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Thailand's Prime Minister Removed From Office; Migrant Speaks Out About Arrests Captured In Viral Video; Top CDC Officials Resign To Protest Agency Director's Firing. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired August 29, 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]
MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The country -- the Parliament is going to have to come up with a new successor. Their choices are only the candidates who were standing for office in the last election, which is 2023.
But, you know, for people who are following this news, MJ, this is the third leader of a political dynasty in this family to be removed from office. First it was her father, then it was her aunt, and now it's her, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who has been in the job for just about a year now.
So we're not, here from our position, expecting mass protests because really this family, based on our reporting, has fallen out of favor with a sizeable section of the Thai electorate. So it's -- we're going to be watching to see what the kind of outrage here is. But again, there was outrage that was really directed at her for having this phone conversation.
So it's not as though our viewers should expect, you know, upheaval to be altering daily life -- quite the opposite. Thailand has been through an iteration of this movie before in terms of leaders removed either for insulting the monarchy or for running afoul of one law or the other and being removed by a court.
But that's the breaking news that we have from this side of the world that Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the youngest prime minister in Thailand's history, removed by Thailand's constitutional court effective immediately for having a conversation with Cambodia -- with the former leader of Cambodia over those tense border clashes.
So now the question is who will Thailand's Parliament pick as a new successor? Will they move in a different direction or perhaps pick somebody who is from a similar political party? But a lot of eyes on Thailand after this seismic move, MJ.
MJ LEE, CNN ANCHOR: Yeah, and we have been watching the just-removed prime minister, so we'll keep monitoring that and we'll bring any headlines coming out of those remarks.
Mike Valerio on this breaking news. Thanks so much.
And still ahead, fleeing for safety. Residents of Gaza City are packing up and heading south as Israel steps up its military campaign. What the U.N. Secretary General is saying about those attacks.
(COMMERCIAL)
[05:36:35]
LEE: Israel is ramping up its military campaign to take over and occupy Gaza City. Tanks and planes pounded the outskirts of the city on Thursday, and the IDF says it has dismantled several Hamas tunnels and destroyed what it calls "terrorist infrastructure."
The attack sent residents fleeing as Israeli drones dropped leaflets warning people to head south. An Israeli military spokesperson says the evacuation of Gaza's largest city is inevitable.
Meanwhile, the U.N. Secretary General is accusing Israel of blocking humanitarian efforts and using starvation as a method of warfare.
And in other international news France, Germany, and the U.K. say Iran's nuclear program is a clear threat to international peace and security, so they're starting the process of reimposing sanctions on Tehran. The so-called E3 countries are accusing Iran of not complying with the 2015 nuclear deal, which restricts uranium enrichment and allows for international inspections.
Iran has condemned the move, calling it provocative, unnecessary, and is warning of appropriate responses. Tehran has repeatedly said its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes and that it plans to build more nuclear energy plants.
And coming up, the video of the arrest of two migrant brothers went viral recently. Now one of the brothers is speaking out about his family and the life he was forced to leave behind in the U.S.
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[05:42:40]
LEE: A migrant who was deported from the U.S. to Mexico is speaking to CNN about how federal agents treated him and his brother during their arrests in Connecticut. It was captured all on video that went viral, and we should warn some may find these images disturbing.
CNN's Maria Santana has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEONEL CHAVEZ, MIGRANT DEPORTED TO MEXICO: You can't do that! You can't do that!
MARIA SANTANA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Forty-two-year-old Leonel Chavez captured his own arrest in Norwalk, Connecticut. He says he was driving to work with his brother Ricardo on the morning of August 15 when federal immigration agents surrounded his truck demanding they get out. He says the agents gave no explanation before they smashed his window, cut his seat belt, and shocked him with a taser. CHAVEZ: What are you looking for?
IMMIGRATION AGENT: Get out of the car.
CHAVEZ: Why?
SANTANA (voiceover): Speaking from Mexico, Leonel shows us the scars left by the taser, but he says the wounds run much deeper.
CHAVEZ: I was screaming because I was scared. But after that trying to pull me out -- but like I said, the seatbelt on the place -- they cut the seatbelt and just pulled me out.
SANTANA (voiceover): After being detained for about a week in a Massachusetts detention center, he was deported -- forced to leave behind his family and the life he built in the United States.
CHAVEZ: I don't feel home, like, because all my life is in the U.S. I miss my kids. I miss my wife, my church, my community.
SANTANA (voiceover): Leonel says he was just 17 years old when he moved to the U.S. He started his own masonry business, married an American citizen, and has three U.S.-born children. He says he has worked with an attorney over the years to file for legal status but was never able to get his papers.
SANTANA: I could see in one video how proud you were when your daughter graduated college. What is it like being away from your children and your wife and knowing that you may not be part of more big moments like that?
CHAVEZ: It's sad. It's sad because my son's graduation is this year and my daughter too for high school and my son for college. But after that I leave everything in God's hands.
