Return to Transcripts main page
One World with Zain Asher
Protests Across Israel Demanding Ceasefire-Hostage Deal; A Dangerous Power Grab; Trump Threatens to Send National Guard to Chicago; U.S. President Fires Federal Reserve Governor; U.S. Naval Fleet Heads for Venezuela Amid Rising Tensions; Towering Wall of Dust Sweeps Across Phoenix, Arizona. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired August 26, 2025 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAIN ASHER, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: We're coming to you live from New York. I'm Zain Asher, and this is "One World". We are standing by President Trump
is expected to host a cabinet meeting at the White House this hour. We will bring that to you live. It comes as the U.S. President wades into uncharted
territories.
Late Monday, President Trump said he had fired Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, citing allegations of mortgage fraud. Cook has not been charged
with any wrongdoing and is vowing to stay on in her position. It would be the first termination of its kind in the Fed's 111-year history, and some
economists are warning it could threaten the central bank's independence.
Trump also signed an executive order calling for the creation of specialized National Guard units to address what he claims is growing crime
in some American cities. The clearest sign yet he intends to expand the U.S. military's role in domestic law enforcement. We will have much more on
all of this throughout the hour.
Again, we are standing by for that cabinet meeting. We'll bring that to you live. But let's begin in Israel, where protesters are taking part in a
nationwide day of struggle. They're calling for a ceasefire deal with Hamas that would see the return of the last remaining hostages.
As you see here, crowds burn tires, they blocked highways as well a measure of really sort of growing anger within Israel. So far, Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu's government has not responded to a new ceasefire proposal accepted last week by Hamas Qatar, which has been a mediator,
along with Egypt and the U.S., says, quote, the ball is in Israel's court.
Israel security cabinet is expected to meet today. Let's bring in CNN's Oren Liebmann, joining us live now from Hostage Square in Tel Aviv. So,
Oren, obviously, two years on from the start of this war, a lot of people in Israel are so frustrated by not just how long the war has lasted, but
really the fact that they don't believe that Netanyahu's priorities are where it should be as it pertains to bringing the hostages back. Just walk
us through what people are saying in terms of those you've spoken to.
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Zain, in terms of everybody, the protesters here we've spoken to in Hostage Square, and the protests we
have seen across the country that have taken place since this morning, you get a sense of the anger that, first, the war itself is still going on, and
second, that all of the hostages have not been brought home.
50 hostages remain in Gaza, 20 of whom are believed to still be alive. Their pictures are here behind me. In fact, they are all over Hostage
Square, which already has hundreds of people in it, we expect many thousands more tonight, in what will be the culmination of what organizers
have called a day of disruption across the country.
We saw many of those disruptions with roads closed this morning. Some of those were simply closed as protesters sat or lay on the road. In at least
one case, protesters put themselves in a cage right on a highway to close the road. Other protesters burned tyres or other things to close the roads.
Police say that roads were open fairly quickly, and yet, we have seen disruptions across the country, traffic disruptions that really affect the
country itself and the movement across the country, and that is just the morning, protests expected to grow again the culmination this evening.
I'm joined here by Haim Weiss (ph) who says he has come up from Beersheba. Haim, you protest, you say, three times a week. Why is it so important for
you to be here today?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First of all, we have to bring dosages back. We are ruled by government that doesn't care or doesn't want to bring the hostages
back. It's unbelievable what the government is doing in order not to bring the hostages back.
They are our brothers and sisters. They are part of us, and we have to do anything that we can and everything that we can in order to bring them back
home as fast as we can. We know that at least 20, around 20, maybe 22 President Trump said something else today, but we, as far as we know, we
have 20 brothers still alive in Gaza and 30 more that should be brought back to be buried in Israel, in their kibbutzim and the other places they
live in.
And we have to bring back all the people right now. And above that, we have to end this war. This is -- there's no reason to continue the war. It
brings suffer, first of all, the Israelis and to the hostages in dangers, in dangers the life of the hostages. And it brings a lot of suffer and
death to the people of Gaza, to whom we are responsible as well.
[11:05:00]
We cannot look the other side, and we cannot stop looking at Gaza and on what's going on there. And we have to end this war in order to bring peace
to the people of Israel and to the people of Gaza.
LIEBERMANN: The security cabinet is scheduled to meet right now.
WEISS: Yeah.
LIEBERMANN: And on the agenda, as far as we understand, is the military operation to take over an occupied Gaza City.
