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Trump Says He's Sending Troops To Protect "War Ravaged Portland"; Clock Is Ticking On Government Shutdown As Stalemate Continues; Comey Calls For Trial, Says He Is Innocent; SC Declares State Of Emergency Ahead Of Tropical Depression; Businesses Damaged By Hurricane Helene Strive To Reopen; Trump Says Deal On Gaza Peace Is Close; Doctors Without Borders Pulls Its Staff Out Of Gaza City; CNN Presses Hamas Official On Horrors Facing Palestinians; U.S. Born Children Left Behind After Working Mother Deported; Prince William Becomes Tour Guide On "The Reluctant Traveler" Episode. Aired 1-2p ET
Aired September 27, 2025 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[13:00:00]
DON RIDDELL, CNN HOST, WORLD SPORT: 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.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
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 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 I've -- my role certainly would have looked a lot different than it does this week.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
RIDDELL: So Bradley and the Americans lost the morning session yesterday, 3-1. He didn't really make any changes. They lost this session, 3-1, 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.
DANNY FREEMAN, CNN ANCHOR: 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.
Hello. Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Danny Freeman sitting in for Fredricka Whitfield.
And we continue to follow our breaking news. Just a short time ago, President Trump announcing on Truth Social that he is sending troops to Portland, Oregon, to protect ICE facilities. Now, Portland is just the latest Democratic-run city that the President has either sent or threatened to send troops to in his growing crackdown on immigration and on crime.
CNN's Kevin Liptak joins us now from the White House. Kevin, tell us, what more have you been learning about these latest developments here?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, and there's no question. This is an escalation in the President's push to deploy the U.S. military on domestic soil. It follows this pattern. We saw it in Los Angeles, we saw it here in Washington, D.C., of the President choosing Democrat-led cities and states to make this push and really kind of pushing the boundaries of the use on domestic soil of the U.S. military.
The President writing on Truth Social this morning 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 here. One is the timeline, when exactly we would see these troops arrive into Oregon. We also don't know what types of troops the President is talking about here, whether it's National Guard, whether it's active-duty military.
And we don't know exactly what legal authorities the President will be relying on. Because, remember, under law, it sharply limits the use of U.S. troops for domestic law enforcement purposes, and this has really kind of prompted a legal debate after the President did this in other cities around the country.
Now, Portland has seen a number of protests around an ICE facility that's about 2 miles south of the downtown. They have been mostly peaceful, but there have been some violent clashes that have led to injuries for federal officers. It's led to arrests of some of the protesters.
At one point, a guillotine was erected outside the building. The Homeland Security Department said at the time that that was unhinged behavior. And we've also seen President Trump talk about this city over the last week. He said on Thursday in the Oval Office that we're going to get out there. He said, quote, "We're going to do a pretty big number on those people in Portland."
He called them professional agitators and anarchists. And you saw in his Truth post -- Social posts today, referencing Antifa, the President has taken steps this week to label that group a terrorist organization.
Now, leaders in Portland have made pretty clear that they are not welcoming federal intervention. The mayor said this week that, "Like mayors across the country, I have not asked for and do not need federal intervention." That's the mayor, Keith Wilson.
We've also heard from leaders in the city and state just last night, as it seemed clear that this was happening. Listen to some of what they said.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am sick and tired of watching the people in my community getting brutalized because they are immigrants or because they dare to speak up. I am sick and tired of it, and I'm tired of their lip service. Show up and do something.
SEN. JEFF MERKLEY (D), OREGON: Well, I share their frustration. We're trying to use every power we have as the federal team. Obviously, we're in the minority.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
LIPTAK: So you also heard Jeff Merkley and other officials there say, essentially, don't take the bait. Raising the prospect that sending these troops into Portland could be essentially an effort to try and goad them into conflict.
[13:05:09]
And so it will be very interesting to see how this plays out over the coming days, over the coming week, just as we learn more about what specifically this federal intervention might look like, Danny.
FREEMAN: Yes, very interesting indeed. Appreciate you breaking that down for us, Kevin. Thank you.
All right, meantime, the clock is ticking on a possible government shutdown. The U.S. government runs out of money at midnight on Tuesday if lawmakers cannot reach a deal to keep the government open. With just a few days to find a compromise, President Trump and congressional Democrats are locked in a stalemate over the GOP's current government funding plan.
Federal workers, meanwhile, are bracing for the potential government shutdown amid the possibility and threat of mass layoffs.
