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Officials Rush to Finalize Details of Trump-Putin Summit; Judge Pauses New Construction at Florida Everglades Detention Camp; Trump: Placing D.C. Metro Police "Under Director Federal Control". Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired August 11, 2025 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR, RUSSIAN AFFAIRS, FORMER CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF, ADJUNCT PROFESSOR, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY AND AUTHOR, "MY RUSSIA: WHAT I SAW INSIDE THE KREMLIN": -- about the idea that Alaska used to belong to Russia. And I think it's important, Wolf, to point out that there are nationalists in Russia who say they ought to get it back. That it was not a deal and we ought to get it back. So, there's a lot of kind of trolling and then, you know, exuberance about the fact that it will be in Alaska.

But I think the other thing that we ought to watch is Putin is likely to offer Trump deals, deals in the Arctic, investment deals, trade, et cetera, and that will be another inducement that the Russian president will bring to the American president.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Jill Dougherty reporting for us. Jill, thank you very, very much. Pamela.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Wolf, we are watching the White House where President Trump is expected to address the issue of crime here in Washington. He's threatening a federal takeover of the nation's capital. We'll bring you his remarks to you live. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:35:00]

BLITZER: Happening now, a temporary pause in new construction at the very controversial ICE detention center in the Florida Everglades. A federal judge has now stepped in that when environmental groups raise serious concerns, but new details are emerging about the conditions inside the camp from people who were actually there. CNN's Rafael Romo reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It was meant to be a visit to his brother in the United States to mourn together the recent death of their mother. But Carlos Gonzalez says it turned out to be a nightmare that started with a traffic stop. He says he was stopped for driving a car with tinted windows and detained. He says he had in his possession a tourist visa and his Mexican passport and driver's license.

After originally being held at a county jail, Gonzalez says he was eventually transferred to the migrant detention center in the Florida Everglades, dubbed Alligator Alcatraz, where he claims he endured harsh conditions, including lack of toiletries, staying inside tents 24/7 with the lights on even at night, five-minute meals, up to 40 people per cell, going to the bathroom with handcuffed hands and switching from hot and humid conditions inside the tents to cold when they turned the air on. I see it as a form of torture to all of us there, Gonzalez said.

In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said that on July 7, 2025, Florida Highway Patrol arrested illegal aliens Carlos Martin Gonzalez-Meza Cole and Oscar Alejandro Gonzalez-Mesa during a traffic stop near Orlando, Florida. Carlos was illegally working in the U.S. while here on a tourist visa, and his brother Oscar, overstayed his visa, adding that the vehicle they were in was unregistered and had 212 total violations.

By the time he was stopped, Gonzalez acknowledges he had been in the country four months already because he was trying to get over the painful loss of his mother.

ROMO: We have heard similar testimonies from relatives of migrants who have been held at Alligator Alcatraz, as well as immigrants' rights groups and elected officials. But White House Border Czar, Tom Homan says detainees are treated --

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: All right. We're going to interrupt to go to the White House. The president of the United States about to make his statement and make -- he's going to walk into the briefing room, over there, the press briefing room. You see his top aides are standing alongside. He's going to be making a statement then answering reporter's questions, presumably not just on his decision to send U.S. troops into the District of Columbia here in Washington, D.C. to deal with potential crime issues and other issues but also, they'll be answering questions on a wide range of other issues as the reporters have other subjects on their mind.

Pamela, this is an important news conference because we'll see the future of Washington, D.C., the nation's capital, basically unfolding under the Trump administration.

BROWN: That's right. And you see his top officials there, attorney General, Pam Bondi, DOD Secretary Pete Hegseth. And here you see President Trump walking up to the podium. Let's listen.

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Wow. I've been up here a lot. I've never seen a crowd like this. I think we need a ballroom, and that's happening. It's going to be a beautiful ballroom. This is really a lot of people, most I've ever seen in this room.

And we're here for a very serious purpose. Very serious purpose. Something's out of control, but we're going to put it in control very quickly like we did on the southern border. I'm announcing a historic action to rescue our nation's capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor and worse. This is Liberation Day in D.C. and we're going to take our capital back. We're taking it back.

Under the authorities vested in me as the president of the United States., I'm officially invoking Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act. Do you know what that is? And placing the D.C. Metropolitan and Police Department under direct federal control, and you'll be meeting the people that will be directly involved with that. Very good people, but they're tough and they know what's happening and they've done it before.

In addition, I'm deploying the National Guard to help reestablish law order and public safety in Washington, D.C., and they're going to be allowed to do their job properly.

