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Judge Blocks National Guard to Portland; New Term for Supreme Court Today; Trumps's Agenda and Power on Line at the Supreme Court; Day Six of the Government Shutdown; Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) is Interviewed about the Shutdown. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired October 06, 2025 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

LISA RESPERS FRANCE, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Track.

But my favorite thing was her explaining what her mother thinks the song "Wood" is about.

Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAYLOR SWIFT, MUSICIAN: I think that she thinks that that song is about superstitions, popular superstitions, which -- which it absolutely is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Andrea, we love you. You're so sweet.

SWIFT: That's -- that's the joy of the double entendre.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, isn't it.

SWIFT: Is that song. You can play that song for people and it just goes right over their head. With that song, you see in that song what you want to see in that song.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANCE: Yes, that "Wood" song is actually about Travis Kelce's prowess in -- off the field. Let's just say that. So, pretty funny that her mom thinks it's about superstitions, John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I have not made a single tight end joke since the release of this album.

Lisa Respers France, thank you so much for being with us this morning.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: This morning we're waiting to see if President Trump is going to respond after that major legal loss. A judge blocking the president's latest attempt to send the military to the streets of Portland for a second time.

Plus, the Supreme Court retaking their seats this morning and kicking off a momentous new term. The high stakes cases on their agenda.

And he was just performing for the pope, and now he's sitting down with John Berman and I. Legendary singer Andrea Bocelli joins us to talk music, family and his legacy.

I'm Sara Sidner, with John Berman. Kate is out today. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BERMAN: All right, new this morning, a federal judge has blocked President Trump from deploying the National Guard to Portland, Oregon, for the second time in two days. And the judge does not sound very happy about it at all. Protesters have been clashing with police at an ICE facility there in recent days. First, the judge, who was a Trump appointee, temporarily stopped the president from sending the state's own troops into Portland. Then California Governor Gavin Newsom said the president was trying to work around that by sending in 300 National Guard members from his state to Portland, Oregon. The judge halted that, too, for the time being, after asking the Justice Department's attorney, quote, "aren't the defendants simply circumventing my order?"

This is all part of the president's battle with states and cities led by Democrats. He is also -- he has also authorized hundreds of National Guard troops to be sent to Chicago. That led Governor J.B. Pritzker to denounce the president's moves as, quote, "Trump's invasion."

Let's get to CNN's Whitney Wild, live from Chicago for the latest on this.

Good morning, Whitney.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, John.

What -- right now there's very little information about how many exactly National Guard troops we will see in Chicago, when that deployment will happen. The information, you know, that we're getting is mostly coming from Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, who admits that he is not talking directly with federal officials. Something that has really frustrated local officials here is that they are not getting information right from the source. They're hearing about it from -- from different places, namely the Illinois National Guard.

So, John, the latest information we have is that we could see up to 300 or more National Guard troops in Chicago. It is, again, it is not clear exactly when they will deploy or where. But what the Department of Homeland Security has made very clear is that the intention here will be for the National Guard to assist at, you know, DHS facilities.

For several weeks we've seen protests in broad view where one of these main ICE facilities is and some of these clashes have really ramped up. We've seen law enforcement detonate nonlethal munitions, like pepper balls, rubber bullets and tear gas against protesters as they begin to compress on that building. We've seen them put up barricades, concrete barricades there, John. There is a fence around that facility. And they have also utilized the help of local law enforcement, the Broadview Police Department, as well as the Illinois State Police.

John, moving forward, again, the Illinois officials, you know, from Chicago, all the way up to the governor's office, are very frustrated by what they're seeing, although they admit that there's just not that much they can do.

Here's more from Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. J.B. PRITZKER (D-IL): They are the ones that are making it a war zone. They need to get out of Chicago if they're not going to focus on the worst of the worst, which is what the president said they were going to do, they need to get the heck out.

They want mayhem on the ground. They want to create the war zone so that they can send in even more troops. Now they're claiming they need 300 of Illinois' National Guard. Well, we didn't need them before they showed up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: John, the tensions here are ramping up.

[09:05:00]

Over the weekend, Customs and Border Patrol and border protection agents actually got into a shooting after they said they were rammed by up to ten cars. There are at least two people who are in custody in that case, John.

BERMAN: All right, obviously what's happening there could all end up in the Supreme Court sometime soon.

Whitney Wild, thank you so much for that report.

On the subject of the Supreme Court, we're standing by for a new term to begin this morning. On the docket, conversion therapy for LGDPQ (ph) youth, changes to a landmark -- to the landmark Voting Rights Act, and will the high court limit the president's tariff power, on top of everything that's going on with the National Guard?

CNN's chief Supreme Court analyst Joan Biskupic outside the Supreme Court this morning.

They got a lot on their plate over the next several weeks.

