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FBI Searching Former Trump Adviser John Bolton's Home & Office; Stocks Surge After Fed Chair Hints Interest Rate Cut Could Come Soon; Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD), Is Interviewed About Approx. 2,000 Soldiers And Airmen Mobilized In Washington, D.C. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired August 22, 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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[11:01:45]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, FBI agents searching the home and office of former Ambassador John Bolton, President Trump's one-time national security advisor. It's all part of what the agency is calling a national security investigation.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. Pamela Brown is off today, and you're in The Situation Room.

And we begin this hour with the breaking news. FBI agents launching a court-authorized search at the home of John Bolton just after sunrise in Bethesda, Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C. They are currently also searching his downtown office in Washington, D.C. A source tells CNN the searches are part of a national security investigation related to Bolton's book released back in 2020 and whether John Bolton disclosed classified information outside of his book.

Bolton served as the national security advisor in President Trump's first term. He has since become a vocal critic of the President. Just minutes ago, the President delivered his first public reaction to the search. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know nothing about it. I just saw it this morning. They did a raid.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you expect the DOJ to brief you on this?

TRUMP: Yes, they'll brief me, probably today sometime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: We're covering all the angles of this important development. CNN's senior justice correspondent, Evan Perez, is outside the Bolton home in Bethesda, Maryland. Evan, what can you tell us about this search that's ongoing?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, we still have FBI agents here at the scene in the residential neighborhood here in Bethesda, Maryland. You can still see those FBI vehicles still in front of the house. We saw them reposition just a little while ago, back up one of the vehicles up to the garage area.

That perhaps might indicate that they're preparing to start bringing in -- bringing out any materials that they have found inside the home. We've seen about a dozen FBI agents here doing this search. And they've been here now at about the four-hour mark of this search.

So we don't know how much longer this is going to go. But as you pointed out, Wolf, this is a national security investigation. We've been told that by sources. We also are told -- Kirsten Holmes has been told, that it does relate to his 2020 book. You'll remember, of course, that the President accused Bolton of -- of mishandling classified information, of revealing classified information in that book.

That book, of course, was the subject of an earlier criminal investigation and a -- and a lawsuit by the government which accused Bolton of violating his nondisclosure agreement and of having that classified information in the book.

You'll remember, Wolf, that the -- the book, though, was cleared by career officials inside the White House before that classified information -- before the accusation came from Trump officials that he had indeed disclosed classified information.

Now, we don't know exactly, Wolf, what they found. We have seen them bring in boxes, document boxes. We've seen them bring in other items that would be used if they -- if they did want to remove things from the home. We have seen them do that yet.

[11:05:13]

But, again, just a few minutes ago, we saw a number of agents just rearrange those vehicles to prepare, perhaps, to remove items, perhaps, from the garage, which is right there. Now, we have, obviously, the Montgomery County Police here trying to manage some of the traffic.

This is a very busy street in Bethesda. And we -- we have seen them here set up, try to manage some of the traffic situation. We expect, Wolf, that this search is probably nearing completion if we've seen these -- these FBI agents repositioning -- repositioning their vehicles.

We're told that this is being handled by the FBI out of Baltimore, Wolf. And, again, we're waiting to see what more we can learn about the reason for it. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, Evan Perez in Bethesda, Maryland, outside the home of John Bolton. Thank you very much. CNN crime and justice correspondent, Katelyn Polantz, and CNN senior White House correspondent, Kristen Holmes, are here with me in the Situation Room. Kristen, you have some new reporting on why these searches are taking place. Tell our viewers about that.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so this, again, as Evan said, this stems from that book in 2020 and this idea that Bolton published classified information, particularly the fact that President Trump basically said at that time he was going to put Bolton in jail for publishing that information. They opened an investigation.

That was then closed under Biden and reopened when Kash Patel took over in charge of FBI. But I also am told that it goes beyond just the book, that they are doing an investigation into whether or not Bolton leaked classified information beyond the book to potential clients, to the media. All of this would be in a form of what they would call weaponization.

But unclear if that's weaponization against President Trump or weaponization against the government. We're still trying to get details on this investigation. And I will tell you just moments ago, and I know you said this, but it was interesting how this all played out.

We saw the search happening at the House. I was told that FBI agents were essentially staging outside of the office all morning long. They were waiting for a federal magistrate judge to sign off on a warrant, which they did just recently. And that's why now the FBI search has begun inside of Bolton's office as well.

