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Reporter Shares Texts from Halligan; Home Buyers Face High Demand; Roblox Subpoenaed over Child Safety. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired October 21, 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]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: How often do people like this plan the steps immediately after?

SCOTT SELBY, LAWYER AND HEIST EXPERT: If they're professionals, then they definitely have it all planned out, or at least they have a fence they could give it to, who then moves this on. And these things happen very quickly, right? These are very hot commodities. So, you have to move fast. I mean, you know, French authorities have put out the figure of a week. You know, it's all speculation. But you really do have to move quite quickly to get these because, while they're priceless right now, even for billions of dollars, you can buy these legally. These thieves could turn them into their -- their parts and just sell them off. And that's a whole process. As soon as you break it all apart and start cutting these things up, you've lost the historical value.

BERMAN: What's your gut tell you about the likelihood that they're still intact?

SELBY: Right now, it's been two days. I think they're still intact.

BERMAN: When you see something like this happen and you see them move up with that, you know, that retractable ladder to get up a story to break in there. They knew exactly where to go. Do you have questions about whether there might have been someone on the inside helping them?

SELBY: I mean, that's a question every time. But in this case, given that it's a museum open to the public, I think that they've simply scouted it and spotted an opportunity. There's some construction work going on at the time, and so it kind of made sense. And they moved so fast. And it was so brazen to do this during daylight when there's so many tourists there that, for the seven minutes it took, nobody thought anything about it. I mean, of course, once they started breaking into stuff, but just showing up and, you know, having those yellow vests.

BERMAN: And any mistakes you think that might help lead to them getting caught?

SELBY: Oh, yes, they made some mistakes, because they had to move fast. And while security didn't stop them, they definitely, you know, came on the scene. They brought that kind of ladder vehicle, almost like a cherry picker, with them. And they intended to burn it is my understanding. But security stopped them. Also, a vest was left behind.

So, we'll see. But there probably are little mistakes that they made. And these days, given how high a priority it is, and how much forensic technology is advanced, I think there's going to be clues.

BERMAN: As you say, there are two races going on right now, the race to catch them, but also the race to recover the jewels. And they may be on separate tracks at some points.

Scott Selby, great to see you this morning. Thank you very much.

Text messages sent by the U.S. attorney going after James Comey and Letitia James. How these messages might put the cases in jeopardy.

And a popular online platform for children now being called a, quote, "breeding ground for predators."

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[09:37:29]

BOLDUAN: Happening today, an arraignment for the Houston man now accused of murder for allegedly shooting an 11-year-old boy. The boy, you'll remember this story, who was simply playing a ding dong ditch doorbell prank with friends. Forty-two-year-old Gonzalo Leon Junior is charged with killing little Julian Guzman. According to court documents, Guzman and his cousin, they were at a family birthday party. The kids got bored and decided to play a prank. Ding dong ditch, of course, is a time-honored childhood game. Guzman's cousin told investigators that they knocked several times on Leon's door and then ran away. When he opened the door, he first allegedly fired a shot into the ground and then took aim at the kids, allegedly hitting the 11-year-old, Julian Guzman, in the back as he ran away. We'll continue to follow that.

A federal judge is now demanding answers after a video surfaced of what appears to be a homeland security agent pointing a pepper ball gun out of the window, as you see there, of a moving truck. The clip was reportedly taken Sunday near an ice cream shop in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, northwest of Chicago, as bystanders watched and eventually started yelling at the vehicle. During a hearing, the judge said she's troubled by what she sees in this, questioning whether what appears to be a use of force was even appropriate. CNN has reached out to DHS and the Rolling Meadows Police Department for more details on this incident. A spokesperson for the Cook County Sheriff's Department says their office is unaware of the incident.

John.

