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White House Demolishes East Wing; Government Shutdown Enters Day 21; Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) is Interviewed about the Shutdown; Man Arrested in Atlanta Airport; Scott Selby is Interviewed about the Louvre Heist. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired October 21, 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]

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fact that he is alive because he knows that so many people were not as fortunate as him.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, what a harrowing story that is. And to see the apparently increasing frequency with which this is happening also equally harrowing.

Hanako Montgomery, in Tokyo for us this morning, thank you so much for that report. Explains what we've been seeing here in these videos every day.

A brand-new hour of CNN News Central starts right now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Demolition days at the White House. Part of the East Wing being torn down to make way for President Trump's big new ballroom. A new report also that staffers are being told to not share photos of the demo and the construction.

Also new this morning, Florida's attorney general calls Roblox a breeding ground for child predators. The new moves he's now taking against the wildly popular game.

And a possible mass shooting averted. A family calls Atlanta police to warn them. The man is found at Atlanta's airport. His truck just outside the terminal with an AR-15 and ammo inside.

I'm Kate Bolduan, with John Berman. Sara is out today. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BERMAN: This morning, extreme makeover, White House edition. There are new developments after construction crews began demolition on parts of the White House, the East Wing, to make way for President Trump's $200 million ballroom. After these images you're looking at right here went viral, CNN has confirmed that the Treasury Department next door has told employees in an email first reported by "The Wall Street Journal," quote, "as construction proceeds on the White House grounds, employees should refrain from taking and sharing photographs of the grounds to include the East Wing without prior approval from the Office of Public Affairs." The administration says the 90,000 square foot project will be funded by the president and private donors. The East Wing is traditionally where first ladies keep their offices. And this new construction comes after the president's Mar-a-Lago style revamp of the White House Rose Garden.

CNN's Alayna Treene is live at the White House with the very latest.

What are you hearing this morning about this letter, really, that went around from the Treasury Department, among other things?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, well, I talked to a Treasury officials, John, who essentially told me that, yes, that email went out and they described to me what it was warning -- or really telling people to refrain from sharing these photos after they went viral. Some of these videos and photos of the demolitions happening on the East Wing. I'd remind you that the Treasury Department is right next to the East Wing, and so they have probably a better view than anyone of some of the construction that is now underway.

But I also reached out, of course, to the Treasury Department. A spokesperson for them argued that this was an abundance of caution, this email, because of national security issues. They said, quote, "carelessly shared photographs of the White House complex during this process could potentially reveal sensitive items, including security features or confidential structural details." They said, "out of abundance of caution, we have urged our employees to avoid sharing these images."

Now, a couple things I want to point out about this. You mentioned some of them. But, one, this is something we know that the president has long wanted to do, revamping the White House to add a massive ballroom. He says it is needed. He first said this actually a couple months ago. He said a space like this is needed to host more people, to have bigger and grander parties. It was something that he actually said and started to feel was needed ever since former President Barack Obama was in office. So, fulfilling kind of a 15-year ambition here.

Now, the construction that they are actually working on, this project, is actually going to be much bigger than even the president initially anticipated it. It's going to be 90,000 square feet, three times the current size of the East Room. That's where most of the state dinners and banquets are currently held. And the president has argued, again, that this is something that the White House has always needed, something that past presidents have wanted done.

He's also been very clear to remind people that this is going to be financed by him, as well as private donors. It's going to cost somewhere from $200 billion to $250 billion. But they're trying to be very careful to remind people that this is not going to be funded by taxpayer dollars.

And just some of these images, John, I do have to point out, are just remarkable to see, particularly to a building that very rarely gets transformed on this level. You could see excavators ripping out parts of the East Room where this ballroom is going to be. A lot of debris, of course, all over the ground. So, it's something we're, of course, going to be paying close attention to, trying to keep up with the timeline for when this will actually be completed.

And of course, speaking to the broader effort of the president, I mean, this does follow some serious changes he's made as well to the Oval Office, for example, adding all the gold, gilding a lot of parts of the Oval Office, the new flagpoles, including one behind me.

[09:05:09]

I don't think you can see it on camera, and also, you know, paving over the Rose Garden. So, major changes that the president has engaged in thus far. This just being the latest.

BERMAN: And will go on for some time.

