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Ukraine: Heavy Battles Ahead of Trump-Putin Summit; Glacial Outburst Threatening to Flood Juneau, Alaska; White House Orders Review of Smithsonian Museums; National Guard, Federal Agents Deploy in Washington, DC; Michael Phelps Helps Teach Baltimore Ravens how to Swim. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired August 13, 2025 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: President Trump is participating in a virtual meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelenskyy two days before the Alaska Summit with Russia's leader. It is 09:00 a.m. in Washington and it is 02:00 p.m. here in London. I'm Christina
Macfarlane. This is "Connect the World".
Also coming up, armored trucks on city streets. The National Guard is now patrolling Washington DC, as part of the President Trump's crackdown on
crime. Plus, there's a new MAGA friendly boss crunching the numbers for the U.S. Department of Labor. Can we count on the data we may get from him?
And a glacial outburst in Alaska comes with a warning for nearby residents. And the stock market in New York opens about 30 minutes from now. All the
arrows are pointing up, as you can see, after Tuesday's soft inflation data pushed the S&P and NASDAQ to fresh gains.
But this hour, the U.S. President is participating in a virtual meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart and EU heads of state ahead of Donald
Trump's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in Alaska. Volodymyr Zelenskyy arriving in Germany for the meeting a little bit
earlier.
For him and his European allies, it's a chance to ask President Trump not to support what they believe will be Putin's unreasonable demands to end
Russia's war on Ukraine. Well, the White House following up on Mr. Trump's own comments, downplaying expectations for any big results in Alaska on
Tuesday, describing the upcoming summit as a listening exercise.
Just ahead of today's meeting, President Trump posted on social media that leaders he's talking to with today are great people who want to see a deal
done. We've got Clare Sebastian here following this summit to unpack it all for us. And Clare, we were just mentioning just now that this is a bit of
an achievement.
Is it not for Chancellor Merz to have got Zelenskyy in the room essentially with President Trump ahead of that summit on Friday? I guess the big
question though, is, is it going to make any difference?
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think none of us know, honestly, until Trump and Putin end up in a room together and what the
White House says will be a one-on-one meeting. But look, it is an absolute whirlwind this week. It's only seven days ago that Steve Witkoff was in
Moscow and the idea first of a meeting was floated.
So, everything is happening, as you say, breakneck pace, and this European diplomacy that we're seeing really sort of smacks as an effort, almost to
drown out any noises that we're getting out of Moscow, to really sort of force through the European position and to make sure, concretely, that
Europe and Ukraine are not sidelined in these talks.
Don't forget, it's by the U.S. design that Europe needs to front any future security guarantees around a peace deal. Europe also is responsible for a
lot of the sanctions on Russia. So, it has some leverage here. So, I think that will be part of the discussion. They're also, frankly, going to be
looking for clarity around what will be on the table at these talks.
MACFARLANE: Yeah.
SEBASTIAN: There's still some confusion about what was offered by Putin to Witkoff. Moscow today, saying its war goals remain unchanged, which
involves taking those four regions, including parts that it hasn't yet occupied. But I think it will be a delicate balancing act right, because
we've seen before how damaging it is for Ukraine if Trump loses interest or gets annoyed, or perhaps if this diplomacy goes too far.
So, they will be trying to push their point of view forward, but as we've seen with the diplomatic language in some of these statements this week,
they will still be, I think, an element of sort of flattery and praise for his effort to bring this war to a close, even though, obviously this summit
in Alaska wildly favors Moscow.
MACFARLANE: And we know that President Trump is swayed by whoever he happens to be in that room with.
SEBASTIAN: Yeah.
MACFARLANE: In this case, it's just going to be Volodymyr Zelenskyy and translators, as far as we understand it. Now, we've also been hearing from
the president saying, this is just a listening exercise, perhaps walking back. You know, any expectations for a ceasefire to come from this.
And if it is going to be him simply walking away? Will that mean that the spectacle of this will only really amount to giving Putin and Russia more
time on the battlefield?
SEBASTIAN: I mean, that certainly the only party in this, if we look at sort of the U.S. and Europe and Ukraine and Russia, the only party that
seems to have time on their side is Russia. Russia has been trying, to drag out this peace process. I think for Russia, this is a win already, as we
discussed.
