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FEMA Workers Put on Leave After Warning About Agency Overhaul; Trump Says New Comprehensive Crime Bill In the Works; What's At Stake in Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's Possible Prenup. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired August 27, 2025 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Getting that that perfect cushion cut there. I read it's all the vogue right now. The cushion cut is in and I guarantee you like it's going to be way more in now after this. Maybe not that size but people are going to go for it. Lisa France thank you very much for that.

LISA RESPERS FRANCE, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Thank you.

BERMAN: Much more on Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce breaking news.

CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts again now.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, FEMA workers placed on leave after criticizing President Trump. Their warning about potential catastrophic failures and disaster response in the peak of hurricane season.

The new school year beginning with a wave of dangerous swatting hoaxes on college campuses. More than a dozen in less than a week. So what if anything can authorities do to stop that?

And monsoons, a wall of dust, severe storms, flash floods. The possibility of extreme weather across the West today including a new threat to the Burning Man Festival.

Sara and Kate are out. I'm Erica Hill with John Berman. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BERMAN: All right and breaking this morning. FEMA workers have they been penalized for sounding the alarm and criticizing the Trump administration. Multiple employees put on leave after they signed a letter that warning Congress that FEMA may fail Americans when responding to a disaster because all of the changes that President Trump has made to the agency.

It's late August. This is right in the middle of hurricane season. This is right when FEMA typically historically has been its most essential and it comes as the country marks 20 years since Hurricane Katrina. This letter that the FEMA staffers wrote was actually titled the Katrina Declaration. More than 180 Curt and former staffers signed it. In it they said FEMA should be shielded from political interference and that letter accuses the White House of undermining its capabilities.

Let's get what you've seen as Gabe Cohen. You reported on this letter. The letter went out, today dozens get put on leave.

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, that's right. I mean, it was just 24 hours ago that I was on this program reporting on that open letter that was sent to Congress really warning that the Trump overhaul of FEMA had undone was reversing about two decades of what the author said was a lot of progress since the federal failures in the response to Hurricane Katrina.

Now, 24 hours later, we're talking about at least a few of these workers, some of the ones who actually publicly signed their names on the document because many decided to remain anonymous. They have now been put on leave. That means they're not going to be able to do business for DHS or FEMA. They are still going to be paid, but they're really not going to be functionally operating at the agency.

I spoke to one of those workers who received a notice Tuesday evening as several did. She said at least six that she's aware of, although it sounds like the number could be quite a bit higher than that.

She told me, quote, I am disappointed, but I am not surprised. The decision doesn't just affect me. It increases the burden on my colleagues who are already overworked and stretched thin. I'm also proud of those who stood up, regardless of what it might mean for our jobs. The public deserves to know what is happening because lives and communities will suffer if this continues.

Obviously, there has been a lot of concern internally at FEMA because of the overhaul of the agency at the hands of the Trump administration. They have instituted strict spending oversight over the agency.

They have also installed inexperienced leaders that came from the Department of Homeland Security. And that, these authors say, is really undoing those reforms that were put in place after Katrina to make sure that type of failure did not happen again.

FEMA, for its part, very much disagrees with the messaging here. They explained why those workers were put on leave, though saying, It is not surprising that some of the same bureaucrats who presided over decades of inefficiency are now objecting to reform. Our obligation is to survivors, not to protecting broken systems.

But John, the irony here is a big part of this letter from these FEMA workers was essentially saying that the agency and its staff needs to be protected from political decisions, from political fire.

And now, just 24 hours later, we see the administration coming in and ousting the very workers who signed their name to that document.

BERMAN: You know, Gabe, based on your reporting, you know, we heard the statement from them. To what extent do you think they anticipated this kind of response?

[08:05:00]

COHEN: I think the reality is they did expect it, especially considering that earlier this summer, the Trump administration very similarly put about 140 workers from the EPA on paid administrative leave after they, too, signed a letter really dissenting to some of the administration's actions, their treatment of federal workers and the regulations that they were putting in place related to the climate space.