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN CHIEF SUPREME COURT ANALYST: They do, John. And it's good to see you on this traditional first Monday in October.

But, you know, that's when we usually start a new term. But we hardly ended the last one. They had so many disagreements among themselves over the summer. A lot of tensions. In less than an hour I'll see them all take the bench and see what the mood suggests from the start.

But we have several new Trump controversies, and then also some old culture war dilemmas, beginning tomorrow with a test of so-called conversion therapy. Colorado has banned licensed professional health care workers from engaging in so-called conversion therapy. And that's the practice of trying to talk teens out -- LGBTQ teens out of their sexual orientation or gender identity. And the justices will see if that is a violation of the free speech rights of individual counselors who want to engage in that kind of therapy.

And then next week, John, you're right, we have a major challenge to the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act. This Supreme Court has already limited the scope of that act in recent years. And this time what's at issue is, when states draw new districts, new congressional districts, and draw them in ways that dilute the voting power of blacks and Hispanics, what kinds of remedies can come into effect? Can states then establish what are known as majority minority districts that would consolidate blacks or Hispanics into certain regions to increase their chance of voting -- of choosing a candidate of their own choice?

And then, in December, January and February, through -- December -- November, December and January, John, we have a succession of cases that will all test Trump's executive powers, starting with over tariffs. The administration asked the court to fast track this case because of the billions of dollars at stake, and the justices agreed. And then, in December and January, the justices will look at Trump's power to fire the heads of independent agencies in a pair of cases that, in the end, will affect how much power Donald Trump has over the Federal Reserve, which, as you know, he has been pressuring on interest rates.

John.

BERMAN: Yes, we could know more about the scope of presidential power by the end of this Supreme Court term.

Joan Biskupic, outside the court today. We'll let you get inside for the -- the traditional opening, which I know you love to see.

Sara.

SIDNER: I've never seen her more excited. It's like October 1st, she gets really excited.

All right, here now to discuss, Steve Vladek, CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at Georgetown University Law Center.

Thank you so much for being here.

When you look at the cases that are coming up that the court has already accepted, will this term be very similar in being dominated by cases involving the president and presidential power, like it was last session?

STEVE VLADEK, CNN SUPREME COURT ANALYST: Yes, Sara, I think there's no way it won't be. And I think the really big difference between what we saw in the term that ended yesterday and the term that starts today, last term, all of these cases reached the court in this emergency posture where there wasn't necessarily time for full briefing, where the justices didn't have arguments.

SIDNER: Right.

VLADEK: That's going to change now starting with the tariffs case in November. Joan mentioned the removal cases in December and January. But, Sara, I mean, I think it's also likely that we're going to see a slew of other Trump related disputes, whether it's deploying the military, whether it's the Alien Enemies, whether it's birthright citizenship. By the time we're done with this term, you know, this is going to be very, very much a referendum, not just on President Trump's power, but on the Supreme Court's relationship with the executive branch.

SIDNER: I mean, Trump has seen win after win, increasing his presidential power with this particular Supreme Court. I mean, how many times has the court sided with him, and do you expect more of the same?

VLADEK: Yes, I mean, the stunning number here is 23. The court has ruled for President Trump on 23 consecutive emergency applications dating back to April. Sara, that is just a mind-boggling number. Historically, it's a mind-boggling number for volume.

But the one silver lining, if you can call it that, is that almost all of those rulings were not conclusively resolving the legality of what President Trump was doing. They were not conclusively resolving the merits of these cases.

[09:10:04]

And so, yes, the court has continued to enable this administration to do things that lower courts have concluded are unlawful. Now the rubber meets the road, right? Now the question is, as the justices actually have time to receive the traditional amount of briefing, to deliberate, Sara, as they actually have to write opinions rationalizing their decisions, are they so willing to defer to the administration, or do we start to see more of the skepticism that to date has only come from the Democratic appointees? That's why this term is so important. It's why these cases are going to be such critical ones, not just in our current moment, but really going forward.

SIDNER: I do want to ask you about state's rights. We're seeing the president using the National Guard in places like California, in -- now in Portland, where his own Trump appointed judge has twice said, you can't do this and temporarily stopped it for now. He's even talking about sending troops from one state, Texas, into another state, Illinois, and potentially Portland.

I mean, are state's rights dying under this administration? And if so, do you think that the Supreme Court is going to weigh in on some of this?

So, I mean, the answer to your first question is clearly, yes, this administration is showing less respect for the prerogatives of states, Sara, especially blue states, than we've seen from really any modern presidency. And that's telling in its own right.

As for the Supreme Court, I think it is inevitable that the justices are going to have to weigh in on many of these questions, whether it's in the context of deploying troops, Sara, whether it's in the context of withholding FEMA funds from states that don't agree to abide by certain immigration policies. You know, this is going to be another set of cases that the justices are going to have to take up.