I mean, we already see on Russian state TV, the banking of the PR coup around Alaska having been chosen a place where Russia doesn't have to
humiliate itself by going to sort of European powers, anyone who signed up to the International Criminal Court asking for a waiver to that arrest
warrant out for Putin.
None of that. This is just a quick cross over the Bering Strait and into Alaska. So that already favors Russia. So, I think you know that's where we
are. This is why this meeting is such a sort of grim moment for Ukraine. Also, because it comes at a point where Russia is making a big push on the
Eastern Front, trying to seize more territory, trying to, as Zelenskyy pointed out today, trying to make it look like Ukraine cannot win
militarily.
[09:05:00]
MACFARLANE: Yeah, it's as much an information war at the moment, isn't it? As aside from the diplomatic talks to come, Clare, thank you for now. Let's
talk a bit more about what is happening on the battlefield. We're hearing that small groups of Russian troops have pierced parts of Ukraine's
defenses in its Eastern Donetsk region.
That's coming from local officials. The monitoring group says Russia is trying to encircle the key strategic City of Pokrovsk. Moscow appears to be
making an 11th hour push to gain as much territory as possible ahead of Friday's summit. Let's get the view from Russia. Well CNN's Fred Pleitgen
is joining us now live from Moscow.
So, as we've been saying there with Clare, Fred, I mean, the Friday summit could in some senses, be political theater for Vladimir Putin, because on
the battlefield in Donetsk, Russia seems to be fighting with renewed commitment. What are you hearing about those advances on the front lines?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly the Russians, if we look at their perspective, and I've actually been
watching Russian state TV throughout the entire course of this morning here in Moscow, they say that those advances are significant and that they are
accelerating.
Of course, Christina, they also say that it does give Putin somewhat of an upper hand when it comes to that summit, because he's going to go on the
ground here, he's going to look like a winner. He's going to look like, as Clare said, someone who has not just time on his side, but who also has the
momentum on the battlefield on his side as well.
And so far, what we've been hearing from the Russian side, which, by the way, over the past couple of days, has not been much, specifically from the
Kremlin, they've really not been saying much because they believe that everything that they say now could only make things more difficult.
They certainly don't seem to want to poison any sort of dialogs with the Trump Administration by saying too much publicly before the meeting takes
place. But what we have heard from them is that their position on Ukraine has not changed, that they want massive territorial concessions from the
Ukrainians.
They also don't want Ukraine to become a member of NATO, and they essentially also want Ukraine to all but disarm as well. Now it's unclear
how much of that Vladimir Putin is going to carry into his meeting with the American President, with Donald Trump.
But it's certainly as far as the momentum on the battlefield is concerned, especially in the past couple of days, the Russians do believe that right
now that is on their side, and that is also something they believe will make a difference when Vladimir Putin comes face to face to face with the
American President there in Alaska, Christina.
MACFARLANE: And looking ahead to that Friday summit in Alaska. Fred, I mean, we're hearing that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said he
will be taking part. Do we know in what capacity at all?
PLEITGEN: Well, he's obviously going to be taking part in Marco Rubio. Then most probably is also going to be taking part as well. And that just, I
think, underscores how important this meeting is going to be. It's not going to just be a feel out meeting, as the U.S. President has said, but it
certainly is going to have larger delegations, it seems, as part of all of this to try and deal with a flurry of issues.
And one of the things that we also picked up on, Christina, is the fact that the Russians are saying that this meeting is not going to be only
about Ukraine, but an accumulation of issues between the United States and Russia, that comes in the form of a foreign ministry spokesperson earlier
this morning.
And they obviously say that, of course, the conflict in Ukraine is going to be part of that, but the Russians are also gearing towards trying to
normalize relations with the United States, which of course, means sanctions relief, but which in the future could also mean business deals
between the two countries as well.
One of the things though, Christina, that also seemed very important that the Russians said earlier today, and this is that same spokesperson for the
foreign ministry, and that is that the Russians seem to pour cold water on one of the things that President Trump has been saying over the past couple
of days, which is that idea of territorial swaps between territories currently controlled by the Russians and territories currently controlled
by the Ukrainians.
That spoke there saying that Russia's territory, as he put it, is enshrined in Russia's constitution, and so therefore Russia is going to be dealing
out of its national interests. Of course, we know that the Russians have annexed, as they put it, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk Oblast,
and they don't control all of those territories.
