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Early Start with Rahel Solomon
Supreme Court Allows "Roving" ICE Patrols In California; Ukrainian Refugee Killed On N.C. Train; Epstein's "Birthday Book" Released; French PM Ousted By Fractured Parliament Amid Debt Crisis; Nepal's Prime Minister Resigns After Protests Turn Deadly. Aired 5- 5:30a ET
Aired September 09, 2025 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:26]
BRIAN ABEL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, and welcome to our viewers joining us from the United States and all around the world. Thank you so much for being with us. I'm Brian Abel. Rahel Solomon is off.
It is Tuesday, September 9th, 5:00 a.m. here in Washington, D.C.
And straight ahead on EARLY START.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR KAREN BASS (D), LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: The rule of law used to mean something. This is an attack on every person in this city and in every city in our country.
TOM HOMAN, BORDER CZAR: Sanctuary cities are sanctuary for criminals.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't know why Chicago isn't calling us, saying, please give us help. Lunatic just got up and started. It's right on the tape. Not -- not really watchable because it's so horrible.
JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: What he really needed was inpatient mental health care.
SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): I don't think the Epstein thing is the big thing. I don't know, release it.
REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA): We have a culture of dehumanizing women in America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC)
ABEL: A Supreme Court win for Donald Trump's crackdown on immigration means ICE raids could become more frequent across the U.S. The court's conservative justices backed the president's plans to continue roving ICE patrols in parts of California, offering no explanation for their decision. It comes as tensions are rising over the White House's aggressive
actions to combat crime and immigration issues, and Democratic led cities like Chicago, the first target of the so-called operation midway blitz, the name given to the homeland security operation targeting undocumented migrants.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker responded to the announcement on Monday, saying in part, quote, this isn't about fighting crime. Instead of taking steps to work with us on public safety, the Trump administration is focused on scaring the people of Illinois.
President Trump says he doesn't understand the governor's reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I don't know why Chicago isn't calling us, saying, please give us help when you have over just a short period of time, 50 murders and hundreds of people shot, and then you have a governor that stands up and says how crime is just fine. It's -- it's really crazy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABEL: Meanwhile, President Trump's border czar says critics of the presidents initiative need to look at the facts and offered his own insight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOMAN: We're going to continue to go to sanctuary cities. Sanctuary cities are sanctuaries for criminals. And anybody that argues that aren't looking at the facts. I'm not asking, you know, the mayors and the governors to be ICE officers. I'm not asking the local police department to be ICE officers. We're asking their cops to work with our cops to help us take public safety threats off the street and make their streets safer.
Don't you think the governor of Illinois and the mayor of Chicago, don't you think the number one responsibility is protection of those communities? And taking public safety threats out of there?
I'm not saying every illegal alien is a public safety threat, but many are. So, whatever that percentage is, help us get them out of the country and make that community safer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABEL: Sherrell Hubbard has more details on the unrest sparked by the president's immigration crackdown.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHERRELL HUBBARD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In southern California, masked and armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will be allowed to continue what critics call roving patrols, stopping and interrogating people about their immigration status. Lower courts found that these patrols likely violated the Fourth Amendment, but the Supreme Court disagreed, likely clearing the way for similar practices elsewhere.
HOMAN: You can expect action in sanctuary cities across the country.
HUBBARD: After weeks of threats by President Trump, White House border czar Tom Homan says a move to send federal agents to Chicago is imminent.
Over the weekend, thousands protested against ICE and for immigrants rights in Illinois and in neighboring Indiana, Hoosiers rallied against housing ICE detainees in their state.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to see that money used to address the housing crisis in our community, to address homelessness, to address the fact that people cant afford their rent.
HUBBARD: In Boston, city leaders are saying, no thanks to ICE.
BENJAMIN WEBER, BOSTON CITY COUNCIL: Our cooperation with each other is why this is the safest city in the country. And I just completely reject this notion that, you know, somehow we need ICE or Secretary Homan or Tom Homan to come in and save us.
HUBBARD: Critics of the immigration crackdown say federal agents should not be targeting people because of their race or how they speak and the jobs they work.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What they've been doing in other cities, they've been targeting families, even young kids.
[05:05:04]
American citizens have been deported.