And I think what's so revealing about what's happening in Portland right now is that you really do have this sense that there are conservative lawyers out there, like the district judge in Portland, who really are true believers when it comes to the relationship between states and the federal government, who really do see warning signs in what the Trump administration is doing.

Sara, the question is going to be whether there are enough of those on the Supreme Court, because I think those cases, too, are on their way up to the justices. The justices may be able to buy for time by handing down all of these, you know, unsigned, mostly unexplained rulings to this point. But the reckoning is coming. And I think the question is going to be, does this Supreme Court have the will and have the ability to stand up to President Trump on these questions?

SIDNER: It will all be very interesting to watch. We will certainly be watching, as will you, I know.

Steve Vladek, it is a pleasure. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

VLADEK: Thanks, Sara.

SIDNER: All right, ahead, the government shutdown enters its first full week. The Senate returns, the House stalling and the blame game at an all-time high. We're live on Capitol Hill with an update.

Plus, any moment a high stakes talk will begin in Egypt between Israel and Hamas. Trump's 20-point Gaza ceasefire plan on offer.

And House Speaker Mike Johnson has yet to swear in a newly elected Democrat who won in a landslide in Arizona. Dems say it's related to a vote on the Epstein files. We'll talk all about that. I'll talk with the representative-elect from Arizona, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:17:50]

SIDNER: This morning, no one appears to be budging in the battle over the government shutdown. Today we are in the second week. The Senate expected to vote again today on that stopgap measure to fund the government for the next seven weeks.

Democrats have refused to support the measure, saying an extension on Obamacare subsidies must be included. Republicans say those subsidies can wait until later, when the government is back open.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. RUBEN GALLEGO (D-AZ): There's a deal to be had here, right? But we need to see them actually urgently moving because we don't want Americans on November 1st to start thinking about whether or not they should even re-enroll.

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): All these things that they want to do and that we're talking about, we're happy to have a conversation about. But that can't happen with the government shutdown. So, it's -- it's, you know, open up the government and -- or -- or else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: OK. CNN's Arlette Saenz is on Capitol Hill. You hear the Republican there saying open the government or else. There doesn't seem to be any trust here on the part of either party to get this done. What are you learning?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, this government shutdown is entering its second week. And right now there is no clear end in sight to this standoff. Republican and Democratic leaders really are engaging in this messaging war of who's to blame for the shutdown and not engaged in any type of formal negotiations. Yes, there are some informal talks between rank and file Democratic and Republican senators, but so far they haven't actually produced any concrete proposals that then Senate leadership could consider and take to President Donald Trump. Instead, you're hearing this blame game going back and forth.

Now, Republicans had hoped that Democrats would eventually cave as this shutdown continued. But so far, Democrats are firm in their demands that they want to see some concessions from Republicans. And at the heart of this debate are those expiring Obamacare subsidies, which are set to run out, expire at the end of the year. Democrats want to see action on that now as Americans begin to receive information about their health care premiums for the next year this very month. But Republicans insist that any negotiations about extending these subsidies or reforming the program can't take place until the government is reopened.

[09:20:01]

Take a listen to the top leaders in the House on both the Democratic and Republican side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): But the time is now to address this health care crisis.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But why now?

JEFFRIES: Well -- well, absolutely. The enrollment period opens on November 1st. Notices have already started to go out, indicating that premiums, co-pays and deductibles for tens of millions of Americans all across the country are going to dramatically increase.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Should families plan on paying more next year for health care?

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): Boy, I hope not. I mean, we're working to bring costs down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now the Senate, later today, will hold two votes on efforts to reopen the government. Both the Democratic and the Republican plan. But it's unlikely at this point that either of those pass -- will pass, really leaving open the question of how long this shutdown will last with neither side really coming to the negotiating table.

SIDNER: It is a mess. We will see how long this stalemate happens.

Arlette Saenz, thank you so much. Appreciate your reporting there from D.C.

John.

BERMAN: With us now is Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis, a Republican from New York.

Congresswoman, always great to see you.

President Trump says that good things can come from government shutdowns. What good things have come so far from this one?

REP. NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS (R-NY): Well, right now I don't see anything good coming from it. And a matter of fact, I think there's a lot of unnecessary drama here. The Democrats in the Senate have the opportunity to end this today. The bottom line here is this is already a compromised bill. It was negotiated by Chuck Schumer last year. And he voted for it, and the Democrat Senate voted for it and extended it three times. There is no reason for us to be having this shutdown right now. And if we don't resolve it by the 15th, our military won't be paid.

