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Trump Travels Back To D.C. After Weekend In New Jersey; Interview With Representative Jake Auchincloss (D-MA); Texas Dems Leave State Trying To Block New Congressional Map; Corporation For Public Broadcasting To Shut Down After Funding Cuts; Pope Leo Shows Gen Z Appeal At Catholic Jubilee In Rome; New Evidence Of Abuse At El Salvador's CECOT Prison. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired August 03, 2025 - 20:00   ET

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

[20:00:00]

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR: I want you to listen in what he had to say just a few moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: OK. Thank you very much. We had a very good weekend in many respects. We're seeing phenomenal numbers in terms of the business we do with other countries and the business we do within our own country. I mean, really phenomenal numbers.

We'll be announcing a new statistician sometime over the next three, four days. We had no confidence. I mean, the numbers were ridiculous, what she announced. But that was just one negative number. All the numbers seemed to be great. And so we'll see how that comes out.

And if you remember just before the election, this woman came out with these phenomenal numbers on Biden's economy. Phenomenal numbers. And then right after the election, they announced that those numbers were wrong. And that's what they did the other day. So it's a scam, in my opinion. My opinion is just -- it's just additional scam.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: On Russia, Mr. President, can you say have those nuclear submarines been deployed yet to face Russia?

TRUMP: I've already put out a statement and the answer is they are in the region, yes, where they have to be.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Steve Witkoff message will be to the Russians, is there anything they can do to avoid sanctions at this point?

TRUMP: Yes. Get a deal where people stop getting killed. They had a number that just came out that a tremendous number of Russian soldiers are being killed. And likewise Ukraine, a lower number, but still thousands and thousands of people. And now we're adding towns where they're being hit by missiles. So it's a lot of people being killed in that ridiculous war. And, you know, we stopped, we stopped a lot of countries from war. India and Pakistan. We stopped a lot of countries. And we're going to get that one

stopped, too. Somehow we're going to get that one stopped. That's a really horrible -- well, you heard about Cambodia and Thailand. We got that one done. We got the Congo, which was going on for 31 years. Rwanda. That one is done. We stopped a lot of wars. This is the one we seem to be -- this should be the easiest to stop. And it's not.

I mean, Rwanda and Congo were going on 31 years, and I got it stopped. Eight million people dead. At least. That's what they have. But I think the number is much higher. And the leaders of each country, Rwanda and the Congo, they were great. They were great. And they wanted it stopped. 31 years, it went on. We stopped a lot of wars. Serbia, Kosovo was going to be happening, and I don't believe it will now. So we stopped that one, too. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You said you have more of an update to give us on Gaza, on the Gaza Strip. Can you give us any --

TRUMP: Only we want the people fed and we're the only country that's really doing that. We're putting up money to get the people fed. And Steve Witkoff is doing a great job, and we want Israel to get them fed. We're giving some pretty big contributions basically to purchase food so the people can be fed. We don't want people going hungry, and we don't want people to starve. And there's some bad things happening.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: They see evidence of a genocide in Gaza?

TRUMP: I don't think that. Look, they're in a war. There are some horrible things happened on October 7th, as you know, it was a horrible, horrible thing. One of the worst I've ever seen. I've seen a lot of bad things in some president in terms of wars and potential wars. I mean, if you look at the one that we just stopped, they had thousands of people being dead already at the border between Thailand and Cambodia, thousands of people. And I've seen some bad things, but that October 7th was, with Hamas was really, really bad.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, can you give us an update on Steve Witkoff and Russia and what happens on Friday if the deadline comes and Russia has not agreed to a ceasefire?

TRUMP: Well, there'll be sanctions, but they seem to be pretty good at avoiding sanctions. You know, there are wily characters and they're pretty good at avoiding sanctions. So we'll see what happens. But Steve is focused right now on the border in terms of -- we're talking about with Gaza getting people fed. And he may be going, I think next week, Wednesday or Thursday, maybe going to Russia. They would like to see him. They've asked that he meet. So we'll see what happens.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, what advice do you have for Republicans on Capitol Hill heading into midterms? What do they need to do? What can they do to, you know, hold --

TRUMP: Well, one of the things they're going to be talking about pretty soon are the tremendous drop in drug prices.

