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Family of Special Needs Child Sues Government; Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) is Interviewed about Tariffs on India; Keltie Knight is Interviewed about the Swift Kelce Engagement. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired August 27, 2025 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

CHRISTIAN CONTRERAS, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY, THE CHRISTIAN CONTRERAS FIRM, PFC: Absolutely. I mean the reason why he was mistaken for a person that they were looking for is because they're engaging in racial profiling. And so, it's clear when you engage in these tactics, which are unconstitutional, unlawful, and sweeping up innocent people, of course folks that aren't the target -- the intended targets are going to be swept up in these raids. And so they're -- they're taking a very heavy-handed approach unnecessarily and it's costing the lives of innocent people. People are being traumatized. People are being injured. People are being taken away from their families merely because this administration is taken -- taking such an unconstitutional, broad, sweeping approach to these raids.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Luis, as you know, DHS is pushing back on those allegations of racial profiling. Officials saying, and I'm quoting here, that "this is a case study of billboard law firms trying to turn family resemblance into racial animus to collect clicks, clout, and cash."

Luis, I'm curious, what is your response to that?

LUIS CARRILLO, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Well, the first thing is that the -- ICE and Border Patrol officers who are patrolling the streets here in Los Angeles, it's almost like an occupation army. And what they do is they single out workers with brown complexion. They go after them. And they brutalize the people that they come into contact with.

There's a video of a father of a three U.S. Marines who was beaten down by these ICE or -- and Border Patrol individuals. And so, that's why I say that this is an army of occupation because they single out Latinos and they go to town on their faces.

There was a nine-month pregnant young lady who was shackled around her belly, which caused her baby to be born prematurely. So, that's the brutality that is seen here at the hands of ICE and Border Patrol officers. And it's -- it has to stop because the -- the court, thanks to the ACLU, the court has issued a temporary restraining order reining in these -- these tactics, these brutal, racial profiling tactics. And I hope that the -- that the court does punish the government for the fact that they are violating the courts order here, the ACLU order here in Los Angeles.

HILL: You know, the department was praising the boy's mother, talking about how cooperative she was in the moment, but also -- and she was praising her son, frankly, for how he dealt with it. But the -- the department saying that she was cooperative in the investigation, which ultimately led to an arrest later that day of the boy's cousin. DHS says that the cousin is an unauthorized immigrant who, according to the department, had a 2021 misdemeanor conviction for carrying a concealed weapon.

All of this coming together can be, I think, a little confusing for people as they're trying to -- to follow the threads here. Where do things stand today?

CARRILLO: Those are more lies because the family has no contact with that individual --

CONTRERAS: Well, the --

Sorry, go ahead.

CARRILLO: No, the family has no contact with that individual.

What happened here is that the family is of Mexican descent. The guy that they were looking for is of Salvadoran descent. So, the mother did not cooperate. That was another flat out lie of this department.

Go ahead, Christian.

CONTRERAS: Right. The mother, at a press conference, stated that she -- she was cooperative with federal agents, as one should try to be under the circumstances, but it's false that she assisted in the detention of an MS-13 gang member. That's just a fabrication. That's a blatant lie. And that's not true. That's not true. That -- that did not occur in this case.

HILL: Christian, real quickly, before I let you both go, how is the 15-year-old doing?

CONTRERAS: Well, the 15-year-old, he's special needs. He was -- he was just trying to go to school. And someone who's special needs, just trying to go to school, must be protected. Like I mentioned previously, President Trump needs to do the right thing and issue an executive order preventing federal agents from engaging in these operations at or near schools. President Trump needs to protect students, needs to protect the vulnerable, and needs to ensure that every student in America receives a proper education without fear of being detained by federal agents.

HILL: Christian Contreras, Luis Corrill, we appreciate your time this morning. We'll continue to follow this and the developments. Thank you.

[09:35:01]

Still ahead here, President Trump doubling tariffs on India in a punishing move over the country's imports of Russian oil.

