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Chicago Mayor Resists Trump's Expected Federal Deployment; U.S. Appeals Court Strikes Down Many Trump Tariffs; China Kicks Off Major Two-Day Security Summit; Russian Drone Attack Hits Power Facilities in Odesa; Houthis: Israeli Strike Killed Group's Prime Minister; Controversial Florida Detention Center May Soon Be Empty; Some Shark Numbers on the Rise. Aired 5-6a ET

Aired August 31, 2025 - 05:00   ET

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

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[05:00:38]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber, this is CNN NEWSROOM.

Chicago is preparing for a planned immigration crackdown by the Trump administration, and the mayor is now taking action ahead of time. We'll explain.

Despite President Trump's tariffs hitting a legal setback, they're still in effect, at least for now. We'll look at what comes next.

And we'll go live to China, where world leaders are gathering for a major security summit. How President Trump is looming large despite not being there.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: Chicago is pushing back, as sources say the Trump administration is preparing a major immigration enforcement operation that could see troops deployed to the city. Mayor Brandon Johnson is telling police not to collaborate with federal agents on patrols, arrests or immigration enforcement. President Trump has already sent troops into two Democratic-led cities, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., for what he describes as a crackdown on lawlessness. He threatened Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker that Chicago is next, and said he's crazy if he thinks Chicago doesn't need help fighting crime.

CNN's Julia Benbrook has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump is focusing in on Chicago. According to multiple sources familiar with the planning, the Trump administration is preparing for a major immigration enforcement operation in the city as soon as next week. Now the Chicago mayor, Brandon Johnson, is pushing back. He has accused Trump of, quote, "stoking fear, and signed an executive order over the weekend laying out the initial plans for how the city would try to resist a potential crackdown." He explained his reasoning for taking this step before he signed the order.

BRANDON JOHNSON, CHICAGO MAYOR: I do not take this executive action lightly. I would have preferred to work in a more collaborative approach. But unfortunately, we do not have the luxury of time. We have received credible reports that we have days, not weeks, before our city sees some type of militarized activity by the federal government. This is an erratic, impulsive administration, and it's not always possible to understand and know exactly how he will move.

BENBROOK: Here were some of the key takeaways. The order says that the police will not collaborate with federal agents on immigration enforcement. It urges federal officers to avoid wearing face masks and identify themselves to members of the public with names and badge numbers. It also directs city departments to resist any efforts that violate the rights of Chicago citizens.

We reached out to the White House for a response to this order. A spokesperson said, in part, "If these Democrats focused on fixing crime in their own cities instead of doing publicity stunts to criticize the president, their communities would be much safer."

In a social media post Saturday night, Trump called out Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, saying that he better straighten it out or, quote, "we're coming."

Now, in the recent days, as Trump has taken aim at Chicago specifically, both when it comes to immigration and his anti-crime agenda, Johnson and Pritzker have voiced concerns about the lack of communication from the administration to their local teams.

Julia Benbrook, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: And for more on this, I'm joined now by Dan Mihalopoulos, reporter with Chicago Public Media. Thank you so much for being with us early this morning. Really appreciate it. So, what is the mood like in Chicago right now? Are folks on edge?

DAN MIHALOPOULOS, REPORTER, CHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA: Yeah, I think there's a lot of people that are unsure of what's going to happen, because you hear so many things from Washington, some of which happen, some of which do not. And there is nothing official that's being communicated. However, we've heard Trump say various things. And the reporting here seems to indicate from our sources that they're preparing to stage this operation from a naval base just about 40 miles north of Chicago, along the coast of Lake Michigan, possibly as soon as Friday, and that it could focus on immigration for the next several weeks throughout the month of September.

[05:05:01]

BRUNHUBER: All right. So, you talk about the uncertainty. I mean, President Trump did target Chicago during his first term. So, in terms of what you're actually likely to see on the streets, what are you expecting? Sort of neighborhood raids, workplace sweeps? What do you think it'll actually look like?

MIHALOPOULOS: Well, what they're saying from Washington is that this will be more like what's happened recently in Los Angeles than what happened in Washington particularly. But of course, there's going to be a great deal of tension, because there are huge immigrant communities in Chicago, and many undocumented people that are really the backbone of the workforce in so many different industries, the hospitality industry. This is a tourism town, a restaurant town, as well as construction and manufacturing and landscaping, for instance.