WEISS: Yes. I'm not going to --
LIEBERMANN: -- discussion of the ceasefire.
WEISS: -- discuss.
LIEBERMANN: What does that mean to you? What does it mean to this country that it's not on the agenda and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has
not yet responded to the latest proposals.
WEISS: This is shame. This is beyond words -- beyond words. There are no words to describe this government anymore. This government should be
dealing with one and only thing, ending the war and bringing back the hostages. Instead of doing that, they're doing all kind of crazy things,
and they are the prime minister.
They are manipulated by very extreme, ultra-orthodox people with these fantasies, or messianic fantasies about conquering Gaza and bidding
settlements there. And they are using this horrific situation in order to promote their agenda that has nothing to do with the security of Israel,
with the peace -- peaceful life of the Israelis and the people in Gaza.
On the contrary, it would bring a total war, an endless war, to the region, and we will not let it happen.
LIEBERMANN: Haim Weiss, thank you for your time.
WEISS: Thank you.
LIEBERMANN: Zain, that's just one protester there we have spoken with, but that's a sentiment we have heard over and over again, and it's not just
today that we're going to hear that. We have heard that in the weekly protests on Saturday night and the protests just a couple of Sundays ago,
that was one of the largest the country has seen since the war began nearly two years ago.
You get a sense of the anger on the streets and the determination to keep these protests going to force the government to listen, even if, from what
we see, it doesn't want to, Zain.
ASHER: Oren Liebermann, live for us there. Thank you so much. All right, executives from "The Associated Press" and "Reuters" are demanding answers
and accountability from Israel following its two strikes on Nasser Hospital in Gaza on Monday, at least 20 people were killed, including five
journalists.
Israel's military says it has ordered an inquiry, but the news organizations noted that investigations into similar incidents in the past
rarely resulted in action. The killings have drawn international condemnation. CNN's Paula Hancocks reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A rush towards Gaza's Nasser Hospital after an Israeli strike Monday morning, emergency response
crews, health workers and journalists can be seen on live television on a damaged staircase. A television camera is held up. Reuters says a
photojournalist working for them is killed, a white body back is carried away, and then a second Israeli strike.
Smoke hides the staircase from view when the dust settles, five journalists and four health workers are among more than 20 killed. Palestinian
journalists who form the backbone of international coverage of this war, working with "AP", "Reuters" and "Al Jazeera", among others.
Israel does not allow international media to enter Gaza beyond restrictive embedding with its military. A double strike just minutes apart, the second
impact, killing workers rushing to help casualties from the first.
JODIE GINSBERG, CEO, COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS: Just to be clear, if it is a double tap that is considered to be a war crime. This, this attack,
which we believe was deliberately intended to take out the camera, the camera being used by "Reuters" cameraman. He was killed in the first
attack.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): Israel's military says it, quote, carried out a strike in the area of Nasser Hospital, but does not target journalists or
civilians. The Chief of Staff has ordered an inquiry into the attacks the IDF adding it quote acts to mitigate harm to uninvolved individuals while
maintaining the safety of IDF troops.
An Israeli security official with knowledge of an initial inquiry says forces identified a camera on the roof of the hospital they claim Hamas was
using to monitor Israeli forces authorized to strike the camera with a drone the IDF instead fired two tank shells, the source says, the first at
the camera, the second at rescue forces.
Mariam Abu Dagga, 33-years-old, worked for "AP" and other outlets throughout the war, most recently highlighting the impact of famine in
Gaza. In this recent video, she says, I can't describe how tired people are, how sad or how hungry they are? It's been two years of this war on
Gaza. They can't handle anymore.
[11:10:00]
She spoke to CNN last year about her concerns for her safety, saying when a journalist is targeted, all other media question when it will be their
turn? At her funeral Monday, her family mourns a death they had feared for the 22 months of this war. Mariam has a son. Her cousin says he went abroad
with his father at the start of the war. She was waiting for the war to end so she could see him again.
An injured journalist working for "Reuters" says he went to check on his colleague after the first strike, but saw he had been killed. There were
journalists, patients, nurses, civil defense on the stairs he says, we were directly targeted. A 22-month war, which has been the deadliest ever for
journalists, Paula Hancock's CNN, Abu Dhabi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: The road to peace in Ukraine has many speed bumps. Case in point, Donald Trump wants Russia to stop bombing Ukraine and reach a peace deal.
