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Chicago Mayor Signs Order to Resist Trump Immigration Crackdown; Trump Creates "Specialized" National Guard Units to Address Crime; Trump DHS Recently Ends Grant Program to Prevent Mass Shooting in Minnesota; Man Tries to Reach for Guardsman's Firearm on a D.C. Metro Train; FDA Approves Updated COVID-19 Vaccine for Limited Groups; Nevada Recovering After Security Incident Closed Offices for Days; 3 Dead, Dozens Injured in Russia's Massive Strike in Ukraine; Controversies and Upsets Bring Added Attention to Open Championship; Tariff Exemption on Cheap Goods Ends. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired August 30, 2025 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:00]
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Tonight's drawing, and that makes it the sixth largest in the game's history. No one has hit the big prize since May. The drawing streams live at 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time and tickets are just $2, and your odds of winning that billion dollar prize are one in 292 million. Good luck.
All right, hello, again, everyone. And thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
Breaking news this hour, as Chicago prepares for President Trump's looming immigration crackdown, the city is taking new actions to push back against it. Earlier today, Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order laying out his plan to resist the administration's efforts to step up immigration enforcement in the city, which could begin in the coming days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON (D), CHICAGO: I do not take this executive action lightly. I would have preferred to work in a more collaborative approach, but unfortunately, we do not have the luxury of time. We have received credible reports that we have days, not weeks, before our city sees some type of militarized activity by the federal government.
This is an erratic, impulsive administration and it is not always possible to understand and know exactly how he will move.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: CNN's Julia Benbrook is here with more on what this order includes.
JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, who in recent days has accused President Donald Trump of, quote, "stoking fear," has signed an executive order laying out initial plans for how his city will try to resist the planned immigration crackdown.
Here were some of the key takeaways. It, quote, "affirms that Chicago Police will not collaborate with federal agents on joint law enforcement patrols, arrest operations or other law enforcement duties, including civil immigration enforcement." The order also urges the federal law enforcement officers who operate in Chicago to refrain from wearing masks, to wear and use body cameras, and to identify themselves to members of the public with names and badge numbers.
It also directs city departments to pursue all available legal and legislative avenues to resist coordinated efforts from the federal government that violate the rights of people in the community, including the right to peaceably assemble and the right to due process.
Now, ultimately, this order calls on Trump to stand down from deploying military forces to Chicago for immigration enforcement. But it's not clear how effective that call will be.
Johnson is not alone, though, in pushing back against the Trump administration's plans to deploy federal forces to Chicago. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has also railed against the idea. He's repeatedly pointed to the lack of communication with local officials, saying that if this is all about fighting crime and making the streets safe, then there should be conversations and consultations with the governor, the mayor and the police.
In a recent interview, Pritzker claimed that Trump has, quote, "other aims." Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. J.B. PRITZKER (D), ILLINOIS: They should understand that he has other aims other than fighting crime. That's the first thing they should understand. The second is it's an attack on the American people.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You said he has other aims. What are the other aims?
PRITZKER: The other aims are that he'd like to stop the elections in 2026 or frankly take control of those elections. He'll just claim that there's some problem with an election, and then he's got troops on the ground that can take control if, in fact, he's allowed to do this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BENBROOK: According to multiple sources familiar with the planning, the Trump administration is planning to conduct a major immigration enforcement operation in Chicago as soon as next week -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Julia Benbrook, thank you so much.
As President Trump prepares to crack down on immigration enforcement in Chicago, he's also threatening to send in National Guard troops to deal with the city's crime. CNN's Omar Jimenez has more on how some of the city's residents are
reacting to that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CEDRIC HAWKINS, ANTI-GUN VIOLENCE MEDIATOR, CHICAGO CRED: I lost nine family members to gun violence. Only one of my family members made it to be in his 40s.
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cedric Hawkins is now 44. He works with the anti-gun violence group Chicago CRED trying to make peace before things turn violent. Sometimes between gangs.
HAWKINS: Just trying to be able to obtain a non-aggression agreement. That don't mean that I don't still feel like that you deserve to die. That just means that right now we have a respect level, and the respect is, I don't like you, you don't like me. I ain't going to come in your hood, you don't come in my hood.
JIMENEZ: And that is good enough.
HAWKINS: And that's good enough.
JIMENEZ (voice-over) And in his Southside Chicago neighborhood he takes pride in even that compromise because it means results.
