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Trump Threatens Takeover of D.C.; Texas House to Reconvene Amid Standoff; Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) is Interviewed about Netanyahu's Plan for Gaza; Judge Rejects DOJ Bid for Maxwell Grand Jury Material; Aaron Lipski is Interviewed about Milwaukee's Flooding. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired August 11, 2025 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: I think it's upwards of 130 FBI agents into the streets of D.C. to be patrolling along with local police. How unusual is this?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It's quite unusual. And, you know, as you mentioned, crime in D.C. is actually down. And so there is a question about whether, you know, what's the goal here. Is this more symbolic than anything else?

But looking at the actual federal agent component here, there are a couple issues. The first is, is that we're talking about a zero sum equation. If you have FBI agents and other federal agents out on the streets doing patrols as though they are police officers, which they're not, by the way, that's taking them away from other jobs that they do, these critical, complex cases, such as counterterrorism, counterintelligence, cybercrime, all of the things that you would expect the FBI to be working on, on any given day in order to try to stop potential threats. They're no longer doing that.

And just to give you a sense of, you know, what we're talking about when we think about what's the possible impact here, there are about 4,000 members of the Metro Police Department in D.C. By comparison, the FBI is so small. I mean we're talking about 12,000 agents for the entire country. And so there's a big question about, you know, what impact will there actually be, even if you pull them away from those cases?

And then the last thing I would just note is that this is something that FBI agents are not trained to do. They're not trained to do, you know, day-to-day policing. In fact, you know, people may not know this, but the FBI rarely ever does something like a felony car stop, for example, because when the FBI is going to arrest someone, that's planned out. They bring in overwhelming force. They try to control the environment. And so, in talking to people in law enforcement, they raised several different issues here, include safety issues. If you have agents that aren't actually trained to be police officers out doing this kind of work, Kate.

BOLDUAN: I mean, we've already also, when you talk about a zero sum game, we've already seen FBI pulled from -- pulled in order to help with immigration enforcement.

CAMPBELL: That's right. And it's the same exact set of characteristics here. Agents that work other investigations, all of those serious cases, stopping threats like terrorism and other -- other issues, pulled off to essentially be immigration officers, to go along with Border Patrol and ICE and, you know, try to -- try to, you know, pull people off the streets who may be here unlawfully. And, you know, I talked to numerous agents as that was underway as well, and they said, look, not only is this something that we didn't sign up for, this is not something that we should be focused on because, again, we're talking about a finite number of resources here.

Now, there is a larger question. Can the president do that? It appears that, yes, that's the case. And so, this isn't a question in the minds of agents that I'm talking to that the president is doing something that he's not allowed to do. They, obviously, work for the executive branch. He's the commander in chief. They have to follow whatever orders are given. But that doesn't mean that they have their own views on whether this is the actual best use of these critical federal resources, particularly in an era when we know that all those other types of threats, you know, continue. And these are the agents that are -- that are sworn to stop them.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

Josh Campbell, it's good to see you. Thanks.

Jessica.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening today, more than a week after Texas Democrats fled the state, members of the Texas House of Representatives will try once again to meet a quorum so Republicans can move forward with their redistricting plan. But so far neither side is backing down.

CNN's Arlette Saenz joining us now.

And, Arlette, the question becomes, what happens today?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jess, this Texas standoff over redistricting is now entering its second week as Republicans continue to try to push this through, and Democrats are continuing to block it.

Now, the Texas House will reconvene this afternoon at 1:00 p.m. Central Time. But at this time, it seems unlikely that Democrats, at least they haven't showed any signs that they are going to break from their strategy. In fact, several of these Texas House Democrats are already planning to hold press conferences outside of the state of Texas, over in Illinois, as the house is set to reconvene today. So, it seems unlikely that they'll be any closer to getting to a vote.

But it does come as Republicans are really trying to exert as much pressure as they can to try to get these Texas Democrats back to the state house in Austin. And Texas Governor Greg Abbott has vowed that he is ready to call special session after special session, warning that this is something that could take years to get redistricting through.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): If they show back up in the state of Texas, they will be arrested and taken to the capital. If they want to evade that arrest, they're going to have to stay outside of the state of Texas for literally years, and they might as well just start voting in California or voting in Illinois, or wherever they may be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: So, all eyes will be on the Austin -- the Texas state capitol at 1:00 p.m. Central Time.