Plus, dramatic new video shows the moment two police officers rescued a child as fire was ripping through his home.

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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, President Trump making good on his threat to double tariffs on imports from India to 50 percent. The president says this is punishment for India importing Russian oil. But India has pointed out that other countries do the same thing, and they are not facing such steep tariffs. One country, China.

With us now, Congressman Carlos Gimenez, Republican of Florida. He's a member of the Select Committee on China.

[09:40:01]

No one, Congressman, I think is tougher on China than you are. So, why double tariffs on India for doing something that China is doing?

REP. CARLOS GIMENEZ (R-FL): Oh, I think we should double tariffs on both of them, to be honest with you. So, I have no problem with what he's done with -- with India. I think he's still trying to negotiate something with -- with China. And I certainly would not have any kind of problem with him doubling the tariffs on China. You know how I stand, where I stand with China.

BERMAN: Right. And on that front, he's given China extension after extension to negotiate. He struck a deal where NVidia can sell chips to them. He keeps on extending the TikTok ban, so there is no TikTok ban. And now, look, one reason why you have good relations with India is to isolate China. But now he's doing the opposite.

So, my question to you is, what evidence is there that the president is actually even being tough on China anymore?

GIMENEZ: Well -- well, the problem with China is that we -- we are so much more interlocked with China economically that it's tough to decouple from China. And so, I'm going to wait the president out on this one. But if he -- if he said tomorrow that he was doubling the -- the tariffs on -- on China because of their use of Russian oil, I would applaud that -- that effort. I've been saying from -- for a long time, we need to decouple from China. Every single dollar that we send to China is going to be used against us in our interests around the world. And so -- but that's easier said than done.

So, let's see what -- what actually transpires with the president and China. I would hope that he'd be a little tougher on China because that's where I want to land. I want to be very tough on China. I want to decouple from China.

BERMAN: Yes.

GIMENEZ: And I think we need to onshore, nearshore as much as possible all the stuff that we're buying from China right now. BERMAN: You're on the Armed Services Committee, of course. Howard

Lutnick, the secretary of commerce, floated the idea of the United States buy into, the government, taking shares, taking partial ownership of defense companies. This comes after the United States took a 10 percent share in Intel, the chip maker. How would you feel about the government being a part owner of some of these defense industries?

GIMENEZ: I'm not crazy about the government being owner -- being part owners in private enterprise. There has to be a compelling reason for that. Are they in trouble? Are they in trouble financially? I mean, that's a -- one of the things that we used, I guess, when the government took over Chrysler, right, in -- in the crisis back in, you know, '08, '09, because they were going to go under and they're a vital part of our -- of our industry. Also, they're a vital part to our security. And so, these contractors that are having a problem and we need to somehow shore them up because they are vital to our national security, that's one thing. But normally being part or taking part of an ownership of a -- of a company is not something I'm really keen on unless we're investing a ton of money in it, and then we should get our money back. And so, again, I've got to see the details on that particular transaction.

BERMAN: You have an opinion on the Intel business, 10 percent?

GIMENEZ: I mean, I guess, you know, I mean, it had to do with making sure that Intel stays afloat. Intel is -- is very vital, again, to our national security interests. And sometimes you do that in order to make sure that an industry survives and a particular company survives because they do have -- they are a big part of our national security. And so, in those cases, yes, but that's in order for us to -- to get our money, our investment back and then back out as far -- as fast as we can.

BERMAN: OK. I want to ask you, because -- because President Trump, again, and this goes back to something that I know Republican members of Congress have sort of hated being asked about since 2017, a recent tweet or a social media post. But on social media, he did just post that, "George Soros, and his wonderful radical left son, should be charged with RICO because of their support of violent protests." So, he's calling for them to be charged with racketeering.

This follows him calling for Chris Christie to be investigated for Bridge-gate, and it follows FBI agents searching the home of former National Security Advisor John Bolton, who had been critical of the president.

