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Trump Admin Makes Plans To Send Military Into Chicago; Trump To Host South Korean Leader For First D.C. Meeting; Trump Sends Ukraine Letter Of Support On Its Independence Day; Texas And California Working To Redraw Their Electoral Maps; SpaceX Aborts Starship Mega Rocket Test Flight Launch; Trump To Host South Korean Leader At White House Tomorrow. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired August 24, 2025 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:00]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: Trump signaling on Friday that Chicago could be next in what he says is a broad effort to curb crime in major cities.

National Guard troops are currently patrolling the streets of Washington, D.C., despite a new poll showing an overwhelming majority of Washington, D.C., residents are strongly opposed to that. Now Chicago's mayor says if Trump does go forward with sending troops to Chicago, he will challenge that move.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON (D), CHICAGO: You know, there are some political differences, certainly, that we do have in Chicago. But I think in this regard, we're all very clear that the Trump administration is clearly in violation of the Constitution. And it's pretty straightforward for us. You either support the Constitution or you do not. That's -- those are the only two positions that you can take.

And again, whether it's legal actions as well as the community as a whole coming together to push back in a very dramatic way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: CNN correspondent Julia Benbrook is joining us now.

Julia, what else has the president said on this as we look ahead to a new week?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, President Donald Trump has made it clear that he plans to expand these efforts outside of Washington, D.C. This is a part of his anti-crime agenda and his immigration crackdown.

Residents here in the nation's capital have felt this for over a week now, as Trump took temporary control of the D.C. Metropolitan Police and then there is a constant, visible National Guard presence. It is important to note that he has more authority to do this in the district than he does in the states. But during comments in the Oval Office on Friday, Trump made it clear that he is looking to expand these efforts. And right now, he's looking directly at Chicago. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Chicago is a mess. You have an incompetent mayor. Grossly incompetent. And we'll straighten that one out probably next.

And the people in Chicago, Mr. Vice President, are screaming for us to come. They're wearing red hats just like this one, but they're wearing red hats.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: Officials who spoke with CNN say that there have been plans to send troops there for weeks, but it's still unclear how many and when that deployment would happen. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, who we heard from just a little while ago, he has accused the president of stoking fear. He has also said that the Trump administration has not reached out directly to his team or to the governors.

Now, let's pull up some of the recent Chicago crime stats. These are from the Chicago Police Department, and they show that violent crime in the city has been on a downward trajectory.

In a statement, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said this. He said, quote, "The safety of the people of Illinois is always my top priority. There is no emergency that warrants the president of the United States federalizing the Illinois National Guard, deploying the National Guard from other states or sending active duty military within our own borders."

While it is not uncommon for federal authorities like the National Guard to assist across the country when there is an emergency situation like a natural disaster or civil unrest, experts say that sending in the National Guard in a blanket order to combat crime and implement the president's immigration policies is unprecedented.

Trump has seemed to start here in Washington. He's then looking at Chicago. He says New York is next. And in recent weeks, he has listed off several other major cities that he says are, quote, "very bad. "Among them, Los Angeles and Baltimore.

DEAN: All right. Julia Benbrook, thank you so much for that reporting.

And let's bring in CNN senior political commentator and former senior adviser to Mitch McConnell, Scott Jennings, and former Hillary for America senior aide and Democratic strategist Joel Payne.

Gentlemen, good Sunday evening to both of you. Thanks for being here.

Scott, I want to start first with you and what Julia was just talking about, these plans to send troops into Chicago. Historically, conservatives, Republicans have favored state and local rights. State and local governments over federal -- over the federal government. This in this case will be going against the wishes of a local government, of a state government.

How do you kind of square that circle?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, also historically conservatives have not favored high murder rates and conservatives have not favored high levels of illegal immigration.

In the state of Illinois there may be as many as half a million or more illegal immigrants. I suspect half or more than half live in Chicago. So in addition to having over 250 murders this year, you've got high levels of illegal immigration and the president's view, it's an emergency, and it's part of his overall presentation to the American people when he got elected. I'm going to crack down on crime. I'm going to crack down on illegal immigration.