So these workers knew this was likely a reality. And I can tell you, I've talked to other sources inside FEMA who really felt like this was symbolically nice, but that they could not afford to lose any more of their colleagues, given that about a third of the full-time workforce from FEMA has already left the agency since this second term for President Trump started.

BERMAN: And given that it is late August, the middle of hurricane season. Gabe Cohen in Washington for us. We'll get back to reporting on this. You've been all over it. Thank you -- Erica.

HILL: Well also breaking overnight, President Trump says Republican lawmakers are working on, in his words, a new comprehensive crime bill. The president posting about that, not offering up any details, though, on what that bill would perhaps cover. All of this coming as President Trump and Maryland Governor Wes Moore continue to trade barbs about fighting crime in major cities.

Trump reiterating his threat to send the National Guard into more cities after the federal takeover of law enforcement in Washington, D.C.

Annie Karni joins me now, congressional correspondent for The New York Times. Good to have you with us.

So this, the president saying that Republican leaders are working on this new crime bill in Congress. I'm not sure how many members you've been able to speak with, but I would imagine this may come as a surprise to some folks. Is there a sense that there are more details to be had at this hour?

ANNIE KARNI, CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Yes, this was news to the Congress reporters this morning. I've been sending texts. Congress is out of session still. They're back next week. I think that basically the story of this Congress, though, has been that Speaker Mike Johnson and leader John Thune have sort of relinquished most their power to Trump. So if he tells them that they're doing a crime bill, there's a good chance they will be doing a crime bill. I mean, they basically act often as a subsidiary of the White House.

So but yes, we don't have a lot of details. They're coming back next week to work on spending bills and a deadline for government shutdown. There's limited legislative days in the calendar. There is a vote coming up on whether or not to release the Epstein files. So all those reasons might be why Trump wants them to suddenly make a big to do about a crime bill. Part of his focus on this is a play to the MAGA base at a time when there's other things he still does want to distract from.

HILL: You know, it's such a great point. And that's -- and that's what had me thinking is when they do come back, there is a limited window here, but there are very high priority items, including government funding. The fact that this could act as a distraction, certainly one of them.

But as you point out, the leaders and members, frankly, of the caucus have shown very clearly they do take their marching orders from the president. So is there a sense that all of these things can happen within that limited window? Should they need to?

KARNI: I mean, that's what -- will I mean, I have some texts out now to Mike Johnson's office. We'll see how they're going to fit this in. But I mean, no, the calendar is limited and we're already in the fall.

So the things that can't move like this, the to do items like spending bills --

HILL: Kind of gratuitous.

KARNI: -- but I'm sure that Republicans we'll be happy to talk about crime over talking about the Epstein issue for sure. I mean, that they would like that. That's an issue that they want to be talking about. Yes.

HILL: And to that point, is crime proving to be a winning issue right now for the president?

KARNI: I think that he views it as such, and it's seems to be something that resonates with his base. And he's in a very, very unusual position for himself, which is where he has to kind of win back, charm back the MAGA base a little bit more than he's ever had to do.

They've been frustrated on him on the Epstein issue. On bombing Iran, there's been some friction there. So this is an issue where a lot of people do see crime in urban areas as a huge problem. And he wants -- and it's an opportunity to paint Democrats as weak on crime. Democrats are struggling to figure out what their message is to respond to that.

So I think that, you know, he made some wild announcements in that cabinet meeting yesterday, for instance, saying that he wants the death penalty for a broad, broad use of the death penalty in Washington, D.C. The death penalty is really not popular, even with people who believe in it for every crime. It's really even people who believe in the death penalty want it reserved for heinous crimes.

Trump's proclamation was very broad.

[08:10:00]

But I think what we're seeing is as a political play, he's all in on crime, because that is a place where he feels like he has the upper hand.