If not, Trump says very big consequences will follow, but his efforts to get Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet with Volodymyr Zelenskyy
haven't gotten anywhere yet.
Trump told reporters Monday, the hold-up is because, in his words, they don't like each other. Speaking of Zelenskyy, he met again with U.S. Envoy
Keith Kellogg to discuss Ukraine's future security. U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio spoke with both Ukrainian and European Foreign
Ministers, saying the U.S. would be involved in those security guarantees, but that Europe should actually take the lead.
Salma Abdelaziz joins us live now from London with the details. So, Salma, just in terms of you got President Trump essentially telling or warning
Vladimir Putin that if he doesn't make steps towards peace, there will be consequences. You also have the brand-new German Chancellor Friedrich Merz
essentially saying and echoing the same thing.
Just walk us through the likelihood at this point. I mean, a lot of people say there's almost zero chance of these two men meeting. But what does a
path forward to peace actually look like from this point out?
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, if you ask President Trump, as he told reporters, it looks like a two-week deadline for him to make a
decision on President Putin's seriousness about this peace process. But here's the thing, Zain, it's been a very long two weeks.
President Trump has issued and reissued this deadline of two weeks kicking the can down the road over and over again since late April. And at every
point, it seems that every time you see one step taken forward, there's another step back. Take, for example, the push for sanctions, increasing
sanctions on Russia, something that European partners and of course, President Zelenskyy have asked President Trump to do.
But he removed that, or seemed to take that off the table during the Alaska Summit, when he met face-to-face with President Putin. Now he's saying, oh,
wait, there could be serious consequences if I don't see that peace process moving forward. So yes, there's been a lot of noise, a huge flurry of
diplomatic activity, but very little news.
There's three essentially diplomatic channels that are taking place right now. The first one you mentioned, of course, which is President Trump's
efforts to have this face-to-face meeting between President Zelenskyy and President Putin something that Kremlin has dragged its feet on saying lower
loving meetings need to take place first, saying now is not the right time.
And as you heard there, President Trump seems to empathize with President Putin in saying that, look, I understand he doesn't like the guy. I have
people that I don't like and I don't want to meet as well. So very unlikely that we will see that come to fruition.
The other diplomatic channel, if you will, is through European Leaders who are working to set up a security guarantee. But we've heard from Secretary
of State, Marco Rubio, just recently saying we don't want to take the lead on this as the United States. It needs to be Europe that takes the lead.
And already, Russia has batted away any conversation around security guarantees, saying it won't accept foreign forces on the ground. So that
seems unlikely. And then you of course, have the U.S. Special Envoy, Keith Kellogg, who was in Ukraine over the weekend during Independence Day, who's
met face-to-face with President Zelenskyy.
But he's been able to give him very few assurances, other than the promise of continued U.S. support with very little road or end in sight to the
conflict, Zain.
ASHER: Yeah, this idea that the U.S. would be involved in security guarantees partly, but that Europe should take the lead, that is what both
Keith Kellogg and Marco Rubio continue to echo. Salma Abdelaziz live for us there. Thank you so much.
All right, still to come here, Donald Trump signs an executive order that would expand the role of National Guard troops on American soil. Plus,
critics say the move should set off alarm bells ahead why the Illinois Governor is calling it a dangerous power grab and is warning to the U.S.
President next?
[11:15:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: U.S. President Donald Trump calls it a crackdown on crime. Critics slam it as unnecessary and unconstitutional. On Monday, the president
signed an executive order establishing specialized units in the National Guard to deal with what's being described as a public safety and order
issue.
It's the clearest indication yet he plans to expand military deployments beyond Washington, D.C. and L.A. to other Democrat led cities. CNN's Alayna
Treene joins us live now from the White House to just explain the legal authority the president has here, especially when you consider that he's
facing legal challenges in California for what happened in L.A. over the summer.
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, the legal authority that he has is still very ambiguous. I think the legality of doing something like
he is doing in DC to try to take that to a state that does have Governors is up for question and will certainly be challenged in court if he actually
moves forward.
And you've heard similar things from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, for example. And the reason he's able to do it in DC Zain and I think this is
such an important distinction, is because Washington, D.C. is not a state. It does not have a Governor. It does not have a Governor who is in control
of its National Guard.
