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"No Kings"" Protests Against Trump Underway Nationwide; Former Rep. George Santos Out Of Prison After Trump Commutes Sentence; Body Of Tenth Hostage Returned To Israel; Israel Says "Required" Amount Of Aid Flowing Into Gaza; "No Kings" Rallies Taking Place Today in All 50 States; Nationwide Anti-Trump "No Kings" Rallies Taking Place Across U.S. Aired 1-2p ET

Aired October 18, 2025 - 13:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): She hopes to build a cafe and laundromat in the village. Recently, she completed the addition of bleachers around the basketball court, giving the community a space to gather and renovations on the village healing house are set to begin soon.

SHAMAYIM "MAMA SHU" HARRIS, CEO AND FOUNDER, AVALON VILLAGE: I remember every inch of how this whole block used to look. Folks hated to come over here. Now they're like bringing their children over and stuff. It's just really a beautiful thing to see.

You can change your environment. You really can. Sometimes I just sit and I just smile. But then I say, you know what? I'm not done yet.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: And to learn more, go to CNN.com/heroes.

All right. Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

All right, a day of "No Kings" rallies protesting President Trump's policies are taking place across the country right now. Millions of Americans in all 50 states are expected to take to the streets. And in all, more than 2,500 demonstrations are planned, which may be the largest mobilization of protests since President Trump returned to office.

Some Republican leaders are labeling the event as anti-American, which President Trump was asked about yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think that the government shutdown is all about this rally that's happening this weekend, the "No Kings" rally?

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No. I mean, some people say they want to delay it for the -- a king. This is not a king.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is more than that.

TRUMP: You know, they're saying they're referring to me as a king. I'm not a king.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

WHITFIELD: We've got team coverage across the country. CNN's Whitney Wild is in Chicago. Whitney, what is the feeling there?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, we are here at Butler Field at Grant Park. There are thousands of people here. This program is beginning right now.

And the first thing that you notice when you come out here is the number of signs here. So I'm going to just kind of walk you through the crowd here, because it is the messages that people are holding high above their heads that is the most striking thing here.

I mean, all of these signs are condemning the Trump administration, some using quite a bit of profanity. Others are part of these pre-made signs that say, "Hands off Chicago." When you're talking to people here, Fredricka, they all sort of reiterate the same point, which is that this is a moment in time.

And they're very concerned about being on what they say is the right side of history. They are frustrated. They are angered. They are hurt by some of the storylines that they're seeing, the headlines they're seeing.

Chicago has become the epicenter of this immigration crackdown. That is very much on the minds of people who are out here at this protest today.

They are concerned about what they're seeing, you know, among these ICE actions that are happening in their city streets. They're concerned about the Trump administration's policies. One person bringing up that, you know, they're concerned about how the administration is reacting to civil rights here, to women's rights here.

I spoke with Chicago Teachers Union representative. She's a longtime teacher here. And she actually said that she wants to be part of history. She wants to be able to give (ph) her students, she's a civics teacher, a firsthand account of why it's important to be here. She said, how can you not be here?

One person can make a difference. And that's really one of the main messages that people are sending here today, is that, again, this is a moment in history. They want to be on the right side of history as they see it. And they believe that their presence here today is sending a strong message to the Trump administration. There, again, Fredricka, there are thousands of people here. Many people are in costumes, inflatable costumes. I'll just keep taking you through the crowd here. But, again, Chicago is expected to be one of these anchor cities, Fredricka. We expect tens of thousands of people.

This program is set to begin with speakers here in a few minutes. They're going to march throughout the city. And we'll bring you the very latest as this march kicks off, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Whitney Wild, we'll check back with you there in Chicago.

Of course, gatherings taking place in New York, the nation's capital as well. In fact, our Brian Todd is there in the nation's capital where people are walking around. They're showing up in, as you mentioned earlier, colorful costumes, whether it be Ode to 1776 or we see behind you, it looked like some Halloween costumes as well. What's happening there?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Right, Fredricka, a lot of pre- Halloween costumes here. We'll talk about those in just a second. But let's get our photojournalist Nick Leimbach to elevate a little bit so that I can give you a sense of the crowd here.