So, if Vladimir Putin is going to take a hard line, very difficult to see him come to some sort of compromise with Trump, President Trump on that
issue. But certainly, the official line right now from the Russians is that all of those territories, they consider those to be theirs, and that's the
position, their starting position as they go into that summit, Christina.
MACFARLANE: All right. Fred Pleitgen there in Moscow. Appreciate it, Fred. Now Israel is warning that militants are exploiting the desperate situation
in Gaza by impersonating aid workers. The Israeli military says it struck an armed group last week posing as the World Central Kitchen staff.
It reported five terrorists were killed in the strike. Video released by the IDF shows eight men standing around a vehicle marked with a World
Central Kitchen logo, but it's not clear what group they belong to.
[09:10:00]
And as we've noted, Israel does not permit international news organizations from reporting inside Gaza. Our Nada Bashir, however, has been tracking
developments here in London. So, Nada, what were you learning about this incident involving the van?
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you mentioned, Christina, the Israeli authorities, Israeli military have released video of the incident.
It doesn't show the moment that these men, these militants described by the Israeli military, were struck, but it does in the video, appear to show
some of those men surrounding the vehicle, which is marked with the World Central Kitchen logo, to be holding weapons.
Now we have heard from the Israeli authorities, who said they reached out to the World Central Kitchen, they appear to have confirmed that the
vehicle had no connection to their operations in the Gaza Strip. We've also reached out to the World Central Kitchen ourselves.
They sent CNN a statement. I'll just read you a bit from that, saying we strongly condemn anyone posing as World Central Kitchen or other
humanitarians, as this endangers civilians and aid workers, the safety and security of our teams is our top priority. And of course, this has raised
consent given the already deeply insecure situation on the ground for humanitarians and aid workers that are permitted to operate in the Gaza
Strip.
Of course, important to underscore that very few are now permitted to operate within Gaza or able to, because of the security situation on the
ground, as well as blockades on humanitarian groups actually accessing the ship. And of course, this comes at a time where there have been growing
calls for more humanitarian access.
Not only to allow more humanitarian workers to operate on the ground safely and securely through safe routes and safe distribution points, but also, of
course, for the allowance of aid to be permitted to cross through land border crossings, as opposed to the air drops that we've seen over recent
days, which, of course, come with their own danger.
So real questions as to what this will mean for those calls and whether or not the Israeli authorities may loosen those restrictions in the near
future. This is something that the Israeli military has said in the past, that they believe that these restrictions, in their eyes, are a security
measure.
But of course, as we know, the humanitarian situation in Gaza is only growing more dire. We've been hearing those alarm bells being sounded again
by UN officials and other humanitarians around the risk of acute malnutrition amongst the vast majority of Gaza civilian population,
including some 300,000 children now said to be at risk of acute malnutrition, Christina.
MACFARLANE: And meanwhile, Nada, we're hearing that there is a renewed push for a ceasefire that appears to be underway. What more are you learning
about that?
BASHIR: That's right. We've been hearing from sources that a delegation, a Hamas delegation, has headed to Cairo. This has, of course, been a key
theater for those discussions and mediation efforts over the last 22 months. This delegation is said to have traveled to Cairo upon the
invitation.
An invitation from the Egyptian intelligence community, again, key players in this mediation process. And of course, this comes just after the U.S. is
Special Envoy Steve Witkoff met with Qatari officials over the weekend to discuss a comprehensive deal. Qatar again, another key mediating these
ongoing discussions and negotiations.
And of course, we saw talks essentially breaking down in July, after the U.S. pulled out its mediation team, it accused Hamas of not agreeing to the
terms on the table. Hamas has accused Israel of putting forward conditions that they say are simply -- starters, and there have been major sticking
points around one of the key issues, which is the distribution of Israeli forces in Gaza following any potential ceasefire that is struck.
Whether or not this latest round of talks in Egypt leads to any sort of progress remains to be seen, Christina.
MACFARLANE: Nada Bashir in London, thank you. All right, coming up the White House is taking aim at one of the United States's biggest cultural
institutions to make sure it lines up with the administration's vision. We'll have those details. Plus, a wave of water from a glacial outburst is
threatening Alaska's capital. We'll have a live report on what's at stake.
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[09:15:00]
MACFARLANE: A surge of water from a glass here in Juneau, Alaska is threatening to unleash record breaking floods for a third August in a row.
