides dropped 35 percent and shootings dropped 26 percent compared to the same time last year.

CNN's Whitney Wild is in Chicago with more on what we know.

Whitney.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Our reporting is that this plan has been in the works for weeks, but it is not clear how many troops are going to be deployed.

[09:05:01]

It is not clear when they're going to be deployed.

Illinois leaders here are firing back aggressively. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, says there's plainly no emergency that would warrant such a deployment. The mayor of Chicago also firing back. The Illinois attorney general has made clear that they plan to fight this in court.

Right now, the status quo here is that they are looking at the options but the -- as you know, the White House has not actually spoken to anybody here in Chicago. Civic leaders here in Illinois and Chicago are saying that they have not heard anything directly from the federal government. So, they are also in a bit of a holding pattern while they wait to see what the reality of this National Guard deployment actually looks like.

The major questions here are whether or not surrounding states with Republican governors can send their National Guard troops into Chicago, into Illinois, which is a non-consenting state. And as we are reporting this out, the question that our team is asking is, is this deployment going to look more like Washington, D.C., where the dynamics are very different, where the federal control of that area is very different, or is this deployment going to look much more like Los Angeles? And the early read from our sources is that this deployment will resemble Los Angeles. We know that that deployment was challenged in court. There is not yet

a ruling on that. Any potential court ruling is being watched very closely here. We expect to learn more about what civic leaders plan to do here as this day unfolds and in coming days.

Back to you.

BERMAN: All right, our thanks to Whitney Wild for this.

With us now is Lisa Hernandez, the chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois.

Thank you so much for being with us.

So, Chicago Police said Friday that homicides are down 31 percent this year. So, why do you think the president's focus is on Chicago?

LISA HERNANDEZ, CHAIR, DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF ILLINOIS: Well, that's easy, we're a blue state. A very strong blue state. So, he is doing all he can to create chaos here.

Honestly, we don't need his help. We don't need his assistance. There's no emergency here.

As you have mentioned, our reports come back that homicides are down, shootings are down. So, what the law enforcement locally is doing here is working. What community prevention programs are doing is working here.

And instead of spending and abusing and wasting the resources by sending the military, resources can be used to expand these type of programs, like community prevention programs that do work.

BERMAN: You know, we had Rahm Emanuel on CNN over the weekend, former mayor of Chicago, of course, who agreed with you on the statistics largely coming down, but said, you know what, carjacking has been a problem in Chicago as it's been in other cities. Is there any federal role maybe to -- to -- that could be helpful there?

HERNANDEZ: That's why I'm saying, there could be other ways to utilize the resources in an appropriate way. But to create this -- it's theater. He's -- he's just doing more of the same, distracting from his failures as a president. And we're just, you know, Illinois Democrats are just not going to have it.

BERMAN: You are also a state lawmaker. You say Illinois Democrats are not going to stand for this. What can you do about it?

HERNANDEZ: Well, we could keep doing what we're doing. If you're -- the reports come back that the homicide numbers, the shooting numbers are going down. That means that we're doing the work. That we're able to meet success. And that is what we will continue to do.

BERMAN: What are you hearing from your constituents on this? You know, because, look, I mean, in cities around the country, you do often hear from people who live there that, yes, crime is a problem, but that may or may not be different than saying, yes, crime is a problem, we want to see federal troops here. What are you hearing?

HERNANDEZ: Without a doubt. I mean folks are always going to be concerned about what is going around or, you know, in their surroundings. But when you hear these kinds of theatrics, these threats of sending the military, people -- this is dangerous. I mean this is just not normal. And people are reacting in a way that they want to get involved. This has got to stop.

So, if anything, he's motivating, he's energizing people to get more involved for -- in -- in the way that we will take back either the House or the Senate next year.

BERMAN: Lisa Hernandez, the chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois, thank you so much for your time this morning.

Omar.

JIMENEZ: Meanwhile, tensions over U.S. troops in South Korea. New demands from Washington sparking pushback just as the country's president heads to meet with President Trump today.

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We'll have details coming up.

Plus, wildfires in California's wine country. Thousands of acres scorched out west as the extreme heat fuels the flames. Will the weather provide any relief that maybe is on the way? We'll talk about it.

And we are following breaking news this morning. Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been taken into ICE custody this morning. The Trump administration threatening to deport him again, this time potentially to Uganda. We'll tell you how his legal team plans to fight back, coming up.

