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Ukraine's Large Scale Attacks Targets Russian Air Bases; Hamas Push Back On U.S. Ceasefire Proposal; Trump's Big, Beautiful Bill Face Challenge At Senate; Sen. Joni Ernst Of Iowa Says We're All Going To Die In Town Hall Meeting; Trump To Speak With Xi; DHS Agents Handcuffed Nadler Aide; Canada Wildfires Slamming Parts Of U.S. With Smokey Air; Fear Of Violence In Mexico City Fuels Demand For Armored Vehicles. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired June 01, 2025 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: And thirst for truth, fearless reporting, and innovation. And thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The "CNN Newsroom" continues with Jessica Dean right now.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You're in the "CNN Newsroom." I'm Jessica Dean in New York, and we begin tonight with Ukraine fighting back, striking a major blow against Russian air power with drone strikes against targets deep inside Russia. These attacks destroyed dozens of bombers at several air bases, including a training center for Russia's strategic bomber force and a base for military transport aircraft.

Dubbed "Operation Spider Web," the attacks are Ukraine's most ambitious strikes on Russian air bases since this war began. A source in the Ukrainian security service telling CNN Russian bombers were, quote, "burning en masse" at bases hundreds of miles apart, adding that the drones were carried inside wooden mobile homes hidden under the roofs of those homes that were then carried into Russia on trucks.

Ukraine estimates the strikes cost $7 billion in damages. The strikes were launched on the eve of another round of ceasefire talks with Russia with delegations set to meet just hours from now in Istanbul. And joining us now is CNN political and global affairs analyst and Axios correspondent, Barak Ravid. Barak, great to have you on here. This was a remarkable show of force from Ukraine. I know you've been speaking to officials. What are they saying about this attack?

BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL & GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, I think the Ukrainians are obviously very, very happy, about the success of this operation that has been in the works for more than a year. And at least from the initial results of this operation, it seems that according to Ukrainian officials, and I think President Zelenskyy has just tweeted about this, 34 percent of Russia's strategic bomber force has been destroyed, which is quite extraordinary because it has much bigger implications than just the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Because those bombers, those strategic bombers are the ones who are supposed to carry nuclear weapons for Russia, which means that Russia's capability to launch a nuclear strike has been diminished now. So this is a very, very big blow for the Russians.

DEAN: Yeah. And that's such an important piece of context there as well. I know you also have cited a Ukrainian official in reporting that the Trump administration was not notified an attack -- of the attack in advance where also Betsy Klein has confirmed that for us as well. What do you read into this about the U.S.-Ukrainian relationship right now?

RAVID: I think that it's not -- I don't think we can learn from it about the relationship as much as we can learn about the Ukrainian thinking ahead of this operation. Because from what I hear, from Ukrainian officials and people close to the Ukrainian government, the main reason the Ukrainians didn't let the U.S. know, obviously, there's also -- there's always the issue of the leaks. You don't want to put too many people in the know so that this thing won't leak, but I think it's bigger than that.

If Ukraine notified the U.S. in advance, this means the U.S. is part of it in Russian eyes and therefore, this Russia could have seen this move as the U.S. taking a step to compromise Russia's nuclear deterrence, which is again a much bigger thing than just the war between Russia and Ukraine. And I think that was one of the key reasons that the Ukrainians decided not to notify the U.S. in advance.

DEAN: And as we noted, the attack is coming one day ahead of ceasefire talks in Istanbul just a week after Russia launched its largest aerial assault on Ukraine. The timing of this is significant as well.

RAVID: Yeah. No doubt because I think that the Russians launched over the last 24 hours close to 500 drones, missiles and cruise missiles on Ukrainian cities and Ukrainian targets. And this was again ahead of those talks in Istanbul tomorrow, and it was clear that the Russians were trying to put more military pressure on Ukraine ahead of those talks to try and get Ukraine to cave.

[17:04:57]

When the Ukrainians launched this operation, they basically, I think, not only balanced the picture, I think they totally caught the Russians off guard. And in a way, now the Russians are coming to those talks when they're after this pretty big humiliation and under military pressure. And I'm not sure anything is going to come out of those talks tomorrow. I doubt it, but one thing there's no doubt about, that the Ukrainians today with this strike showed the Russians that as long as this war continues, they can be damaged also and not only cause damage to Ukraine.

