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Trump Signs Executive Orders Expanding Law Enforcement Crackdown; Trump Creating Special National Guard Units to Address Public Order Issues; Kilmar Abrego Garcia Sues to Fight Deportation to Uganda; Genetically Modified Pig Lung Transplanted Into Brain-dead Man. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired August 25, 2025 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:01:01]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": President Trump laying out a new plan to send more National Guard troops to deal with what he calls "a public order issue." Which cities could soon see the same type of military deployment now patrolling the streets of Washington D.C.?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": And days after being released, Kilmar Abrego Garcia is fighting his potential deportation to Uganda, a country that he says he fears being sent to. We'll hear from one of his lawyers about their fight to keep him in the U.S. And a scientific first, a genetically modified lung from a pig successfully transplanted into a human. What this breakthrough could mean for organ transplants in the future. We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to "CNN News Central."

SANCHEZ: President Donald Trump is looking to strengthen his crime crackdown as he weighs deploying National Guard troops into cities beyond Washington, D.C. Today, he signed an executive order creating specialized units within the guard to deal with public order issues. He also left the door open for deployments to other Democratically-led cities, including Chicago. But suggested at one point that he would wait until governors made the request.

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DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: As you all know, Chicago is a killing field right now, and they don't acknowledge it. And they say, we don't need him. Freedom. Freedom. He's a dictator. He's a dictator. A lot of people are saying maybe we like a dictator. I don't like a dictator. I'm not a dictator.

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SANCHEZ: CNN's Jeff Zeleny is live force at the White House. So Jeff, what more are white House officials saying about these potential new National Guard deployments? JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, it is clear that President Trump is continuing his focus and his push on law and order. He believes it's a message that politically at least, works for him. So when he was signing several executive orders earlier this morning in the Oval Office, one of whom directed his Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, to effectively create specialized units within the National Guard to respond to public disorder.

Now, there are many questions that executive order does not answer. What is the criteria for this? What is the training? Who decides when there is a public disorder? But clearly, it is a continuation of a theme that President Trump seems to be rather enjoying, starting with right here in Washington, D.C. where his federal takeover of Washington D.C. Police is just about a week and a half or so underway. And the president is relishing in the fact that there have been no homicides on the nation's streets. He said arrests are up.

Also, immigration has been a central focus of all of this. But just a short time ago in the Oval Office, the president was asked, what about those cities in red states? This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would you also consider sending the National Guard into red states and red cities that are also seeing high crime?

TRUMP: Sure. But there aren't that many of them. If you look at the top-25 cities that -- for crime, just about every one of those cities is run by Democrats.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So of course, many of those, cities have Democratic mayors, but they exist in red states like Tennessee, like Ohio, like Louisiana, other states as well. So, by our assessment of the top 20 or 25 highest crime cities, a little over half of them are actually in red states. Now, yes, some of them do have Democratic mayors, but the point here is when the National Guard is being sent to Washington, some have raised questions that should it be sent to those blue cities in their own states.

But the bottom line to all of this is that the president has been, again, a reveling and relishing in the fact that he has used this law and order message essentially, to overtake other matters in the month of August. And he seems to know -- not show any signs of stopping that, also signing an executive order for flag burning.

[14:05:00]

Of course, flag burning was upheld as a First Amendment protection in 1989 by the Supreme Court, but signing an executive order to prevent it anyway.

SANCHEZ: Jeff Zeleny, live for us at the White House. Thank you so much. The president's plan to deploy the National Guard into Chicago is meeting heavy resistance from Democratic leaders there. CNN's Whitney Wild has their reaction.

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. 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, 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.

SANCHEZ: All right. Thanks to Whitney for that. Earlier today, President Trump signed an executive order that will create specialized National Guard units to "deal with public order issues." This is coming as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has authorized the National Guard members who are deployed in the Capitol here in Washington, D.C. to carry weapons.

Now, more than 1,900 troops from multiple states have been activated. This includes from Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee. We're joined now by retired Army Major General Randy Manner. He's a former Acting Vice Chief of the National Guard Bureau. General, what do you think this will look like? Specialized National Guard units around the country to "deal with public order issues."

MAJ. GEN. RANDY MANNER, FORMER ACTING VICE CHIEF, NATIONAL GUARD BUREAU: The average American has to know that this order for what we call quick reaction forces has been in existence for over 15 years. When I was the Acting Vice Chief of the National Guard Bureau, we made sure to put that into the guidance for all the states to be able to pull people from existing units rapidly, to be able to assist the governor for any kind of situation that he or she may need. So the idea of creating specialized units, which by the way, it's the language that matters, essentially, what the President is doing through the Secretary of Defense is creating units, official military units to quite frankly, guard or not guard, watch the American people. And that's the thing that is absolutely abhorrent. It reminds me so much of what happened in Germany in the 1930s.