[20:05:01] You know, we've cut drug prices by 1200, 1300, 1400, 1500 percent. I don't mean 50 percent. I mean 1400, 1500 percent, because we're going favored nations. We want the same price as Europe gets. We want the same price as other country gets. And over the years, 25, 30 years ago, it started where they were charging us much more. And I put an end to it, you know, with a letter that you saw last week.

So I think that's going to be a point. I don't know how anybody could win an election if they're on the other side of that issue. So we'll be dropping drug prices. It will start over the next two to three months by 1200, 1300. And even 1400 percent and 500 percent, but not just 50 percent or 25 percent, which normally would be a lot because the rest of the world pays much less for the identical drug.

And we're going to be paying the same thing. We're going to have a favored nations. We will pay as low as the lowest nation in the world.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And then, Mr. President, I think it just came out $29 billion in July, taken in in tariff revenue. You know, could we see a potential rebate here and what would that look like and who would qualify?

TRUMP: Well, we're going to pay down debt. We have a lot of money coming in, much more money than the country has ever seen. By hundreds of billions of dollars. And there could be a distribution or a dividend to the people of our country. I would say for people that would be middle income people and lower income people, we could do a dividend. But one of the things were going to be doing is reducing debt.

But we have hundreds of billions of dollars pouring into our country now. We should have done this many years ago. And I did it in my first term with China. We didn't get to the rest because COVID hit and you couldn't really go to France and Spain and Italy, and say, let's, you know, let's start talking about some tariffs. But China was paying us hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs, and we did it then, and then Biden screwed it all up.

He screwed everything he touched. He screwed up. So thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: When will you endorse Winsome Earle-Sears in the Virginia governor's race?

TRUMP: Yes, I would. I mean, I would. I think probably she's got a tough race. She shouldn't. She shouldn't have. But because the candidates she's running against is not very good. But I think she's got a tough race. But I would. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: When will you swear in Jeanine Pirro to be the --

TRUMP: I will happily swear in Jeanine Pirro, who is going to be fantastic at what she does in D.C. over the next very short period of time. I think she's going to be fantastic. Don't forget, Jeanine Pirro was a great judge and a great prosecutor. And because she was so good, I was there. She was an amazing prosecutor and judge. And because she was so good, they drafted her into show business and she did fantastic. You know, "The Five" was the number one show, et cetera, et cetera.

Jeanine Pirro was also really good at that. But her real love is exactly what she's doing. And that's what made her such a success in show business. So Jeanine Pirro is going to be amazing. And I'll swear her in as soon as we can swear her in. We need her. She's going to be amazing.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, are you happy with how the Rose Garden turned out and we have some type of event? The Rose Garden. Are you happy with how it turned out?

TRUMP: Yes, we're getting great reviews on the Rose Garden, and we had to do it. As an example when we had a press conference, you'd sink into -- it would take three, four, five days for it to dry out, and we couldn't use it for really the intended purpose. So whether they had events or they had news conferences, we couldn't use it. And it's a beautiful white stone and it's a stone that's the same color as the White House itself.

And because it's very white, it's going to reflect the heat. It's not going to be very hot. Like if you had a dark stone. So yes, we've gotten great reviews on the Rose Garden.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you have --

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Any update on the search for the Federal Reserve Board? Have you been interviewing candidates?

TRUMP: Yes, I have a couple of people in mind. I'll be announcing somebody for the filling of the person that left. A woman left as you know, who is a, I guess, a Biden appointment. Either Biden or Obama. But I think a Biden appointment. And she left early, and I think she left because she agreed with me on interest rates. And yet they were on the other side of the ballpark. Right? So I'll be announcing that probably over the next couple of days.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President. Mr. President, one more on tariffs here. As you continue to, you know, pile up these trade deals, are you kind of gaining more leverage over countries that haven't come out?

TRUMP: Yes, I'm not looking for leverage. I'm looking for fairness. We want reciprocal as much as possible. Sometimes reciprocal would be too much for them to handle because it's -- it would be a much bigger number.

[20:10:04]

But we want to see some reciprocity. We want to see reciprocal wherever we can. And all I can say is this, our country will be taken in hundreds of billions of dollars. You just said it, already we're taking in, you know, billions and billions of dollars. And it was unfair. The world treated us very unfair. But the next big move is going to be the price of drugs, because you could buy something in London or in Germany, someplace in Germany, or many countries where it's one tenth, one third, one fourth, but sometimes one tenth the price of what it costs to buy it in New York or some other place.

