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Trump Pulls Support For "Lunatic" Marjorie Taylor Greene; Evacuation Orders In Effect For Palisades Burn Scar Area; Mayor Assures Residents City Is Prepared For Potential Flooding; Flooding And Mudslide Potential For California This Weekend. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired November 15, 2025 - 08:00   ET

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

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[08:00:42]

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to CNN this morning. It is Saturday, November 15th. I'm Danny Freeman. Victor Blackwell is off today, and First of All will be back next Saturday.

President Trump is taking aim at fellow Republicans over next week's vote to release the Epstein files calling Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene a lunatic. We'll tell you how Greene responded to that. Plus, Trump now saying he no longer endorses her.

Also new this morning, parts of California are on high alert for flash flooding and mudslides. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know if I'm waiting to see dirt flowing downhill. And we are downhill here, so that's a little scary.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREEMAN: Evacuation orders have been issued, and people are being urged to be careful on the roads. And Border Patrol officials are expected to be in Charlotte this weekend as the Trump administration expands its immigration crackdown. We'll tell you how city officials are responding after they say they weren't given any advance notice.

And thankfully, it is getting easier to get away. We'll tell you what we know about the FAA's plan to ease some of the flight restrictions that have caused backlogs at the nation's airports. And finally, one person is waking up a few hundred million dollars richer. We'll tell you where that winning Mega Millions ticket was sold.

A lot of news to get today, but we begin with President Trump lashing out at pretty much every single one of his perceived enemies, regardless of party. He's even breaking up with MAGA firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Now, on Friday, the president officially declared he is pulling his endorsement of Greene. The Georgia congresswoman has been demanding the release of the Epstein files and has called out the president for spending too much time overseas. President Trump, for his part, is firing back, posting on Truth Social. "All Wacky Marjorie does is complain, complain."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I think that her constituents aren't going to be happy. Already, I have people calling me. They want to challenge her to a race in her district in Georgia. And, you know, that's too bad. She's lost a wonderful conservative reputation. But when she says don't go overseas, if I didn't go overseas, we might be in a war right now with China.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREEMAN: President Trump also targeting Congressman Thomas Massie for leading the charge on the release of the Epstein files. A Trump aligned super PAC is now spending $1 million on ads targeting the Kentucky Republican.

Now, all of this as the administration braces for a House vote early next week on releasing the Epstein files to the public. Here's more now from CNN's Julia Benbrook.

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: According to a senior White House official, President Donald Trump was made aware ahead of time that House Speaker Mike Johnson was going to expedite a vote on the release of DOJ files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and that the two have spoken about it. Now, the push on Capitol Hill for the full release of the case files has been led by a bipartisan pair of lawmakers in the House, Democrat Ro Khanna and Republican Thomas Massie. While just a handful of Republicans signed on to their petition to force the vote, House GOP leaders are bracing for a significant number of Republicans to support the bill when it comes to the floor next week.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. RO KHANA (D) CALIFORNIA: I think when it's actually a vote on the House floor. Do you want these files released? Republicans and Democrats are going to vote? Yes.

REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R) KENTUCKY: I think there's going to be a deluge of Republicans. The longer this goes on, the more support we gain. And I think the speaker recognized that. And that's why, after months of trying to stop office, he's decided to accelerate the vote because he knows we're going to get votes and that's going to carry momentum into the Senate.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BENBROOK: If the bill passes in the House, its future remains uncertain. In the Senate, Trump continues to put pressure on members of his party to focus elsewhere. In a Friday post, he called those who support the effort, quote, "weak and foolish". At the White House, I'm Julia Benbrook. FREEMAN: Julia, thank you for that. All right, also right now, a

strong Pacific storm is bringing heavy rain to Southern California and raising the risk of life-threatening flooding and mudslides. Evacuation orders are in effect for vulnerable areas near burn scars in the Palisades. The multi-day storm has already dropped several inches of rain up and down the California coast. And Los Angeles fire chief says they are proactively monitoring areas most prone to mudslides.