DEAN: Yeah. And look, we're looking at the map while you're talking, and you can see just geographically how far ranging, those strikes were, how comprehensive they were kind of across Russia. I also do want to get to news that we're getting out of the Middle East. I know you also have new reporting tonight on the latest efforts to get the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. We've had some back and forth this weekend between Hamas and also, the U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff. What are you learning? Where does talk stand this evening? RAVID: So, Jessica, just in the last few days, White House envoy Steve

Witkoff put forward a new proposal. Hamas responded to this proposal with response that some people call a no, some people call a no but, some people call a yes but, depends who you are, but it was not a clear yes. And I think the U.S. was very disappointed with this response and put a lot of pressure on Hamas to revise their response, pressure from Qatar, pressure from Egypt, pressure from Turkey.

And Hamas earlier today put out a new statement saying that they are willing to go into -- go immediately into what's called proximity talks to try and hash out the remaining differences between them and Israel on a temporary ceasefire. And I think that at least from what I hear, the Trump administration sees this as an opening, as a statement that could lead to a breakthrough and to those proximity talks, which means just to let our viewers understand, the proximity talks are important because this is where both sides sit in rooms in, you know, two different rooms and Qatari and Egyptian mediators are moving between those rooms to try and get the final details of a hostage and ceasefire deal.

Without getting to those proximity talks, you cannot get into a ceasefire. In fact, Hamas are saying, we are ready to immediately enter those talks, is meaningful. It still does not mean that those talks will take place. Right now, the prime minister of Qatar is meeting in Doha with Hamas leaders to make sure that they understand that when they enter such proximity talks, the basis of the talks is the proposal presented by White House envoy Steve Witkoff. If Hamas says, yes, we understand, then maybe there will be a breakthrough. If not, then we still have a deadlock.

DEAN: Yeah. And to your point, part of that proposal, it does not guarantee a permanent end to the war, but that is something that Hamas has said that it wants. And that's a big --

RAVID: Exactly.

DEAN: -- that's a big bridge to gap.

RAVID: Yeah. It's not a big bridge.

DEAN: Or gap bridged. Sorry. Yes.

RAVID: It's a huge -- it's a huge gap. It's a huge gap on the one -- on the other hand, on the other hand. It's all about trust here. Okay? What I hear from sources close to the negotiations, they say that Hamas has to take this leap of faith. It's not easy because Hamas does not trust Israel, obviously. Hamas does not trust the Trump administration, but the messages Hamas is getting from Egypt, from Qatar, and from the U.S. is go into this 60-day ceasefire and we will guarantee that this time, unlike the previous ceasefire, the Israelis will negotiate in good faith, some sort of a deal that could lead to a permanent ceasefire.

Hamas at the moment is not buying it. And I think that's the biggest problem and I'm not sure this gap can be bridged, but this is where most of the efforts are right now. DEAN: I also want to ask you about what we're seeing come out of Gaza.

Dozens of people were killed, dozens more injured today near an aid distribution site in Southern Gaza. And according to nearby doctors and the Palestinian Ministry of Health, that's what they say. The IDF saying that their forces did not fire at civilians while they were near or within that aid site. What more are you learning about that situation?

[17:10:00]

RAVID: The honest truth is, I don't know. There are very different versions of this incident. There are videos that came out of Gaza that show that there was gunfire near one of the aid distributions centers. In those videos, you see people fleeing, you see bodies, on the floor, people who were shot, people bleeding, people wounded. It's not clear at the moment who fired who, who shot who, who started using live fire. If it's the IDF, if it's Hamas, if it's some other armed group.

Right now in Gaza, it's a totally chaotic situation where you have not only the IDF and Hamas, but you have numerous militias and gangs that are roaming around and it's not clear who exactly fired in this incident.

DEAN: Yeah. Alright. Barak Ravid, thank you so much. It's really great to have you this afternoon. We appreciate it.

RAVID: Thank you.

DEAN: After barely squeezing through the House, President Trump's major bill already facing a steep road getting through the Senate while President Trump urges senators not to make too many changes to that legislation.

Plus, a possible thaw in icy relations between U.S. and China, what we know about a possible phone call between President Trump and China's president as Trump accuses Beijing of breaking a valuable agreement.