KEILAR: So I mean, Americans aren't used to this kind of mobilization of federal troops, right? They just aren't in their cities. Does this prime them to see the use of military domestically to be normal? And what concerns does that raise for you?

MANNER: I believe fully that the President wants to put as a show of force to anybody who opposes him. He wants armed and uniformed military on the streets. If his true intent is all about law and order, then this should be what it is. It should be a law enforcement operation, not a military operation. He should restore the funds for community policing, for education, for the hiring of policemen and women in all of the jurisdictions, whether it's the largest city or the smallest town.

He stripped that out of the bills; that needs to be reinstated. The idea of sending out, again, photo op opportunities with MRAFs and heavily armored vehicles to sit on our streets outside of national monuments and so on, is absolutely just for the optics. I think this is very disconcerting because we are not a nation that is run by the military.

We have civil authority of duly elected leaders, which the president has been duly elected. So this show of force both is unconscionable and it's also something where -- it's just something which is not within the way that our military has been trained.

[14:10:00]

So, are these orders legal? Yes, they are legal. Are they appropriate and are they matched up with the risks? Absolutely, positively not. When I was the acting vice chief, this kind of an action would -- if it had been requested by a governor, would never, ever have been approved, let alone ever gotten to the Secretary of Defense or above. And again, we have to remember, this is all about state's rights. He is imposing federal troops because that's the only way he can move them into Chicago in an involuntary status, the way he did for Los Angeles.

So again, this is very dangerous and he's trying to normalize the idea of us having military on the streets of America. I'm in shock.

KEILAR: So, Chicago is where the administration is considering activating the Guard next. Let's take a look at crime in some cities, including those in states that have sent guard to Washington, D.C. You can see those in yellow there, significantly higher than Washington, D.C. They are in red states where the governors are Republicans. How does it politicize the military when the Trump Administration is only activating the Guard in cities that are in states with Democratic governors, but not in states with Republican governors even if those are cities that are significantly more violent?

MANNER: That's because it is all about intimidating the people and the voters in the blue areas, the blue cities, the mayors, the governors that do not support his policies. It's extremely clear that while this is legal action, he's using it in that manner. Now, it's important to understand that the National Guard Bureau is actually providing guidance to the states that says, I want you to start creating the capability to have National Guardsmen to support ICE operations.

Apparently there are 19 red states that have already said that they will provide volunteers in their local states if called upon, that's within their state under governor control because of course, they're supporting the president. It's very unlikely there will be any kind of support voluntarily from the blue states, which implies of course, that the only way he's going to get National Guardsmen on the street of Chicago is he'll put them on a federal status, which means they cannot be involved with law enforcement under Posse Comitatus and that they would be there just again for the optics.

KEILAR: So, in the week beginning August 12th, which -- that was the first full day, August 12th was, that the Trump Administration took control over police here in Washington, D.C. The city actually saw a moderate drop in reported crime, a far larger surge in arrest of immigrants. This is according to a CNN analysis of government data. Trump and his allies point to that and they say, look, this is proof that this is working. What do you say to that?

MANNER: Like most Americans, I fully support community-based efforts to be able to reduce crime combined with an appropriate judicial system to be able to take care of the offenders, to find out if they are proven guilty or innocent. Again, this is a law enforcement operation. Using the military, which are not trained for this is nothing other than intimidation. Think about it, if you have armed military running around with their -- again, armed, with these vehicles, of course crime is going to go down temporarily.

It is not dealing with the root of the problem. And that is, again, community-based policing actions and engagement. So I say again, this is being done on the backs of our young men and women who are being pulled out of college. Parents are not there to take their kids to school, to see them off to school. They're being pulled out of their civilian jobs. And again, most of them are earning less money in the Guard on their duty than they are for the regular job. So, this is just very sad situation as we find the militarization of America.

KEILAR: General Randy Manner, thank you so much for being with us. We appreciate it.

MANNER: You're very welcome. Thank you.

KEILAR: Still to come, Kilmar Abrego Garcia fighting another deportation threat just days after being released from custody. We'll speak with one of his attorneys. Plus, Israel launches a new wave of attacks, back to back airstrikes, reportedly killing at least 20 people at a hospital in Gaza, including several journalists. And then later, a political crossroads in Florida, work crews and LGBTQ supporters going back and forth, covering up and recoloring a rainbow crosswalk installed to honor the pulse nightclub mass shooting victims. We'll have that and much more coming up on "CNN News Central."

