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Lawmakers Express Security Concerns After Charlie Kirk Shooting; Bad Bunny Residency Brings $2000M Boost to Puerto Rico; Pope Leo XIV Turns 70, Reflects on First Year as Pontiff. Aired 8:30-9 am ET

Aired September 15, 2025 - 08:30   ET

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

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[08:30:47]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, new fallout from the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and the fear it is spreading on Capitol Hill. CNN has learned that the White House is now requesting an additional $58 million in security funding for the executive and judicial branches.

House Speaker Mike Johnson says he has been trying to calm nerves of lawmakers and that all options are being considered to boost security.

Let's get right to CNN's Arlette Saenz with the very latest. Good morning, Arlette.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. The assassination of Charlie Kirk has renewed questions about lawmakers' security as many that we spoke to last week expressed concern and said that they wanted to see enhanced security. It's especially an issue when these lawmakers travel back home to their home states or perhaps on the road for events.

But on top of those concerns from lawmakers, we've learned that the Trump administration has asked Congress to approve an additional $58 million in security funding to protect the executive and judicial branches. We're still working to learn more of what exactly that might entail. But up here on Capitol Hill, House Speaker Mike Johnson has heard from many members expressing concerns about security and has said that they are looking at all options.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON, (R-LA) SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I've been talking with a lot of them over the last few days about that and -- and trying to calm the nerves to assure them that we will -- we will make certain that everyone has the level of security that's necessary, that the resources will be there for their residential security and their personal security. We're evaluating all the options for that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, there had already been concerns about security following the assassination of that Minnesota Democratic state lawmaker back in June. After that, Congress had talked about additional funding that they could have for member security. And there are actually some pilot programs underway in both the House and Senate working to figure out what security costs might look like.

But this likely would be a costly endeavor. One senator I spoke to said that they don't believe it's a one-size-fits-all approach. But there is a consensus among some up here on Capitol Hill that there needs to be greater security as those concerns have risen following Kirk's shooting.

BERMAN: You can understand why these concerns are bubbling up right now. Arlette Saenz, thank you very much.

Kate?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And let's talk about that. Joining us right now is Republican Congressman from Tennessee, Tim Burchett. Congressman, thanks for being here.

What additional security measures do you think are needed for lawmakers right now?

REP. TIM BURCHETT (R-TN): I think we need a lot of them, and we've been asking them for years. And I'm afraid this is what we're going to see happening. You know, I asked after those Jewish folks were assassinated in Washington a few weeks back, I asked our speaker to provide extra protection for our Jewish members, knowing that they would be targets.

And in fact, they are. You know, my dear friend Jared Moskowitz we don't agree on anything except that we love our country, and we love our families, and we'd like to protect both of those. And he -- he and I both agreed that we need to do a lot more, and we're having to do a lot more, especially at home.

Unfortunately, with leadership as it's been since I've been in Congress under Democrats and Republicans, you know, they're in a little protective bubble. They've got their own security detail. They've got, you know, the suburbans, they've got the -- the armed guards all around them at all times, and we don't.

And it's -- it's very difficult for them to -- to do something about this for some reason. I don't know what it is. I think it's -- it's spending the money, and then going back and having to explain to the public that we're -- we're spending more money to defend ourselves when in fact we're $36 trillion in debt. But I'm afraid what's going to happen, ma'am, is going to -- it's -- we're going to close the barn door after the cows get out. Somebody's going to get killed on Capitol Hill or in or around that or around our homes. And -- and it's going to be too late then. And then it'll be Katy bar the door.

BOLDUAN: Do you think leadership doesn't get it? Doesn't get that? BURCHETT: I have a hard time thinking they do, ma'am. How many -- how much more studying do we need? Do we need more studying? You know, I walk out of my office every day, and I probably shouldn't say this, but long worth building every day when they ring the bell to go vote. And there'll be guards out there sometime, Capitol Police, and sometimes they're not. And then you go in the building, and there's five or six of them gathered around talking. And that's not those officers' fault. It's leadership's fault. And it's our leadership that directs them.

[08:35:17]

So, at some point, somebody's going to have to get the message before somebody gets hurt. And I've warned them time and time again. And what happens generally, ma'am, something like this happens, we'll pour -- we will pour on the security. You'll see them, you know, checking cars, checking people, checking folks coming in the building. And then it lacks off. That's the problem. That's where the gaps are. And we've got to -- we're got to be vigilant 24/7, and unfortunately, we're not.

