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Judge Blocks Troop Deployment in Chicago; U.S. Troops to Oversee Gaza Ceasefire; New York Attorney General Indicted; Turning Point USA Announces Halftime Alternative. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired October 10, 2025 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. I want to thank you for joining me on CNN THIS MORNING. It's half past the hour. And here's what's happening right now.
Another one of President Trump's political foes indicted. New York's attorney general, Letitia James, is facing two felony charges, bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution. It's related to a mortgage she took out in 2020. James denies the allegations, and she's going to face a judge later this month.
It's been more than a week since the government shutdown, but today is the first payday for many federal workers.
[06:35:04]
They'll only receive a partial check in this pay period, even though some are working through the shutdown.
And you may remember this face, Sister Jean. She actually went viral a few years ago when Loyola made a run in March Madness. The school announcing she passed away this week at 106 years old. She was the team's chaplain up until August, when she stepped down due to health issues.
And new this morning, President Trump is appealing a federal judge's decision to block him from using National Guard troops in Chicago, at least for the next two weeks. The judge agreeing with Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and state officials that there's no credible evidence of a rebellion in the state and that sending in troops would only, quote, "add fuel to the fire."
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LT. GOV. JULIANA STRATTON (D-IL): The Donald Trump administration, first of all, brought the matches. They set it on fire. And then they now want to send the National Guard. And that's just pouring gasoline on this fire. The judge said that's not something that should happen. And I'm grateful for the ruling that came out. It's only temporary, but please know, we will continue to stand up and we will continue to fight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: But for Portland, Oregon, a federal appeals court is still weighing whether or not Trump can deploy National Guard troops to the city. A Trump appointed judge on the panel is actually pushing back against the state's argument.
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JUDGE RYAN D. NELSON, NINTH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS: The president gets to direct his resources as -- as he deems fit. And it just seems a little counterintuitive to me that the city of Portland can come in and say, no, you need to do it differently.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: So, the group chat is back.
This -- these kinds of moments are great because you actually hear from judges who can, like, lay out for us, like, hey, what is at stake here? And, Isaac, I don't know how closely you were following, but what do you make of these, like, sort of diverging ideas of, does the president need this, or is the president inadvertently causing a problem?
EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, look, they're -- there's the political argument going on about this, and then there's the legal argument that's going on about this. Both of them are happening in multiple different venues. And part of what you see going on here is judges who are coming at this in their own different ways. But -- and if you go back to things that we've discussed earlier in this year of how the Trump administration has been looking at things and what they've wanted out of the Supreme Court of stopping one judge in one place from ruling in one way, and how that might affect things nationwide. This is judges who have an effect on what will happen in Portland, specifically, and judges who will have an effect on what happens to Chicago specifically. But it does seem likely that this will eventually work its way up in the judicial system. And we're going to find out if this goes to the Supreme Court at some point.
CORNISH: Jonah, in the Chicago case, District Judge April Perry had this response to this argument that basically you need the federal troops to protect ICE. She says, "there's overwhelming evidence submitted that the provocative nature of ICE's enforcement activity is creating a repeated constitutional violation, has itself caused a significant increase in protest activity."
She's going to have a full written decision today. But what is the preview that we're getting there about what she's sort of introducing into this -- these cases?
JONAH GOLDBERG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, look, I mean, I think she has a point. I think a lot of people have a point. I mean there are a lot of things in conflict in this one. I think the president, on its face, has -- has the power to send
troops to -- to defend federal facilities. The problem is, is that what I think the administration is trying to do is just chum the waters to normalize a lot of this, right, sent the troops to D.C. to make it seem natural.
I mean I'm in D.C. right now. I -- crime has not been solved. But he gets to say it. And he says the word insurrection all the time, but he has not, in fact, invoked the Insurrection Act. And I think what it's just trying to do is sort of, you know, turn up the temperature on the boiling frog a bit to get everybody used to all of this. And hopefully provoke, in some -- some cases, the kind of response that would justify sending in troops.
CORNISH: Right. And this has implications --
GOLDBERG: So, there's a difference between having a power to do something and being right to do it.
CORNISH: Yes, the implications of this when we're -- as we're talking, showing you -- folks images of protesters in Chicago, right? Peaceful protesters. At a certain point I guess there's questions about how the president would be able to respond, right, to demonstrators who -- who oppose what he's doing.
Maria, can you talk about what the response should be? Earlier this week I was talking to a congresswoman and I said, look, should people actually be hanging around ICE cause -- is this only -- they're being baited into interactions that can justify action?
