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U.S. Proposes New Mideast Ceasefire Plan; Trump Defends "War" Post Aimed at Chicago; Interview With Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA); Russia Launches Largest Aerial Attacks Since War Started Hitting Kyiv; Interview With Gov. Bob Ferguson (D-WA); Trump's Crypto Currency; St. Peter's Square Gathering; Smithsonian Exhibits. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired September 07, 2025 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:11]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello, again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. We begin with this breaking news on a hostage and ceasefire proposal in Gaza, which President Trump says is his last warning to Hamas to accept.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond joins me right now.

This the first proposal since negotiations broke off in July, right? So what's different about this plan?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's exactly right, Fred. And in addition to that, this new U.S. proposal is no longer looking at a temporary ceasefire deal or a partial release of the Israeli hostages. Instead, this new U.S. proposal aims to get all of the hostages home and ultimately end the war. This proposal, which has now been relayed to Hamas by the United States special envoy Steve Witkoff, calls for Hamas to release all of the remaining 48 hostages on day one of this agreement.

In exchange, Israel would halt its new offensive on Gaza City and agree to a ceasefire. That ceasefire, the duration of which would last as long as there are negotiations ongoing between these two sides to ultimately end the war in Gaza. And we're told by two Israeli officials that President Trump would ensure that this ceasefire would stay alive so long as those negotiations are still ongoing.

Now, we have heard from the president himself, who posted on social media that the Israelis have accepted my terms. He says, "It is time for Hamas to accept as well. I have warned Hamas about the consequences of not accepting. This is my last warning. There will not be another one."

The Israeli prime minister's office, for its part, has not confirmed that Israel has accepted these latest terms, but did say that Israel is, quote, "seriously considering President Trump's proposal." They also added that it appears Hamas will continue in its refusal.

We have not heard from Hamas directly on this, but that is ultimately going to be the big question here is how does Hamas respond to what is not just a new proposal, but also a new paradigm for how to advance these ceasefire and hostage release negotiations.

But it is also important to know that the way that this proposal is structured, Hamas, by giving up, releasing all of the hostages on day one, would effectively be giving up almost all of its leverage up front, relying only on assurances from the United States that a ceasefire would stay alive as long as those negotiations to end the war continue.

But bear in mind that those negotiations to end the war would be extraordinarily contentious. And that is because the two sides are still very far apart on what that actually looks like. Israel has insisted that Hamas not only be out of governance in Gaza, but also that Hamas ultimately, entirely disarm, which has been a red line for that militant group in the Gaza Strip.

So we will have to see how Hamas actually responds to this. All of this will, of course, be subject to negotiation. But a real question here of whether this new effort, a new paradigm for negotiations, could actually prompt some kind of a breakthrough here as the parties move away from these kind of temporary ceasefire, partial hostage release negotiations, and instead towards something much broader that would see the release of all of the hostages and ultimately end the war in Gaza.

I will say, though, a lot more work needs to be done before any of this has even a chance of becoming a reality -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Right. And how much hope is there from what they're hearing about this proposal?

DIAMOND: Look, this is early hours so far. There's no question that there are a lot of people here in Israel who want to see the hostages released, want to see the war end. There are a lot of people in Gaza who are currently suffering under what is an escalating Israeli bombardment campaign and the movement of Israeli troops into Gaza City.

A lot of people on the ground who are directly affected by this war on both sides, who want to see this this conflict end. But whether or not this is actually the way to do that, the way to unlock that still remains very, very uncertain -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Jeremy Diamond, thanks so much.

President Trump is defending his plans to send National Guard troops to Chicago as he escalates his rhetoric about the nation's third largest city. Yesterday, the president posted a meme that said, in part, "Chicago is about to find out why it's called the Department of War," referring to the rebranding of the Defense Department.

Democrats, including the Illinois governor, blasted the president for talking about going to war with an American city. This afternoon as he departed the White House, Trump defended his post and his plans to deploy troops to Chicago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're not going to war. We're going to clean up our cities. We're going to clean them up so they don't kill five people every weekend. That's not war. That's common sense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[16:05:05]

WHITFIELD: CNN's Alayna Treene is joining us now from the White House.