The glacial outburst began releasing water on Tuesday, the National Weather Service issued a flood warning around the Mendenhall River through today.
Officials recommend residents who live in the flood zone to evacuate until waters recede. CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is with me to talk us
through. Allison, why this is happening more regularly, Allison?
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, so again, this has happened the last few years. Essentially, what's happening in Alaska is, you've got that
glacier that's back there, and it's pushing a lot of the water in towards the air the town behind me. So again, you can kind of see behind me.
Here's some video of it. This is kind of drone video that you can see from above, so you can see the glacier back through here. I'll step back off to
the side, but again, the concern is all of that water that's then going to get pushed down into the town. So, let's kind of take a closer look at what
we're talking about here and what we can see here.
This is some of the video. So, this is the water then, kind of flowing down into the river. And again, it doesn't really look like all that much, but
what you have to understand is, inside of this water, there's also a lot of debris that's being pushed down. And this is a lot more swollen than it
normally would be.
It's a lot bigger. There's a lot more water flow coming through than you would normally have. Here's, again, an example of this. So, this is the
Mendenhall River. Again, you can kind of see it rising up and rising sharply. That just goes to show you how quickly that water is rising.
And then again, kind of peaking at those incredibly high rates, up around that major flood level of 14 feet, it's forecast to get to above 16 feet.
So, you're not just talking a little bit above flood level, you're talking a significant amount above. Here is a look at the map overall.
Just to kind of give you some perspective. Here you can see Juneau on the map. We will zoom in a little bit closer. OK. So here is the downtown area
of Juneau, but the city itself extends all the way over into this area. The airport is located right here. You can kind of see the runway right there
on the map.
Now, just to kind of show you some of the other things we've been talking about. So, this here, this is Mendenhall Glacier. This is the glacier that
we've been talking about, and this is the flood pathway. So essentially, where you see this blue, this is where all of that water is going to flow
down.
And the concern is that it starts to flow down across some of the town as well, inundating some of the streets, the roadways, also a lot of the
little smaller creeks and streams that would run through. And, yes, perhaps even into some of the buildings that would be there.
This is overall, where the biggest concern lies. And the question really just becomes, how quickly does that water over top and begin to start
flowing down into the area. And also, how far into the town do we start to see that water? Also, how high does it get? Are you talking just a couple
of inches?
Are you talking, is it knee high in some of these places? Again, we will know certainly more in the coming hours. They anticipate that a lot of that
water flow is really going to start to begin at 08:00 a.m. local time, which will be roughly about noon Eastern Time for some perspective.
This whole area marked here in green. This is where the flood warning is in effect. So basically, they are saying anything within this green shaded
area has the potential for that flooding from all of that water kind of rushing back through into some of these areas. So, this is going to be a
concern that we have.
And again, the hope is that a lot of this water that you see here, that we showed earlier, this doesn't start to swell even more and start to rush
into businesses and homes as well.
MACFARLANE: Yeah, and looking at that part of the map you just pointed out, Allison, you would think that evacuation orders are probably going to need
to be in place.
[09:20:00]
But for now, thank you so much for breaking that down for us. And we are following developments across Europe as the latest heat wave sparks
wildfires and pushes temperatures in some areas above 40 degrees Celsius. High winds fueled fires in some of Greece's Western islands on Tuesday,
several villages and a hotel were evacuated due to the threats to tourist destinations.
And in Turkey, officials called an emergency aircraft to try and douse the flames as they threatened a forest in Izmir province. Blazers there have
also prompted evacuations, forcing hundreds to flee their homes. Well CNN's Barbie Latza Nadeau has more details now on how the fires are impacting
summer tourism across Europe.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR (voice-over): Tourists forced to flee one of southern Spain's most popular beaches after a wildfire driven by
strong winds swept through the resort town of Tarifa, forcing local authorities to evacuate nearly 2000 tourists and residents.
Just one part of what's becoming an apocalyptic European summer. Official data shows that Europe has seen more than twice as many fires as it saw on
average by mid-August in recent decades. Many are set on purpose, some sparked accidentally, and others fueled by extreme heat caused by man-made
climate change.
There were similar scenes on the Italian island of Sardinia last month where beachgoers had to be evacuated by boat after wildfires blocked other
escape routes. Disaster also struck the Italian tourist hotspot of Pompeii after forest fires quickly burned up the flanks of the Mount Vesuvius
volcano, where authorities had to close trails to keep hikers safe.