How do you feel about the president weighing in, suggesting investigations or prosecutions?

GIMENEZ: Well, look, I mean, there was a heck of a lot of investigations that were -- that -- on -- on Donald Trump. And this was started by the other side. And so, look, George Soros, if he's done something wrong, then he should be investigated for it. Nobody is above the law. Everybody --

BERMAN: Has he -- my question to you is, is do you feel the president --

GIMENEZ: Yes.

BERMAN: Do you feel this president should be calling for investigate -- do you feel any president should be calling for investigations like this?

GIMENEZ: Yes, well, I mean, you know, he's -- he's the president of the United States. He can -- he can see what's in front of -- in front of him. If he feels that there's something going on, I think it's kind of his duty to say, hey, there's something going on here, you need to look at it. And -- and if something comes out of it, then something comes out of it. Nothing comes out of it, then nothing comes out of it.

[09:45:01]

But, obviously, the president feels there's something going on. And so, yes, if he feels there's something going on, then he should bring it to the attention of the authorities and say, hey, you need to look at this because something's going on.

I don't know if there's anything going on, but it should be looked into. And if there's nothing going on, then George Soros has nothing to fear. But if there is something going on, then, you know, like I said, nobody's above the law.

BERMAN: So, call for prosecutions first, then ask questions later?

GIMENEZ: No, I mean, he's asking for an investigation. He's not asking for prosecution, I believe. He's saying they need to look at it.

BERMAN: Well, call for investigations first, then ask questions later.

GIMENEZ: Well, yes, you know, if -- if you see something, if you see smoke -- like I'm a firefighter. If you see smoke, maybe there's a fire there. Maybe you should investigate that there's smoke coming out of there and there may be a fire.

And so, yes, if he sees that there is a problem, some kind of smoke, look into it and see if there is a fire or not, OK.

BERMAN: He actually said "charged." He did -- he did say "charged," by the way. He did say --

GIMENEZ: What?

BERMAN: He did -- he did say "charged." He did say "charged."

GIMENEZ: I'm sorry.

BERMAN: He said "charged" with RICO, not investigated. So, in this case he's saying they should be charged.

GIMENEZ: That -- that I wouldn't do. I would -- I wouldn't do charge. I would say look into it. And if -- and if it deems that charges are necessary, then charges are necessary. But to -- to say and bring up that, hey, you need to look at that, I don]t have a problem with that. Saying you need to charge it, yes, he should wait for the investigation to see what happens and let --

BERMAN: OK.

GIMENEZ: Let, you know, the -- the justice system, you know, run its course. And if there's something there, then there's something there.

BERMAN: All right. Clarifying you don't think he should say should be charged before the investigation.

GIMENEZ: No.

BERMAN: Congressman Carlos Gimenez --

GIMENEZ: No, I don't -- no, I don't think so.

BERMAN: Carlos -- Congressman, thanks for being with us today. Appreciate it.

So, we got Travis Kelce's father to leak, spilling all the inside details about the Travis-Taylor engagement.

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[09:51:12]

HILL: It is the feel good headline proving to be a uniter because, why? Love. Love.

BERMAN: Love.

HILL: People love love. We love love.

BERMAN: Love.

HILL: Taylor and Travis, they're engaged.

Joining us now, Keltie Knight, Emmy Award winning host of "E! News," also host of the "The LADYGANG" podcast.

I am totally rooting for them. So, this is great news. I also love that Taylor's soon to be father-in-law, is spilling the tea. Ed Kelce is talking. We have details. This did not just happen, the engagement. What more do we know?

KELTIE KNIGHT, HOST, "E! NEWS" AND HOST, "THE LADYGANG" PODCAST: OK, so dad, in true dad fashion, went on the Today show Australia and he talked about that it happened about two weeks ago. And what I thought was really interesting is, Ed gave us everything. He said even, Travis really wanted to plan this huge thing, but he was, you know, he didn't know when to do it. And Taylor was getting a little antsy, which I love him spilling the tea because, you know, that's so relatable. That's every woman being like, I know it's coming. When is it coming? Is my manicure ready? BERMAN: I think it was ready and it managed, you know, to work OK with

the giant ring there.