Alayna, the president's border czar also defending Trump's, you know, war post and language and his plans to send troops to Chicago. But are we getting anything more specific about the plan?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, when it comes to the plan itself, I'm told that it's, you know, beginning to kick off there in Chicago. We know that personnel from Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE, as it's more formally known as, and Customs and Border Protection, all of that personnel kind of trickling into the city in recent days as they ramp up for what is expected to be a major widespread immigration operation in the city.

And this comes, Fred, as we know that they are planning to target other sanctuary cities as well. We have reporting about them going into Boston, for example, and this comes after we saw them launch a major similar operation in Los Angeles back in June. That is what I'm told the Chicago operation is being modeled after.

I'd remind you that we saw in Los Angeles some of those immigration arrests and other efforts that were carried out by federal law enforcement really become very chaotic, a lot of protesters, you know, it became bad enough, really, that we saw the president call on the National Guard and send them to the city, something that a judge later ruled that he did not have the authority to do, to have military into a domestic, an American city, and to try and do law enforcement efforts.

Now, we did hear Homan as well talk about that today and the possibility of the president ultimately calling on the National Guard to go to Chicago as well. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM HOMAN, WHITE HOUSE BORDER CZAR: The National Guard are always on the table. We used them in Los Angeles and we use them in Washington, D.C. They're a force multiplier. Now, do they arrest illegal aliens? No. The ICE officers, Border Patrol agents who have Title Eight authority, arrest illegal criminal aliens.

But the National Guard does provide protection for us. It does provide us infrastructure, provides us transportation, provides us additional processing capability that allows the ones who immigration authority, the badges and guns on the street continue arresting the bad guy. So yes, they're a force multiplier and they're on the table.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So as you heard there, what Homan was telling CNN's Jake Tapper is essentially laying the groundwork in the event that the president does call upon the National Guard to go to Chicago.

I would note in my conversations with White House officials, they say that they would only do that if, similar to L.A., some of the, you know, protests or anything else around these operations that are planned get out of hand and that they would be there only for a peacekeeping operation. But part of the reason that this is gaining so much criticism from lawmakers, including the governor of Illinois, J.B. Pritzker, is because that is really the authority of the governor to do when it comes to the National Guard.

And so a lot of questions about where this is going to go. But we should start to see, Fred, in the coming days really this ramped up presence and a lot of these arrests that are expected to be made.

WHITFIELD: All right. Alayna Treene, at the White House, thanks so much.

All right. We're learning that a new ICE operation is right now underway in Boston. The Department of Homeland Security announced the launch of what they are calling Operation Patriot 2.0.

I'm joined now by Massachusetts Democratic Congressman Jake Auchincloss.

Congressman, great to see you. So let me start with your reaction to this new ICE operation called Operation Patriot 2.0. What's your understanding about what's happening?

REP. JAKE AUCHINCLOSS (D-MA): Thanks for having me on. Bay Staters don't want criminals walking on our streets. Rapists, thieves, murderers. Absolutely should be incarcerated, deported. They also don't want thuggery on their streets. Government agents, masked, pulling up in unmarked vans, tackling people, surrounding people in ways that don't speak to due process or the American way of law.

And so if this administration wants to support law enforcement in Massachusetts and in Boston, they had better work with the governor and with the mayor.

WHITFIELD: President Trump, you know, has sent National Guard troops to Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. Right now we understand they're in Boston. He's vowing that Chicago might be next.

I mean, you served in the Marines and commanded forces in Afghanistan and Panama. Do you think this is the proper use of the nation's military to send troops to U.S. cities for immigration and crime crackdowns?

AUCHINCLOSS: No. And I, in fact, commanded infantry Marines in 29 Palms, which was the base from which those 700 Marines were deployed to Los Angeles. And I spoke out vociferously against that deployment because, one, it's a violation of Posse Comitatus or the principle that military should not be used for law enforcement. But also it's deeply unfair to those Marines.

[16:10:01]

Those Marines enlisted to fight for our republic against the People's Republic of China or against the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, not against Angelenos or Bostonians or Chicagoans, not against their fellow citizens. So we have to reject this authoritarian action. We also, though, as Democrats, and this is critical, we can't take the bait. OK. We can't sit here and let him frame the issue of law and order.