Even in Scotland, not typically known for its hot summers, a brush fire spread across a popular tourist attraction and dormant volcano Arthur's
Seat. In Spain, where fires led to the death of one man near Madrid. The costs are almost impossible to measure.
JOSE ANGEL RODRIGUEZ, ORELLAN LOCAL COUNCIL PRESIDENT: The damage is incalculable at this point, whether it's to the chestnut trees or the loss
of tourism.
NADEAU (voice-over): And as wildfires continue to threaten European tourism, more travelers are being forced to rethink plans, cancel flights
and take extra precautions, like this tourist in Tarifa who wore a face mask to protect herself from the thick smoke.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a genuine shame everything that's happened that they had to evacuate practically everything I was so afraid of, so many
chalets, houses, shops were burnt. It's such a shame.
NADEAU (voice-over): A sunburn used to be one of the biggest concerns most holiday makers had. Now they face a far more burning threat. Barbie Latza
Nadeau, CNN, Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: All right, let's get you up to speed on some of the other top stories on our radar right now. Mexico has sent 26 high ranking cartel
figures to the U.S. And a deal with the Trump Administration to ratchet up pressure on drug smuggling criminal networks.
The U.S. has designated one of Mexico's most powerful cartoons, the CJNG as a terrorist organization, making it the potential target of U.S. military
force. The wife of South Korea's jailed Former President Yoon Suk Yeol has been arrested over various suspected crimes including bribery, stock
manipulation and meddling in the selection of a candidate.
It's the first time in the country's history that both the former president and Former First Lady have been jailed at the same time. Well, tropical
storm Erin is gaining force as it travels west across the Atlantic Ocean. Forecasters expecting it to become the first hurricane of the season as
early as Wednesday night.
It's expected to track north of the Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico this weekend. Now, the Smithsonian is the latest cultural
institution facing the Trump Administration's diversity purge. The organization runs the United States major public museums.
And the White House is undertaking a review to make sure it exhibits are aligned with the president's directives to promote what the administration
calls American exceptionalism. CNN's Betsy Klein is at the White House for us. So, Betsy, the Smithsonian the biggest museum in the world, 19 museums,
I think, in total. Talk us through how this is going to work.
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right. Well, the White House is announcing that they are conducting a comprehensive internal
review of all materials and exhibits at the Smithsonian Institution. But this really marks the latest move by the Trump Administration to impose
President Trump's views on the nation's cultural and historical institutions, as well as an effort, they say, to purge materials that are
focused on diversity.
But the Smithsonian is the overarching organization that oversees the nation's public museums, 21 in all, plus the National Zoo, and they receive
about 17 million visitors per year. But this marks a review of a preliminary first phase of eight museums that includes the National Museum
of African-American History and Culture, the National Portrait Gallery, the Air and Space Museum, the Natural History Museum, among several others.
[09:25:00]
And they say they are going to be looking at all current and ongoing exhibits, assessing the tone as well as the historical framing. They're
also going to be taking a look at staff manuals, job descriptions, organizational charts. They say they will explore internal communications
about how works of art and other exhibits are selected.
And they say that they will replace any divisive language in things like placards and other public facing materials with what they say is unifying
descriptions. A letter from White House officials to the Smithsonian secretary said, quote, this initiative aims to ensure alignment with the
president's directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives and restore confidence in our shared cultural
institutions.
The Smithsonian responding in their own statement, saying that they're reviewing this letter from the White House and plan to collaborate
constructively with the White House going forward. Now, this also comes as just hours from now, President Trump is expected to go to the Kennedy
Center, where he will announce the first round of the Kennedy Center Honorees since he installed himself at the top of that institution's board.
We are expecting a number of honorees, they teased in a preview on social media yesterday, there will be a country music icon, an Englishman, a New
York City rock band, a dance queen, as well as multibillion dollar actor. "The Washington Post", expecting a reporting that it's going to be George
Strait along with Michael Crawford and the band KISS.
But taken together, the president taking steps here to reshape American pop culture around his personal and political brand, Christina.
