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The Situation Room

Interview With Washington, D.C., Councilmember Brooke Pinto; Trump Lowers Expectations For Putin Meeting; Texas Gerrymandering Battle Continues; CDC Shooting Investigation; Federal Takeover of D.C. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired August 12, 2025 - 11:00   ET

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

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PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Happening now: concerns over safety. Right now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is holding an agencywide meeting just days after a gunman opened fire at its Atlanta headquarters.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: We want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

We begin the hour with an historic moment here in the nation's capital, the first full day of President Trump's federal takeover of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department.

BROWN: And new this morning, we are seeing the first National Guard troops reporting for duty at the local armory. The president is deploying 800 members of the D.C. National Guard. And federal agents were seen walking Washington streets just hours after the unprecedented orders.

The president has suggested that other cities could see the same orders.

So let's go live now to CNN's Alayna Treene at the White House.

What more are you learning this morning, Alayna?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, there are still some key questions about how all of this is going to work, even as we're starting to see these agents, of course, in the streets of Washington, D.C.

A key question is, how long are we actually going to see this federal law enforcement within the city? And we know, according to the law that the president invoked, the D.C. Home Rule Act, that he has until mid-September where he is allowed to continue this federal takeover.

After that, he would need congressional approval in order to continue it. Of course, questions of whether Congress would actually allow him to do that and also if the president wants to extend it beyond that time frame. And I think a key question of whether or not he will is how this all plays politically.

And that's currently an unknown. Now, I think there's also questions, of course, within the D.C. government about how it's going to work in practice. We know that you're seeing these National Guard members come to D.C. So far, we have seen also hundreds of FBI, ATF, DEA agents working alongside law enforcement.

We heard the president say yesterday that they can do whatever the hell they want. Those were his words, not mine. But we haven't really seen exactly some of the key things of how they're going to be operating for this next period of time.

And I think one of the key things in the big picture of all of this is really, will this actually serve as a model for other cities? We heard the president say yesterday that, if it's successful, what he's doing in Washington, then he may try to take that strategy and implement it in places like Los Angeles, Chicago, New York. He named other cities as well.

The difference, though, of course, is, that would be a lot harder to do in cities that are actually part of states. I mean, we heard the D.C. mayor, Muriel Bowser, say yesterday, kind of acknowledging this, that D.C. is a bit of a gray area. It is not a state. There's no governor that controls the National Guard.

And so the federal government has more power to do what the president is doing here, and so all of those, of course, key questions. But I think another thing really important to point out is some of the context of this as well. Why is the president doing this now?

I mean, and I think a big part of that is he wants to be seen, he's continually tried to paint himself as a law and order president. He's also repeatedly, particularly in this term, really tested the bounds of his executive authority. And so we kind of saw all that come together with this announcement yesterday.

It's also something we know has been simmering in him not even in the last -- just the last few months, Pamela and Wolf, but also if you look back to the first term when he wanted to do something similar. However, then he was cautious not to move forward. Now, of course, we're seeing it in full effect.

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BROWN: All right, Alayna Treene from the White House, thanks so much -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Also happening now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is holding its first all-agency meeting since the deadly shooting at their headquarters in Atlanta.

We're also getting new information on the shooter right now. Investigators say they found documents in the gunman's House detailing his discontent with the COVID vaccine. Authorities have also revealed the cause of the shooter's death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound. As CDC employees work from home this week, many are calling for tighter security.

CNN senior national correspondent Ryan Young is joining us live just outside of Atlanta.

Ryan, what's the latest?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, we're outside the GBI headquarters.

We got our most significant update to date so far in terms of what happened at that shooting. And I'm sure CDC workers, when they hear these numbers, are going to be -- just unbelievable when they hear this; 500 rounds were fired from that shooter, OK?

That's what we learned from the GBI; 200 rounds hit six different buildings at the CDC. It's amazing that no one was hit inside those buildings as he was shooting that way. This lasted for almost a half- hour. If you think about it this way, he was firing nonstop until that officer arrived and then that officer took fire.

