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Soon: D.C. Mayor Speaks After Trump Puts City Police Under Fed Control; Trump Activates 800 D.C. National Guard, Places Police Under Fed Control. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired August 11, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

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[15:00:51]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: We start this hour with breaking news out of the nation's capital. I'm Boris Sanchez alongside Danny Freeman who's in for Brianna today. And we're standing by to hear from D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser after President Trump's announcement that he's going to be deploying hundreds of National Guard troops to the nation's capital.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN HOST: Now, the President, for the first time in history, is also authorizing a direct federal takeover of D.C.'s police force. We'll bring you the mayor's remarks as soon as she starts, but first, let's go to CNN's Natasha Bertrand at the Pentagon.

Natasha, I understand you have new information on what the National Guard will actually be doing here in the nation's capital.

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Danny, we just got a new statement from the Army which described a little bit about what these National Guardsmen are going to be doing here in the capital. According to the Army, there are going to be about 800 soldiers activated, and during this activation, according to the Army, between 100 and 200 soldiers will be supporting law enforcement at any given time. So, essentially, only about a hundred to 200 are actually going to be deployed in the streets at any given time.

Their duties, according to the Army, will include an array of tasks from administrative, logistics, and physical presence in support of law enforcement. So, some of them will be out on the streets with law enforcement; some of them will be doing administrative and logistical tasks, like data entry, for example. But this activation could actually last quite a while, because in a memo that President Trump wrote to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth earlier today authorizing this move, he said that the D.C. Guard is going to remain mobilized, quote, "until I determine that conditions of law and order have been restored in D.C."

Now, Secretary of Defense Hegseth, he also said earlier today that he is prepared to deploy other specialized units to potentially augment that D.C. Guard presence. Here's a bit of what he said: (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: You will see them flowing into the streets of Washington in the coming week. At your direction as well, sir, there are other units we are prepared to bring in, other National Guard units, other specialized units. They will be strong, they will be tough, and they will stand with their law enforcement partners.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERTRAND: Now, the D.C. Guard has about 2,700 soldiers and airmen, so this is going to be a fairly large chunk of them. Those that aren't actually deployed to the streets supporting law enforcement they're either going to be off duty at the armory or they're going to be sent home until they are needed for that shift, because many of them live pretty locally, being in the D.C. Guard.

But we should note that the D.C. Guard, unlike other states, reports directly to the President. He has the authorization to deploy them in this way, and they fall under the delegation of the Secretary of the Army. So, the Secretary of the Army essentially has control over them and the D.C. Guard has been deployed ...

SANCHEZ: Natasha, please standby, let's go straight to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, who is speaking as the President has activated the National Guard in the nation's capital. Let's listen in.

MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER (D) WASHINGTON D.C.: Good afternoon, everybody. I'm Muriel Bowser. I'm the mayor of Washington, D.C. We are here at the John A. Wilson Building, our City Hall, to address today's announcement from the White House. So, I'll have a short statement and then we'll be able to take a few questions.

So, let me start by saying this: Washington, D.C. is a beautiful city, magnificent city. We're home to 700,000 Washingtonians. We welcome millions of visitors every year from and around our nation and around the world. We have the nation's premier park system, fantastic public schools, including a free and robust pre-K program starting at age three. We have a tremendous public transportation system, and we have hard-working people here who are raising families, starting businesses, and hiring workers.

So, it's very important to me that for all who live here and visit here, just know how beautiful our city is and how proud we are of all that we've accomplished here. We're unique in other ways as well.

[15:05:00]

Though we pay taxes - in fact, we pay more than most states per capita - we're not a state. We don't control the D.C. National Guard. We don't have senators or full autonomy. Limited Home Rule gives the federal government the ability to intrude on our autonomy in many ways.

I've said before, and I'll repeat, that I believe that the President's view of D.C. is shaped by his COVID-era experience during his first term, and it is true that those were more challenging times related to some issues. It is also true that we experienced a crime spike post- COVID, but we worked quickly to put laws in place and tactics that got violent offenders off our streets and gave our police officers more tools, which is why we have seen a huge decrease in crime because of those efforts. We have been able to reverse that 2023 crime spike.

This year, crime isn't just down from 2023; it's also down from 2019, before the pandemic, and we're at a 30-year violent crime low. We're not satisfied. We haven't taken our foot off the gas, and we continue to look for ways to make our city safer.

We know, however, as most have heard from the President's press conference, that he has prerogatives in D.C. unlike anywhere else in the country, including his authority, given by our Home Rule charter, to require the mayor - to require me - to supply services of the Metropolitan Police Department. And he also has control and the ability to deploy the National Guard.