HAWKINS: Last year we had four individuals murdered in the Pullman area at this time.
JIMENEZ: Yes.
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HAWKINS: This year, 2025, we haven't had one individual murdered this year.
JIMENEZ: President Trump has threatened to want to send in the National Guard. Do you feel like even just like the presence of military here would --
HAWKINS: The presence of military would put our communities in a situation where they feel like they are incarcerated. We are already in a situation in Chicago where the trust with CPD law enforcement is very, very low. He's going to do nothing but put our communities in Chicago in a situation where the trust is going to go lower than it already is.
JIMENEZ: It might throw off the playbook that it sounds like --
HAWKINS: Is working.
JIMENEZ: Is working.
(Voice-over): Citywide, murders are down over 30 percent compared to last year, and shootings are down almost 40 percent, which is on pace to be below pre-pandemic levels of violence. But that's still over 250 lives lost.
Right now, were in Chicago's most violent neighborhood as far as rates of shootings go. And even though we have seen decreases, people are still tragically getting shot and killed. We're on our way to talk to a woman who's lived in this neighborhood for a long time. And I have a feeling she has some thoughts on this whole National Guard possibility.
ROCHELLE SYKES, OFFICE MANAGER, MT. PILGRIM BAPTIST CHURCH: My grandkids can't stay outside. They can't sit in the living room or at the kitchen table because a bullet may come through.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): Rochelle Sykes has lived in West Garfield Park all her life. Her neighborhood has changed.
President Trump has talked about sending in the National Guard to help with this situation.
SYKES: That's not the solution.
JIMENEZ: So even you, you live in what is known to be the most violent neighborhood in the city in terms of shooting rates.
SYKES: Yes.
JIMENEZ: You don't believe the National Guard should be here.
SYKES: No. We don't need a band-aid to cover up the problem. What we need is a solution. No offense to the president but we actually need someone that's in this community. You need to go and talk to the children in the schools and ask them the question, what would make you feel safe?
JIMENEZ (voice-over): It's that question of safety city leaders are still trying to figure out.
What would you assess has worked to this point?
LARRY SNELLING, SUPERINTENDENT, CHICAGO POLICE DEPARTMENT: You know, let me start by saying we have a long way to go. What I will say when it comes to crime, we've created task force around robberies when we saw a spike in those smash and grab burglaries, shootings, homicides obviously.
Having our Bureau of Detectives work with our Bureau of Counterterrorism, along with the Bureau of Patrol, working across those borders where we've seen those particular bureaus siloed in the past, you have to have buy-in from your officers. And we've gotten buy-in. But we also have to face the reality. If we brought our homicide rate down to one homicide, we can celebrate that. And that's great. It would be absolutely great, except for the one family who lost a loved one to a homicide.
JIMENEZ: Where did it hit you?
KING, VICTIM OF GUN VIOLENCE: In my arm and my legs. JIMENEZ (voice-over): King, as he's known, was shot while living in
Atlanta and moved to Chicago for a fresh start.
KING: People be asking, like, why come from Atlanta to Chicago? Like, it's a war zone and stuff. But I don't look at it as no war zone, you know. From what I see it's a lot of -- it's a lot of built-up hurt, man. A lot of built-up anger. Years gone by people just losing family members, losing friends at a young age.
I'll be giving up on myself when I see, when I just run into challenges, they'll be quick to give up on Chicago.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): And people like Kendall Reid, who also works as a violence mediator, refuses to give up on Chicago.
KENDALL REID, VIOLENCE MEDIATOR: Sending mental health here. Open more facilities for us. Give us more opportunities. Stop closing the school down. Send those people in. Don't send the military in. If what we're doing is working, it may not be working as fast as you would like it to work. None of this all happened overnight.
Chicago is a beautiful city. I want my kids and I want my grandkids, and I want my nieces and my nephews to enjoy these parks. I want them to enjoy the museums, the many things that Chicago has to offer. And we're progressing at that.
JIMENEZ: For Ced --
HAWKINS: This is a calling for me.
JIMENEZ: The fate of his city, he says, won't come from boots on the ground, but ears to the ground.
HAWKINS: I would never say that it's not beneficial for the government to send resources and help. I beg President Trump to send the right resources. But as far as sending a National Guard, I believe that it will put us in a situation where the whole city of Chicago will be right back where we started.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Omar Jimenez, thanks so much.