And so, there is some gray area when you consider what the president is trying to do. The Home Rule Act is an act that is very specific to
Washington, D.C., and that is the -- what the authority that the president used in order to have, you know, Federal officers and law enforcement
agents' kind of take over the city his -- and kind of take over the Metropolitan Police Department here in Washington.
But also, with regard to the National Guard. It's not so simple, though, when he looks at different states, and already we've heard the president
talk about Los Angeles, as I mentioned, Chicago, New York City, Baltimore, all of those areas that he says could potentially be next in line after to
have what he's done in DC, in those cities.
But I do want you to take a listen, because reporters pressed him on one of these key questions, which is, would he be willing the president to still
send in National Guard troops to states where governors have specifically not asked for that to happen? Take a listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you prepared to order National Guard troops, though, into American cities if those governors don't request the federal
deployment?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I am. But I also think that look Chicago, everybody knows how bad it is. Everybody standing
there knows we know. You don't have to be doing any studies. They should be saying, please come in. Pritzker should be saying that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[11:20:00]
TREENE: Now, look, I think what's important to keep in mind here as well that there's no question that what the president is trying to do, and if he
does ultimately send National Guard troops to Chicago or other cities, other Democratic cities like it. You know, he believes that this is
something that is good politics, and I think that's so important to keep in mind.
When I talk to different sources here at the White House, they tell me essentially that they recognize that he is testing the bounds of his
executive authority, but it's also an area and an issue where he is willing to do so. He has been reveling, I'm told, at the images he is seeing in
Washington, D.C., of National Guard troops who are now armed, I should say, in the streets of the city.
Different federal agents' kind of lined out to help make arrests, and specifically, really helping with some immigration arrests as well. All of
that are things that the president believes are is good politics for him, and we have seen some of the governors and other local law enforcement
officials in these different states trade barbs with the president over this.
Part of it, of course, is trying to see what they can do to use their rhetoric to push back on him, but then also they believe it's good politics
for them as well. So, it's interesting to see what the president will do next, but all signs are pointing to the fact that he's going to be ramping
this up, not raining it in Zain.
ASHER: Alyana Treene, live for us there. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Right as you just heard, the U.S. President has suggested Chicago and New
York may soon face military deployments, even if it's against the wishes of the governors who are in charge of their state's National Guard troop.
Here's how Trump described the cities that could be next on his list.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I made the statement that next should be Chicago, because, as you all know, Chicago is a killing field right now. And they don't acknowledge
it. Baltimore is a horrible, horrible death bed. It's a death bed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Well, the president is facing major pushback from Democratic Leaders. The Governor of Illinois says this -- if this was happening in any
other country, we would have no trouble calling it what it is, a dangerous power grab.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JB PRITZKER (D-IL): Instead, I say, Mr. President, do not come to Chicago. You are neither wanted here nor needed here. Your remarks about
this effort over the last several weeks have betrayed a continuing slip in your mental faculties and are not fit for the auspicious office that you
occupy.
This is not about fighting crime. This is about Donald Trump searching for any justification to deploy the military in a blue city in a blue state, to
try and intimidate his political rivals.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: My next guest says community based anti-violence programs, rather than militarism, is key to reducing gun violence in Chicago, that's where
Pastor Donovan Price joins us live now. Pastor, thank you so much for being with us.
I just want to shed some light on some of the things that President Trump said about Chicago. He described Chicago as a killing field, and also that
everybody, everybody knows how bad it is. And obviously, Chicago has had in the past issues when it comes to gun violence.
I'm not you know that is absolutely a fact, but it is also true that gun violence and homicides have been down over 30 percent this year compared to
last year. Just explain to our international audience what the scene or set the scene for us in terms of where things stand now with violence across
the city?
DONOVAN PRICE, CHICAGO PASTOR: Well, it's obvious that things are on a downtrend. I work right boots on the ground with the violence. I'm out
there every day, every night, and have been for the past 10 years. I'm not a statistic reader. I live this and so I know for a fact that things are
down.
But I also know for a fact that it's down as a result of the work of a lot of people who are not giving up on the communities, not giving up on
individuals, just not giving up. And so, when you start to work so hard for something, and then something comes about which could set that back
actually, then that's when you begin to be saddened and hurt and worry.
ASHER: So, if the president uses the army, the National Guard as a domestic police force, explain to us how that complicates community-based efforts on
the ground.
PRICE: Well, one thing is the fact that that who is it going to target now? Is it going to target the mothers taking their children to school? Is it
going to target faith-based areas? Where is it going to target? There are 10.5 -- there's only 10.5 percent of the people in Washington, D.C., that
there are in Chicago.