I'm sort of curious about what's going to happen now. I mean, I'm old enough to remember the royal wedding, barely, like the Charles and Diana wedding, right?

HILL: Oh, I remember that. Yes.

BERMAN: So, I mean, is this going to be something that is just -- that the culture obsesses over every detail? How public do you think it will be?

KNIGHT: This is our royal wedding. And we really needed it. I mean, cities are already online sort of begging her to get married in their city. This is like an Olympic campaign. People are saying, come to Rhode Island, come to Nashville.

I think what's interesting is that they, you know, like most huge, huge superstar celebrities, will probably end up getting married at one of their homes. This ensures security, ensures privacy. And so, Taylor has her estate in Beverly Hills, she has her seaside mansion in Rhode Island, she has her estate in Nashville. Travis recently, in 2023, bought a $6 million estate in -- in Kansas City. So -- for Taylor, really, for her privacy. And then he has his $20 million beachside spread in Florida. So, there's a lot of options for them.

HILL: But will we know? I mean, to your point about privacy, and this is a legitimate concern for both of them, do you think we'll even know before it happens? Or could it be like the engagement, where we find out a couple weeks later? Oh, by the way, they got hitched. Maybe they're already married and we don't even know.

KNIGHT: I mean fans have definitely said that, what if they get married in their parents -- or Taylor's parents' Christmas tree farm in Pennsylvania? Like, I -- there's so many options here.

I think what's really wonderful, and I think why people are rooting for this couple so hard, is that Taylor has been so private. In the past, after she sort of got burned for many years talking about her exes, she was very private about her relationships.

But this is like -- this is America's couple. They are out front. She's doing podcasts now. They are talking about each other. Dad's in the press talking about it. Like, they're not really hiding from us, which I love. And I think she understands -- they both understand how much they mean to their fans.

And so, I can see them keeping some elements very secret. But I also think that we are all in this together. They met at the Era's Tour. We saw them -- him on stage at the Era's Tour. I mean this just feels like they might be more open with it.

BERMAN: We are all in this together.

KNIGHT: I hope. BERMAN: Travis called me to ask for permission too, as you know, to propose. Yes.

HILL: He did? I think it's sweet. I like that you guys have kept up that relationship. Yes.

BERMAN: I said OK. I said it was a great idea.

I was asking about, you know, the wedding. I'm curious, because Taylor Swift can move entire industries and create trends by, you know, putting a color on an album. What do you think this is going to do to the wedding industry?

KNIGHT: Well, I think the vintage ring is back. We've gone through many eras. There was, in the past few years, especially with celebrity bridal, it's been very simple. It's been the quiet luxury trend of these, you know, big rings that are just very simple set.

[09:55:03]

And Taylor, you know, and Travis blew that out of the roof with this ring. It's -- it's vintage. It has hand-drawn moments on the side of it. It's custom made. I mean, the romance is back.

I will tell you, whatever lipstick Taylor wears on her wedding day, whatever nail polish she wears, the shoes she wears, the dresses she wears, how she wears her hair, there will be many Pinterest brides and boards and red carpet looks made after that. I mean she really, you're right, can turn an industry on her head and it's about to be the wedding industry. Yes!

HILL: It's -- and I can tell you're just a little bit excited. Just like me.

Yes, I think the Pinterest boards are already in full force.

Keltie, really appreciate it. Thank you.

BERMAN: That's a cushion cut ring, by the way.

HILL: Thank you, John Berman.

BERMAN: For those who don't know, that is -- that is the cushion cut engagement ring.

HILL: He knows a lot of things.

BERMAN: Thank you all so much for joining us. Thank you so much for being here.

HILL: Always a pleasure, my friend.

BERMAN: This has been CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "THE SITUATION ROOM" is up next.

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