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Court Says Trump's Use of Alien Enemies Act for Deportations is Unlawful; More Than 1,000 Current and Former HHS Employees Demand RFK Jr. Resign; July JOLTS Report Shows More Job Seekers Than Job Openings in the U.S.; U.S. May Have to Refund Businesses More Than $200 Billion if Trump Loses His Tariff Lawsuit; Vance Arrives in Minneapolis to Honor Shooting Victims. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired September 03, 2025 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:33:28]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": A big legal blow to President Trump's immigration crackdown. For the first time, a federal appeals court has ruled against the administration's use of the Alien Enemies Act to quickly deport alleged Venezuelan gang members. In a two-to-one ruling, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that the accused gang members were not part of a "foreign invasion or predatory incursion" as Trump claimed to justify invoking the 1798 law.

The administration has not used the Alien Enemies Act since mid-March when it was first hit with legal challenges. The Appeals Court ruling likely means the case is headed to the Supreme Court. Boris?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": The Department of Health and Human Services is responding to new calls for Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to step down, this time from his own employees. More than a thousand current and former HHS employees sending a letter to the secretary and to members of Congress demanding that he resign. They argue that Kennedy's leadership has "put the health of all Americans at risk."

Let's go to CNN Medical Correspondent Meg Tirrell. So Meg, what is HHS saying in response?

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, continuing really to take aim at the CDC telling us in a statement that "Secretary Kennedy has been clear the CDC has been broken for a long time. Restoring it as the world's most trusted guardian of public health will take sustained reform and more personnel changes," as part of their response. Now, those personnel changes are among the reasons that these current and former HHS employees have cited in this letter they've sent to Secretary Kennedy and they CC'd members of Congress, where they say that he's endangering the lives and health of Americans and call for him to resign.

[13:35:00] They cite the firing of the CDC director last week, which prompted the resignations of several other top CDC leaders, the appointment of what they call political ideologs into key vaccine policy rules, including advising the CDC and within the NIH and rescinding of COVID-19 vaccine emergency use authorizations without they say sufficient data or explanation of their methods behind doing so.

And so they say, if the secretary declines to resign, they're calling on the President and Congress to replace him. And guys, this joins calls from people in Congress, including Senators Patty Murray and Bernie Sanders, as well as Representative Rosa DeLauro, who are calling for RFK Jr. to be fired or to resign because of a lot of these same actions that these employees are focusing on. Guys?

SANCHEZ: And Meg, one of RFK's critics, Dr. Paul Offit, who is a familiar face to CNN viewers, we've learned that he's no longer on an FDA Vaccine Advisory Board. What happened?

TIRRELL: Yeah. So, a lot of folks will remember Dr. Offit from the pandemic. He was a very prominent voice on vaccine science, and he was on this very important committee that advises the FDA and outside group of advisors on vaccines called VRBPAC. Now, he was known as a special government employee as part of that committee and the FDA -- the HHS told us in a statement had issued notifications to multiple certain advisory committee members whose special government employee terms have expired. He was on air with us this morning with Kate Baldwin and he issued a warning about what he sees coming with RFK Jr.

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DR. PAUL OFFIT, REMOVED FROM FDA'S VACCINE ADVISORY COMMITTEE: You could not have found a worse person to be in charge of Health and Human Services during this measles outbreak than him. And the only reason that it ended was summer because this is generally a winter and spring disease. And I fully suspect that as we go back to school again and we enter winter, you're going to see measles once again flare up because Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has consistently decried the harms falsely of that vaccine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TIRRELL: So these two guys, obviously Dr. Offit and RFK Jr. have clashed for years, as you saw there, continuing to express his criticism. Guys?

SANCHEZ: Meg Tirrell, thank you so much for that reporting. So we've got some fresh new data that confirms those weak jobs numbers that were reported last month were not rigged as President Trump claimed. What the latest numbers mean for anyone who's hunting for a job right now?