Let's go down Pennsylvania Avenue to the northwest. You can see how far the crowd goes down there, at least three or four blocks from here. And people here are starting to run out of room a little bit. As you can see, that crowd is moving forward toward us and past us.

[13:05:07]

And we'll come down here and show you the shot toward the stage. The stage is a few blocks that way. These people are starting to run out of room because they've been pressing down this way to get a better view of the speakers and the whole program. But there really isn't much more room to go.

You get tens of thousands of people here really packed. And again, a lot of great costumes and signs and everything. I'm here with one of the protesters. Her name is Rachel (ph). She did not want to use her last name. She's from suburban Maryland.

Rachel (ph), I'm going to talk to you about your daughter in a second here. But first, what motivated you to come down here? What is it about what the Trump administration is doing that I guess bothers you the most?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I think that there's a lot of things. The ICE -- the use of ICE, the use of the National Guard. I'm a school psychologist, and so I support students with special education services. I'm, you know, big on science and evidence-based practices. And so to see some of that come under attack is very concerning to me.

TODD: I also want to talk about your daughter. She's 10 years old. You didn't want us to use her name. What motivated you to bring her here? What do you want to teach her about this moment and what's going on in the country right now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that it's a really good educational experience for her to see how democracy works and how to protest in an appropriate way. Everybody here has been really supportive. It's nice to see some people that share kind of some of our views. And to see that it's a safe environment. I don't feel, you know, worried in any capacity.

TODD: You do feel safe here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I do.

TODD: OK. Thank you very much, Rachel (ph), for talking to us.

Rachel (ph) mentioned safety just now. On that front, what we can tell you is that the Department of Homeland Security has issued a caution saying that they are concerned about the possibility of violence at some of these rallies by people who are known to come to these rallies and start trouble, also by counter-protesters.

But the D.C. Metropolitan Police has told us, Fredricka, that there is no known threat at this time. And we can tell you that this place is really crawling with law enforcement. We've seen law enforcement officers from the Metropolitan Washington Police, the U.S. Capitol Police, the Park Police. They are here on foot. They're here in vehicles, on motorcycles and bikes.

We've also seen them take sniper positions on the tops of buildings. None of that is uncommon for an event like this. But just to tell you that, again, the D.C. Police are saying no known threat, but they are asking everyone here to remain vigilant just to watch out for any possible anomalies here, security-wise. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Right. And Brian, the organizers had said this movement is about nonviolence. However, they're in the nation's capital. In the last few weeks, people have become used to seeing a lot more National Guard, you know, representation of federal authority, even Capitol Police, that is not just at the Capitol but dispensed across the city.

So how is that being integrated here into the protests? What have people been saying? Have they been confrontational or have they even said anything? As we've seen in recent weeks, sometimes people have been confrontational with that law enforcement presence. How about now?

TODD: Well, Fredricka, today we have seen no confrontations with law enforcement at all. Now, law enforcement in these kinds of situations here in D.C., at least, they're very good at kind of blending in and fading away from the main areas. So they kind of stay in the background unless and until something happens.

Now, you did mention that during President Trump's law enforcement crackdown here in D.C., starting in early August, there were confrontations with law enforcement. There were confrontations with federal agents, ICE and FBI agents. I witnessed several of those confrontations on the streets. Now, those were mostly nonviolent, but there were people who were very angry and kind of getting into the faces of these officers and screaming at them. You see none of that here. Again, the law enforcement presence here is visible, but they've faded back for the most part. And again, you don't really expect to see that here.

Now, a lot of people have chanted and voiced their displeasure with the deployment of the National Guard, but that's just kind of voicing their opinion on this. No real confrontations here as of yet.

WHITFIELD: All right. Brian Todd in the nation's capital, thanks so much.

All right, disgraced former congressman, George Santos, is now a free man after President Trump commuted his sentence last night. Santos served in the House for less than a year before he was expelled from Congress back in 2023. He was charged with an array of federal crimes, including fraud, theft and money laundering.

