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The Situation Room

'New York Times' Sues Pentagon; New Orleans Immigration Crackdown; Safe Amount of Caffeine?; Man Arrested in D.C. Pipe Bomb Investigation; Fear Grows in Minnesota Somali Community. Aired 11:30a- 12p ET

Aired December 04, 2025 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Bovino spoke about the operation while walking through New Orleans' French Quarter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREGORY BOVINO, EL CENTRO SECTOR U.S. BORDER PATROL CHIEF: We have got several hundred agents spread across the New Orleans area. So it's not just us. So we have got a lot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Meanwhile, the New Orleans City Council is launching a new Web site that lets people report any alleged abuse by federal officers -- Pamela.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: And, in Minnesota, Wolf, fear is gripping the Twin Cities today as federal agents say they're preparing to target the area's Somali migrants.

In what's normally a busy Minneapolis mall filled with dozens of Somali shops, some stores are closing up. Faced with looming raids and increasing verbal attacks from President Trump, some in the Somali community are speaking out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of people haven't been leaving their home for work or making a living, so it's very unfortunate and very sad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is a certain amount of fear. There's a certain amount of apprehension. But we are Americans.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We thought America is a better place, and we thought we're going to make a home in here. But now, when we see everything, it's going apart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So let's discuss more now with Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara Hi, Chief O'Hara. Thanks so much for being here.

Has the Trump administration been in contact with you about this immigration crackdown?

BRIAN O'HARA, MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, POLICE CHIEF: No, we work daily with federal law enforcement, with the U.S. attorney's office here in Minnesota to go after carjackers, gang members, people smuggling drugs, violent crimes, that kind of thing, but we do not communicate at all regarding immigration enforcement.

BROWN: So, even though you don't communicate, do you know if any operations have happened yet?

O'HARA: Well, I mean, it's been obvious even before this week that there was an increase in immigration enforcement activity in Minnesota. There were two incidents, kind of high-profile, recently in St. Paul, which is the other Twin City here.

And we have just had an increase in reports from the community, both 911 calls and also people sending us videos and concerns of enforcement that's happening in the city.

BROWN: Can you tell us a little bit more about that, particularly when you saw that the uptake of 911 calls and those videos coming in and what they show?

O'HARA: Well, they show what appears to be sometimes arrests being made on the street. It appears to be federal law enforcement present, whether it's conducting traffic stops, that kind of thing.

And, frankly, we have had at times calls that we respond to. We responded to, I know, a call yesterday and another one recently where people were concerned that there were individuals with guns that were present.

At least yesterday, one time, it was federal law enforcement, and another time it wasn't,and it was actually a crime that was happening.

BROWN: So, from you know what about the tactics, as we have seen the immigration tactics in other cities, from what you know, what's your take on them, the way that the immigration enforcement is taking place?

O'HARA: Well, I know the impact that it's having on our residents. I know the impact that it's having on American citizens specifically. I have been in the community each of the last several days around the Somali community and the Lake Street corridor. It's a kind of hub of immigrant activity in the city.

And people are scared. American citizens have literally shown me their passport to say that they're carrying it. They have expressed fear for their children who were born in the U.S. just afraid that they might get mistaken for someone who's not here illegally.

And it's just a -- it is -- it's tough as a human being to hear these concerns that are so just terrorized people. Really, people are afraid to go to church, literally. I have heard from plenty of pastors about that. I have heard from our business owners in the city that they have lost business -- this has been going on for months -- because people are scared to go to certain grocery stores and other businesses in the city.

So it's definitely had an impact. And then, just in general, I mean, I think a lot of people a lot of people feel like the way things are happening, or at least the way things are being talked about, that it is -- it's not legitimate enforcement, regardless of whatever people feel about individual policy positions.

BROWN: And, of course, just recently, you heard President Trump call the Somali migrants in your city garbage, saying that they contribute nothing. What has the reaction been to those comments?

[11:35:03]

O'HARA: I mean, I am an outsider that came to Minnesota. I'm from New Jersey.

And the people in this city were very welcoming to me across the board. And, obviously, that includes the Americans and American citizens in this city that are also Somali. They have been very welcoming.

So, I mean, just as a -- again, just as a human being, it's difficult to see just how fearful people are, how much it's altered their daily lives, and just, again, not feel for people, many of whom also are police officers in this city with us.

BROWN: Somalis. So, tell me about that, what that's been like for those Somali migrants who are here legally who are police officers in this position.

O'HARA: Yes, I mean, we have many immigrants from around the world, countries literally around the world, who are American citizens and police officers in this city.

And, obviously, I'm sure it's different for them specifically. It may affect their family members, their loved ones, their community. It's also something that we lean on at this time, whether in times where there may be language barriers to try and reach out to people and reassure people, because we are concerned about public safety in this city.

