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Supreme Court Sides with Trump on Mail Ballots Ahead of Midterms; Iranian State TV Appears to Threaten Life of Trump's Son Barron; Alex Pretti's Family Speaks Out 7 Months After He was Killed; FDA Clears New Blood Test to Detect Signs of Alzheimer's. Aired 8- 8:30a ET

Aired August 25, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Target apologized and said in a statement, "The costume is offensive and no longer for sale." The statement went on to say, "... the company is looking closely at how this happened and what needs to change to ensure it will not happen again."

In Colorado Springs, best keep all your valuables tied down. A black bear walked up to a fire station and walked away with a bag of gear. Maybe he just wanted to fight fires. It wasn't Smokey the Bear.

Bears like to fight fires, and they are often more active as they prepare for winter. So keep that stuff secured.

Brand new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: The breaking news, Iran is openly threatening to assassinate Barron Trump. He appears to even put a $10 million bounty on his head. The Secret Service is responding to that threat this morning.

And a Supreme Court curveball on mail-in ballots permitted Trump to move forward with a controversial executive order targeting mail-in voting as midterms quickly approach what it means for you if you vote by mail.

And an 83-year-old man goes missing on a fishing trip. How police managed to find him in the dark, still on the lake.

I'm Sara Sidner with Kate Bolduan and John Berman. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BERMAN: All right, this morning, what is next for mail-in voting? This after the Supreme Court lifted a block on the president's plans aimed to limit mail-in voting. The court did not say that what he wants to do is inherently legal.

This is a procedural win for the president and but might be temporary. The president wants to use the post office to control who does and does not get mail ballots. The court basically said states do not have the standing to block it yet, because it's not clear how the order would work yet. The court's three liberals dissented. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson warned the ruling, quote, needlessly injects chaos and uncertainty into the upcoming midterm elections. With us now, CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig.

Elie, clear something up for me, because I've seen some headlines over the last, you know, 12 hours or so, which says the Supreme Court rules the president can restrict mail-in voting. Is that what happened?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: No, John, this is the risk in only reading the headlines. So, the executive order issued by the president back in March told DHS, you are to come up with lists of eligible voters in each state, and then told the Postal Service, you are only to deliver mail-in ballots to and from those addresses. Now, a group of 23 Democratic states plus D.C. challenged that. They said it's unconstitutional. We are the states. We get to run our own election under the Constitution.

The Supreme Court did not decide the constitutionality or unconstitutionality of the order. What the Supreme Court said simply is this lawsuit at this point is premature. The states cannot show the kind of concrete, specific injury yet that they need to show to get into court.

So, this will continue, John. The ultimate merits remain unresolved. It's a win for Trump, but it's procedural and it's temporary.

So, continue how, where, and when, Counselor?

HONIG: Lots of lawsuits. So, there actually are multiple lawsuits. There's the one by the states.

There's a separate one by a group of women voters. Those are going to continue. The trick now is they do have to show that level of concrete, specific injury.

The problem, according to the majority in the Supreme Court, is in order to get to these scenarios where there's some harm, you have to stack hypothetical upon hypothetical to come out to a conclusion that someone might be denied their right to vote, that the state's right to control the elections might be infringed on. We just don't know how that all is going to play out just yet.

So, at every procedural step here, I would expect the plaintiffs to say, now we have injury. For example, the Postal Service just issued a new rule, which is a step beyond the executive order, saying here's how we're going to implement this. So, I would look for the parties, maybe today, to go into court and say, aha, now we have this further step.

Now we're a step closer to injury. Now we have the right to sue.

BERMAN: And, of course, then the issue becomes timing because the midterm elections are in November. And this crosses into an area which I know you've become an expert, which is the Purcell Principle. Explain what that is and how the Supreme Court uses it. HONIG: The Purcell Principle says that we are not supposed to mess with our election processes too close to an election. We've never been given a specific number of days by the courts, but 70 days, as we are now, is pretty darn close. And the dissenting justices, the liberal justices, actually say.

Justice Jackson says, well, on the one hand, we're telling people, you can't mess with the election too late, too close to the election.

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On the other hand, we're telling these plaintiffs it's too early, because you don't have enough injury yet. Justice Jackson says it's a Kafkaesque situation that we're creating here. And the majority essentially responds, well, you can be either. You can be too late or too early.

So you are right, though. This is going to create chaos. We don't know how DHS is going to respond. We don't know how the Postal Service is going to respond.

We don't know how these cases are going to play out in courts. But I think it's unlikely that all of this gets implemented in time for the midterms. But even if it doesn't, John, still would be in effect for 2028.