BLITZER: Downtown Washington, as well as at the home in Bethesda, Maryland. Katelyn, I know you -- you're working on all of this as well. What are the legal issues here that would justify this extraordinary move?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, Wolf, from what we are seeing, the FBI wearing those jackets, doing these searches both in Washington, D.C. and Maryland, getting approval from a court to do it, showing the court very likely they have probable cause to have this investigation. It would be a criminal investigation.

It would be the sort of thing that John Bolton previously faced when a grand jury looked at the evidence that was being collected after his book release during the first Trump administration and that he was not indicted. The issues down the line, he could face an indictment. But we would be a long way from that, given that this would be an investigation. The FBI would pull documents theoretically out of his house, out of his office.

Those would become part of the investigation. And then a grand jury would need to look at something and approve an indictment. And then you have the full route of something going through court. Donald Trump, he was indicted for the mishandling of national security information after the search of Mar-a-Lago in 2022. It took a year for that indictment to come about. And the way that that was looked at by a judge in Florida is it is greatly probed how the FBI, the Justice Department, conducts the handling of these very things that we're seeing happen right now.

So that all is going to be coming into play potentially if a charge were to be coming out of this from the grand jury. Bolton has not been charged at this time. And we're getting circumspect comments from people like the FBI director saying no one is above the law this morning.

FBI agents on mission and the attorney general saying justice will be pursued always.

BLITZER: And they really just need a limited amount of information to justify a warrant for a search like this at the home and office as opposed to formal indictments, right?

POLANTZ: It would be a different legal standard. So it would be the probable cause that they would be expecting to find something in his home and in his office specifically, that they have knowledge to go in there and that they could find something that would serve their investigation evidence that could serve before the grand jury. That's not the same standard that's needed to try someone for a crime like this. It would have to be for a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt.

BLITZER: Totally. All right. Thanks very much. I will get back to both of you. I know you're both working your sources.

And there's more breaking news we're following this morning. Right now, the Dow is in record territory. It's more than 800 points up following a key speech by the Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome Powell. Powell hinted that long awaited interest rate cuts may be coming soon. Let's go live to CNN business and politics correspondent, Vanessa Yurkevich. What can you tell us, Vanessa, about Chairman Powell's latest remarks today?

[11:10:22]

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS & POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Chairman Powell did say that it might be time for an interest rate cut. This is something that investors really wanted to see, and that's why you see the Dow surging more than 800 points. It's also something that we know the President of the United States, Donald Trump, wants to see.

But at the same time that Jerome Powell was talking about monetary policy, you had President Trump speaking to reporters about the fact that he is going to or looking to fire one of the Fed governors, Lisa Cook, if she does not resign. Currently, there's a DOJ probe going on into Lisa Cook about whether or not she allegedly committed mortgage fraud.

Lisa Cook, though, has said that she's going to be looking at her finances and providing something to essentially say to people that she is not, in fact, committing mortgage fraud. But this really is sort of the cap of what has been a pressure campaign by the Trump administration, by President Trump on Jerome Powell, the Fed chair, but also on the Federal Reserve itself.

We know that for months and months now, the President of the United States has wanted the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. Jerome Powell today very subtly made a nod to anyone who was challenging the independence of the Federal Reserve. Listen to what he said earlier this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEROME POWELL, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIR: Monetary policy is not on a preset course. FOMC members will make these decisions based solely on their assessment of the data and its implications for the economic outlook and the balance of risks. We will never deviate from that approach.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YURKEVICH: So it is up to those 12 members of the board to make decisions about interest rates. Jerome Powell signaling that it might be time for a rate cut. Investors, more than 90 percent of them, Wolf, believing that a rate cut will come as soon as September. But of course, there is a lot of economic data that we will receive before the Federal Reserve meets later in September, like inflation reports on consumer prices, producer prices and a key jobs report that will be very closely watched after really significant downward revisions over the summer and really sort of a lackluster report in the previous month.

Of course, Jerome Powell is not the only person who makes decisions on interest rates. It is that full board. We know that there are two members of that board who have been calling for interest rates, Wolf, for some time, is Jerome Powell getting on board with that? And if they decide to cut rates, does that satisfy President Trump? We'll have to see, Wolf.

BLITZER: We certainly will. All right, Vanessa Yurkevich, thanks for the reporting.

[11:13:01]

Still ahead, President Trump says the show of force in the nation's capital is heading to other places as well. He suggested Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland, is a possible location. We'll talk with the Maryland governor, Wes Moore, who's inviting the President to do another patrol in that city.

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BLITZER: All right. Welcome back to The Situation Room. I want to get back to our breaking news. The FBI raiding the home and office of John Bolton. He's President Trump's former national security advisor. The Maryland Democratic Governor Wes Moore is joining us now. Governor, what's your reaction to this stunning search taking place in your state of Maryland, Bethesda, Maryland? Do you see this as a political retribution against John Bolton for being a rather tough Trump critic?