That's a lot of land, a lot of people. You have a lot of people doing good, a lot of people who know the lay of the land, a lot of people who are
working hard. Who are they going to target?
[11:25:00]
Who is going to come outside these children otherwise, who are going to see troops in front of their house? Who are going to see just when we get it to
the -- to the point where a child doesn't have to see a gun in their lifetime. Then all of a sudden, as they walk out of their house, they're
going to see guns. That's the concern. It could hurt people.
ASHER: You know, a lot of people have said that, look, this is obviously a political ploy. This is not about fighting crime. That's not what the
president's priority is. Even though he says that's what it is. A lot of people are saying, look, his goal is to use force to intimidate political
rivals, especially in blue states.
Just explain to us what the reaction has been. We've seen what the reaction has been from elected officials, right? We've played the sound many times
from Governor Pritzker, but what's been the reaction among ordinary Chicagoans about the president's potential plan here.
PRICE: Of course, they're going to be people on both sides. I've seen that, but the average person I've talked to, especially as we speak, the children
and families of violence, are speaking against the troops coming to Chicago. We don't want that. We have a system now.
People are coming together. People are starting to work. People are starting to realize the deepness in some of the root causes of the
violence, from faith-based leaders to legislation to the judicial system. Policing, we have probably one of the greatest police superintendents in
the country.
And so, we're starting to get it, and we're starting to work, and the numbers are starting to show that, but more so people's lives are beginning
to show that. And so, people are not happy about the change in that, because more people are helping. More people are working toward this.
More people know how to make this happen in their lives, in their neighborhoods, in their families, and so those are the people, the majority
of the people that would not like this to happen.
ASHER: Pastor, so good to talk to you and to have your perspective on the show, because, as you mentioned, you know you're not somebody who reads or
needs to read statistics, necessarily. You're living this every day. You're there on the ground every single day. So, we appreciate your voice on the
program. Thank you, Pastor Donovan Price.
PRICE: Thank you.
ASHER: All right still to come, we take a look at the political feud shaping up between the President and the Governor of Illinois, which you
just spoke about. Plus, President Trump moves to fire a Federal Reserve Governor. It's his latest salvo in an ongoing battle with the Central Bank.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:30:00]
ASHER: All right, welcome back to "One World". I'm Zain Asher in New York. Here are some of the headlines we are watching today. Protesters are
marching across Israel demanding the government agree to a ceasefire hostage deal with Hamas. They're blocking major roads and what they're
calling a day of struggle.
The families of the hostages want to know why the Israeli government hasn't responded to the latest ceasefire hostage release proposal that Hamas
accepted last week. South Korea's President wraps up his trip to the U.S. today with a visit to a Philadelphia shipyard. Lee Jae Myung and Donald
Trump held talks at the White House on Monday after Seoul clinch an agreement to bring down U.S. tariffs on South Korean goods.
Deals worth billions of dollars were announced, including Korean Air, Korean Air, buying jets from Boeing and Hyundai, committing to invest more
in the United States. And Australia is expelling the Iranian Ambassador after its intelligence agency found Tehran was behind at least two anti-
Semitic attacks in Australia.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps orchestrated arson attacks on a Sydney restaurant and a Melbourne
synagogue. The ambassador and three diplomatic staff were given seven days to leave Australia.
For the first time in American history, the president has fired one of the Governors of the Federal Reserve. The dismissal of Lisa Cook is the latest
escalation in Donald Trump's campaign against the U.S. Central Bank, which he blames for not cutting interest rates.
Cook says the president does not have the authority to fire her and that she intends to stay on as a Fed Governor. Her attorney says he will be
filing a lawsuit in response to Trump's attempted firing. CNN's Matt Egan has more on the significance of Trump's move to dismiss Cook and what it
could mean for the future of the Fed.
MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Zain, we are witnessing a historic clash between a norm busting president and a central bank that fiercely protects its
independence, and there's so much at stake here when it comes to the economy and the cost of living. The latest drama is the president
announcing that he is firing Lisa Cook, the Biden nominated fed governor.
She is the first black woman to serve as Governor at the Fed. And no president in the Fed's, 111-history has ever tried to fire a Fed Governor
until now. Now, Trump officials say this is all about mortgage fraud or alleged mortgage fraud, but Democrats, economists and former Fed officials
that I'm in touch with, they fear that this is a blatant attack on the institution of the Fed.