CNN's Camila DeChalus joins us now. Camila, break it down for us. Where do things stand right now?
CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN REPORTER: Well, Congress is once again on the brink of a government shutdown with both Democrats and Republicans blaming each other for why they have not ironed out a deal yet. At this point in time, Republicans are saying that they want to pass a clean extension continuing resolution that will keep the government open, while Democrats are saying that they will not go to the table and support a vote on any type of federal spending bill if it does not include an extension of the Affordable Care Act subsidies that they're saying is pivotal for American lives.
Take a listen to what the House Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries, told reporters just the other day.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES, MINORITY LEADER: Democrats are here in the Capitol, ready, willing, and able to sit down with anyone at any time and at any place in order to find a bipartisan path forward to fund the government four days away from a government shutdown, and Republicans are on vacation.
House Republicans on vacation. Canceled votes on the eve of a government shutdown. And Donald Trump is at a gulf event?
(END VIDEOCLIP)
DECHALUS: Now, Danny, there is a lot at stake here. One being the fact that a lot of the White House Budget Office sent out a memo to federal agencies telling them to prepare for potential mass firings of their federal employees if there is an event of a government shutdown.
And not even that, but just on the larger scape of this, is the fact that a lot of federal agencies are going to be impacted by a government shutdown like the IRS or the National Park. And not to mention programs that really provide health care services or services to veterans that will also be shut down and really greatly impacted if there is a government shutdown.
And so something I'm hearing time and time again, not just from federal workers, but this will greatly impact the American people.
FREEMAN: All right, Camila DeChalus, thank you for keeping eyes on this very important and developing story. Appreciate your time.
We're also learning new details about the indictment against former FBI Director James Comey. Sources telling CNN the alleged media leak at the center of that 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.
Now, after Comey's indictment, President Trump told reporters he expects other political opponents will be prosecuted.
Brian Todd has more on Trump's past views of the FBI and on former Director Comey.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE) BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump's complicated relationship with the FBI dates back to before he became President.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Please, FBI, please, go after Hillary.
TODD (voice-over): Those provocative days of the 2016 campaign when Trump was relentless in his badgering of the FBI to investigate his opponent's handling of her emails.
TRUMP: The FBI did not act. I have such respect for the FBI. I am so disappointed. How did they let that happen? She was so guilty.
TODD (voice-over): Then, from almost the moment he stepped in the White House, analysts say, Trump seemed to view the FBI as his own personal instrument of power.
GARRETT GRAFF, FBI HISTORIAN: Donald Trump, you know, upended and tried to usurp the FBI in that spring of 2017, and that relationship has never been smooth since.
TRUMP: Oh, and there's James. He's become more famous than me.
TODD (voice-over): Soon after taking office, Trump pressured then-FBI Director James Comey to drop an investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. That was according to Comey himself.
JAMES COMEY, FORMER FBI DIRECTOR: I got the sense my job would be contingent upon how he felt I conducted myself and whether I demonstrated loyalty.
TODD (voice-over): Trump denied asking for Comey's loyalty, but did fire Comey, later saying he was frustrated over the ongoing Russia probe.
JULIAN ZELIZER, HISTORIAN, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: He wanted that investigation shut down. He saw it as a political problem, and this was what Comey was up to.
TODD (voice-over): Throughout the Russia investigation and afterward, Trump continued to berate the FBI for how that investigation played out.
TRUMP: These were dirty, filthy cops at the top of the FBI.
[13:10:04]
TODD (voice-over): But one analyst says Donald Trump wasn't alone among presidents who believed the FBI should be beholden to them.
GRAFF: That is something that has long frustrated presidents, you know, going back to, you know, Nixon and Johnson and even John F. Kennedy, that the FBI was not necessarily loyal to them personally.
TODD (voice-over): Now, a very different relationship between Trump and the FBI, with Trump loyalist Kash Patel leading the bureau. Some analysts say Patel, despite his claim of being an objective, reform- minded director.
SHAN WU, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Really, you have somebody with very little experience who is really unconscionably answering directly to the President's whims, it seems like, and he has no kind of brain trust of experience that he will look to to help him.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
TODD (on-camera): Now James Comey has asserted he's innocent and says, quote, "Let's have a trial." Comey alluded to his tense relationship with Donald Trump in an Instagram video following his indictment, saying, quote, "My family and I have known for years that there are costs to standing up to Donald Trump, but we couldn't imagine ourselves living any other way. We will not live on our knees, and you shouldn't either," end quote.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
FREEMAN: Brian Todd, thank you so much for that report.