There are a lot of undocumented people here. Are they going to contact or focus on people with criminal records, or are they going to be acting more broadly?

BRUNHUBER: You mentioned L.A. I was in the city during part of the federal enforcement there. So, in terms of what you're expecting about how the city reacts, I mean, are you expecting large-scale protests and unrest and curfews like we saw in L.A.?

Yeah, that certainly is not impossible in the sense that this is a city where Trump is not at all popular, OK?

MIHALOPOULOS: He said that people have asked him to come in. Our reporting seems to show that it might be a group of eight people that he's referring to, and you have a city where he got 22% of the vote in the last election in 2024. It's a predominantly Democratic city, and although there are divisions within the Democrats here on how to deal with things, we did have widespread protests and actually quite a lot of turbulence as well as a curfew in 2020 during the events around George Floyd in another Midwestern city in Minneapolis. So, that could be something that we have to cover again.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah. You say Donald Trump isn't popular in Chicago, but he certainly seems to be popular with police anyway. We mentioned the city's mayor ordered that the city's police shouldn't cooperate with federal agents, but the police union actually endorsed Trump. So, do you foresee another sort of level of conflict here? And how do you think that might play out?

MIHALOPOULOS: Yeah, there's a lot of divisions, as I said, in the city of Chicago. Crime is down, we should point out. So, when the White House says that this is about crime, crime is actually way down already. You know, Trump likes to scoff at numbers that he doesn't like, whether it's economic or crime rates here in Chicago. But these are the numbers that are reported to the FBI. The police union is far to the right, really, of most of the rest of the city.

The areas where Trump did well in the election are where a lot of the police live on the edges of the city, far northwest, far southwest. And the police union chief is a big fan of Trump and has made many anti-immigrant statements himself.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, listen, really great to get your perspective as the city awaits this federal enforcement. Dan Mihalopoulos, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

MIHALOPOULOS: My pleasure. Be well.

BRUNHUBER: Donald Trump has declared he'll issue an executive order requiring all voters to present identification in his post on Truth Social. Trump also says only paper ballots will be allowed. The only exceptions, he says, will be for the very ill and the, quote, "faraway military."

Now, the president doesn't mention that states conducted elections and any executive order requiring voter ID or paper ballots would be challenged in the courts. He continues to falsely claim he was cheated out of victory in 2020 by fraud.

Now, President Trump appears to be willing to take his fight for tariffs to the Supreme Court. On Friday, a federal appeals court ruled that many of the president's sweeping tariffs are illegal. The court said he went too far when he used emergency powers to place import taxes on nearly every country. But the tariffs remain in effect for now.

CNN's Betsy Klein has more from the White House.

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BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: It's significant ruling on the limits to executive authority, and we have seen President Trump imposing tariffs in recent months, really reshaping the global economic world order and reimagining U.S. alliances abroad, leading to so much uncertainty in the U.S. and global economy, uncertainty for consumers still ahead at issue in this particular lawsuit was whether the president unlawfully used his emergency powers when he imposed those tariffs.

And a federal appeals court has ruled that the president overstepped that power. It says that the ability to impose taxes, including tariffs, is a core congressional power lying firmly with the legislative branch of government.

[05:10:03]

Now, it's very important to note that the president's tariffs for now are still in effect. The appeals court said that this will not go into effect until October, giving the White House some time to challenge this in court, potentially taking this all the way to the Supreme Court. Now, Trump officials have warned of the conflict until October, giving the White House some time to challenge this in court, potentially taking this all the way to the Supreme Court.

Now, Trump officials have warned of the consequences if tariffs cannot be implemented. We heard from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who said that suspending tariffs would, quote, "lead to dangerous diplomatic embarrassment." And similarly, Attorney General Pamela Bondi, saying that it undermines the United States on the world stage.

President Trump, for his part, hinting at some next steps. He said, quote, "All tariffs are still in effect. Today, a highly partisan appeals court incorrectly said that our tariffs should be removed. But they know the United States of America will win in the end. If these tariffs ever went away, it would be a total disaster for the country. He goes on to say that now, with the help of the United States Supreme Court, we will use them to the benefit of our nation.