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SANCHEZ: This hour attorneys for Kilmar Abrego Garcia are in federal court once again fighting his deportation, but this time to Uganda. His attorneys say that's where the Trump Administration is now threatening to send him. The father of three became the face of President Trump's immigration crackdown when he was wrongly deported to El Salvador in the spring.

He was brought back to the U.S. about two months later to face human smuggling charges. And a judge ordered his release as he awaits trial. But after ordering him to report to an ICE facility in Baltimore, ICE detained him again. Here was his message to his supporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LYDIA WALTHER-RODRIGUEZ, CASA MEMBER & TRANSLATOR FOR KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA: To all the families who have been separated or to all the families who have been threatened with family separation, this administration has hit us hard, but I want to tell you guys something. God is with us and God will never leave us. God will bring justice to all of the injustice that we are suffering.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:20:00]

SANCHEZ: Let's discuss with an immigration attorney on Abrego Garcia's case. Rita Gandhi, she is a Partner at Murray Osario. Rita, thank you so much for being with us. After Abrego Garcia was taken into custody by immigration officials in Baltimore, your team filed a new lawsuit, urging a federal judge to order his release and to slow down his removal process. What's the basis of your argument?

RITA GANDHI, PARTNER, MURRAY OSARIO LAW FIRM: Well, the basis is that there is a process and a procedure to remove someone to a third country. And they have to be given the opportunity to explain why they are unable to be removed to that third country, which it's clear that this administration is really trying to avoid.

SANCHEZ: Why is it you think that the administration is trying to avoid that?

GANDHI: From their own words, we're planning to deport him right away. They gave us 72 hours notice that ends today. Without this filing, I believe firmly that he would've been on a plane despite our filings.

SANCHEZ: Your team also claims that Kilmar had until this morning to accept a plea in exchange for deportation to Costa Rica. And he turned it down. Why is that?

GANDHI: That is Kilmar's choice, whether he chooses to be intimidated or how he wants to proceed. And this is what he chose to fight.

SANCHEZ: Understood. And I wonder, as the team presents the judge overseeing the case with notices that he has a fear of being sent to Uganda, over concerns about torture and prosecution, what are those fears based on?

GANDHI: Well, I think, we have to look into why Uganda and what agreements have been made there by this administration, by his country and by the government of Uganda. But also it's a country he doesn't know. He doesn't speak the language, his English, as you saw in his press conference, is not great. Where is he supposed to go? What is he supposed to do in Uganda?

SANCHEZ: And what has been the response so far that you've gotten from the courts?

GANDHI: Well, there is a hearing, it's actually happening right now, with the courts to determine what our next steps would be. I presume, to give both parties more time to respond would be the very next step.

SANCHEZ: Is the expectation that he is going to be deported no matter what?

GANDHI: Absolutely not. And I think that's why we continue to fight and why he made that choice not to take that plea, to plead guilty to something that this administration was pushed forward for, but then is trying to remove him before there's an answer on.

SANCHEZ: This may sound like the same question, but I promise it's not. I wonder what his argument is for being allowed to remain in the United States, not necessarily for getting deported to Uganda or Costa Rica, but for just staying in the U.S.

GANDHI: Yeah. Well, I think we have to look most recently at what's happened to him when he went to El Salvador and whether those are, as we would argue, changed circumstances, for why he should be allowed to pursue relief here in the U.S. And there are reliefs available to him, asylum, adjustment. There are reliefs available. They do take time and they do take going before a court. And so, we need that time to be able to do so.

SANCHEZ: I wonder what he has shared with you about that ordeal, including his time at that Salvador in prison, CECOT. What has all of this been like?

GANDHI: I think his family has suffered immeasurably, and I think it will take many years, including therapy, for him to move past what he suffered. He released his statement about what he went through, through our filings. and I think they speak for it. I mean, he suffered unimaginable hardships, physical harm while there.

SANCHEZ: Rita Gandhi, we have to leave the conversation there. Please keep us posted on how today's hearing goes. GANDHI: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Thank you so much. Still to come, a major breakthrough in organ transplantation, how scientists genetically modified a pig's lung and successfully implanted it in a human. We'll be right back.

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KEILAR: A newly published report describes how doctors successfully transplanted a genetically-modified pig lung into a brain-dead man. The lung functioned for nine days, which marks a major first. CNN's Jacqueline Howard explains how they did it.

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: A new study to transplant a pig lung into a human. I'll break it down into three steps. In the first step, what scientists did to perform the transplantation is they took a lung from a pig that was genetically modified. This pig had six modifications, so that it would be a more compatible organ donor for a human. Without these edits, the organ would be almost automatically rejected.

In the second step, the scientists surgically transplanted that pig's lung into a 39-year-old man who was declared brain dead after --