Still to come, we'll tell you how a dangerous combination of two tropical systems could turn into a significant flooding threat for parts of the Carolinas.
And later, Prince William adds a new title to his resume. You guessed it, tour guide. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:16:14]
FREEMAN: Welcome back. We're keeping a close eye on the tropical depression expected to become a full storm named Imelda by this evening. A tropical storm watch has been issued for parts of Florida's east coast. And even as the storm is forecast to remain to the east, its proximity will bring the risk of tropical storm-force winds to the state on Monday.
Now, the Hurricane Center predicts the tropical depression will slow down as it approaches South Carolina, where the governor declared a state of emergency, mobilizing agencies across the state to prepare for storm surge and flooding rain.
Now, this is all happening while Cat 4 Hurricane Humberto is churning away in the Atlantic. The position and sheer size of Humberto could influence how the tropical depression continues to develop. So we'll keep an eye on that.
Now, the most concerning scenario for what will be Imelda is, of course, a landfall somewhere along the Carolina or Georgia coast. This would kick off a long-duration flooding event impacting inland areas ravaged by Helene just about one year ago. It's been a little more than one year since that hurricane devastated parts of North Carolina.
CNN's Isabel Rosales visited one of the hardest-hit areas where communities are still trying to rebuild. (BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's not often you get to see the remnants of a storm like this a year later.
AMY CANTRELL, CO-DIRECTOR, BELOVED ASHEVILLE: Yes, so this is one of the houses that you can still walk inside. It's really frozen in time.
ROSALES (voice-over): Among the damp wood and abandoned belongings, a visceral reminder of what Helene took in minutes. These walls mark the survival of a family, but the loss of a place they once called their little Eden.
CANTRELL: Water was pouring in and going higher and higher, and so they feared for their lives that they might drown, and so he grabbed a flashlight and a putty knife and he started hacking through the ceiling right here.
ROSALES (voice-over): Recovery is far from over in hard-hit Swannanoa, just outside Asheville, with many families still struggling in mountain country.
ROSALES: A year later, what is the need here in this community?
CANTRELL: The need is vast. You know, we still have people that are in temporary shelter and many people lost their jobs. Businesses were gone. They kind of went through.
ROSALES (voice-over): Amy Cantrell and Ponkho Bermejo tell me there's a full blown housing crisis. With tens of thousands of people still displaced. Beloved Asheville is among the nonprofits racing to close that gap, building 120 homes and counting.
Just a few feet from where the Mills family home drifted --
CANTRELL: They said it felt like they were inside a boat.
ROSALES (voice-over): -- off its foundation.
CANTRELL: You know, they're just floating inside their house.
ROSALES (voice-over): Rests their new Eden built above the waterline of Helene.
PONKHO BERMEJO, CO-DIRECTOR, BELOVED ASHEVILLE: And we are in a deep connection now in these Appalachian Mountains and we are stronger than ever.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got some pretty serious --
ROSALES (voice-over): From the heart of Biltmore Village in Asheville --
JOE SCULLY, HEAD CHEF/CO-OWNER, THE CORNER KITCHEN: How do we fix this? ROSALES (voice-over): -- Joe Scully has been documenting the tireless comeback story of Corner Kitchen, 10 months, more than 300 days through the seasons. Until this moment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Open after 10 months closed.
ROSALES (voice-over): The hometown restaurant now a welcome home back.
SCULLY: And then when we actually started to get like people in who's actually a little scary.
ROSALES: Yes, you got the jitters?
SCULLY: A little.
ROSALES (voice-over): This fall, the stakes are higher than ever as visitors pour into high country to take in the changing foliage. In western North Carolina the next few months could make or break a small business.
SCULLY: It's a possible reality that people will not be able to make it if they don't have the guests and the tourists to come for this next three month period.
ROSALES (voice-over): A Chamber of Commerce survey of mostly small businesses found 90 percent of respondents who project a revenue loss. And nearly 45 percent report a moderate to significant risk of closure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This could be two chicken salads all day.
[13:20:07]
ROSALES (voice-over): The Corner Kitchen back from the brink and buzzing with sound. And this stark reminder of just how high the flood waters climbed.
ROSALES: Why rebuild in a place that's flooded before?