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[09:15:06]

BERMAN: All right, breaking just a short time ago, since we have been on the air, Kilmar Abrego Garcia was taken into ICE custody. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed he is being processed for deportation. His attorneys now threatening legal action if that happens, and they say he could be sent to Uganda unless he accepts a plea deal today that what it said see him deported to Costa Rica. So, there's a lot going on here. All these new developments.

Let's get right to CNN's Priscilla Alvarez in Baltimore with the very latest.

What are you learning now, Priscilla?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, there have been multiple developments within the span of two hours. It wasn't that long ago that Kilmar Abrego Garcia was standing right behind me, along with his wife, as he was thanking organizers and his family before going into that federal building behind me to check in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But then, only 45 minutes later is when we learned from his attorney that he was taken into ICE custody shortly after entering the building.

And here's what his attorney had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON SANDOVAL-MOSHENBERG, ATTORNEY FOR KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA: If they want to deport him to any other country, they need to go through that exact same process. Unless and until -- unless and until they have gone through that process, they do not have the right to put him on an airplane. And that's what we're going to be asking the district court to ensure, that he is not put on any flight to any country whatsoever, whether it's Uganda, South Sudan, what have you, unless and until he has had a full and fair trial.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: Now, the big question here, John, is where he is going to be deported. That is exactly what his attorney was talking about there. Previously, the administration had offered a plea deal that if he were to plea to two federal charges and carry out his criminal sentence here in the United States, that he'd be deported to Costa Rica. But if not, the Trump administration would deport him to Uganda, a country with which he has no ties to. That has been something that the administration has leaned on often, the removals to third countries.

But the attorney said that Kilmar Abrego Garcia is OK with being deported to Costa Rica. The question is, will the administration do it if the plea deal is not accepted, which we know from his other attorneys that it has not been accepted.

So, there is still a process yet to unfold here. And it is in part because of a federal judge earlier this summer that said that Abrego Garcia and his attorneys had to be notified at least 72 hours prior to removal where he'd be removed so that his attorneys can have the opportunity to contest that removal. And that is the process that we'll be looking out for here.

His attorney also saying they filed a new lawsuit contesting again his deportation and his detainment because his attorney stands by the fact that there is no reason for which he should be detained right now. He was already under monitoring. So, the attorney says there's no basis for his detention, which is yet another question that they did not get an answer to today from ICE, where he will be detained. It is very common that when ICE takes custody of people, they can detain them in their different centers across the country.

So, at this hour, there are still a couple questions here. Where will he be deported? And also, where will he be detained until that deportation? This, again, has been a dramatic legal saga that has gone for months now starting with his deportation, his wrongful one to El Salvador earlier this year.

Now, again, as I had mentioned, Abrego Garcia did speak to the crowd earlier this morning where he thanked his family. And this is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA (through translator): Brothers and sisters -- brothers and sisters, my name is Kilmar Abrego Garcia. And I want you to remember this. Remember that I am free and I was able to be reunited with my family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: Now, again, his fate and his future is still uncertain at this hour. But the fact that we do know is that he is in custody in the building behind me here in Baltimore.

John.

BERMAN: Yes, that was just after 7:00 in the morning when he said, "I am free." By 8:00, 8:15, no longer the case.

Priscilla Alvarez, in Baltimore, watching it all unfold. Great to have you there. Thank you very much.

Omar.

JIMENEZ: Well, in a few hours, President Trump will welcome the South Korean president to the White House. And it's the first time the two will actually meet since the South Korean leader's election in June. Now, this meeting is happening as new tensions erupt between the two countries over U.S. troops in South Korea and their role in the region's security.

I want to bring in CNN's Alayna Treene at the White House now.

So, Alayna, you have some new reporting on the talks, as I understand. What are you learning?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right.

Well, I think there's a number of topics that are going to be central to this meeting today, Omar. Of course, one of them is just, you know, keeping an eye on the rapport between these two leaders as it is the first time they're meeting.

[09:20:05]

But it comes as there are a lot of tense discussions that have been happening behind the scenes as it relates to the defense agreement and security agreement between the United States and South Korean governments. One, of course, is how much defense spending that the United States is going to be asking South Korea to put forward, and also a question of the number of and the role of American troops on South Korean soil. That is going to be one of the biggest issues, I think, that is going to dominate some of the discussion today. And -- and comes, again, as there have been a lot of tense discussions as it relates to trade as well around some of the security agreements between these two countries. But another thing is, of course, paying attention to, you know,

hammering out some of the details of the trade agreement that President Donald Trump announced last month. A lot of those details were vague. I mean some of them, of course, we know that the U.S. -- the U.S. is going to be imposing a 15 percent tariff on South Korean goods. They're asking South Korea to pay $350 billion in an investment in the U.S. economy. And also have South Korea buy $100 billion worth of U.S. liquefied natural gas and other energy products. So, that's some of what will, of course, also be discussed today.