He is not the law and order president. He tried to overturn a free and fair election. He's trying to defund the FBI. He's flooding guns onto our streets. We have to be the party that not just defends the Constitution, but will also take care of quality of life issues in our city streets, that will, you know, crack down on shoplifting or open air drug use or homeless encampments. The kind of things people don't like.

Democrats should be up against on our own. We should demonstrate to people that we can govern without this guy in the White House intruding on our governance.

WHITFIELD: And then as a Marine, I mean, what's your reaction to the president rebranding the Department of Defense to now the Department of War?

AUCHINCLOSS: This guy is always a show horse, never a workhorse, right? He does this flashy rebranding. The question is, is the Pentagon actually fit to fight a war? We got to build more ships than the Chinese Navy. We have to deploy uncrewed systems to the Indo- Pacific and reorient the Marine Corps to fight an island campaign. And he's installed as the chief of that operation Pete Hegseth, who I wouldn't put this guy in charge of a Cuisinart, much less the greatest military the world has ever known.

And so I don't care what they call it. I care if it's ready to do it. And this administration has not demonstrated that competence. What we saw last week was Modi, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin in front of a military parade as they prepare to create a unipolar moment in the Indo-Pacific. We have to be focused on that, not on a branding exercise.

WHITFIELD: And then let me shift gears. You had an op-ed in "The New York Times," and you're calling for action to regulate digital dopamine. It's a big concern of yours. You have three young children under the age of six. Help people understand what it is that you believe collectively this nation can and should be doing.

AUCHINCLOSS: The average American child spends less time outdoors than a federal inmate, and I don't want that future for my children. I don't think most parents want that future for their children. But as a member of the committee with jurisdiction over these tech companies, I see the problem, which is that both in our markets and in our laws, we have stacked the deck for these companies to attention frack our youth. It's social media. It is online gambling. It is pornography. These

things are cutting out in-real life effort, and they are keeping our young people glued to constant software driven hits of dopamine. And what I want to impart to Americans with this op-ed is that is a future that we can allow ourselves to glide into through corporate influence, or we can choose something different.

We can enlist our young people into missions bigger than themselves, to build five million homes, to build five Hoover dams worth of nuclear power, to build more ships than the Chinese Navy, to create a 21st century economy that works for everybody, that outcompetes China, where we're sweating and striving in real life. And that is a policy choice. That's a cultural choice that we can make.

WHITFIELD: All right, Congressman Jake Auchincloss, we'll leave it there for now. Thank you so much for being with us.

AUCHINCLOSS: Good to be on.

WHITFIELD: All right. Still to come, the Trump family could rake in billions of dollars by cashing in on the crypto gold rush that they are helping to create. The conflict of interest concerns that are on the rise. And next, what President Trump is saying after Russia launches its largest aerial assault of the war, striking numerous city centers across Ukraine, and for the first time a government building in Kyiv.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:18:31]

WHITFIELD: All right. Breaking news into CNN, just days after Russia missed Trump's self-imposed deadline to strike a peace deal with Ukraine, President Trump announced this afternoon that he's ready to move to a second phase of sanctions against Moscow. This comes as Russia is escalating its attacks on Ukraine, launching the largest aerial assault on the country since the war started.

CNN's Paula Hancocks has more.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Saturday, overnight into Sunday was a terrifying time for residents of Kyiv and also residents of other cities around Ukraine as an intense Russian bombardment was underway. The Ukrainian Air Force say there were some 810 drones, four ballistic missiles, nine cruise missiles that were targeted towards Ukraine.

Now, the vast majority of them were intercepted by air defense systems, but some got through. At least 50 drones -- 54 drones got through, as well as a number of missiles, because the sheer number of the arsenal that was coming through was overwhelming.

Now, many of the areas hit were residential areas, residential buildings. There was loss of life among civilians. We heard from the mayor of Kyiv.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR VITALI KLITSCHKO, KYIV, UKRAINE (through translator): Yet another attack. The two city districts of Donetsk and Sviatoshynskyi have suffered the most. We are now in Sviatoshynskyi district, where a Shaheed drone hit a residential building.