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MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, let's remember that protesting peacefully is a right that we all have as American citizens, Audie. And one of the things that we cannot lose sight of here is the egregious violations of civil rights that ICE is involved in every single day in so many communities. They are not there to keep the peace. They are there, I believe, to incite these protests that Donald Trump is now using as an excuse to bring in the federal troops. ICE is violating American citizens' rights. They are detaining American citizens for days on end. So, the focus of ICE is not to deport violent, criminal, undocumented immigrants. In fact, the vast majority of immigrants that they have detained have absolutely no criminal record.
And on top of that, they are detaining American citizens as well.
CORNISH: But, Maria, can I just -- can I follow up with one other thing?
CARDONA: Yes.
CORNISH: But is the -- it is it a good strategy to antagonize ICE, right? Follow ICE. Take a lot of videos. Like, there is an argument that the administration is making that this is itself the threat. CARDONA: As long as they are not -- these protesters or the people who
are videotaping the ICE agents are not physically attacking the ICE agents, absolutely it's within their right, Audie. It's the only way that Americans are aware of these massive violations of civil rights that ICE agents are involved in.
The images, these videos, are the ones that are telling us, look at what they're doing, they're slamming women, children, you know, on the floor, separating families. They -- they attacked a priest for God's sake, a reverend. They attacked him, shooting pellets at him. I mean, these things are egregious, Audie, and we cannot lose sight of that.
Again, the protests and these videotape tapings have to be peaceful, but that is absolutely within the right of American citizens to do that, to show the world these massive violations of civil rights by ICE.
CORNISH: Yes. All right, you guys, please --
DOVERE: But there's --
CORNISH: Oh, go ahead, Isaac.
DOVERE: No, there's also the step back here of what we're looking at of the troops from Texas have been sent into Illinois. Troops from California, against the governor of California's will, have been sent into Oregon, right? The governor of Oklahoma, who's a Republican, very clear Republican in every which way, but is the chair of the National Governors Association, said yesterday in an interview with "The New York Times," imagine what would have happened if J.B. Pritzker, as governor of Illinois, had sent troops into Texas when Biden was president, what the response would have been.
And what I was struck by, in addition to those comments, is I tweeted it myself. And some of the response that I saw to my own tweet were people saying, oh, Kevin Stitt, the governor of Oklahoma, he's a squish, right? Like, this is where some of this conversation has gone. And what is a really stunning thing of watching troops from one state sent into troops to another state, or sent it to another state.
CORNISH: All right. You guys, stay with me, because we do have more to discuss this hour.
And I do have to turn back to this Gaza ceasefire deal, which is now in effect. And the U.S. will be playing the role of oversight police. So, here's what we know what -- about what could happen next. The Pentagon is sending 200 troops to the Middle East to monitor the plan's implementation. They're going to work alongside soldiers from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the UAE. No U.S. troops are intended to enter Gaza.
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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: We couldn't have achieved it without the extraordinary help of President Trump and his team, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. STEVE Witkoff, SPECIAL ENVOY TO THE MIDDLE EAST: Prime Minister
Netanyahu made some very, very difficult calls.
And lesser people would not have made those calls.
JARED KUSHNER, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S SON-IN-LAW: Between you and President Trump, you had a lot of alignment on what the end state should be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Israel confirming this morning it will scale back troops, but they will still be in parts of the strip. Attacks continued overnight. Palestinian health officials say at least 30 people have been killed since the ceasefire deal was approved yesterday.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): The ceasefire announcement made us very happy because our children have been without schooling for two years, without education. The children in Gaza became ignorant. They should go back to their education. Their simplest rights, including having a family atmosphere, which they have missed, access to health care, which we are missing here, we need everything.
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CORNISH: Joining me live from London is CNN political commentator and former deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh.
Good morning, Sabrina.
SABRINA SINGH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thank you.
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CORNISH: First, I want to start with the idea of the U.S. troops being sent to the Middle East just to monitor the ceasefire itself. We know that we can send troops to the Middle East. The U.S. has done this with the best intentions. What are you thinking about as we hear this news?
SINGH: Well, this is something on -- not like we -- I mean, this is something that we've seen before. When October 7th happened under the Biden administration, we did surge troops to Israel to help in hostage recovery and rescue efforts. And we did have a larger presence grow when we established that maritime corridor that helped with the distribution of humanitarian aid. So, this is not unusual.
I think what you're going to see here is the U.S. overseeing and really helping coordinate operations when it comes to humanitarian aid getting in. We've seen trucks getting stopped at those border crossings before. And so I think the U.S. presence there will help move those trucks into Gaza, as well as ensuring that the ceasefire lines are maintained.