[10:40:00]

And you people are victims of it too. You know, you're reporters, and I understand a lot of you tend to be on the liberal side, but you don't want to get mugged and raped and shot and killed, and you all know people and friends of yours that happened. And so, you can be anything you want, but you want to have safety in the streets. You want to be able to leave your apartment or your house where you live and feel safe in going to a store to buy a newspaper or buy something, and you don't have that now.

The murder rate in Washington today is higher than that of Bogota, Colombia, Mexico City. Some of the places that you hear about as being the worst places on Earth, much higher. This is much higher. The number of car thefts has doubled over the past five years and the number of carjackings has more than tripled. Murders in 2023 reached the highest rate probably ever. They say 25 years, but they don't know what that means because it just goes back 25 years. Can't be worse.

Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and blood thirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged out maniacs and homeless people, and we're not going to let it happen anymore. We're not going to take it. And just like we did on our southern border, nobody comes to our southern border anymore. Three months in a row we had zero. I don't know if that's right, but the people that do the work, it's a very liberal group of people actually, and they actually said zero for the last three months. Nobody thought a thing like that was possible.

And you know, when you say, take a look at numbers, I just saw some charts. These are different cities throughout the world. Red is OK. The red is a place called Washington, D.C. Look at these. Baghdad is -- we doubled up on Baghdad. Panama City, Brasilia, San Jose, Costa Rica, Bogota, Columbia, heavy Drugs. Mexico City, I mentioned. Lima, Peru, all double and triple what they are. So, do you want to live in places like that? I don't think so. I don't think so.

And I think the people in this room, if you wrote correctly, you'd see, look at the kind of numbers we have. D.C., 41 per 100,000, number one that we can find anywhere in the world. Other cities are pretty bad, but they're not as bad as that. Is that where you want to live? The reporters of the world?

Juvenile offenders and crimes against persons, as they say, it's getting worse, not getting better, it's getting worse. And we had a recent indication. There was a story about a man who was -- that just left. He quit because he was asked to do phony numbers on crime. And we're going to look into that. I think Pam is going to be looking into that. But he was asked by the city, I guess, that we don't want to show the real numbers. Let me do numbers. So, it looks like it's going down, not going down.

And under Biden, it was a disaster. And nobody did anything about it. We're going to do things about it like you wouldn't believe. Every American has a constitutional right to be able to access and petition their government in safety and countless federal officials and employees likewise have the right to carry out their jobs in peace without being shot.

As you know, I lost a very good person a while ago, was shot waiting for his wife. He was in the car. They robbed his car, they shot him, they killed him like it was nothing to it. She was walking to the car and she was -- it's a horror show. This issue directly impacts the functioning of the federal government and is a threat to America. Really, it's a threat to our country.

We have other cities also that are bad, very bad. You look at Chicago how bad it is. You look at Los Angeles how bad it is. We have other cities that are very bad. New York has a problem. And then you have, of course, Baltimore and Oakland. We don't even mention that anymore. They're so far gone. We're not going to let it happen. We're not going to lose our cities over this, and this will go further. We're starting very strongly with D.C. and we're going to clean it up real quick, very quickly, as they say.

Days ago, a former member of the DOGE staff was savagely beaten by a band of roving thugs after defending a young woman from an attempted carjacking. He was left dripping in blood. He thought he was dead with a broken nose and concussion. Can't believe that he's alive. He can't believe it.

[10:45:00]

In June, a 21-year-old congressional intern was tragically killed after being hit by a stray bullet in a drive-by shooting. A former Trump administration official named Mike Gill, fantastic person, was murdered last year in cold blood in a carjacking blocks away from the White House. We all knew him. Great person. Waiting for his wife as she was walking to the car.

The Democrat congressman was also carjacked at gunpoint, not far from the capitol. And in 2023, an aid to Senator Rand Paul was stabbed in the chest and head by a demented lunatic as he walked down the street. Just absolutely for no reason. Horrifically, last July 4th weekend, a three-year-old girl was shot in the head and killed while sitting in a car near the capitol. It's becoming a situation of complete and total lawlessness. And we're getting rid of the slums too. We have slums here. We're getting rid of them. I know it's not politically correct, you'll say, oh, so terrible. No, we're getting rid of the slums where they live. Caravans of mass youth. Rampage through city streets at all times of the day. There were ATVs, motorbikes. They travel pretty well. Entire neighborhoods are now under emergency curfews.

Just this past weekend gunfire through -- went through and you saw that -- the Navy yard, I saw it this morning. They saw -- that they fought back against law. See, they fight back until you knock the hell out of them, because it's the only language they understand. But they fought back against law enforcement last night. And they're not going to be fighting back long because I've instructed them and told them whatever happens.