And we're not doing that anymore. We're not allowing that anymore. That started many years ago when people were asleep at the wheel in this country, and they allowed that to happen. And I'm stopping it.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A U.N. ambassador, will that still be a cabinet level position, sir, or not?

TRUMP: I don't know, I haven't determined that yet. That's a good question. I'll make a decision. He's a very good guy, but I'll make a decision.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, what is your relationship with Laura Loomer? What kind of influence --

TRUMP: Who?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: With Laura Loomer. What kind of influence does she have in the White House?

TRUMP: I think she's very nice. I mean, I know she's known as a radical right. But I think Laura Loomer is a very nice person. I've known her for a long time, and, you know, personally, I think she's a patriot, and she gets excited because of the fact that she's a patriot and she doesn't like things going on that she thinks are bad for the country. I like her, OK?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, actress Sydney Sweeney came out this weekend that she was a registered Republican. Any thoughts on that?

TRUMP: That who was?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sydney Sweeney. She's a very hot actress right now.

TRUMP: She's a registered Republican?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Yes.

TRUMP: Oh, now I love her ad. Is that right? Is Sydney Sweeney? Yes. You'd be surprised at how many people are Republicans. That's what I wouldn't have known. But I'm glad you told me that. If Sydney Sweeney is a registered Republican, I think her ad is fantastic. OK. Thank you very much, everybody.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Thank you, Mr. President.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: All right. We've been listening to the president there as he exited Marine One, taking questions from reporters, touching on a number of topics, including the recently fired Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, claiming that, as he said before, that her reports were political in nature, claiming that this person, this commissioner came out with phenomenal numbers on the Biden economy just before the election, when actually just looking at the numbers in August, the Labor Department, August 2024, the Labor Department said monthly payroll figures overstated job growth by roughly 818,000 in the 12 months that ended in March of 2024.

And then in October, the month before the election, the economy only added 12,000 jobs, which I don't think anybody would be celebrating in a major way that could tip an election.

But I want to bring in senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak to talk a little bit more about what we heard from the president there.

Obviously touched a number of topics. The jobs numbers, heard a little bit of Russia. What stood out to you?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And the president affirmed that he plans to appoint a new person to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics within the next three or four days. So who that person is we don't know yet. Obviously, that person will also have to make it through a Senate confirmation process that I think you can expect will be quite contentious, just given the sort of unprecedented nature of the president's dismissal of this person who he has accused of rigging these numbers to completely, baselessly, for political purposes.

And you hear the president talk about this process of revising those numbers month by month, which, as every economist who has been out sort of speaking within the last several days, including President Trump's own appointee to that job during his first term, have said is a completely normal process. It does, you know, lead to some major revisions, frequently does do that, as we saw on Friday, but that is not evidence of any sort of like untoward political interference.

And so clearly, the president still of the view that this is, in his words, a scam. But you can expect once he names this person, that individual will come under an enormous amount of scrutiny as the president really kind of politicized what is otherwise and has always really been a nonpartisan agency. You also heard the president talk about Russia and the special envoy Steve Witkoff's upcoming visit to Moscow.

The president saying that that could happen in the middle of this upcoming week, saying that the Russians wanted to meet with him. Of course, also coming this week will be the president's own deadline for Russia to either reach a deal or suffer new sanctions. And the president seems very intent on making that happen. He says the only way that Moscow would be able to avoid that is to make a deal.

[20:15:05]

But on the other hand, he seems sort of doubtful that those sanctions will really have any kind of bite, saying that they've gotten good at avoiding them and that they're, quote, "wily characters," which is in some ways true. You know, there have been an enormous amount of U.S. and Western sanctions heaped on Moscow over the last four years, and it hasnt really done much to affect the president Vladimir Putin's thinking on that conflict.

Here the president talk about Gaza. Witkoff was actually just in Gaza looking at some of these humanitarian aid distribution centers. The president says that his goal is to get more aid into the strip and that he wants Israel to get the Gazans fed. But when he was asked directly whether there was a genocide underway in Gaza, the president sort of punted and said that the atrocities on October 7th were some of the worst things he's ever seen.