SCULLY: It's too precious not to try.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
ROSALES: There are events throughout the weekend to mark the anniversary. For this community, it's a time of reflection for what they've lost, but also a time of celebration for the progress that's been made here. With all of that, there's also a heightened sense of awareness here, especially in light of what's expected to be Tropical Storm Imelda developing in the tropics that has people here understandably on edge.
But I'll leave you with this. The Mills family, the one behind this home where I'm standing right now, they're expected to get the keys to their brand new home by Thanksgiving.
Isabel Rosales, CNN, Swannanoa in North Carolina. FREEMAN: Isabel Rosales, thanks for that great reporting. Appreciate it.
All right, still to come, intense new Israeli strikes on Gaza City, things so bad that the aid group Doctors Without Borders is pulling their people out of the area. We'll hear from them about what will happen next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:25:41]
FREEMAN: We're following some breaking news. Dramatic new video shows Israeli airstrikes hitting a building in Gaza City.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
(BOMBING)
(END VIDEOCLIP)
FREEMAN: Israeli forces are also continuing their ground offensive after vowing to take full control of Gaza City. The aid group Doctors Without Borders now says it is suspending its work in Gaza City because of deteriorating conditions.
We're also getting new details on a Trump administration proposal to end the war in Gaza. That 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.
Joining us now is Dr. Aqsa Durrani, she's a board member for Doctors Without Borders and a pediatrician. Doctor, thank you so much for being with us.
Let's start here. Please tell us about the decision to withdraw your staff from Gaza City.
DR. AQSA DURRANI, MSF USA BOARD MEMBER: This was a devastating decision that we did not make lightly. Our facilities in Gaza City were being surrounded by tanks and airstrikes moving closer and closer within less than half a mile. So we were really forced to make this decision. That was the last possible option.
We have now left infants who require critical care, patients with multiple amputations who cannot flee, and other patients with severe illnesses who are now left without care because they are too vulnerable to comply with these forced displacement and mass evacuation orders. The -- as you mentioned, the airstrikes have been relentless, and there are now 1 million people in Gaza City in this densely populated area that are left at risk.
FREEMAN: Doctor, can you describe what conditions are like in hospitals right now across Gaza?
DURRANI: There is absolutely no fully functioning hospital left in the Gaza Strip. We have seen and witnessed time and time again the systematic destruction of health care infrastructure in Gaza -- throughout Gaza. So what we are witnessing is that we are now, because -- as a result of the siege, also having to delay critical surgeries because we don't have the supplies to be able to conduct these critical surgeries that we -- that our patients need as a result of, typically, injuries from airstrikes.
So the lack of supplies, the lack of medicines, the lack of fuel, the lack of clean water, all of these things are impacting the conditions in hospitals and making it impossible for us to, you know, deliver the care that is necessary for the Palestinian people in Gaza.
FREEMAN: Doctor, we've heard it from the Israeli leaders, people in Gaza City have been told to evacuate, but many of them say they have nowhere else to go or don't have the means to leave. From your perspective, what might happen to these people?
DURRANI: I can tell you, you know, I was in Gaza for two months earlier this year. There is absolutely nowhere safe in Gaza. And as I mentioned, there's 1 million people in this densely populated area who have already been forced to flee multiple times and have been, you know, injured or been subject to relentless bombing over these past two years of this genocide.
The reason that we are, you know, calling on world leaders in this week that everyone has gathered here in New York for the U.N. General Assembly to exert political, economic, and any diplomatic pressure that they can to end this genocide is because so many people, as you say, do not have the ability to flee. They are either too vulnerable or they have nowhere to go because there is absolutely nowhere safe.
So, you know, it will -- Doctors Without Borders, doctors, we cannot stop this genocide alone. It will require all of us banding together, and that is why we are also calling especially on government to heed this call in this critical moment where so many people are at risk.
[13:30:00]
FREEMAN: Dr. Aqsa Durrani, thank you so much for sharing your perspective on this critical issue, and I hope that your doctors and staff remain safe. Appreciate your time.
All right, to this now, a senior Hamas official is defending the October 7th attacks on Israel, saying they created a, quote, "Golden moment for the Palestinian cause." He spoke to CNN's Jeremy Diamond.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nearly two years after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th, Gaza has paid a massive price. The devastation rivaled only by the suffering of its people. Israel has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Hundreds of thousands are displaced and homeless. And Israeli attacks are only intensifying.
