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Trump Suggests That Military Should Use Dangerous Cities as Training Grounds; Trump, Hegseth Address Senior Military Officials at Quantico; Government Barrels Toward Shutdown Amid Partisan Deadlock; Navy Veteran Among Victims in LDS Church Shooting. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired September 30, 2025 - 14:00   ET

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

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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Reshaping the military, the president and his defense secretary describing how they want to change America's armed forces. One idea pitched by the president, using "dangerous cities as training grounds for troops." And countdown to shut down, about 10 hours from now, the government officially closes for business unless Republicans and Democrats can agree on a spending bill. We'll take a look at what that means for you and everything from America's national parks to airports.

And ahead, a story you'll see only on CNN. A look at how cartels are recruiting Americans, some just teenagers with social media apps like TikTok to help smuggle migrants across the border. We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to "CNN News Central."

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": An extraordinary moment, President Trump before hundreds of America's top military officials today declaring there is an enemy from within and then suggesting U.S. cities could be used as military training grounds.

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DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Last month, I signed an executive order to provide training for Quick Reaction Force that can help quell civil disturbances. This is going to be a big thing for the people in this room because it's the enemy from within and we have to handle it before it gets out of control.

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KEILAR: The president's remarks followed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who took the stage and pushed his vision to reshape the military, including some new military regulations.

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PETE HEGSETH, (R) UNITED STATES DEFENSE SECRETARY: We unleashed overwhelming and punishing violence on the enemy. We also don't fight with stupid rules of engagement. We untie the hands of our war fighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill the enemies of our country. No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement.

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KEILAR: Hegseth who was under review for his Signal group chat, also said he would be overhauling the Defense Department's investigative process.

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HEGSETH: We are overhauling an inspector general process, the IG, that has been weaponized, putting complainers, ideologues and poor performers in the driver's seat. No more frivolous complaints. No more anonymous complaints. No more repeat complainants. No more smearing reputations. No more endless waiting. No more legal limbo. No more sidetracking careers. No more walking on eggshells.

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KEILAR: We're joined now by Dan Lamothe, Pentagon Reporter for The Washington Post. This was really, I said it was extraordinary. It was extraordinary to see this. How are senior military officials reacting to what they heard?

DAN LAMOTHE, PENTAGON REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: Yeah, I think it's a mixture of, gee, kind of what we thought it would be, kind of sense from them. I mean, I think they were bracing for potentially worse when this news first broke last week, just because there was so little detail out there about what they were being gathered for. I think the message they got today, they kind of anticipated. That said, I think that war within comment from the president, that is something that will make skin crawl for at least some senior officers.

KEILAR: Talk a little bit more about that. What are their concerns? And also, I think for a lay person, who maybe doesn't understand some of the bright red lines around the military, that is one.

LAMOTHE: Right. I mean, and really what we're talking about, and the president has talked about this on and off for years, going back to his first term, about unleashing the military in cities to kind of quell protests and things of that sort. Particularly when it's the discussion of active duty forces, sending the 82nd Airborne or something like that into a city. The Pentagon generally wants no part of that. This discussion we've seen this year in places like Chicago and Portland and Boston and wherever else, it really comes down to whether or not you want to put the National Guard in small numbers or not, with governor's support or not.

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And that's really where we've hit kind of 10 spots when those governors don't see a need for it

KEILAR: On the rules of engagement piece of this, talk a little bit about kind of how that issue, how has it been an issue and what change is really being proposed here?

LAMOTHE: Yeah, I mean, that's a discussion that goes back to a lot of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's something that I used to hear on the ground when I was embedded with troops in combat. The idea is that they felt like they had their hands tied, that they couldn't shoot back under certain circumstances, that they couldn't respond more quickly and more decisively. There is a discussion to be had about that. I think looking ahead, it's the how and the why, and in what format. We don't really have a conflict at the moment where that would apply to. So, it's sort of a notional thing.

KEILAR: And this issue of standards for women in combat roles, I think an impression can be given. And I've talked to some sources who felt that an impression could be given by what Hegseth was talking about, that there's this broad affliction in the military of women in combat roles that they are not qualified to be in. Is that true? And what is he talking about as far as changes?

