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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Israeli Security Cabinet Approves Plan To Occupy Gaza City; Trump Increasing Federal Law Enforcement In D.C.; Sources: Trump Steps Up Purge Of Perceived Disloyalists. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired August 08, 2025 - 05:30   ET

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

[05:30:00]

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VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: And we've been hearing from companies since April about how tariffs are affecting their bottom line.

On Thursday Japanese automaker Toyota said they were expecting a $10 billion impact from tariffs. And e.l.f. Cosmetics, which sources its products from China, said profits fell by 30 percent in the second quarter because of tariffs.

And by one estimate, according to the Yale Budget Lab, these tariffs will cost the average American family about $2,400 more each year.

Back to you.

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MJ LEE, CNN ANCHOR: The Trump administration is putting more federal agents on the streets of America's capital. What the president says prompted that show of force just ahead.

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[05:35:20]

LEE: An update on our top story. The Israeli security cabinet has approved a plan to occupy Gaza City as part of its war against Hamas. An Israeli source tells CNN the deadline to evacuate Gaza City is now October 7, with the overall plan taking up to five months.

We've mentioned before that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is calling on Israel to rethink its decision, and now Turkey is adding its voice to that chorus.

The Foreign Ministry says Israel's decision to take over Gaza City "constitutes a new phase of its expansionist and genocidal policy in the region." It's calling on Israel to stop its plans, agree to a ceasefire in Gaza, and start negotiations toward a two-state solution.

Firefighters in Turkey are trying to contain a new major wildfire, the second in two weeks. Authorities say two firefighting planes and 12 helicopters are working with crews on the ground in the northern province of Karabuk.

Brutal summer weather is making things tough for crews battling fires in the western U.S. The Canyon Fire forced more than 4,200 people to leave their homes northwest of Los Angeles as it nearly tripled in size within a matter of hours. And nearly 3,000 firefighters are trying to get a handle on the massive Gifford Fire, which has scorched nearly 100,000 acres or about 40,000 hectares.

And crews in western Colorado are keeping a wary eye on the weather as they battle two growing fires, both of which are zero percent contained. A red flag warning is in effect for the weekend, meaning hot, dry and windy weather will likely make fire conditions even worse.

And President Trump is setting his sights on more perceived disloyalists at the FBI. And now two of the bureau's top leaders will be out of jobs and they reportedly don't even know why. That's ahead.

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[05:41:40]

LEE: Welcome back. I'm MJ Lee. Here are some of the stories we're watching today.

Israel's security cabinet has approved a plan to occupy Gaza City. The prime minister's office says the military will prepare to take over the area while providing aid to civilians outside of combat zones. An Israeli source tells CNN the deadline for evacuating Gaza City is October 7.

And U.S. President Donald Trump says his potential summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin is not conditioned on President Putin also meeting with Ukraine's president. Both Trump and Putin have expressed interest in a face-to-face meeting about the war in Ukraine possibly as early as next week. U.S. officials say nothing has been finalized yet.

And today marks a deadline from the Republican speaker of the Texas state legislature who is demanding that Democratic lawmakers return to the state. Dozens of Texas Democrats fled the state last week to delay a vote that would redraw electoral maps to favor Republicans.

The White House says it is expanding the federal law enforcement presence in Washington, D.C. The move comes just days after a well- known former DOGE staffer was assaulted.

CNN's Brian Todd has more.

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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): President Trump ramps up his threats toward Washington, D.C. saying he's thinking of having his administration take over the city's police department. DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're considering it, yeah, because the crime is ridiculous. I could show you a chart comparing D.C. to other locations and you're not going to want to see what it looks like.

TODD (voiceover): The president is also making plans to step up the federal law enforcement presence in the nation's capital, according to three sources familiar with the plan -- which one of them says could include personnel from the National Guard, ICE, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security.

Trump angered by a violent attack on a former DOGE employee. Police say 19-year-old Edward Coristine was assaulted by a group of about 10 juveniles during an attempted carjacking in D.C. early Sunday morning.

TRUMP: We just almost lost a young man -- a beautiful, handsome guy that got the hell knocked out of him.

TODD (voiceover): Police said they have arrested two suspects so far and as they search for the others the agitated president has also been threatening to take over the entire D.C. government.

TRUMP: We have to run D.C. This has to be the best run place in the country, not the worst run place in the country.

TODD (voiceover): Can he really do all of that? Under the Home Rule Act of 1973, which gave the district self-governing power, the president can deploy D.C. National Guard troops in the city and can take over control of the city's police force, but only temporarily.

Experts say it would take an act of Congress to actually federalize the D.C. government.

JILL HASDA, CONSTITUTIONAL LAW PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA LAW SCHOOL: But that doesn't mean the president can just take over D.C. The president can only act when he's either explicitly authorized by the constitution directly or when he's enabled -- when he's empowered by a federal statute. And there's no federal statute that allows -- to date that allows the President of the United States to simply take over local government in D.C.