BOLDUAN: Another aspect of what we were hearing from Speaker Johnson is calling on everyone to turn down the rhetoric, that every policy, the way he put it was every policy dispute shouldn't be treated as an existential threat to democracy. Utah's governor, Spencer Cox, has been another leading voice, especially in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk's murder, in calling for people to tone it down. I want to play for you what he told my colleague, Dana.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. SPENCER COX (R-UT): But if we're waiting for a president or -- or a governor to get us off of, out of this dark chapter, then it will never happen. We -- we can't -- I don't understand this, again, giving our agency up, waking up every day and saying, well, what did the president say today? That's going to determine how I react. Or what does the governor say today? That makes no sense to me. Every one of us has to look in the mirror and decide, are we going to try to make it better or are we going to make it worse?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: I'm asking this of every leader that comes on. How are you going to go about doing that? What do you tell a constituent who is looking to you for leadership on this?

BURCHETT: Well, I have a history of bipartisanship, as I mentioned earlier. My friend Jared Moskowitz and I are very close. We talk every day. We talk on the floor. We talk about what's going on. But, you know, ma'am, the reality is that's not going to happen. Let's just be honest. It doesn't get you elected. It doesn't. Back home, it's the red meat that gets you elected, pointing the finger, and the Democrats currently point, and the national media, frankly, points at Trump.

I was reading the news releases, and it was just some -- some vile, vitriol stuff, even directed towards Charlie Kirk. And, you know, it's never going to change, ma'am, until we have a real revival in this country. And that hopefully would happen someday. But right now, it looks like it's going to be more of the same. It's click bait. It's getting reelected. It's red meat. And that's what politics is about today.

And that's, frankly, what it's always been about. We can have these talks, and we can have these professors come on of political science and -- and sociologists and all this and talk about that. That's not what's going to happen, ma'am. America is -- is so tone deaf to all that. They want -- they want the heat. And that's what politicians bring.

BOLDUAN: Well, what the governor is getting at is that everyone needs to look inward in the wake of this violence. At some point, there should be a turning point to look inward and do better. And President Trump is not doing that as of Sunday, even though, despite what Governor Cox was calling for just hours before. Let me play what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), U.S. PRESIDENT: The problem is on the left. It's not on the right, like some people like to say on the right. The problem we have is on the left. And when you look at the agitators, you look at the scum that speak so badly of our country, the American flag burnings all over the place. That's the left. That's not the right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: That is not accurate. I mean, there's a long list of recent political violence against Democrats. The point being is that there is more and more political violence across the political spectrum targeting both the right and the left. But what do you do with this if the president does not want to take the lead in trying to help?

BURCHETT: I mean, it's all over. It's not just the president. The guy was shot at -- he was shot at once and he was almost assassinated twice.

BOLDUAN: Right.

BURCHETT: Look back at my friend Steve Felice when he was shot. The guy had what was called he had a Republican hunting list. And it took us five years, ma'am, five years to get that -- to get that changed by the FBI.

BOLDUAN: No, Congressman, I'm aware of that.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: I actually put -- I have a list of them all together of the horrific acts of political violence. But again, it goes across the political spectrum. Looking forward, moving forward, if this could be a turning point, I've seen from many saying that it should be expected to start from the leaders. It should be expected to start from a president of the United States to move forward and bring that temperature down. If he is not going to, what do you do with it? What do you do about it?

[08:40:00]

BURCHETT: Well, what do you all do with it? You keep putting it out. If you all truly wanted this to change in the media, at CNN and other places, your editorial board would say, we're not going to -- we're not going to put this stuff out, but yet you continue to put it out. And that continues to stir -- stir the base. Ma'am, we had a hearing last week on UFOs of all things.

BOLDUAN: No, no, no, I'm creating a conversation and I have been --

BURCHETT: --and the left was attacking the Trump on that.

BOLDUAN: And I take a -- I take pride in the fact that we do bring the temperature down on this, on -- on this program. And I'm definitely make redoubling efforts to do that now by playing the words of the president in order to bring about conversation with an elected member of Congress. That's not trying to stir. That's trying to have conversation. And that's trying to ask you what you thought about it rather than have you come back and attack me about it.