All right, Alayna Treene, at the White House this morning, thank you very much.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: So, there's that at the White House. And there's also this happening in Washington right now, day 21 of the government being shut down and we are looking at status quo. Also said, "Groundhog Day." No end in sight. What is new today is that Republicans are headed to the White House hours from now to have lunch with President Trump in a show of unity. To talk strategy? Likely. To kick-start a negotiation? Probably not given what we're hearing.

This morning, House Speaker Mike Johnson will be speaking as Republicans continue to blame Democrats. Democrats continue to blame Republicans and are sticking to their demand that as part of this discussion an extension of Obamacare subsidies.

CNN's Annie Grayer on Capitol Hill following this one for us this hour.

What is the latest here? What are you hearing?

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, we are very much still in a stalemate, Kate. We are now tied for the second longest government shutdown in history. And there is no end in sight. The two sides are not speaking to each other. There are no formal negotiations going on. There is no budging right now. But there are two things, I think we need to watch for this week that could signal maybe some shift in the tides here.

The first is, as you mentioned, President Trump has invited Senate Republicans to come have lunch with him today. And it's been a looming question here of when or if Trump is going to get more directly involved in this shutdown stalemate. So far he's very much deferred to Republican leaders on Capitol Hill and use -- on how to handle this, and has used the shutdown as an opportunity to reorient federal funding for his priorities and fire -- even fire some federal workers. But will that start to change? Democrats certainly want President

Trump to get more involved. Republicans, meanwhile, insist that is not necessary. So, Republican senators are going to have the opportunity to talk to President Trump more directly. That is something that could come up today.

The second thing that I think we need to look at this week is Republicans are going to put a bill on the floor to try and pay some federal workers during the shutdown. Now, this is a bit of a shift in strategy for Republicans here, because they had insisted they were not going to put any single subject bills to pay anyone during this shutdown because they wanted to pressure Democrats to reopen the government. This was a huge pressure point on October 15th, when military troops had their paychecks that were going to be missed until President Trump stepped in to ensure that they were paid. So, Republicans are now going to try and put that bill on the floor this week. We'll see if Democrats in the Senate are interested. But from talking to sources and Democratic lawmakers last night, it seems like they have a lot more questions about that bill.

BOLDUAN: Annie Grayer, thank you so much.

Let's talk about this right now. Joining me right now is Democratic Congressman Brad Schneider of Illinois. Thanks for being here.

Let me start by playing what the president's National Economic Council director, Kevin Hassett, said just yesterday, essentially that the way he sees it is, this soon is going to be over.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN HASSETT, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: I think the Schumer shutdown is likely to end sometime this week. But I can tell you that if it doesn't, if it doesn't, if the story that we've been basically hearing from moderates that, look, we just can't do it in front of the No King's Rally, if that ends up not being true, that I think that the White House is going to have to look very closely, along with Russ Vought, at, you know, stronger measures that we could take to bring it to the table.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: What's your response to that?

REP. BRAD SCHNEIDER (D-IL): Well, I think what you've seen, actually, your previous story illustrates what this administration is doing to the country as a whole. It's the demolition of the White House, the demolition of the Constitution, and they're working to make life harder for Americans. The election last year was about lowering prices, making life easier for American families.

We're fighting, Democrats are fighting for health care, working to make sure that Americans' health care remains affordable. And that's what we're fighting for. That's what this argument is about. Republicans are refusing to come to the table. The House has been out of session for a month. They've only been in session 19 days since July 3rd.

And that's what we're dealing with, is a party on the Republican side that refuses to sit down to find common ground, to develop shared solutions that will move our country forward and get our government open.

BOLDUAN: Congressman, if November 1st is when next year's enrollment period for ACA coverage begins, millions of Americans will then be signing up for their coverage without that expanded subsidy. So if that's when that begins on November 1st, it seems pretty tough to put that genie back in the bottle and then restore subsidies after the fact. So I'm looking at this wondering, is November 1st the real deadline, the real shutdown deadline? After that, what are you holding out for?

[09:10:00]

SCHNEIDER: Well, notices have already started going out. In Illinois, they go out next Monday, the 27th. People are experiencing price increases.

I heard on the radio this morning that in Michigan, Blue Cross Blue Shield, we're not talking about the exchange premiums, but everybody's premium who gets Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance is up an average of 14 percent, all because the Republicans are refusing to address a health care crisis of their making. We want to make sure that Americans can have quality, affordable health care from providers they know and trust, where they live, when they need it. And that's what we're fighting for, and the Republicans just refuse to sit down with us.