Santos lobbied hard for clemency. The President says he commuted Santos' seven-year sentence because the lies he told were not as bad as the ones allegedly told by Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal. This according to the President regarding his past military service, a claim Trump mentioned earlier this month.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

TRUMP: We have a young congressman that's right now in jail for lying about where he went to college and other things. It was, you know, frankly not good. It was pretty bad. But it was nothing compared to Blumenthal.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

[13:10:00]

WHITFIELD: In commuting the sentence, Santos' sentence, the President also cited Santos consistently voting for Republican candidates. More now from CNN's Senior White House Correspondent Kristen Holmes.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: On his way to Palm Beach, President Trump announced that he had commuted the sentence of disgraced Republican Congressman George Santos who had been serving seven years in a federal prison after pleading guilty to both identity fraud and theft.

Now, this commutation is somewhat interesting and surprising given the fact that President Trump has been in office now for roughly nine plus months and he's been lobbied hard by Santos but as well as some other Trump allies to give Santos a pardon or at least commute his sentence. He's shown no interest in doing so until now.

What he posted on Truth Social was essentially linking this commutation to Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal saying that Blumenthal had lied and never had to go to jail. So why should Santos have to go to jail? Now, this is not the first time that President Trump has commuted the sentence or pardoned a former Republican politician. He also did so for Republican Michael Grimm as well as a Connecticut governor among others.

But it was interesting given the fact that President Trump had been lobbied routinely and never done it before. Now, one interesting point, unclear at this point whether or not this played a role but earlier this week, Santos wrote an open letter to President Trump once again asking for that pardon. He posted that on his Twitter now X page.

Kristen Holmes, CNN, the White House.

WHITFIELD: All right, still ahead. Israel says a key border crossing into Gaza will remain closed as the return of all the hostages' remains and how that plan is getting bogged down. And we'll talk to a U.N. aid official about how much help is actually flowing into Gaza right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:16:45]

WHITFIELD: Right now, across the country, crowds are growing at "No Kings" protests against President Trump's agenda. Thousands are planned today. Thousands of gatherings that is, are planned across the country today. On your screen right now, one of the demonstrations in Memphis, Tennessee. It just kicked off a few moments ago.

CNN is on the ground at several of these protests from coast to coast. We'll continue to bring you the latest.

Also new today, the body of another Israeli hostage is now back home. Early this morning, Israel announced that they identified the body of Eliyahu Margalit. He was killed in the October 7th attacks two years ago. The bodies of 10 hostages have been returned to Israel, but 18 more remain in Gaza.

CNN's Larry Madowo is joining me right now. Larry, we're also learning that the Rafah border crossing in southern Gaza, is there movement there or no?

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There will be no movement. On Saturday, a short while ago, the Palestinian embassy in Egypt announced that the Rafah border crossing would open for people going back into Gaza. But then just minutes later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said that the border crossing would not reopen until further notice.

And they said that would depend on Hamas meeting its end of the bargain as part of this ceasefire deal mediated by President Trump that Hamas would have to return all the remaining hostages. There's at least 18 still believed to be deceased and in Gaza. And that's where we are.

That border crossing is key for Palestinians because it would allow Palestinians in Gaza to access medical treatment in Egypt or to see family. There's tens of thousands of Palestinians that live in Egypt and now it's closed again. It's actually been closed since May 2024 when Israel took control of the Gaza side of it. And that means even aid might not be coming in.

And this is a key part of it because Israel and Hamas have been blaming each other here. Israel is accusing Hamas of breaching that ceasefire deal by not handing over all the remaining bodies that are in Gaza. But Hamas says it's difficult to access them.

They don't have earth-moving equipment, bulldozers to dig through the rubble of a bombed out enclave to retrieve these bodies and that's why there's a delay here. So far U.S. officials have been downplaying the possibility that Hamas has breached that agreement. They say that they believe Hamas has acted in good faith and will still hand over the bodies as they find them and they will be moving over to phase 2 of this ceasefire deal.

But Israel is impatient to get all the remaining dead hostages, the 18 of them back to Israel and to dignified burials, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Larry Madowo, thank you so much.