But certainly a blow to President Donald Trump's cornerstone economic policy for now leading to so many questions, including about some of those ongoing trade deal negotiations with other countries. But this will very likely become a major fight in the Supreme Court in the weeks and months ahead.

Betsy Klein, CNN at the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Several world leaders are converging in Tianjin, China, where Chinese leader Xi Jinping is hosting a major security summit. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is a group of 10 Eurasian member states and other observer states. It was set up to form a counterweight to the U.S. and Western countries. China is taking the opportunity to tout its global leadership as Donald Trump upends U.S. relationships with various countries.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a warm welcome for his first visit to China in seven years. He just met with Xi in direct talks. Their countries are trying to mend their divisions as India's friction with the U.S. grows.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is also in China, and he's set to stay for four days as he dodges pressure to end his war in Ukraine. CNN's Ivan Watson joins me now from Tianjin, China.

So, Ivan, the theme here or there rather seems to be to establish a counterpoint to the U.S.-dominated world order. And one of the leaders most invested in that idea is President Putin. So, what's he hoping to accomplish here?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, the buzz phrase that the Chinese and Russian leaders use is a fairer multipolar world where they would argue that the U.S. has been the world has been dominated by U.S. power too much since really the collapse of the Soviet Union. And that's kind of one of the themes here for this Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit where I'm in the city of Tianjin.

The venue where this will be taking place, the opening session in a couple of hours is in there. And as you can see, the security in the city of more than 13 million people is -- is very strict. It's hard for a foreign journalist like myself to get into the city center, except on a government shuttle bus or perhaps on the subway.

So, much of the downtown is locked off and you have these wide boulevards that are almost completely deserted right now. But again, back to the diplomacy, you have the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping. He's welcoming leaders from dozens of different countries. This is a chance for China to show its diplomatic muscle. And in his comments with the Indian prime minister today, Xi Jinping pointed out that he argued that the world today is swept by once in a century transformations. The international situation is both fluid and chaotic.

No mention of the fact that one of the founding members of the SCO, Russia, is part of what has made the world order so complicated and chaotic right now by invading Ukraine. That said, we're going to have leaders of countries that represent nearly half of the world's population gathering here. And this will be an opportunity for China to present itself as kind of a stable power, a reliable power and a dependable country at a time when the U.S. has upended a global free trade and has attacked many of its allies.

BRUNHUBER: And Ivan, then beyond the summit, there's been lots of talk about a military parade later in the week. So, walk us through who we're expecting to see and what message it'll send.

WATSON: Right. Well, as I mentioned today and tomorrow here in Tianjin, China gets to show its diplomatic friendships, flex its diplomatic muscle. On Wednesday, we're going to see China flexing quite literally its military muscle with this huge military parade in Beijing commemorating the 80th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War Two.

[05:15:14]

Of course, China was a major and brutal battleground in the conflict. And among the heads of state that are expected to gather for that are the Russian president, North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, the president of Iran, which has been fighting a conflict with Israel, for example.

So, there's going to be a big military demonstration there and a kind of recalibrating or trying to seize the narrative of history from 80 years ago, where I think many historians would argue that the Communist Party of China was not the prime combatant in that conflict. It was the Chinese nationalists who subsequently lost a civil war against the communists. I'm getting lost in the weeds of World War Two history.

We're bringing that to contemporary times. This is a chance for Xi Jinping to show military muscle and diplomatic friendships at a time where there are a lot of questions about where the world and the world order is going right now. China and Russia want to argue for a multi- polar world order, which they are arguing should be more fair than a U.S. or Western led world order that we've seen over the past several decades.

BRUNHUBER: Kim, I really appreciate the reporting there in Tianjin, CNN's Ivan Watson. Thanks so much.

Indonesian political parties have agreed to relinquish some perks and privileges amid days of sometimes violent protests across the country. President Prabowo Subianto made the announcement after cancelling a planned trip to China.

Escalating demonstrations began days ago in Jakarta over extra pay and housing allowances for lawmakers. At least five people have been killed amid arson attacks and clashes with police. Protests earlier on Saturday saw several regional parliament buildings set on fire and local media reported that another legislative building was looted.

A Ukrainian lawmaker gunned down in the street. When we returned with the latest on the investigation and the search for the shooter. Plus, Israeli troops could move to take over Gaza City at any moment. Ahead, why the International Red Cross says Israel's plan to evacuate the city is impossible.