But let me be clear, as our Home Rule charter is also clear - and the President's executive order restates - Chief Pamela Smith is the chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, and its 3,100 members work under her direction. The Home Rule charter requires the mayor to provide the services of MPD during special conditions of an emergency, and we will follow the law, though there's a question about the subjectivity of that declaration. In fact, the chief has already provided a high-level liaison and point of contact with the federal government and made those initial contacts.

The executive order is also clear that the President has delegated his authority to make requests of us to Attorney General Pam Bondi. I have reached out to Attorney General Bondi and hope to schedule a meeting soon.

My message to residents is this: We know that access to our democracy is tenuous. That is why you have heard me, and many, many Washingtonians before me, advocate for full statehood for the District of Columbia. We are American citizens. Our families go to war, we pay taxes, and we uphold the responsibilities of citizenship.

And while this action today is unsettling and unprecedented, I can't say that, given some of the rhetoric of the past, that we're totally surprised. I can say to D.C. residents that we will continue to operate our government in a way that makes you proud. We will balance our budgets. We will deploy our services. Our kids are going to start school on August 25th, and we will work with the federal government to do the things that they should do for our city - including making sure that we have the judges that we need, including making sure that all federal parks are supported not just with law enforcement but with other clean and safe activities, and including making sure that our economy is supported by rational federal actions as it relates to the federal workforce, federal workers, and federal property in the District of Columbia.

[15:10:12]

So, with that, I want to ask Chief Smith to talk about her interactions with the federal forces - federal police and law enforcement that have been engaged in the District over the last several days, and the strategy that she thinks would be important while we have additional federal police officers.

CHIEF PAMELA SMITH, D.C. METROPOLITAN POLICE: Thank you, Madam. I'm Pamela Smith, the Chief of Police of the Metropolitan Police Department, and as the mayor stated, you know, we have a responsibility to support the executive order. And one of the roles that I have is to ensure that we work very collaboratively with our federal partners.

I know that most of us know in this room, and those of you that are watching on television, that the efforts of the federal law enforcement officers began in our city on Thursday night. I met with the director of the U.S. Marshals, who has, at that point, been overseeing the operational component of how the federal resources will be allocated and deployed around our city.

With that conversation, it was very, very important for me to ensure that not only do we work collaboratively with our federal partners, but we offer up areas across our city where we can work with them in areas where we know that we want to reduce crime. And so, that was the effort on yesterday. We spent roughly about an hour just kind of planning and talking through what that's going to look like.

On the heels of the announcement from the president today regarding the executive order, and my directive from the mayor is that we will begin more intense planning efforts after I leave this press conference. I've also met with one of the other liaisons that have been assigned to work with the U.S. Marshals, along with myself, regarding the efforts around the city for how we will allocate resources.

What I will say is this: our relationship with the - our federal partners is not new - we do this on a daily basis. We are very, very much in tune to having federal law enforcement officers working with us on our Capital Area Regional Task Force. Our federal partners work with us especially on some of our warrant executions. They work very, very closely with us with our Violent Crime Suppression Division, and it is my intent, and my police department's intent, to continue those efforts.

What you will see is an enhanced presence. The second thing that's really important to me - and I'm speaking directly to our community - is that we have a relationship with our community that is very important to us, our community members. And so, having our Metropolitan Police Department working alongside our federal partners, who have come into the city to really help us assess and deal with some of the crime that - some of the crime spikes that we have, we will work alongside them.

But intentionally, we want to make sure that our community understands that we are there. We're going to be boots on the ground. If you see something, again, say something. We value those relationships, our community members, and I'll say - I want to say thank you for all the work that you've done with the Metropolitan Police Department up to this point. Those relationships are very, very important to us, and we want to continue to build upon that and continue to enhance that.

I'll turn it back over to Mayor Bowser now.

BOWSER: Okay, we'll take a few questions, and I'm joined by members of my public safety community team, including Deputy Mayor Appiah and Chief Donnelly.

Yes, please identify yourself.

CAMPBELL ROBERTSON, NEW YORK TIMES: Mayor Bowser, it's Campbell Robertson from New York Times.

Do you think this was inevitable or you think there are things that the city could have done (INAUDIBLE) ...

BOWSER: This is - I don't know, I can't answer that question, and I think that's a question that we - you're familiar with the rhetoric about the city and how long it goes back. And we also know that we're not experiencing a spike in crime, but a decrease in crime. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mayor, (INAUDIBLE), you and the Chief are talking about partnerships with federal partners who are coming in. The President is talking about a takeover of the city's police department. Where does the chief fit in with Terry Cole, who is the new federal commissioner for the D.C. Police Department?