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[13:41:50]

KEILAR: This just in, new data painting an increasingly worrisome picture for the U.S. jobs market. For the first time in years, job seekers are outnumbering job openings. CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich is following this story for us. What are you seeing here, Vanessa?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, this is a JOLTS report that we get every single month, and it precedes oftentimes the Jobs report that we'll get later in the week. But this JOLTS report essentially revealed that there are fewer jobs available than those that are looking for those jobs. So in the month of July, it reveals that there are 7.18 million jobs open and there are 7.2 million people who are unemployed looking for a job. So a little less than one job per person.

And what this really signals is that there is starting to be a softening in the labor market, which very much starts to back up what we saw in July's Jobs report, which showed a weakening of hiring, just 73,000 jobs added in the month of July which led to President Donald Trump firing the Head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics which puts out that monthly report. Now this report should be taken sort of as a brush stroke in a painting of what we're looking at in the U.S. economy, but where job openings are versus where they are not comes across a multitude of sectors.

So healthcare and social assistance, fewer jobs there by 181,000. Retail and trade, also fewer job openings in that sector by 110,000. Mining and lodging, fewer jobs, by 13,000. And then you can see there are pickups in construction, manufacturing, and wholesale. As I mentioned, Brianna, this report, this JOLTS report is just before the big Jobs report on Friday which will tell us just how many jobs were added in the month of August, Brianna.

KEILAR: And tell us about this Trump tariff lawsuit that you are tracking here because the administration potentially, theoretically could be forced to pay back a lot of revenue here.

YURKEVICH: They could. And President Trump yesterday in the Oval Office said that he, as soon as today, the administration could be filing an appeal with the Supreme Court over this ruling from Friday where a judge ruled that the administration illegally imposed tariffs by using an Emergency Powers Act known as EPA. And this was the act that the administration pointed to, to impose sweeping tariffs. And those sweeping tariffs have collected so far, $210 billion.

But those tariffs, that money that you see on your screen right there, paid for by U.S. importers and U.S. retailers who are bringing in products, paying those tariffs. Now, if this appeal by the administration does not ultimately stand and the administration has to cease collecting tariffs on October 14th, or has to pay back those tariffs, that gets a bit complicated. There's a lot of uncertainty around how that ultimately happens. Does the administration just start paying back that money? Do they force the importers to file a petition to get that money back?

[13:45:00]

This is really unchartered territory here, but we'll have to wait and see if that appeal comes through from the administration. Ultimately, what happens with all of these tariffs, Brianna.

KEILAR: Yeah. Watching that very closely. Vanessa, thank you so much. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Now to some of the other headlines we're watching this hour. Vice President J.D. Vance and his wife Usha have just arrived at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis to honor the victims of last week's shooting there where two children were killed and more than 20 others were injured by a shooter. Vance recently said that America has a mental health crisis and then said, "We take way more psychiatric medication than any other nation."

Also, evacuation orders are still in effect for parts of Northern California where a rapidly spreading wildfire destroyed multiple homes in a historic mining town. Buildings dating back to the 1850s gold rush are completely gone from the community just west of Yosemite National Park. Thousands of acres have been scorched by the fire that officials believe was started by a lightning strike. So far, no injuries have been reported.

And from I do to who did it, police are searching for a wedding crasher who stole roughly $60,000 in cash and checks during a California couple's big day.

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GEORGE FARAHAT, NEWLYWED ROBBED BY A GATECRASHER AT THE WEDDING: He grabbed the box, the getaway car opened the front door for him. He ran right in, closed the door, and they drove off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The newlyweds say they do not recognize the man and that he definitely was not invited. There he is in that red circle. Look at him rush out the door. They say it's tradition in their culture not to do a wedding registry, hence the donation box. We hope that he's brought to justice soon.

So what's better than winning Powerball? How about getting to hear from Harry Enten with his tips for buying a lottery ticket? It's not that much better, but it's a good conversation. Stay with CNN. We'll be right back.

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[13:51:33]

SANCHEZ: So there's still time to buy your tickets for tonight's staggering $1.4 billion Powerball jackpot, one of the largest jackpots in the game's history after Labor Day came and went without anyone matching all six numbers.