As investigators search for a motive and try to understand why a gunman targeted a Catholic school in an attack that left two children dead and several others injured in Minneapolis, a key question the community is asking is if any red flags were missed that could have prevented this tragedy.
A new CNN Investigation shows that one month before the attack, the Trump administration cut funding in Minnesota for grant programs aimed at preventing mass shootings just like this one.
[15:10:04]
CNN Investigation's producer Audrey Ash helped uncover this information.
Audrey, what more are you learning?
AUDREY ASH, CNN PRODUCER, INVESTIGATIONS: Yes. So our investigation essentially uncovered that there had been some grants that were given to Hennepin County, as well as to Minnesota Department of Public Safety, and those grants ended up being about $800,000. And the Trump administration, they actually made cuts to those a month before the shooting happened.
We know that the shooter wrote in their journals that they had left behind some warning signs, you know, they had been in a long term relationship that they had ended recently. They had bought three weapons in the span of one month. They had recently quit their jobs. So, yes, so, the funding was pulled in July and for Hennepin County and Minnesota as well, they were planning to make a -- they were essentially planning to create a task force that would have addressed these issues.
The Trump administration called them openly partisan and political organizations, the ones that received this grant. DHS telling CNN in a statement that the grant program previously administered by CP3 was nothing more than a slush fund for left-wing ideologies and did next to nothing to combat our actual threats in our communities."
WHITFIELD: So, Audrey, there is evidence that you found in your reporting that these programs did work? Is that true?
ASH: Yes. So there's been some back and forth about the effectiveness. In a report last year under the Biden administration, the DHS lists cases in similar programs where officials were able to intervene and stop troubled individuals who may have been heading towards violent action. Of course, there's no way to know that one of these programs could have prevented the tragedy in Minnesota.
But we do know that the shooter wrote in their journals that there were warning signs, again, like I mentioned, including that Westman recently broke up with a long term partner, bought three firearms in one month, started going to gun ranges and had quit their job. The grant from Minnesota's Department of Public Safety even specifically referenced school shooters, saying that these funds would create a statewide threat assessment and management team to focus on persons of concerns and threats.
Ironically, after Wednesday's shooting, First Lady Melania Trump posted on X that, "The shooting illuminates the need for preemptive intervention in identifying potential school shooters and to prevent future tragedies. It is crucial that we look into behavioral threat assessments across all levels of society." Fred.
QUEST: All right. Audrey Ash, thank you so much.
All right. Our coverage of National Guard deployment continues in just minutes. We'll explain what happened when someone tried to grab a Guardsman's firearm on a busy train. And it could be more challenging if you're wanting to get a COVID vaccine this fall. The major policy change that could mean more money out of your pocket.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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WHITFIELD: All right. New today. Just days after National Guard troops deployed in the nation's capital were authorized to carry weapons, a disturbing incident took place Friday, according to police, when a man allegedly reached for a Guardsman's gun during a fight aboard a train.
CNN's Brian Todd is in Washington with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: According to the joint task force, which is overseeing the National Guard's mission in D.C., there was a disturbing incident on Friday where an individual attempted to grab the service weapon of a National Guardsman.
We're here at Union Station in Washington, D.C. This is not where the incident occurred, but this is one of the metro stations where National Guardsmen like these gentlemen from the Louisiana National Guard have been deployed. The incident we're talking about actually occurred at another Metro Train station where guardsmen are deployed. That was at the Capitol South Metro Station, not too far away from where we're standing here.
The incident occurred at around noon on Friday according to the joint task force at the Capitol South Metro Station. According to the task force, an individual attempted to grab a National Guard soldier's firearm during a disturbance on board a metro train. According to the task force, Mississippi National Guardsmen were actually summoned by travelers to a disturbance on a train at that metro station on Friday afternoon.
The guardsmen entered the train, according to the task force, and separated three individuals who were engaged in a disturbance. Those individuals included two males and one female. One male then, according to the task force at that point, one male reached for the service weapon of one of the guardsmen and according to the task force, and this is a quote, the soldier, quote, "assisted him to the ground where he was placed in hand restraints until Metro Transit Police arrived on the scene."
Now, National Guardsmen like these here have been carrying firearms since early this week. You can see these gentlemen here have sidearms on their right side. According to officials with the National Guard and other officials, most National Guardsmen carry M-17 pistols, some of them carry long M-4 rifles.