Stay with us.

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[05:21:24]

BRUNHUBER: Ukrainian officials say a prominent politician was shot dead in the western city of Lviv on Saturday. Now, we just want to warn you, the following images are disturbing. Andriy Parubiy was previously the chair of Ukraine's parliament. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his, quote, "horrendous murder was carefully planned." Police say the killer hasn't been identified and is still at large.

Joining me now is CNN's Melissa Bell in Paris. Really disturbing story, Melissa. A lot still unknown, obviously, but what more can you tell us?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this particular lawmaker, as you say, the chair of Ukraine's parliament is a pretty important figure. He's a nationalist Ukrainian leader. He's been involved since the early 1990s in Ukrainian politics. He was active during the Orange Revolution. He was active during Maidan. And he was a big promoter of the Ukrainian language as Ukraine's national language.

So, a significant figure. And as Petro Poroshenko, the former Ukrainian president, put it, his murder is not just a murder of a lawmaker, it is a strike at the very heart of Ukraine. So, it's a symbolic, has a symbolic element to it as well.

For now, they simply don't know who's responsible. They're continuing their investigation. As you see, that crime scene now under consideration. He was shot eight times in that street in Lviv.

So, this comes, of course, even as the attacks on Ukrainian soil have continued overnight from Russian forces. Kim, we've seen overnight more attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure in the shape of drone attacks on the Odesa region that have left many without electricity.

So, an ongoing campaign we've seen this week, an escalation even of the violence by Russia on Ukraine, even as we know now. And we've seen these images. We saw Ivan Watson's reporting earlier of Vladimir Putin, President Putin arriving in China and Tianjin for that summit.

With world leaders around Xi Jinping, he'll be staying there through the military parade next week. And that means, of course, that the deadline tomorrow that had been for the tripartite meeting between President Trump, President Putin and President Zelenskyy is not going to happen. So, there are a lot of questions now about what happens to the potential for peace talks and specifically what President Trump's place in that is going to be going forward.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah. Melissa Bell in Paris. Really appreciate it. Thanks so much.

Israel is stepping up attacks and cutting back on aid to Gaza as it prepares for its planned full-scale operation in Gaza City. Hospitals say strikes like this one killed at least 47 people on Saturday. Several children were among the injured in the attack.

At the same time, a source tells CNN that Israel will halt airdrops over Gaza City and cut the number of aid trucks that are entering as part of its plan to evacuate residents from the city. But the International Red Cross says that plan is impossible. The group's residents are starving, disabled and injured. Palestinians aren't capable of moving.

Now, as all this is going on, the Israeli military has identified the remains of the second hostage found earlier this week. He's 20-year- old Idan Shtivi. Officials say he was killed at the Nova Music Festival on October 7th and Hamas carried his body into Gaza.

Houthi rebels are vowing revenge after an Israeli airstrike this week killed the group's prime minister. We get more on all of this from CNN Jerusalem Bureau Chief Oren Liebermann.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: It took the Houthis several days to acknowledge the results of an Israeli airstrike on the capital of Sanaa. But they now say the strike, which we had reported targeted senior Houthi leadership, killed their prime minister, Ahmed al-Rahawi, as well as other ministers, though they don't detail who else was killed in the strike. They say it was a group of their leaders that were meeting in Sanaa and that was where the Israelis struck.

[05:25:15]

It is another example of the Israeli military using its intelligence to target the senior leadership of Iranian proxies in the region. We saw it when Israel targeted and assassinated Hamas' political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran, as well as when they killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, and strikes that have targeted Hamas leaders in Gaza.

Now we see that same M.O. being used by the Israelis to go after Houthi leaders after a number of ballistic missiles have been fired at Israel, as the Houthis say they are standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza.

We saw Israel's defense minister warn in December that they would start targeting Houthi leadership, and now after the Israelis struck power plants, military bases, civilian infrastructure that they say was used by the Houthis, we see a shift in what Israel is targeting here as they go after the leaders of the Iran-backed rebel group.