And so, look, I think that we just need to get this government open. And I will say that I am one of the Republicans in the House who has said we do need to address some of the health care issues. No way are we going to accept $200 billion that will make its way to illegal immigrants and non-citizens through the states. We see this in New York all the time, 500,000 people in this country illegally who are receiving those dollars.

So, what I would say is, let's open this government and then what we can do is a real conversation. And our Problem Solvers Caucus, by the way, made up of Republicans and Democrats, have already been working on this -- on this issue related to the subsidies.

BERMAN: Again, the health care money goes to reimburse hospitals who give emergency care to illegal immigrants.

MALLIOTAKIS: To illegal immigrants, yes.

BERMAN: I understand. But just so people understand, the money goes to the hospitals. It doesn't go directly to the illegal immigrants.

I do want to ask you, because the president had frozen counterterrorism funding to New York City and New York. He has restored that. You celebrated the restoration of that funding, correct?

MALLIOTAKIS: Yes, I did. And that was unrelated to the shutdown. This was a case where the Department of Homeland Security came up with a formula. And as a result of this formula, cities like New York had lost funding. In our case, the state lost $187 million, which is obviously unacceptable with New York being the number one terror attack. I'm glad that President Trump heard our concerns. I reached out to him personally last week, and within 48 hours he had reversed this decision made by the Department of Homeland Security.

But it goes to point that these agencies have to be much more thoughtful and cautious when they're dealing with something as critical as counterterrorism money. And so, I'm happy it was fixed, but I hope this -- the agencies do take note of this because we're tired of having to go in and reverse things that were made in bad decision.

BERMAN: OK, that's the counterterrorism funding. What about infrastructure funding? Because there is now $16 billion, $18 billion being blocked for tunnels under the Hudson River and the Second Avenue subway. How do you feel about that being frozen in the government shutdown?

MALLIOTAKIS: Well, that's directly related to the shutdown. So, it's a little bit different. It wasn't a formula in funding, as was the counterterrorism money.

What I would say is that, you know, once this shutdown is over, we'll see that money flowing. But it's no different than what we're seeing taking place with women, infant, children nutrition program. That's going to run out of money. We're going to see the military not being paid. A whole slew of programs are going to be affected if --

BERMAN: Well, Congresswoman --

MALLIOTAKIS: Yes?

BERMAN: I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. It is different than the -- than those things. This is -- this is money that's already been appropriated and allocated. This money absolutely is being suspended by choice electively by the administration right now. It's not the same thing as the funding that -- that will dry up if the shutdown continues. This is a choice that the administration is making. How do you feel about that choice?

MALLIOTAKIS: Well, this was the choice that Chuck Schumer gave them because -- and this was why Angus King, by the way, one of the independent, who caucuses with the Democrats, voted with the Republicans to not shut down was because you gave this unilateral authority to the president of the United States.

[09:25:10]

And so, for -- for a group of people that want to hold him accountable, they're actually having the adverse effect and have given him more power.

But look, at the end of the day, we should just be opening this government and doing the right thing. That's the bottom line. Chuck Schumer voted for this very same bill four times. There's no reason to have this show and political drama.

I voted to -- and, by the way, when the tables were turned, I did vote 12 consecutive times with the previous administration to keep our government open because it was the right thing to do. And if the tables were turned and Republicans were the ones trying to put in unrelated policy into a clean funding bill, what would the media be saying now? They would be very critical.

So, we chose not to play any games. We chose to put something out of the House, and it passed with bipartisan vote. We did have one Democrat that sided with us. And it did pass, by the way, with a bipartisan vote in the Senate as well. The problem is, we don't have the seven votes that we need from the Democrats.

BERMAN: Yes.

MALLIOTAKIS: We only got three.

And so hopefully we can end this today, and we can move forward and talk about the issues that really matter, including those subsidies to health care --

BERMAN: Yes.

MALLIOTAKIS: Which are needed, by the way, because the Affordable Care Act turned out to be not so affordable. But the reality is, we need to do it in conjunction with reform of our insurance companies, because the five top insurance companies have raked in 230 percent increase in profits since the Affordable Care Act went into effect. So, they're pocketing this money. And so, we have to get some reforms and hold those insurance companies accountable. I suggested a phase out of those subsidies with those reforms, as opposed to just allowing it to expire at the end of the year, which, by the way, was a date set by the Democrats when they were in control.

BERMAN: Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis in New York, not in Washington this week. We appreciate you being with us this morning. Thank you very much.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, still ahead, we are standing by for crucial talks to try and end the war in Gaza. Israel, Hamas and the U.S. all coming together, having talking points gone through in Cairo, Egypt. We will see if there is an agreement today or beyond.

(VIDEO CLIP) SIDNER: He is an international superstar that can make you weep with his voice. We got a chance to sit down with Andrea Bocelli, who is celebrating 30 years of music. What he has on offer for you, his audience.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)