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Trump Says He's Sending Troops To Protect "War Ravaged Portland"; Tropical System Threatens To Bring Damaging Winds, Rain To SE Coast; Sources: Comey False Statement Charge Appears To Relate To Clinton Email Server Investigation; Senior DOJ Officials Pushing For Bolton To Be Charged This Week; NYT: DOJ Seeks Travel Info On Georgia DA Who Prosecuted Trump; Trump Announces 25 Percent Tariff On Imported Trucks, 30 Percent Tariff On Furniture. Trump: "Very Close" To A Deal To End Gaza Conflict; ICE Detains Superintendent Of Iowa's Largest School District; U.S. Revokes Colombian President's Visa After Gaza Protest Speech. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired September 27, 2025 - 12:00   ET

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

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ADAM CVIJANOVIC, PAINTER: -- winds up being in a much better place. So it's -- it has political implications, but it itself is not political.

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CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN ANCHOR: And urge everybody to visit. It is magnificent.

That's all we have time for right now. Don't forget you can find all of our shows online as podcasts at CNN.com/audio and on all other major platforms.

I'm Christiane Amanpour in New York. Thank you for watching and I'll see you again next week.

[12:00:35]

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, thanks so much for joining me. I'm Danny Freeman sitting in for Fredricka Whitfield today.

And we're following two breaking news stories right at the top of this hour. First Hurricane Humberto strengthening to a strong category 4 storm today as a second tropical depression brews off of the Bahamas. And just moments ago, President Trump announced on Truth Social, he's sending troops into Portland, Oregon to protect ICE facilities.

For the very latest on this troop deployment to yet another American city, let's bring in Kevin Liptak at the White House for us. Kevin, tell us, break it down, what more do we know about this plan to send troops to Portland, Oregon?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, and you're right that this is an escalation of the President's attempts to send U.S. troops into American cities. And it does follow a pattern that we've seen in Los Angeles and in Washington, D.C. of the President choosing Democrat-led cities, Democrat-led states to execute some of these operations.

The President writing on Truth Social just this hour that at the request of Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, "I am directing Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, to provide all necessary troops to protect war ravaged Portland and any of our ICE facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists. I am also authorizing full force if necessary. Thank you for your attention to this matter."

Now there are a lot of unanswered questions about what exactly the President is doing here. He hasn't laid out a timeline of when these troops might arrive in Oregon. He hasn't said what types of troops they might be and he hasn't spelled out what legal authority he's using because remember, under ordinary circumstances, U.S. troops are not allowed to be deployed for law enforcement purposes inside the United States.

Now, the question is why Portland? You know, this is a city that has a long history of liberal politics and protests. There is an ICE facility about 2 miles south of downtown that has been a target of frequent demonstrations over the summer. Most of them has been -- have been peaceful, but sometimes they have led to some violent clashes.

And, in fact, at one point, a guillotine was erected outside of this building. The Department of Homeland Security described it at the time as unhinged behavior. President Trump has been talking about Portland over the last week or so. He said in the Oval Office on Thursday that they were going to get out there, that we're going to do, quote, "a pretty big number on those people in Portland."

He called them professional agitators and anarchists. And remember, he's been talking about Antifa as well over the last week, designating them a domestic terrorist organization. Although that label doesn't necessarily have any legal backing in the United States, clearly, the President trying to go after some of these left-leaning groups.

Now, we should note that the mayor of Portland has been pretty explicit that he doesn't want American troops in this city there. He said just last week that like mayors across the country have not asked for and do not need federal intervention. That's the mayor of Portland Keith Wilson speaking there.

And there were officials just last night as it seemed clear that this federal intervention could potentially be in the offing who are speaking in Portland and encouraging the protesters to, quote, "don't take the bait." Those were the words of the U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley essentially warning that this uptick in federal intervention could potentially be aimed at goading some of these protesters into conflict.

And so this will play out certainly over the coming days and week. It will be very important to figure out what exactly these troops are and what precisely their authorities will be once they reach the ground there in Portland.

FREEMAN: Yes, very important indeed. All right, all eyes heading to the Pacific Northwest for the story.