They've had great success with this in Washington, D.C. I grant that Washington is a different case because it's a federal zone. Chicago is, of course, a city in the state of Illinois, and I'm sure the Democrats there don't want Donald Trump to come in and clean up their messes. It makes them look terrible. But I'm certain the residents would love to have less violent crime and less illegal immigration.

[19:05:04]

And so I'm not surprised the president is moving forward with it. And I think he's likely to have success with it the way he did in Washington, D.C.

DEAN: Joel, I'm curious what your response is to that, specifically on Scott's point that the president did openly say he, you know, he's very open about his plans for immigration, and he was elected, being very clear about what he wanted to do. What do you think about all of this?

JOEL PAYNE, FORMER HILLARY FOR AMERICA SENIOR AIDE: Well, if Donald Trump was really concerned about crime, let's just start with a few things. One, his first act as president wouldn't be to release 1600 criminals, by the way, people who committed violent crimes in Washington, D.C., would not have released them and given them clemency because of what they did on January 6th.

I also think that, you know, Donald Trump is not making a good faith attempt to actually support these local officials. There are things you could do if you wanted to, whether it's reinstate some of the cuts in places like Illinois that local officials have been asking for, or in D.C., reinsert some of the cuts that they made to the D.C., you know, city budget.

Donald Trump isn't interested in doing that because he wants the issue, and he wants the issue because he doesn't have anything else good to talk about. He has an unpopular presidency. He's got an unpopular agenda. And so when you do that, you try to change the subject. I don't think this is going to work in the long run, but I imagine Donald Trump is happy to be talking about this, instead of Jeffrey Epstein or his disaster of a big, beautiful bill. DEAN: Yes, Scott, we had a Democratic congresswoman on in the last

hour who said something similar in that this is all about distraction because there are these unpopular, this unpopular legislation and other things. What do you say to that?

JENNINGS: Well, he's more popular at this point in his second term than Barack Obama was in his. And he's more popular today than Joe Biden was in his. And so I disagree. I don't think Donald Trump's all that unpopular by historical standards, recent historical standards. And at the same time, I don't agree that his agenda is unpopular. I think the big beautiful bill is going to help people all over the country, and it invested in ICE agents so that we can continue to crack down on the immigration problem.

I think Democrats here are squealing because a Republican president is showing up in blue cities, places that have been run for decades by Democrats that are overrun with violent crime and overrun with illegal immigration. And they've done nothing about it. And even worse, they have encouraged it. It was soft on crime local policies. And so the real issue here is political. It's just that Democrats are being exposed as being crappy at running big cities.

And Donald Trump is showing up to show the people there, hey, it doesn't have to be this way. And oh, by the way, if we bring down the rates of violence and the rates of illegal immigration, that'll be a great thing to go along with it.

DEAN: Joel, how do Democrats protect themselves against being called soft on crime? Because, you know, surely Republicans are going to want to paint them that way. How do they protect themselves from that?

PAYNE: I mean, just ignore the noise and the nonsense, like, like Donald Trump has been touting the statistic about there haven't been any murders. There haven't been any violent crimes since he, you know, made this move in D.C. Well, the fact of the matter is there was a period of that just earlier this year. And if you look at a comparative period to last year, it was similar in terms of arrest.

So it's all bad faith. And I think it's important for Democrats to continue to fill the vacuum with facts and also point out that this is not what the American people voted for. They didn't vote for Donald Trump to supersede local officials and their authority to figure out what is best for their communities, to keep them safe, that are consistent with their values.

DEAN: I also want to touch on another topic, which we had kind of a news dump on Friday, and now as we set into a new week, likely to be more on this, too, which is the Epstein files, the Trump administration trying to move beyond this.

The DOJ now releasing this transcript with Ghislaine Maxwell, Scott, from not too long ago when she sat down with Todd Blanche. Do you think that's enough for people to just move on?