MACFARLANE: Yeah. All right, Betsy, I know you'll continue to follow this as it develops. Betsy Klein, there. Thank you. Still to come, President
Trump's nominee for labor stats chief is a sharp critic of how those monthly jobs numbers have been collected, why his pick is raising concerns
from economists all over the political spectrum. Plus, stark new images of President Donald Trump's crackdown on crime in Washington DC.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: Welcome back. I'm Christina Macfarlane in London, and you are watching "Connect the World". These are your headlines this hour. U.S.,
President Donald Trump is participating in a virtual meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and EU heads of state ahead of his summit
with Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday in Alaska.
The French President's office says that, that meeting started a short time ago. The White House is downplaying expectations for the summit, describing
it as a listening exercise. Israel is one step closer to entering a new phase of its war against Hamas.
[09:30:00]
The IDF says its chief of staff has approved the main concept for a new attack plan in Gaza. Israel Security Cabinet approved a military expansion
in Gaza last week. A typhoon slammed into parts of Taiwan earlier Wednesday, closing schools and canceling flights. Typhoon Podol with wind
gusts of at least 178 kilometers per hour, has knocked out power to tens of thousands of customers.
Officials say one person is missing and dozens have been injured. U.S. President Donald Trump speak to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics now
appears to be backing away from his unprecedented plan to suspend the monthly jobs report. The report is considered one of the most crucial
measurements of the state of the U.S. economy.
And the change of tune comes after E.J. Antoni said in an inter conducted a week before his nomination, that the agency should only publish quarterly
data until he can ensure the monthly data is more accurate. Antoni was nominated after President Trump fired the Agency's Former Commissioner
Erika McEntarfer, claiming, without evidence, that jobs report revisions for May and June were a quote scam and a vendetta against his presidency.
CNN's Clare Duffy is coming the latest for us from New York. So, Clare, E.J. Antoni has long been a critic of the monthly job's numbers. As we
said, they're saying they're online, unreliable, frequently revised. And just a week ago, he posted on social media saying, quote, there have better
be ways.
There are better ways to collect, process and disseminate the data. So, do we know why he sort of changed his mind on this?
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yeah. Christina, this has been a really interesting back and forth to watch. He also really raised some eyebrows in
these comments that he gave to Fox Digital. I just want to read you a portion of that. Antoni said, until it is corrected, the BLS should suspend
issuing the monthly jobs reports, but keep publishing the more accurate the less timely quarterly data.
Major decision makers from Wall Street to DC rely on these numbers, and a lack of confidence in the data has far reaching consequences. And of
course, the reason that folks might be concerned about that statement is right there in his comments. This is data that is heavily relied upon by
business makers, by policymakers.
And you know, he is now apparently backing away from this. His former colleague at the Heritage Foundation, Stephen Moore, telling our Danny
Freeman yesterday that he expects Antoni will continue publishing that monthly data. Let's take a listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN MOORE, ECONOMIST AT HERITAGE FOUNDATION: In fact, I've talked to E.J. about it, and he's not going to do that. We need monthly numbers. Now
what he's talking about is we do a quarterly number that's much more accurate than the monthly one. He's saying, well, maybe we, but he's backed
off that. We're going to continue to do monthly numbers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DUFFY: Look, there are a lot of economists who really emphasize the importance of the quality of this jobs data. As you said, this is one of
the most crucial measurements of the state of the U.S. economy, and there are concerns around the low number of survey respondents that you know are
contributing to this data.
But that's not necessarily something that a new BLS Commissioner is going to be able to solve especially not right away. This is voluntary surveys
that are providing this data. What's more, I think there is broad consensus that some data is better than no data.
This monthly data provides the clearest picture that we have at that time of the state of the job's information, and then that information continues
to get refined month to month as we go through the quarter, and we get a clearer picture of the full situation. So, I think it is sort of unclear.
Antoni has not commented on this directly since he made those comments. It's unclear when he had that conversation with Moore that he referred to
yesterday, the White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt did say yesterday that the White House hopes to continue to publish that monthly
data.
But I think a lot of questions as we head into the confirmation conversation around Antoni, if he is indeed confirmed, how he will proceed
with the providing of this very important data, Christina.
MACFARLANE: Yeah, and if that data will be unbiased. Clare, we appreciate it. Thank you. And President Trump considered the possibility of
reappointing Former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen back in 2017 instead of naming his current Fed Chief Jerome Powell.
That's according to the U.S. secretary Scott Bessent, who is advising Mr. Trump on the decision over who will replace Powell when his term expires
next year. Bessent says the president is keeping quite a very open mind. Last week, Trump said four people were under consideration, but that list
has reportedly expanded.