DIAMOND: Do you accept any responsibility for triggering so much death and destruction?
GHAZI HAMAD, SENIOR HAMAS OFFICIAL: The history did not began -- begin on October 7th. We spent 78 years under the occupation, under humiliation, under oppression, under repression, under killing, under displacement. Now why the world (ph) focused on October 7th?
DIAMOND (voice-over): Ghazi Hamad is a senior Hamas official, sitting for his first U.S. TV interview in months.
DIAMOND: But before October 7th, Israel had never unleashed this level of death and destruction on Gaza before. How can you look at me with a straight face and tell me that you accept no responsibility whatsoever --
HAMAD: What is that --
DIAMOND: -- for what has happened in the two years since?
HAMAD: What is the option left for the Palestinians to do? First time that Palestinians have shown sacrifice in this Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
DIAMOND: What gives you the right to decide that Palestinian women and children should be sacrificed on the altar of your resistance?
HAMAD: No, all the time we are sacrificing, we are fighting.
DIAMOND: But I am asking you about the civilian deaths in Gaza --
HAMAD: No, no, no.
DIAMOND: -- and what gives you the right to decide it's a price worth paying, that child can die. It's OK.
HAMAD: No.
DIAMOND: -- because it's in order to fulfill our resistance.
HAMAD: No, as Hamas we are fighting for the interests of the people. We don't want our people to be killed. Don't put the problem on the shoulder of Hamas.
No, I think that --
DIAMOND: Again, sir, you know, when I speak with Israeli officials, I press them about what they are doing in Gaza. When I'm speaking with Hamas officials, I press them for your responsibility.
DIAMOND (voice-over): But some Palestinians have had enough.
"Our message to Hamas is stop gambling with us," this man says. "You are disconnected from reality, especially since the Hamas leadership is outside of Gaza."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to send a message to Hamas, we talk to people, talk by people, stop the -- war, we are dying here. DIAMOND (voice-over): But Hamad doesn't seem interested in hearing those voices.
HAMAD: I know. I have seen --
DIAMOND: Please watch, please watch. This is not it, there's more.
HAMAD: I have seen this video.
DIAMOND: Sir --
HAMAD: Yes, yes.
DIAMOND: -- there is more.
HAMAD: Yes. I know people are suffering, there are some people blame Hamas.
DIAMOND: Why will you not listen to the voices of Palestinian people in Gaza?
HAMAD: Look, look, I know, this is, but -- look, this is not the whole story.
DIAMOND: These people who want Hamas to surrender, lay down its weapons and leave the Gaza Strip --
HAMAD: No, no.
DIAMOND: -- what do you say to them?
HAMAD: I think no one asked Hamas to surrender. We will never surrender. These people under abnormal circumstances, we put them under target and killing and massacre, what do you expect for people to say?
DIAMOND (voice-over): Hamad is eager to tout what he calls the, quote, "benefits of October 7th," in which Hamas killed nearly 1,200 people and kidnapped more than 250 others. He says it led to growing international support for the Palestinian cause.
HAMAD: What is the benefit of October 7th now? Now, when the world know. If you look to the general assembly yesterday, when about 194 people opened their eyes and looked to the atrocity, to brutality of Israel and all of them, they condemned Israel.
We waited for this moment for 77 years. I think this is a golden moment for the world to change the history. I think that now the world is a changed. The history is changed now.
DIAMOND: In your view, 65,000 deaths is worth it in order to achieve what you've achieved?
HAMAD: Look, look, I know the price is so high, but I'm asking again, what is the option?
DIAMOND: What is worth it?
HAMAD: What is the option left to the Palestinians? You know what, we waited for a peaceful process, for a peaceful means since 1993, since Oslo agreement, until now.
DIAMOND (voice-over): The prospects for peace seem as far away as ever. Two weeks after Israel tried to kill Hamad and other senior Hamas officials, not far from where we sat down.
HAMAD: I think it is a miracle because the rockets are very close to us. We are under target and it was a brutal attack on us. So I think it was a long and very strong message to us and even to Qatari, that we are not interested in negotiation. We want to kill, we want to destroy, we want to assassinate.
This is our own policy to handle the whole situation. Everything now is frozen.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Hamas' demands have also not shifted.
[13:35:01]
HAMAD: We insisted to go to the comprehensive deal to retain all the hostages, either alive or dead. And we said, frankly, we can return them in 24 hours. But Israel refused.