[08:05:06]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHIEF JAMIE MOORE, LOS ANGELES FIRE DEPARTMENT: The amount of rain changes, and what our prediction is, changes. And so when we see a heavy saturation on burn scars or in certain areas that are of concern, it starts ramping things up. And we need to be able to react proactively to those changes so that in the event that something does start happening, we're already there. We don't have a life hazard, and people don't have to worry about evacuating. So we do it preemptively to keep people safe because life is our Number one concern.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREEMAN: CNN's Julia Vargas Jones is live in Los Angeles for us. Julia, tell us, what are you seeing so far this morning?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Danny, it has been raining for hours here in Los Angeles. We're right by the LA river, flowing quite healthily at this point. There's been a little bit of a lull, but 20 million people are under this flood watch around Southern California. It's not just L.A County and goes all the way down to San Diego, up to Santa Barbara. The main concern here is that even though it doesn't sound like that much rain, 2 to 3 inches, that things could move quite quickly here in Southern California, a part of the country that's not used to this type of weather. And of course, as we heard there from the fire chief, the major concern here is those areas affected by the Palisades in Eaton fires earlier this year.

Now, those areas are under different kinds of warnings. There are evacuation warnings, but also evacuation orders for a small portion of the population in those areas where deputy sheriffs have been going door to door telling people to actually take this seriously. Even though it doesn't sound like it may be that bad. It could still cause damage to those areas affected by a fire. We're talking about mudslides. Things can change quite fast in this part, in those burn scars near the Eaton and Palisades fire. And of course, resources from L.A. City are being mobilized around the Los Angeles area this morning. And since last night, Mayor Karen Bass spoke a little bit more about that yesterday. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAYOR KAREN BASS, LOS ANGELES: I do want Angelenos to know that the city is prepared and we are ready. Our emergency operations center has been activated, and city crews are on standby to respond to any fallen trees or impacts to roadways.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: And, Danny, those orders and warnings will be in effect up until tomorrow. Now, the worst of the storm is expected still today. Authorities are asking people to not travel unless that is essential, to not try to cross any kind of floated -- flooded roadways across the Southern California area and to be ready for what's still to come. We are expecting those showers to intensify this afternoon and those orders in place until Tomorrow morning, Sunday 10:00 a.m.

FREEMAN: All right. Julia Vargas Jones, thank you so much for that reporting. And please stay safe out there.

All right. For more on this, let's go now to meteorologist Chris Warren. He's been tracking the storm this morning. You know, Chris, it's amazing. We always talk about how Southern California, parts of California do often need rain. But this is coming in fast right now.

CHRIS WARREN, METEOROLOGIST: It is. And over the next couple of hours, it's going to be critical to see how things play out. And this is the focus. We look across the country for potentially dangerous weather coming in the form of flooding, moisture tap here providing the source for what will ultimately be too much rain, excessive rainfall risk today in the red for Los Angeles, a lot of Santa Barbara County. And you can kind of look at it this way, 1, 2, 3, 4. So 3 out of 4. So you're getting up there in the threat level for too much rain. And the red here on the radar with some lightning, some thunderstorms, that's going to be the heaviest rain. So consistent and long-lasting moderate rain can lead to some problems.

But the heavy rain, that's possible, even some water spouts and a weak tornado possibility here over water coming on land. This can create some flash flooding, debris flow, mudslides, rock falls as well. This can all happen with these storms, these thunderstorms that can happen very quickly.

But as Julia mentioned, these burn scar areas devoid of vegetation and also more susceptible to seeing some of that debris flow and some of the mud flow, and the flash flooding in some of these areas that are expected to get.

Well, it doesn't sound like a lot. A couple of inches, 2 to 3 inches. That can be a whole month's worth of rain during what is now getting into the wettest time of the year here in Southern California, which is February is the wettest time. But November, December, January, February, 2 to 3 inches can be expected, and this is going to go throughout the afternoon and evening. Danny, and once again, chance for showers and thunderstorms continue into the afternoon.

FREEMAN: All right, Chris, thank you so much for keeping an eye on that very important and potentially consequential storm. Appreciate you.