Now, in a Truth Social post last night, the president wrote in a letter to Cook that he does not have confidence in her integrity due, to quote,
deceitful and potentially criminal conduct that calls into question her competence and trustworthiness as a financial regulator.
Now, I do want to stress that no charges have been filed against Cook. A CNN review of mortgage documents does show that before Cook was nominated
to join the Fed, she did take out mortgages for two properties that both were -- both listed as her principal residence. However, it's not clear why
Cook did that, nor whether or not this is something that was done intentionally.
Now Cook, for her part, is taking -- is taking a defiant stance. In a statement released by her lawyer, Cook said that President Trump purported
to fire me for cause when no cause exists under the law, and he has no authority to do so. I will not resign, she says.
And Cook's attorney strongly hinted in a statement that they are seriously considering legal action. Here's why all this really matters. The Fed is
designed to be independent for good reason. Of course, politicians want dirt cheap interest rates that would please voters who are frustrated right
now by the high cost of mortgages and car loans and credit card debt.
And what president wouldn't want to run the economy hot so they could brag about blockbuster GDP and record high stock prices. But Former Fed
officials and economists, they warn that artificially low interest rates can backfire in two ways.
[11:35:00]
You keep rates too low, that can overheat the economy. Can actually fuel inflation, which is the exact opposite of what voters want right now. The
other problem here is if investors start to fear that the Fed is no longer independent, they're going to demand higher long-term interest rates.
And long-term interest rates are controlled by the market, and those are the ones that influence mortgage rates. One former Fed official told me
this morning that the more that the market perceives that the White House is calling shots in interest rates, the higher mortgage rates will go,
which, again, is exactly the opposite of what the White House and what voters want right now.
And history shows that politicians who mess with the independence of central banks, they're playing with fire. Just look what happened in Turkey
after President Erdogan installed a loyalist to lead that central bank, they had runaway inflation north of 80 percent. The bottom line here is the
stakes in this battle are massive, especially when it comes to arguably the number one economic issue right now, the cost of living. Back to you Zain.
ASHER: All right, thanks to CNN's Matt Egan for that report. All right, President Trump is holding a cabinet meeting at the White House this hour.
This comes a day after he signed an executive order tasking Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth with establishing specialized units in the National
Guard.
According to the order the units will be specifically trained and equipped to deal with public order, issues. The clearest sign yet that Trump intends
to expand the U.S. military's role in domestic law enforcement. CNN's Stephen Collinson joins us live now with a closer look at a potential
fallout if President Trump deploys the National Guard to Chicago.
And I want to let everyone know he has, as usual, an excellent piece on cnn.com about this, about President Trump's escalating feud with the
Illinois Governor. Stephen thank you so much for being with us. So obviously, ostensibly, President Trump says this is about fighting crime.
But what is it actually about? Obviously, there's a political element to this, as there always is.
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Well, this is a multi- layered issue. I think first of all, there is Trump's desire to impose his power everywhere, especially on Democratic populations in citizen states
that rejected him at the ballot box, in many cases, several times. That's at play here in Chicago.
There's also the fact that he and the Governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker, both have a political interest in this fight. Trump wants to show his tough
on crime and is willing to do anything to including deploying troops to fight crime. Pritzker is a potential Democratic Presidential Candidate in
2028 Democrats really want to see their potential presidential nominee standing up to Trump.
So that's also working on this story. But at the same time, I think Trump is also raising the question of have Democratic jurisdictions, especially
in America's big cities, really worked and really honored the desire of citizens to have more crackdowns on crime. A lot of Americans don't feel
safe, notwithstanding the fact that figures show that violent crime has come down in recent years following a spike after the pandemic.
So, it is Trump trying to exert his authoritarian impulses, but the same time, as with many things, with Trump on trade, for example, and other
issues, he is narrowing in on an issue where there are public questions and where there is public support. So, there are a lot of gray areas here too.
ASHER: Yeah, I mean, there is a kernel of truth. And obviously, as I was speaking to the Pastor based in Chicago, and essentially, we both agreed
that, yes, is violent crime an issue in Chicago, sure, but at the same time, it has been down. The number of homicides, the number of shootings
are also down 30 percent.
So, as you point out, it is very -- it is very layered. But just explain to us what the legal authority is here for the president? Because we saw what
happened in June in California, in LA and there are lawsuits being filed against the president for that. So, what is the legal jurisdiction for him?