HILL: Yes, certainly interesting. Also admitting yesterday that the selling of the Big, Beautiful Bill not really working. And he's looking to workshop some new names on that. So we'll be watching all of it.

Annie good to have you here this morning. Thank you -- John.

BERMAN: All right, quote, Don't negotiate. President Trump playing hardball with America's oldest university.

And if you've been to the gym or the walking trail, you see all kinds of people wearing the weighted vest. Some of the guys in this studio wear them at the gym. But what is the science actually say about how or even if they work?

And then how does someone worth maybe a billion dollars marry someone worth maybe 70 million? The answer very carefully. Travis and Taylor, CNN NEWS CENTRAL, we believe in love, but we also ask the important burning legal questions we know you're thinking about.

[08:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: So she is the world's biggest pop star. He is an NFL superstar. What happens now that the two of them are tying the knot? And if you said massive prenup, you're probably right. According to Forbes, Taylor Swift is worth an estimated $1.6 billion. Travis Kelce, a much smaller $70 million. Still, I don't think anyone's taking out a collection for him. Now that their engagement is Instagram official, their upcoming wedding of the decade or maybe the century is really sure to give lawyers plenty of billable hours.

With us now, Jeremy Saland, former Manhattan prosecutor. I know you're a criminal attorney, but we want to lean to you for your legal expertise on this. And let me just state clearly, we believe in love here. No one more excited for this couple than CNN NEWS CENTRAL and me personally. I let out a, you know, cheer yesterday when I saw the news. That being said, Jeremy, you need to be smart about these type of things. And how would you approach this if you were one of their lawyers?

JEREMY SALAND, FORMER MANHATTAN PROSECUTOR: Well, if I was Kelce's lawyer, I'd make sure that I get a carve out for Kansas City and then she can get the rest of the world. But that aside, they have to make sure that I think you have to worry about non disparagement. You want an NDA, a nondisclosure agreement.

You need to protect their name, image and likeness. You need to protect how they make those dollars outside of the respective businesses. Obviously, Taylor's got her music, but there's other ways she generates revenue. She has real estate.

Kelce, similarly, his NFL career is coming to an end soon, not because he's a bad player, but that's just the nature of things. As sure as hers goes on, he needs to protect his.

But at the end of the day, this is really more about she meaning Taylor Swift, protecting her dollars going forward and making sure that if and when things go sideways, it's not attacks and bad things and and disclosures and things like that. Let's keep it at home. Let's get the T dubs. Everything's safe on lockdown. If and when there's a divorce.

BERMAN: How much of a difference does it make?

SALAND: Very unique. Not something that you and I have to deal with at all.

BERMAN: Not the slightest. How much of a difference does it make that they are both to an extent brands in and of themselves? There is a Taylor Swift business bigger than just the individual. Travis Kelce to an increasing extent as well. Well with the podcast and everything else?

SALAND: Absolutely. And that goes back to the nondisclosure and the non disparagement and keeping them into the dollars that are generated in the revenue that's generated separate and apart so that one cannot take it from the other.

And again, goes back to what I said before. It's really in large part. Yes, Kelce has a lot to lose, but there's a lot and there's a heck of a lot, which is what Taylor Swift has. Protecting that name, protecting those rights is critical.

And you're right. Billable hours are going to be critical to they're going to hammer this out so that they can both go their separate ways when that kind of time happens.

BERMAN: It's not going to happen. It's going to last forever and beyond --

SALAND: If, if. BERMAN: -- into eternity and beyond Jeremy. I will also say there's a separate issue here, which is that both what both of them bring to this previously, and that may be easy to keep separate.

I have to believe they may do quite a bit together, you know, soon. You know, they're doing a lot together right now, and that's a little bit of a different issue because if they make money together, that might be an even split.