DIAMOND: Well, they have conditions for ending the war. They want Hamas to be out of power and they want Hamas to disarm. Are you willing to abandon power in Gaza and lay down your weapons?
HAMAD: Hamas is part of the Palestinian fabric. You cannot exclude Hamas. But as I said again and again, regarding the ruling of Gaza, we are ready to be out of the ruling of Gaza. We have no problem with this.
The arm of Hamas is a legitimate and legal weapon which used all the time against occupation. It is not a terrorist weapon.
DIAMOND: How does this war end? Because over the course of our conversation, I've seen very little that suggests any willingness on your part to compromise.
HAMAD: I think it is easy. I think Mr. Trump and the world could ask Netanyahu in order to stop the war, to stop the genocide in Gaza.
DIAMOND: Do you have any confidence that he will do that?
HAMAD: I don't know. I think we tested him many times, but I think it is not easy to trust Mr. Trump or to trust the American administration. All the time they put the glasses of Israel. They adopt the Israel position.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
FREEMAN: Thanks to Jeremy Diamond for that very insightful report. Still to come, a heartbreaking look at some of the children caught up in the middle of the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration. We'll tell you about the children left behind when parents are being deported. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:41:10]
FREEMAN: Attorney General Pam Bondi says she is beefing up security at ICE facilities by deploying DOJ agents to help protect other federal agents. Her announcement on Friday came just days after a shooting at an ICE field office in Dallas, which left one detainee dead and two others in critical condition. The incident was among at least four attacks or threats on ICE or Border Patrol spots in Texas this year.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration says more than 1.5 million undocumented migrants have left the U.S. since the start of the President's immigration crackdown. Some are parents forced to leave their U.S. citizen children behind with no friends or relatives to take care of them.
CNN Senior Investigative Correspondent Kyung Lah has one family's very powerful story.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What happened to mommy?
ANGELO PEREZ, MOTHER WAS DEPORTED TO HONDURAS: ICE took him.
LAH (voice-over): For more than a month, six-year-old Febe, nine- year-old Angelo, and 14-year-old Isaac have been in Galveston, Texas, separated from the only parent they have. ICE arrested and deported their mother to Honduras. The siblings can explain they miss their mother. Why it's happened is what they don't understand.
ISAAC PEREZ, MOTHER WAS DEPORTED TO HONDURAS (through translation): Do you know what ICE is? Say immigration.
A. PEREZ: Immigration?
LAH: Do you know what that means? Did you guys get to say goodbye?
FEBE PEREZ, MOTHER WAS DEPORTED TO HONDURAS: Yes.
A. PEREZ: We do.
I. PEREZ: We'd also did.
LAH: Did mommy say something?
F. PEREZ: I love you.
LAH (voice-over): Those were the last words they heard at home. Their mother's arrest was just the beginning of their goodbyes. The eldest, Isaac, is leaving. He came to the U.S. at age eight and is undocumented, now self-deporting to join their mother in Honduras.
LAH: Your brother is leaving tomorrow?
A. PEREZ: Yes.
I. PEREZ (through translation): Don't cry, don't cry. You are strong, don't cry.
LAH (voice-over): Febe and Angelo in limbo. They're different from Isaac and their mom. They were born here and are U.S. citizens.
Their mother is Kenia Perez, who raised the kids alone after her husband died during the pandemic. She fled Honduras 10 years ago and was detained at the border. She was eventually released. She had a legal U.S. work permit, no criminal record, paid taxes, never missed an ICE check-in.
What's happening to citizen children like Febe and Angelo is unfolding across the country. CNN found more than 100 U.S. citizen children, many through public GoFundMe pages, essentially orphaned in recent months because of ICE enforcement. No one is tracking these children and experts say it's just the beginning.
Estimates show nearly 2 million citizen children live in households where both parents are undocumented, vulnerable to ICE's new immigration enforcement. These children met their new reality on June 4th.
I. PEREZ: Like I woke up to like calls and texts on my phone. It was my mom. She was like, run -- like runaway as far as she can. I jumped out the window. I just kept running because I'm like, if I get taken too, there's not going to be a way for Angelo and Febe to like figure out what's going on.
LAH (voice-over): Without their mother, the kids were left in the care of friends like Jeff Chaney.
JEFF CHANEY, FAMILY FRIEND: This is my first time ever coming here.
LAH (voice-over): Who Kenia had asked to become a temporary legal guardian for the children one day before she was picked up by ICE.