COLLINSON: Yeah. Generally, the National Guard, which is reservists, are only deployed on domestic soil when there is an emergency or a rebellion or
the laws of the country are not being implemented. That is under U.S. law. So, it's very difficult to look at the situation right now in Chicago, as
you say, a place where crime is falling.
And say that there is a national emergency, and that justifies the use of troops who are not trained in law enforcement to go into the streets and
try and supplement the police forces. I think to your point about what cities want.
[11:40:00]
If -- the question becomes, is this the right way to try to make cities safer? If the federal government, the Trump Administration, was going to
Chicago and saying, well, here's this massive bunch of money you can spend it on getting more police on the beat anti-crime programs.
We're going to send you a surge of FBI agents to try and speed up the detection of violent crime. I think you would see many cities would welcome
that. Many city police forces are well understaffed. That's the case, for example, in Washington, DC, where Trump has sent troops in recent weeks.
But outside federal power, imposing troops into an already volatile situation doesn't seem very conducive to fighting crime. It looks much more
like an effort by Trump to use the military and to normalize the use of soldiers in domestic law enforcement to pursue his strongman political
goals.
ASHER: Yeah. So, what are the consequences of that? If you have a president that repeatedly uses the army, uses the National Guard soldiers as domestic
law enforcement in various states, especially Democrat led states, let's be honest. What are the consequences of that on the ground?
COLLINSON: Practically, and we've seen this happen in Washington DC. It's caused some confusion about the chain of command for police officers.
You've got a massive collection, not just of National Guard reservists, on the street in Washington, you've got agents from all sorts of federal
agencies as well as the police.
There is some confusion about whether the DC Police Chief is in charge of this, or whether Trump's designated official is in charge of this. I think
that will spread out over time to come. But more fundamentally, you know, the clash between federal power and state power is something that has been
at the root of some of the greatest crises in United States political history, it was an issue running into the Civil War.
For example, when the federal government tried to implement Supreme Court rulings and civil rights laws of the 50s and 60s, and southern states
pushed back against that. We had another clash between federal and state power. So, although at the moment, most of this issue is political. It's
not hard to see how it could develop into a real national, domestic political crisis and create all sorts of chaos and create more disruption
than it's trying to solve.
ASHER: All right, Stephen Collinson, live for us there. Thank you so much. Still to come, thousands of Venezuelans enlisting in the military as U.S.
warships head to waters near the country's coast. We'll tell you what's led to the standoff next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:45:00]
ASHER: Venezuela's President is telling citizens to be ready to defend their country. Nicolas Maduro has called for more Venezuelans to enlist for
military service, and thousands are signing up. It comes as the Trump Administration steps up the U.S. Navy's presence in the Caribbean. CNN's
Patrick Oppman takes a look at how we got here.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As a small armada of U.S. Navy ships heads towards Venezuela the most significant escalation of
tensions between the two countries in years. Embattled Venezuelan Leader Nicolas Maduro says he's preparing for an invasion.
Maduro is activating his national militia and imploring regular citizens to enlist to fight off a potential U.S. attack. And Maduro is not letting a
crisis go to waste, whipping up support in a country exhausted by years of economic decline and political strife.
NICOLAS MADURO, VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT: I am enlisting because I love my homeland. Join with your family, join with your community. Enlist and join
the ranks. Long live Venezuela.
OPPMANN (voice-over): Thousands signed up over the weekend vowing to keep Maduro in power.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We defend our people, and we, one way or another, are going to defend ourselves.
OPPMANN (voice-over): But even as he claims to have more than 4 million soldiers, police and militia members, ready to do battle, Maduro may be
outgunned. The Trump Administration has sent at least three U.S. Navy destroyers, a submarine, attack aircraft and 4000 Marines to stem the flow
of drugs to the U.S., which they say Maduro is responsible for.
PAM BONDI, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: The DOJ has seized over $700 million of Maduro linked assets, including two private jets, nine vehicles and more.
Yet, Maduro's reign of terror continues. He is one of the largest Narco traffickers in the world and a threat to our national security.
OPPMANN (voice-over): Maduro denies any role in drug trafficking, but he is under federal indictment in New York for allegedly running a shadowy cartel
of army officers turned drug lords. This month, the Trump Administration doubled the price of Maduro's head to $50 million but collecting that
reward likely would require U.S. boots on the ground.