JENNINGS: I don't know. I mean, according to the polling nobody really cares about this. Democrats seem to care about it all of a sudden, even though they didn't care about it one bit during the Biden administration, when they had control of all this information. So I don't know what they're going to do next, to be honest. I mean, they've done this interview, they've been to court to try to release some grand jury material. Two judges have stopped them from doing that.

You know, I know some information was turned over to the House Oversight Committee and Congressman Comer last week. You know, my thinking is it would be better for the White House to deal with Comer on this and give him whatever they can, as opposed to wait, you know, for the Congress to come back and then get consumed with this when they should be consumed with actual things the American people care about.

So I don't know where they're headed next, but we'll see. I suspect there could be more information exchange between the administration and the House Oversight Committee.

DEAN: Yes. Because, Joel, look, Mike Johnson had to send everybody home early because he didn't want -- he didn't want this vote coming up. He wanted to kind of hope this would just die down specifically in the House. And to Scott's point, we did see the Oversight Committee getting some of those documents on Friday. Where do you see this going next?

[19:10:01]

PAYNE: Yes, Jessica, it's kind of interesting. Why does Donald Trump always find a way to align himself with not only the wealthy and the well-connected, but people who really you wouldn't want to defend in public? I mean, he's right now making it easier for Ghislaine Maxwell. He is lowered -- through his Department of Justice, they have lowered the security of which she's being held in a federal prison system.

And you are giving her the opportunity to talk when we know she has been convicted of awful crimes, both aiding and abetting Jeffrey Epstein and also participating in those crimes. I have no idea why anybody would trust what Ghislaine Maxwell would say. The only thing that we know that's consistent is that if you're rich and if you're wealthy and if you're well-connected, Donald Trump is on your side. That's the only thing consistent about this.

DEAN: Is that true, Scott?

JENNINGS: No. I mean, look, I think Democrats want to continue to talk about this because they're trying to --

PAYNE: Yes.

JENNINGS: Because they're trying to create a narrative that he had something to do with any of this. He did not. There's no credible evidence to argue that there is anything to do between Donald Trump and any of this stuff. It was horrible crimes. Maxwell is in jail. And, you know, she is the person who's left alive right now that might have some information about it. I don't know whether you can trust what she says or not. She is, after all, an admitted and convicted felon.

So, you know, like I said, I don't know where this is headed. I assume there will be more information exchanges between the White House and the House Oversight Committee. I continue to believe that this is not important to the vast majority of Americans, and they would strongly prefer everybody in the government to be working on other things when they get back in in September. But we'll see where it goes.

DEAN: One last issue, Joel. We had Harry Enten on earlier in the show and he was going through these historic rates of voter registration for the GOP in a number of key swing states and what that might mean, that the Republicans have had great success in registering voters in places like Pennsylvania and other swing states. And I -- there's a piece out from Jim Messina who worked with Obama, of course, that talks about how Democrats can't just be anti-Trump.

They can't just be anti-MAGA as they head into -- he's talking about 2028, but also more generally, I would assume, in the midterms as well. What do you think of how Democrats are positioning themselves right now?

PAYNE: Oh, Jessica, I think the critiques of Democrats are fair. I think it's pretty clear that despite the fact that Donald Trump has cratered, Republican, their brand, has cratered, the Democratic brand has not recovered. And it's because of the broad effort of rebuilding trust.

JENNINGS: What are you talking about? What is your -- what is the Democratic approval rating? Come on, be honest. Be honest, brother. Come on. What's the Democratic approval rating and what's Donald Trump's? Come on, man.

PAYNE: The broad -- so Scott and I actually might agree, might agree on part of this. The Democratic effort is very much dependent upon rebuilding trust with voters. And I think the way you do that is you show that you have the ability to fight. You show you have a consistent thing to say. And I think that's in progress. And I think Democrats would be wise to not ignore that, but to lean into the opportunity to do that.

There's a reason why Republicans are rigging the rules right now so that they can steal a couple of extra seats going into the 2026 midterms, but that has nothing to do with what Democrats need to do in terms of rebuilding trust with the public. And I think the opportunity is there for them to do that and the urgency to do that is right now.