HUBBARD: I'm Sherrell Hubbard, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ABEL: California's top Democrats and some of President Trump's most vocal critics are denouncing the Supreme Court's ruling.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, for example, warned the courts decision threatens the fabric of personal freedom in the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BASS: Today, the Supreme Court, the very body that used to advance civil rights and defend personal liberties -- liberties, has now given the green light for law enforcement to profile and detain Angelenos based on their race. I want the entire nation to hear me when I say, this isn't just an attack on the people of Los Angeles. This is an attack on every person in this city and in every city in our country. And how ironic is it that this same Supreme Court that ruled colleges cannot use race in the admissions process has now ruled that law enforcement can use race to conduct raids and detain people.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ABEL: And California Governor Gavin Newsom gave a razor sharp rebuke to the ruling, saying, quote, Trump's hand-picked Supreme Court majority just became the grand marshal for a parade of racial terror in Los Angeles.
And now to Charlotte, North Carolina, where a young Ukrainian refugee is dead after a shocking, unprovoked act of act of violence. A suspect is in custody. But as the victim's family mourns, the crime is becoming a focal point for political wrangling.
CNN's Dianne Gallagher has this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Authorities released chilling surveillance video of a fatal stabbing last month on Charlotte, North Carolina's light rail.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just rode it, like, hours before. Like, I'd be on there all the time. I have had words with people, but never violent.
GALLAGHER: Video of the unprovoked attack shows 23-year- old Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee, walk onto the train and sit directly in front of the suspect, still in her work uniform from that day. After the train travels for approximately 4.5 minutes with no interaction between the victim and the assailant, he is seen pulling a knife from his pocket, unfolding it, and standing up before stabbing Zarutska three times and walking away.
Due to the graphic nature of the video, CNN is not showing the moment she was stabbed. In the video, Zarutska is seen unresponsive shortly after the attack.
The suspect, 34-year-old Decarlos Brown, has been charged with first- degree murder. He was hospitalized for treatment of a laceration, and a judge has ordered a 60-day psychiatric evaluation.
Brown has a lengthy criminal record, including convictions for armed robbery, felony larceny, and breaking and entering. State records show he was released in 2020 after spending over five years in prison for robbery with a dangerous weapon.
Brown was released after a January arrest for misuse of the 911 system, according to court records, on the condition that he promised to appear for his next hearing. The White House saying the move left him, quote, "free to slaughter an innocent woman just months later."
Members of the Trump administration also used the video to criticize Democratic-led cities for being soft on crime, a hot-button issue as President Trump vows to crack down on crime in large, predominantly Democratic cities.
TRUMP: A lunatic just got up and started, it's right on the tape, not really watchable because it's so horrible, but just viciously stabbed. We have to be able to handle that. If we don't handle that, we don't have a country.
GALLAGHER: Charlotte's mayor, Vi Lyles, released a statement Monday calling the horrific crime, quote, "a tragic failure by the courts and magistrates," and promising ramped-up public transportation security.
In her obituary, it says that Iryna Zarutska fled Ukraine in 2022 with her mother, sister and brother to escape the war with Russia. Quote, "And she quickly embraced her new life in the United States," only for it to be cut short by a senseless act of violence.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GALLAGHER (on camera): Now, Brown is homeless, according to court documents and his family. CNN spoke with his mother and his sister, who say that for years, they have struggled to get him adequate mental health treatment. His sister telling CNN that he is diagnosed as schizophrenic and also suffers from hallucinations and paranoia.
That January 911 misuse charge, he wanted police to investigate the fact that he said a man-made substance had been put inside him and was controlling his actions.
One more thing, as far as how this shocking stabbing here on the light rail in Charlotte will play into the national conversation about violent crime, just last month, Charlotte police were touting a 25 percent reduction in violent crime for the first half of this year compared to last year.
ABEL: Dianne Gallagher there.
John Miller, CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst, spoke earlier about some of the issues exposed by this shocking crime.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[05:10:01]
MILLER: There was nothing that she didn't observe or didn't notice. I watched the entire video of all of the time before she gets on the train. He's talking to himself. He's moving around.
Clearly, there's something going on with him. That was building up. But in this mental illness, you know, when we asked the sister, you talked to him after the murder, what did he say? And he said, I did it because she was reading my mind.