Kevin Liptak, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

All right, now we want to move to our other breaking story. A tropical storm system brewing near the Bahamas is closing in on the southeast and threatening to unleash flooding rains and dangerous winds on the coastal Carolinas and Georgia as early as Monday. Now it just strengthened into a tropical depression and South Carolina's governor has declared a state of emergency urging people there to prepare.

CNN Meteorologist Chris Warren joins me now. Chris, talk us through this. What are the likely scenarios here?

CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, good news at least at this point, Danny, is that the forecast is looking better that the question is whether or not that's going to stick, whether or not that's going to stay. This is the area of concern.

[12:05:03]

Now, there is a beast in the Atlantic, Humberto out here, category 4 hurricane, and that could have some say in what ultimately happens with this. Couple of key points here, it is going to continue to bring some tropical storm force winds to the Bahamas even parts of Cuba initially. It's possible, possible as it moves just offshore of Florida.

There could be tropical storm force winds in parts of Florida. We'll have to see how that goes. But the other thing here is, look at the timing for this. This is tomorrow morning, Monday morning. So you're looking at 24 hours going from the Bahamas just up night into Daytona Beach yet. So it's taking a long time.

Here's Tuesday. Now, Danny, this is what is new here. The forecast track from the National Hurricane Center does take it more likely to the east. That being said, there will be several more forecasts between now and Tuesday. So a lot can change.

But what we are going to be watching for is the trend. This is what we want to see. We want to see that quick exit, that quick right. Now with this, again, a category 4 hurricane as it's moving over, it's helping to weaken a little bit some of the steering pattern. That may be what's helping it take that turn.

Now things again can change through time, but at this point we do hope and that this is what happens. This would be better, but this is the -- taking that turn away from the U.S. Again, it's not a lock yet. Several forecasts still to go over the next few days.

So the possibilities are still there. The possibility that it is going to go out offshore, we need that, we want that but coming on shore could be a very bad situation when it comes to the rainfall. So here's the -- one of the forecasts here, the European model does show that gets very close stalls out could be a really rough day at the beaches.

But Danny, when we see the forecast for rain, more than 10 inches offshore, so this is a bad day at the beach with possible flooding. This, if it were to go over here, could be something we'd be talking about for years. So the stakes are really high right now and the -- also the uncertainty is still with us. Time will tell.

FREEMAN: Well, again, fingers crossed that it continues off into the Atlantic, but we'll be paying attention to your reports.

Chris Warren, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

All right. Joining me now is Michael Brennan, the director of NOAA's National Hurricane Center. Michael, good to see you. Can you first give us a sense of the development of this tropical depression here that will eventually be called Imelda, and I guess how Humberto could impact it as well?

MICHAEL BRENNAN, DIRECTOR, NOAA'S NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Yes, you know, talking about, we have seen tropical depression 9 form here just north of the northern coast of Cuba currently a little over 100 miles to the south, southwest of the central Bahamas. You can see it becoming better organized and satellite imagery and the data we're getting for our hurricane aircraft.

And you also do see Humberto, a powerful category 4 hurricane, you know, several 100 miles to the east of our depression. The forecast does take the depression strengthening to a tropical storm moving generally northward through the central and northwestern Bahamas coming potentially close enough to the east coast of Florida. We could see tropical storm conditions there where we now have a watch.

And then as we get into the middle to -- early to middle portions of next week, we could see some interaction between this system and Humberto which you see the forecast for here passing to the east. And, you know, there's, you know, a lot of uncertainty here in the exact track of the center of the depression which is forecast to be a hurricane by the time it gets up here off the southeast U.S. coast.

But it's important to emphasize it doesn't take a hurricane making landfall in this area to produce dangerous impacts storms or when heavy rainfall. It gets close enough to the coast and since there for a couple days. We could see some significant impacts beginning as soon as you know, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday timeframe.

FREEMAN: Well, can you speak a little more about that, Michael, because what is the actual risk then?

BRENNAN: Sure.

FREEMAN: Because that's the thing that matters most of us, right? What is the actual risk then to some of those people who may be living on that southern east coast over the next, let's say, 72 hours? How intense could it be?