Venezuela is roughly one and a half times the size of Texas, with dense jungles and sprawling slums controlled by heavily armed gangs. Occupying
the country would be a massive undertaking, and even more complicated, if Maduro makes good on his promise to arm citizen militias.
Armed conflict may still be far from certain, but a showdown is brewing off the coast of Venezuela, with neither side appearing to back down. Patrick
Oppmann, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: All right, Phoenix, Arizona was blanketed in dust when a storm known as a Haboob engulfed the city. So how bad did it get, and what exactly is a
Haboob? We'll have the details after the break.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are in the middle of a Haboob.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't see anything. We're in the middle of the Haboob. We're in our car.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it is clearing up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can see a little bit in front of us.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think there's a car behind us, but we're kind of OK. I can see the house on the corner here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:50:00]
ASHER: All right, a towering wall of dust known as a Haboob swallowed parts of Phoenix, Arizona on Monday. Drivers were warned to pull aside to stay
alive, as some areas were plunged into zero visibility. The dust storm was quickly followed by severe thunderstorms. Here you can actually see the
Haboob sweeping over Arizona state's University's football stadium.
Once the storms passed, some 60,000 customers in Arizona were left without power. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, a Haboob is essentially Arabic
for a strong wind that occurs primarily along the southern edges of the Sahara in Sudan, and is associated with large sandstorms and dust storms
and may be accompanied by thunderstorms as well.
It usually lasts about three hours. It's more common during the summer, and may blow from any direction. This wind tends to originate in the north
during the winter months and the south southeast and eastern summer. For more on this particular Haboob wall of dust, let's bring in our
Meteorologist, Allison Chinchar. She joins us live now from the Weather Center in Atlanta.
So, listen, I mean just that visually I mean -- this is intense. You end up having zero visibility. The Phoenix Airport was damaged from this. There
was power outages. I mean, just walk us through because this is not that common, but it tends to be more common in the southern, southeastern part
of the United States. Walk us through that Allison.
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: So, it is actually fairly common in the summer months in the desert southwest, because it's what happens when
you get these thunderstorms that kind of roll through. So, you get the dust that comes first from the outflow, and then there you can see all the rain
on the camera.
So, it's usually a precursor to a lot of these very intense thunderstorms that they will typically get in the summertime or their monsoon season, if
you will. So, here's a look at how it forms. You have the parent thunderstorm somewhere out there, and you get what's called outflow, the
very strong winds that come out from the thunderstorm.
And those strong winds are picking up all of the dirt and dust from the ground, churning it up. And those can go thousands of feet into the air.
And then once that begins to clear out, then you have the thunderstorm behind it, which will often bring some rain. The unfortunate part is, yes,
it makes it very difficult to drive, as you can see from this person right through here, zero visibility.
And it can be for several minutes that it lasts this way, before it finally clears back out. So, let's kind of break down what happened in this
particular instance OK. So, around 05:30 local time in Phoenix, the temperature was in the triple digits, around 101 winds were about 20 to 25
miles per hour.
Now you fast forward 15 minutes, that storm starts to get closer. You'll notice the temperature drops down to 91 and the winds are picking up now to
run the 60 mile per hour range. Fast Forward even more, the winds now peaking at 70 miles an hour as this storm creeps in and the temperatures,
they dropped 35 degrees in just 30 minutes.
So again, incredible, but this is what happens when you get these very intense thunderstorms during the monsoon season across the desert
southwest. Now we have more showers and thunderstorms in the forecast for the remainder of the day today, not just for Phoenix specifically, but for
much of the Desert Southwest.
So, Arizona, New Mexico, portions of Southern California and even Nevada, also looking at the potential for those going through the remainder of the
day today. And essentially what this means is, if you have more chances for thunderstorms, you also have the potential to have more of these, more of
these Haboobs, these dust storms that could occur as we go later on into the evening.
And into the overnight hours again, you can see the giant wall of dust right through there, and it's hard to see, but the thunderstorm behind it
is what's triggering these Haboobs to kind of spread all of that dust in.
[11:55:00]
And then, yes, because those winds are incredibly strong, 60, 70, miles per hour, this is what can often lead to those power outages or even subsequent
damage that some of these areas end up seeing.
ASHER: Great explainer, Allison, live for us. Thank you so much. And stay with CNN. I'll have much more "One World" with my colleague, Bianna
Golodryga after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