What he really needed was inpatient mental health care. And North Carolina rates last when it comes to mental health, bed availability, mental health clinics budgets have been slashed on the state level. Now, another giant slash by the Trump administration to the Medicaid funds going to North Carolina that would have supplied what was left. So this is a real challenge for police.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABEL: All right. Now to the U.S. House Oversight Committee releasing a trove of records Monday evening from Jeffrey Epstein's estate. Among them, a controversial note reportedly involving U.S. President Donald Trump. The president has repeatedly denied writing the letter and drawing a suggestive picture of a woman's figure on it. His denial has some lawmakers unsure of what to do next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Do you think its believable that someone came in and forged Donald Trump's signature and sent this letter to --
REP. DON BACON (R-NE): I think -- I think unlikely, but anything's possible in this. You know, there's -- there's a lot of what you see on social media. There's always fakes out there. But I -- though I think it's unlikely, but I think the bigger thing is the oversight committee is working.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABEL: But the White House is facing greater calls for transparency from some lawmakers. Democrat Ro Khanna is part of a team that is pushing a bill to compel a vote to release every piece of Epstein information. He's calling for more respect for women and victims of abuse.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA): We have a culture of dehumanizing women in America. We have a culture of not treating people who are survivors with respect, and that's got to change. And if there's one thing that I hope this conversation triggers around America is how do we respect women more and how do we honor people who have faced assault and survivors more? That's really what this is about. And I hope it's a wake-up call for the culture in our country that's allowing this kind of behavior.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABEL: CNN's Manu Raju has more on the public release of the Epstein documents and what lawmakers are saying about it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAJU: The House Oversight Committee released 356 pages of documents that it received on Monday afternoon from Jeffrey Epstein's estate. That came as a result of a subpoena that was issued by this committee. This committee receiving information relating to Jeffrey Epsteins bank accounts, his past contacts over a number of years, as well as this plea deal that was reached in 2007 that has now been criticized as far too lenient, given the crimes Epstein committed.
Now, one big thing, of course, got a lot of attention. That is the birthday book Epstein received in 2003. That birthday book included, apparently a letter from Donald Trump himself to Jeffrey Epstein, including a doodle of a woman on that -- that note. Trump had furiously denied that he had written any such note. When "The Wall Street Journal" reported it earlier this summer. In fact, he sued "The Wall Street Journal" on this for defamation. But this note appears to bear his signature.
The White House, however, now says that that signature is not his. So, the question is, who is telling the truth and how do they possibly get a document with a forged Trump signature from 2003? Why was it released now? And what do Republicans who have the power to force a vote on this issue? What do they think about all of this? Thats the question I put to several of them.
REP. TIM BURCHETT (R-TN): That's the first I've heard about it. Honestly.
RAJU: This is a letter -- you want to look at it?
BURCHETT: Is that the one he said didn't exist?
RAJU: Yeah. He said didn't exist. And is it --
BURCHETT: Yeah. Well, I don't know. I mean, anybody can do a signature.
REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY): It doesn't prove anything. Having a birthday card from Trump doesn't help the survivors and the victims. It doesn't name an additional new person who could be indicted. I think it's just a distraction.
The best evidence that my bill will reveal things that their effort does not is the tenacity with which they oppose my bill. If it were merely redundant, they wouldn't be working so hard to stop it.
RAJU: And last comment coming from coming from Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky. Of course, he is leading the charge on the GOP side to force a vote on this issue. But because of Republican leadership's opposition to his plan, which would compel the release of all the Epstein files, he has to go a different route. He has to get the support of 218 members of the House to put this on the floor.
[05:15:01]
That means he needs six Republicans to sign on to this effort. However, only four have backed his effort so far. They are two votes shy of forcing that vote because, according to Speaker Mike Johnson, he says it is not needed at this moment. But as you heard from Thomas Massie there, he said if they thought it was not needed, why try to kill this effort altogether, which is one of the big reasons why there's so much tension within the House GOP over how to proceed on this issue, something that has really distracted from the Republican leadership's plans and become an issue, which they have been having a difficult time closing the door on because of the continued demands from a lot of members on both sides for more information about everything that happened in the Epstein scandal.
Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill. (END VIDEOTAPE)
ABEL: An attorney for multiple Epstein accusers, had this to say about the letter, and President Trump's association with Epstein.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARICK FUDALI, ATTORNEY REPRESENTING MULTIPLE EPSTEIN ACCUSERS: It's very strange, and I anticipate President Trump is going to continue to deny that's him. I, of course, have no inside knowledge whether it is or not.
But, you know, this -- even if it is him, it really just reinforces something we already know, which is Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump were associates. They were friendly. They were -- they socialized together. We've seen the video thousands of times of the two of them dancing at that party, purportedly leering at women and discussing the women.
So this isn't really anything new that in the '90s and early 2000s, Jeffrey Epstein associated with Donald Trump and many other very high profile and power individuals -- powerful individuals. That was really his M.O.
So, certainly, the letter is odd, and I think creepy is probably the best word to describe it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABEL: The French government has collapsed after lawmakers voted to oust yet another prime minister.
Coming up, the tough decisions now facing President Emmanuel Macron.
Plus, the elusive street artist known as Banksy strikes again with a provocative new piece painted outside a London court.
And later, a Monday Night Football nail biter. A late rally from the Minnesota Vikings and their new young quarterback kept fans up late and left the Chicago Bears stunned.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:21:42]
ABEL: France is facing yet another political crisis after Prime Minister Francois Bayrou was ousted in a landslide confidence vote in parliament on Monday. Bayrou had called the vote in a bid to push through his widely unpopular government saving plan. He planned to cut about $51 billion by freezing government spending and slashing two public holidays to address the country's ballooning debt crisis.
Now, President Emmanuel Macron is left with dwindling options as the opposition seeks to further erode his centrist government.
CNN senior international correspondent Melissa Bell joins me live from Paris now with the latest.
Melissa, what does this mean for France and Macron's political future?
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, for sure, this is a president who comes out of all this weakened, more isolated than he was, but still determined to see through the end of his second presidential term.
Remember, that goes on that lasts until 2027. He has vowed that he will battle on. So, essentially, his aim now will be to appoint a new prime minister.
We were told by the Elysee last night, in the next few days, very quickly, they believe, who will be able to gather together this now fractious and divided parliament. It has been ever since President Macron's snap election, the one that he called last year, that ended in disaster since, far from delivering the clarity that he was hoping to achieve on the back of these European elections that had seen the far right do extremely well, they delivered a weakened centrist party, emboldened and strengthened extremes and an ever more fractious parliament.
Francois Bayrou is simply the third centrist prime minister in a row to try and lead the country since, as you say, with all of those changes that are needed to France's looming -- well, there is a looming budget crisis and these changes are needed to France's budget, which has to be voted by the end of the year. The clock is ticking, so his options are limited. The far right and the far left smell blood and had essentially ruled out any kind of functioning cooperation with Francois Bayrou.
So it will be down to the political center, not just Macron's centrists in parliament, but the traditional right and the traditional left to consider whether they are willing to enter into some kind of government or to support some kind of government in the shape of whoever the next prime minister appointed will be, even though there are local elections planned for early next year, and none of them want the toxicity at this stage of being associated with Emmanuel Macron or his centrist party. Given all that has unfolded.
So, an extremely chaotic political landscape, and one in which Emmanuel Macron is going to struggle to find a prime minister able to keep this bunch together and get them to agree on these very difficult budget cuts, Brian.
ABEL: I imagine not a lot of people raising their hands, giving the tumultuous time with that position.
Melissa Bell in Paris for us -- Melissa, thank you.
Ahead, the latest on the aftermath of a massive immigration raid in Georgia. How South Korea and the U.S. are faring as they arrange for detainees to return home.
And breaking news out of Nepal, where the country's prime minister just resigned. More details after the break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:29:22]
ABEL: We are following breaking news out of Nepal, where the prime minister announced his resignation today. His resignation comes just one day after 19 people were killed when protests turned violent.
Let's go to CNN's Hanako Montgomery for the latest now.
And, Hanako, are we able to make a correlation between those deaths and protests and this resignation?
HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brian, I think we can say here that the prime minister of Nepal definitely resigned after these very violent protests that shook the country on Monday and on Tuesday. As you said, at least 19 people were killed and hundreds more were injured during clashes between the government, between the police and also with protesters.
Now, it's important to note here that the protests did initially.