DEAN: And Scott, just looking ahead to 2026, look, you have that -- the stats Harry was talking about. But you know when Donald Trump is not on the ballot for Republicans, he really juices the elections for the Republicans. The people who will never vote otherwise tend to show up and vote for Donald Trump.

What do Republicans do to make sure that while Democrats are trying to get it together, that they can hang on to the House?

JENNINGS: Let me just correct one issue. Donald Trump has not cratered. If anybody's cratered, the Democratic Party, 33 percent in the "Wall Street Journal" poll, there's another one where they're at 19 percent. Trump at worst is in the mid-40s. The Republican brand is in a lot stronger position than the Democratic brand. That's number one. And number two --

PAYNE: Touting a 45 percent approval rating is pretty rich.

JENNINGS: You're absolutely right about the Republicans who or the voters who only vote for Trump. I'm not sure they consider themselves to be members of either party. And it is imperative that the Republicans convert them into regular voters (INAUDIBLE) time and again. So I would say, honestly, Jessica, this is project number one for the Republican Party for the midterms, as you have to make an argument, if you like Donald Trump and you turned out for Donald Trump, if the Democrats win in November, it's all going to go away.

All the progress that you're for is going to stop if Democrats win the election. That's probably the best argument they have. And the person who -- actually the only person who can really make it is Trump himself. And I suspect he's going to have his shoulder to the wheel for the midterms.

PAYNE: And Jessica, let me just say, I would love if Donald Trump said, if you like Donald Trump, vote for Republicans next year.

Scott, please tell your friends at the NRSC and NRCC to tell them to say that, please.

DEAN: All right, Scott, Joel --

JENNINGS: I'm sure they will, but I got to ask, do you admit that the Democrats have a, at best, 33 and probable more like 19 percent approval rating? Do you admit -- you admit you've seen the polling or you didn't see it before you came on?

[19:15:05]

PAYNE: I saw the polling and I'd be concerned that Democrats still have a plus 5 percent chance --

JENNINGS: OK. Good.

PAYNE: -- in ballot choice next year even with that polling. So I'd be really concerned if I was a Republican.

DEAN: All right, all right. We got to leave it there.

Scott and Joel, our thanks to both of you. Have a great night. Thank you.

Weeks after striking a trade deal with the U.S., South Korea's president is headed to D.C. for a crucial meeting with President Trump. But the influence of China will loom large. We're going to have more from the White House. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [19:20:10]

DEAN: In just a matter of hours, President Trump is set to host the president of South Korea at the White House. The first meeting for the key allies comes just hours after South Korea's historic summit with Japan, and two days after North Korea test launched two new air defense missile, launches overseen by Kim Jong-un.

CNN's Betsy Klein is live at the White House for us.

Betsy, let's look ahead to this meeting. What are the top issues to discuss tomorrow?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jessica. Well, South Korea is such a critical ally for the United States for economic, national security, as well as geographic reasons. So this is going to be a very closely watched meeting as President Trump hosts South Korean President Lee on Monday here at the White House. And you may recall that Lee was elected and inaugurated just a couple of months ago in June.

That came after South Korean President Yoon was removed from office for declaring martial law. So this is his first visit to Washington as president, and it's really going to mark a key opportunity for Lee to cultivate closer ties with President Trump amid some questions about the future of the U.S.-Korean alliance. And one of the key topics on that agenda is going to be trade. It comes just weeks after the U.S. and South Korea reached a trade deal in which the U.S. is placing 15 percent tariffs on South Korean goods.

And President Trump, when he announced that trade deal, said in a post to social media that it would also involve some investment. He said, quote, "South Korea will give to the United States $350 billion for investments owned and controlled by the United States and selected by myself." And that is going to include about $150 billion for the shipbuilding industry.

There are also a number of other key topics that are expected to be discussed, including the nuclear threat from North Korea. And we saw just this weekend, as Kim Jong-un oversaw the launch of a series of test missiles, a clear escalation of tensions heading into this meeting, as well as the potential possibility of a conflict over Taiwan. We have seen in recent months China escalating its military activity.