You know, they love to spit in the face of the police, as the police are standing up there in uniform, they're standing and they're screaming at them an inch away from their face. And then, they start spitting in their face. And I said, you tell them, you spit and we hit and they can hit real hard. It's a disgusting thing. I've watched that for years. For three, four years I've watched them. Police have stand -- and they're told, don't do anything under any search. So, this -- and you can see they want to get at it.

And they're standing there and people are spitting in their face and they're not allowed to do anything. But now, they are allowed to do whatever the hell they want. This dire public safety crisis stems directly from the abject failures of the city's local leadership. The radical left city council adopted no cash bail.

By the way, every place in the country where you have no cash bail is a disaster. That's what started the problem in New York, and they don't change it. They don't want to change it. That's what started it in Chicago. I mean, bad politicians started it, bad leadership started it, but that was the one thing that's central, no cash bail. Somebody murders somebody and they're out on no cash bail before the day is out. We're going to end that in Chicago. We're going to change the statute.

I spoke with Pam and Todd and everybody, we're going to change the statute and I'm going to have to get the Republicans to vote because the Democrats are weak on crime, totally weak on crime. They don't know why they want to stop because they get mugged too. But we're going to change no cash bail. We're going to change the statute and get rid of some of the other things, and we'll count on the Republicans in Congress and Senate to vote. We have the majority, so we'll vote. We don't have a big majority, but we've gotten everything, including the great big beautiful bill. Got that done. And that's one of the greatest things that's ever happened to people in this country.

They're starting to figure it out, how good it is. Biggest tax cut in history. So many things. But we'll be able to get that done. So, Todd, if you and Pam can draw up things working with the people, we will -- I'll get it passed. We'll get it passed with the Republicans. Probably won't get -- think of this, probably won't get one Democrat vote because they have no idea what they're doing. That's why they want men playing in women's sports. That's what they -- why they want transgender for everybody. Everybody transgender. And they just got walloped in an election, in a landslide, and they haven't changed one thing.

[10:50:00]

I saw the other day, the -- certain gentlemen who is a very well known, politician, Democrat, was fighting like hell that men should be allowed to play in women's sport. They just don't get it. They said it's an 80/20 issue and I think it's a 97 to three issue, and I don't know who the three are. I've never heard anybody come -- nobody's ever come up to me, sir, you have to let men play in women's sports. You have to do it, sir. Nobody's ever approached me. I don't know where this issue even comes from. Never seen anything like it.

But they turned our nation's capital into a sanctuary jurisdiction. That's the other thing. We have to get rid of sanctuary cities as quickly as possible. We're going to do it too. We have to, because it's sanctuary for criminals, releasing illegal alien gang members onto the streets. In 2022, nearly 70 percent of criminals arrested in Washington went unprosecuted. That's not going to happen with the group we have standing aside and standing behind me.

And at the Metropolitan Police Department, it's now reached a small number relatively compared to what it was, but it's thousands of people. You know, we have thousands of police. I was told today, sir, they want more police. I heard a number, 3,500 police. That's a lot of police, 3,500. I thought they're going to say, we only have 30 policemen or women. He said, we have 3,500. We need more. You don't need more. That's so many -- I'd never heard -- that's like an army.

How could you need more than 3,000? It just happened two minutes ago. Sir, they've requested more police. Oh, what do they have? About 3,500. I said 3,500? This is not a big area. It's ridiculous. What you need is rules and regulations, and you need the right people to implement them, and we have the right people here, that I can tell you.

Look at the border. Biden said there's nothing you can do. Kamala was the border czar. She never called one of the border patrol agents who were great -- ICE is great. Never spoke to anybody, never went there. But she was the border czar and everybody said it was impossible to fix. I fixed it in three months. No, really? I fixed it the first week. But really fixed it over the last couple of months.

And I mean, literally to a point where, as I said, zero illegals entering our country in the last 90 days. Pretty amazing. It's time for dramatic action. We're going to do the same thing over here. It's going to be a very safe city very soon. We're not looking to just take years, because a lot of people die in years and we've got incredible people in this country, except we have to allow them to do their job. And that we will deliver like nobody's ever delivered before. I actually think it's easy. You know, if you're competent, it's easy. If you're incompetent, it's impossible. But I'm very competent.

Last week, my administration surge 500 federal agents into the district, including from the FBI, ATF, DEA, Park Police, the U.S. Marshal Service, the Secret Service, and the Department of Homeland Security. You know, a lot of nations, they don't have anything like that. They got some police, and they're rough police. They don't have DEA, ATF, FBI, Park Police, the U.S. Marshal Service, Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security. They got some police, but they're rough police and they do their job. They don't have crime. We're not going to have crime either.

They made dozens of arrests and that's what that's what starts to happen. Again, cashless bail. Watch what we do with that. Today, we're formally declaring a public safety emergency. This is an emergency. This is a tragic emergency. And it's embarrassing for me to be up here.