We're concerned about street crime, robberies, domestic violence. And in order for us to address that, we need the people that live in this city across the board to feel confident that they can call 911 when they're being victimized and report a crime without fear of us reporting them for immigration status issues.

BROWN: All right, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara, thank you so much.

O'HARA: Thank you. BROWN: Well, just ahead, we're going back to our breaking news, what

we know about a new arrest in a pipe bomb cold case that stumped investigators in the nation's capital for nearly five years. We have just learned the name of the man arrested.

We're going to have more just after this quick break.

But, before we go to break, here's today's "Chasing Life."

BLITZER: CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, explains just how much coffee we should actually be drinking.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta, host of CNN's "Chasing Life" podcast.

For many people, coffee is a great way to start the day. Caffeine puts a little pep in your step and its anti-inflammatory properties could help reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, dementia. But before you start brewing another pot, make sure you know how much caffeine you're really drinking.

Experts say around 400 milligrams of caffeine a day -- that's about two to four eight-ounce cups of brewed coffee -- that's going to be safe for most adults. But if you're drinking more than that, caffeine can lead to things like heart palpitations, anxiety, restlessness, trouble sleeping.

Pregnant women and people with sleep disorders should definitely limit their caffeine intake, and children under the age of 12 probably shouldn't have any at all.

Also, pay attention to the amount of caffeine in other beverages, sodas, energy drinks. Sometimes, they contain even more than that cup of joe.

And you can hear more about how to optimize your health and chase life wherever you get your podcasts.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:43:20]

BLITZER: All right, back to our breaking news, multiple law enforcement officials now telling CNN that the suspect arrested in connection with the D.C. pipe bombs case has been identified as Brian Cole Jr. of Woodbridge, Virginia.

Take a look at this. These are live pictures of law enforcement searching the suspect's home. The arrest follows an almost five-year probe to identify the suspect, who has only been seen in grainy surveillance video, shrouded in a hoodie, gloves and face mask.

Joining us now, the former deputy FBI director and CNN senior law enforcement analyst Andrew McCabe.

Andrew, thanks so much for joining us. What do you think the significance of this is and what could have led to the arrest?

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, it's hugely significant, Wolf.

It was a major attempted violent act on the nation's capital and seemed to be at least circumstantially timed with an attack on the Capitol to stop the certification of the election. So you put all these things together, this is a major crime that the FBI needed to solve. They did, I think, an incredible job by finding this person.

You know, it's not easy to find one person in a nation of 330 million, but the FBI did what they do best. They stayed on this task and continued to whittle away at it for five years. And, today, we have an arrest.

As for what was the lead that broke this open, we don't know that yet. Hopefully, we'll learn more as the day goes on. But it was likely as a result of some constant going back to the file, constantly going back to the information they had and looking at that information in new ways.

[11:45:00]

That can usually trigger some new leads and fresh perspective on an old set of facts, can often sometimes lead to the -- breaking open a case like that.

BLITZER: As you know, Andrew, some five years ago, law enforcement released a lot of the video of the suspect walking around Capitol Hill, especially near the Democratic National Committee headquarters, the Republican National Committee headquarters.

Why did it take so long to I.D. the suspect and make this arrest?

MCCABE: As you know, Wolf, video capture has become one of the primary tools of law enforcement. We refer to it as kind of crowdsourcing the identification of someone we need to we need to stop.

In this case, however, they had a lot of things working against them. You can see from the video, because of the time of year it was, he was dressed in very kind of amorphous, bulky clothing. He was wearing a face mask and a hood. The face mask, of course, that was typical at the time during -- in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic.

So the video -- even though we had a video of the person, the video didn't include the sort of details that biometric software uses to identify people from photographs or videos. Those sorts of precise measurements about his face or his standing were, I think, probably hard for investigators, not available from this sort of very grainy, not-too-detailed video.

BLITZER: What do you expect the FBI is now doing with this person in custody? And what kind of charges do you anticipate will be filed eventually in this case?

MCCABE: Well, absolutely, Wolf.

What do you think at this point, this person is taken back to the FBI office and processed. That's basically sitting down with them and asking them basic questions about who they are, where they live, that sort of thing. Then they will also take -- make an effort to try to get this person to cooperate.

They will -- if he's willing to waive his right to an attorney, then he can sign a form indicating that and he can speak to the investigators and he can share with them what he did and why he did it, if he's inclined to do that. Many people do. It seems crazy, but the FBI has a lot of success with that.

If he does not cooperate, the FBI needs to build this case based on forensic evidence. And you saw that from the live video outside his residence. Exactly what they're doing, they're going to pore through every inch of that house and they're going to try to find anything they can to connect him to the actual devices that were recovered from the scene.

We had two, one at the RNC and one at the DNC. And, there, it's the forensics that ties him to those devices that will be the backbone of this case.

BLITZER: And because of Miranda rights, he has a right to remain silent if that's what he decides to do.