Moving along, President Trump's election interference case in Georgia is not over yet. A new prosecutor is stepping in to replace Fulton County DA Fani Willis. Now he will have to decide whether to revive the case against Trump, who allegedly violated Georgia's anti- racketeering laws by participating in a scheme to overturn his 2020 election loss in that state. We have more now from CNN's Katelyn Polantz.

[08:10:22]

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Danny Donald Trump still is a criminal defendant in the state of Georgia, and there is a prosecutor and even a hearing coming up in this case. So this case has had a long history. After the 2020 election, the prosecutor, Fani Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, she chose to charge this case against Donald Trump and 18 others a conspiracy, alleging that they had tried to essentially steal the election and that Trump himself had asked officials pressured them even to find him votes illegally.

Now, this case has not been tried. Those many of those defendants have pleaded not guilty. A few have pleaded guilty already, but there's been a question of whether it will move forward at all now that Donald Trump is in the presidency. Fani Willis, the prosecutor, previously she had been removed because of some political challenges and legal challenges to her continuing on in the position as the lead prosecutor of the case.

The state court removed her several months ago. And so on Friday, that is when a new prosecutor stepped in, appointing himself. The man who was trying to find other prosecutors couldn't find any. His name is Peter Skandalakis, and so he is going to look at the evidence and decide what to do next.

He said in his public statement. "The public has a legitimate interest in the outcome of this case. Accordingly, it is important that someone make an informed and transparent determination about how best to proceed. I made the decision to assign the case to myself."

Skandalakis is very likely to determine whether he needs to rewrite the indictment, potentially cut it back, drop it all together or put it back on ICE. All possibilities, especially because Donald Trump remains in the presidency and has a fair number of protections around him.

Trump's team, as well, says they're going to fight, too. They believe that any review of this case at this time will lead to a dismissal against President Donald Trump. But stay tuned for December 1st. That's when all of this will be back in court. With a reminder, Trump still has this pending case out there in the court system of the state of Georgia. Danny?

FREEMAN: Katelyn Polantz, thank you very much. To this now, Border Patrol agents are expected to arrive in Charlotte, North Carolina, as early as today. Some local officials say they were not aware of this move, though the sheriff's office says it was later contacted by the feds.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) REP. TIM MOORE (R) NORTH CAROLINA: Certainly wouldn't want to say

anything to jeopardize this mission and to jeopardize the safety of these men and women.

CALEB THEODROS (D) NORTH CAROLINA STATE SENATOR: What a way to govern where we have had community members, elected officials, even reporters on these fact-finding missions just to find out whether a federal force is coming into the city of Charlotte.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREEMAN: All right, let's get the latest now from CNN national correspondent Dianne Gallagher.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Danny, there's palpable anxiety here in Charlotte right now as this is a city that doesn't quite know what to expect when Border Patrol actually arrives. And that could be as soon as today. But perhaps even more so, Charlotte doesn't seem to understand why it's being targeted for an operation like this.

Now, CNN reported on Tuesday that Gregory Bevino was going to be leaving Chicago and bringing his officers to Charlotte before then heading to New Orleans. That was according to two U.S. officials with knowledge of that planning. Initially, no one, from the sheriff to the city council, the mayor, even the governor of the state date seemed to have any idea that this was about to happen.

The sheriff did later say that he had since been in contact with two US Officials who told him that CBP was, in fact, coming to Charlotte and that they would be here early next week but could arrive as soon as Saturday. The sheriff said that he was given no details about the operation and that his office was not asked to assist in any way. And this lack of coordination has been the frustration for local officials who say that they do not want to see those chaotic and sometimes violent images that came out of Chicago and Los Angeles come out of their city as well. The community itself has started to try to attempt to respond in advance to this operation happening.

Immigration advocacy groups have held meetings where they better educate, they say, people on identifying federal officials and ICE agents and then telling them how they should properly respond to avoid detention or potentially getting hurt. They also have things like meal trains, volunteers to help take children to school, and walking buddies. There is a protest that was sort of put together at the last minute, that's planned for later today. It should be happening in uptown right around the same time that the Charlotte Marathon will be wrapping up.