BURCHETT: Well, ma'am, I'm not attacking you. I'm just letting you know that you all need to look within at CNN if you want to continue this down this path, because clearly your ratings show that and the conservative movement is showing that, that they're not watching you because of that. If you all truly had some objective reporting instead of constantly attacking conservatives and Republicans, then there -- there would be a change, I think, but there's not going to be a change. You all don't want to change down deep. Maybe you do, ma'am. But I dare say that the vast majority of your colleagues do not. They do not come from the conservative spectrum. They see this as a -- is just a -- as a Republican type situation. And it is absolutely not.

You're saying this much. You're saying this much or more on the left than you are from the right. And this is just down that same road once again. And it will -- and it proves my point that this will never change.

BOLDUAN: Yeah. But making broad brush statements about any group of people or vast generalizations when you are not involved in any internal discussions within this network or any other network is also not moving the ball forward in a positive, in a positive way.

Congressman, thank you for your time.

John?

BERMAN: Speaks volumes.

All right, a big announcement coming from the House, longtime Republican Congressman Michael McCaul announced he will not seek reelection after two decades there. Can't imagine why. CNN Chief Data Analyst Harry Enten is here.

So, how many retirements are we talking here? HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Well, we're talking about record numbers. Members of Congress, members of the House are heading for the retirements in record numbers. House retirements at this point, the 2025, 2026 cycle. Look at that, '27. The average is just 16 at this point in a cycle.

BERMAN: Wow.

ENTEN: And this I went back even further. It is the highest number this century, John.

BERMAN: That's a lot. And that's a lot for now. How about by party? What's the break?

ENTEN: Yeah. OK, so you see this '27. How does it break down by party? What does it look most like? OK. House retirements at this point. You know what it looks most like? It looks most like this point in 2017, 2018 cycle. In 2017, at this point, there were 18 Republicans who said adios amigos.

At this point, it's 17, Democrats, eight, Democrats, 10. I don't have to remind our audience if you're political junkies, 2017 and then 2018 in particular. Those midterm elections were very, very, very good for Democrats. If I recall correctly, it was a neck game for the Democrats of about 40 seats -- of about 40 seats. The House absolutely flipped in that election cycle. I'm not saying this is like 2017, 2018, but what I am saying is the early signs when you're looking at House retirements, Democrats have to like what they see so far.

BERMAN: What have these trends told us when you see these retirement patterns before? What is it meant?

ENTEN: Yeah. OK. Is 2017 just a one off or is it part of a larger pattern? We'll take a look at every midterm election cycle since 2006. The party with fewer House retirements at this point went on to win the U.S. House of Representatives, seven out of nine times. That's a pretty good number for Democrats because they have fewer retirements so far than Republicans by a vast margin.

We'll have to wait and see if history holds. But if it does, two thumbs up for the Democrats again.

BERMAN: Again, we don't know if it will hold, but if you're the Democrats given this, this is what you like, what you see.

ENTEN: Bingo. John Berman. Bingo.

BERMAN: Harry Enten, thank you --

ENTEN: Thank you.

BERMAN: -- very much.

BOLDUAN: Something very different and potentially refreshing. Global superstar Bad Bunny wrapped up his 30-show residency in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The island has never experienced commercial and artistic success on the scale of Bad Bunny's residency, which began in July.

The sold-out shows brought in millions of dollars to Puerto Rico's economy, drew in fans from all around the world. CNN's Isabel Rosales joins us now.

I mean, if anybody can do it, Bad Bunny can because he's truly amazing. But tell us more.

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: El Conejo Malo, as he's known in Spanish. I mean, he is Puerto Rico, as some of his fans described it to me.

Now, you mentioned never before has the island seen this level of economic success. Let me break down some of the numbers. More than 600,000 visitors to the island specifically for this residency, more than 400,000 tickets sold with the island raking in over 200 million dollars, as some economists have estimated.

[08:45:17]

They want to know who this man is. They're checking out his church, the hometown where he grew up and even the grocery store where he was but a humble bagger before he became this international superstar.

Listen to the man who manages the Coliseum where this concert and residency went.

OK, I think we don't have that soundbite. Sorry about that. But I will let you know now that even though the party is over here, the residency has ended now.