BRENNAN: Well, we're forecasting a strong tropical storm category 1 hurricane in this area. Obviously those hurricane-force winds are going to be close to the center. So if you have a -- and there's still scenarios where we could see the center of the storm actually move inland and make landfall some say along the South Carolina coast or southern North Carolina.

That would sort of be the worst case scenario in terms of coastal impacts because, you know, it's hurricane-force winds. You get a significant storm surge near where the center could make landfall that could result in dangerous inundation. And, you know, some of the worst-case scenario would be the system center moving inland and stalling out and meandering here over portions of South and North Carolina from a rainfall perspective and those are the scenarios where you could get double-digit rainfall totals.

But even a scenario where the system stalls out and meanders (ph) here along the coast, even if it doesn't make landfall, you could have elevated water levels along the coast and storm surge over multiple high tide cycles. Long duration of at least tropical storm conditions and heavy rainfall, probably more isolated to the immediate coastline, let's say, Eastern South Carolina, southeastern North Carolina. So that could still be very impactful as well.

FREEMAN: OK. So, again, we're still hoping that it goes east and keeps heading off into the ocean.

BRENNAN: Yes.

[12:10:00]

FREEMAN: I'm curious though, Michael, just taking a little bit bigger of a picture and perspective here, what are you forecasting in the coming weeks in terms of more potential major storms because frankly up until now it seems like hurricane season has started perhaps a little bit quieter?

BRENNAN: Yes, well, you know, there's a third major hurricane we've had this year, so we haven't had a lot of hurricanes but all three of them that have formed so far have gone on to become either category 4, category 5 hurricanes have been very powerful storms. It's important for everybody to know that late in the hurricane season, the development as we're seeing right now, tends to shift back toward the western part of the basin near the Gulf, Caribbean, Florida.

And those systems that form late in the season because of where they're starting out have a much higher chance of affecting the United States, the Caribbean, and the island. So that can continue all the way in through October and even have hurricane landfalls into November. So the back end of hurricane season still be pretty good.

FREEMAN: All right, so far from out of the woods, but at least hopefully again, fingers crossed, that this particular depression keeps heading into the ocean.

Michael Brennan, thank you so much for your time as always. Appreciate you.

BRENNAN: Thanks.

FREEMAN: All right, we're learning new details about the indictment against former FBI Director James Comey. Sources tell CNN that alleged media leak at the center of this whole indictment appears to relate to the 2016 investigation of Hillary Clinton's email server rather than the separate 2016 FBI investigation of Donald Trump and Russian election meddling. And this all comes after Comey's indictment President Trump telling reporters he expects other political opponents will be prosecuted to.

CNN's Katelyn Polantz has more.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: The President clearly is pleased with this development where Jim Comey, his longtime political foe, the former FBI director, who Trump fired early in his first administration, now under criminal indictment in a federal court in Virginia.

But it is not just a political case, this is now a court document. We have the indictment now in front of us and this court document, this indictment, it was charged by a grand jury. So a group of 14 people in the Eastern District of Virginia secretly voted to approve these charges against Jim Comey.

Walking through them a little bit, they are about testimony that Comey gave to the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 30th five years ago in 2020. During that testimony, he was asked by Senator Ted Cruz if he had ever authorized someone at the FBI to be an anonymous source to the media. Comey maintained that he had not and he stood by earlier testimony where he also denied leaking to the press.

This though the Justice Department says is something that they believe Comey there knew he in fact had authorized a person to serve as an anonymous source in news reports regarding an FBI investigation. And on top of that that the Justice Department accuses him of lying. So making a false statement about that alleged leak as well as obstructing the congressional proceeding.

This now is going to go before a judge to be road-tested. Comey's lawyers, they're going to have lots of opportunity to try and contest this case, these charges, these facts, and also argue about why he shouldn't be charged. They may even have the opportunity to present in court to the judge potentially even to a jury the statements that Donald Trump has been making publicly and others have made about this case.