Of course, Officer Rose was killed. So many people are worried about the safety of the CDC. But when we show you this photo of all the rounds on the ground, we had not known the count. At one point, we thought it was 200 shots. Now we know 200 shots went toward the building and hit the building, but 500 rounds were fired overall.

This was a news conference that just wrapped up in the last 45 minutes or so. Take a listen to the GBI talk about this investigation and where we stand right now.

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CHRIS HOSEY, DIRECTOR, GEORGIA BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION: Evidence in this investigation indicates that the shooter had recently verbalized thoughts of suicide, which even led to law enforcement being contacted several weeks prior to the incident.

A search warrant executed at the residence of the shooter revealed written documentation that expressed the shooter's discontent for the -- with the COVID-19 vaccinations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Wolf, of course, we have been reporting that he was upset about the COVID -- for quite some time, and that was the reason why he was targeting the CDC.

Something that we also learned, his father was calling authorities to say, hey, my son is upset and he might want to commit suicide. But the detail that we learned today that was quite shocking is the guns that were used were actually the father's guns. And he broke into a gun safe and got those rounds. Now, of course, we have also reported the fact that there were several

backpacks brought and maybe five weapons in total, including a shotgun, that was brought on the scene. At one point, a source told us that he tried to make his way through the CVS. Those doors were locked. He tried to fire his way through that door, going upstairs to a second floor before turning the gun on himself, all this, of course, happening with the tragic death of Officer David Rose, something that so many people in this community have been impacted by.

Wolf, we continue to follow the details in this story. We should get one more update later on this afternoon. But this so far has so many people baffled, 500 rounds inside a city, no one hit in terms of any of those people at the CDC, which is just astronomical when you talk about all the shots that were fired -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, thank God.

All right, Ryan Young, thank you very, very much -- Pamela.

BROWN: And, Wolf, happening now, Texas Republicans are failing to reach a quorum again in Austin. That was just moments ago. Here is that moment.

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STATE REP. DUSTIN BURROWS (R-TX): There being 95 members present, a quorum is not present. The House and gallery, please rise for the invocation, which will be offered by Ferman Carpenter, the DPS chaplain.

FERMAN CARPENTER, DSP CHAPLAIN: Let us pray. Our holy and most wonderful father...

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BROWN: State Republicans have been trying to pass their controversial redistricting plan that could eliminate five Democratic-held congressional seats in next year's midterm elections. But Democrats are still boycotting the proceedings from outside of the state.

Texas state House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu stressed this morning that his party is prepared for a long fight.

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STATE REP. GENE WU (D-TX): Our members are holding strong and we're committed more so now than ever to see this through and to make sure that we do what we need to do for the people of Texas and the people of the United States of America.

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BROWN: Let's go live now to CNN national correspondent Ed Lavandera in Austin, Texas.

Ed, what comes next after today's latest attempt to reconvene? ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we actually

have some very much developing news on this.

The House members are still on the floor, but the House speaker just said that they are going to end this special session early on Friday. It's supposed to end next Tuesday. But, as we know, the governor is immediately going to call another special session to get this redistricting bill passed.

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So, a bit of significant news there, because I -- and this is literally just happening. So we haven't had a chance to hear from Democrats on how this might change whether or not they continue staying out of the state until next week.

And then we don't know exactly the timing of when the next special legislative session will be called. We have been told it would be immediately, but I don't know if that means on Saturday or if they would just wait until Monday at this point, but, clearly, the Republicans here in Texas planning to end this special session where this redistricting bill has been bogged down because they have not met another quorum.

They're going to try to reach a quorum again on Friday. And if that doesn't happen, that's when they're going to end the session. So we will continue to gather and figure out where things are playing here. But let's hear some back-and-forth of where Republicans and Democrats are here right now.

In an interview with Jake Tapper on CNN yesterday, the governor of Texas says that he's actually perhaps considering redrawing these maps again if California and other states try to offset what they have done here. And the governor thinks that there are more Republican seats that they can get than the five they're talking about here. Let's listen to this back-and-forth.