Not really answering that question, but suggesting that he does not believe a genocide is underway there. And then, of course, we heard the president talk about, one, his new Rose Garden redesign, sort of emphasizing that the white stone that he has selected matches the White House building. A lot of people are critical of the aesthetics of that. I saw it last week. It is a striking change.

And the president talking about Sydney Sweeney saying that he was surprised that she's a Republican and that he enjoyed her American Eagle denim ad -- Omar.

JIMENEZ: A whole host of topics, as we typically hear, and stuff like this one. One other thing, he said the next big move is going to be focusing on the price of drugs. He claimed he would be able to drop prices 1,000 percent. I'm not a math guy. I don't know how you decrease something 1,000 percent, but at the very least he has tried to ratchet up pressure on major drug makers to bring their U.S. prices down. Unclear if pharmaceutical companies actually comply, but I guess we will see.

Kevin Liptak, appreciate the reporting as always.

I want to keep this conversation going with Congressman Jake Auchincloss, a Democrat from Massachusetts. He's here now.

Congressman, thank you for joining us and sticking around as we listen to some of the president there. I want to start with some of what we heard on his firing of the Labor Statistics commissioner. The president essentially firing the messenger after a bad jobs report. I wonder how do you assess the risk to trust in the U.S. economy?

REP. JAKE AUCHINCLOSS (D-MA): Omar. Good evening. Thanks for having me on. China, Argentina, Greece, these are countries that in the last 30 to 40 years did two things. One, they undermined the soundness of their currency by bullying their central bankers. And two, they lied about government statistics to the degree that other countries and the international monetary system stopped believing their statistics.

This is exactly what Donald Trump is doing. He's picking a fight with an independent central bank in Jerome Powell and the Federal Reserve, and he is politicizing federal labor and economic statistics. And it puts us on the same road as these other countries at a time when our economy is weakening because of his chaotic stewardship and at a time when his corruption has distracted his focus and his administration's focus from what is Americans' number one priority, which is cost of living, particularly in housing and health care.

JIMENEZ: I mean, do you have concerns about who he could put into this job?

AUCHINCLOSS: It's immaterial, because whoever he puts into this job, any number they put out next quarter is immediately going to be presumed to have been vetted by the political actors around the president. And so even if the statistic is purely sound, even if he appoints some Nobel Laureate economist, it doesn't matter because you, me, anybody who thinks independently is going to look at those numbers and say, well, this was OKed by Donald Trump. Thereby it's almost certainly a lie.

I mean, Omar, I just listened to his remarks in front of Marine One and just casually, while I was standing here, I counted more than 15 lies, including, by the way, that those remarks about pharmaceutical prices. You are right, by the way, you cannot drop prices by more than 100 percent, mathematically impossible. And also, his executive order has none, no force of law whatsoever. So everything he's saying is just pure nonsense.

JIMENEZ: All right. I feel a little bit better about my math there. A lot of a few different topics, too. One of the things he touched on, he touched on Russia. But I want to ask about Israel because special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, told the families of Israeli hostages that a ceasefire deal needs to be all or nothing. Obviously we have seen various points of potential progress throughout this war of ceasefire deals here, potential releases of hostages there.

But do you think the Trump administration needs to fundamentally shift its strategy to an all or nothing push here?

AUCHINCLOSS: No. I think the Middle East has had enough of absolutism and extremism. I think what the Middle East needs is more good faith negotiations, not less of that. Clearly, Hamas is an evil actor.

[20:20:01]

Clearly, the hostages need to be released. Obviously, Israel has a right to defend itself and to exist. And it also matters how Israel does that. And having Gazan children starve is unacceptable. And Israel does need to do more to expand distribution sites, to widen the variety of aid that is distributed, to do a better job of de- conflicting so that women, the elderly and children are able to access the aid without getting pushed aside by others.

There's a lot of things that Israel is de facto responsible for even as it goes after it is -- its righteous war aims of keeping Hamas out of governance of Gaza because ultimately Hamas is the enemy of the Palestinian people, not Israel.

JIMENEZ: Do you see the U.S. becoming more isolated on the global scale by its continued support of Israel, even as we are seeing this dynamic of starvation?

AUCHINCLOSS: Well, Israel, excuse me, the United States is becoming more isolated on the world stage, not because of its support for Israel, but because of Donald Trump's erratic and chaotic tariffs. The fact that he's picking fights with Canada while supplicating himself to Russia. I think that's the bigger issue right now.