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[17:15:00]

DEAN: President Trump's so-called Big Beautiful Bill facing its next hurdle, opposition from divided Senate Republicans. The Trump agenda barely passing the House and some Senate conservatives say they're concerned by how much this legislation could balloon the deficit. But that hasn't stopped Trump from pressuring naysayers. CNN senior White House reporter Betsy Klein is joining us now. Betsy, of course, the president very much wants to see this legislation gets through and gets over the finish line. What is he doing to make sure that happens?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Congress is returning from a week long recess on Monday, and now it is the Senate's turn to take on that so-called Big Beautiful Bill, that is the sweeping spending and tax cuts package. Now this passed the House in razor thin, margins just a few weeks ago, and there are divisions in the Senate on how to proceed forward. Now, I want to take you through a little bit about what's in the bill passed by the House according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. It will cost $3.8 trillion through 2034 and it would enact deep cuts to government spending. That means that more than 8 million Americans could lose their Medicaid coverage through 2034.

Now speaking to CBS earlier today, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that there are a few Trump promise provisions in this House passed bill that must stay in the Senate passed version. That includes no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security, as well as deductibility of the auto loan for American made cars.

Now, we are already seeing president Trump ratchet up pressure on some lawmakers to get this bill over the finish line. We saw that in a post to social media going after Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who he says isn't doing enough to support the bill. Paul has said he won't support it because the White House is asking for too much money. But the president said in that post, quote, "If senator Rand Paul votes against our great Big, Beautiful Bill, he is voting for along with the radical left Democrats. Rand will be playing right into the hands of the Democrats and the great people of Kentucky will never forgive him."

Now, Paul has also said he will not vote for a bill that raises the debt ceiling, and we should expect President Trump to continue some of that direct and indirect pressure on lawmakers, potentially meeting with some of them in person over the coming days. That is something that he did to get that bill over the finish line in the House just a few weeks ago. Jessica.

DEAN: Alright. And Betsy, I also want to ask you about another threat of news that we're getting. President Trump pulling this nomination of tech billionaire, Jared Isaacman. He had tapped Isaacman to leave NASA. What happened here?

KLEIN: Yeah. So we have learned that President Trump rescinded this nomination of Jared Isaacman to lead NASA. Notably, Isaacman was a close friend of Elon Musk who departed the administration just on Friday. Isaacman had his nomination hearing, and last month, he was just days away from Senate confirmation, but the president cited Isaacman's, quote, "prior associations" for that move.

Public records on Isaacman's political spending said that he donated to Democrats as recently as 2024. A White House spokesperson told CNN that NASA needs a leader that is, quote, "in complete alignment" with President Trump's America First agenda. But this clearly shows how Musk's influence has waned in the West Wing, Jessica.

DEAN: Alright. Betsy Klein at the White House. Thank you so much for all of that reporting. And "New York Times" congressional correspondent Annie Karni is joining us now. She's the co-author of the book "Mad House." Annie, thanks so much for being here with us. We appreciate it. I do want to talk about this bill that we're now going to see go through the Senate. What are you expecting to see play out? I know Betsy just kind of laid out some pushback from Rand Paul and some others. How do you think this is going to go over in the Senate? [17:19:57]

ANNIE KARNI, CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT, NEW YORK TIMES: Look. It's gonna be we're gonna do the same very difficult dance that we did in the House now in the upper chamber. There are fiscal hawks in the Senate, like Ron Johnson, who have said they don't -- they want deeper spending cuts, and that's going to be a huge problem because the House barely able to pass what they passed last week.

There's also concerns over the tax credits for energy projects in some of their states and the SALT deductions that were a huge deal for a key House members in New York and California. They don't -- senators, that's a high tax blue state issue like New York, New Jersey, California, and there are no Republican senators from those states so that's not really an issue for them.

But I'd say the top line biggest thing we're gonna hear about is the cuts to Medicaid. Like, we've seen Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri who's positioning himself as a populist right in "The New York Times" that cutting Medicaid is not only political suicide, but it's morally wrong. I mean, he couldn't have been stronger in his denunciation of cutting Medicaid.