Andrew McCabe, thanks very much for your analysis. Always good to have you -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right, Wolf, we have some breaking news in New Orleans, where protesters just shut down a City Council meeting as the city deals with the new immigration crackdown.

CNN's Ryan Young is there in New Orleans right now on the phone.

What's going on there, Ryan?

Actually, he's not on the phone. He's there live.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Pamela, people were very angry about -- here we go.

They were very angry and upset. If you look in here right now, they just resumed the City Council meeting. You can see the members took their seats. That's after everyone inside this area was flushed out for at least 20 minutes.

Let's take a look at the video so I don't hold you off too long on this. Look at this video. It's very contentious. At one point, there was public comment. Public comment was suspended because several of the protesters didn't think they were getting their voices heard.

At that point, they all rallied to in front of where City Council speaks and they kept saying "Shame, shame, shame." And they decided to have their own rally right there in the middle of the chambers. At some point, there was a call given to ask them to leave. They decided not to move on.

The New Orleans Police Department brought in extra officers and then some people were actually carried out of chambers. We actually watched these officers pick people up, remove them, walk them outside and put them in another area outside of the City Hall.

About 10 minutes later, actually about four minutes later, that's when this council meeting resumed. And at this point, there doesn't seem to be any arrests. They just pulled everyone out who was being very vocal, wanting to demand that all operations with ICE would be suspended and everything that was going on in the city get a stronger hold from the City Council and the department.

They want to make sure the police department does not want to work with all these ICE agents that are in town and Department of Homeland Security officers, at this point, no arrests. We just wanted to show you this video because it was outrageous in terms of how loud and how almost nearly -- the pushing and shoving that we saw, we just wanted to make sure you saw that.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Yes, a lot of drama there, for sure.

Ryan Young, thank you so much -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, coming up, more potential trouble for the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, why "The New York Times" is now suing him and suing the Pentagon as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:53:54]

BLITZER: New this morning, "The New York Times" is now suing the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, over his Pentagon press crackdown. The lawsuit seeks to repeal a new policy that prompted Pentagon beat reporters to pack up and turn in their press passes back in October, rather than sign on to the new restrictions.

Joining us now is CNN's chief media analyst, Brian Stelter.

Brian, break down for us what's in this "New York Times" lawsuit.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is something that was predicted back in October when this original controversy erupted and when the Pentagon put these new restrictions in place. There was talk back then among newsroom leaders and media lawyers about a potential lawsuit.

But, of course, with any legal action there are both potential pitfalls, as well as advantages. So it's taken the better part of two months for this to come together. And now "The New York Times" is going to court this morning charging First and Fifth Amendment violations by the Pentagon and by Hegseth.

Now, I have reached out to the Pentagon for comment and have not heard back yet. I suspect Hegseth will use some of the same national security arguments that we heard from him when these restrictions were put into place. The concern about these restrictive new rules is that they could potentially criminalize routine reporting, like speaking with sources without official permission.

[11:55:08]

That's why CNN, "The New York Times," ABC, all the major outlets handed in those credentials in October. And we are hearing from some news outlets today about "The New York Times"' lawsuit.

Here's the statement, for example, from CNN this morning, saying -- quote -- "The Pentagon has asked news outlets to surrender their journalistic principles and First Amendment rights in exchange for access. CNN will not do this. As we have said, the newly implemented policy is without precedent and threatens core protections for independent journalism.

"We will continue to cover the U.S. military accurately and fairly. And we stand with 'The New York Times' and all the other major news organizations, from CBS to 'The Journal' to FOX News, who have refused to sign up to this reckless new policy. We will follow the progress of 'The Times'' legal complaint closely."

So, again, for now, "The Times" is alone in suing, but all the other major news outlets and press freedom groups watching closely to see what happens in this case against the Pentagon.

BLITZER: Yes, it's huge. As a former Pentagon reporter myself. It's outrageous, what they're trying to do.

"The Times," as you know, Brian, is filing suit on the same week that the Pentagon actually opened its doors to some pro-Trump influencers and media personalities.

STELTER: Yes.

BLITZER: Do you think there's a connection here?

STELTER: Yes, and I am told by lawyers involved in this case that there is a connection because it makes it easier for "The Times" to argue there's real harm being done.

These MAGA media content creators are being promoted by the Pentagon as the new press corps. But I will give an example of the contrast here, Wolf. We saw one of these pro-Trump Web sites yesterday post a so-called exclusive about how Christmas is being celebrated by Hegseth.

At the same time, we have seen CNN, "The Atlantic," and "The Times" and other outlets actually breaking real, important, significant news about Signalgate. So that's the contrast. It speaks for itself when we see these pro-Trump influencers pretending to do the real work at the Pentagon, while journalists are actually doing the work outside the Pentagon's five walls.

BLITZER: Yes. All right, Brian, thank you very, very much.

And, to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us.

BROWN: "INSIDE POLITICS" with our friend and colleague Dana Bash starts after this.