[16:20:05]

The government quarters have also been hit. A government building is on fire now. There is also a warehouse on fire in this Sviatoshynskyi district. You can hear the helicopters extinguishing the fire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: Now, we do know that a number of high rise buildings, residential buildings were hit. A nine-floor apartment block that was severely damaged, a 16-floor apartment block, we're hearing that the top two floors were on fire.

It was a very disturbing night, in particular for the residents of Kyiv. Let's listen to how some of them have coped.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YULIA, KYIV RESIDENT (through translator): We heard them flying right here. We heard them. These were terrible explosions. People were obviously scared because the building was shaking.

OLHA, KYIV RESIDENT (through translator): It was very scary. In all four years of war, this was the first time it was extremely scary. I understand that jet drones were also attacking because they were going down, and immediately there was an explosion. It was very scary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called this attack vile. He has said in a post on social media, quote, "Such killings now when real diplomacy could have started a long time ago are a deliberate crime and a prolongation of the war. The world can make the Kremlin's criminals stop killing. All we need is political will."

Now, it does come at a time when Ukraine's Western allies are trying to find a path to a ceasefire, a path to peace, a path that looks even more dubious and winding on this Sunday after such an intense Russian bombardment overnight.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Abu Dhabi.

WHITFIELD: And new information now on Wednesday's funicular crash in Lisbon that left 16 people dead and several others hurt. A preliminary investigation reveals the steel cable connecting the funicular's two carriages gave way right after their departure. This caused the cable car at the top of the street to increase in speed and then derail. A scheduled inspection on the morning of the incident determined there was nothing wrong with the cars or the braking systems. All right, still to come, the Trump administration is facing more

pushback over his policies from city and state leaders to federal courts. Up next, we'll speak live with Washington state Governor Bob Ferguson.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:27:00]

WHITFIELD: An alliance is forming in response to the chaos across the CDC. The governors of California, Washington, and Oregon this week announced that they were launching a West Coast health alliance. It's an effort to coordinate public health guidance on vaccines, independent of the CDC, and will instead lean on guidelines from national medical associations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Meantime, on the East Coast, Florida is going in a very different direction. Listen to what the state's surgeon general told CNN this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH LADAPO, FLORIDA SURGEON GENERAL: We're not taking vaccines away. They have the ability to consider those things when they make decisions about their child, but they -- their ability to consider those things cannot be usurped by someone else. They are the ultimate arbiters of what happens with their children. That's how it should be. And that's why my position will never change because that will always be true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: I want to talk more now about all of this with Washington Governor Bob Ferguson.

Governor, great to see you.

GOV. BOB FERGUSON (D), WASHINGTON: Likewise. Thank you so much.

WHITFIELD: Well, before I ask you about your response to what the Florida surgeon general is saying, you know, why form this alliance, this health alliance? What do you believe are going to be the gains from that?

FERGUSON: Well, Washington, Oregon, and California put together this alliance, and by the way, Hawaii has joined us and their governor, Governor Green, is an actual doctor. So our alliance is growing. But we're doing this because of what we saw with the hearing with Robert Kennedy at the U.S. Senate recently, and the mentality from Robert Kennedy in firing people who are folks who follow the science when it comes to public health. And look, he's not just a crank. He's a man who's dangerous for public health in our country.

So as the governor of my state, I need to look out for the public health for the people of my state. And that's why we're forming our own alliance. So we are guided by science, not by a vaccine skeptic and a crank like Robert Kennedy Jr.

WHITFIELD: And what are residents in your state telling you about what they're hoping to learn, whether there will be some, you know, Web sites? How are they going to get information from this new alliance?

FERGUSON: We're already cranking out that information in real time to the people of our respective states. So what you'll see here in Washington and again, Oregon, California, Hawaii are vaccine schedules that make sense and are based on science. That information will be provided to pharmacies and doctors here in our state and to the public at large. So I speak not just as a governor, but, you know, as a parent of two teenagers who are here in my home right now.

I'm looking out for their health, just like every parent is. And so what we're seeing in Florida, where they're going in completely the opposite direction, is exactly what we want to avoid. We're looking out for public health and making sure we're guided by actual science.

WHITFIELD: OK. And now back to the Florida surgeon general, you know, who is justifying his reasoning by saying that they're trying to remove vaccine mandates in the state. So that, quote, "you have sovereignty over your body," end quote.