It's not a matter of getting toothpaste back in the tube. We're working to get Americans health care they can afford.

BOLDUAN: Let's see what happens on that. So an appeals court in Portland, Oregon, or the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals with regard to Portland, Oregon, is now allowing President Trump to send National Guard troops into the city. We obviously know that this is something that a different yet similar situation you're looking at in the Chicago area.

I just had a Portland City Councilman on, and he said that he is telling, and his advice is -- is that National Guard should reject a deployment order in Portland, Oregon. The way he put it to me is, the oath of service says that you're obligated to follow the Constitution. You're to protect and serve the Constitution. Your duty is to the Constitution. And there may be times when you face an order from your chain of command that is illegal, and he's saying they should reject it if and when it comes down.

Do you think that the National Guard in Illinois should do the same?

SCHNEIDER: Well, look, the men and women who volunteer for National Guard, for our military in general, sign up to serve and defend our country. Defend our country against threats that, in a dangerous world, only continue to grow. And the President should not be sending troops to these cities.

In Chicago, he's been threatening to send the Guard in. The court ruling you mentioned in Portland very specifically said that Chicago was different. On page 31 of the ruling, it describes Chicago as not having the same situation, and that rule doesn't apply here.

It's clear that the administration is trying to provoke, trying to create scenes of violence that will empower them or enable them. To whether it's declaring the Insurrection Act or doing other things to subdue these cities.

I will tell you, on Saturday, the No Kings rallies I attended to in my district in the inner suburbs of Chicago. I was down in the city of Chicago later that afternoon for a wedding.

All I saw were peaceful marches, people celebrating this country, loving this country, and calling out that we are not a country of kings, but a country of laws built on the Constitution.

BOLDUAN: But to my question about advising members of the National Guard to reject deployment orders, do you agree with that?

SCHNEIDER: Look, I think these men and women who are in the National Guard and other branches understand what their jobs are, and one of their jobs is to follow the instructions or the orders they're given from their superiors. They also know that they should not violate the law. I'm not going to get into the law in Portland that the court ruled that the administration can move troops in to defend the one building.

I'll leave it to that, and I will continue to honor and respect all the men and women who volunteered to defend our country.

BOLDUAN: A lot going on. Congressman, thank you for your time.

John.

BERMAN: All right, this morning, the robbers who broke into the Louvre and stole priceless royal jewels still on the run. And we're now seeing new video of the moment it all happened.

Amazon claims the issues that caused worldwide internet outages have been resolved, but you may still be seeing some glitches this morning. Now, new reporting on how much this day on the fritz might have cost.

And authorities arrest a man preventing a possible mass shooting at the world's busiest airport. New video of his movements around security.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:18:42] BERMAN: This morning, crisis averted at the world's busiest airport. The family of Billy Joe Cagle called police to report he was armed, live streaming on social media and headed to the Atlanta airport. Surveillance video shows Cagle walking around a crowded terminal, where he is confronted by officers. Police say he was not armed when they found him, but they did find an AR-15 with 27 rounds of ammunition inside his truck, which was parked just outside.

CNN's Isabel Rosales has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This started at 9:29 in the morning where Billy Cagle, he's on video arriving there at the south terminal. Two minutes later, he leaves his car outside and then goes inside of the airport. The police chief here in Atlanta saying that he was very interested in the TSA check-in area that was heavily, heavily crowded with travelers.

Now, by 9:40 a.m., this is when Cartersville Police Department, an hour north of Atlanta, alerts APD that there's a potential threat because they were hearing from the family of the suspect that he was on social media streaming, that he was armed, that he was headed to the airport to, quote, "shoot it up." Cartersville Police saying that he had, quote, "intention to inflict harm to as many people as he could."

Now, by 9:54, he was arrested there, on the ground, not armed. This would have been 15 minutes since that first call came into APD.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[09:20:02]

BERMAN: All right, with us now, CNN senior national security analyst Juliette Kayyem.

Juliette, good to see you this morning. What went right here?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: The family went right. We are consistently urging family members, community members, to notify police when they have suspicions, when they see, in this case, you know, this sort of performative live streaming of potential violence. Too often family members either think they can handle it themselves or sort of deny it in their own minds. And so the family -- the family basically stopped what looked like, from all details, was going to be an attempted mass shooting at the country's largest airport.