But as you mentioned, Jessica, this meeting also comes after a very key and historic summit between President Lee of South Korea and the Japanese prime minister in Japan over the weekend. It comes as Japan actually colonized South Korea. So the fact that these two leaders were meeting and openly sharing warm relations really shows how these two countries are working together amid so much uncertainty across the globe -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right. More to come on that. Betsy Klein from the White House, thank you so much. Today, Ukraine celebrated its Independence Day with leaders from

around the world traveling to Kyiv to show solidarity in its war against Russia. Those officials, including Keith Kellogg, the White House Russia-Ukraine envoy. During the ceremony, Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said, quote, "Ukraine has not yet fully won, but it will certainly not lose."

Here's CNN's Nada Bashir with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, marking Ukraine's 34th Independence Day, U.S. President Donald Trump has sent a letter of support, praising the nation's courage and saying the United States believes in its future as an independent state.

The letter was shared on X by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who thanked Trump for his message, with Keith Kellogg, the Trump administration's Russia-Ukraine envoy, in attendance for Kyiv's Independence Day ceremony on Sunday.

Zelenskyy, meanwhile, also delivered his own address to Ukraine, reiterating his determination to triumph against Russia. In recent weeks, Ukraine has ramped up its attacks on Russia, particularly when it comes to Russia's energy infrastructure. According to a CNN tally of attacks, Ukrainian drones have struck at least 10 key Russian energy facilities this month alone.

And while reports have emerged that the Pentagon has for months been blocking Ukraine's use of U.S. made long range army tactical missile systems to strike inside Russia, President Zelenskyy said Sunday that he has not yet discussed the use of such weapons with the U.S., and that Ukraine is currently using domestically produced long range weapons.

Efforts to secure a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, meanwhile, appear to have stalled once again, with the Kremlin pouring cold water on the possibility of a meeting between President Putin and President Zelenskyy in the near future.

However, speaking to NBC, U.S. Vice President JD Vance indicated some degree of optimism, saying that Russia has made significant concessions and that the U.S. will keep on pushing for a diplomatic solution.

Nada Bashir, CNN, in London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[19:25:01]

DEAN: In a new interview published, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says Ukraine's security should be guaranteed by members of the United Nations Security Council. That council consists of five permanent members, including Russia and the U.S., and 10 nonpermanent members. It's worth noting Russia opposes Ukraine going into NATO. There are a lot of questions surrounding what securities Ukraine would have.

Earlier tonight, I spoke with CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger about his assessment of where Ukraine is at in this war amid reports of restrictions on the rein -- on the use of U.S. long range weapons.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: The overall sense I get eight days after we all left Anchorage for that summit meeting between President Putin and President Trump, is that, if anything, this negotiation is going backwards.

Now, just think about it. President gave up on a ceasefire. The president said that the Russians were willing to have a peacekeeping force, a Western peacekeeping force inside Ukraine. They now say they don't want NATO countries to be there. And Russia has to be part of any security solution. There appear to be no real negotiations going on. So Putin got a lot of what he wanted, which is buying time.

DEAN: And President Trump in a letter to Zelenskyy said the U.S., quote, "supports a negotiated settlement that safeguards Ukraine's sovereignty." I know you reported this week on what security guarantees could look like. What did you find in your reporting?

SANGER: Well, security guarantees are really interesting thing because there's kind of a vague statement. It's not clear. You know, if you get invaded, does that mean the country that's guaranteeing your security is going to write a strong letter, or are they going to supply you with weapons, or are they going to send in ground troops to help you fight the invader?

So in 1994, when Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons, it got a security guarantee. And it was from Britain, the United States, and from Russia. And they said, we will guarantee your security. Well, of course, Russia then took Crimea, took part of the Donbas, invaded the whole country. And the response, even in the Biden time, was to give them weapons, but not to give them troops.