All right, both Israel and the U.S. say the required amount of aid mandated under the ceasefire agreement is now crossing into Gaza. We're also learning the controversial -- or the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has suspended aid deliveries, that's according to an Israeli security official.

With us now Ricardo Pires, who was just in Gaza in recent weeks, he's a spokesperson for UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund. Great to see you. So help us understand, is there aid flowing into Gaza or not?

[13:20:09]

RICARDO PIRES, SPOKESPERSON, UNICEF: Thanks for having me, Fredricka. Yes, there is aid crossing into Gaza and we are reaching the agreed amount of trucks that should be getting into the strip right now with supplies, aid that is life-saving and so badly required. But we need more crossings open. It's just not enough.

It's important to walk back a little bit and remember that previous to the ceasefire, two years of war have put the population in Gaza, over 1 million children, it has pushed them to the brink. They've dealt with multiple displacements, bombardments, airstrikes, death, loss, full destruction.

Over 80 percent of the strip is basically rubble right now and this won't change with only a week or two of an agreement that it's an important step, but the step that requires more aid to go in to flood Gaza with more than 600 trucks, which again are very welcome and it's progress.

We are seeing improvements, but again famine has been declared in Gaza. 55,000 children are suffering from acute malnutrition. They're at risk of falling into the deadly cycle of severe acute malnutrition and starvation which will kill them and that is an urgent requirement for those children that more aid gets in and treatment reaches them as soon as possible.

WHITFIELD: Right, and we've been talking about, we've been reporting, not just CNN, but many news outlets around the world have been reporting on the starvation or the levels of starvation in recent months. So when you talk about aid that is making its way in, what kind of aid? Because, you know, the degrees of nourishment vary depending on the condition of the people.

So the kinds of truckloads that are making its way in now, is it meeting the needs of the level of starvation or hunger for the people who are receiving it?

PIRES: Not in enough quantities, Fredricka. It's indeed improving. We have more food crossing in, more medicines crossing in. I can speak for UNICEF. We've been sending in a lot of tents to shelter displaced populations as winter is coming.

But the vaccines, the therapeutic food that children so badly require, it's not getting in in enough quantities and the scale required. And one of the reasons is that we need more humanitarian crossings open. Right now we're going with two. And we just heard that Rafah is going to be closed.

And again, it has been used for transit of people going in and out of Gaza needing medical evacuation. But it has been used previously also to get trucks of aid in with commercial goods and humanitarian supplies. And that's just not still at the level required after over two years of unrelenting war and destruction and health services collapsing, schools being bombarded, homes and residences being completely obliterated and becoming rubble, children dying, being injured.

I mean, it's been an absolute apocalypse for children for the last two years. And again, we need the response to meet the level and the scale of the destruction and suffering that children are still living in.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Ricardo Pires, with UNICEF, thank you so much. And all the best on your continued efforts.

PIRES: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: And stay with us for more live coverage from coast to coast in the United States. The "No Kings" protests are underway in some 2,500 locations. We'll take you there live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:28:11]

WHITFIELD: Right now, across the country, and you're looking at live pictures right now, crisscrossing the country, crowds that are growing at these "No Kings" protests against the Trump administration's agenda. Thousands, in fact, of people are turning out at many of these, some 2,500 organized protests. On your screen right now, you're looking at things underway. CNN is on the ground in so many locations, and we're continuing to bring you the latest as it is happening.

And happening right now, millions of people are marching in the streets as these "No Kings" rallies are underway. Today's protests are happening as outrage intensifies over administration policies.

Rafael Romo is in Atlanta. Shimon Prokupecz is in New York City. Shimon, let's go to you first. What's happening?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's certainly a massive turnout here in New York City. We're seeing thousands of people. I'm going to just show you the crowd here now. I'm going to have Effie. Effie, why don't you spin around so you don't have to walk backwards?

And let's just walk here, and we could show you all of the people that have come out here today. We're seeing, you know, many people who have done this before. I spoke to a woman earlier who's 76 years old, and she was out here in the 60s, and now she's back out here saying she's really scared for what's happening now.

We're seeing families out here, so many women. That is something that I'm certainly struck by, the number of women who have come out, really to just be together. Everyone here being together as a day of unity to show their outrage, to show their concern over the policies of this administration.