LAMOTHE: Yeah, I mean there's a discussion that goes back some years here. I recall, there being concerns when women first went through Ranger school as a, for instance. Generally speaking, that there was a mark and a standard that set, that discussion was you meet the standard or you don't qualify. And I think there's long bits of suspicion that the standards were dropped or lowered to increase the number of women in those roles.

I don't know that we really see that. I think it's a talking point. But I think going forward, the discussion will be how do you go about this? Do you have a gender-specific standard for non-combat roles? If you're -- I mean, if you're air traffic control or a mechanic or something like that.

KEILAR: Cyber A.I., right? Sort of these rules of the future for ware.

LAMOTHE: I don't necessarily need to knock out 30 pull-ups to be effective in my job in those roles. And that applies to men too. Other spots, if I'm a SEAL, if I'm an infantryman or something like that, you're going to need to have a baseline of strength.

KEILAR: Sure. Certainly. Dan, thank you so much. Really appreciate you taking us through that. Boris?

SANCHEZ: So as we watch the clock, President Trump says the government shutdown tonight at midnight is, "probably likely" though he did add that nothing is inevitable. Democrats and Republicans now have less than 10 hours to reach a deal on funding the government. CNN's Brian Todd is here on what a shutdown would look like. So if we reach midnight, Brian, and there is no funding deal, what happens?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, a lot of Americans are asking these same questions. What about the services that I need? Am I going to be able to get them? All great questions? Now, usually the OMB puts out a list of all contingency plans for every agency. They haven't done that this year. So it's been up to us in the media. We've come through websites, called and texted officials, and had a lot of conversations in the last few days. Here's what we can tell you.

Here's the latest what we can tell you about what, first let's start about what you can expect to continue. Crucially, social security and Medicare payments. Everybody who gets those is going to get those normally as they always have. That's a great thing, obviously. The unemployed in the United States will continue to get their jobless benefits. The State Department interestingly, is going to continue processing passports and visas for Americans. They're also going to continue assisting Americans who are overseas.

But one thing to remember, the State Department workforce, only about 10,000 of those people will be deemed essential. They're going to be the ones working out of a workforce of about 27,000 people. So how fast you're going to be able to get your passport process, that's not clear. Boris, you and I have covered a lot of hurricanes.

SANCHEZ: Yeah.

TODD: -- Together and separately.

SANCHEZ: Yeah.

TODD: Right? Well, you're going to need those hurricane forecasts because we are right in the middle of hurricane season.

SANCHEZ: Yeah.

TODD: Thankfully, the National Weather Service is going to continue forecasting and giving those warnings, even if there's a government shutdown. Obviously, we still need it because hurricane season is not done yet.

SANCHEZ: Right.

TODD: If there's going to be a shutdown, we're still going to get those warnings. Also, DHS, ICE, Customs and Border Protection, TSA screening agents, all will be working. Some of them won't be paid. So I'm going to get to that in just one second. Crucially, also veterans are going to continue to get their crucial medical services and other critical services like suicide prevention programs and other things like that. Very good news there.

Now, what could be shut down, compromised, delayed? This is not great. The FDA tasked with protecting our drugs and our food and other things. Their inspectors are probably going to be limited or delayed in conducting inspections of things like food and like drug manufacturing sites, those inspections are going to be halted. Not good news. Also travel delays, we talked about the TSA agents. TSA agents and air traffic controllers will be made to come to work, but they won't be paid.

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In shutdowns past, that has led to airport delays because many TSA agents sometimes call in sick. They sometimes can't afford the public transportation to get to work, so they call in sick. There was one shutdown in recent years where air traffic controllers, a group of them, decided not to come into work that actually forced the end of that shutdown. Let's see what happens here, if the airport delays get to be too bad.

Another crucial thing that we've been tracking and we just haven't gotten answers to, Boris, national parks and monuments. A lot of people planning vacations this time of year in the fall --

SANCHEZ: Yeah.

TODD -- and the early fall, the weather's still warm. They want to go to the parks and monuments. We don't know. We don't know if they're going to be open or not. We've been pressing the Park Service. One official at the Department of the Interior, here is his quote, the Department of the Interior oversees the parks. They haven't said anything, anything to us about any plans. We have absolutely no information about what happens if there's a lapse in appropriations.