KEILAR: CNN Chief Data Analyst, Harry Enten is here. He did not win. And so he is here. The odds of winning are zero, as we like to say, if you don't play. So they've got to be better if you play, right, as the -- to quote what Dumb and Dumber, "So you're saying there's a chance?" HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: You're saying there's a chance. I mean, look, I like to think I can sometimes contort my body like Jim Carrey, but I think I have a little bit more mathematical skill even if I am not nearly as funny as he is. And I will say is yes, you have a chance, but the chance of winning the Powerball has been going down over the years. Back in 1992, it was one in 55 million. 2009, it was one in 195 million. Now the chance of winning is one in 292 million. And that is because they added more balls, which makes the odds go extremely longer, but also means that of course, many people don't win. So it allows the jackpots to go higher and higher and higher, to quote Jackie Wilson.

SANCHEZ: So, is there a way, Harry, to increase those odds?

ENTEN: OK, so you see one in 292 million, but the key thing to keep in mind is if you're going to go for it all, what you don't want to do is tie with somebody else and then have to split the jackpot. So how do you make sure that in fact, you don't have to split that jackpot. Well, always choose numbers above 31. Why is that? Because people often choose their birthdays. And while I may not be a great mathematical genius, I can tell you that according to my calendar, there are no days in any month during the year in which there are more than 31 days. So choosing numbers above 31 strengthens your chance that if you do somehow hit all the numbers, you won't have to split that prize with anybody else.

KEILAR: So smart. So smart. OK, so we talk about this being $1 billion jackpot. We're talking annuities. The lump sum here is $589 million. Which one should we actually pay attention to here?

ENTEN: Well, it depends. Are you a headline writer? Or are you a truth teller? Look, if you're a headline writer, go with the annuity. But if you're actually talking about what people actually take, look, I looked at all of them, Powerball's biggest jackpot winners. Get this. 55 out 55, they all took the lump sum, not the annuity. So it's really the lump sum we should be looking at, which while it's not north of $1 billion, hundreds of millions of dollars still seems pretty gosh darn nice to me.

SANCHEZ: Not bad at all. Also, you get the security of knowing what the tax rate is going to be. If you do the annuity, you don't know what the tax rate is going to be in like 30 years. So, it may go up, you may wind up losing more money, and the taxes are based on the year that you make the income. Anyway, Harry, what would you do with your winnings other than take Brianna and I out on a yacht somewhere?

ENTEN: OK, I would take the lump sum, first off, and then I would invest in the S&P 500. I would take a few of those millions, make sure I take these two fine anchors out to lunch, or even maybe dinner, who knows?

KEILAR: Popeyes.

(LAUGH)

ENTEN: (Inaudible) so splashy or, and if we would -- could do this if I want it. Look at this. I get a Popeyes in my house so we could maybe have some Popeyes at home. How about for dessert? We might have a little nice carve-out.

[13:55:00]

And then of course to wash it all down, how about some nice A&W Cream Soda Zero Sugar?

SANCHEZ: Not my jam. Not my jam. You got me with the spicy chicken salad. But the root beer. The root beer, really?

ENTEN: No. Cream soda. Cream soda for me. Cream soda. I like root beer, but cream soda is my jam.

KEILAR: OK, Harry, we'll revisit and revise. Don't worry. It's OK.

(LAUGH)

KEILAR: Thank you so much.

ENTEN: This is a class project. Thank you.

KEILAR: That's right.

(LAUGH)

ENTEN: Bye.

(LAUGH)

KEILAR: Bye. In today's Home Front, a new campaign is warning of the growing threat to troops and to military families from scams aided by artificial intelligence. The advocacy group, "We the Veterans and Military Families" says that these attacks are coming from foreign adversaries and other bad actors. The group's executive director and navy spouse, Ellen Gustafson, tells the Military Times that this is not a new issue. But, "these scams are getting more and more sophisticated with the use of Generative A.I.

Last year, the FTC says it lodged more than 99,000 fraud complaints from military consumers reportedly costing more than $199 million. Campaign officials tell the Military Times that military victims are more likely than civilians to lose money in scams and are more likely to be targeted.

And next, we are following some major news out of Florida. The Surgeon General there announcing moments ago that the state will eliminate all childhood vaccine mandates, including vaccines to protect against hepatitis B, chickenpox, and polio. We'll have that coming up.

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