GOV. WES MOORE (D-MD): Well, we know that we woke up this morning with news that the -- that the raid was happening. We do not know any more information than that. But we do know that if this has turned out to be politically motivated, it's just another example of a real erosion of public trust. You know, I think that when anything like this happens, there needs to be not just a full accounting, a full understanding of why.

But I think, you know, that the people deserve to know what exactly the FBI was searching for, what exactly the FBI uncovered. And to know that if there is going to be a full appreciation for federal resources and the usage of federal resources, that anytime you conduct an operation like this, that there is a high standard that the federal government has got to account for. And it is the sincere hope for all of us that they will do that in this case, too.

BLITZER: Yes, good point. I want to turn to another major story we're following, Governor. The increased federal law enforcement presence not far from Maryland, right here in the nation's capital, Washington, D.C. Here's President Trump, what he said about all of this just a few moments ago. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Look, D.C. is a miracle what's happened. I mean, they can come up with fake numbers like the mayor's. They're like, oh, no, it was going down for 20 years. You didn't live here. You know, have you been mugged? OK. D.C. was a hell hole. And now it's safe. We brought in the D.C. National Guard and we coupled them with the police. And it has been amazing. I have friends that live here, people that work in the White House. But I have friends that live here, they're all going out to dinner now. They haven't gone out in years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:20:10]

BLITZER: I know, Governor, you've said you will not authorize the use of Maryland National Guard troops for anything you don't deem to be mission critical. Your words, mission critical. Is there any scenario where you would support federal military officers as reinforcement for local municipal police?

MOORE: Well, I -- I've activated the Maryland National Guard since I have been the governor, you know. But I also understand the weight that comes along with that, that in cases of emergencies, in cases of -- of traumatic situations, in cases of -- of serious, you know, of -- of serious casualty situations, that I have the unique authority as the commander-in-chief of the Maryland National Guard to be able to activate these -- these remarkable men and women.

But they know that they move and they activate based on a hope and on an expectation that as their commander-in-chief, that there is a very real and high bar that I have for how we are going to activate them. And I will never activate members of our National Guard for theatrics or for things that I think are not mission critical or mission imperative.

And the reason that I invited the President to come to -- to Maryland to learn and not go on whatever anecdote things he was talking about earlier, but actually learn about the things that are happening in the state of Maryland, why we in Maryland have had amongst the fastest drops of violent crime anywhere in America over the past two and a half years, that the year before I became the governor in 2022, Baltimore is averaging almost a homicide a day.

Now, in our second and a half year of our administration and working in partnership with Mayor Scott, working in partnership with our state's attorney, working in partnership with local law enforcement and community groups, the last time the homicide rate was this low in Baltimore City, I wasn't born yet.

And so we've been able to make real results in our communities and do it without activating the National Guard. And so I invited the President to come down and say, instead of making comments that in many ways are not just inaccurate, but are ignorant, that the way you address the ignorance that he was spouting before is actually by educating him about the things that are actually working inside of cities like Baltimore and areas all across the state of Maryland.

BLITZER: Some critics are arguing, as you know, Governor, that President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance's comments on urban crime contain what are being described as racial undertones. My colleague spoke with Baltimore's mayor earlier today. I want you to listen to what he had to say. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BRANDON SCOTT (D), BALTIMORE: When you have the President of the United States singling out black cities and black mayors of black cities, you can see how this is being fueled across the country. We've lived this in the 90s where we had this zero tolerance policing where people like me, when I was a 3.5 GPA student in high school and a college student later on, getting just sat down in handcuffs just because I was black in my community. That didn't make us safer. What makes us safer is focusing in on the people causing the problem, removing them, removing those guns and investing in the community at the same time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: As you know, Governor, the Trump administration has pushed back on these accusations. What do you think?

MOORE: Well, first, I can tell you that the -- the mayor is absolutely right on the idea that that just simply overpolicing communities is never going to be the answer. You know, I can tell you, I was also a young man who had handcuffs on my wrist by the time I was 11 years old because we came up in communities that were overpoliced and we knew it.

And I'm proud to have Mayor Brandon Scott as a partner inside this work because I think it's been him, it's been our community groups, it's been our state's attorney. It's been the fact that the state has made historic investments in local law enforcement, investing over $50 million in Baltimore City and the Baltimore City Police Department alone. That Maryland is one of the only states that actually helps to fund the U.S. attorney out of balance sheet to making sure we're taking many of these crimes and turning them into federal crimes.