[08:15:07]

And look, the governor himself telling people in a statement on Friday that if they see what he called inappropriate behavior, they should take their phones out, record it, and then send it to local law enforcement. Now, Danny, it is important to point out that while there is all this preparation happening in Charlotte, the Department of Homeland Security has not confirmed any sort of operation in Charlotte on the record. DHS telling CNN quote, "Every day DHS enforces the laws of the nation across the country. We do not discuss future or potential operations." Danny.

FREEMAN: All right. Diane Gallagher, thank you so much for that. To some other headlines we're following this morning. Beloved former football coach John Beam, who was featured in Netflix's Last Chance You has died. He was shot Thursday on an Oakland college campus. Beam was rushed to the hospital in critical condition, and he died from his injuries Friday morning. Police arrested 27-year-old Cedric Irving, and they said the suspect was acquainted with Beam but did not have a close relationship with him.

And to our airports, the FAA is easing flight cuts at 40 major airports this weekend starting this morning. Airlines can operate now 97 percent of flights at the affected airports. That 3 percent cut is down from 6 percent mandated earlier this week. This move comes as air traffic controller staffing levels have improved since the government shutdown ended.

And we finally have a mega millions winner. And that lucky player is in Georgia. That person won $980 million. The winning numbers were 1, 8, 11, 12, and 57. Man, I was just one off with the mega ball of seven. Now they can get that payout each year for 30 years or a lump sum cash payout of about $452 million before taxes. Congrats to that winner.

All right, coming up in just a moment, hidden deep in the bill to end the government shutdown is a major blow to a multibillion-dollar industry. The hemp industry's days may be numbered, but we'll tell you what, products could dry up coming up next. Also, tensions mounting between the U.S. and Venezuela. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's message for U.S. President Donald Trump, that's coming up just ahead as well.

And just in time for the bowl games, a major streaming partnership is back in business. Stay with us.

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President Trump is cutting some of his tariffs on groceries. He signed an executive order on Friday lowering tariffs on things like beef, coffee, tomatoes, and bananas. Now this move comes as grocery prices around the country are rising, sparking affordability concerns for voters.

Also on Friday, the White House said it is reducing tariffs on imports from Switzerland from 39 percent to 15 percent. That could lower the price of things like watches and medical equipment. In exchange, Swiss companies agreed to invest at least $200 billion in the U.S. Look at those nice watches.

To this now, the government is open again, but the repercussions caused by the legislation signed to do it are just beginning. The spending bill approved Wednesday includes a provision, for example, that would essentially shut down an entire industry that generates $23 billion annually.

In a year, certain hemp products, including CBD oils, will become illegal Schedule 1 narcotics. Now, supporters of this ban essentially say the 2018 Farm Bill created a loophole allowing the spread of unregulated hemp-derived THC. While the ban satisfies its supporters, though, it is already creating tremendous amounts of uncertainty and new problems for hemp growers.

Joining me now to discuss is Rod Kight, an attorney and expert in hemp law. Rod, thank you so much for joining us this morning. First, can you break down exactly what is at stake here and what is set to change for your industry?

ROD KIGHT, ATTORNEY AND EXPERT IN HEMP LAW: Yes, thanks for having me on the show. And you know, what's at stake here is really the future of an entire multibillion-dollar industry in the United States that has a lot of support of the American public, that employs thousands of people throughout the United States, and has been a real boon for small businesses. And so the products that have become pretty commonplace in the United States, as we're mentioned earlier, the CBD oils and all sorts of products, will become illegal on November 12, 2026, a year from now.

FREEMAN: Rod, were you surprised by this element ending up not just in the government spending bill, but ultimately passing in the spending bill, even though, you know, you saw Senator Rand Paul trying to stop it in a last-ditch effort?

KIGHT: Right. Well, we've had a huge amount of support in Congress and, in particular, from Senator Paul, and we were surprised. The industry was very surprised. It's been an industry that has had some battles, certainly at the state level and even at Congress, but this really took everyone by surprise.