There has been some reporting including here at CNN that prosecutors wrote down their concerns about this case and delivered that in a memo to the U.S. Attorney's Office before the U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan just five days or four days onto the job went to court to get this approved by the grand jury. All of it is going to be happening over the next couple months.

We don't know how long yet it will be until a trial. It could be a short time, it could be a long time. But Comey's next appearance, it's on October 9th, that's when he'll go before the judge in the Eastern District of Virginia and he will have the opportunity to formally plead not guilty.

FREEMAN: Katelyn Polantz, thank you for that reporting.

Joining me now to talk more about these developments is Jamil Jaffer, he's a former counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for National Security and a former associate counsel to President George W Bush. Jamil, thank you so much for joining us to talk about a lot of legal developments.

Let's start with the Comey indictment. From your perspective now, do you think that this will ever get to trial?

JAMIL JAFFER, FMR. COUNSEL TO ASST. ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR NATIONAL SECURITY: Well, Danny, it's hard to know, right? The question is, what evidence does the government have against former FBI Director Comey? What evidence do they have that he actually lied about whether he authorized somebody to leak? It would be surprising if they've got a significant evidence that we haven't seen yet.

So it'll be interesting to see what they put forward. We've only seen the indictment. We haven't seen the underlying criminal information that led to it that they presented to the grand jury that Lindsey Halligan presented. So we'll see what she -- what they've got.

And then of course as Katelyn pointed out, James Comey's attorneys will have a chance to push back on that. So we'll see how this plays out.

[12:15:00]

And at the end of the day, more often than not, these attempts at trials end up in resolution. They end up in plea agreements. Jim Comey though not looking like he's going to plead. So if they have evidence, this is probably going to go to trial.

FREEMAN: No, I mean, Jim Comey, the one thing we got from his statement was bring on the trial, right? That was the main thing he said crystal clear.

I want to push on for a minute because there have been a lot of legal developments over the past 72 hours. CNN reporting senior DOJ officials are pushing now for charges for John Bolton, President Trump's former adviser turned critic after that dramatic FBI raid of his home.

Jamil, if it turns out Bolton did have documents labeled secret or classified as some of us understand to potentially be the case, what are the potential implications of that?

JAFFER: Well, look, as we know, President Biden and his Justice Department brought charges against President Trump for improperly possessing classified documents at his house. This is a similar claim that's going to be made against Jim, against, pardon me, against John Bolton, if in fact he did have classified documents at his house.

You can't simply remove top-secret or top-secret SCI, sensitive compartment information, and possess it at home unless you've been authorized to do so, plus the information was -- has been declassified. There's no evidence to suggest that he was authorized to do so, but we also don't know what the government has and what they found the level of documents and whether in fact they were classified at the time they were at his house.

So this will all again come out. But the bottom line is whether you're the president of the United States or his national security adviser or the former president or vice president, in the case of Joe Biden, you simply can't take classified documents and keep them at your house.

FREEMAN: OK, moving right along on this litany of new potential cases that may or may not come, I want to ask about new reporting from the New York Times now. According to the Times, the DOJ is also now looking at D.A. Fani Willis from Georgia. She of course was the one who charged President Trump in that sweeping election interference case.

Listen, at this point, according to the Times, it's unclear exactly the scope of that investigation. But, I mean, listen, President Trump said there's no list of enemies he's going after, but is there any other way to read this as another person that certainly the President has been very mad at for a while now?

JAFFER: Right, Danny. Look, we don't know what the subpoena that was directed at Fani Willis was for. We don't know whether she's a target of the subpoena or targeted the investigation or simply a fact witness. But what we do know just in this repeated run of things, we've seen the President go after Jim Comey now potentially John Bolton, he's mentioned other people of his -- other members of his administration, Chris Krebs, in national security executive orders, right now Fani Willis.

So the President when he got elected and when he's running for office said I'm going to end the weaponization the Justice Department, he's got an entire task force the DOJ to end weaponization. But you've got to ask yourself, why is the President going after all of his enemies as well? It does look like weaponization.

So the question is, how does the President explain away what's happening here? What he's done thus far and what Attorney General Pam Bondi has said is just because you're a senior official, doesn't mean you can get away with violating the law. That is certainly true.