You know, I'm going to see Putin. I'm going to Russia on Friday. I don't like being up here talking about how unsafe and how dirty and disgusting this once beautiful capitol was, with graffiti all over the walls. It's another part of it, by the way. Because we're talking about safety, but we're also talking about beautification. We are the most beautiful, potentially capital in the world. We always had. But people come from Iowa, they come from Indiana, they come and then they get mugged. Not going to happen.

Keep coming because within -- by the time you get your trip set, it's going to be safe again, and it's going to be clean very quickly. We're going to replace the medians that are falling down all over the roads. We're going to replace the potholes. We're going to put a nice new coat of asphalt over the top, knowing we don't have to rip the road out and spend seven years building a new road because they cut everything, they -- because some designers said, well, we need a quarter of an inch more turn for safety reasons. No, we're going to do it right. We're going to get it done quickly.

[10:55:00]

So, today, we're declaring public safety emergency in the District of Columbia and Attorney General Pam Bondi, who's fantastic, is taking command of the Metropolitan Police Department as of this moment. And I'll be making the appropriate notifications to Congress and to the mayor, our new DEA administrator who's one of the top in the country. He better be. Terry, if you're not, I'm going to get rid of you so fast. Terry Cole. Terry, thanks. Very good. We just got him, most highly recommended person. And you'll be designated as the interim Federal Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Department. OK? And you run them tough.

They're good. You have a lot of good people. You have people that shouldn't be there. You also have people that shouldn't be there. They got in there because of woke, but you have a lot of great police. And those people are the ones that want to help you.

This city will no longer be a sanctuary for illegal alien criminals. We will have full, seamless, integrated cooperation at all levels of law enforcement and we'll deploy officers across the district with an overwhelming presence. You'll have more police and you'll be so happy because you're being safe. When you walk down the street, you're going to see police or you're going to see FBI agents. You're going to have a lot of agents on the streets and you're going to have a lot of essentially military, and we will bring in the military if it's needed, by the way. We're going to have National Guard. But Pete Hegseth will tell you about it.

We will bring in the military if needed. People say, oh, that's so terrible. He's going to bring in. It's been used many times over the years. I don't think we'll need it. I think we've got so many great people, including the people that are in the police department with proper leadership.

They'll immediately begin massive enforcement operations, targeting known gangs, drug dealers, and criminal networks to get them the hell off the street, maybe get them out of the country, because a lot of them came into our country illegally, they shouldn't have been allowed in. They come from Venezuela, they come from all over the world. We're going to get them the hell out. They won't be here long.

But some of these people, a lot of them are homegrown criminals. And these are bad people. These are rough people. And this is just a list of some of the people that were given to me today that were criminals removed from the D.C. streets this weekend. They were rough and tough, but we're rougher and tougher.

Look at these people here. Nothing. You know, they're not going to be your local school teacher. Look at this guy. He has killed people numerous times. They're not going to be an asset. They will never be an asset to society. I don't care. I know we all want to say, oh, they're going to be rehabbed. It's not going to be rehabbed.

I'm going to ask Doug Burgum to come up and say a couple of words because he's in charge, as you know. He's interior, but he's in charge of the U.S. Park Police. And I have heard so many great things about the Park Police. They're proud of it. They've been there for a long time. Their families oftentimes grow into the roles. They love the country. They love this area. So, Doug, could you say a few words, please?

DOUG BURGUM, INTERIOR SECRETARY: Thank you, Mr. President. On behalf of the U.S. Park Police, this is the oldest federal police force in the nation. They were formed in 1791 by none other than President George Washington. They've got the awesome responsibility of protecting our nation's most sacred monuments. The National Mall, Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Statue of Liberty, and out west, the Presidio and the Golden Gate area.

These folks in -- have tens of millions of visitors a year, the kind of people that President Trump's talking about that come from around the country and around the world to see our sacred and learn about our history and our sacred monuments. They've been doing a fantastic job, but they are so pleased to rank and file that President Trump is now allowing them to enforce the law.

As those of you that live in the city may know that the circles in the triangle parks that are spread throughout D.C. are actually Federal Park property. So, the U.S. Park Police also have responsibility for that. These became littered with homeless camps under the Biden administration, all of you saw that. Since President Trump's executive order on March 27th, making D.C. safe and beautiful again, the U.S. Park Police have removed over 70 homeless camps.

And President Trump also talked about beautification. They're stopping and enforcing the laws against graffiti on our monuments. They've removed over 80 specific attacks against our history with graffiti on our monuments. So, they continue to do a great job, whether it's in their vehicles on foot or on the mounted police that you see around the National Mall. And President Trump, they thank you.

[11:00:00]