Meanwhile in Gaza, a source familiar with Israel's planning says Israel intends to halt airdrops into Gaza City, meaning that Palestinians, up to a million of them in and around Gaza's largest city, will be forced out of the city if they're looking for desperately needed aid. And that is part of Israel's bigger plan as it prepares for the takeover and occupation of Gaza City. The plan is to force the evacuation and then to move in with the military, but we already see the military operating on the ground in the neighborhoods around Gaza City, neighborhoods like Jabalia and Zaytoun, and then we have seen strikes closing in on Gaza City itself. In the al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City itself, Israel said that they targeted a key Hamas terrorist without providing any more details about who they were targeting or whether they believe the target was killed in the strike.

Meanwhile, a Saturday night in Israel means there were more protests on the streets. This time, protesters holding a massive sign that called on President Donald Trump to, quote, "make history" and force Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept the deal on the table, get to a deal to end the war and bring home the remaining hostages.

Oren Liebermann, CNN in Jerusalem.

BRUNHUBER: Coming up, could it be the end of old school politics? How a new generation of political leaders is tapping the power of social media to reach voters.

Stay with us.

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[05:30:52]

BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to CNN Newsroom. I'm Kim Brunhuber.

Let's check some of today's top stories. Chicago's mayor is taking steps to resist the possible deployment of troops to his city. Brandon Johnson has signed an executive order that says police won't collaborate with federal agents on immigration enforcement. Multiple sources have said the Trump administration is planning a major immigration crackdown in Chicago.

President Trump says he'll issue an executive order on his own to require that all voters must show I.D. He also posted that he'll eliminate electronic voting machines in almost all mail-in voting. Any such order would be challenged in the courts by opponents who claim it exceeds the president's constitutional authority.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping is hosting a major security summit in the court city of Tianjin. Chinese officials say it's the largest yet meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are among the leaders and delegations attending the talks. Florida taxpayers could be on the hook for millions of dollars spent to build the controversial detention facility that's been dubbed Alligator Alcatraz. It was built on an abandoned airstrip in the Everglades and has been plagued by reports of unsanitary conditions and detainees being denied access to attorneys.

Last week, a judge upheld her decision, ordering officials to wind down operations at the facility, CNN's Rafael Romo reports.

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RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When the migrant detention center was built two months ago, Florida state officials said it would have capacity for 3,000 detainees. At one point, it held almost 1,000. But now the Associated Press is reporting that last week it held only 300 to 350 detainees, citing U.S. Representative Maxwell Frost from Florida, who said he was told this figure while touring the tent facility.

A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction nine days ago, halting further expansion due to environmental reasons. And then, in a message to a Florida rabbi a day later, Florida Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie said, quote, "We are probably going to be down to zero individuals within a few days." The correspondence was about chaplaincy services, but the official's message sent us an email appears to confirm the migrant detention center is about to be emptied out.

An immigrants' rights advocate welcomed the news, saying a tent facility in the Florida Everglades in the middle of the summer during hurricane season should never have been built in the first place.

THOMAS KENNEDY, POLICY ANALYST, FLORIDA IMMIGRANT COALITION: It's come to sort of symbolize the excesses and cruelty of Trump era immigration policy. Remember, this was a state-run extrajudicial site that was operating under no legal authority or contracts from the federal government where people were denied due process and even an appearance before an immigration judge or a court.

ROMO: As we have reported in the past, the American Civil Liberties Union and other civil and immigrants' rights groups sued a Trump administration as state officials claiming lack of access to legal counsel and violations of due process. But Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier told Fox Business on Thursday that the effort to use his state to help the Trump administration deport migrants is still ongoing.

JAMES UTHMEIER, (R) FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL: The facility is still operating. Obviously, there's a lot of deportations that are ongoing, taking people out of the facility. The judge has said no more new people can go in, but we disagree with that order. We believe we're right on the law and we've appealed it to the 11th Circuit.

ROMO: Florida taxpayers may lose hundreds of millions of dollars in the end, shutting down the facility endorsed by President Trump last month will cost the state anywhere between 15 million and 20 million. According to an analysis of court filings by the AP and the Florida Division of Emergency Management may lose most of the value of the 218 million it has spent making the airport suitable for a detention center.

Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Workers with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have orders to return to their Georgia campus in a little over two weeks. CDC staff received an email telling them to report back to Atlanta headquarters on September 15th. Many had been working remotely since a gunman opened fire at the campus on August 8th, an attack that left a police officer dead.