Ultimately, what Israel is trying to do by joining the Abraham Accords is actually expanding bridges of commerce and culture to replace 20th century conflicts. So expanding the Abraham Accords to Saudi Arabia, to the United Arab Emirates, these are actions that actually envelop Israel in the wider community. There is no doubt that right now, Israel is under strict scrutiny by a lot of OECD nations and other countries throughout the world, and it rightfully is under pressure to widen humanitarian aid.

But there needs to be much greater pressure on Hamas because Hamas has the singular power right now to release these hostages, to disarm, and to end this horrific war.

JIMENEZ: And look, I don't think we are anywhere near seeing a finish line right now. But you talk about fighting with Canada. Canada joined the U.K. and France and 140 other countries in calling for a Palestinian state. Do you think the U.S. should join them in that?

AUCHINCLOSS: No. Declaring Palestinian statehood just turns October 7th into July 4th for Hamas. It gives Hamas a symbolic victory, but does none of the hard, substantive work to make Palestinians' live better, to make Israelis more secure. What we need is governance. We need governance in Gaza. And this has always been the mistake that Netanyahu has made is that he has not transferred the tactical victories, not just in Gaza, but in Lebanon and Syria and Iran into an actual strategic plan to really annihilate Hamas by presenting an alternative for governance.

Because, Omar, Hamas pictures Israel as its enemy. That's true. But the thing that Hamas fears the most is actually an empowered Palestinian governance entity in Gaza because that is what would make Hamas illegitimate in the eyes of the Palestinian people.

JIMENEZ: And before we go, I want to turn to domestic politics because, look, we've got the midterms coming up. They're going to come up quicker than I think anybody is ready for. But we're already seeing this effort to redraw the Texas congressional map to squeeze out more GOP House votes. Texas Democrats have fled the state to stop that vote.

How do you assess that tactic going, and do you support blue states using the same tactic if it comes to it?

AUCHINCLOSS: I do. You don't put on boxing gloves when your opponents put on brass knuckles. We are in a fight for the integrity of our democracy right now. This grotesque redistricting is nobody's idea of good governance. Denying a quorum is a last ditch effort, but ultimately, Democrats cannot keep unilaterally disarming. We have got to hit back equally strong to demonstrate to Republicans that if they are going to play this way, they are going to have a ferocious opponent. Ultimately, though, Democrats do need to show voters that there is a

better way. We need to move to a top two system and abolish these partisan primaries. We've got to do independent redistricting. And most of all, we've got to get the big dark money out of politics.

JIMENEZ: Congressman, Congressman Jake Auchincloss, appreciate the time. Thanks for being with me, and thanks for checking my math.

AUCHINCLOSS: Good evening.

JIMENEZ: All right. See you.

Much more on the Texas congressional fight after a quick break. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:28:51]

JIMENEZ: Tonight Texas Democrats are pushing back against their Republican colleagues who want to redraw the state's congressional map. Members of the Texas House Democratic Caucus are leaving the state, like physically leaving the state, and some have arrived in Chicago to meet with Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, while others are going to New York to meet with Governor Kathy Hochul.

Now, their decision to leave is an effort to deny the quorum needed to advance the redistricting plan. Republicans are looking to redraw that map to gain potentially an additional five seats in Congress, at the expense of Democrats.

CNN's senior reporter, Steve Contorno, is just outside Chicago.

And as I understand, you have some new reporting about how these lawmakers chose to go to Illinois?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Omar. A source telling me that this has been a conversation between Texas Democrats and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker going back for more than a month, actually, back in June, when the governor was speaking at an event for Oklahoma Democrats, he actually quietly met behind the scenes with the chairman of the Texas Democratic Party.

Now, at the time, this House plan to -- this plan in Texas to shake up the House congressional map was still just a rumor and something that President Trump was pushing.

[20:30:08]

But they were already having conversations about how the logistics of this would take place. And those conversations continued over weeks and over the weeks. In fact, some state lawmakers came up to Illinois in July, and the staffs and -- for both sides were sort of hammering out the details of where they could set up office space, where they could stay, and now they're actually going to be holding a press conference together right behind me at the DuPage County headquarters, just outside of Chicago.

