Federal checkpoints for seatbelts in Washington, D.C., drew protests from bystanders on Wednesday night amid President Trump's crime crackdown.

Washington

Federal law enforcement officers conducted an operation in Washington, D.C., resulting in 45 arrests, 29 of which were related to immigration violations. The operation included roadblocks and checkpoints, which prompted protests and concern among community members, particularly around the U Street area. 

D.C. police announced for the first time that they would assist in transporting detained undocumented immigrants, marking a new level of cooperation with federal authorities. The city's mayor was reported to be out of town during the operation, raising questions among residents about leadership during a period of heightened law enforcement activity.

Federal officers make 45 arrests in Washington, D.C., overnight

Hello, everyone, I'm Major Garrett in Washington. Let me welcome you to The Takeout. I have lived in Washington, D.C. since 1991. I remember that first year in this city very well. For my career, it was nonstop exhilaration. As a resident, however, there was a different kind of rush. It came from a gnawing fear of violence. 504 people were murdered in Washington, D.C. that year, 1991. It was the highest rate ever. And for context, the murder rate in the nation's capital hovered for years around 400, and it didn't fall below 300 per year until 1998. The number of murders in D.C. in 2024, according to statistics cited by the Trump White House this week, was 186. To review, my first year in D.C. in 1991, 504 murders, last year, 186. And we are now led to believe, in President Trump's words, that crime in D.C. right now is worse than it's ever been. When I moved to D.C. in 1991, there were straight up no-go zones, places where cabs, remember, this was before Uber and Lyft, simply would not travel, not at any price. The city existed in a kind of numb terror. It functioned. People shopped, went to work, played in parks, but uneasily. Fast forward to last year. When the show was still America Decides, I was absent for five weeks. I served for five weeks on a D.C. criminal grand jury, reviewed evidence and cases for possible prosecution. Victims sat feet away from me in that grand jury room, trembling in fear from what they had been through, robberies, muggings, carjacking, shootings, and worse. I stared into the haunted eyes of crime victims in this city. Statistics about crime trajectories up or down are meaningless to an individual victim. The victim shudders over what happened to them, not whether that crime is on an up or down annual arrow. But statistics are important to a society, to a government seeking proportionality and assessing priorities, where to focus, what to do, for how long, and how do you measure success? How do you improve safety and preserve a sense of being? Here's a question. Do federal checkpoints for seatbelts accomplish any of this? Well, there was one last night here in the nation's capital. It drew protests from bystanders and disbelief from people inside their cars. Crime happens in Washington, but as the stats the White House posted this week clearly show, homicides in this city are down 30% from 2023. So by definition, things here cannot be worse than they've ever been. Justice Department reporter Jake Rosen joins me now. Jake, tell us what happened last night here in the city. Sure, so we saw FBI Director Kash Patel announce this morning that the administration across its federal law enforcement officers had made 43 arrests, but 29 of those about were immigration-related arrests, which means that the administration in its capacity of using now federal law enforcement officers to conduct, whether it's these roadblocks, DUI, or car checkpoints, like you kind of pointed out, or throughout other law enforcement activities have kind of expanded what we initially saw in the first five or six days of this, especially now that there is increased National Guard and law enforcement throughout certain parts of the city, to expand that to immigration arrests. And we saw the D.C. police chief today, Pamela Smith, announce that her administration and her department for the first time is going to be helping, not fully, because there are certain D.C. laws that they cannot skirt around in this situation, but going to be potentially providing transportation for illegal immigrants who are detained by the Trump administration and these federal law enforcement from place to place, or potentially at one of these traffic stops, like you just pointed out, if you see somebody is here illegally and you find information or believe somebody to be, you can then report that to ICE, which has never been done before in this city since those laws have been passed. In essence, closer cooperation on this immigration approach. Where is the mayor of Washington, D.C., best as we know, Jake? Because this seems like a pretty fraught moment for the city. Oh, it's certainly a fraught moment. I think everybody's on the edge of the toes waiting for some kind of response from her. Well, tonight, her office tells CBS News, in a phone call earlier before this, that she's actually in Martha's Vineyard tonight for a personal reason. She said there was a personal commitment that she had to make and that she will be back in the district tomorrow. Certainly, on the summer Thursday going into Friday, questionable timing. And given the proportionate response of anger and outrage over what's going on in D.C. right now for the mayor to not be here, certainly raised alarms after we've seen from politician after politician, they find themselves at times like this where it's just better to be here. Based on what you've been able to assess, how would you say the city overall, various neighborhoods, reacting to what has transpired to date? I think the best example is what we saw around U Street last night, where it wasn't just media and law enforcement that were showing up. It was hundreds of community members trying to redirect people away from this checkpoint and trying to basically shame or shout down some of these officers for doing what they were doing. But I think it comes at a time where there's just not quite a trust there between people who have lived here for a long period of time. When one of these pops up on New Year's Eve or July 4th, where there certainly could be more dangerous actions going on, certainly reasonable. When it's a Thursday night in the district and you're stopping cars and checking for more than just a broken taillight or somebody, an intoxicated driver, arresting people, pulling them out of their cars, pulling mopeds off the street, which is what we've seen all day today, Washington, D.C. police going in and arresting drivers of those mopeds. I think it raises a questionable feeling of who is doing what at whose direction and for how long this is going to go. Jake Rosen, thank you very much.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London. This comes one day before U.S. President Donald Trump is set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska to discuss a possible ceasefire in Ukraine.