[16:30:00]

How do you interpret the removal of these mandated vaccines? What will be the consequences or the gains, in your view?

FERGUSON: Well, you know, it's interesting in that interview, which I watched by the way, he was asked specifically, have they done any research or any analysis of the public health impacts of taking this approach? For example, increasing outbreaks. His answer was shocking, but I suppose not surprising these days. His answer was, no. He said, absolutely not.

I mean, so, it's certainly unknown what the impacts will be because guess what? Florida isn't even bothering to take a look at what those impacts might be for public health.

So, look, if you're a parent in Florida watching this and you're concerned about the health for you and your family, hey, come to a state like Washington State where we're guided by the science. And we'll do everything we can to make sure you have accurate information to make good decisions for your family.

WHITFIELD: All right. And now, shifting gears, you know, I'll just turn to the Trump Administration's targeting of sanctuary cities and blue states. I want to play for you something that the White House border czar said this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM HOMAN, BORDER CZAR, WHITE HOUSE: Absolutely. You can expect action in most sanctuary cities across the country. President Trump's prioritized sanctuary cities, because sanctuary cities knowingly release illegal alien public safety threats to the streets every day. That's where the problem is.

And we don't have that problem in Florida, where every sheriff and chief works for us, right, or Texas. So, we got to send additional resources to the problem areas which are sanctuary cities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, how do you prepare for the action? That was his word. You know, the action that is forthcoming.

FERGUSON: Sure. Well, number one, we're going to take steps to make sure we defend and uphold our laws here in Washington State, which says our local law enforcement focus on local law enforcement. Our local law enforcement are not allowed to cooperate with raids by ICE in our state.

Rather, they focus on local law enforcement. That's perfectly legal. And we think that's the right use of our resources for public safety.

Number two, of course, he has his facts wrong, which is not surprising in Washington State. If, for example, you're a convicted felon, you know, when you're released from prison, ICE is given heads up and ICE picks up those individuals. So, that's how we handle those situations.

I might also add that, for the Trump Administration, look, if they're worried about public safety, they should take a look at the list of top 20 cities in the country that have the highest homicide rates. Guess what? The majority of those cities are in red states and with Republican governors. City of Seattle, for example, is nowhere near anywhere on that list.

So, if they were serious about public safety, that's where they would focus. But let's be honest, they're not focused on public safety. It's all about stunts. It's all about politicizing everything.

And so, as a governor, we just have to be prepared for that. And we're doing that.

WHITFIELD: All right. Washington State governor, Bob Ferguson, thanks so much.

FERGUSON: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Coming up, the Trump family is helping to create a crypto gold rush, and they could rake in billions of dollars. Details on the conflict-of-interest concerns that are on the rise, next.

[16:33:03]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREDRICKA: All right, someone's bank account is about to get a massive deposit. At least two people in two states are now Powerball jackpot winners, marking the end to the nearly $1.8 billion drawing. Two winning Powerball tickets were sold in Texas and Missouri. The Texas ticket was sold at a convenience store near San Antonio. The location of the Missouri ticket has not been announced. Here's a look at the winning numbers. Just in case you wanted to know still: 11, 23, 44, 61, 62 and the Powerball number of 17.

All right. A whopping $5 billion. Not a new jackpot but that's how much the Trump family has amassed in value after launching a new crypto token, according to the "Wall Street Journal."

Yes, their personal jackpot. Donald Trump and his sons, along with a few others, founded the financial company World Liberty Financial in 2024. And new crypto legislation that was passed under the Trump Administration has eased the way to cash in big bucks.

CNN's Nick Watt has more on Trump's attitude toward cryptocurrency and if it presents a conflict of interest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Trump family amasses $5 billion fortune after crypto launch, read the "Wall Street Journal" headline.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Crypto is likely now the Trump family's primary business interests.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is the crypto president.

WATT: A "Fox Business" host, usually a Donald Trump apologist, explained it like this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's crypto friendly legislation, coming from the President of the United States.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who is, in turn, cashing in on the crypto phase, personally. His family.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Conflict of interest. They say, no.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not yes because they can't touch it (?).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But that's how it appears.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's sounds (?) true.