So the stakes here are big either way.

BERMAN: Yes, and again, the Purcell Principle is notable, because the justices can kind of use it any way they want. They can say, we have to leave it in place where the president wants, because messing with it would be, you know, too soon to the election. Or they could also say that leaving it in place messes with the elections, as we've known them.

We're going to have to wait and see over the next 60 days or so. Elie Honig, great to see you. Thank you -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Overnight, a new threat from Iran. This one against the president's youngest son. Iranian state TV aired a video that appears to place a $10 million bounty on the life of Barron Trump, even showing locations where he's known to spend time, like Trump Tower.

Now, the Secret Service is responding, saying that it is quote, "... aware of the video and investigates anything that can be perceived as a threat toward our protectees ..." Going on to say, "Out of concern for operational security, we do not discuss matters of protective intelligence." A federal law enforcement source tells CNN, though, that the video is one part of a wider Iranian campaign against the Trump family. CNN's Alayna Treene live at the White House for us.

Alayna, what are you hearing about this now?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, obviously very concerning. Any threats to the president or his family taken very seriously by Secret Service. You read that statement from them.

Laying that out, I should note, we also reached out to the White House for a comment about this and have not yet gotten a response. But look, hardline Iranian media has repeatedly featured these types of threats or putting out bounties on different Trump family members in the past. And we've seen this.

Typically, it's on President Donald Trump himself. We've seen it in the past as well for the first lady, Melania Trump. But this appears to be the first time that they are specifically singling out the president's youngest son, Barron Trump, on this.

I remind people as well that Barron Trump lives a very private life, considering, you know, a lot of his elder siblings, a lot of the older Trump children are far more in the spotlight. The president and the first lady have done a lot to try and shield him from that. But what we are seeing -- and I'm going to walk you through exactly what some of this video showed -- is that they have been tracking some of his movements.

It's a nearly three-minute video that was aired by IRIB, excuse me, a state media outlet considered to be aligned with the hardliners in the Iranian regime. And it begins with an English-language graphic reading, where to kill Barron Trump. It also features stylized graphics showing locations where Barron Trump has been known to spend time, places like Trump Tower in New York.

Barron also attends NYU. He goes to their business school, so he's often in New York. So just keeping that all in mind.

As you mentioned, toward the end of the video, the narrator suggested people were, quote, eagerly waiting to receive our $10 million award. So I think very concerning indeed, particularly as you look at the reaction, we've seen this administration take in the past to threats like this. The most recent, of course, that we've covered extensively is what happened around the NATO summit in Turkey in July, when there was an Iranian threat about a potential hit on the president, potential assassination attempt on the president's life through a shoulder-fired missile.

That's what actually had them scramble to get the president on a separate plane to fly back. So I think Secret Service, other investigators definitely looking into this. But it does track with what we know.

This law enforcement source told CNN about this campaign really targeting different members, high-profile people in the president's family and in our orbit. So a lot to keep our eye on as we move ahead into this investigation.

BOLDUAN: Alayna Treene at the White House for us. Thank you so much -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you, Kate. The family of Alex Pretti, the man shot and killed by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis, speaking out for the first time. They are demanding justice. And they explained the heartbreaking way they found out that Pretti

had been gunned down.

Also, thousands of people in Gary, Indiana, still without power this morning after a powerful storm hit them two weeks ago. Now the governor is demanding an investigation.

Plus, as the U.S. and Canada battle over tariffs, President Trump is escalating the feud this morning, now threatening to rename Lake Ontario. Those stories and more ahead.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: New this morning the grieving family of Alex Pretti, the Minnesota ICU nurse who was killed by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis, is speaking publicly for the first time since he was killed seven months ago. His family says in that time no one has explained exactly what led up to his death. The family says Pretti cared deeply about his community.

And that is why he was there that day observing what was happening.

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MICHAEL PRETTI, FATHER OF ALEX PRETTI: He wasn't really protesting. I mean, and that's one thing we want to be clear. The day he was murdered, he was not at a protest.

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He was an observer. And that's why he had his phone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: CNN's Whitney Wild joins us now. Whitney, this family, I'm speaking for the first time publicly about all of this after really the whole country saw what happened, how he was killed. What else did they have to say?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, they say that they are setting the record straight here. This is the first time that they have spoken about their son. They want the world to know who they know he was.

This was Michael Pretti, his wife Susan, and their daughter Michaela, again saying that he was a hero, that he, as you said, cared deeply about his community. And that was why he was taking the action that he took that day. As you pointed out, not as a protest, but as an observer who was reacting to something he saw that he simply didn't feel was right.