And I think one of the commitments that helps secure the ceasefire deal and ultimately, hopefully leads to a longer lasting peace, is the fact that there will be a U.S. presence nearby, but not boots on the ground in Gaza.
CORNISH: And going forward, we heard from that Palestinian woman about the scale of what needs to be done in terms of rebuilding and stabilizing the region. We don't know what that will look like. But is that something that is going to involve all of these nations from a military perspective?
SINGH: You know, I think it's going to take a lot of time. This is not weeks or months in the making. This is going to be years.
From reporting it seems that nearly 90 percent of the buildings in Gaza have been destroyed. It's going to take rebuilding. And there's a lot of questions that still remain. How does Hamas turn over their weapons? And what does the governing structure of Gaza really look like? We still don't have those answers, but we have steps towards progress. And that's important.
CORNISH: OK, Sabrina Singh, thanks so much.
Next on CNN THIS MORNING, conservatives don't want to watch Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl, so they're voting on who to have at their own halftime show. One of the options, anything in English.
Plus this.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Letitia James, a total crook.
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CORNISH: The president has been attacking her for months now. Letitia James is indicted. How will the case hold up in court? We're going to lawyer up, next.
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CORNISH: New York Attorney General Letitia James is the second political enemy of the presidents to be charged in just over two weeks. And as the as the prosecutor who first brought civil fraud charges against the president, she's now vowing to fight fraud charges of her own.
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LETITIA JAMES, NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL: Judges have upheld the trial courts finding that Donald Trump, his company, and his two sons are liable for fraud. I'm a proud woman of faith, and I know that faith and fear cannot share the same space. And so today I'm not fearful, I'm fearless. And as my faith teaches me, no weapon formed against me shall prosper. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: So, what could her defense look like? It's time now to lawyer up with CNN legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Elliot Williams.
Good morning, Elliot.
ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning.
CORNISH: The actual charges here are basically saying that she made some improper gains on some mortgage property to the tune of like $18,000 over the life of a loan. But we talked about this the other day, how with Jim Comey, you're not just going after any person, you're going after a top prosecutor themselves.
WILLIAMS: Right.
CORNISH: So, how do you think James can respond to this?
WILLIAMS: Well, I -- the most obvious way to respond has nothing to do with the charges themselves. It's not even her defense, per se, Audie. What it is, is the whole case. The mere fact that the president has spoken publicly in the way that he has about her case is probably going to be the thing that sinks the case. She will move to dismiss the indictment on the grounds of selective or malicious prosecution, and just point to the president's Truth Social feed, which identifies her by name, along with many other people, including Jim Comey and others, that -- that truly undermines the case. The one person who's most likely to sink the case, oddly enough, is Donald Trump.
CORNISH: I want to ask about another suit, because I always ask you about the little legal stuff that flies under the radar.
WILLIAMS: Yes.
CORNISH: And I noticed this. Someone trying to sue LeBron James because of this decision he announced that basically turned into an advertisement.
WILLIAMS: Yes. You know, it's really amazing -- isn't America an amazing place. You can sue anybody for anything. And maybe sometimes you might even win. Well, here, not so much. He's suing for fraud that LeBron James staged, as people might have seen, this announcement suggesting that he might retire, but announcing theatrically that he was not going to retire. And this guy says he lost hundreds of dollars on that account. Well, that's not fraud. Fraud is where someone makes a representation or misrepresentation to someone that is false and from which they lose money.
You know, it's a bummer that whatever happened that this guy lost $500 or $600 on account of LeBron James' announcement, but he really doesn't have a cause of action against LeBron James.
CORNISH: Yes. WILLIAMS: Just go, watch the Lakers, even though they're, you know, they're kind of awful, and just -- just enjoy it and live with it. It's fine.
CORNISH: It's interesting though, in the age of sports betting, right? Like, I feel like there's --
WILLIAMS: Yes.
CORNISH: There's a lot of upset fans at any given time.
There's one other basically coda to a lawsuit I want to bring up with you because a judge actually threw out that defamation lawsuit that Drake brought against Kendrick Lamar, obviously because of the song that has, you know, kind of taken -- hurt his public image, let's just say.
WILLIAMS: Yes.
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CORNISH: At the end of the day, was this always a frivolous thing or is this worth noting?
WILLIAMS: No, I don't think it was frivolous. And, you know, Drake is going to appeal this decision.