But then when the list is all opponents of President Trump, you've got to ask yourself, what is this about? Is this about upholding the rule of law or is about going after your political enemies? He didn't like it when Joe Biden and that Justice Department, he says, did it to him. He should be doing to his enemies either.

FREEMAN: Jamil Jaffer, thank you so much for breaking down a lot of headlines about the DOJ. I'm sure we'll be talking to you more about many more cases perhaps to come. Thanks for your time.

JAFFER: Thanks, Danny. FREEMAN: All right. And still to come, protesters expressing outrage after their school superintendent gets detained by ICE agents. Details are on the way.

Plus, later, the newest round of tariffs could soon trickle down and hit your budget especially if you have any redecorating plans. You're going to want to hear that. Stay with us.

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[12:23:21]

FREEMAN: This coming Wednesday, new tariffs on furniture, some trucks and pharmaceutical drugs are set to take effect, that's according to President Trump, who announced the new tariffs late this week. Now it all comes as new economic data showed rising prices. Still government figures for August show consumer spending remains strong.

CNN's Matt Egan explains all you need to know.

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, if you like tariffs, you're going to love next week, because the President has a tsunami of new tariffs on the way starting with 100 percent tariffs on some pharmaceuticals. And it says some because this only applies to patented or brand-name pharmaceuticals not generics.

The President says it also won't apply to drug makers that are manufacturing in the United States. Still though, 100 percent tariffs on pharmaceuticals. It's hard to see how that's not going to have at least some impact on the price of medicine.

It's not just that, though, right, 50 percent tariffs on the way on cabinets and vanities, 30 percent on upholstered furniture. That's despite the fact that furniture prices have already been going up rapidly and some furniture executives have warn prices will go much higher if there's massive tariffs.

President also pointing a 25 percent tariff on heavy trucks, all of this slated to take effect on October 1st. Now, new numbers out on the mood on Main Street, and it's not great, right? Consumer sentiment fell between August and September. It's 22 percent lower than at this point last month, which is pretty telling.

One of the things that really stood out in this report is that almost half of consumers, 44 percent, they spontaneously mentioned that prices are hurting their personal finances. And, look, they're not imagining it.

[12:25:10]

New numbers out from PCE, this is the Fed's favorite inflation metric showing that prices were up by 0.3 percent month over month. That was moving in the wrong direction, also up by 2.7 percent on an annual basis. That is well above the 2 percent that the Fed is targeting and that's what they consider healthy. But we're moving in the wrong direction on that. When you look at the trend, you can see that inflation is not nearly as bad as it was 3, 3.5 years ago. But you really zoom in, it's moving in the wrong direction, right? This progress has really stalled out. And part of the reason for that is the fact that prices on goods, in particular, durable goods, those have been going up pretty significantly.

And that's after a period of time where prices on durable goods were actually falling and economists say that this evidence of an impact of tariffs. That's why these prices are going up.

Now there was some good news as well, and that's the fact that Americans continue to spend, personal spending increased between July and August by more than expected. That's significant because that is the biggest driver of this economy.

We saw big increases in a few different areas. Transportation services, recreational goods and vehicles. The one that I would call your attention to is food services and accommodations. That's restaurants, that's hotels. That's significant because it's really where you would expect people to pull back first if they were really hurting.

Still though, these numbers they don't tell us who is spending. And we know that we're in this K-shaped economy where people at the top who have money in the market, money in real estate, they're doing OK right now. But people on the bottom and often in the middle, not so much.

Bottom line here is, yes, Americans continue to spend and yes that is good news for this economy. But they say they don't like this economy, large part because of the cost of living and it's hard to see how a whole raft of new tariffs on the way are going to help the cost of living.

Back to you.

FREEMAN: Matt Egan, thank you for that.

Still to come, President Trump says a deal for peace in Gaza is close. That's after a dramatic speech at the U.N. Friday where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may not be seeing things the same way. Stay with us.