BOWSER: Nothing about our organizational chart has changed, and nothing in the executive order would indicate otherwise. So, the Chief of Police reports through the Deputy Mayor to the Mayor of the District of Columbia.

[15:15:04]

And the two people, I think, that were identified in the presser report to Attorney General Bondi. The executive order makes clear that all requests for MPD services, the President delegates to Attorney General Bondi.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) ...

BOWSER: I don't recall the names. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) ...

BOWSER: That's a question for the Attorney General, I think. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mayor, to what extent are you planning to cooperate in this new framework, or is he playing anything to prevent this from happening, including (INAUDIBLE) ...

BOWSER: Well, I think all legal - I think you probably saw the attorney general for the District, Brian Schwalb's statement about reviewing all legal matters, and I think those matters are under review.

The plain language, however, of the Home Rule charter indicates that in the case that there is a declared emergency, there are - it allows the President - it authorizes the President to make those requests, and it says the mayor shall comply with those requests, so. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE), are there any concerns that, you know, this is the rhetoric of the MPD, the national (INAUDIBLE) other law enforcement agencies on the ground that build the confusion about who's in charge, who these officers answer to and how this (INAUDIBLE) ...

BOWSER: Well, we should note and we have been advised, and we will continue to make this clear, that this is needed in our city - that all law enforcement be identifiable by a uniform, a badge, a jacket, so that people know that they are law enforcement. And the chief, in her coordination with the kind of the command on the federal side will make clear kind of how the protocols for response, and if there's any additional information we need to get out to the public, we will.

But the main point is this: everybody should follow the law - the police and the community - and that's the case now, it was the case last week, and it was the case the week before that. So, nothing has changed about that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) able to respond to a statement that came out (INAUDIBLE) Police Union that come out (INAUDIBLE) with the President and that they also (INAUDIBLE) repeal some of the legislation that D.C. council has (INAUDIBLE) ...

BOWSER: I'm afraid I haven't seen that statement yet, so I don't want to comment on it. We have, you know, worked very closely with the D.C. Police Union. Some issues they've advanced I totally agreed with; others, I haven't. One thing that we are squarely supportive of is making sure that our department can recruit more officers and get to a number that I think we need. We've worked cooperatively with them on recruitment and retention activities, on some other changes to the law that were very objectionable to the union and our members, and we will continue to do that. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE), so in what way, if any, does this change (INAUDIBLE) strategy in terms of your relationship with the President? You've been pretty cooperative, pretty diplomatic, but, you know, he's saying one thing about crime, you're saying (INAUDIBLE) he's still infringing on your role today as a mayor. So, you know, as far as your relationship and your strategy, you know, are you going to - what do you intend to do as far as, you know, engaging with (INAUDIBLE) ...

BOWSER: Well, we engage with all officials ...

FREEMAN: All right, we've been listening to the mayor of Washington, D.C., Muriel Bowser, there reacting to the big headline of the day - that President Donald Trump and the federal government are taking over, in part in their words, the D.C. Police force, and also sending National Guard members, activating them in the District.

SANCHEZ: Yes, it was notable, given the mayor's comments. She started by talking about D.C. as being a beautiful city ... FREEMAN: Right.

SANCHEZ: ... providing after-school programs and public transportation, and then pivoting to saying that she believes that President Trump's view of the nation's capital was, in her words, shaped by what happened during the COVID era - more challenging times related to some issues.

She didn't specify, obviously, the COVID era brought a lot of unrest to the nation's capital, not only in the form of social justice protests but also protests directly against Trump's first administration.

[15:20:10]

She's essentially arguing here that the President is under a false impression that a spike in crime after the COVID pandemic, especially in 2023, is the norm, and she's arguing that police after 2023 were given tools by the City Council, by herself signing legislation, that helped lower crime.

She said that crime in D.C. is at a 30-year low - lower than 2019. When she was asked if she would comply with his executive order, she said that all legal matters are under review, but the Home Rule - the Home Rule charter makes clear that if there's an emergency, the President is authorized to do what he's doing. I think what she's saying is questioning whether there's actually an emergency.

FREEMAN: Yes, and that was something that she said clear. As you said, she said, "We have been able to reverse that 2023 crime spike," and she went through, again, all those numbers and figures as well. But it was interesting - you heard a lot of questions from reporters in the room there asking, just logistically, now that this executive order has been set down, what does that look like in practice?

So, for more on this, let's bring in D.C.'s former chief of police, Charles Ramsey. CNN's Natasha Bertrand is also with us from the Pentagon.

Chief Ramsey, let me start with you because it was interesting the mayor said nothing about our org chart has changed, but again as far as we understand that org chart will now go higher to the Attorney General. What was your take?