And we believe that it was really sort of an insertion, a last-minute insertion into the bill. It was a must-pass type of a bill, and that really was not a referendum on the hemp industry or hemp products, but really was something that a lot of members of Congress didn't really have any information about, and voted really to reopen the government and not to ban hemp.

FREEMAN: Rod, what would you say to folks like Senator Mitch McConnell, who has argued that this has fixed a loophole which companies have been exploiting to create more intoxicating substances? What would you say to that?

[08:25:09]

KIGHT: Sure. Well, I would say that's just wrong to begin with. This is not a loophole. The law is actually very clear. And I would put it into context that we had a 2014 farm bill that legalized what was then known as industrial hemp, that sort of initiated this industry and CBD products. And instead of shutting that down or just continuing with that definition, in 2018, the Farm Bill actually radically expanded on the definition of hemp. And the industry has been growing for almost a decade now. If it were such a problem, then it would have been shut down long ago.

And in fact, it's not going to be shut down for another year. If this really was an urgent situation, then we wouldn't be waiting for a year. But the bottom line is the law is very clear and it says what it says, and it supported the birth of a major industry in the United States that Americans like and use products which has been growing rapidly every year.

FREEMAN: Well, that's the interesting thing, is that exactly as you said, this action essentially will take a year to go into effect. What actions are members of your industry taking now, as I understand, to try and prevent this from going into effect?

KIGHT: Sure. Well, this was, as I mentioned earlier, somewhat of a surprise, but the industry has been fighting back battles, you know, along the way here. And so the industry is primarily focused on getting education to members of Congress, uniting some of the sectors of the industry that haven't maybe been on the same messaging or beginning to come together from messaging.

And so I think we'll see a big push in terms of educating the American public, educating members of Congress, and even educating state officials. The state officials have been more involved and I think are better educated. But we'll see the industry really come together over this next 12 months to preserve what we already have and what Americans clearly want.

FREEMAN: Real quickly, Rod, just before I let you go, can you quickly just run down what people have been using hemp for over the course of the time that this industry really has blossomed?

KIGHT: Sure. Well, hemp is a product that people use for all sorts of different things, from minor pains and aches to, you know, we hear there are studies about children using it for epilepsy. People use it for anxiety, for sleep. And it's just a very versatile plant that has quite a number of uses. And we're pulling the rug out from underneath all of those people who've come to pull themselves off of maybe some harder medications that they were using to treat certain things, to use a more natural product that helps them get through their day.

FREEMAN: All right. Well, this story clearly not over just yet, but something that we're going to be monitoring. Rod Kight, thank you so much for coming on and discussing it all this morning. Appreciate you.

KIGHT: Thanks for having me.

FREEMAN: All right, still ahead, five months after the U.S. bombed Iran's nuclear sites, the U.S. is now targeting the country's missile and drone programs. Will the sanctions have any impact? We have a rare report from Iran coming up in just a moment.

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[08:32:40] FREEMAN: New this morning, the United States is conducting new military drills in Trinidad and Tobago amid tensions with Venezuela. Now, the military exercises start tomorrow and will last for five days. That's according to the Caribbean island nation.

The last several weeks, the U.S. has built up its mobilization of forces in the Caribbean that includes the US's largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford. The Marines have also already been deployed to fight illegal drug trafficking, according to the Trump administration.

Meanwhile, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is now appealing to the American public.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICOLAS MADURO, VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT (through translator): It is to the people of the United States that I speak to at this moment before these 100 jurors from 34 countries to say stop the insane hand of those who order bombing, killing and bringing war to South America, to the Caribbean. Stop the war. No to war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: The U.S. has launched at least 20 attacks in the Caribbean, claiming they were targeting illegal drug boats, though no proof has been offered publicly. At least 80 people have died in those attacks.

The U.S. is applying pressure on Iran over its nuclear program. CNN senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen is in Tehran with more.