U.S. President Donald Trump's crackdown on crime in Washington, D.C. is moving full speed ahead, with the National Guard troops and a number of
federal agents now patrolling the city. The president declared a crime emergency in the city on Monday, and also placed the DC Metropolitan Police
under federal control in order to beef up security.
The White House says more than 20 people were arrested on Monday, the first day of the law enforcement surge.
[09:35:00]
Suspects were arrested for a number of crimes, including homicide firearm offenses and Lewd Acts. Trump's unprecedented move comes even though data
from the police show that violent crime is on the decline. CNN's Gabe Cohen is following the story for us. Joins us now.
And Gabe some city leaders and residents have been vocal in their opposition to what they are calling an occupation of Washington, D.C. Tell
us what more you're hearing.
GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Christina, to give you a little context, DC's Mayor Muriel Bowser was a fierce critic of President Trump
during his first term. But since President Trump retook office in January, she has really tempered her language, towed a line, knowing that the
president and Republicans in Congress hold all of the cards.
So, she has been very careful with her language when speaking publicly about the president, not wanting to antagonize him at all. That seems like
it may have changed over the past 48 hours, given the actions of the president when it comes to federalizing law enforcement here in the
nation's capital.
She used much sharper language during a town hall last night. Here's a little bit of what the mayor had to say about the president's actions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER, WASHINGTON: What you shouldn't do is wait for me to tell you what to do. This is a time where community needs to jump in to
protect our city and to protect our autonomy, to protect our home rule, and get to the other side of this guy and make sure we elect the Democratic
House. So that we have a backstop to this at their authoritarian push.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COHEN: And look, Christina, this has only been playing out now for about 48 hours, but there are big questions about who is actually calling the shots
when it comes to law enforcement here in Washington. If you ask the mayor and the police chief, they have essentially said they are still the ones in
charge.
They are just reporting to some of their federal partners. But if you ask the White House, they say that Attorney General, Pam Bondi and Terry Cole,
who is the Head of the DEA, that they are the ones who are really in charge right now, and so there is a bit of this power struggle happening at the
moment.
It will be interesting to see. But you can expect that there are going to be a lot more National Guard troops and Federal officers deployed all
across Washington, D.C. in the days and weeks ahead.
MACFARLANE: Yeah, it's a good question, Gabe. Who is in charge here. We will wait to see how this plays out. But for now, from Washington, thank
you. Michael Phelps heard the call from the Baltimore Ravens to learn how to swim, and the 23-time Olympic gold medalist didn't hesitate to help.
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[09:40:00]
MACFARLANE: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have announced they're staying with media giant Netflix under a new multi-year deal. Under their previous
agreement, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle produced several projects, including the lifestyle series with love Meghan, which is the most watched
culinary show on Netflix.
The contract extension is expected to give Netflix the option to preview and select any future projects from the couple. And the NFL's Baltimore
Ravens shared a pool with Michael Phelps on Tuesday, a couple of weeks after some of the players asked the 23-time Olympic champion in Baltimore
native for swimming lessons.
And guess what? Phelps showed up to lend a helping hand, because that is the type of champion he is, Amanda.
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yeah. I mean, talk about friends in high places. I have to say, this is really special. Michael Phelps and his
foundation have made a point of trying to help make people feel more comfortable in the water from whoever they are, whatever background for a
professional athlete, a male adult professional athlete, to say, you know what, I need some help.
This is not my natural habitat, as some of the Ravens players did, and then put themselves on camera, taking swimming lessons.
MACFARLANE: And from Michael Phelps.
DAVIES: So, there were two groups. They were the players who weren't so comfortable in the water, who literally went back to basics with the
noodles, as you can see. And then this was some of the players who were a bit more comfortable having a bit of a diving competition.
MACFARLANE: Yeah.
DAVIES: But a really, really special moment and actually a really important message for people and professional athletes to show, you know, everyone
can start somewhere.
MACFARLANE: Yeah.
DAVIES: And it's important for people to learn. So got a bit more of that coming up on "World Sport".
MACFARLANE: We definitely look forward to that.
DAVIES: Yeah.
MACFARLANE: And stay with us. Amanda will be back as we watch these lovely swimming images after this quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:45:00]
(WORLD SPORT)
[10:00:00]
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