[05:35:19]

Last week, the CDC lost much of its top leadership, including the director, Susan Monarez, who was ousted after clashes over vaccine policy with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Several others resigned in protest and colleagues gathered to say goodbye on Thursday.

Also last week, at least 600 CDC employees received permanent termination notices. This after the agency lost a quarter of its staff during reduction in force layoffs.

And the Environmental Protection Agency has fired at least eight employees who signed a letter criticizing the agency's leadership under President Trump and Administrator Lee Zeldin. Officials claim the letter contained inaccurate information that misled the public. The EPA's largest union says the move is clearly retaliation and an assault on free speech. The firings followed disciplinary action against more than 100 workers, many scientists, engineers and lawyers who raised concerns about cuts to staffing and programs.

As Democrats grapple with how to be effective in the Trump era and as Republicans look to capitalize on the gains they made in 2024, a new generation is working to reshape politics, and they know they have to do more than knock on doors in the social media age. CNN's Camila DeChalus is in Washington with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE PICOZZI, PENNSYLVANIA STATE SENATOR: We need new blood in our political system from all backgrounds, all regions of the country.

CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER (voice-over): All across the country, a new generation is stepping into politics. Young candidates are using social media and grassroots organizing to challenge the way government works at every level. Some are campaigning for local government and others for Congress. But no matter the position, they're turning to social media to reach new voters. ZACH WAHIS, IOWA STATE SENATOR, U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE: It's about meeting people where they are. And we're going to be doing that in the campaign, whether it's on social media platforms, TikTok, you know, Instagram, Facebook Reels.

AMBER HULSE, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE SENATOR: Using social media is a great way to have a voice without having to really have a platform yet.

DECHALUS: Last month, New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani turned social media momentum into a primary win. After he won the Democratic ticket, many people were inspired to run for office themselves. Run for something, an organization that helps young progressives run for office said nearly 10,000 people nationwide registered on their site expressing interest to run for office in the two weeks after he won.

AMANDA LITMAN, PRESIDENT AND CO-FOUNDER, RUN FOR SOMETHING: There is such an appetite for generational change on both sides. Voters want it. We just saw that in New York and like new leaders want it.

DECHALUS: Candidates say social media is a good start, but there's still a place for good old fashion grassroots tactics, too.

ANNA ESKAMANI, ORLANDO MAYORAL CANDIDATE: A lot of folks see me and think that my main platform is online. And actually, my main platform is at the community level. We've knocked on more than 5,000 doors for a mayor's race that is two years away.

In Washington, I'm Camila DeChalus.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Well, Labor Day weekend in the U.S. is bringing sunshine for many and storms for some. Your holiday weekend forecast is up ahead. Plus, it's not Shark Week, but it is 50 years since the release of Jaws.

We'll do a deep dive on the return of the great white sharks. Those stories coming up. Stay with us.

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[05:41:37]

BRUNHUBER: Later this weekend marks the unofficial end of summer here in the U.S. and with millions of people traveling and spending time outdoors, whether it can make or break those holiday weekend plans. Here's CNN Meteorologist Chris Warren with what to expect.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Taking a look across the country, most areas are looking pretty good and actually feeling even better. There's definitely some exceptions. Let's talk about that.

Showers and storms again on Sunday for parts of the middle of the U.S. in the plains, showers and thunderstorms in Florida as well. This boundary right here, the red, the blue, the red. That's a stalled boundary, which means it's not going to move very much, which means the chance for showers is not going to move very much.

So, more showers, more thunderstorms, but mild. It's going to be hot in the southwest, but it's going to be mild across parts of the northeast with temperatures topping out Sunday afternoon, topping out in the lower 70s in Boston. It's going to be 78 in New York, a little bit warmer than Saturday and still in the 80s, even some parts of the southeast, parts of the Carolinas in the upper 70s.

So, feeling a little bit cooler than average, cooler than what you might expect this time of year. But this time of year, it typically is pretty warm. So, a little bit cooler than average. It's not quite super-hot, but it is still warm. You're still looking at temperatures in the upper 80s in New Orleans, mid 80s on Monday and Tuesday and highs in the upper Midwest, the Midwest and throughout the northeast, mostly in the 70s. And on the warmest side of things will be right around 80 degrees. There's still going to be over the next couple of days a chance for some showers and a few storms.