So I think we're gonna see discussions of that. And just like Johnson has a tiny majority in the House, Senator Thune, the majority leader, can afford to lose three votes. So it's tight in the Senate too. That being said so, I mean, we're gonna see this week not only do senators need to come to an agreement among themselves, but then they're gonna need to agree with the House, and they don't -- a lot of them have already said they don't agree with the bill that was just passed.

That being said, you know, Trump wants this. And the story of this Congress is that Republicans are compliant to Trump. So I don't think that ultimately, it will be -- they will allow the entire thing to fail, so.

DEAN: Yeah. It's just gonna be the process of getting it there. Yeah.

KARNI: Yes.

DEAN: I want to zero in on the Medicaid issue for a second because the Congressional Budget Office recently projected House Republicans' changes to Medicaid, including these work requirements, would leave 7.6 million Americans uninsured by 2034. We heard from Iowa -- one of Iowa's Republican senators, Joni Ernst, over the weekend and she had a take that is getting a lot of attention. I want to play that clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JONI ERNST (R-IA): So, people are not -- well, we all are going to die. So I'm not in heaven's sense -- I'm not in heaven's sense, folks. Okay. No. But -- but well, what you don't want to do is listen to me when I say that we are going to focus on those that are most vulnerable. Those that meet the eligibility requirements for Medicaid, we will protect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: So Senator Ernst said that. She also cited a number that we hear from the GOP a lot, which is these 1.4 million undocumented immigrants are receiving Medicaid benefits. But the CBO estimate actually that's not what it says. It also doesn't account for millions of other people they think will be affected by this and who will lose their insurance. And then she doubled down on all of this, and again, this is what she said next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERNST: I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely apologize for a statement that I made yesterday at my town hall. I made an incorrect assumption that everyone in the auditorium understood that, yes, we are all going to perish from this Earth. So, I apologize, And I'm really, really glad that I did not have to bring up the subject of the tooth fairy as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: So, Annie, what is all of this -- what does this incident have to say about how Republicans are handling that particular issue, the one that you're saying could be an issue for them when it now goes to the Senate?

KARMI: I mean, I don't -- I've never seen a, I mean, that was an instant -- I mean, their -- Democrats will play that "we all are going to die" clip on repeat through the election. She's up for re-election next year. I was not particularly competitive, but I think that Democrats hope that a gaffe like that could make it so.

And it just shows, I think look, what she was saying at the time when she was interrupted by someone who said we're all gonna die are the Republican talking points that they're just cleaning up fraud, Medicaid fraud, and they're trying to kick off undocumented immigrants who shouldn't be getting Medicaid, but that's like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic compared to like the CBO number.

Like, you're just not going to get there without cutting eligible people from Medicaid. And I think her tone and her apology was quite shocking to me. I mean, they -- she is, I guess, it's the Trump thing. Never apologize. Double down is the strategy here.

[17:24:53]

But that was a gaffe, and I think it comes across as pretty cold to real concerns. She was hearing from constituents in that room. I saw it was like the front page banner headline in the "Des Moines Register." I don't think that usually politicians want to run on a message of we all are going to die. It sounds callous. And it shows the problem that Republicans have in talking about a program that their own voters, many MAGA voters are on Medicaid and care.

And that's why Steve Bannon and Josh Hawley have been, you know, raising alarms about cutting Medicaid because it's Trump voters who care about it. So we'll see. They clearly have an issue in talking about it. It's --and Democrats are going to be hoping for more moments like that.

DEAN: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. It is like a real snapshot of that whole conversation and to your point, what it could look like in the midterms, what Democrats obviously would like to do with it, but also will Republicans be able to find a way through to talk about it in a way that connects with voters. I guess we will have to see about that. I do want to ask you too about --

KARNI: They (inaudible) --

DEAN: Yeah. Go ahead.

KARNI: No, I just want to say her rebuttal today, in the --

DEAN: Yeah.

KARNI: -i video she put out, she also put out that thing where she -- that non-apology. She was walking through a graveyard. I just don't know if, like, sarcasm. Sarcasm is hard to pull up. I don't know if it translated, and it was endearing to voters. We'll have to see.

DEAN: We'll have to see. Alright. Annie, thanks so much for being here with us. We really appreciate it.

KARNI: Thank you.

DEAN: Yeah. White House officials say President Trump could speak with China's President as soon as this week, as the two countries look to dial down a costly trade war, but neither Washington nor Beijing appear to be ready to back down from their tough rhetoric.