BERMAN: All right, new this morning, President Trump's handpicked U.S. attorney in Virginia, Lindsey Halligan, is drawing scrutiny after she reportedly spent about 33 hours on and off during a recent weekend texting with a reporter. Now, Halligan brought the indictment against former FBI Director James Comey and also New York Attorney General Letitia James. And that is what she was reportedly texting about.

Halligan started this exchange with Anna Bower, a reporter at "Lawfare," by writing, "Anna, Lindsay Halligan here. You are reporting things that are simply not true. Thought you should have a heads up."

With us now is CNN legal analyst Elliot Williams.

Counselor, good to see you this morning.

One of the things that Anna Bower writes here in reporting this exchange, she said, "several of Halligan's messages contained language that touch on grand jury matters, even as she insisted that she could not reveal such information, which is protected from disclosure by prosecutors under federal law."

So again, Halligan repeatedly said, I can't tell you about grand jury information in the process of talking vaguely about the fact of a grand jury here.

[09:40:02]

Why is that problematic?

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Right, because, John, sometimes talking about the thing by omission talks about the thing, right? And so, for instance, if a reporter were to ask a question about something that was said in the grand jury, and the prosecutor responds that, yes, there was a grand jury, but we didn't talk about that, the prosecutor is necessarily talking about the substance of the grand jury.

Now, it starts getting very risky and tenuous whereby merely having the conversation, the prosecutor is really skating on thin ice. This is why, John, there is a long, long, long tradition of prosecutors simply not talking to the media because of the profound risk possibly involving criminal penalties for saying too much when it comes to the grand jury.

BERMAN: Yes. So, witnesses can talk about their grand jury testimony, correct?

WILLIAMS: Yes.

BERMAN: Defense attorneys --

WILLIAMS: Yes, witnesses, defense attorneys, everybody else.

BERMAN: Yes.

WILLIAMS: Everybody but prosecutors. It really -- the -- rule 60 of the grand jury rules, which governs secrecy, really only governs the government's conduct. And whenever a prosecutor takes that step and starts speaking to a reporter about the grand jury, they run significant risk, one, to jeopardizing their own case, but, two, potentially to breaking the law if they are actually revealing secrets that are discussed in a grand jury. BERMAN: All right, jeopardizing her own case here. Again, if you're on

social media. First of all, I will say, I have seen genuine shock from career prosecutors that this text exchange happened in the way it did.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

BERMAN: And some suggest that it could even put these very high profile cases in jeopardy. What's the likelihood you see there?

WILLIAMS: It's hard to say barring the disclosure of private information or, quite frankly, tainting the jury pool against her own case. There's just a risk anytime a prosecutor opens their mouth. And so, you know -- and moreover, a reporter could report on the details of the conversation, as we've already seen. Its' already happened. And that's not to disrespect or disparage the reporter. She's doing her job. The prosecutors really should do -- should do theirs and just not talk about the very sensitive matters that they're working on.

BERMAN: Yes. Is this -- and again your opinion as someone who has worked in the Justice Department, would you call this varsity, you know, lawyering here?

WILLIAMS: John, this -- OK, let me -- let me give you a better example. The Eastern District of Virginia that she represents actually has the Pentagon in it. And national security and terrorism cases frequently go through that office. Terrorists are often routed -- their planes are routed to land in the Eastern District of Virginia so they can be prosecuted by that office. This is not the kind of leadership that an office like that really should have.

BERMAN: Yes.

WILLIAMS: It requires a level of seriousness and expertise that, quite frankly, moments like this just show are not there.

BERMAN: I will note, at the end of this conversation, Anna Bower reports that Lindsey Halligan texted, "by the way, everything I ever sent you is off the record. You're not a journalist, so it's weird saying that, but just letting you know."

I will note that Bower says, yes, that's not really the way off the record works after we've been talking for 30 hours here. Off the record is something you establish at the very beginning of that conversation.

Elliot Williams, thank you so much for helping us understand all this. Appreciate it.