So this time, President Zelenskyy is trying to be a lot more specific, but it's not clear what kind of force the Europeans imagine on the ground. A full scale peacekeeping force would take tens of thousands of people. A tripwire force that would just be there to provide some resistance would probably be thousands. Some kind of monitoring force might just be a few hundred, but wouldn't provide much of a deterrent. We don't know what this looks like.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And again, our thanks to David Sanger for that.

It is a political standoff that could be felt for years, even decades. Next, we're going to talk to a California Democratic lawmaker about his party's bid to counter a Republican redistricting effort in Texas and the risks involved.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:32:38]

DEAN: Just about 14 months before the 2026 midterm elections, Republicans are taking dramatic steps to try to ensure their party maintains control of Congress. Texas Governor Greg Abbott expected to sign a bill redrawing the state's congressional maps in an effort to flip five seats held by Democrats. In response, California's Governor Gavin Newsom is leading the charge to do some redistricting in his state in hopes of moving five of its seats from Republicans to Democrats.

Joining us now, California State Assemblyman Marc Berman. Thank you so much for being here with us on this Sunday evening. I really appreciate it.

Democrats have about 70 days to convince Californians to allow this mid-decade redrawing of congressional districts. About 15 years ago, Californians voted to take away redistricting powers from lawmakers. So, why do you think they might vote the other time this way or the other way this time?

MARC BERMAN, MEMBER (D), CALIFORNIA STATE ASSEMBLY: No, thanks for having me and thanks for the question. And from what I've heard just over the past week, Californians of all political parties, Democrats, no party preference Republicans, they're really excited to have an opportunity to be able to push back against the Trump administration. They're excited to be able to stand up and say that they don't agree with a lot of the policies that the Trump administration and the Republican Congress have passed that have terrorized our communities in California, that have targeted our higher education institutions, that have taken away health care from over three million Californians.

So, from what I've heard over the past week or so, Californians are really, really ready, really eager to be able to push back on some policies that they really disagree with.

DEAN: And this independent commission that currently exists is made up of five Republicans, five Democrats, four Independents. Again, it was approved by voters. Look, this is a partisan move. You all are being quite open about why you want to do this.

Do you think that that people are going to be comfortable with doing something that was set up to be independent and making it partisan again?

BERMAN: Yes, it's a great question. And let me start off by saying that we didn't choose this fight and we don't want this fight, but with our democracy literally on the line, California cannot and will not run away from this fight. And that's the hard decision that we as legislators made, but very differently from Texas, we are putting the power in voter's hands to decide whether or not we do a mid-decade redistricting and, you know, whether or not we change our congressional maps with the clear intent, not clear intent, but with the clear statement that we will go back to the Independent Redistricting Commission after the 2030 Census.

And so, it is tough. A lot of us really support the Independent Redistricting Commission. A lot of us don't want to have to be in this position, but we think that voters understand really the existential threat that we're facing in California with an administration that seems like they just want to target us day after day after day, and an existential threat to the country.

And I do think that Californians, even a lot of Californians who support that Independent Redistricting Commission, understand that the temporary need to make this change, to push back on some of these Republican power grabs that are happening in Texas and possibly in other states across the country.

[19:05:57]

DEAN: And what would you say, knowing all of that, that you just outlined to people who are watching, they see what's happened in Texas, now, they see what might happen in California. Maybe they shrug their shoulders and say, politicians all the same, this is all the same thing. What would you say to those people?

BERMAN: Yes, you know, first off, I'd reiterate that we didn't want to do this and we actually have in legislation, a trigger that says that if Texas backs down, if Governor Abbott, my understanding is its on his desk right now, if he does the right thing and he determines not to or he decides not to move forward with their plan, then we won't enact our new maps either.

You know, were making it clear that this isn't something that we're doing proactively, but you can't bring a butter knife to a gunfight. And it's time that Democrats stand up. It's time that Democrats push back against this administration that constantly, every day is testing the boundaries or eroding the foundation of our democracy.

And so, you know, I guess I would tell folks, I agree, I agree that it's unfortunate that were at this place. But we didn't choose to be here, but here we are and we have to act.