The bottom line is we don't know if you're going to be able to go to that national park that you've been wanting to go to or those monuments yet. Same with the Smithsonians, they run 21 museums and the National Zoo. We still don't have answers as to whether you're going to be able to go to those.

SANCHEZ: Keep us posted if you get an answer on that. I wonder what about federal law enforcement? Like FBI agents?

TODD: We're told FBI, DEA, ATF and Bureau of Prisons officers will be reporting to work. Now, the litigation in the federal courts is going to be affected too. We're told that criminal litigation will continue. Civil litigation may be halted or delayed, so there could be a backlog in the courts.

SANCHEZ: Brian Todd, thank you so much for that reporting.

TODD: You got it.

SANCHEZ: Appreciate it. Still to come, we learning more about the Iraq war veteran behind a devastating attack on an LDS Church in Michigan, including how a past breakup may have fueled his hatred of the Mormon faith. Plus, CNN going inside the cartel networks using social media to attract American teenagers. See what our months-long investigation uncovered. And we're getting more reaction to the defense secretary's speech at Quantico this morning. That and much more coming your way in just moments.

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SANCHEZ: Just into CNN, we're learning that House Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries is telling his members that Democratic leaders will stay in Washington this week after the government officially runs out of funding tonight at midnight. Just a short time ago, President Trump issued this warning for Democrats.

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TRUMP: We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible, that are bad for them and irreversible by them, by cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like.

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SANCHEZ: Let's discuss with Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego of Arizona. Senator, thank you so much for being with us. Republicans have argued that they are willing to negotiate on these Obamacare subsidies that Democrats are demanding be part of any continuing resolution. Republicans don't want it to be part of the CR. They say that Democrats are holding the government hostage to extend COVID-era credits. What's your response to that argument?

SEN. RUBEN GALLEGO, (D-AZ) ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Well, the response is very simple. 24 million Americans are going to have their insurance rates, premiums doubled starting November 1. That's when open enrollment starts. This is going to affect 24 million Americans. So we now essentially have less than 30 days to negotiate and even less than that when it comes to (inaudible) days. So if they are serious, then you get going. In the meantime, we are doing everything we can to save 24 million Americans their insurance rates, to help them keep their insurance rates low.

SANCHEZ: The subsidies are set to expire at the end of the year. I understand what you're saying about open enrollment beginning on November 1st, and that's essentially when they will see a difference in what they'll be paying for healthcare. Do you believe that this moment, this is right now, the best leverage that Democrats are going to have to try to extend those subsidies? Or are you just skeptical that Republicans will actually make a deal if a CR has passed?

GALLEGO: Look, what we've seen continuously from Republicans is that they don't care about the healthcare of Americans. This is the same group of people that just cut Medicaid, that's going to end up closing rural hospitals. So I'm sorry, I'm going to take with a grain of salt that they're actually going to negotiate in good faith when I know that 24 million Americans are about to have their insurance rates, premiums doubled. We're talking thousands of dollars more their families are going to have to be paying all of next year just because Republicans and Donald Trump don't want to pass a very simple extension.

SANCHEZ: I have to ask you about the news today regarding the deal between the Trump administration and Pfizer to offer Most Favored Nation pricing on certain drugs that that company manufactures and a direct-to-consumer option to purchase them through TrumpRx, this new website. Is that not the administration trying to alleviate the cost of healthcare for Americans?

GALLEGO: Look, our healthcare system is in critical condition right now. Good job on saving that. But no matter what happens, if we don't get this done by November 1st, 24 million Americans are going to have their insurance rates doubled. So what he's doing is a bandage on a very open gushing wound. 24 million Americans are going to have their insurance rates doubled by next year because this president, Donald Trump, the Republican Party, have refused to negotiate in good faith and help save a lot of Americans from having essentially a tax increase because of their inaction.

SANCHEZ: I want to get your reaction, Senator, to a video put out by President Trump, an A.I.-edited video of the Democratic leadership following their White House visit. I'm sure you've seen it, but for our viewers who have not, let's watch this for a moment.

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SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, (D-NY) MINORITY LEADER OF THE UNITED STATES SENATE: Look, guys, there's no way to sugarcoat it. Nobody likes Democrats anymore. We have no voters left because of all of our woke trans -- not even black people want to vote for us anymore.