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STATE REP. RICHARD PENA RAYMOND (D-TX): So what's going to bring Democrats back here? I don't know. I know what could bring them back here, if the governor says, let's just put this bill in the trash can and let's do the right thing.

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): If California tries to gerrymander five more districts, listen, Texas has the ability to eliminate 10 Democrats in our state. We can play that game more than they can, because they have fewer Republican districts in their states.

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LAVANDERA: And that's, Pamela, like what so many people have been talking about, is that this situation here in Texas triggers off a gerrymandering arms race across the state.

Now, the question is, where does all of this end -- Pamela.

BROWN: That is the question. Where does it end?

Ed Lavandera, thank you so much Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Pamela.

Also happening now, 26, 26 European nations issuing a joint statement of support for Ukraine just ahead of Friday's historic summit between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

The statement reading in part -- and I'm quoting now -- "The path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine" -- end quote.

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, says he's grateful for Europe's support. President Trump is also setting the table for the meeting, appearing to lower expectations for what may come out of it. Listen.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is really a feel- out meeting a little bit. And President Putin invited me to get involved.

There will be some land swapping going on. I know that through Russia and through conversations with everybody, to the good, for the good of Ukraine, good stuff, not bad stuff, also some bad stuff for both.

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BLITZER: All right, let's go live right now to CNN senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen, who is joining us from Moscow.

Fred, we just heard President Trump say he sees it as a feel-out meeting. What's the Kremlin's take so far?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Kremlin certainly also sees it as somewhat of a feel-out meeting. It's unclear whether or not any results are actually going to be reached.

However, one of the things that we're seeing, Wolf, since the beginning of this week, is that the new strategy that the Kremlin seems to have before this meeting on Friday is to let President Trump pretty much do all of the talking.

The last time that we have heard from a senior Kremlin official or that we have heard from Russia's president himself, Vladimir Putin, was this past Friday, when the Russians confirmed that the meeting would be in Alaska. The Russians have a bit of a different take on things than what we just heard there from President Trump, of course, President Trump saying that it was the Russians who wanted him to get involved and asked for this meeting.

However, a senior Kremlin aide said, Wolf, that it was actually the U.S. that put a proposal on the table and that, for the Russians, that proposal was, as they put it, acceptable.

Now, at the same time that the Russians are remaining mute on what exactly this summit can achieve and what their strategy for it is, we do see Kremlin-controlled media, Russian state media certainly trying to capitalize on things.

The big message that's going on there is that Russia is starting to make ever larger territorial gains, especially on the eastern front in Ukraine. There's talk of a lot of momentum over the past couple of days, and that that's something that's going to strengthen Vladimir Putin's hand as he goes into that summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.

One of the things, of course, Wolf, that the Russians have said, that, as far as they're concerned, they have not changed their stance on Ukraine, which, of course, has been pretty much from the get-go that they want territorial concessions from the Ukrainians. They don't want Ukraine to become a member of NATO, and they pretty much, Wolf, also want the Ukrainians to all but disarm as well.

So, certainly, it seems there could be a difficult meeting, but the Russians so far are not showing their hand as to what they might put on the table for President Trump to see, Wolf.

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BLITZER: All right, Fred Pleitgen in Moscow for us, we will stay in very close touch with you. Thank you very, very much -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right, Wolf, still ahead right here in THE SITUATION ROOM: National Guard troops are reporting for duty here in Washington.

A D.C. councilmember joins us in THE SITUATION ROOM with her concerns over the president's unprecedented expansion of federal policing power.

BLITZER: Plus: the U.S. Supreme Court formally asked to overturn the landmark ruling that legalized same-sex marriage here in the United States. Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

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BLITZER: Happening now: Washington, D.C.'s Mayor Muriel Bowser is over at the Department of Justice right now.

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She's expected to meet with attorney general, Pam Bondi, a day after President Trump declared a crime emergency here in the capital and took control of the city's police. Right now, National Guard troops are arriving at the D.C. Armory.