This kicks off a world tour starting with the Dominican Republic. We know that Bad Bunny had an interview with I.D. magazine saying the U.S. will not be on that route. He mentioned that that is for fear that ICE will be raiding the concert venues.

So, a little sleepy here in San Juan as people are recovering right now, Kate, from this concert. 30 incredible concert series. This residency in Puerto Rico now over.

BOLDUAN: Cue the rooster. Perfect timing. It's good to see you, Isabel. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

All right. Coming up for us, Pope Leo speaking out, speaking out against Elon Musk and other big business leaders about the huge wage gap between big CEOs and their employees and their massive salaries. I'm going to speak with a reporter who sat down with the pope for his first major sit-down interview. It was extensive and fascinating.

And Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul, the most recent high-profile Democrat to endorse New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. Will there be an impact with that?

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[08:51:08] BERMAN: All right, for weeks now, journalists at Bloomberg have been pouring over a trove of emails from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. More than 18,000 emails to be exact. And there's so much in there.

With us now, part of the reporting team, Ava Benny-Morrison, Senior Legal Reporter for Bloomberg News. Thank you so much for being here. And I was just saying, you know, after months and months of drips and drips of Epstein information, this was like just a massive, you know, water dump of information right there. What jumped out to you the most, biggest picture?

AVA BENNY-MORRISON, SENIOR LEGAL REPORTER, BLOOMBERG NEWS: These emails certainly offer a fresh look and a deeper insight into the partnership between Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Even though she's been convicted of enabling his sex trafficking, she has long said she had no idea about his sex crimes. These emails give us another side of the story.

It showed that Jeffrey Epstein often turned to her for advice during that critical period of his life in the mid-2000s when he was negotiating with federal prosecutors as part of a sex crimes investigation. He asked her what charge he should plead guilty to. He asked her to help distribute a favorable letter to their social network.

The emails also show that she helped organize gifts, almost $2 million worth of gifts to politically connected figures, business associates and victims as all of this was going on behind the scenes. So for me, the emails certainly add to questions around Ghislaine Maxwell's credibility.

BERMAN: Sure. I mean, she just sat down with Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, and said, you know, I never knew anything. I never saw anything. And there's a lot of communications back and forth, particularly around that first set of charges in Florida. How about just the closeness of their personal relationship?

BENNY-MORRISON: Exactly. Ghislaine Maxwell as recently as July had said that she had a very, very diminished role in his life in 2008 when Jeffrey Epstein went to prison in Florida and that she has said previously that her role for him was, you know, tapering off in this period. But the emails show that they were in contact constantly in 2008, for example, in the lead up to him going to prison. They were exchanging emails almost at a rate of one per day, more than 200. They were discussing a shared fertility procedure during this period, which suggests the closeness that we didn't previously know about.

BERMAN: Yeah, that doesn't sound like a pair of people growing apart if they're discussing some kind of shared IVF development. How about mentions of then Donald Trump in these emails? What did you find there?

BENNY-MORRISON: We only found three minor references to Donald Trump in the emails. One, for example, was his name on a list of 51 people that Maxwell had sent to Epstein in 2017 -- sorry, excuse me, 2007. And she said, remove or add any names that you see fit, essentially. And he said, remove Trump. We have to remember that Trump has previously said she he cut ties with Epstein before he was charged with sex crimes.

BERMAN: What about money? You talked about she organized funds. But what did you see in terms of money there?

BENNY-MORRISON: The source of Epstein's wealth is one of the enduring mysteries. And we hope to learn a little bit more as we continue to review these emails. But it certainly shows that he was managing money for some a handful of very wealthy businessmen in the U.S. And that is how he kind of built up his wealth. But there are still questions to be answered around that.

BERMAN: I have to say again, so much information that I don't think anyone had known before. Ava Benny-Morrison, thank you to you and your team. Great reporting. Appreciate it.

BENNY-MORRISON: Thank you.

BERMAN: Kate?

BOLDUAN: Turn this now. Turning 70 years old and reflecting on a whirlwind first year as pontiff, Pope Leo is opening up in his very first interview since becoming the first American to lead the Catholic Church. Reflecting back on his first few months, Pope Leo says that he still has a huge learning curve ahead of him and that he had to, quote, "jump in on the deep end of the pool very quickly."