There are still some questions that we need answered, and one of them is, how long are Democrats willing to stay outside of the state? They -- several years ago, this very similar kind of events took place, and they stayed outside of the state for 38 days, blocking legislative action in Texas throughout that entire stretch.

Now, the other question is whether or not Democrats in Texas are united. That effort in 2021 ended because several Texas lawmakers defected and went back to Texas, giving Republicans there the quorum they needed. Now we know that there are 62 Democratic representatives in the Texas legislature. They need 51 of them to stay outside of the state in order to have a quorum. We're going to get some more answers, hopefully, as to whether or not all 51 or more have left the state.

JIMENEZ: All right, Steve Contorno, I know you'll be on top of it. Thank you so much.

Meanwhile, the nonprofit that spent decades funding TV and radio stations across the country is shutting down. What this means for the fate of those stations, along with NPR and PBS. We're talking about the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. This is a rapidly shifting media landscape. We'll talk all about it coming up.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:36:17]

JIMENEZ: This just in. Actress Loni Anderson has passed away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LONI ANDERSON, ACTRESS: Would you like to sit down? We have all kinds of chairs. There's one over there and there's another one over there. And then -- no, that's a clock.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: Anderson is maybe best known for her role on the show "WKRP" in Cincinnati on CBS in the late '70s. She played the smart and sassy receptionist Jennifer Marlowe at a struggling Ohio radio station. The role earned her two Emmys and three Golden Globe nominations. Anderson passed away today in Los Angeles after what her publicist called a prolonged illness. Tuesday would have been her 80th birthday.

All right. We're continuing to follow more news, including after more than 60 years backing NPR, PBS, and hundreds of local radio and television stations, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is shutting down. Last month, Republicans in Congress clawed back $1.1 billion earmarked for the company in the next two years.

I want to bring in CNN media analyst and Axios correspondent Sara Fischer to walk us through the ripple effects of this closure. So what are we expecting to see here? SARA FISCHER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: Yes, Omar, it's going to be

devastating for public media around the country. When you think about it, Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress that voted to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, they did it because they wanted to target PBS and NPR. But the sad reality is that these cuts are most likely to impact rural local stations around the country.

The national entities of PBS and NPR are not that dependent on federal funding. I think NPR, it's about 1 percent. PBS it's about 15 percent. So what you should expect is tons of layoffs and cuts around local television and radio stations around the U.S., and I expect you're also going to see dozens, if not hundreds of closures in the coming weeks and months.

JIMENEZ: And so what about programs like "Sesame Street," for example? Some of the more iconic ones that people watch on a national basis. Is that -- will that continue?

FISCHER: Those will continue. So the way that it works is that those national entities of PBS and NPR, they provide the programing to their local affiliates at a very, very small fee. They get that programing sometimes it's theirs that they make and produce themselves. Sometimes they license it from other third parties. In the case of "Sesame Street," there's a separate nonprofit called the Sesame Workshop that produces "Sesame Street," and they essentially get to deal with the licensing around the program.

"Sesame Street" just announced earlier this year a brand new lucrative deal with Netflix that will have Netflix showing first episodes of this new show. But PBS will still get to broadcast it. And essentially they're doing it for free. I mean, "Sesame Street" was born on PBS, on public television. It's been airing there since 1970. And actually even a little bit before when it was PBS' predecessor.

So they don't want to lose tie with that -- with that history. Consumers can still expect to get it on public television, but if they want to see the episodes first, they'll have to go to Netflix.

JIMENEZ: Before we go, I want to get your thoughts in on an idea floated last night by the radio host, Charlamagne tha God. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD, RADIO HOST AND AUTHOR: I would love to see Jon Stewart run in 2028. If we're talking about like a change agent coming from the outside that's really going to shake things up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Interesting.

CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: And somebody that I feel like can speak to, you know, all people. He'd be somebody I'd like to see really get in the race and disrupt things in 2028. You know. Maybe, maybe a Jon Stewart- Colbert ticket because, you know, Colbert is not going to have a job.

(END VIDEO CLIP) JIMENEZ: Well, look, I can say that their events would probably be pretty entertaining, but do you think we could see a celebrity ticket in 2028? I just wonder what you see that relationship in the media space to politics is looking like.