And here's what happened. In -- it really comes down to when -- I can't believe I'm saying these words on national television, Audie. But when Drake says the words "certified lover boy, certified pedophile -- pardon me, when Kendrick says those words in the song "Not Like Us," is the use of the term "certified pedophile" and expression of fact, or an expression of opinion, for defamation analysis? And the judge, or this -- it goes through incredible legal analysis, breaking down the entire Drake-Kendrick beef, quoting lyrics with, I can't even say them on air, but really quotes both all of their songs, saying, well, look, this is in the heat of a rap battle. This is not actually expressions of opinion.
And she takes it remarkably seriously, noting, OK, what's the nature of the forum we're talking about here?
CORNISH: Yes.
WILLIAMS: Who are the speakers? In the end she says, look, she's not calling him a certified pedophile. It's really just an expression of opinion. Again, sit back, fellas, enjoy the music. Watch the Lakers if you want. But just, it's (INAUDIBLE).
CORNISH: I know. But, honestly, I can't unhear the certified part of this. Now -- now I am going to be thinking about that.
Elliot, thanks so much for talking with us.
WILLIAMS: Take care, Audie. CORNISH: I want to stick with Kendrick for a moment, all right,
because he played the Super Bowl. It's a huge gig. And the next person doing it is Bad Bunny. And there's backlash because there's a lot of MAGA opposition to the NFL's Super Bowl halftime show headliner.
And to start, Turning Point USA, the conservative organization founded by the late Charlie Kirk, is planning their own halftime show. And they count President Trump as one of those who is not interested in watching Bad Bunny.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I never heard of him. I don't know who he is. I don't know why they're doing it. It's like crazy. And then they blame it on some promoter that they hired to pick up entertainment. I think it's absolutely ridiculous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: That promoter, by the way, is Jay-z.
Turning Point USA is calling their production "The All-American Halftime Show." So, who are they going to pick? That hasn't been decided on. But if you go to their website, you can choose your favorite genre. And the first one is, "anything in English."
Needless to say, TikTokers are reading between the lines.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Turning Point USA decided that they're going to do their own halftime show. And it's going to be called "The All- American Halftime Show," which really they mean the all-white halftime show because nothing to me is more funny than the fact that they're going to put on an all-American show when there is one already. Y'all do realize Bad Bunny is American.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: The group chat is back.
Maria, I'm going to start with you because it's not unusual to have counter programming. But it was interesting that people responded right away to this idea. What did you think about what we just heard from our TikToker?
CARDONA: Oh, she's absolutely right. And look, I think we just have to call out this effort as being quite racist, quite xenophobic, quite anti-Latino. But she's right.
And look, the ironic thing is, is that Bad Bunny has deeper American roots than both Donald Trump and the first lady. And so what I will say to everyone out there who's pissed off that the -- that the halftime show is going to be all in Spanish --
CORNISH: Yes. CARDONA: I say, you have four months to learn Spanish. This is the United States of America.
CORNISH: Oh, stop right there because I actually have been searching.
CORNISH: (Speaking in foreign language).
CORNISH: I've been searching for those people, right? And they have been posting as well.
CARDONA: Good.
CORNISH: Let me see if we have a clip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Singing in foreign language).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Singing in a foreign language).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Singing in a foreign language).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Oh my God.
CARDONA: I love it.
CORNISH: We actually had a clip of Jonah too. That one didn't -- didn't make the final cut.
CARDONA: Oh, that's too bad. I'll pay for that.
CORNISH: But, Jonah, this -- huge eyeballs, huge eyeballs for the Super Bowl. It is not the kind of cultural moment you can turn around. What do you think of Turning Point USA kind of inserting themselves in this moment?
GOLDBERG: Yes, look, I think it's dumb trolling. I think it's really silly. Also, just for the record, I don't understand the lyrics for most halftime shows when they're in English.
CORNISH: I believe that.
GOLDBERG: So, like, it's not a new experience for me not to understand what people are saying.
[07:00:00]
I think this is -- what drives me crazy is, we used to complain all the time on the right about politicizing everything and politicizing sports and entertainment, and that's what these guys are doing.
CORNISH: Isaac, last seconds to you.
DOVERE: I mean, the Super Bowl halftime show has only been a real thing since Michael Jackson in 1993, and it's not like he wasn't controversial at points in his life.
CORNISH: That's true. That's true. Well, everyone go down the rabbit hole looking up your favorite shows. In the meantime, thank you for joining us today. Thanks to the group chat. And the headlines are next with "CNN NEWS CENTRAL" now.