SALAND: Yes, well, once you start commingling and there one is helping generate business for the other and their equal partners, that's correct. That's a different scenario. This is about going into a large part their marriage where each has separate assets. Each has certain separate values. Whether that's real estate, whether that's concert sales, whether that's the podcast. There's so many different places here where monies are generated and their value is that it's protecting it when it's coming in. And when it commingles protecting it there as well. How that ultimately gets broken out those billable hours and those attorneys will tell. And the Swifties will certainly have a say in it too.

BERMAN: Jeremy Saland, you're a good man. I know you to believe in love. Thank you so much for your time this morning.

SALAND: Absolutely.

BERMAN: All right, dust storms, rain, flooding, severe weather, closed down Burning Man for hours, leaving attendees stuck in traffic like you wouldn't believe.

And then Cracker Barrel cracks scrapping plans to change its logo. And now the White House taking credit.

[08:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: If you're a woman of a certain age, chances are you've joined the masses sporting a weighted vest. Now we're told they're going to help boost our muscle mass. This is really another tool in the toolbox. But do they really make a difference?

CNN's Meg Terrell went to the experts for an answer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Serious question. What did we even do before weighted vest?

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: If you've been on social media lately, it's go time or even just out on the sidewalk, you may be seeing a lot of these weighted vests.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love my weighted vest.

TIRRELL: They're promised to do everything from helping you lose weight to staving off bone density loss associated with menopause and aging.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We love walks. We love hikes.

TIRRELL (voice-over): Rebecca Kennedy, an instructor for Peloton, has even started a series of exercise classes with them. And she met up with us to give us some tips.

REBECCA KENNEDY, PELOTON INSTRUCTOR: And drop them down. And then I want you to feel like a tree is growing out of the crown of your head.

TIRRELL: But first, how do weighted vests work?

[08:25:00]

And can they actually make your walk into a more substantial workout?

DR. KRISTEN BEAVERS, PROFESSOR OF HEALTH AND EXERCISE, WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY: Well, from the musculoskeletal system, I mean, this is sort of like that, you know, you use it or you lose it kind of. And so if you need to stimulate that tissue. And so for your bones, the weighted vest kind of takes advantage of the gravity.

TIRRELL (voice-over): We're told as we get older, it's increasingly important to do strength training.

BEAVERS: The recommendations are two days of strength training a week, targeting your upper and lower body.

TIRRELL: That's because we start to lose muscle and bone mass as we get older. Dr. Beavers says wearing a weighted vest of maybe five to ten pounds isn't a substitute for other forms of weight training. But she says data from small studies suggest it could be helpful. Her research has particularly focused on older adults.

BEAVERS: These data that were generated, which I would say on the whole suggests that weighted vests can maintain, even improve several parameters of musculoskeletal health in older adults. So things like balance, strength, functional tasks like kind of getting out of a chair seem to improve if you're wearing weighted vests, you know, while you're exercising versus if you don't.

TIRRELL: A rule of thumb is a vest no heavier than five to 10 percent of your body weight. I chose a 10 pound vest to try it out with Rebecca Kennedy.

You know, I'm sticking at 10 pounds. So like, how do I think about like starting slow when I've got like one weight to work with?

KENNEDY: Whatever your normal walking pace or hiking pace is, I would actually shave off a little bit of that so you can adjust for the new load. And then the next week you can increase your time 15 to 25. And then I would actually focus on the speed after you've been able to wear your 10 pound vest for 30 to 60 minutes comfortably.

TIRRELL: And Kennedy and others note that wearing a weighted vest may not be recommended for people with injuries or who are pregnant. So start low and slow and don't sacrifice more dedicated weight training if you're already doing it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: And our thanks to Meg for that. And I can tell my boys that I'm not crazy. It actually works.

Still ahead here, Bruce Willis's wife sharing a health update after the actor's dementia diagnosis.

And we're taking you to Spain for the world's biggest food fight, this iconic tomato-throwing festival celebrating 80 years today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [08:30:00]