BRUNHUBER: Oh, just when we thought it was safe to go back into the water, that was 50 years ago in the movie Jaws first terrified audiences.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR VAUGHN: You yell shark, we've got a panic on our hands on the Fourth of July.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Now, Director Steven Spielberg's seminal thriller is getting a rerelease. And it's not just the movie that's making a comeback after many years of decline, particularly due to overfishing. Some shark numbers are on the rise again, and great whites are even returning to the waters of Martha's Vineyard, where Jaws was shot.

For more on this, I'm joined now by Chris Fischer, Founder and Expedition Leader of the organization OCEARCH.

Good to see you. Thank you so much for being here with us. So, more great whites returning to the scene, as it were. It's a terrifying prospect for many of us, not for you. Why is that?

CHRIS FISCHER, FOUNDER & EXPEDITION LEADER, OCEARCH: Well, I think -- well, good morning, Kim. I think it's terrifying for people because, again, it's this irrational fear that doesn't statistically exist when it comes to sharks, in particularly white sharks, where we see fatalities around the world at about 10 per year and not really rising.

And the fact is that we've been working for 30 years to bring these animals back because they balance our system and make sure there's plenty of fish for us to eat. So, it really is an exciting time. It's been a long journey in managing our white sharks and other sharks back, particularly here in the United States.

BRUNHUBER: Do we know specifically why they're -- they're making a comeback?

FISCHER: It's been a number of years of great management moves, but back in the late 80s and early 90s, we began to remove the gill nets off the east coast of the United States in an effort to bring our recreational fishing economy back.

[05:45:09]

And we did bring those fish back, unbeknownst to ourselves at the time when we removed inshore gill nets and things like that. We removed them from the white sharks birthing area off the New York, New Jersey bite off the east coast of the United States about 30 years ago. And that's how long, believe it or not, it takes a white shark to mature to begin having babies.

So, here we are about 30 years later from when we removed those gill nets from the inshore waters. And we're finally starting to see more and more mature white sharks return to our northeast and Martha's Vineyard in that area to put a lot of pressure on the seals, because we have a booming, recovering gray seal population here. And our white sharks are keeping them on the beach, keeping their numbers somewhat limited. And that is what is protecting our fish stocks from being wiped out.

So, the whole system is working together. And the white sharks, the balance keeper is doing its job. And it's a real tip to management that we're starting to see more and more white sharks.

BRUNHUBER: It's such a long-term cycle you're talking about. And it's interesting because you normally sort of pit, you know, sharks versus fishermen. But you're saying essentially that the return of the sharks is actually helping fishermen by balancing the -- the ecosystems. But things are very different in Europe right now, right?

FISCHER: Things are hugely different in Europe, still using a lot of the gear types that we banned in the United States 30 years ago, in particular, a gear type you all call tangle nets, we call gill nets in the United States. They're still devastating the entire coast of Western Europe in the med as well as over dragging. So, we really have a tale of two oceans in the northern Atlantic.

We have a return to abundance in the western North Atlantic with numbers like we haven't seen in 50, 60 years. Our oceans are full of life. And then you get to the eastern Atlantic off of Europe in the med and it's dead.

So, we have a real problem moving forward. We need to try to get both continents returning to abundance. Otherwise, we're going to be fighting over the same fish in the future. And that could be a real problem.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, absolutely. Now, you talk about how statistically rare shark attacks are. They do happen. And when you have more and more people out on beaches and more and more sharks, there are collisions there. So, with more sharks returning to their historic range. Now, what's -- what's your advice for beachgoers?

FISCHER: I think that, you know, particularly for people that are more middle aged and later age, we grew up in the 80s, 90s, and we could kind of walk in the ocean anywhere because we had pretty much wiped it out.

Now, that we have a real wild ocean again, people need to understand the environment that they're operating in. Look at the ocean before you go swimming. If you see a bunch of birds diving on bait and game fish rolling, there's going to be sharks coming in to feed on that. So, be aware of the environment you're playing in. If you see a lot of activity, enjoy it, watch it.

And it'll slide down the beach in the current. And when it gets nice and quiet, that's when you want to pick your moments to swim, particularly if you're in an area where, you know, there's a lot of life and you're in the range of the white shark and other large sharks, you know, be smart about the environment you play in.