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SANCHEZ: Senator, what do you make of this caricature of House Leader Jeffries and what was actually being said by Senator Schumer being edited there to make fun of Democrats?

GALLEGO: Look, I didn't see the video and there's nothing funny about what's about to happen. 24 million Americans are about to have their insurance rates doubled. And these guys are effing around with digital A.I. to get us, nothing done and get some dumb message when Americans are hurting right now. Costs are going through the roof and this administration is doing nothing to help bring down the cost of healthcare, instead of just messing around with some A.I. tool. Congratulations. Why don't we actually help 24 million Americans save their health insurance?

SANCHEZ: When it comes to some of your fellow Democrats, two of them, Senators Gary Peters and Maggie Hassan, have not said how they're going to vote. We know that Senator Fetterman of Pennsylvania is planning to vote for the Republican-backed stop gap. What's your message to them?

GALLEGO: Well, look, everyone has to vote their own conscious, but I know that all Senators, all Democratic Senators care the fact that 24 million Americans are going to have their insurance rates doubled if the Republicans and Donald Trump don't act.

SANCHEZ: I also wanted to ask you, Senator, as a Marine Corps veteran, for your thoughts on the speech from Secretary Hegseth to senior military officers today and specifically this part. Let's play the soundbite.

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PETE HEGSETH, (R) UNITED STATES DEFENSE SECRETARY: This administration has done a great deal from day one to remove the social justice, politically correct and toxic ideological garbage that had infected our department, to rip out the politics. No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses. No more climate change worship, no more division, distraction or gender delusions. No more debris.

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SANCHEZ: Do you believe these kinds of changes, including the highest male standard, that the secretary spoke to, will actually make the military stronger?

GALLEGO: This is the most political department of defense that has ever existed. And it is not fulfilling its role and mission to protect us, to protect the country of the United States. It's now becoming an arm of this presidency. And Secretary Hegseth is really a joke when it comes to his administration of this office. And it's sad to see what he's doing, when we do have the strongest, mightiest military in the world. We've had it and we've had it for quite a while.

And these divisive changes is not going to change that. But, it's really a stain on the Department of Defense that Hegseth is the leader of such a great group of men and women that protect this country forever. And it's a shame that they're destroying its reputation.

SANCHEZ: And lastly, Senator, is there anything in place that would prevent the president from going about using certain cities in the United States as a training ground for the military as he described it earlier today?

GALLEGO: Well, look, the president is an idiot. He doesn't actually understand how the military works. The first thing it's going to be is that most U.S. citizens will stand against that in civil protests. And you'll have many of us joining them in that if they try to do such a thing. Number two, the oath that our members of the military take, they will not be firing upon their own men and women, their own neighbors. Only again, an idiot like Donald Trump will believe in such a thing. And thirdly, we'll do everything within our constitutional power to make sure we hold anybody accountable should they ever do something of that nature.

And whether it's now or when this president is gone, anybody that engages in that type of action against our civilian military will be held accountable one way or the other. And I think most and all of the people I've ever served with understand their oath to the constitution. It's not to this president. And when that moment comes, they're going to live to that constitution.

SANCHEZ: Senator Ruben Gallego, thank you so much for the time and your point of view.

GALLEGO: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Up next, a childhood friend of the Michigan Church attacker says a breakup more than a decade ago may have fueled the gunman's hatred. We have those details next. Plus, some ChatGPT features are brand new, including one that parents have been asking for. We'll discuss next.

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KEILAR: One of the four victims killed in Sunday's mass shooting and arson attack inside a Michigan church has been identified. Family members confirmed the death of 77-year-old John Bond. A GoFundMe page states that he was a Navy veteran who enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren and he was active in his community. In the meantime, we're now hearing from one of the shooter's friends as investigators are working to find a motive. Let's go to CNN Security Correspondent Josh Campbell for details on this. Josh, what are you learning here?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, we often try to figure out what a motive is. Oftentimes, it will make no sense when someone engages in depravity like this kind of attack. But nevertheless, there are questions about what was driving this person. Our colleagues at CNN Investigates, they were able to locate a childhood friend of the shooter who essentially described this, his hatred toward the LDS Church as stemming from a bad breakup.

Previously, he had lived in Utah, had dated a woman who was in the LDS Church. They broke up. He then moved to Michigan and his friend said that --