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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It certainly seems as though at the moment the prospects are fairly dim, at least as far as Iranians are saying. The Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, he came out a couple of days ago and said that there was strategic distrust towards the United States on the part of the Iranians.

And at this point in time, he does not believe that any negotiations, in even indirect negotiations are prudent for the Iranians. This of course, having been strengthened, really after President Trump came out a couple of days ago and claimed that he had been very much in charge, as he put it, of Israel's bombing campaign of sites here in Iran. That, of course, happened this summer. That's definitely something that angered a lot of Iranian officials.

One of the interesting things, though, that we've picked up on is that also a couple of days ago, someone from the Supreme Leader's office, one of the advisers to the supreme leader, said that negotiations are not banned forever, that it is something that could potentially happen in the future, however, that it would have to be in Iran's national interests, as that person put it, to say that the Iranians need to see that there would benefits from such negotiations.

And the Iranians also saying that they certainly don't want to be pressured by the United States, especially as far as their nuclear program, but of course also as far as their missile program is concerned.

[08:35:07]

We, of course, mentioned those sanctions that the U.S. has just put forward. The Iranians are continuing to say that they believe that their nuclear program is the intrinsic right that they have, that this nuclear program is for peaceful purposes solely. And it is certainly something that they want to follow and even strengthen in the future.

The Iranians have never made a secret that they believe that their missile program and their drone program, as well, is very important to them because it gives them, they believe, a weapon to equalize against some of the modern technologies that the U.S. has and that the Israelis have as well.

One of the interesting things that we saw is that a couple of days ago, there's an exhibit for Iran's missile program by Iran's Revolutionary Guard, and that was open to the public, and that was also something that was shown here in media channels here in Iran as well.

So they are still saying that this missile program is something that they believe is of national pride, but also something they say is very important for this country's defense, and of course also for Iran to project power here in this region as well.

The signal that we're getting here from the Iranians is that they're certainly not stepping back from that missile program and, in fact, strengthening this missile program, understanding, of course, that the main conflicts that they have here in the region, especially with Israel and the United States, are far from over.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREEMAN: Fred Pleitgen in Tehran, thank you so much for that. In recent weeks, the Trump administration restricted the number of refugees to the U.S., but there's been an exception for white South Africans. There have been accusations of persecution against this group. So in this new episode of The Whole Story, CNN senior correspondent Donie O'Sullivan traveled there to investigate these claims.

In his reporting, he sat down with the father of Elon Musk in a wide- ranging interview about politics and race. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: America in the next 20 years will become for the first time in its history a minority white country. ERROL MUSK, ELON MUSK'S FATHER: Well, that will be very, very bad

thing to happen. You want to see the U.S. go down? Why? You don't like cars and electric cars, and you don't like technology, or what is it? Do you want to go back to the jungle or?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: An all-new episode of The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper, "Misinformation: White Genocide" airs Sunday, 8:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on CNN. And the next day on the CNN app.

All right. Coming up in a moment. Immigration sweeps in Chicago are keeping many at home, but street vendors are stuck. Do they stay at home or go out and risk deportation? We're going to introduce you to the group who's making that choice a little easier. Coming up next.

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[08:42:25]

FREEMAN: Since the start of the Trump administration's federal immigration crackdown, thousands in the Chicago metro area have been arrested or deported. These immigration sweeps have had a chilling effect on the city's Latino population, specifically on street vendors. Some who say they have decided to stay home out of fear of being arrested.

Well, now, in an effort to continue to support those vendors. Some residents in the community have organized buyouts. Now, these are grassroots efforts to buy every last item from street vendors, allowing them to continue to make money and then go home early, potentially avoiding arrest by immigration officials.

With me now is Rick Rosales. He's the community organizer for Cycling X Solidarity, a group which helps organize these buyouts. Rick, good morning. Thank you so much for joining us. Let's start here. How'd you come up with this idea?

RICK ROSALES, COMMUNITY ORGANIZER, "CYCLING X SOLIDARITY: Yes, Danny, thanks for having me. It was actually one of our organizers. We're a collective of cyclists that stay engaged with our community. And so she turned to me when we're co-founders, and she said, What are we doing about this ICE crackdown? How do we -- how are we supporting? How are we supporting our community? And that's how the idea was born.