DEAN: And this is going to be quite a campaign. Again, just 70 days, likely, millions and millions and millions of dollars likely to be spent on both sides trying to convince voters. What is that going to look like for Democrats logistically?

BERMAN: Yes, it's going to be an all-out effort. And I've been speaking to a lot of groups over the past couple of days who are pumped up and ready to get to work, but the difference is that now what's -- you know, a lot of folks in my area, I live in a strong Democrat area, they have to travel to other cities across California to go volunteer on competitive campaigns not for this election. In this election you get out in your neighborhood, every vote, whether it's in Menlo Park or Palo Alto or Modesto or Fresno or Bakersfield, it all counts the same. And so I think that there are a lot of people across California that are really eager to volunteer to make phone calls, to knock on doors. You know, they've really -- a lot of Democrats have felt you know, we've been on the ropes over the past six to nine months and haven't really known how to get our feet under us. But here's that opportunity. It's going to be a sprint, like you said, 70 plus days. But I think that a lot of Democrats and Independents and even some Republicans are excited to support this effort and to support California's ability to push back on the Trump administration policies that have been targeting us day after day after day.

DEAN: All right, Assemblyman Marc Berman, thanks for your time, we appreciate it.

BERMAN: Thanks for having me.

DEAN: We'll be right back

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:43:16]

DEAN: This just in, SpaceX aborting the 10th flight test of its Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built. Posting on social media, it is standing down to, "allow time to troubleshoot an issue with ground systems." The plan was similar to the last three test flights, all of which failed. And since its still in testing, the rocket does not have crews on board for these flights.

Retired Colonel and astronaut Chris Hadfield is joining us now. He's the author of the upcoming book "Final Orbit." It is out October 7th. Colonel Hadfield, thanks for being here with us. What kind of ground system issue do you think they could be facing? And were you surprised to see this launch scrubbed?

COL. CHRIS HADFIELD (RET), AUTHOR, "FINAL ORBIT": They were pumping the super cooled fuel in the oxygen, which is at like minus-300 degrees and the methane, which is at like minus-250 degrees. Imagine how hard that is on the valves and the pumps. And so they want to make sure everything is working right. And obviously, something in the pumping.

And remember, back in June the spaceship blew up while they were pumping the fuel. And so, they really want to get it right. Better to be conservative and not jump ahead.

So, no, I mean, it's a hard thing to do. During my space flights, we had delays. It's just how it goes.

DEAN: Yes and the U.S. has a lot riding on Starship's eventual success, including some plans to put humans back on the moon, potentially within two years. What do you think are the chances SpaceX can get there on this?

HADFIELD: I think Starship has a very good chance. They've already demonstrated most of the key technologies. They've landed and captured the first stage that gets it above the air. They've recovered it and used that again. And now they're just sort of testing the edges of the envelope. And then the spaceship itself, it's already made it through the atmosphere back down and landed in the Indian Ocean.

The last couple times they ran into some problems that they're learning from. You know, it takes time. I used to be a test pilot. The F-16 crashed almost in its first flight, F-14 crash, F-18 had a bunch of teething troubles. It's just normal for a new aerospace vehicle, it takes time. Everyone gets frustrated and impatient. But if it were easy, everybody would do it.

[19:45:23]

DEAN: Yes, that's probably true. And so, help people understand, obviously, it's very cool to see something like this. It is, you know, they are trying to work out all of these kinks. But generally if this works, why is it important for this -- for them to continue trying to get this right?

HADFIELD: Well, three big things. The biggest one is it will radically decrease the cost of launch. It is like the invention of, I don't know, riding horses or trains or cars. It's like a radical change in the cost of transportation and that really builds a whole new economy.

The second is it's the vehicle, as you mentioned, to take people to the moon, one of them, and that's a natural long progression of what's going on in spaceflight and then eventually, maybe even as far as Mars. And this vehicle has the promise of developing all of those technologies. But you've got to start with flight number ten and make all those things work. And I'm pleased that they're being careful with it tonight and give it another try when everything's ready.