President Donald Trump citing a public safety emergency to justify the move, even as violent crime is actually down since spiking back in 2023. Still unclear, what exactly federal law enforcement will be doing here in Washington

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LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: The question is, are you there for a year? Are you there for six months? And when the troops pull out, what happens then?

PETE HEGSETH, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: I would call this conditions- based. I would say it's a situation where we're here to support law enforcement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And joining us now to discuss what's going on here in the nation's capital, the D.C. City Councilmember Brooke Pinto. She represents Ward 2, which includes the National Mall. She also chairs the City Council's Committee on Public Safety.

I know you led passage, you promoted passage of legislation to drive down crime here in Washington, D.C., so can you explain why you do not support this move by the Trump administration?

BROOKE PINTO (D), WASHINGTON, D.C., COUNCILMEMBER: Sure.

Well, I believe that crime and making sure that every person in Washington, D.C., is safe is the most paramount responsibility of government. And here in D.C., we have a very unique relationship with the federal government, and that requires coordination. Both players are important to improving safety.

But we know how to do that now. As the chair of the Council's Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety, I led the largest public safety package in our city's history just last year, which has led to a decrease in violent crime, leading us to the lowest records we have seen in 30 years.

But let me be very clear. We have to continue our work to make sure that every person can be safe in D.C. But sending National Guard troops into the streets who are really supposed to be doing things like disaster relief or go towards war zones is not the answer.

BLITZER: The mayor of Washington, D.C., Mayor Bowser, as you know, is meeting with the attorney general, Pam Bondi, right now here in Washington over at the Department of Justice. What do you want the mayor's message to be to the attorney general?

PINTO: Well, the chief of police is still in control here, Chief Pamela Smith. She still reports to our mayor, Mayor Bowser, on crime fighting, on the efforts that our police are working on every single day in our neighborhoods to promote safety.

Now, what the president's executive order says specifically is that, for this period of 30 days, the federal government can call on services from MPD. And so my hope for those conversations is to first and foremost make sure it doesn't last longer than 30 days, and, second, make clear that if these folks are going to be here, in addition to our city, we want to make sure it is helpful to our efforts of crime fighting and not harmful.

BLITZER: I assume you heard that the D.C. police -- hold on a second, the mayor, Mayor Bowser, is speaking right now. I want to hear what she's saying.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

MURIEL BOWSER (D), MAYOR OF WASHINGTON, D.C.: And they are the MPD strategic plan moving forward.

PAMELA SMITH, D.C. METROPOLITAN POLICE CHIEF: Thank you, Madam Mayor.

So I had the opportunity yesterday and this morning to meet with Mr. Terry Cole, who's the administrator from the DEA, and also Mr. Gadyaces Serralta, called Gady, from the U.S. Marshals. He's the director of the U.S. Marshals. And we have been working collaboratively.

I think this is going to be a good effort. It's going to be an effort that's supported by both teams, the Metropolitan Police Department as well as our federal partners. As you know, we work daily with them. What we have done at this point is, we have provided the team, the administrator, with a strategic plan on how we will provide resources around our city.

I think it's something that is doable. We know that we have to get illegal guns off of our street. And if we have this influx or enhanced presence, it's going to make our city even better.

QUESTION: Chief, what's your role in all this?

SMITH: I am the chief of police for the Metropolitan Police Department. And being the chief of police, I am certainly the one who champions to ensure that we reduce violent crime across our city. That is why the mayor appointed me to do that job, which is why you have seen the reduction in crime across our city.

This effort will only help us enhance and build upon that.

QUESTION: Are you responding -- are you answering to Terry Cole and Pam Bondi?

SMITH: I answer to the mayor. I answer to Mayor Muriel Bowser. And let me just say this. Let us not have any controversy with that, OK, because I know people want to build upon and create division.

We're here to work together with our federal partners, and that's what we're going to do.

QUESTION: How are you going to do that? Are you -- can you explain what the National Guard is likely to do, what the federal agents are likely to do?

(CROSSTALK)

SMITH: So the federal agents -- so the way we would do any operational plan across our city, we would create a plan, we would put our resources together, we would allocate and look at the locations around our city, where we believe there are areas, pockets of crime that we would like to address.