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[17:30:00]

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DEAN: Top White House officials say President Trump will soon be speaking with China's President Xi after Trump lashed out on Truth Social, accusing China of violating its trade agreement, saying -- quote -- "so much for being Mr. Nice guy."

Now that was on Friday, a day after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced trade talks had come to a halt. But today, Secretary Bessent, along with other top administration officials, insist the president can get these trade talks back on track.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT BESSENT, TREASURY SECRETARY OF THE UNITED STATES: We will see what the consequences are. I am confident that when President Trump and party Chairman Xi have a call, that this will be ironed out.

KEVIN HASSETT, DIRECTOR, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: President Trump, we expect is going to have a wonderful conversation about the -- the trade negotiations this week with President Xi. That's our expectation.

HOWARD LUTNICK, COMMERCE SECRETARY OF THE UNITED STATES: Donald Trump and President Xi -- you know, our president understands what to do. He's going to go work it out, and -- and I am confident that this is going to work out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: CNN's Mark Stewart joins us live from Beijing now. And Mark, there have been no signs of Xi being willing to speak with Trump up until this point. Do you think that's about to change?

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jessica, I think that's a very big ask. From the Chinese point of view, these phone calls only take place at the end of the process, not during the conversations. Beijing very much prefers diplomats in the back channels to move forward, not direct negotiations with Xi Jinping.

And this is a complicated relationship even in the best of times, and it's something I discussed with the former U.S. ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns. We talked on Friday, just before President Trump took to Truth Social blasting these trade talks. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICHOLAS BURNS, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO CHINA: I think the U.S.- China relationship is at a perilous point in many ways. We're involved in extremely difficult, the two countries, trade negotiations. There has been a lack of connectivity since President Trump came in between the senior leadership of the United States and the senior leadership of China across the board

This is the most important relationship we have, but it's also the most complicated. It's the most adversarial. It's the most contentious in many ways. So, there's a lot to work out, and there's no substitute for two governments getting together at a senior level to begin hashing out these problems.

STEWART: Will there ever be a mutually beneficial trade agreement between the United States and China or are these two economic superpowers so fierce that some common ground may never be reached?

BURNS: The U.S.-China relationship is vitally important to both countries, $642 billion in trading goods and services in 2024 alone. So, for the United States, this is a very important trading partner for China, it's a very important source for Chinese manufactured exports in the world.

My expectation would be it would be difficult to arrange a deal in the 90-day period that was arranged there. I would assume there's going to be some kind of extension on that.

And -- and you've already seen that China has been difficult in these negotiations. China has withheld rare earths and rare magnets. They haven't fulfilled the promises that were apparently made in that Geneva meeting. And so, a lot of this, I think, is on China. China has been the most disruptive force in global trade over the last 25 to 30 years.

I know the Chinese have been blaming the Trump administration of the United States. I see it the other way around. I see that China has to prove to the United States on intellectual property, on forced technology transfer, that it's going to be a responsible trading partner of the United States.

So, on this case, I would hope that there could be an agreement between the two governments, but I understand the concerns that the Trump administration has about the unfair trade practices of the Chinese government.

[17:35:05]

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEWART: And the former ambassador mentioned rare earth minerals. These are crucial. They are used in the development of things like iPads, just everyday electronics, EVs, even airplanes.

But Jessica, for China, it's a tremendous point of leverage. And as it appears, it's also a point of contention between these two countries.

DEAN: Yeah, clearly. I do also want to ask you about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's comments this week when he was on a trip to Singapore. He warned Indo-Pacific allies to boost their defenses, saying China poses -- quote -- "a real and imminent threat to Taiwan." How is China responding to this and -- and could that affect this through -- these trade talks?

STEWART: Look, there are some issues where China is willing to negotiate. Trade is one of them. When it comes to the Taiwan question, it is referred to as a red line issue. China has no sense of humor about it. It's very serious about it. It does not -- it does not accept these statements from the United States.

In fact, we heard some very sharp language following the secretary's remarks by Chinese officials. Someone saying that they are deep root -- deep rooted in hegemonic logic, cold war mentality. This official going on to say they seriously provoked China's sovereignty and rights.

As far as that getting involved in -- in the trade talks, it just adds more attention, Jessica, to this already difficult set of conversations.