FREEMAN: Also tell me, what is the response been from these vendors?

ROSALES: The response from the vendors has been incredible. The looks on their faces of just disbelief, the excitement. You know, they say, I have a ton of tamales. I have a ton of -- and were like, yes, we want to buy it all. We want you to go home. We want you to be safe. And just the joy of seeing them pack up as we're riding away and knowing that they're going to be safe, they're going to be with their family. It's just. It's been an incredible experience.

FREEMAN: Rick, can you describe how you've seen this effort grow since starting the buyouts?

ROSALES: Yes. The outpouring of support as media picks it up has been -- has been amazing. Support from all over the country where they're not -- I'm not in Chicago. How can I support? I don't ride bikes, but how can I get involved? And so just everyone kind of coming together, both locally and across the country has been amazing.

And so we've -- we've evolved from and continue. There's a buyout happening as we speak. One of my teams is out there on the streets, and we do the buyouts. We have a street vendor bike tour. We're doing home buyouts. And so the efforts just continue to expand as support continues.

FREEMAN: Rick, are you concerned that perhaps law enforcement will try to adjust and try to get to some of these vendors earlier? Are you worried about anything like that?

ROSALES: No. I mean, ICE has been kidnapping street vendors long before we started, and we -- they know where they are. So this is a beautiful show of mutual aid and community support. And we haven't had any issues and don't anticipate any issues.

[08:45:07]

FREEMAN: I mean, just frankly, though, any concern about your own safety or the safety of the people who have been getting on bikes and making this effort?

ROSALES: No, the community has embraced us, all the neighborhoods, everyone. And this is solidarity with other community organizations. There's rapid response teams. There's teams that are on the streets. Everyone has whistles, really. Chicago has come together and safety has never been an issue. It's just been joy and bikes and meeting these street vendors who are just wonderful.

FREEMAN: Rick, one last thing I wanted to ask you. We're seeing immigration enforcement or perhaps some of the most intense elements of it, move on from Chicago now and head reportedly to Charlotte. I know there are other cities like where I live in Philadelphia who are on edge as well.

What would you say to other communities who have seen what happened in Chicago and are bracing for ramped up enforcement in their cities?

ROSALES: Yes, I would just encourage them to get organized. I know there's a lot of Chicago efforts that have offered to send out supplies to these cities. We're hosting a webinar in a couple of weeks to replicate this kind of effort in other cities. Cities like New York, Bay Area, Houston have reached out to us. Charlotte. I don't know what their street vendor situation looks like, but we just encourage solidarity and communities to keep coming together and show just this peaceful resistance.

FREEMAN: Rick Rosales, thank you so much for getting up early this morning and sharing what you and your group have been doing out there. Really do appreciate it. ROSALES: Thank you so much, Danny.

FREEMAN: All right, coming up in a moment, a thriller on the hardwood. Warriors star Steph Curry tied a record with one of the greatest players of all time. But the big question is, did the warriors still win sports coming up next.

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[08:51:16]

FREEMAN: As part of our continuing coverage of the aftermath of the government shutdown, there is a very important piece of video I need you to see. Take a look. It's a live look at the panda cam. Now that the government shutdown is officially over, the Smithsonian is able to reopen their museums and that includes of course the National Zoo.

Look at those pandas right there just chomping away. Right now they're starting off their morning the right way, eating, lounging and taking a stroll now just as a giant panda should. Love that. All right, glad the government's back. Open for many reasons but of course this.

To sports now it was another vintage night from Steph Curry as the warriors beat the Spurs again. CNN's Andy Scholes joins us now. I mean Steph Curry, he just, he can't be stopped. It's incredible.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Danny, I mean, Steph Curry, he must have been enjoying himself some great Tex-Mex there in San Antonio because he had an amazing two games in the Alamo City Wednesday he scored 46. Then last night he put up 49. It was the first time Stephen put up back to back 40 point games since 2022.