One of the big focuses, and a lot of what I'm seeing here, is ICE. Many people holding signs, talking about ICE, mentioning how unhappy they are with the policies that concern ICE and what they're doing on the streets of many cities and states.

[13:30:12]

And so, that's what we're seeing.

This has now been going for well over an hour. We've -- they have walked. You've we've been by their side here walking with them for over 20 blocks now, and we've turned up 14th Street here in Manhattan and heading towards the park. But I don't know when this is going to end at this point. The police are allowing them to continue to march. The crowd has grown since we started, and it continues to grow. And you can see behind me there are just more people here walking up 14th Street here, and many people holding signs, talking about resistance, talking about no king. That's the theme here today. This is what people are expressing. This is what people are saying.

And I think one of the things, again, that I am really sensing from people out here is that they are just happy to be together, to be spending this time in such a peaceful way to express their concerns and their outrage over what's happening.

WHITFIELD: Yes, and Shimon, you made reference to the woman you interviewed earlier, live on the air, 76-year-old, you know, who was accustomed to the protests in the '60s. But I'm also seeing, you know, in the backdrop of people walking behind you, I mean, it really does span the generations. Looks like parents have even brought out their kids to be part of the process.

PROKUPECZ: Yes, I'm seeing a lot of kids, strollers, a lot of young people, just people who are engaged, people who are paying attention. The other thing that we're seeing a lot of, and I think it's important to mention, the costumes, right? This has taken on a life of its own after what happened in Portland.

And so, I've been talking to people who have been wearing unicorn costumes, frog costumes. The frog theme is a big theme because of what happened in Portland where a federal officer pepper sprayed a person wearing a costume, a frog costume. So, we're seeing a lot of that too here. And when I asked those people, well, what made you wear these costumes? They're like, we are inspired by what we are seeing in Portland. And we're coming out here as a way to show that we are not violent, that the streets are not violent. And that's the theme here. The theme is for people who want to be together. They want their families to see this.

And then for the older folks, it's -- they feel it's so important for them to be here because of history and what they experienced back when they were growing up. And they want to bring that message out here.

WHITFIELD: All right. Shimon Prokupecz, we'll continue to walk that walk with you in those some 20 blocks that people have spanned there in New York City. We'll check back with you. Thanks so much.

All right. Let's go to Atlanta now, where people are also walking several blocks. Rafael Romo is in the mix there talking to protesters. What are they telling you?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, people are very excited to be here and very much alike like what Shimon was describing. It's, yes, a very serious message about what this country should be. That this is a democracy based on the Constitution, and that should be respected.

A lot of people wearing costumes -- where this march is going to end. And yes, And yes, we have heard variations of the same theme, the United States founded in 1776, hasn't had any king since, and we're not about to change that. Many of the people participating would tell us.

But we also see a lot of people talking about human rights, civil rights, respects for the rights of immigrants. I just saw a sign that says, immigrants make America great, a land of the free. No king since 1776. I'm just reading the signs that are going by me. Great guys. So, a lot of --

WHITFIELD: All right. Rafael Romo there in the mix there in Atlanta. We've lost our audio of Rafael, but we can hear the crowds there. People are really enthusiastic about their presence in today's No Kings Rally in Atlanta. And of course, on the right side of your screen, you're seeing folks there in Washington, D.C. as well. [13:35:00]

All right. The U.S. government shutdown is now at day 18 with no end in sight. We'll talk to the CEO of the San Diego Food Bank to hear about the struggles that so many families in the military, particular in that military city, what they're experiencing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Live pictures right now from Boston, Memphis, where some of the thousands of people were descending on these cities because of the No Kings rallies taking place from coast to coast.

[13:40:00]

And organizers do expect that millions of people across the country will be turning out in peaceful protest against President Trump's agenda, his policies. We're monitoring all these rallies across the country. We'll bring them to you as we see them. Today also marking day 18 of the U.S. government shutdown. And if the budget battle continues to drag on, some 42 million Americans will be at risk of losing critical food assistance at the start of November as well.