Kate, I heard you laughing. You know, at the end of the conversation you --

BOLDUAN: Well, I mean, and -- and -- and a -- and a reminder to everyone, off the record is not demanded. Off the record is granted, right?

BERMAN: Yes. Exactly. BOLDUAN: But after 30 hours, that's --

BERMAN: Too late.

BOLDUAN: Too late.

Coming up for us, Florida's attorney general is taking on Roblox. He's calling the online gaming platform for kids, quote, "a breeding ground for predators." So, what are they doing about it?

And there's an update on former President Joe Biden's health as he completes radiation therapy for prostate cancer.

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[09:48:16]

BOLDUAN: For many Americans buying a home in the United States has become increasingly difficult over the past few years. And we have new CNN reporting that it may be about to get even harder.

CNN's Matt Egan joins us now. He's got more detail on this.

What are you seeing, Matt?

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Kate, look, this affordability crisis in housing, it's really one of the biggest frustrations about today's economy, especially for young people who want to buy, they want to start a family, but they just can't find --

BOLDUAN: And the most stubborn one, if you will.

EGAN: Yes, absolutely. And look, the president has started to focus on this. He's been attacking the homebuilding industry, accusing them of being like OPEC by artificially keeping prices high and not building on empty lots. And it's true that supply is definitely a major part of this issue, right? Home building, it never recovered from the 2008 financial crisis. Twenty years ago homebuilding was booming, 2.1 million housing starts back then at an annual rate. But look at this, it's 1.3 million right now. So, it's just too low.

Builders and economists, though, they say that it's not about anything the home building industry is doing in terms of holding back supply. They say that it's really been this perfect storm of issues where you have demand that's really high, but interest rates are also very high. And they're complaining that regulation is just too burdensome, especially at the local level, right, because there's a lot of red tape out there. And one, it's making it more expensive to build, but it's also slowing things down. And this is something we've even seen in places that are desperate for homes, like in California, around L.A., around areas that were really hit by wildfires. Some of that rebuilding has been slowed by regulation.

So, there is starting to be a bipartisan consensus that some of this regulation has got to be streamlined and some of the obstacles to supply have to be eased a bit. [09:50:04]

Goldman Sachs has found that the U.S. needs between three and four million more homes to address this shortage.

BOLDUAN: Wow.

EGAN: And they say that a lot of that can actually be taken care of if land use regulations were relaxed. But the problem is, that's really controlled at the local level. And that's not something the federal government can just step in and fix.

But the other concern here is some of the Trump specific policies. First, tariffs, right. There's tariffs on steel, aluminum, copper, lumber and building materials essentially.

BOLDUAN: Right.

EGAN: UBS has found that these tariffs are adding about $9,000 on average to the cost of building a home. And then there's the immigration crackdown, which could also slow things down. One Texas home building CEO told CNN that he fears the immigration crackdown is going to backfire by slowing down the home building process, but also shrinking the already small pool of workers that are out there. And, look, this is -- one of many industries that are afraid of that right now.

EGAN: Yes, exactly. And this is just so frustrating for a lot of those young people who are trying to buy.

We spoke to a woman in Rochester, New York, who said that she tried for five months to buy something, and she's one of the lucky ones because eventually she did get something, OK. But to do that, she had to pay $100,000 over the asking price, and she had to beat out 36 other offers.

BOLDUAN: Wow.

EGAN: Yes, just stunning.

One other point here. I spoke to Sean Donovan, who was the housing secretary under Obama, and he told me that he does think that we're starting to hear the right words from the administration in terms of focusing on supply. But he cautioned, it took years to get into this mess, and we're not going to get out of this housing affordability crisis overnight.

BOLDUAN: Yes, one executive order isn't going to change this at all.

EGAN: No.

BOLDUAN: It's good to see you, Matt. Thank you so much for tracking it.

EGAN: Thanks, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Very important.

John.