DEAN: All right. Marc Stewart for us live in Beijing. Thank you so much for that. We really appreciate it.

Massive wildfires in Canada are creating a smoke cloud twice the size of Texas. And now, some of that smoke is making its way over the border and into parts of the U.S.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [17:40:00]

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DEAN: CNN has obtained new video regarding a congressional aide who was handcuffed by federal agents in Congressman Jerry Nadler's district office.

Footage from the incident shows the staff member handcuffed and detained by a Homeland Security agent. And you can also see a second staffer standing before another agent trying to access an area inside the office, asking if he had a warrant. The agent accuses staff of -- quote -- "harboring rioters in the office."

CNN correspondent Gloria Pazmino is joining us now. Gloria, what more are we hearing and are we hearing from the congressman?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We have, Jessica, and I think also what we are seeing here is that there are very two different versions of the story. Right? We have the Department of Homeland Security saying that they were doing a security check into the congressman's office, and we have the chief of staff for the congressman saying that that is a complete fabrication.

Now, here's what happened. This happened on Wednesday of last week. And the congressman's office is inside the same federal building as the location for immigration court in Lower Manhattan. And that's where this incident took place.

Now, Nadler's chief of staff told me that that morning, when the staff arrived, they noticed that there were federal agents in the building who had photos of people who were going to be showing up to immigration appointments and who they were there to detain.

So, when the staff noticed this, they went into the court and the court hallway to sort of observe what the officers were doing. There were also some court watchers that were there that day. Now they did see, as immigration officers were there, they made detentions of people who had showed up to routine immigration appointments. And then when the court watchers were done, they were invited to the congressman's office to have a meeting about what they had just witnessed. And that is when we are told by the congressman's chief of staff that the officer showed up to do this so-called security check. And as you can see in the video there, you can see that there is a staffer that is trying to block him from trying to get access to the office.

Now, initially, the officer tried to come in. The staffer told them he could not come in. And she was put in handcuffs and detained.

Now, Congressman Jerry Nadler was not in the office at the time of the incident, but he arrived shortly after. He spoke to the offers -- to the officers, tried to diffuse the situation, and was eventually able to get them to let the staffer go.

Now, here's part of what the state -- the congressman said in a statement. He said -- quote -- "The decision to enter a congressional office and detain a staff member demonstrates a deeply troubling disregard for proper legal boundaries. If this can happen in a member of Congress's office, it can happen to anyone -- and it is happening."

And that last point, Jessica, I think, as I was speaking with the chief of staff earlier today, part of what he pointed out was that they believe this is very much part of a pattern now. Right?

We saw the incident a few weeks ago in Newark with Congresswoman McIver, who was arrested by ICE officers there when she was trying to gain access to an ICE facility, and also that there's a pattern of escalation on the part of immigration officers who have been showing up to courts, not just here in New York City but across several other courts around the country, to make detentions of people who are showing up to their immigration appointments.

[17:45:08]

A court previously was supposed to be a place where this type of enforcement was out of bounds, but that's something that the Trump administration has done away with. So, it does seem like we are starting to see significant increase of this type of enforcement. Jessica?

DEAN: All right. Gloria Pazmino, thank you very much for that reporting. Meantime, thousands of people in Canada are forced to flee as wildfires continue to rage there. Those fires in the southern provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan are also impacting Americans with thick smoke pouring into bordering states in the Midwest. Allison Chinchar has details on this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We're still looking at nearly 200 wildfires across more than half a dozen provinces in Canada. But the concern really has been across the ones in Manitoba and Saskatchewan because a lot of the smoke from those fires is what's really starting to trickle down into the U.S., both in the high plains as well as the upper Midwest.

And as we go through the evening hours, you're still going to see quite thick amount of smoke, especially across Minnesota into Iowa and portions of Northern Missouri. Now, by the time we get into Monday, you'll see it starts to spread back to the east.

So that little bit of a break we've had the last 24 hours across states like Michigan, it's all going to come right back again, not just from Michigan but Illinois, Indiana, even some of these southern states like Kentucky and Tennessee, probably looking at some pretty sunsets and sunrises because of the added smoke into the higher levels of the atmosphere there.