Joining us right now, Casey Castillo, CEO of Jacobs and Cushman San Diego Food Bank is with us right now. So, good to see you. And San Diego is a big military town, a home to maybe many Navy and Marine families there. I wonder if you could tell me, you know, what the expectations are about the kind of help that you're having to give citizens there, including many military families.

CASEY CASTILLO, CEO, JACOBS AND CUSHMAN SAN DIEGO FOOD BANK: Yes, you're absolutely right. San Diego County has one of the highest concentrations of active-duty military and I'd add their families and federal workers. In fact, over 100,000 active-duty military and approximately 50,000 federal workers. We're worried about all those folks, especially as this prolongs what we're anticipating.

Again, these are people that aren't necessarily in high paying jobs. They're just like us, like rest of America's living paycheck to paycheck. In fact, over 60 percent of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. Have to imagine that's a little bit higher here in San Diego County, where the cost of living is so high. So, we're really worried about that. And as this persists, we could see tens of thousands of individuals coming to the San Diego Food Bank and really needing to depend on all the hungry organizations in San Diego County.

WHITFIELD: So, what kind of activity are you seeing at the food bank right now? I mean, as you underscore military families, active-duty personnel there, there's something like 110,000 active-duty military personnel in that vicinity. But are you already starting to see whether they be, you know, civilian or military families, are you already starting to see them show up at some of these food banks?

CASTILLO: We are. And I want to point out, we were already serving 39,000 active-duty military and their families before the shutdown. This is what we do. This is why we exist and we're prepared for this. In fact, I know we're only two and a half weeks in here, but we create or established about a dozen additional pop-up distributions just in the last two weeks so that we can target federal workers, we can target military. So, we have already started to serve folks that are in need because of the shutdown.

WHITFIELD: What are some of the food items? Are these, you know, staples or describe what is ending up in some of the packages or boxes?

CASTILLO: Absolutely. So, we're serving over 400,000 people per month. Last year we distributed about 53 million pounds of food, which is equivalent to about 44 million meals. So, yes, these are all, these are food shelf stable items, nutritious. We have nutrient, proteins, eggs, beef, cheese, again in shelf stable items and lots of fresh fruits and vegetables.

In fact, last year, 23 percent of the 53 million pounds were fresh fruits and vegetables. So, it's really a balanced diet. That's what we're able to provide. And we've been able to respond in that way over the last couple of weeks.

WHITFIELD: And then, of course, the holiday season is encroaching upon us. If indeed the government shutdown were to go on. How do you prepare for the need growing?

CASTILLO: Well, there's already a number of things going on. Again, we were already serving 400,000 folks. Now, with the shutdown and especially as it persists, we're going to continue to see more and more people. There are also challenges like food assistance reduction that was happening at the government level. So, we describe this as a perfect storm. And you're right, the holidays are approaching and historically this is absolutely a time when we see our numbers increase.

So, a lot of these things are happening at one time. As I mentioned before, this is what we do. We prepare for this. We already have financial reserves and food reserves on hand. We've also started to buy or purchase additional supplies so that we're prepared for this. But again, the longer this persists, not only will our recipients and our neighbors struggle, but this will be a real challenge for food banks across the country, the pantries that we support, really all the hunger relief organizations.

WHITFIELD: All right. Casey Castillo, CEO of Jacobs and Cushman San Diego Food Bank, all the best to you and your team. Thank you.

CASTILLO: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Stay with us. This afternoon, we're tracking today's No Kings protest taking place across the country. Live reports from Chicago in just a few minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:45:00] WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. We're continuing to monitor today's No Kings rallies across the country. You're looking at live pictures right now out of Chicago. It's taking place in all of the major cities from Washington to Boston to Philadelphia. Crowds are turning out in pretty sizable numbers there. Live aerial views right now in all of the major cities from Washington to Boston to Philadelphia.

[13:50:00]

All right. Joining me right now to add some perspective on what's happening in Denver, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston. Mayor Johnston, great to see you. What kind of views of protests are you seeing in your city?