BERMAN: Yes, it's impossible to know what would have happened had the family not called. But can you decipher anything about -- about, you know, how deep he actually got into the airport, where he's walking around live streaming with his phone there what may be red flags that should have raised independent of the family calling?

KAYYEM: Yes. Well, I mean, the first is, of course, the way he parked his car outside of what's presumably the departure area. It's angled. It's in -- it's a truck in terms of, could it be carrying explosives?

BERMAN: Yes.

KAYYEM: Airports really do generally have a way to identify those and then to move them, because I'm not even thinking about the gun in the car.

The second is he's -- he's looking at soft areas at an airport. And there's always going to be soft, more exposed areas of an airport as you go to the hardened part, which is, of course, the TSA line. That area is going to be the most congested because people are going from free flow to secure flow. And there's always going to be a buildup. And that's always been a worry. You saw police are constantly there.

But it wouldn't have taken much for him to go in, check it out, see where he maybe wanted to do something, get the gun, which is probably a one minute walk away. And so, you know, I think Atlantic -- Atlanta airport police are going to have to assess in particular that sort of ten minute lag when the car is there and he's in the -- he's in the airport.

BERMAN: Yes, look, I -- I don't know exactly where it was situated at the Atlanta airport, which I've been in quite frequently. But -- but generally speaking, you can't park a car like that, you know, anywhere near the drop offs or pickups and then walk away. And in a lot of airports you're at, they'll stop you the minute you try something like that.

KAYYEM: Yes. That's exactly right. And you see, I mean, I don't -- was he casing, you know, the airport? Was he doing this performative thing because he was in stress and wanted people to know? Like, I -- you know, at this stage, I don't want to guess it anymore. I mean we have too many mass shootings, too many exposed areas. And so, you know, the family did right. But this is going to be a prosecution with the intent of -- of -- that he want -- that he wanted a mass shooting.

BERMAN: Well, good for that family there.

Juliette Kayyem, nice to see you this morning. Thank you.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: So, also this morning, Amazon is saying its systems are effectively completely back online after the huge Amazon Web Services outage of yesterday. An outage that impacted millions, bringing down thousands of apps and websites and online platforms with it. The outage also exposed a major vulnerability. Amazon, Microsoft and Google make up about 60 percent of the world's market for cloud services. AWS itself makes up roughly 37 percent of that market, with a customer base of 4 million, which as experts saying, lessons need to be learned here, and also one estimating that the total impact of this one disruption will be in the billions of dollars.

Ahead for us, a DHS agent on camera appearing to point a pepper ball gun out the window of a moving truck. Now a federal judge is demanding answers. And the Louvre heist. We're going to take you inside the jewelry theft that has stunned the world. How the thieves got away and the lingering question of will the crown jewels ever be found.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:28:28]

BERMAN: In Paris today, the Louvre was closed, as it typically is on Tuesdays, but it is unclear if it will reopen tomorrow as authorities race to find the robbers who pulled off what some have called the heist of the century, snatching priceless crown jewels in just minutes. Newly released footage shows some of the thieves at work using what's called an angle grinder and a blowtorch to pull off the heist. The French justice minister admits this has exposed security failings at the museum. Pretty obvious statement there.

With us now is Scott Selby, a lawyer and heist expert.

Thanks so much for being with us.

Just your first reaction when you learned the details of what happened here.

SCOTT SELBY, LAWYER AND HEIST EXPERT: I mean, it's shocking, just the level of security is definitely not up to par considering this is the most popular museum in the world. They have so many people coming through there. And this is literally the crown jewels, the French crown jewels that were taken.

BERMAN: It's been two days now since this seven minute action. How far do you think these robbers are, and how difficult will it be to catch them?

SELBY: It's tough. And, honestly, I'm not that worried about catching them. It's -- it's really catching what they have, getting these crown jewels as quickly as possible, right? Because I'm -- I'm confident they'll get the thieves, but maybe it takes a couple years, right? The thing is, is we have to find them and get these jewels before they're broken down into their component parts and recut.

BERMAN: I mean how quickly do you think they would move to do that, given that they clearly planned out this operation? How often do people like this plan the steps immediately after?

[09:30:08]

SELBY: If they're professionals, then