Now, we are going to see some changes coming in the few next few days. Take Minneapolis, for example, still well above average temperatures. But once that cold front slides in, you're not only going to see temperatures drop, you're also going to be looking at the chance for some rain.

And hopefully, that will help clear a lot of the smoke out, not only from the air in Minneapolis, but also take care of some of the fires because the same rain that's going to be coming into Minnesota is going to be sliding across the high plains and also into Canada, especially across portions of Manitoba.

The Southeastern portion of Manitoba especially could end up getting some decent amounts of rain as we head into late Monday and into Tuesday. Now when we say decent amounts of rain, in most cases, we're likely talking about a half an inch up to an inch. That may not sound like a lot of rain. And overall, it really isn't, but it's enough that can hopefully help a lot of the firefighters in those areas be able to make some big advancements in the containment numbers of those fires.

The one concern, though, is before a lot of this rain comes in, we are going to see winds begin to increase a little bit later today and even into the early hours of Monday. So, hopefully, we don't see the fire spread before things can get better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Allison, thank you. Still ahead, the extreme measures Mexican politicians are taking to keep themselves safe as that country bases for -- braces for possible violence connected to a historic election.

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[17:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: Happening right now, people across Mexico are voting in a first of its kind election. Mexicans had the chance to elect nearly 900 federal judges, justices, and magistrates. Now, it has already been a violent election season there with several attacks on politicians, and the surging violence is prompting an increased demand for protection.

CNN's David Culver has more now from Mexico City.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID CULVER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What do you take out with everything -- everything comes out. It's going to be like this.

(Voice-over): Across Mexico, fear is fueling a push for personal protection.

GADI MOKOTOV, OWNER, ETTS BLINDAJES: This for -- if you want to take a shot from inside. And this door, it's like an escape door, an escape door.

CULVER (voice-over): For 16 years, Gadi Mokotov's company has armored vehicles for Mexico's police, military, government officials, VIPs.

MOKOTOV: Here's -- Here's the level five. CULVER (voice-over): But now, he says he's getting more and more requests from lower-level politicians and even from those who work for those elected officials.

So, you're seeing staffers now say, we need armored cars.

MOKOTOV: You need one of them.

CULVER: Oh, this is a staffer.

Spending tens of thousands of dollars, not for status, but survival.

MOKOTOV: It's not nice to see a man coming here and, you know, I need to protect my sons, but they're afraid --

CULVER: They're scared.

MOKOTOV: -- of the -- of the kids.

CULVER: What does that say about the state of security right now in this country?

MOKOTOV: The people are scared. It's scared to go to the street.

CULVER: And it was here on this street where just last week, two close aides of Mexico City's mayor were gunned down. You can see they still have flowers and a memorial left behind for them. It happened just as the morning commute was getting underway.

(Voice-over): Violent crime in the capital, including murders and kidnappings, is up more than 150% compared to this time last year. That according to El Pais. We've reached out to Mexico City Officials to verify those numbers.

All of this comes on the heels of Mexico's most violent election cycle in history. Leading up to the 2024 elections, at least 37 political candidates were assassinated with more than 800 attacks on campaign staff, officials, and their families.

And yet this democracy forges ahead.

(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE) How's -- how's the situation?

UNKNOWN: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

CULVER: As far as crime is concerned, it's bad.

UNKNOWN: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

CULVER: He -- he says even with security police all around us doesn't make you really feel any safer because criminal elements can seep in at any moment.

[17:55:00]

(Voice-over): It's no surprise that so many are turning to armor, desperate for any sense of safety. And outside, a line of cars waiting for their turn.

So, what's being done to stop this crime? Well, eight months into her role as president here, Claudia Sheinbaum has said that she has launched these targeted operations to go after these high crime areas. She's also enhancing coordination between federal and local law enforcement.

And then there's a social aspect to this as well, trying to reduce poverty and equality, but then more specifically trying to keep young people from being recruited by gangs.

All of that aside, when you talk to folks, their day in and day out is consumed with insecurity. Some folks even saying that they're too afraid to stop at stop signs now because it has become increasingly common that they could get robbed, carjacked or even kidnapped.

David Culver, CNN, Mexico City.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: All right, we've got breaking news from Boulder, Colorado where the FBI says it is investigating a targeted terror attack. We will update you with all that information as we get it as soon as we come back.

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