And then there's also some big questions about some of the legal battles that are playing out. First, in the state of Illinois, the Texas attorney general has asked the state to enforce those civil arrest warrants for the Texas Democrats.

[09:35:05]

It's unclear when a hearing might be set on that. But Illinois' governor, J.B. Pritzker, has said that Illinois does not have to adhere to those Texas -- that Texas law.

And then there are those efforts by both the attorney general, Ken Paxton, and the governor, Greg Abbott, asking the Texas Supreme Court to remove or declare the seats vacant for some of those Texas House Democrats. We will wait to see whether the Texas Supreme Court decides to weigh in on that matter. But for now, it does not appear that there is a clear-cut ending to this battle, but they are facing that August 19th deadline for when this next special session -- or when this special session will end.

DEAN: All right, Arlette Saenz, thank you so much for that reporting.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, the United Nations condemning the deaths of Palestinian journalists killed in an Israeli strike.

And is it like a tree falling in the woods. If a portrait is hung where nobody can see it, does it make a sound? President Trump making moves to hide some of his predecessors.

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[09:40:39]

BOLDUAN: Breaking this morning, the United Nations is accusing Israel of, quote, "a grave breach of international humanitarian law" after an Israeli strike on Gaza City Sunday night targeted and killed a journalist with al Jazeera. Six other people, including at least three other journalists from the news outlet, were also killed. The Israeli military acknowledges it targeted and killed al Jazeera

correspondent Anas al-Sharif, and the IDF has accused him of leading a Hamas cell. That is an allegation though al-Sharif had previously denied.

This strike comes as international condemnation is growing still against the Israeli prime minister and his plan for a military takeover of Gaza City and beyond. In a news conference, Netanyahu defended the plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Contrary to false claims, this is the best way to end the war and the best way to end it speedily.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Joining us right now is Democratic congressman from New Jersey, Josh Gottheimer. He just came back from a trip to the region.

Thanks for coming in, Congressman.

Netanyahu defending this takeover and says this is the best way to end this war. What did you learn while you were there? Do you think this is the right plan to save hostages, save people in Gaza and stop Hamas?

REP. JOSH GOTTHEIMER (D-NJ): Well, what's clear is that this crisis is continuing and people need humanitarian aid. We've got to surge into the region. But what is not getting reported on, in my opinion, is the fact that Hamas is the reason the food and the humanitarian aid is not getting to people who need it. It's the same reason we're not getting the hostages out. There are 50 left, including ones that we've seen videos of starve -- that Hamas is literally starving. I'm sure you saw those videos. One digging his own grave. I met with those families last week, and it's -- it is beyond painful to see what they're going through.

And to get the aid in, and this was my big takeaway. I went to the Kerem Shalom crossing, the first members of Congress to do so, which is where the aid is moving from Israel and sitting in Gaza because the U.N., by their own admission, has been failing to be able to get that aid to people who need it. Eighty-five percent fail rate right now in terms of getting that aid out. We've got to get aid to people who need it. And Hamas is refusing to let that aid get there. They're looting the trucks. They're refusing to let the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which is actually succeeding in delivering food, they're trying to do everything they can to stop that.

And so, to me, what we need to be done is we've got to, obviously, crush the terrorists, get the hostages out and get that aid in there and get Hamas out of the way. They cannot continue to be in power.

BOLDUAN: You mentioned the hostages and meeting with some of the families of the hostages. I just had on the show, just this morning, the father of one of the hostages, an Israeli soldier who's been held hostage there since October 7th. Yehuda Cohen says that he -- he's very critical of the Netanyahu plan. He thinks it is a horrible idea, and he thinks Netanyahu, actually, and what he's showing, Yehuda Cohen believes that Netanyahu prefers that the hostages die because it would make it easier for Netanyahu to continue attacking Gaza.