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[12:31:58]

FREEMAN: We're following some breaking news now. Dramatic new video shows Israeli airstrikes hitting a building in Gaza City. Take a look. Israeli forces are also continuing their ground offensive after vowing to take full control of Gaza City. Also today, we're getting new details on a Trump administration plan to end the war in Gaza. Now, the 21 point plan calls for all hostages held by Hamas to be released within 48 hours of an agreement. That's according to a source familiar with the proposal. President Trump said this week a deal was, "very close." It all follows a dramatic sight Friday when scores of delegates at the U.N. General Assembly walked out of the chamber just ahead of the speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Take a look.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please order in hall. Please order in the hall.

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FREEMAN: Netanyahu followed that moment with a defiant speech where he vowed Israel would, "finish the job and eliminate Hamas." With us now is CNN's Larry Madowo. Larry, thank you for joining us on this important subject. What more are we learning about the deal at this time?

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And Danny we know that this 21 point plan was presented to Arab leaders on Tuesday and there was an exchange of ideas about how to essentially make it happen to put an end to the war. You mentioned one of the key highlights here, that within 48 hours the hostages will be released. Twenty are believed to be still alive in Gaza. And that will be in return for a phased withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip.

President Trump saying on Truth Social, Friday, that there is enthusiasm and goodwill to make a deal happen. He said the last four days have been filled with inspiring and fruitful discussions with the Middle Eastern community. So everybody is interested in getting long lasting peace in the region. But that's still -- there's still some daylight between President Trump's position and Prime Minister Netanyahu. Especially you saw after that defiant speech before the U.N. General Assembly.

He rejected any calls for a Palestinian state. He said it would be sheer madness and insane. He disagreed with the U.N. inquiry's determination that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. He said they're giving the people a chance to leave. But around the world, Israel has lost the public. I've spent the past week speaking to diplomats from around the world in New York and that's the consensus that this war needs to come to an end. And that's what you're seeing today, protests around the world from Cape Town to Berlin to Stockholm to Liverpool, people coming out in support of the Palestinian people asking for an immediate end to the war. And this though, is a position of Netanyahu before the U.N.

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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I want to ask you a simple question, a simple, logical question. Would a country committing genocide plead with the civilian population it is supposedly targeting to get out of harm's way, would we tell them get out if we want to commit genocide, we're trying to get them out and Hamas is trying to keep them in. What did the Nazis ask the Jews to leave, kindly leave, go out? Did others, you want me to name all the genocidal leaders of history? Just go one by one. Did anyone do this?

(END VIDEO CLIP) [12:35:16]

MADOWO: Netanyahu brought visual aids as he always does. He had a QR code that leads you to a website that shows the atrocities committed on October 7th. But he said that the same week many countries recognize the Palestinian state, from France to Canada to the U.K. to Australia. And that's the groundswell of support for a Palestinian state that he's up against. And so this crucial Monday meeting with President Trump has to find a way forward. They have to work through the daylight to find a common consensus. Even today, the hostage families in Tel Aviv have said he will know no peace if he can't get this deal done as quickly as possible and bring the hostages, Danny.

FREEMAN: Larry, before you go, well, I just appreciate you giving us the time to break down all of the important details that happened in this conflict morning this past week. Thanks so much. Talk to you soon.

All right. Still to come, protesters expressing outrage after their school superintendent gets detained by ICE agents. We have those details coming up in just a moment.

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[12:40:48]

FREEMAN: Protesters in Des Moines voicing outrage after the superintendent of Iowa's largest school district was detained by ICE.

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CROWD: No peace, no justice. No peace, no justice. No peace, no justice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Ian Roberts was taken into custody on Friday. The Department of Homeland Security says Roberts, who is from Guyana, is in the U.S. Illegally and had existing weapon possession charges. Now, Des Moines Public school officials say he had submitted verification forms at the time of his hiring two years ago and has been, "an integral part of the school community." Julia Vargas Jones has been following this story for us. Julia, what more do we know about Roberts and this detention?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are hearing, Danny, from DHS that this detention was because of a final order of removal issued in May of 2024 to Roberts. He had entered the U.S. in 1999 on a student visa. DHS also said that he was, "in possession of a loaded handgun, had $3,000 in cash and a fixed blade hunting knife with him." That is a violation of federal law to own a firearm if you do not have legal status in the United States.