TODD (voiceover): Police contend violent crime in the district has actually gone down considerably, dropping 26 percent from a year ago.

ROBBIE WOODLAND, D.C. ADVISORY NEIGHBORHOOD COMMISSIONER: It went down. So we got a new police chief. She's been doing a great job at getting the crime to go down.

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TODD (voiceover): Former deputy city administrator Larry King does not think the city would benefit from federal intervention.

LARRY KING, FORMER DEPUTY CITY ADMINISTRATOR: They probably need more officers but the officers they have now and the chief of police understands and knows the city very well. Having an outside force come in, it would not be successful.

TODD (voiceover): D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has not commented at all on President Trump's idea to federalize Washington, and the D.C. police are not commenting either.

TODD: In addition to the radio silence from the mayor and the D.C. police on all of this, the D.C. City Council seems to be staying away from it as well. We tried to get comments from all 12 members of the council. Only one of them got back to us, and her main concern was that neither the Biden nor the Trump administrations have nominated enough judges to handle the criminal caseload in the city.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

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LEE: The Trump administration is calling on the Supreme Court to allow its divisive immigration sweeps to continue in Southern California. Critics say agents carried out these roving patrols en masse and targeted people who identify as Latino, including some U.S. citizens. Lower courts said the patrols likely violated the Fourth Amendment and ordered the Department of Homeland Security to stop.

The Justice Department argues that immigration agents should be able to question someone if they speak Spanish or work in construction. It claims that those factors "can heighten the likelihood that someone is unlawfully present in the United States."

Meanwhile, President Trump is also moving to change the way the U.S. counts it population. He said on Thursday that he considers -- ordered, excuse me, a new census that would not count undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. The move would upend the way the census is usually conducted and could be unconstitutional.

The next census is scheduled in 2030 and it's unclear if President Trump wants to hold another one before that. Census results can affect congressional election maps, so an early census could politically benefit President Trump.

His announcement came as the White House pushes some Republican states to redraw their maps, which could help the GOP in next year's midterm elections.

The White House is also pushing ahead with its purge of perceived disloyalists at the FBI. Sources say two senior officials are being fired, including the bureau's former acting director, while a number of agents are facing the same fate all because they're seen as being opposed to President Trump.

Katelyn Polantz has more.

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KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: A handful of case agents and senior leaders at the FBI fired this week by the Trump administration. We don't have exactly why these firing are taking place but they are people who have been at odds or perceived to be at odds with the Trump administration in the past.

The top name of the person -- one of the people being fired -- it's Brian Driscoll. He was the acting director of the FBI before FBI Director Kash Patel, a political appointee of Donald Trump, was confirmed. And Driscoll is of note because he has gone to bat over and over again for the rank-and-file agents across the bureau at a time where they feel under attack. There have been other firings for people that the administration thinks are weaponizing the justice system.

Brian Driscoll -- previously, he was pushing back against Trump political appointees in the Justice Department who wanted the list of names of thousands of people at the FBI who had worked on January 6 cases -- ones that Donald Trump did not like.

And then now we are hearing that Brian Driscoll -- before he was fired, he would not discipline -- as others in the administration wanted -- an FBI pilot for a plane where Kash Patel was using that plane. But that FBI agent had been someone that was part of issuing a subpoena in one of the investigations of Donald Trump previously before he retook office.

Brian Driscoll -- he sent a note out to his colleagues at the FBI after he was informed. He said, "Last night I was informed that tomorrow..." -- that's Friday, today -- "will be my last day in the FBI. I understand that you may have a lot of questions regarding why for which I currently have no answers. No cause has been articulated at this time. I regret nothing. You are my heroes, and I remain in your debt."

The FBI Agents Association -- they also issued a statement saying, "Agents are not given the option to pick and choose their cases, and these agents carried out their assignments with professionalism and integrity. Most importantly, they followed the law. If these agents are fired without due process, it makes the American people less safe."

The FBI Agents Association clearly believing that some of these firings may be in retaliation because of the politics of Donald Trump's administration and the purge that he has tried to have across the Justice Department and the FBI.

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These were so unexpected, though, this week that one of the people fired -- another person -- his name is Steve Jensen -- he was in charge of the Washington field office. And just on Wednesday he was announced to be at a press conference that he then did not appear at yesterday.

Back to you.

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LEE: Ahead on EARLY START today is not just any Friday, it's "Freakier Friday." As the long awaited sequel hits movie theaters, Nick Viall joins us next to go over the biggest Hollywood headlines. (COMMERCIAL)

LEE: It's been a busy week in Hollywood and here to help us wrap up the latest pop culture headlines is TV personality and host of the "Viall Files" podcast, Nick Viall.

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Nick, so excited you're joining us to chat all things entertainment this morning. You either stayed up very late for us or set a very early alarm, so thanks for being here.

NICK VIALL, TV PERSONALITY, HOST, "THE VIALL FILES" PODCAST: Good to be with you, MJ. I stayed up late but happy to -- happy to be with you.