[15:20:08]
It is not clear what kind of weapon that individual reached for on Friday afternoon. It does illustrate the kind of controversy surrounding the deployment of the National Guard here, and whether they should be carrying weapons. There are a lot of people in Washington who believe that they
shouldn't be carrying weapons out in the open. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has openly said that she doesn't believe that National Guardsmen should be doing any police work. But we should note that that incident where the individual reached for the firearm, that, of course, could have happened to a D.C. metropolitan police officer who may have been attempting to separate people during a fight on a metro train station.
Not necessarily unique to the National Guard, but it does kind of illustrate the spotlight that is on the National Guard during their deployment here in D.C.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right, Brian, thanks so much.
All right. Updated COVID-19 vaccines will be available in the coming days as we move into the cold and flu season, but only high risk groups will be able to get the shot right away, while others will have to see a doctor first.
CNN's Jacqueline Howard has more on how the restricted access might impact you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH CORRESPONDENT: Here's what we know about the updated COVID-19 vaccines this year. The FDA has approved the vaccines for a limited group of people adults ages 65 and older, and younger people who are at an increased risk of severe COVID-19. That could be due to an underlying health condition, for instance. But for healthy people who don't fall into either of those groups, you may have to get a doctor's prescription to receive the shot. And it's not clear whether your insurance may cover it.
So far, the vast majority of COVID vaccinations, they've happened at pharmacies. But due to state level regulations, some pharmacies may not offer the vaccines anymore. At CVS Pharmacy, for instance, the company says it is offering COVID shots at most of its locations. But in 16 states, you won't be able to just walk in to get the vaccination. That's because of those states' policies. In all but three of those states, CVS Pharmacies can administer a COVID vaccination if you have a prescription.
The three states where that isn't an option are Massachusetts, Nevada and New Mexico. And these states could change at any time. This does appear to be an evolving situation.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right, Jacqueline Howard, thank you.
All right. Right ahead after this, millions of Americans are locked out of essential services like the DMV Web site and online police reports after a cyberattack cripples one state government.
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WHITFIELD: All right. An investigation is underway after a cyberattack shut down Nevada state government offices, Web sites and phone lines earlier in the week. Departments went offline to contain the threat before gradually restoring services. Some are still down. As far as what is currently operational, emergency services, including 911, state payroll, DMV health programs and unemployment services available.
Governor Joe Lombardo says the incident was first detected early Sunday and warned residents that scammers may try to capitalize on the incident.
For more insight, I'm joined now by investigative journalist Kim Zetter. She is the author of "Countdown to Zero Day."
And Kim, I mean, it's been nearly a week after the threat was first detected. Are you surprised that, you know, recovery is taking this long?
KIM ZETTER, CYBERSECURITY JOURNALIST: No, it's actually recovered fairly quickly in terms of a number of services that came back online. This wasn't a complete outage, which was also a boon for Nevada. It could have been a lot worse. Sometimes recoveries can take weeks or months. So if most of those services are restored within a week, that's actually pretty good.
WHITFIELD: OK. So Governor Joe Lombardo's office is saying that data was taken by bad actors, they're calling them, but didn't elaborate any further. What kind of information do you think was likely taken?
ZETTER: Well, you have to look at some of the systems that were hit. In some cases, I think the DMV systems were hit, Highway Patrol. There was also an outage of the database, the criminal database. So if those systems were actually encrypted and if data was extracted from those, that's the kind of data that could have been obtained. I know there have been mixed --
WHITFIELD: Like addresses?
ZETTER: Sorry?
WHITFIELD: Like addresses?
ZETTER: Potentially if DMV information was taken. I know that they've gone back and forth between saying that there was possibly personal information taken and then in other cases, they said no personal information has been taken. I think we're going to have to wait a while to actually fully understand what data was taken. When the attackers take data like this, they encrypt it first, and so it's hard to see what exactly gets extracted from the internet or what gets extracted from the network. WHITFIELD: Yes, an FBI spokesperson confirmed to CNN that the agency
was assisting state officials with the investigation. So how might that kind of collaboration help?
ZETTER: Well, with federal agencies, they obviously have a lot of experience dealing with -- if this indeed is a ransomware case, they have a lot of experience dealing with specific groups, dealing with how to recover systems with keys, how to negotiate, how to talk with the attackers. So federal assistance can always bring a lot of experience that state workers don't have.