CHIEF CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, I mean, I don't know what's going to wind up happening in terms of who's going to be in charge of what. There are two totally different pictures that were painted today by the president, which was pretty bleak, pretty dark, and then of course by the Mayor. And personally, my experience with Washington, D.C., and what I know about it, I think the mayor's version is closer to the truth.

Now, they're going to have to work out some details, and I'm sure they will. She mentioned that she's going to sit down with the Attorney General to kind of hammer out a few details. But as far as the mayor's concerned, what I took from that is that the chief of police, Pam Smith, will remain the chief of police. Now, that doesn't mean that higher-ups in the DOJ - and certainly this interim quote-unquote commissioner that was referred to earlier - will not have a role. So, there's a lack of clarity on just how this is going to shape up.

You know, one thing I can say - you know, working - and the mayor mentioned it - working in a national capital region, we worked with federal agencies on a daily basis, surrounding jurisdictions on a daily basis, and I'm sure that D.C. is not saying they don't need help. Everyone could use some help, but that help needs to be coordinated. Everyone needs to be on the same page, because you have a lot of issues here.

You have training issues. I mean, federal officers are trained on federal law and not D.C. municipal government law - even patrol techniques and so forth. Officers wear body-worn cameras in MPD; will the feds wear body-worn cameras? I kind of doubt it. I mean, there have to be some things that have to be made very clear and get straight.

And again, you need to - they can't just deploy where they want to deploy. The department has to be in a position to be able to tell them, you know, here are our hot spots, here's where we need you, here's what we need you to do here. And if that doesn't happen, then you're going to have a chaotic situation.

SANCHEZ: Natasha, to that point, given what you just heard at the press conference, what is it going to look like to have 800 D.C. National Guard around the nation's capital and potentially active-duty military, the President threatening if he says that's needed?

BERTRAND: Well, what we're learning from the Army is that while 800 of these troops have been activated, they're essentially only going to be operating in shifts of about 100 to 200 troops at a time. And they're essentially going to be providing support to law enforcement so that those police officers, those agents, can be freed up to conduct law enforcement activity.

And you know, it's worth noting that D.C. is not necessarily a stranger, of course, to a Guard presence. They were deployed during the George Floyd protests back in 2020, during the insurrection at the Capitol in 2021. They're sometimes deployed to deal with things like big events, which happen routinely here in D.C.

But of course, deploying them on Title 32 orders - which is different from Title 10, which is active duty. Title 32 allows them a little bit more leeway to conduct activity that is akin to law enforcement. So, they could make arrests if that is part of their orders. They are potentially going to be armed - that is something that we're still seeking clarity on.

But essentially, what they're going to be doing is being in a kind of backup role, very similar to what we see them doing down at the border, where they have been helping law enforcement - helping ICE agents, for example.

[15:25:07] Kind of survey the border, kind of keep their presence there as a

backup so that the federal agents can be freed up to do more law enforcement activity.

That's what we expect to see here around Washington, D.C., but it's going to be very interesting to see also where these Guard troops are actually going to be deployed. Are they going to be deployed in safer, more touristy areas, or are they going to be deployed in the areas where there are serious hot spots of crime in Washington, D.C.? That will certainly be interesting to see as well, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Chief Ramsey, quickly, one final question to you, because you alluded to the issue of potential training for policing in an area like the nation's capital, Natasha just made clear that the reporting is uncertain about whether some of these folks will be armed - could you see a scenario where armed forces, military forces, are in united - or in the nation's capital, the U.S. Capitol, armed, and there's an altercation, and suddenly they're opening fire? A U.S. military official is opening fire against U.S. citizens and residents?

RAMSEY: I would hope nothing like that happens. Of course, the potential for something like that would be there, but I would hope that that is not going to be the case at all. They should serve in a backup role, in my opinion. There is a need for some help, some assistance.

I mean, crime is down in the District, but you never get it really low enough - because you're not just dealing with numbers and with reality of crime from that perspective. You know, people don't feel safe, and if people don't feel safe, then they aren't safe. And so, you have to deal with that as well.

So, that added presence, I think, will give people a sense of safety and security, but it has to be very well coordinated with clear roles and responsibilities. And if they're going to arm soldiers, they have to understand - they're not in Iraq, they're not in Afghanistan. The rules of engagement are a lot different, and they need to have the proper training on use of force and all those kinds of things, should they be armed. Hopefully, they do not become armed.

SANCHEZ: Chief Charles Ramsey, Natasha Bertrand, thank you both so much. Stay with CNN NEWS CENTRAL. We're back in just a few minutes.

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