[05:45:00]
SANTANA (voiceover): Leonel says his brother, who had been in the U.S. since 2008, was also deported. In images shot by a passerby Ricardo can be seen running from an agent who shocks him several times after he falls to the ground. With his face bloodied Ricardo is then handcuffed.
That video of his brother's arrest has drawn questions from officials in Connecticut. Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum went further, calling it a possible human rights violation. But in a statement to CNN, the Department of Homeland Security said their agents followed protocol and used only the minimum force necessary.
They also called Leonel an illegal immigrant with a long criminal record. Court documents show Leonel has several decades old misdemeanor convictions -- mistakes he says were made in his youth.
CHAVEZ: But that's in my past. Like, my teenage years, you know. After maybe 25 I do everything right and try to be a better person.
SANTANA (voiceover): He now longs for the day he is reunited with his family in the only place he's ever called home.
CHAVEZ: I love America. I love USA because I got all my family there. All my -- like I said, all my friends, families, church. Sooner or later I will be back, but I got to do the right thing, you know? Legal, straight -- everything so I can start a new life.
SANTANA (voiceover): Maria Santana, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEE: Staffers at the CDC lining up to bid farewell to their colleagues who resigned in protest. We'll see what's next for the troubled agency just ahead on EARLY START.
(COMMERCIAL)
[05:51:08]
LEE: Welcome back. I'm MJ Lee. Here are some of the stories we're watching today.
The two students killed in Wednesday's school shooting in Minnesota have been identified as 10-year-old Harper Moyski and 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel. Harper's family described her as bright, joyful, and deeply loved. And Fletcher's family called the shooter a coward, noting how much the boy loved his family.
Senior Ukrainian officials are set to hold talks with the Trump administration in New York today, but this comes as the U.S. envoy for Ukraine says a massive assault on Kyiv earlier Thursday threatens President Trump's efforts to end the war. Ukrainian officials say Russia launched more than 600 drones and missiles killing at least 23 people.
And Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is expected to name Jim O'Neill as acting head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The former technology and biotech investor is currently the deputy HHS secretary, and he would replace Dr. Susan Monarez who was fired this week.
More now on the CDC's shakeup from CNN health reporter Jacqueline Howard.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: There is chaos at the CDC right now. And just this morning HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had this to say on "FOX & FRIENDS" when he was asked about this exodus of CDC officials. Have a listen.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., SECRETARY, U.S. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: No, it has caught as surprised by -- by surprise. Again, I cannot comment on personnel issues. But the agency is in trouble, and we need to fix it, and we are fixing it. And it may be that some people should not be working there anymore. HOWARD: And what we know, sources tell CNN that the ouster of CDC
director Dr. Susan Monarez actually followed clashes that she had with HSS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as well as internal pressure from Kennedy's deputy chief of staff.
We know that behind the scenes there were these tensions around vaccine policy, around priorities. Dr. Monarez says that she has been following the science. But just weeks after she was sworn in as CDC director, here is what developed overnight.
The White House said in a statement, "Susan Monarez is now aligned with the president's agenda of Making America Healthy Again. Since Susan Monarez refused to resign despite informing HHS leadership of her intent to do so, the White House has terminated Monarez from her position."
Now in response, Dr. Monarez's attorneys say this in a statement. "Our client was notified tonight by a White House staffer in the personnel office that she was fired. As a presidential appointee, Senate confirmed officer, only the president himself can fire her. For this reason, we reject the notification Dr. Monarez has received as legally deficient and she remains as CDC director. We have notified the White House counsel of our position."
And as we know, following Dr. Monarez's ouster we did see other top CDC officials announce they are leaving the agency. This is in solidarity with Dr. Monarez. And this is all happening just months after we did see sweeping job cuts at the agency in the spring.
This turmoil leaves public health experts concerned. There is no one currently, it seems, steering the ship at CDC and this could have potential public health implications.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEE: And we'll be right back.
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[05:59:17]
LEE: The first stage of the World Rally Championship gets underway today in Trinidad, Paraguay. Drivers have been testing the course in what are called shakedowns, and several competitors mentioned the challenges of driving on the red gravel roads with plenty of loose rocks. Weather could also become a factor with drivers saying rain could make softer clay areas more like ice with limited grip.
Paraguay joins Saudi Arabia and the Canary Islands as new destinations on this year's World Rally Championship calendar.
And I know you've heard of the Super Bowl, but what about the Super Ball? It's the world's top freestyle football or soccer competition and there are no goals here. Freestyle football is as much a performance art as it is a sport. Players balance and juggle a football, performing complex and skillful moves that are timed to music. Around 500 people from 40 countries competed this year putting in plenty of practice for the Super Ball.
[06:00:15]
And thank you so much for joining us here on EARLY START. I'm MJ Lee in Washington, D.C. And "CNN THIS MORNING" starts right now.