BERMAN: All right, this morning, pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil is in a Philadelphia courtroom. His attorneys are asking the judge to uphold his bail in previous rulings that found Secretary of State Marco Rubio's attempt to deport him for protected speech was likely unconstitutional. The Trump administration is appealing that ruling.

Former President Joe Biden has finished a course for radiation treatment for prostate cancer. His daughter, Ashley, shared video of him ringing the bell at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia, a tradition marking the end of treatment. This round of radiation was part of a broader plan to fight what doctors call an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones. Biden was diagnosed earlier this year, and his office says he is feeling well and remains optimistic. It's unclear what his next treatment steps will be, but he is expected to appear in Boston this weekend to receive a lifetime achievement award.

Blue Jays from Toronto headed to the World Series. George Springer's three run homer right there in the seventh inning pushed them into the lead over the Seattle Mariners. They ended up winning four to three. The celebrations were epic. The Blue Jays will host the Dodgers in game one of the World Series on Friday.

And, Kate, one piece of trivia, the Blue Jays are the only Canadian team to win the World Series. They last did it in 1993. Since that time, no Canadian hockey team has won the Stanley Cup.

BOLDUAN: Wait, really?

BERMAN: Yes. True story.

BOLDUAN: Huh.

BERMAN: Fact check, true.

BOLDUAN: Maybe it's -- maybe it's because the baseball team parties a little bit harder.

BERMAN: Yes. (INAUDIBLE)

BOLDUAN: Just saying.

BERMAN: Yes.

BOLDUAN: There's a little window into the CNN NEWS CENTRAL after party.

Thanks, buddy.

All right, so one of the world's biggest gaming platforms is facing fresh scrutiny. Florida's attorney general has now issued criminal subpoenas to Roblox, demanding detail on what the company is doing to protect kids while they play online. The move follows complaints that predators have contacted minors through the app in the game.

CNN's Clare Duffy is following this one.

It's hard to find a parent who doesn't have a kid who's either playing it or ask -- or begging to be playing this game. What are you learning?

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: Yes. This is a platform that millions of kids use. And not just teenagers in this case. Often kids that are seven, eight, nine years old.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

DUFFY: The Florida attorneys general has issued this criminal subpoena with hopes of gathering more information about this alleged criminal activity on the platform, calling Roblox a breeding ground for child predators.

Take a listen to what he said in this video posted online yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES UTHMEIER, FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL: Roblox profited off of our kids, while exposing them to the most dangerous of harms. They enabled our kids to be abused. Companies like Roblox have become breeding grounds for predators to get to and have access to our kids.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DUFFY: Now, Roblox has taken issue with these claims, in particular a claim from the attorney general that adults can solicit and send inappropriate images to children on the platform. Roblox says that it does not allow image sharing in chats.

Here's what a spokesperson told me in a statement this morning. They said, "Attorney General Uthmeier's claims about Roblox are false, and the suggestion that illicit image sharing is happening on Roblox demonstrates a lack of understanding of our platform's functionality. We share the A.G.'s commitment to keeping kids safe, and we will continue to assist his office in their investigations."

[09:55:08]

And Roblox has rolled out a number of youth safety features. There are parental controls. There's A.I. voice and text monitoring to allow content moderation in the platform. And it's rolling out this A.I. age estimation technology that we're seeing other platforms roll out as well.

But this is part of a growing swell of concerns that kids are not safe on the platform and that adult strangers can easily access and talk to kids through this gaming site.

BOLDUAN: And it is also not the first time that there have been concerns about Roblox just in general. DUFFY: Absolutely. This is part of a number of concerns. The Louisiana

attorney general sued the platform earlier this year claiming that it allows predators to hunt and victimize kids.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

DUFFY: We've seen lawsuits from individual families. So, clearly the platform needs to do more here.

BOLDUAN: Thanks so much, Clare. I really appreciate it.

Take it, JB.

BERMAN: This has been CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

Time now for our Toronto Blue Jays after party.

"THE SITUATION ROOM" is up next.

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