They said the arrest was part of a targeted enforcement operation and that he fled when U.S. immigration enforcement approached him. Now, this arrest comes, of course, as the Trump administration continues its crackdown on immigration in major cities in the United States, here in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York.

But it is also painting a very different picture of a beloved superintendent in this community. Members of that community say not only that he was an integral part of the school district, they say that he had shown up for so many staffers and students over the last two years since he was appointed superintendent in 2023. The board chair of the Des Moines School Board, Jackie Norris, said more. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACKIE NORRIS, CHAIR, DES MOINES SCHOOL BOARD: We do not have all the facts. There is much we do not know. However, what we do know is that Dr. Roberts has been an integral part of our school community since he joined over two years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: Now, Danny, you mentioned that -- that Roberts had mentioned his firearms charge when he was hired by the school district. But the school said they also have not yet been formally notified by DHS of this arrest. The governor of Iowa did say that she was made aware of the arrest and she is in contact with the Iowa Department of Public Safety and federal authorities.

Now, we also heard from the Iowa State and the Des Moines Education Associations. They issued a statement in support of the superintendent. They said, "his leadership and compassion for all students, regardless of background, identity or family origin, are a beacon of light in one of state's most diverse school districts. It is a dark and unsettling time in our country. This incident has created tremendous fear for Des Moines Public School students, family and staff."

I'll say, the Des Moines School Board has now scheduled a special closed session for today where they will discuss what had happened and how they will move forward from here, Danny.

FREEMAN: Incredible story. All right. Julia Vargas Jones, thank you so much for your reporting on this. Appreciate it.

[12:44:16]

Still to come, we'll tell you why the U.S. revoked the Colombian president's visa after a fiery speech in New York on Friday. We'll break down exactly what happened. Stay with us.

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FREEMAN: New this morning, the U.S. is revoking the Colombian president's visa after his visit to the United Nations. President Gustavo Petro took to New York streets in a pro-Palestinian demonstration and urged the U.S. Military to disobey Trump. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GUSTAVO PETRO, COLUMBIAN PRESIDENT: (Speaking in Foreign Language)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Disobey the Trump's order. Obey the order of humanity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: And for more on this, let's bring in CNN contributor Stefano Pozzebon in Bogota. Stefano, where is the Colombian president right now?

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, Danny, Petro -- Gustavo Petro is here in Bogota. He arrived around 4:00 a.m. local time, which is 5:00 a.m. where you in the east coast and has been taken to Ixa (ph) to come up with his reaction to this latest -- latest order from the U.S. administration. In the last few hours, he has tweeted several times accusing the United States of violating international law. He has went on calling Donald Trump, Donald Duck.

[12:50:08]

And has also called for the United Nations to relocate away from New York City. Just an hour ago, he tweeted that he thinks the headquarters of the United Nation should move to Doha in Qatar. Now, at this point, it doesn't seem like Colombia is following up or formally proposing to move the United Nation General Assembly to another country. But it shows the fact that Petro has an upper appetite for a fight and doesn't seem to be intimidated by this latest move from the Trump administration, which comes after a long string of clashes between Washington and Bogota.

FREEMAN: Also to that point, it's fascinating because the relationship between the U.S. and Colombia seems incredibly tense right now, which feels like a reversal from years of -- of growing ties, certainly with Petro between the two countries. So what's at risk right now in if these two leaders can't get along?

POZZEBON: Yes, Colombia is historically America's staunchest ally in the region, across Latin America, it's a trusted partner, especially in the areas of security. Think that the Colombian military has been involved in several foreign wars led by successive U.S. administrations since at least the 1950s. There was a Colombian foreign expeditionary team that went to fight in Korea side by side with the U.S. Marines and that's why -- that's what where this special relationship has been cemented.

Now Petro comes into power three years ago. The first left wing leader has a troublesome but working relationship with -- with the White House under Biden. Now with Trump, they really seem not to get along. Petro was one of the first leaders to stand up to the new policies from the White House of increased deportation. You might remember back in January he ordered the partial the temporary suspension of deportation flights.