DEAN: All right, we'll keep an eye on it. Colonel Chris Hadfield, thanks for joining us.

HADFIELD: My pleasure. Have a good Sunday evening.

DEAN: All right, you too.

Well, here are five things you need to know to kick off your week. Tomorrow, President Trump will host South Korea's president for their first summit at the White House. This comes as Trump's tariffs and demands for South Korea to pay more for hosting U.S. Troops have both caused some strain in the relationship.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia has until tomorrow morning to decide if he wants to be deported to Costa Rica, instead of possibly being deported to Uganda. On Friday, he was released from custody pending his trial on federal charges. The Trump administration has notified Abrego Garcia's lawyers that if he does not accept a plea deal that includes jail time and deportation to Costa Rica, that instead they may try to deport him to Uganda.

We'll also be watching stock markets this week after Friday's powerful rally, the Dow knocked out its first record high close for the year after Fed Chief Jay Powell opened the door to the possibility of a rate cut in September.

Powell was speaking at an annual fed conference where he stuck mostly to the economy and steered clear of politics despite that steady pressure from the President.

Some international postal services are suspending shipments to the U.S. ahead of a deadline Friday. That's when an exception on tariffs for small packages is set to expire. The change is expected to affect discount sellers such as TikTok, as well as Etsy and Shopify.

Tomorrow's Powerball jackpot is set to be the 10th largest in the game's history. An estimated $750 million, no player matched all six numbers in last night's drawing. If there's a winner tomorrow night, they can choose the $750 million prize over 30 years or a lump sum estimated around $339 million.

We'll be right back.

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[19:52:47]

DEAN: Placing a bet, lights up the brain win or lose, from high rollers to recovering addicts, gamblers describe that same rush and experts say that's no accident. Tonight, in an all new episode of "The Whole Story" with Anderson Cooper, Nick Watt goes inside the world of a 24-year old professional gambler who's winning strategy looks more like Wall Street than Vegas and Nick has a preview for us.

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jessica, pretty much every single man I know under the age of 30 bets on sports and plenty others. This has become huge in this country. Not my thing, but we had the privilege of diving into this world and figuring it out, peeking behind the curtain and bringing that to you.

Millions and millions of people enjoy it. For some people, it can be devastating and terrible. First off, I just wanted to understand the appeal. Why do this?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMIT PATEL, RECOVERING GAMBLING ADDICT: When I was deep into addiction, even if I won a large sum of money on a bet, I really didn't seem that excited.

ISAAC ROSE-BERMAN, PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER: There's a feeling when you place a bet before the bet settles, where there's that level of uncertainty. That makes your heart flutter. Some people get that from drugs and obviously, as I'm talking about this, it sounds kind of like you're talking about addiction, but it is.

ANDREW DOUGLAS, RECOVERING GAMBLING ADDICT: I bought a waterproof case for my phone, for the sole reason of being able to not miss anything and take it in the shower and live gamble on things.

DR. HARRY LEVANT, DIRECTOR OF GAMBLING POLICY, PUBLIC HEALTH ADVOCACY INSTITUTE: There's no off switch. There's no stop. The model isn't designed to stop and through VIP programs, the gambling industry, through its marketing, it's cultivating of people is keeping them in constant action. (END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: What we basically try and do here is lay out the facts, and then it's up to you to decide whether we as a country, have made the right decision to allow this, or whether this is going to cause huge problems down the road. Millions enjoy it. For some people, it's an issue. Is it going to become a bigger issue as the years roll on? We'll see -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right, Nick, you're going to take a look at it. It's an all new episode of "The Whole Story" with Anderson Cooper. It airs tonight at 10:00 P.M. Eastern and Pacific only here on CNN.

[19:55:00]

But first up next, CNN's special coverage of the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina with Victor Blackwell, then the premiere of CNN's Original Series, "New Orleans Soul of the City" at 9:00 P.M. Eastern.

Thanks so much for joining me this evening. I'm Jessica Dean. We're going to see you again right back here next weekend. Have a great night.

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