[20:40:04]

FISCHER: Well, I've learned after doing this for a long time, Omar, never say never. But it's difficult to forecast a celebrity. And I'll tell you why. When you think about the past few elections, they've all come down to who's winning those swing states in the rust belt, right? Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin. That's why you typically see VP nominees coming from those states like JD Vance.

If you are a Democrat looking to win the White House, your best shot is somebody who's likable, somebody who's centrist, somebody who can help you win those states. I think about Jon Stewart, he as a celebrity could get great coalition of people on the coasts. I don't know what type of popularity he would get amongst the working class and those types of key places, those battlegrounds where you need voters.

So I don't think it's necessarily the best winning strategy. I also think for someone like Jon Stewart, he's made an entire career out of spectating on politics. He's never once indicated much interest in running for politics. While we've seen some billionaire business people get involved and, you know, seek some interest, celebrities don't typically end up sparking a massive political career. It's happened before, but I just don't foresee it happening with Jon Stewart in 2028.

JIMENEZ: I mean, going from a once a week on "The Daily Show" to stumping day in and day out in Iowa feels like a completely different shift in lifestyle that, you know, maybe might be a little tough.

Regardless, Sara Fischer, appreciate you being here. Thank you for the time.

FISCHER: Thank you.

JIMENEZ: All right. Meanwhile, in Rome, the Pope wrapped up the final days of what's being called the "Catholic Woodstock." Thousands of young Catholics flocked to the eternal city for a festival of faith, music and religion.

CNN's Christopher Lamb followed the pilgrimage that drew teens and young adults from around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A rock star's welcome for Pope Leo, greeting an endless sea of crowds from every corner of the globe at a mega youth gathering in Rome. The first American pontiff facing a big test whether he can inspire the church's future generation.

Well, Pope Leo has arrived on the main stage at Tor Vergata. People are giving him a rapturous welcome, cheering.

(Voice-over): Leo both embracing the young people's enthusiasm but also ensuring moments of quiet contemplation, talking directly to them.

POPE LEO XIV, CATHOLIC CHURCH LEADER: Dear young people, Jesus is the friend who always accompanies us in the formation of our conscience. Seek justice in order to build a more humane world.

LAMB: For the young pilgrims, it's been a week long jamboree of music and fellowship in a festival atmosphere, and the excitement was contagious even for the cardinals. The Vatican says people from 146 countries flocked to the eternal city from as far as South Korea, where the next big youth meeting will take place.

JAEHUN LEE FRANCISCO, SOUTH KOREAN PILGRIM: I wanted to meet a lot of people from around the world who believes in the same religion as me, and do praise together. The religion brings people together.

LAMB: And some came from New Mexico, one of the frontline states of U.S. President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. They want the Pope to stand with immigrants.

DAMIAN HERNANDEZ, U.S. PILGRIM: I think that's very important for him to welcome many new people from many new countries, many new places, so they can come experience it out.

LAMB: Particularly given what's happening.

HERNANDEZ: Oh, yes. Particularly from what's happening in the United States with other deportations and all of that.

LAMB (voice-over): But connecting with young people today means the church must reach beyond the pews, with some research showing Gen Z are interested in Catholicism. Theology student Nicola Camporiondo says his mission is to help make faith more visible online.

NICOLA CAMPORIONDO, CATHOLIC INFLUENCER (through text translation): It is important to me because young people of my age need to not feel alone. And so the videos I make on social media encourage young people to not be ashamed of practicing their faith.

LAMB: Many camping out under the stars at the site so they could catch another glimpse of the Pope in the morning.

POPE LEO XIV: Good morning. Buenos Dias.

LAMB: With more than a million turning out for Sunday mass with Leo, this was the largest event of his nearly three-month papacy.

POPE LEO XIV: God bless you all.

LAMB: And his authenticity and quiet charisma helped him connect with the crowd.

As they prepared to go home, Leo urged them to remember those suffering, stressing that the young pilgrims are a sign a different world is possible.

POPE LEO XIV: We are with the young people of Gaza. We are with the young people of Ukraine.

LAMB: Leo chosen as pontiff at a turbulent time in history and while still adjusting to the limelight, seems to enjoy being Pope.

Christopher Lamb, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[20:45:00]

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JIMENEZ: New allegations of abuse are emerging out of El Salvador's notorious CECOT prison, as a coalition of organizations submit evidence on behalf of 288 migrants transferred from the United States to El Salvador. Now it includes survivor testimony and statements from family members of detainees.