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We also know that there are opportunities for us to build upon our community engagement with our federal partners who work with us every day, and this is the time for us to do that. I won't go into the details and the devils of our operational plan at this point, but you will see Metropolitan Police Department working side by side with our federal partners in order to enforce the efforts that we need around the city.

QUESTION: Can you tell us what the chain of command is now?

SMITH: What does that mean?

QUESTION: Is it Pam Bondi speaking to the mayor?

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: Or how does this work?

BOWSER: So the executive order is clear. The president has requested MPD services. And our home rule charter outlines the process.

The president designated Attorney General Bondi as his proxy to request services through me.

QUESTION: But does the attorney general have the authority to implement changes in MPD or just request changes?

BOWSER: The executive order is pretty clear and so is the law. The president has the authority by virtue of the statute to request services.

Our organizational chart, how we do business, how we fund the police, how we make changes, none of that has changed.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

BOWSER: Yes.

QUESTION: Mayor Bowser, you have had some time to think about it since yesterday. How do you sum up how this has played out, where you didn't know about this before it was announced?

BOWSER: What I'm focused on is the federal surge and how to make the most of the additional officer support that we have.

We have the best in the business at MPD and Chief Pamela Smith to lead that effort and to make sure that the men and women who are coming from federal law enforcement are being well used and that if there's National Guard here that they're being well used, and all in an effort to drive down crime. So how we got here or what the -- what we think about the

circumstances right now, we have more police and we want to make sure we're using them.

QUESTION: Are you concerned at all that some of the police that are out there are FBI agents who are assigned to offices who are now patrolling the streets at night?

BOWSER: I'm going to rely on the police chief to work with her counterparts to make sure people are being deployed in a useful way.

QUESTION: Could you explain the nature of the relationship between the two (OFF-MIKE) during this 30-day period?

BOWSER: It's going to be, she's going to work hands in hand with the people that the president has designated.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just a couple more.

QUESTION: Chief, we hear in some other jurisdictions the National Guard are made up primarily of police and law enforcement. Do we know the makeup of it in D.C.?

(CROSSTALK)

BOWSER: I wouldn't be able to say that offhand. I think they come from all backgrounds.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: Are there a lot of law enforcement here actually?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are a number of Metropolitan Police Department and officers from other law enforcement outfits, firefighters and others who make up our D.C. National Guard because that's who makes up our city.

QUESTION: And does the National Guard have the power to make arrests on a day-to-day basis? How does that work?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, the National Guard is not law enforcement. And so, as the chief said, we regularly, because what we do in our city, work with the National Guard, and we will do the same. They will coordinate through the Metropolitan Police Department for any services that they're providing during this time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, thanks everybody.

BOWSER: Thank you. Thank you.

BLITZER: All right, so we just heard from the mayor of Washington, D.C. We heard from the police chief, Pamela Smith, as well.

Brooke Pinto is still with us, the D.C. councilmember.

What's your reaction? What do you think? PINTO: Well, we are aligned in this government with our mayor, with

the council, with the attorney general, with our police chief that we have to do more to keep District residents safe.

Now, I continue to be of the mind-set that we should do so through hiring more police officers. I just moved legislation to get it easier to have more officers come in the door and to stay on the force. We have to do it through the federal government actually supervising people on their parole, filling judicial vacancies, filling the $1 billion budget hole that Congress has left us that has disallowed us to pay our police and firefighters what we want to be paying them.

And so there are avenues for intervention and support through the federal government. This is not the appropriate way. But, as the mayor said, in the meantime, we are going to stay laser-focused on delivering our key responsibility to District residents and visitors. And that's keeping them safe.

BLITZER: Well, do you think residents of Washington, D.C., will feel safer seeing all these National Guard troops walking around the streets of Washington, ordered in by the president?

PINTO: I think residents of Washington, D.C., should be able to walk down the street in any neighborhood they live in and be safe.

BLITZER: But, as you know, there are plenty of neighborhoods here in Washington where they don't necessarily feel safe, especially at night.

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