There has been threats of special tariffs on Colombia because of these relationship which has been damaged. And of course less than a month ago, well, the United States decertified the Colombian state in their role on the -- the war on drugs. So clearly it is a sign that, well, we are in for a bumpy few months at least until Petro stays in power, which is until the next summer. He's due to give up his mandate in July 2026. Danny?

FREEMAN: Yes, a lot more to watch in this space, especially as tensions with Venezuela continue to increase as well. Stefano, thank you so much for your time. We'll leave it there.

All right. Still to come, has America's team already lost its grip on the Ryder Cup? Oh, no. A live report from Saturday's matches, that's coming up next.

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[12:57:26]

FREEMAN: All right, sports now. Day two of the Ryder Cup is underway as the American team is now scrambling to make a comeback. The U.S. team dug a pretty big hole on day one and needs a big turnaround on the course today if they hope to take the cut back from the Europeans. CNN's Don Riddell is at the course for us. Don, all right, bring us up to speed on where things stand as we enter afternoon play.

DON RIDDELL, CNN ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: Danny, are you sure you want to know?

FREEMAN: Oh, no.

RIDDELL: It's looking pretty grim for the -- it's looking pretty miserable for the American team. The headline riders I think will be having a field day. It is a Bethpage Bloodbath. It is a Bethpage beat down for the American team. Yes, it's a nightmare, to be honest. I can't sugarcoat it for you. Credit to the Europeans, let's start there, because they have been playing absolutely brilliantly.

Yesterday they came out and won the first three matches. They had never done that before, ever on foreign soil. They have now won the first three sessions. That's Friday morning, afternoon and Saturday morning. They're the first team ever to do that in the entire history of the Ryder Cup. So by lunchtime today, they had a really, really commanding lead of five points.

And their stars like Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood are just playing absolute lights out golf. And the Europeans are showing that they really understand teamwork, which you particularly see in the foursomes partnerships where you basically have to play alternate shot and share a ball. The Americans just don't seem to be very good at that lately. The Europeans dominate that format.

So credit to the Europeans. They deserve their lead. Questions are being asked though as to why the Americans are doing so badly because they have home advantage. This is of course, their players know well. Of course were expecting the boisterous New York crowd to give the American team a lift. The American players are all ranked higher than the European players. They've got four of the top five and seven of the top 10. And yet they're underperforming.

The world number one, Scottie Scheffler has lost all three matches that he's played here this weekend. He's now winless in his last seven Ryder cup matches. So Scheffler is -- is having an absolute nightmare. And the captain, Keegan Bradley, has got some questions to answer, notably with his pairings, the players that he's sending out and having gone so terribly wrong yesterday, he didn't really change anything today.

And of course the journalists covering this tournament, representing, you know, the U.S. audiences wanted to know why he wasn't changing anything around. This is what Bradley had to say on Friday night.

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[13:00:07]

KEEGAN BRADLEY, U.S. CAPTAIN: We knew this was going to be difficult. We knew this was going to be tough. We didn't expect to come in here and this not to be a difficult week. So, you know, we're sticking to our plan. We're not going to panic. We're not going to, you know, panic and make the -- those sort of mistakes. So we're going to stick to what we know. My role would have been a lot different on this team if I played, you know, we'll never know how that's ever going to be, but my role certainly would have looked a lot different than it does this week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIDDELL: So Bradley and the Americans lost the morning session yesterday, three-one. He didn't really make any changes. They lost this session three-one as well. What's the definition of insanity, Danny, when you keep doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result? Well, the result was the same for the Americans again and it's not looking good.

FREEMAN: All right. Well, I'm crossing my fingers that the Bethpage beat down stops. Don Riddell, thanks so much for your time today. I appreciate it.

RIDDELL: Yes. All right.

FREEMAN: All right. And coming up, take a trip around the world with Tony Shalhoub to discover how bread connects us in the brand new CNN original series, Tony Shalhoub: Breaking Bread, premiering October 5th at 9:00 p.m. on CNN. Sounds good to me.