Let me play what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YEHUDA COHEN, SON KIDNAPPED BY HAMAS ON October 7TH: He sees the hostages as a burden because it pressure him from a inside from Israeli society itself, from the opposition, from the army, from the families. And he needs -- he -- he -- he only wants to conquer Gaza because he wants to satisfy these extremists in his coalition.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Do you -- do you believe Netanyahu is drawing out this war for his own political purposes?

GOTTHEIMER: Well, first, I mean, it is -- it -- I will never, ever try to question anything that any of the -- the family members say who are going through (INAUDIBLE) two years because of what the Hamas terrorists did. We were at a kibbutz, and we saw some of the massacre, you know, the remnants of the massacre. And you realize just how long this has been going on.

I think the key here, in my opinion, and this is what I spoke to the prime minister about is, what can we do to end this war? How do we get Hamas out? How do we get the hostages out? And how do we get -- continue to get aid in?

[09:45:01]

And that's going to require a transition to a new government, as the prime minister has said, which is critical, in my opinion, moving to a new multinational Arab-led force on the ground there, a peacekeeping force, along with a governing body, because Hamas clearly doesn't care about innocent Palestinians and doesn't care about their safety or being fed. So, we've got to transition to a government.

The Arab League, I'm sure you saw, for the first time ever came out and said, Hamas has to go. So, to me, and this is what I talked to the prime minister about, is, how do we get there as quickly as possible? And how do you get those cells -- how do you get those last remaining cells out that continue to obviously do everything they can to stop aid from getting in? They made $500 million last year off stolen aid.

BOLDUAN: As I reported off the top of this, Israel confirmed that it did target and kill at least four journalists from the news network al Jazeera on Sunday. One of them, Anas al-Sharif, who was a prominent journalist who has extensively covered the war from inside Gaza. And a reminder to everyone, Israel does not allow western journalists into Gaza to do any independent reporting.

What is your reaction to that?

GOTTHEIMER: Well, first, I directly encourage the prime minister to let western journalists in, because I think if they saw what I saw at the crossing, or if they had the meetings that I had with GHF about their distribution, their successful distribution of aid, you -- you -- I think the reporting would change because you can see that the aid is moving from Israel quickly into Gaza and sitting in Gaza and not being distributed. And -- and so -- and, of course, any -- any lost life is tragic. You know, I -- I, right now, have to -- I'm looking, just like as you are, at the facts coming out in terms of this journalist who Israel claims is a Hamas operative, therefore a terrorist. And if that's the case, then this (INAUDIBLE) --

BOLDUAN: But, I mean, 192 journalists have been killed since the start of this war.

GOTTHEIMER: That instance. And so, I think we need to -- we need to get more facts (ph).

BOLDUAN: I mean it's kind of a an -- it's a -- it's an astonishing number.

GOTTHEIMER: Yes, many by Hamas, as you probably know. So -- so, you know, listen, Hamas doesn't care about innocent life. They don't care about innocent Palestinians. I'm sure you saw the BBC story, which is no fan of Israel. They put out saying that the Hamas -- Hamas households are getting food and the households next door that are not Hamas connected are not getting food. So, like, let's -- let's be very clear who the -- the terrorists are in this instance, Hamas. What happened on October 7th? Hamas. What continues to be allowed? They're holding hostages, starving hostages. That's Hamas.

I -- I just -- it's clear that we need to get Hamas out of the way. We've got to get a new government in there, let Israel pull back and get out to the borders to protect their country, but to get out of -- out of Gaza. And that needs to be, to me, the ultimate goal. And, you know, getting -- crushing the terrorists, getting aid in and getting the hostages out. And I think you've seen a desire now for a multinational Arab-led governance structure there. And to me, that is the -- the long-term answer.

BOLDUAN: Yes, it's important that you're able to get on the ground and see what you did firsthand.

Congressman, thanks for coming in. I appreciate your time.

Here's some breaking news just in. A federal judge has now rejected the Justice Department's latest bid to unseal the grand jury material in the Ghislaine Maxwell case. This all -- this was one of the lingering elements kind of on the legal front when it comes -- comes to this ongoing Jeffrey Epstein saga.

Let's bring in Katelyn Polantz, who is gathering this.