CHANEY: If you would've told me, no, they're going to get families too, I'd say you're crazy. That's not going to happen.
LAH: But it's happening.
CHANEY: No, it's happening. It's happening now. It's shameful. It's shameful what our nation has become.
[13:45:10]
LAH (voice-over): Today, Isaac is leaving the U.S. for Honduras. We're following him on his journey.
LAH: What is it like to leave your siblings behind? I. PEREZ: I hate it because I know my brother is going to be scared, my sister is going to be scared.
LAH: What is it like to say goodbye to them?
I. PEREZ: I was crying. I didn't want to leave them. I thought I was going to go with them to Honduras.
LAH (voice-over): Isaac is flying alone. His younger siblings were supposed to join him, but since they don't have U.S. passports yet, they can't legally fly out of the U.S.
I. PEREZ: I never thought I would leave.
LAH: Are you worried about your brother and sister too?
I. PEREZ: I never wanted to leave them behind. I wanted them to come with me but --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Flight attendants (INAUDIBLE) during the arrival contact (ph). Please stand by for the all-call.
I. PEREZ (through translation): I'm here now.
KENIA PEREZ, DEPORTED MOTHER (through translation): I love you. Thank you for coming.
I am happy but not complete.
LAH: You're not complete?
K. PEREZ: No. I need my two kids. My daughter today tell me, "Mom, I need a hug." No, it's not easy.
LAH (voice-over): Kenia now lives in San Pedro Sula, a city in the northern part of Honduras. This country tops Central America in its murder rate.
LAH: This is a working-class community that is heavily controlled by gangs. The big concern about her kids coming back to this community is that the recruitment age for gangs is between 13 to 15.
Hello Kenia.
K. PEREZ: Hello. Good meet you one more time.
OK.
LAH: Yes.
K. PEREZ: Welcome for my new room. This is the bed for baby Angelo and me. Probably Isaac go for my mother.
LAH: All three of you will sleep here.
K. PEREZ: Yes. Yes. I need my kids here, my daughter, my son. Not easy. Not easy to see for the camera. No. He tell me, Ma, it's OK, it's OK. But, no, it's OK. No, it's OK.
(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:52:57]
FREEMAN: New today, Prince William serves as tour guide on an upcoming episode of "The Reluctant Traveler" series. In the series, Prince William reveals that, as the father of three young children, sleep has become a priority when he is home. He also touched on the challenges he faces last year. That's when his wife, the Princess of Wales, announced her cancer diagnosis and treatment in March.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
PRINCE WILLIAM, UNITED KINGDOM: I'd say 2024 was the hardest year I've ever had. You know, life is sent to test us as well, and being able to overcome that is what makes us who we are.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
FREEMAN: All right, that looks good. The episode airs on Apple TV Plus on October 3rd.
All right, and also, America is often compared to a melting pot, but in New Orleans, it's more like a pot of gumbo. A new CNN original series," New Orleans: Soul of City," premieres next Sunday. The first episode looks at the cultures that created New Orleans cuisine.
Here's a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
BRETT ANDERSON, FOOD CORRESPONDENT, NY TIMES: When people think about New Orleans food, they think about gumbo.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jambalaya.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Muffalettas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Po'boys.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Beignets.
ANDERSON: And it's a place where people around the world want to come, and one of the primary sources of pride.
FRANK BRIGTSEN, CHEF BRIGTSEN'S: And we have this rich heritage built over the last centuries from many, many cultural sources. It's like a tapestry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have restaurants here that are older than most cities in America. There's tremendous respect for tradition.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
FREEMAN: Oh, my God, I want a beignet so badly now. Tune in to see the first episode of "New Orleans: Soul of City" premieres next Sunday night. Can't wait.
Still to come, we're tracking breaking news, double trouble in the tropics, Hurricane Humberto strengthening to a strong Category 4 storm today as a new tropical depression brews off the Bahamas. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:59:43]
FREEMAN: Hello. Thank you so much for joining me this afternoon. I'm Danny Freeman sitting in for Fredricka Whitfield.
And we begin this hour with breaking news. People living along parts of Florida's east coast are now under a tropical storm watch as they prepare for the threats of high winds and storm surge from an intensifying tropical depression closing in on the southeast.
CNN Meteorologist Chris Warren joins me now. Chris, OK, the National Hurricane Center just issued a new advisory. Tell us, what does it say?