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It's actually really unclear here whether this was ransomware, because the state said on Thursday that it was unclear whether or not there had actually been a ransom demand. So I think there's still a lot of unanswered questions.
WHITFIELD: And so we've seen, you know, cyberattacks happen in cities or perhaps within companies. But this was an entire state. So what perhaps can other states learn from this?
ZETTER: Well, one of the things you have to do is be able to recover your data quickly. That will help you to avoid paying a ransom, but also help you to restore services. And so it's crucial for organizations, whether you're a state agency or a commercial organization, to have backups of your data, to have it backed up offline so that the attackers cant encrypt those systems as well. And also, it's really critical for you to segregate really critical data from everyday data so that not every system gets impacted.
And one final thing that you need to do is to test your recovery process because quite often what happens is that victims haven't tested how long or the process of actually recovering the data. And so they often find that it's much more difficult and more time consuming than they anticipated.
WHITFIELD: So what kind of advice, you know, is being given to people in Nevada on how they can protect themselves, what they should do preemptively before, you know, any incriminating information is used against them in any way?
ZETTER: Well, the state is offering a Web site that will update them on the investigation so far. Also, people are able to go in person into state offices to see if maybe they can get more information about what data was taken that belongs to them. I think that that will take a long time, though, for them to actually get those details. But people, if they aren't able to access services online, they can still go in person into the state offices and communicate with officials that way.
WHITFIELD: All right, Kim Zetter, thank you so much. Nice seeing you.
ZETTER: You're welcome.
WHITFIELD: All right. Straight ahead, shocking new images out of Ukraine where a lawmaker was shot and killed on the streets today. The latest tensions surrounding that country as Russia continues its attacks.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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WHITFIELD: All right, we've got this breaking news for you and a word of caution, some viewers may find this distressing.
New video into CNN shows the scene after a senior Ukrainian lawmaker was shot and killed in the western city of Lviv. Andriy Parubiy was previously the chair of the Ukrainian parliament. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it a horrendous murder. The killing comes as Russia unleashed another round of devastating attacks on Ukraine.
CNN's Melissa Bell has the story.
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, it was another night of violence across Ukraine. Aerial bombardments that left at least three dead, killing several dozen as well. These aerial bombardments, most of them by drone, most of them intercepted by Ukrainian air defense. Still, President Zelenskyy, speaking to the fact that these latest attacks show the fact that Moscow, he says, is simply not interested in peace.
Bear in mind also that this comes just a couple of days after that second largest air assault on Kyiv since the full scale invasion began, where more than 20 people died. This an important reminder, says President Zelenskyy, that what is needed is further pressure on Moscow. We're just a couple of days away, of course, from what had been the deadline fixed by President Trump for President Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin to come together to begin talks.
No sign of that happening any time soon. Quite the contrary. There's been an escalation these last few days in the violence. We've also seen overnight Ukrainian forces target oil refineries across the Russian border.
Vladimir Putin himself, Fredricka, is actually on his way to China, where he'll be meeting with Xi Jinping for a summit, but also a military parade. And no suggestion that he is interested in turning up at any negotiating table any time soon -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Melissa.
And earlier, I spoke with Toby Gati, a former assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research under President Clinton. And I asked her if it's possible a peace deal can be reached if there is no face-to-face meeting between Putin, Zelenskyy and possibly even President Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOBY GATI, FORMER ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INTELLIGENCE AND RESEARCH: No. Obviously, at some point there'll have to be a face-to- face meeting. You usually don't call your three highest level people together to say, so what's on the agenda? How do we talk about security guarantees? What part of Ukraine do you want? That's not how it works. You prepare all that in advance. And when you don't bring your team there, who knows anything about Russia or Ukraine, you are really just flying blind.
And so Putin got what he wanted from the summit. And there's no reason for him to have a trilateral meeting, and he's not going to.
WHITFIELD: All right. So now Putin in China, you know, four days of meeting there. Not just jetting in and out. What does that tell you about the leverage or the hopes that Russia might have in that kind of meeting?
[15:40:03]
India is there obviously. You know, China. What is being signaled here?
GATI: This is a great meeting for Putin. It's -- all the world leaders, all of them don't have to be convinced that you can't rely on the United States. The Indians are absolutely seething about the tariffs that have been put on them for selling -- for buying oil from Russia when the country that buys the most oil is China. And of course, we've done nothing against the Chinese.