[08:55:03]

It was a nearly three-hour conversation and also signals a new openness to the media and one that comes notably -- come -- comes notably earlier than Pope Francis's first interview, just months into his own papacy. Pope Leo was also asked during this conversation, comes notably earlier than Pope Francis's first interview, just months into his own papacy. Pope Leo was also asked during this conversation about his roots, including, of course, his ties to Latin America.

POPE LEO: So, I'm obviously an American and I very much feel that I'm an American. But I also love very much Peru, the Peruvian people. And so that is a part of who I am. Half of my ministerial life was spent in Peru. So, the Latin American perspective is very valuable to me and I think comes out also in an appreciation that I have for the life of the church from Latin America.

BOLDUAN: Joining me right now is a journalist who spoke to Pope Leo for this big interview, Elise Ann Allen, Senior Correspondent for Crux. It's great to see you. There's so much more to come in this, but what we've seen so far, it seems like a really fascinating conversation with him. His first major interview since becoming pope. Just generally speaking, what stood out most to you in terms of what you spoke about, his priorities, his message or just his general feeling about it all?

ELISE ANN ALLEN, SENIOR CORRESPONDENT, CRUX NOW: Well, good morning, Kate. It's wonderful to be with you. You know, obviously, anytime you interview a pope, it's a big deal and it's very exciting.

I'd say what stood out most to me about Pope Leo is just how calm he was. He's somebody who's very calm. He's very natural. You don't get the sense that he's fabricating anything or that there is a veneer, you know, that he's trying to put on, you know, give you some sort of impression. He's somebody that's extremely natural and very comfortable with himself and very comfortable with other people. And that came off very clearly and very immediately in our conversation.

He's very sincere and wanted to give very direct and transparent answers. So, that was something that was very notable and is obviously a great feeling when you're trying to have an interview with somebody. You know, it was a very good vibe, I would say.

You know, and he spoke about a lot of things. You know, this is two different conversations that we had that were about an hour and a half each. So, the first one was talking just about his life and his biography, you know, the different points along his career and his missionary life in Peru, also in terms of his time in, you know, leading his order, but also here in Rome.

So, we covered a lot of ground. But then the second part of it was sort of looking to the future. What are sort of the hot-button issues that he wants to pay attention to and that are relevant in terms of the church and the world today?

And so, that's where we got into some more newsy topics, you know. And he really focused on the social issues. Those are something that's very close to his heart, especially given his time and his service in Peru.

So, anything that has to deal with the environment, that has to deal with poverty, the issues of migration, those are things he was all very deeply involved in as a missionary and even as a bishop in Peru. And there's some things that really remain close to his heart. So, you've got to sense, really, that the social agenda is something that's going to be very much a priority for this pope.

BOLDUAN: I did find it fascinating that he spoke directly to leaning into speaking about income inequality and talking about just executive compensation in general, but also even nodding to Elon Musk as kind of an example of it, the possibility of Musk becoming the world's first trillionaire. At one point he told you this. What does that mean and what's that about? If that is the only thing that has value anymore, then we're in big trouble. Just what you took from that when you thought of that.

ALLEN: Well, it's very clear that this is a huge issue for him, and he's very concerned about it. You know, he represents the two poles, if you will, in this growing disparity between rich and poor. He comes from one of the wealthiest nations on earth, but also has served almost his entire priestly life in one of the poorest countries, you know, in a country with a lot of poverty and one of the poorest regions of this country.

So, you know, he's somebody that has an experience with both of those poles, and he's really, you know, attentive to that. He's going to be very attentive to that going forward. I think this is going to be a huge priority for him.

And connecting it all together and that he kind of suggested that it could also be what's leading to the polarization that we see all across the world right now is kind of could be rooted in this income inequality that he's speaking to. He told you that he's got this huge learning curve that he's dealing with, kind of being thrown into being scrutinized as now a world leader. Tell me more about that.

ALLEN: Well, this is somebody, you know, who had a very low profile before stepping into the role as pope. You know, he's somebody that didn't give many interviews, honestly, beforehand as bishop, as cardinal, you know, and now as pope, this is his first one.

So, somebody that kept a relatively low profile and was, you know, unknown to a lot of the world is now being thrust into this global role. It's 24/7.