WATT: Back in 2021, Trump was not a crypto guy.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Bitcoin, it just seems like a scam.

WATT: Then, he changed his mind.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This afternoon, I'm laying out my plan to ensure that the United States will be the crypto capital of the planet.

WATT: On the eve of his inauguration, the Trumps launched two meme coins, Trump and Melania. In May, the biggest Trump coin buyers were rewarded, dinner with the President. In June, Trump declared $57 million in earnings from so-called token sales, digital assets. That's some of the cashing in the "Fox Business" guy was talking about.

[16:40:03]

WATT: Now, the legislation, slash regulation. Week one in office, Trump signed a crypto-focused executive order that, among other things, called for a re-evaluation of regulations.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They're (?) going to make a lot of money for the country.

WATT: The crypto-weary chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission had already been eased out.

JD VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We reject regulators. And we fired Gary Gensler and we're going to fire everybody like him.

WATT: The SEC soon dropped cases against a handful of major crypto- trading platforms. This summer, Trump signed the Genius Act, designed to make crypto trading safer, which increases public confidence, which makes it more valuable.

Meanwhile, Trump Media, owner of the flagging Truth Social, is pivoting into more crypto trading.

ERIC TRUMP, FOUNDER, AMERICAN BITCOIN: Our family loves you.

WATT: This week, Eric Trump was in Asia, promoting American bitcoin, a company he founded. He and his brother reportedly hold a stake worth north of a billion bucks.

Finally, the back story to that journal $5 billion headline. Last year, Trump and sons and others founded World Liberty Financial. This week, it launched a digital currency onto the market, landing the Trumps that $5 billion on paper.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(on camera): Now, since he took office again, Donald Trump is now listed as a co-founder emeritus at World Liberty Financial. Unclear exactly what that means. Anyway, we asked the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, about all this. Her answer? Neither the President nor his kids have ever engaged or will ever engage in conflicts of interest -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: OK. Nick Watt, thank you so much.

All right. In a moment, is Donald Trump trying to rewrite history with his criticism of exhibits at the Smithsonian museums? We'll take a tour of what's actually on display, when we come right back.

[16:42:08]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Thousands gathered in Saint Peter's Square this morning, as Pope Leo canonized Carlo Acutis, Nicknamed God's influencer, to become the first millennial saint. The Italian teenager was canonized alongside another young Italian man, who died in 1925.

CNN's Christopher Lamb has more on Acutis' path to sainthood and the day's events.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carlo Acutis has just been declared the first millennial saint in the history of the catholic church. Carlo Acutis died in 2006 at the age of 15 of leukemia.

During his life, he was something of a computer whiz kid, and he used his computer skills to set up a Website to document eucharistic miracles and awareness of the catholic faith. He's seen as something of a patron saint of the Internet, to guide young people through the digital world.

And since he died in 2006, a huge following has grown up to Carlo Acutis to his memory and to what he stood for. And there was huge numbers, here in Saint Peter's Square, for the moment when Pope Leo declared him a saint. A spontaneous eruption of applause broke out in the square when that happened.

Now, people from across the globe are here for this event. And I spoke to some of those from Pennsylvania, where there is a shrine to Carlo Acutis. There's a big following to this new saint in the United States. Here's what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I felt like he related to me because he found a way to use technology and love God at the same time. And use them in a way. And I feel like I kind of need to do that. And this generation needs to learn how to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAMB: He used the Internet for positive things. He used the Internet to share his information on the eucharist with other children, with adults. He's touched my life as an older man.

Now, Carlo Acutis was declared a saint after a long investigation into his life, and after two miracles were attributed to his intercession, which is a necessary requirement normally for saints to be declared in the catholic church.

The two miracles of Carlo Acutis. One, a young Brazilian boy who had a birth defect and was reportedly cured of that after prayers were said to Carlo Acutis. And a young Costa Rican woman, a 21 year old, who had a bicycle accident in Florence. And her mother reportedly prayed to Carlo Acutis and she was cured, too.

So, it was after that investigation into his life. The declaration of the miracles that Pope Leo today was able to declare him a saint. Also of note is the fact that Carlo Acutis' family were here in Saint Peter's to witness this moment. His mother and father and his brother and sister.