The countries there believe that the United States in the past has not been the greatest of allies, but they've respected our power and our strength and our willingness to lead global institutions. Well, that's gone. And so they're looking among themselves to figure out what the world is going to look like. And we are not there. And this is such a shift from the past, that I think most Americans really don't appreciate the fact that countries are just not looking to us for leadership anymore because we start in one direction and then we turn around.
And Putin is a master at dealing with this. I mean, what did he get President Trump most excited about? He got excited about electronic voting, which is not an issue that the Russians should be speaking about since their parliamentary elections next year will be 100 percent electronic voting, which, by the way, you can also cheat on and the Russians will figure that out soon enough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right. Toby Gati there.
All right. Straight ahead, as a nine-time grand slam champion who reigned supreme in the tennis world, Monica Seles has a unique perspective. We explore her thoughts on the growing tensions among players both on and off the court, and her latest passion and advocacy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:46:32] WHITFIELD: All right. Just a short time ago, American tennis player Coco Gauff advanced to round 16 at the U.S. Open. The number three seeded player joins fellow American Taylor Townsend, who upset the fifth seeded player on Friday.
Townsend's biggest win of her career comes after the most talked about incident probably of her career and certainly in the last week. Instead of a good sportsman kind of handshake at the net Jelena Ostapenko appeared to be scolding Townsend after losing their second round match, telling the American opponent that she had no class and no education.
Well, earlier I spoke with two-time U.S. Open winner Monica Seles about her thoughts on the controversies and upsets at the U.S. Open, and she also talked about raising awareness for a rare autoimmune illness that she's been battling in recent years.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: This is some exciting tennis we're seeing, isn't it?
MONICA SELES, FORMER PROFESSIONAL TENNIS PLAYER: Oh, absolutely. I mean, both on and off the court, it's been an exciting U.S. Open. And, you know, I know you play tennis, too, so we can relate on that. The level of the game that's being played is truly inspiring and just love watching every moment I get a chance to.
WHITFIELD: And I love more on your thoughts on kind of the ups and downs, right, from this week's U.S. Open court action. Medvedev's, you know, racket rage, you know, following a photographer walking on the court. You know, that handshake, you know, with Ostapenko and Taylor Townsend. And you know, Ostapenko calling her uneducated and lacking of class.
I mean, what do you think is going on here? Is this -- does this speak to I guess intensified pressures of the game at this level or, I mean, what? I mean, what's at the root of it?
SELES: Well, I think the U.S. Open is definitely a pressure cooker. It's the last grand slam. I mean, you know, the crowd, the excitement of the open. Everybody wants to win. But I think we lose sight I think that we're all playing the sport because we love it. You know, it's that pure joy as any of us that hit a ball when you feel it. And it is a job. So, you know, you got to look at both sides of it.
I think also we saw when another fan I think grab a hat yesterday. I mean, it just brings out some really unusual things. But essentially for me, you know, I went through my own craziness in my own career. You bring it back to what you love to do, and that is to play the great game of tennis and for fans to really enjoy the game and the beautiful strokes. And this is why to me, like when I watch current tennis, I try to kind of just focus on that and, you know, and really, we all share one common goal is that we all love to watch the tennis. And I think this past really week we had so many outside things happen. WHITFIELD: Yes. Now let's talk about more of your story. Let's talk
about this MG, you know, and how you're advocating. You had to become very educated, you know, learn about what was behind this double vision you were experiencing. The weaknesses in your arms and your legs. And now, you know, it has a name. How are you promoting awareness? The short term is MG. I'll let you say the big word because I know I'm going to mess it up.
SELES: Yes. Just trust me. Well, for me, kind of, it just goes back to, as I mentioned to I love to mentor young players. I would be spending time with them, working with them on court. And I start realizing extreme weakness in my legs, double vision.
[15:50:03]
And you play tennis and you know these, you can't play tennis. So these are very unusual symptoms. So I went to see a neurologist and they -- and he diagnosed me with myasthenia gravis. So when I heard the diagnosis I had no clue. I said, what? What is this? And then at this point, we still didn't have, you know, that chat box, whatever. So it took me some time to process and really learn the new normal, both in my professional and personal life with myasthenia gravis.