CNN has reached out to El Salvador's president's office for a response, but haven't gotten one just yet.

Joining me now, though, is Silvia Serna Roman, lawyer at the Global Strategic Litigation Counsel, one of the organizations submitting this evidence.

So, Silvia, what is this new evidence and how does it relate to a suit that was filed back in May on this front?

[20:50:06]

SILVIA SERNA, LAWYER AT THE GLOBAL STRATEGIC LITIGATION COUNCIL: Hi, Omar. Thank you. The suit is the same thing. We're seeking a thing in the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights called precautionary measures. And those were filed early May. We still haven't gotten a response. But since July 18th and the release of the 252 Venezuelans, we have gotten powerful testimony on patterns of abuse and ill treatment that could lead up to torture.

And so what we're doing now is we're urging the commission to also seek the release of the 36 remaining Salvadoran men that were amongst the group that was that were transferred from the U.S. to CECOT.

JIMENEZ: So tell me a little bit more about the types of things that you were hearing from some of this testimony from some of the people that were released and some of the things that, as you're saying, could amount potentially to torture.

SERNA: Sure. So there have been previous allegations from big international organizations like Amnesty International and Cristosal on the conditions within CECOT and in -- generally, places of detention in El Salvador. And so we have now heard testimony from our clients who are who are two Venezuelan men and what they've experienced are things like sleep deprivation, continuous beating, waterboarding.

And so those are consistent with other reports that have come out previously on places of detention in El Salvador. CECOT is famously known for being a place where you don't come out unless you come out in a body bag. So that is why it's important. And they're still harm to 36 Salvadoran men who were wrongfully imprisoned in CECOT and wrongfully transferred from the U.S. to El Salvador.

JIMENEZ: And let's talk about them, because in the past, El Salvador's government has said it respects the human rights of those in its custody, regardless of nationality, and that its prison system complies with standards of security and order. In July, as we've talked about, over 250 Venezuelans who had been imprisoned there were released and returned to their home country, which is why you say El Salvador would want this case dismissed.

But for those detainees still being held in CECOT, why are they still being held? What specifically are you fighting for on -- in their cases?

SERNA: So first of all, we're fighting for them to have access to lawyers and to be able to communicate with their families. We also -- there wasn't any trial on their behalf, and there was no sentencing. So that leads -- that amounts to arbitrary detention. And what we're fighting for -- a state can't make an argument of public security and breach international human rights law there. There are still human rights that have to be upheld within prisons and detention centers. And that is something that El Salvador has failed to do with the argument of public security and safety.

JIMENEZ: And you all have also filed lawsuits against Costa Rica, Panama as well, who have accepted, deported or expelled migrants from the United States. Can you just give us an update on what you've seen on the migrant front in terms of those being deported to third party countries?

SERNA: So this harmful externalization practices by Trump's administration have meant that neighboring countries are enforcing policy that is violating human rights law and refugee law. So in Panama, for instance, 200 individuals were sent a -- from different countries around the world, Africa, Asia primarily, and right now there's around a dozen still in Panama who have received no state support. So no institutional support.

They don't have access to -- they don't have the right to work. They don't have access to appropriate housing. And that is also the case in Costa Rica. Some people are still being held in an old pencil factory. There's children that haven't been allowed to go to school. And so we're still fighting. We have different ongoing litigation in both countries to make sure that these people receive the state support that they that they so desperately need right now to resettle.

JIMENEZ: And that's the picture. Once migrants are actually deported or expelled, that is the reality for many of them.

Silvia Serna Roman, thank you for taking the time. Thanks for being here.

Everyone else, CNN NEWSROOM will be right back after this.

[20:55:00]

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JIMENEZ: In 2005, Bono and Bob Geldof teamed up to create -- to stage, I should say, a second global concert event. It's the focus of tonight's final episode of the CNN Original Series, "Live Aid: When Rock and Roll Took on the World."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: it seemed to me that if the Make Poverty History campaign could have a second Live Aid, that it might be possible to make it something which was noisy and popular and famous, and therefore more effective.

BOB GELDOF, CO-FOUNDER, LIVE AID: I can't overdramatize how much of a refusenik I was. I was not going to do this.