Katelyn, what are you seeing? What are you learning? KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the judge

here, Paul Engelmayer, in the Southern District of New York, he says, no way these grand jury records that stood up the indictment for Ghislaine Maxwell in court, that she later went to trial on, they are not going to be released. The reason they're not going to be released is because the Justice Department's arguments just weren't good enough. And the judge points out they give a false impression that releasing grand jury material in this case would bring transparency around the Epstein matter. And the judge, I just read the 31 pages of this court opinion, the judge says over and over again, this is not a special circumstance where transparency would matter here because nearly everything in those grand jury transcripts that the Justice Department wants to release, it's almost all public already. The court even reviewed the documents in the grand jury that had been used for this indictment.

And he says only with very minor exceptions was it a matter of public record what was said there. The court reviewed this and confirmed it. The government even supplied the court with a binder highlighting information that the government wasn't sure if it was public. And that was what the judge says, "scattered words, clauses, occasional sentences highlighted. The items are few and far between." And the judge really is unhappy with the idea that there could be things in this record that would not be known.

[09:50:07]

It's demonstrably false to believe that's a reason to unseal these records.

Back to you.

BOLDUAN: Katelyn, thank you so much for jumping on. Let's see how the White House responds to this and reacts to this.

Jessica.

DEAN: More than 10 million people across the Midwest facing the threat of flash flooding. We're going to speak with emergency responders about this record breaking rainfall.

We're also staying on top of developments out of the White House this morning. President Trump expected to announce a plan to have FBI agents patrol the streets of Washington, D.C.

That and more when we come back.

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DEAN: In Milwaukee this morning, people are waking up to a flood warning after torrential rainfall slammed Wisconsin and other parts of the Midwest. It has been incredibly dangerous for drivers. You can see why. Floodwaters turning streets into rivers, stranding vehicles. Milwaukee seeing a month and a half worth of rain in just hours.

And joining us now, Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski. Thank you so much for being here with us.

First, just give us the status of everything this morning.

AARON LIPSKI, MILWAUKEE FIRE CHIEF: Sure. Thank you for having -- having me on, Jessica.

We have -- we have a tremendous amount of recovery work to begin here. We've got a number of people -- a large number of people who have been displaced from their homes, whose homes are going to need a tremendous amount of work to get them back to livable. And so that's what we're beginning to focus on right now. We've got a very, very comprehensive multi-jurisdictional team assembled to start working on that right now. And that -- and that is -- that is where the -- the real slog of the work begins. It's -- it's just long, arduous work.

DEAN: Certainly. And -- and I know you've been with the fire department for over 25 years now. It -- it was interesting to me that emergency responders got so many incoming calls, they were so overwhelmed that the fire department stepped in to help with the response. How does this compare to what you've seen in your time with the fire department?

LIPSKI: Sure. Well, Jessica, the fire department didn't step in as some sort of unusual thing. We are on the front line of this from the word go. So -- but the -- the number of runs was extremely noteworthy. We -- we work very, very well for everybody's benefit with our neighboring partners and other immediate jurisdictions. But also, we use a system called MAVAS, the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System. So, we pulled fire companies from numerous surrounding counties to come in to help us just sift through and prioritize an overwhelming number of runs.

[09:55:11]

DEAN: Yes.

LIPSKI: Very proud of how everybody came together on this.

DEAN: It's amazing work. And -- and -- and walk us through what that might be like. When you have water like this, what's unique about that?

LIPSKI: So, simple access. People may be under the impression that fire vehicles and EMS vehicles are somehow impervious to flood waters. They are not. We had numerous vehicles go down from water getting up and into the underbody. And we had tires popping. You know, manhole lids get removed by the pressures in those systems sometimes during these events. So, very dangerous to drive through those. So, we ended up having to stop and walk in to provide whatever the service was that needed handling.

DEAN: Wow. Yes, well, I know everyone's grateful to you all. Hopefully the recovery can begin.

Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski, thanks so much for your time. We really appreciate it.

BERMAN: Some of those pictures were, like, a wow!

DEAN: Isn't it incredible?

BERMAN: Yes.

DEAN: I know.

BOLDUAN: It's just nonstop from one region to the next with this rain.

DEAN: To the next. Uh-huh.

BOLDUAN: Thank you all so much for joining us today. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "THE SITUATION ROOM," up next.

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