And this is kind of again why I decided to partner with Argenx to raise awareness because if anybody else is having these symptoms, I don't want them to go through what I went through. Like what's going on, you know, because it's tremendous amount of the unknown. So the people out there know the symptoms of MG, know that there's, you know, help out there for them.
I definitely had a few resets in my life, but one of the great things that tennis has taught me is to adjust. And I think I'm learning to adjust here. It has taken me some time to adjust. I mean, I felt very isolated. Again I mentioned Venus, how much her coming out has helped me, and when I decided to come out and talk about my MG journey, I realized how important community is. And the community is so big.
So I got in much more involved in the MG community trying to raise awareness and really all the different things that are out there for patients, you know, like me, who have MG and essentially know that you are not alone.
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WHITFIELD: Oh, Monica Seles, it's great talking to her. And, you know, she mentioned Venus, Venus Williams is 45 years old, and she's advanced in doubles. So go, Venus. It's been fun to watch some tennis this week indeed.
All right. Coming up, your online bargain hunting days could be ending. A new change just kicked in. And it may mean higher prices on everything from clothes to tech toys to furniture.
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[15:51:31] WHITFIELD: All right. The packages that you order online could get more expensive. For years, the U.S. has waived tariffs on package shipments valued at less than $800. But that exemption has officially expired, a change that President Trump says is permanent. Now shoppers and small businesses ordering from abroad will face higher costs.
Anna Cooban has more.
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ANNA COOBAN, CNN BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS REPORTER: De minimis. It's a term you may be hearing a lot today. It's Latin for something lacking in significance or importance. But some people may not quite agree with that. You see, President Donald Trump has scrapped the so-called de minimis exemption, a rule that has allowed products worth $800 or less to enter the United States from all around the world without crucially paying import tax.
That exemption has allowed low-cost goods like clothes, makeup, home decor, really anything that you can think of, to flow into the U.S. relatively easily. And helped fuel a booming global e-commerce industry like these brands here.
And as you can see here, over the last decade this number has grown significantly. And that is partly why Trump is ending this de minimis exemption. It's to help discourage Americans from buying overseas and incentivize home-grown manufacturing.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection estimated that over 1.36 billion shipments entered the U.S. during the last financial year under this de minimis exemption. And that more than four million were processed every single day.
Sellers will face different tariffs depending on which country they are in. They'll face an $80 tariff if a -- per item for -- if they're in a country with an overall tariff rate of 16 percent -- below 16 percent, and an up to $160 tariff per item if they're in a country with an overall tariff rate of between 16 percent and 25 percent. And then a brutal $200 per item tariff if they're in a country with an overall tariff rate above 25 percent.
Right now, for example, Brazil and India have a 50 percent tariff placed on most of their goods flowing into the United States. Sellers may decide to pass those extra costs onto U.S. consumers, and that means that those late-night impulse purchases will come with an even bigger dose of morning regret, or they may simply not arrive at all. Postal services around the world, including in Japan and Australia and across Europe, have temporarily suspended shipments to the United States.
That's because some say they are simply unsure of how to navigate the new system. How do they make sure the tariffs are paid? What paperwork is needed? And it's not yet clear when these services will be back up and running. For now, Americans wanting to indulge in some retail therapy will simply have fewer options.
Anna Cooban, CNN, London.
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WHITFIELD: All right. And for months now, President Trump has been announcing tariffs on countries from Mexico to China. In his latest documentary special, Fareed Zakaria looks back at America's history with tariffs including the surprising origins of Trump's own passion for protectionism.
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FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST, "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS": As President Trump has been hurling America's economy into turmoil with his big, beautiful tariffs, you may have asked yourself a question. When did he first fall in love with tariffs? Well, Trump's obsession with protectionism is a tale that goes back decades.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They are beating the hell out of this country. They have taken tremendous advantage of the United States, folks. They are systematically ripping off this country.
ZAKARIA (voice-over): You'd be forgiven for thinking that was an anti- China tirade from Donald Trump on the 2024 campaign trail, or maybe the 2016 campaign trail. Not quite. These are the words of a much younger Trump in the 1980s. Then laser-focused on Japan.
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WHITFIELD: "BIG, BEAUTIFUL TARIFFS, A FAREED ZAKARIA SPECIAL" airs Monday, 8:00 p.m.
All right. Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. CNN "TABLE FOR FIVE" is next.