MAYOR MIKE JOHNSTON (D), DENVER: Yes, thanks so much for having me. Yes, we expect we'll have about 12,000 to 15,000 protesters here in Denver today. We'll have more than 50 protests just across the State of Colorado alone. And I think this is what people do when you're not happy with the direction your government is going. There is nothing more American than the idea that you take to the streets and you peacefully protest.

I mean, the very first amendment in the Bill of Rights said we protect people's right to peacefully petition the government for a redress of grievances. That's what you'll see people doing across Denver today and across the country today, and we're proud of that patriotism.

WHITFIELD: What are some of the concerns from people who are protesting in your city? Because I noticed some 300,000 Coloradans are relying on SNAP benefits, and that's the, you know, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. And apparently in November, many people, if the U.S. government shutdown continues, many people in your state, in your city will no longer receive those SNAP benefits. Are those some of the concerns that are driving people to protest or are there other concerns?

JOHNSTON: Well, there are so many things, whether you're mad because people are being snatched off the streets of your city without due process and sent to prisons in foreign countries, or whether you are mad because even before the government shutdown, the big budget- busting bill, as I call it, that's had the impact already of denying food support to more than 14,000 Denverites every day. So, there's already 14,000 families who can't get food access because of the president's legislative agenda. But this shutdown will now put another 100,000 Denverites in danger of not being able to get access to basic food.

And so, I think when the president comes for the most basic protections that we expect in our city, the ability to be free on your own streets, to be able to have due process, to be able to put food on your family's table, that really motivates people to come out and say, this is not what we signed up for and this is not what a responsible government does.

WHITFIELD: This is the second No Kings Protest since the president took office in his second term. How influential do you believe this will be?

JOHNSTON: I think it's a very visible national symbol of opposition to the agenda that the president and his party are driving. And it doesn't matter if you're a Democrat, an independent, a Republican, when you start to take food away from people, you start to massively increase the costs on our businesses. We're being crushed by the tariffs right now, no one is happy about that direction.

And while the president can try to ignore that fact, when you have millions of Americans in the streets, there is no way to deny it. I think that's a very important statement on where Americans are and what we expect from our government.

WHITFIELD: Organizers of the protests across the country have said this is a non-violent movement. However, there are some jurisdictions where they have beefed up law enforcement. What's the view there in Denver?

JOHNSTON: Well, we have been very proud of the fact that we've been holding peaceful protests on any number of issues in this city for years. Our police department does a fantastic job keeping people safe. We support their right to raise their voices and they respect to do it peacefully.

My daughter and son and I will be out there after I leave this interview. And so, I have -- we have grandmothers and five-year-olds from all over the city who are coming to have their voices heard, but they're going to come do it peaceably. And that's exactly what we expect from them and that's what they deliver.

WHITFIELD: All right. Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, thanks so much.

JOHNSTON: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: All right. We're continuing to monitor today's No Kings rallies across the country. You're looking at pictures right now out of Boston, Massachusetts, where crowds are turning out in pretty sizable numbers there, too, in protest against President Trump's agenda.

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[13:55:00]

WHITFIELD: All right. Tomorrow, discover the breads that bond Marseille on a new episode of the CNN original series, "Tony Shalhoub Breaking Bread."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you have the look in the kitchen, like this little kitchen, so we have basically a guy from Gabon making chicken with another French people like -- and then I'm beside and then we have Caroline making little plates like that.

This is Marseille. This is basically Marseille. You know, people, they like to share and exchange with others. And think that a little boy like me that was born in Algeria can talk with a great actor like you. Welcome to Marseille. The creativity everywhere.

TONY SHALHOUB, HOST, "TONY SHALHOUB BREAKING BREAD": What is this? Oh, my God.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think this is basically fish, strawberries, sea bream or sea bass.

SHALHOUB: Oh, I see.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe strawberries.

SHALHOUB: It's good. No, no.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've seen you. You eat a lot.

SHALHOUB: I'm still working on the lamb and the chicken.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Strawberries and sea bass, that's an interesting combination. And Tony looks speechless. He is enjoying that food. A new episode of "Tony Shalhoub Breaking Bread" premieres tomorrow at 9:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific right here on CNN.

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