BRUNHUBER: Great advice with, you know, 50 years now since Jaws came out. I remember how -- how scared I was when -- when, you know, the -- the movie was playing.

I mean, you know, have attitudes towards sharks evolved and changed since then, do you think?

FISCHER: I think they really have. You know, we've had a lot of open- source shark research at OCEARCH. The public has fallen in love with these animals as they track them in real time on their phones.

And people have finally -- we've -- we understand the life of the white shark now. It's no longer a mystery. And with that knowledge and information, it doesn't allow the movies that leverage the fear of the unknown in the past to really make that much sense anymore. I think people understand these white sharks. They are the conductor of the orchestra. And as long as they're thriving, we're going to have food to feed our kids.

If we stop seeing these large white sharks, that is in jeopardy. And I think people understand that more and more. And now that we have that information and that it's time for like to move past Jaws, it's time for like Jaws 2.0. It's no longer a mystery. We know these sharks don't camp out in front of beaches where people are. We know they don't pursue people. And we know that they're vital for a thriving future.

So, I think, you know, at 50 years, it might be a good time to put this whole thing behind us and move to like White Shark 2.0. Jaws was -- was an interesting situation because it created a really big problem for white sharks that even the author didn't anticipate. But that huge fan base that was created by Jaws is now allowed us to build this huge support and bringing them back. So, it's time for Jaws 2.0, which is a flourishing ocean with flourishing sharks and fish populations. [05:50:06]

BRUNHUBER: A great note to end on. Chris Fischer, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

FISCHER: Thanks for having me.

BRUNHUBER: All right. We'll be right back with more here on CNN Newsroom. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Labor Day's Powerball jackpot will be worth an estimated one point one billion dollars. That's because no one matched all six numbers from Saturday's Powerball drawing. Monday's jackpot will be Powerball's fifth largest prize ever. If you were to win and selected the cash option, you get $498 million dollars.

Well, after successfully paddling across the Pacific from Peru to Australia, Scotland's Maclean brothers may have just rode their way to a world record. Now, safely back on land, the three athletes are reflecting on the impact of their harrowing journey.

CNN's Ben Hunte has the details.

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BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): A very Scottish welcome in Australia. The three brothers from Edinburgh who rode across the Pacific Ocean. It took almost 140 days at sea, Jamie, Ewan and Lachlan Maclean say they set a new world record. Rowing unsupported and nonstop for 14,000 kilometers from Peru to Australia.

[05:55:08]

JAMIE MACLEAN, ROWER: It's been it's been unbelievable. There's been really tough times and there's been euphoric moments. And I think it's been an experience that three of us will never forget.

HUNTE: The trio began the ocean voyage in April. The goal not only to reach Australia, but also raise money for clean water projects in Madagascar. And along the way, the brothers posted video updates of their progress. Some featuring celebrities following their journey.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got to check in on you, make sure you guys are good and keep reminding everybody that you guys are out there.

HUNTE: But the brothers say it was far from an easy ride. Some of their videos showing the difficulties of rowing day and night in difficult weather and keeping the boat steady from the ocean's relentless waves. Lachlan says he once fell overboard, but was luckily quickly spotted by one of his brothers.

LACHLAN MACLEAN, ROWER: I was clipped on, so I was -- I was getting trailed behind the boat and Ewan helped me back in in board. And yeah, fortunately, because in those conditions, sadly, you wouldn't stand a chance in retrieving someone. You wouldn't be able to turn the boat around.

HUNTE: The brothers say to celebrate their success, they hope to continue to raise money for their charity.

EWAN MACLEAN, ROWER: Ken's Marina, this is Rose Emily (ph). Do you have pizza and beer? I repeat, do you have pizza and beer? Over.

HUNTE: And enjoy some of the creature comforts they missed while at sea. Ben Hunte, CNN.

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BRUNHUBER: Thousands of redheads are in the Netherlands this weekend for a celebration just for them. The 2025 edition of the Redhead Days Festival is happening in the southern Dutch city of Tilburg. Redheads come from some 80 countries to attend the annual festival.

The free event includes music activities and workshops tailored to the needs of redheads. And those include makeup tips for paler skin and skin cancer prevention.

All right, that wraps this hour of CNN Newsroom. I'm Kim Brunhuber.

For our viewers in North America, CNN This Morning is next. For the rest of the world, it's Quest's World Of Wonder.

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