So we're proud of the progress that we've been able to get done together. But the thing that I also know is that there's also another thread that lines in many of the places that the President is talking about. There are places he's never been to. There are streets he's never walked. It's community members he's never spoken to. And that's something that we do on a regular basis where we are talking with our community members. We are walking our streets. We are working with local law enforcement. We're working with community violence interruption groups that are doing remarkable work on the ground.

And the reason that we know what's going on is because we are actually in the communities. And the reason that, frankly, many of the comments that are being made from the White House come off as so, so tone deaf and so ignorant, it's because they have not walked our streets. They have not been in our communities. And they're more than happy of just making these repeated tropes about us but not actually working with us to be able to make sure that our streets are safe and that people can -- can have a real opportunity to feel safe in their own neighborhoods.

[11:25:17]

BLITZER: Would you be open, Governor, to a Trump decision to move federal troops, military personnel into Baltimore along the same lines as he's done here in Washington, D.C.?

MOORE: I would not be open to it. And I do not find it to be mission critical nor mission aligned. And it's something that I take very seriously. Whereas as someone who has actually worn the uniform of this country, unlike the President of the United States, as someone who has had to deploy, as someone who has had to say goodbye to my family, as someone who understands the gravity of what it means when you are asking our brave men and women to be able to mobilize and deploy, it is something that I take very seriously, especially understanding that these are citizen soldiers. These are people who have other jobs.

And these are people who also have other missions that they have to attend to. Because right now, we have a storm that's coming up the East Coast that we have all of our people on standby to make sure that everyone is going to be safe. But instead of that, we now have members of the National Guard from states around the country who are patrolling the streets of Washington, D.C., doing a function that they are not trained for.

So, no. That there -- if you look at the work we are doing and the results that we are showing, knowing that there's more work to be done, but that we're actually working together to accomplish it, there is not a need for -- for -- for members of the National Guard to patrol our municipal areas. That's what local law enforcement is for. And I will not authorize members of the Maryland National Guard to take on a mission like this if I do not deem it to be mission critical.

BLITZER: Maryland Governor Wes Moore, thanks so much for joining us. We'll continue this conversation down the road to be sure. Appreciate it very much.

MOORE: Thank you. Thank you so much. Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: And right now, we want to get back to the breaking news that we've been following all morning. The FBI raiding the home and office of John Bolton. Let's go to CNN's Brian Todd. He's right outside that downtown Washington, D.C., office building where Bolton has his office. What are you seeing over there, Brian?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, our team saw FBI agents coming in both entrances of this building just a short time ago. They came in the front of this building, and we observed them coming in to the back entrance of this building on M Street Northwest in Washington, a source familiar with the matter telling CNN that the search of his office, of John Bolton's office, is underway as we speak.

And, again, our team observed and filmed some FBI agents coming in and out. We can also tell you about the search of his home earlier this morning. CNN did reach John Bolton about that, and he said he was not aware of the search at his home. He was not at home at the time CNN reached him. He said he was not aware of the search at his home and that he was going to look into it.

It's unclear at this hour where John Bolton is physically, but we can tell you that FBI agents are coming through his office right now a few floors up from where we're standing. And this is, of course, all in relation, according to sources who spoke to CNN, all in relation to whether John Bolton allegedly disclosed classified information in his 2020 book, his memoir, which covers part of his time working for the Trump administration, a source familiar with the matter also telling CNN's Kristen Holmes that they are also looking into whether John Bolton may have disclosed classified information outside of his book.

So this is again, we should reiterate, this is the resumption of an investigation that was closed in 2021 into this matter. Donald Trump had fired John Bolton in 2019 and had threatened to jail him after his 2020 book came out. That -- that investigation was closed in 2021. This is a resumption of it. And again, the search underway here as we speak. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, Brian Todd, outside the downtown Washington, D.C. office of John Bolton.

And I just want to read for our viewers what President Trump said about John Bolton just a little while ago. And I read it specifically. This is what he said. He said he didn't know about this search of the home and office. Earlier today he said, I saw it on television this morning. He said, I'm not a fan. He's sort of a low life. He's talking about John Bolton. He's sort of a low life. He's a very quiet person, except on television. If he can say something bad about Trump, he's not a smart guy, could be very -- a very unpatriotic guy. We're going to find out direct quote from Trump about John Bolton. He's obviously angry about what's going on.

[11:29:36]

Up next, California Democrats may have pushed their new congressional maps through the legislature this week, but the state's redistricting fight is just getting started. California's longtime former senator, Barbara Boxer, is standing by live. She'll join us to discuss.

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