LEE: Thanks for that.

I want to start with the couple that everyone is talking about. That is, of course, Pamela Anderson and Liam Neeson, both household names, now starring together in the movie "Naked Gun." There is just speculation galore that Anderson and Neeson are romantically involved. They have not confirmed it but look at their recent interaction on the red carpet.

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LIAM NEESON, ACTOR, "NAKED GUN": She's a special lady.

PAMELA ANDERSON, ACTRESS, "NAKED GUN": Oh, that's nice. And he's very special. It was a real -- it was a pleasure. It was so much fun to go to work every day.

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LEE: I think what's fun is that you can just feel that so many people are rooting for them.

What do you think? Are you on the Pamela-Liam train? I think it's really awesome.

VIALL: I think it's great. It's a lot of fun. I think with these movies they're very nostalgic. And I think you like to see couples have chemistry on screen, and when you see a little bit off it's -- it makes it a little bit more exciting. Like you said, they're both icons. Liam obviously has had some heartbreak in the past with the passing of his wife and it's great to see him happy. And they both seem like they're really enjoying this experience.

So I love it. I think it's great. I hope it's real. Regardless, I think it's a lot of fun for fans.

LEE: I hope it's real, too.

OK, let's talk about how today is a special Friday. "Freakier Friday," which is the long-awaited sequel to "Freaky Friday" is being released today. This is just such a highly anticipated reunion for Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan coming more than 20 years after the release of the first film.

So I was 16 when "Freaky Friday" came out and it is just like this real classic I think for lots of people in our generation.

Are you going to watch, Nick, and what do you hope we'll see?

VIALL: I'm definitely going to watch. I'm a big fan as well. I think we just love a lot of these remakes that you're seeing. They're just very nostalgic. It's fun to just bring back your childhood memories. I think it brings generations together and it's just really fun to see.

And also, I just -- I think with the rise of streamers and things like that you're seeing younger generations being able to go back and watch popular movies and popular shows. Like, "SUITS" had a renaissance a few years back and that created that new season.

So it's just a lot of fun to see some of your old favorites come back. It gets people together. It brings families together. And I'm excited to see it.

LEE: Yeah. I mean, you are talking about nostalgia here. You know, we've seen a bunch of sequels and remakes lately, as you were saying. "Naked Gun," as were talking about. "Happy Gilmore 2," "Superman," "Fantastic Four."

Do you think these are extra popular right now because of that nostalgia that you are talking about? Like, people want to see --

VIALL: Yeah.

LEE: -- those classics from their childhood and their youth.

VIALL: Absolutely, and I think they're just far more accessible. Now with all the different streamers it's very easy to go back and watch shows and TV shows that are still popular. And a lot of these hold up. Like, for example, like "THE SOPRANOS." A lot of people are discovering that show for the very first time and enjoying it and watching it.

And so when you have these shows very accessible sometimes they have kind of second and third waves and runs, and that allows kind of new -- a new audience and new excitement. And I think a lot of times will create the opportunity for these remakes, and it's really exciting.

LEE: Yeah, definitely.

OK, we finally do need to squeeze in something that you are the most well-versed in. That is dating, love, and reality TV.

Your podcast "The Viall Files" has a really big fan base and sometimes you'll spend like two hours talking about one episode of a reality dating show like "LOVE ISLAND USA." I have never watched "LOVE ISLAND" and I need you to explain why it is such a sensation.

CNN had this recent story about how that show is basically the reason that watch parties are making a comeback.

VIALL: Yeah. I think there's a lot of variables. I think one, love is universal. Regardless of who you are, you identify with the idea of falling in love. I think now more than ever people are lonely out there. They're having a hard time on their own making connections, so it's fun to watch people and live vicariously through them.

And the element of "LOVE ISLAND" -- it's essentially in real time. And so it's going on over the course of five to six weeks. Episodes are going on. You're seeing them the next day. I think a lot of audiences are just kind of imagining what these people are doing in the villa. And I think it's just very -- just cool for people to see.

[06:00:05]

And then obviously, I think when we watch reality TV it's kind of a lens into our own lives. I think a lot of people will either watch themselves. They -- you know, they get reminded of themselves. It reminds them of an ex. Sometimes we get triggered by people we see and we think oh, that reminds me of someone I dated.

So I think it's -- it connects with people on a bunch of different levels but it's all just very much kind of just a reflection of, like, today's society. A little heightened, obviously, and a little messy, but I think that's --

LEE: Yeah.

VIALL: -- why a lot of people love it. It creates a lot of, like, water cooler talk. A lot of people go into work and just say can you believe what happened --

LEE: All right, Nick.

VIALL: -- last night and discussing it, and that's a lot of fun.

LEE: Nick, we are out of time, so we'll talk more about this later. But thank you so much for joining us.

And thank you all for joining us here on EARLY START. "CNN THIS MORNING" starts right now.