But then I actually caught up this morning, Omar, with the White House director of national economic council, Kevin Hassett. He told me that there is expected to be a major shipbuilding deal that is announced today as well. And part of that, of course, is we're learning and some of our Seoul (ph) colleagues are reporting this as well, that South Korea is really trying to push this idea that they can help the United States turn around their shipbuilding industry. So, that could potentially be kind of a sweetener that we will see when South Korean President Lee comes to the White House. We also heard that he may actually give Trump a model of a 16th century Korean turtle warship, as they have those discussions. Of course something, you know, potentially an olive branch to the United States upon their first meeting.

So, a lot of major topics expected when the South Korean delegation arrives. We're told he is expected to come around noon today at the White House, Omar.

JIMENEZ: All right, Alayna Treene, I know you'll be watching. Good to see you.

John.

BERMAN: All right, happening now, extreme heat fueling dangerous wildfires in the west, threatening thousands of homes and forcing evacuations. A blaze is moving near Napa, in California's wine country as a different fire is tearing through central Oregon.

Let's get to CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar, who is tracking all of this.

What are you seeing, Allison?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, so, unfortunately, the heat that has really been kind of exacerbating a lot of these wildfires is really going to stick around for at least the next several days before those firefighters finally get some relief. Behind me you can see some of the video from the California wildfire. Again, the smoke in the distance, the flames, all of that stuff going on in the background.

But it's not the only state that's been dealing with fires. We also have fires across portions of Oregon. Here you can see some of those images there. Again, those red-pink skies being lit up from the flames, the smoke, the planes that kind of bring a lot of the relief to some of these areas.

But a lot of this is coming from the fires and the heat and the dry conditions that are around much of the western U.S.

So, here's the fire that's located in Oregon. Zero percent containment right now. The fire in California, not much better, but at least we've got about 11 percent containment there for that particular fire.

Again, it's really been fueled by a lot of these extreme temperatures. And so you have a lot of these heat alerts in effect for places like California, Oregon and Washington. Look at this, triple digit still in Fresno. We've got very hot conditions even down through portions of the desert southwest.

But the place you don't normally see it, the Pacific Northwest, a lot of these areas are dealing with extreme temperatures as well. Some that are ten, even 15 degrees above where they normally would be. Again, take a look at this, Pendleton, Oregon, 95. Even around Portland, Seattle, looking at those incredibly hot temperatures. And this is what's making those conditions so just intolerable for a lot of those firefighters out there trying to battle these blazes.

Here's a look at the heat alerts. Again, you'll see, yes, we have them in northern California, but also Oregon, Washington and even stretching into portions of Idaho just because of how abnormal this heat is.

Now, there is a bit of good news. And we do have a surge of moisture that's starting to spread in across portions of Oregon. But I want to emphasize here, the caveat is, the air is so dry in Oregon that the vast majority of what you see on the radar is never actually making it all the way down to the surface. It's evaporating before it gets down there. So, the hope is that at least some of it makes it down, and we do end up getting it. But there is some -- the potential for some dry thunderstorms, which means you don't get the rain, but in turn you get the lightning, which could end up triggering more fires.

BERMAN: Wow, that's something. My boys were camping out west. They saw some of that dry lightning and all of that dry, dry heat.

Allison Chinchar, thank you very much for that.

All right, so it could get more expensive for that couch or recliner that you have been coveting. And I've wanted a recliner for years. The tariffs that could be coming to imported furniture.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:29:32]

JIMENEZ: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is strongly criticizing President Trump, accusing him of behaving like a, quote, racial arsonist over his position that Smithsonian Museums are too focused on negative aspects of American history, including how bad slavery was. We shouldn't have to remind you that slavery was, in fact, bad.

[09:29:52]

But in their so-called woke crackdown, the White House actually singled out content by Howard University professor and author of the revolutionary book "How to Raise an Anti-Racist," Ibram X. Kendi, someone the administration calls a, quote, "hard core woke activist."

Ibram X. Kendi joins me