Here's more from the Pretti family.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SUSAN PRETTI, MOTHER OF ALEX PRETTY: I was not shocked that he helped somebody. My shock is, is that he was murdered and no one has given us the complete truth or anyone has been held accountable. And it's been seven months.

M. PRETTI: There was more effort in vilifying him than pursuing justice, investigating this.

S. PRETTI: We still hear those words about our child, a kid who is out observing something that should not be happening in this world today in the United States. Why? What did he do to deserve to be murdered? To left cold, on the ground, dead? My child. What did he do?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: Sara, the search for accountability continues. Local officials here continue to investigate his shooting after throwing up several roadblocks to allowing local partners to come in and investigate that shooting. Federal officials have in the last several weeks handed over evidence of that shooting to the Hennepin County officials here and two state officials.

So the hope continues here that there will be some accountability. And then, Sara, I'll leave you with this. The Pretti family said devastatingly they found out about their son's death by watching the news. Back to you.

SIDNER: It's just a horrible way to find that out all the way around. Thank you so much, Whitney Wild, live for us from Minneapolis. Appreciate your reporting this morning -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Still ahead for us, big news in the fight against Alzheimer's disease. The FDA just clearing the way for a new blood test to help identify early signs of it. What this now could mean for you and your family.

Plus, a U.S. airman is now facing rarely used criminal charges after calling for President Trump's impeachment, calling for it from the steps of the U.S. Capitol. What we're learning about this situation is coming up.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: There is new hope this morning in the fight against Alzheimer's disease. The FDA has cleared the way for a new blood test that can help identify early signs of Alzheimer's in people aged 55 and older experiencing cognitive decline. CNN's Meg Tirrell has much more on this an important moment here.

Meg, how does this testing work? Who's it for and not?

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kate, specifically this has been tested in people who are at least 55 years old or older and who have signs of cognitive decline thought to be associated with Alzheimer's disease. So this is not a test that has been cleared for people who don't have any symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. It's not a screening test for Alzheimer's that people without symptoms should think about going out and getting it.

Specifically would fit into this sort of treatment paradigm where you have these symptoms, you're worried about it, you're talking with your doctor and what it does is it looks for a biomarker in the blood that's been strongly associated with levels of that amyloid plaque buildup in the brain that's associated with Alzheimer's disease.

And so what doctors tell us about this is that if you're in the doctor's office, you have these signs and symptoms, you could potentially get this blood test and specifically it could be especially helpful to maybe rule out Alzheimer's disease before you might move on to more intensive testing like PET scans or testing your cerebral spinal fluid. So those are more invasive tests that you might do than to try to confirm Alzheimer's. If this blood test, then came back at with high levels of this biomarker, suggesting you should go on to further testing.

So it's important that folks know what this test isn't as well as it what it might enable in the future. And of course, we know that Alzheimer's disease affects more than 7 million Americans on an estimated basis now, and that's of course expected only to grow as we have an aging population -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: And talk about the future. What's the hope here of what a test like this could offer when it comes to the future and treatments?

TIRRELL: Right, so only over the past few years do we actually have any medicines for Alzheimer's disease that are aimed at trying to slow it down. We don't have anything that can stop it or cure it at this point, but the way that these medicines work is by clearing the amyloid plaques from the brain. And the hope is that we could even start treating earlier in the course of disease before people even have any symptoms.

So maybe by doing that you'd actually see a bigger impact on the disease. And that is where doctors hope that these blood tests could come in where if they could be before you have symptoms, they could show that you are in those extremely early stages of Alzheimer's, that that really could lead to this better treatment paradigm. But we're not quite there yet -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: But we'll take hope where it exists, that's for sure, when it comes to this. Meg, thank you so much -- John.

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BERMAN: All right, the trade war with Canada so hot, the president threatens to change the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America, even though it is nowhere near the Gulf of America. And then the owner of the San Francisco 49ers, arrested in a prostitution sting, accused of trying to pay $140 for sex near a trailer park in Ohio.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BOLDUAN: New this morning, while extreme weather events are demanding more and more federal response and resources like wildfires out West that we've been tracking. Internal documents now are revealing that emergency workers for the National Park Service, they're being reassigned to work on President Trump's beautification projects all throughout DC.

CNN's Renee Marsh has this new reporting joins us right now. Renee, what are you learning?

RENEE MARSH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Kate. We spoke with more than a dozen current and former Interior Department employees about President Trump's use of the Interior Department through executive order to carry out his beautification project. Some of the sources say that Interior ...

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