Now before the game he was rocking some Nike Kobe Bryant shoes. Now on Thursday the news was announced that Steph and Under Armour are parting ways. And for the game Steph still did wear his signature Under Armour shoe.

But now Victor Wembanyama, he just continues to be must see TV in the third Wemby throws the ball off the backboard to himself slams at home. Then look at this later off the inbound, Wemby, a one handed slam with Draymond Green all over him. Wemby then stared down Draymond. He had 26 in the game.

Now spurs were up 10 with seven and a half to go. But Steph brings the Warriors back. He scored 14 in the fourth. He made two free throws to give Golden State the lead with six seconds left. The Spurs had one last chance, but De'Aaron Fox shot here, no good. Warriors went a wild one, 109 to 108.

Meanwhile in Detroit, the good times continuing to roll on for the Pistons. So they were again missing four of their five starters including star Cade Cunningham. But they once again found a way to win. The Pistons holding the Sixers just 15 points in the fourth quarter. They win 114 to 105. Detroit has now won nine games in a row, which is their best streak since the '07-'08 season.

Head Coach J.B. Bickerstaff says he's not surprised his team keeps winning despite so many injuries.

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J.B. BICKERSTAFF, DETROIT PISTONS HEAD COACH: You know, they've just got a nastiness to them. And that's the fun part about our group is like they like it when, you know, it gets thick. You know, they like it when it gets messy and it gets ugly. That's where they thrive. And you know, we like to take people there. We like to push people's buttons.

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SCHOLES: All right, speaking of Messi, we had a wild inning in college football last night between 20th ranked Louisville and Clemson. Cardinals down one four minutes ago in the fourth. They missed the go ahead 50-yard field goal, but the defense then makes a stand. Clemson forced to punt and they botch it. So Louisville takes over on the Clemson 23-yard line, but they then go backwards and have to try another long field goal and they miss it again.

Heartbreak for Cardinals fans as they lose 20 to 19, pretty much knocking them out of playoff contention. And we got a big slate of college football games coming up today with huge playoff implications. You got 22nd ranked Pitt hosting 9th ranked Notre Dame at noon, 4th ranked Alabama hosting 11th ranked Oklahoma. That's a 3:30 Eastern kickoff. And then tonight you got 5th ranked Georgia hosting 10th ranked Texas.

All of those games, Danny, are on ABC. And our national nightmare is finally over because YouTube TV and Disney finally came to an agreement last night. ESPN, ABC back on YouTube TV. We can all watch the games in peace now on our couch. For all of us like me that have YouTube TV.

[08:55:00]

FREEMAN: No, no, I'm telling you. I mean, and I -- we heard it. You know, fans of all sorts of different sports, of ESPN, they -- they were losing it over the past couple of weeks because of this blackout.

SCHOLES: Yes, it was tough times. Tough times. I was like, you know, Saturday night, Monday Night Football.

FREEMAN: Yes.

SCHOLES: It was a struggle.

FREEMAN: Last thing, quickly, I'll say, Andy, before we go, Wemby and Draymond, that is the craziest thing I've ever seen. The two of them looking at each other like this. I mean --

SCHOLES: Draymond got the last laugh. He boxed Wemby out big time on that last play with De'Aaron Fox missed it. So he got to chirp a little bit at the end, but Wemby certainly got him a couple times.

FREEMAN: Unbelievable. Great game. Andy Scholes, thanks so much. Great to see you as always.

All right, to this now Labubu mania is jumping from toy shelves to the big screen. About time. Sony Pictures has closed the deal to develop a movie based on the little toothy dolls. The viral toys made by China's Pop Mart surged in popularity, prompting online bidding wars, inflated prices, counterfeit dolls and even robberies as demand for them skyrocketed.

The film is still in the earliest stages of development. I don't know. I don't know that I get it. They seem scary to me. Anyway, thanks so much for joining us this morning. First of All with Victor Blackwell is back next Saturday, 8:00 a.m. Eastern. Smerconish is coming up after a quick break.

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