US National Guard members deployed to Washington, DC, started carrying their sidearms on Sunday, a spokesperson for the Joint Task Force carrying out the mission told CNN. #CNN #News
00:00Breaking overnight, members of the National Guard now carrying weapons on patrol in Washington, D.C.
00:05The move marking a major escalation in President Trump's federal takeover of policing in the nation's capital.
00:11And now he is threatening to deploy the troops to more American cities and states run by Democrats, including Baltimore.
00:19Despite statistics from the mayor's office showing a 17% drop in violent crime from last year,
00:25the president has now fired back at Governor Westmore of Maryland, who invited him to Baltimore for a public safety walk.
00:32Trump responded by saying Moore needed to clean up the city's, quote, crime disaster before he would go for a walk there.
00:39The president also threatened to withhold funds to replace Baltimore's collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge.
00:45And the president already said Chicago will be the next city he would target for a federal deployment.
00:50Two officials have told CNN the Trump administration has been making plans to send the National Guard there for weeks.
00:56Police there have reported a 23% drop in violent crime from last year.
01:01Let's get right to CNN's Elena Treen at the White House for what appears to be, you know, we're on the cusp of an expansion here.
01:09Absolutely. And part of this, John, is the Trump administration is loving what they're seeing happening in Washington, D.C.
01:16They are the images of the National Guard troops in the city of, you know, the federal agents from ATF, DEA, FBI.
01:24The list goes on deployed throughout the city to help with this, even though we're seeing, you know, we have seen and we should know since August 12th,
01:32about two weeks ago when when the president first issued this as being a national emergency or a citywide emergency, I should say,
01:38and ordered these troops to be mobilized in D.C., there has been a moderate drop in crime.
01:44But one of the biggest things we've actually seen as a result of some of these actions has been widespread immigration raids
01:51and really a real significant ramp up in some of the deportations we have seen in this city.
01:57But to get to what he's ordered and what we've seen now with the National Guard troops.
02:02So now we've seen them beginning to carry weapons like we should note, it's unclear how many of them are actually carrying weapons at this point
02:09and how long this is going to continue.
02:11But this is a significant escalation from when the president first ordered this emergency in this city.
02:18At first, we had heard the Defense Department say that they were not going to be armed, that they are not going to be carrying out arrests.
02:24Now we're, of course, seeing them, a lot of them starting yesterday, having their sidearms with them as part of what this administration,
02:31this White House is saying, being a peacekeeping mission, really trying to still allow some of the other federal agents to do the work.
02:39But this all comes after we also saw Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, order this last week,
02:43order that national troops could be carrying this weapons.
02:46And I would note as well, it's not just the D.C. National Guard that is currently in Washington, D.C.
02:51There's also more than 1,900 troops from the National Guards in West Virginia, South Carolina, Mississippi, Ohio, Louisiana, and Tennessee
02:58who were called upon to help with this mission that the Trump administration has been rolling out.
03:04And what are the plans going forward, perhaps, for other cities in other states that, oh, just happen to have Democratic governors?
03:12Right. I mean, it's very clear that the cities that the president is looking at targeting next all are Democratic-run cities.
03:20And, look, this comes as you said it, but we have some reporting that the Trump administration had been planning for weeks now
03:26to mobilize troops to Chicago. That's really where the president has his sights set next.
03:32I actually asked him about this in the Oval Office on Friday because he brought this up.
03:36And I said, are there concrete steps that you are taking at this moment to have troops be sent there?
03:42Listen to what he told me.
03:42You said Chicago might be next.
03:49Are you making – have there been concrete steps that the administration is taking to do that?
03:53Or what are other cities as well?
03:54I haven't spoken to him. He's grossly incompetent.
03:56I haven't spoken to him. No.
03:57When we're ready, we'll go in and we'll straighten out Chicago just like we did D.C.
04:01So as you heard him say there, that they haven't made concrete steps yet.
04:07He hadn't talked to Chicago's mayor yet about this, though he went on to criticize him.
04:11But that when they're ready, they'll be sending them.
04:14He also brought up New York as a potential other city.
04:16And as you mentioned, John, keep an eye on Baltimore because we did see the president
04:20and Maryland's governor, Wes Moore, trade a lot of barbs back and forth yesterday about all of this.
04:27It's very clear, though, I think the bottom line here, of course, is that the president likes what he is doing in Washington.
04:32He has said it could be a model for other Democratic cities.
04:35And now we are learning that that's exactly what they are planning to do.
04:38Elena Trin at the White House this morning.
04:40Elena, thank you very much. Omar?
04:42Well, John, let's talk about Chicago because Illinois' attorney general says the state is going to prepare a legal challenge
04:47if President Trump follows through on plans to send the National Guard to Chicago.
04:52Now, the president's push comes as Chicago city leaders say there has been a significant drop in crime in the city.
04:59Just last month, for example, Chicago police say homicides dropped 35 percent and shootings dropped 26 percent compared to the same time last year.
05:07I want to bring in CNN's Whitney Wilde in Chicago.
05:10So, Whitney, how is the city and how are city leaders responding to this possibility?
05:15Omar, given the context that they believe that Chicago represents a success story and the ability to bring down crime,
05:24they are shocked but not surprised.
05:27I mean, especially because Attorney General Pam Bondi has made clear that cities and states with these so-called sanctuary policies,
05:33which limit local law enforcement from working with federal agents to enforce immigration policies,
05:38would be a target for the National Guard.
05:41Again, shock but not surprise here in Illinois.
05:43As we know, Omar, and as we've previously reported, this plan has been in the works for weeks to send the National Guard to Chicago.
05:53It is not clear how many troops are coming here.
05:55It is not clear when.
05:56But leaders here are firing back immediately.
06:00Governor J.B. Pritzker said plainly there is no emergency that would warrant this.
06:04The Illinois attorney general says plainly they will fight this in court.
06:08Here's more from the city's mayor, Brandon Johnson.
06:13What he is proposing at this point would be the most flagrant violation of our Constitution in the 21st century.
06:22The city of Chicago does not need a military occupation.
06:27That's not what we need.
06:29In fact, we've been very clear about what we need.
06:31We need to invest in people to ensure that we can build safe and affordable communities.
06:36The Illinois attorney general stressed that they welcome partnerships with federal law enforcement, but they are opposed to any deployment of the National Guard.
06:47And he said that the idea that the National Guard would be deployed here without any communication, any partnership with local leaders here represents authoritarianism.
06:58So very strong words from leaders here.
07:00Again, this is a Democratic-led state.
07:02This is a Democratic-led city.
07:04So no surprise that they are firing back as aggressively as they are, Omar.
07:07Finally, we reached out to the Pentagon.
07:10They had no comment.
07:11And then, Omar, I'll leave you with this.
07:13As Elena brought up, there were many states who allowed their National Guards to be deployed in Washington, D.C.
07:20The dynamics there, as you know, are very different.
07:22And so the question here is, is this going to look more like Washington, D.C., or is this going to look more like L.A.?
07:28And the read from our sources, our great reporters in Washington who have been reporting this out, is that this is going to look a lot more like the National Guard deployment in L.A.
07:36But the question is whether or not these surrounding states, like, let's say, Missouri, Indiana, Republican-led states, can utilize their National Guard and send them into a non-consenting state like Illinois.
07:49That is the big question here.
07:51We expect to learn more about this as the day unfolds, Omar.
07:53All right.
07:54I know you'll be on top of it.
07:55Whitney Wilds, really appreciate the reporting.
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