They were mentioned by Pope Leo in his remarks during the canonization ceremony. So, a historic moment here in Saint Peter's with the declaration of the first millennial saint in the history of the church.

[16:50:02]

LAMB: Christopher Lamb, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks, Christopher. All right, in a response to President Trump's demands for a complete review of Smithsonian exhibits, the institutions secretary, Lonnie Bunch, reportedly asserted the Smithsonian's independence. Bunch wrote to staff that he assembled a small internal team to handle the White House request, but said he told Trump in person, quote, "our independence is paramount."

The President has targeted the Smithsonian, saying, and I'm quoting now, "everything discussed is how horrible our country is, how bad slavery was and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been. Nothing about success," end quote.

But is that true? CNN's Jake Tapper takes us on a tour to find out what is on display.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're here at the Smithsonian today to go in and see exactly what the White House is talking about. So, this exhibit is about title nine and girls and women's sports.

It starts with Naomi Osaka, the tennis star. And Sam Mewis, the soccer star. And then, it turns to Leo Baker, the skateboarder.

And it says, quote, "Baker, who identifies as trans non-binary, decided not to compete in team USA, lost a potential medal winner." Quote, "Baker refused to conform to a gender they did not identify with." And the title nine exhibit turns into trans rights or human rights.

So, this exhibit is called the electric Dr. Franklin. And the White House issue is not that Benjamin Franklin is noted here, but that there are so many mentions of Franklin enslaved people, perhaps as many as seven. And there's just such an emphasis, the White House says, on the enslaved individuals.

Nothing here. But here, it says, missing from this image are the people whose labor freed Franklin to conduct his research. The women, indentured servants and enslaved people who maintained his household, assisted him or made or operated equipment.

We should note that the Smithsonian has literally thousands of exhibits, and most of them there is absolutely nothing controversial about. We're here in the Hall of the American People, and we're not exactly sure what the White House issue is with this exhibit.

It is a Statue of Liberty replica, except with an agricultural worker holding a tomato. This is from a protest for higher wages from 25 years ago by the Immokalee people, which are the Seminoles.

So, this is a big exhibit about democracy in America, and the Trump Administration has issued with two parts of this. One is this assertion that some individuals, some voting places, changed voter registration requirements and Election Day rules and attempts to minimize the political power of newly enfranchised groups, by stating that as a fact and not an analysis or interpretation. The Trump White House is saying that this is a leftist narrative.

This exhibit on demonstrations also aroused the ire of the White House because they say these historical representations of protests past are only leftist causes. They certainly are mostly but they're not only. I mean, there's give me liberty or give me debt. And forced bussing is a no no. And secure our borders now. And stop abortion now.

We just saw demonstrations of a Klan rally in that television, as well as a gun rights rally. So, not completely accurate, their complaint.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, Jake Tapper, thanks so much. And we'll be right back.

[16:53:31]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, each year, an estimated 250,000 animals are kept in overcrowded homes across the United States, often living in horrific conditions. This week's CNN Hero is trying to change that, offering them a new start in life. Meet Tim Woodward.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TIM WOODWARD, CO-FOUNDER, ANIMAL RESCUE CORPS: We see animals living in conditions that I would have never imagined before doing this.

I see a little dog down here in this in this crate. Hi, mama.

Their physical condition is incredibly debilitated. It can be very gruesome. Your average shelter is used to taking animals in one or two at a time. We pull in large numbers of animals from a crisis situation. We'll work with law enforcement. They will designate us as an agent of law enforcement to go onto the scene, to seize those animals.

You're OK. See? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look at that smile. Yes.

WOODWARD: We bring a very tight-trained team, including a state- licensed forensic vet, vet techs, as well as an intake team. And of course, our trained handlers.

They're in five different pop ups. Well split them up two, two and two.

We're kind of the midway point between where they came from and where they will find their forever home.

We're going to get you all fixed up.

So, for the time that they're in our care, we try to make sure that they are becoming healthier.

What are you doing, huh?

And we try as best we can to prepare them for life in a home.

The change in the animals is always remarkable. They come out of situations where they have no trust.

[17:00:01]

WOODWARD: And then, with time and attention, they begin to literally blossom.

You're getting out of here.