London

Zelenskyy, Starmer meet ahead of Trump, Putin summit in Alaska

Speaking in the Oval Office on Thursday, President Trump sounded optimistic about his upcoming summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

Trump says he thinks Putin and Zelenskyy will make peace

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has announced plans to build another immigrant detention center, dubbing it the "Deportation Depot." The facility will be in North Florida.

Jacksonville

DeSantis announces plan to build another immigrant detention center

President Trump had a virtual call Wednesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ahead of his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in Alaska. After the call, Zelenskyy said he told Mr. Trump that "Putin is bluffing."

Ukraine Invasion

Ukraine's Zelenskyy warns President Trump ahead of meeting with Putin

U.S. President Donald Trump said he would ask the Republican-controlled Congress to extend federal control of Washington's city police force beyond 30 days, escalating his campaign to exert presidential power over the nation's capital.

Trump wants to extend federal control over Washington police

With just hours left to reach a deal on plastics, negotiators in Geneva were scrambling to resolve a deadlock caused by “red lines” of member countries. Nations are crafting the first global, legally binding treaty on plastics pollution at the United Nations office in Switzerland.

Geneva

Global plastics treaty talks in Geneva stall as deadline looms

At least 123 people have been killed in 24 hours, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says people will be given the opportunity to leave Gaza before a planned ground offensive, but no one is being pushed out.

Jerusalem

Middle East Conflict

Israeli strikes pound Gaza ahead of planned ground offensive

America's NATO allies stood firmly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ahead of the face-to-face meeting between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. The European leaders showed a united front that there should be no peace deal without Ukraine's involvement.

Kyiv

NATO allies stand with Ukraine ahead of Trump-Putin summit

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement must improve conditions for detainees at New York's 26 Federal Plaza, a judge ruled Tuesday.

New York

Judge rules ICE must improve conditions for detainees at NY facility

National Guard troops arrived in Washington, D.C., following President Donald Trump's deployment and federalization of local police to crack down on crime in the nation's capital.

National Guard troops arrive in Washington, D.C.

U.S. President Donald Trump said that he had a "very good call" with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, days before his scheduled Alaska meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump had 'very good call' with Zelenskyy ahead of Putin meeting

Israel's military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, has approved the framework of a plan for a new offensive in Gaza. CBS News Middle East reporter Courtney Kealy has more details.

Israeli military chief approves 'framework' for new Gaza offensive

President Donald Trump said Wednesday there will be “very severe consequences” if Russian President Vladimir Putin doesn’t agree to stop the Ukraine war after Friday’s summit.

Trump warns of 'severe consequences' if Russia doesn't stop war

A Wisconsin woman on Tuesday was found guilty in the United Kingdom of trying to kill a man at point-blank range in 2019. Aimee Betro, 45, was part of a plot with two other co-conspirators to murder Sikander Ali, prosecutors said.

Birmingham

American woman found guilty of UK murder-for-hire plot

Record-high temperatures across Europe are fanning wildfires across the continent. Experts say a warming climate and an increase in flammable vegetation from rural depopulation are major factors.

Madrid

Historic heat fuels fires across Europe

Hungary's PM Viktor Orbán said the EU attempts to set conditions for a meeting to which leaders of the EU were not invited. He also called for an EU-Russia summit.

Brussels

EU leaders rally behind Ukraine ahead of Trump-Putin talks

President Trump said Monday he expects that Russia and Ukraine will "land swap" certain territories as part of an eventual ceasefire deal. Mr. Trump is set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.

Trump claims 'land swapping' between Russia, Ukraine will happen

Taylor Swift confirmed her 12th studio album, "The Life of a Showgirl," in a teaser for her upcoming appearance on her boyfriend Travis Kelce's podcast. Swift did not disclose the release date of the album.

Taylor Swift announces new album, 'The Life of a Showgirl'

U.S. President Donald Trump said that his planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday will be to "feel out" the leader as pressure mounts for Russia and Ukraine to make a peace deal.

Trump to meet with Putin in Alaska on Friday

A meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to take place in Alaska, with European leaders notably excluded from the talks. Until Europe can defend itself, it's not likely to be invited to a great power dialogue, experts have told Euronews.

Alaska

Europe frozen out as U.S. and Russia prepare for Alaska talks

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that Kyiv and Moscow will both have to cede land to end the war in Ukraine and talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week will instantly show whether the Kremlin leader is willing to make a deal.

Trump says both sides in Ukraine war will need to cede territory

A prominent Al Jazeera journalist, who had previously been threatened by Israel, was killed along with four colleagues and another journalist in an Israeli airstrike in an attack condemned by journalists and rights groups.

Israeli strike kills Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza

At last one person is dead, dozens are injured and two people are unaccounted for after an explosion at the U.S. Steel Clairton plant in Pennsylvania on Monday.

Clairton

At least 1 dead, dozens injured in U.S. Steel plant explosion

President Donald Trump has placed the Metropolitan Police Department under federal control and announced he's activating the National Guard to combat crime in Washington, D.C.

Trump deploying National Guard to Washington, D.C.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is thanking European leaders for backing his push to join this week's Trump-Putin summit in Alaska, insisting an end to the war must be fair.

Trump and Putin set to meet on Friday without Zelenskyy

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are scheduled to meet in Alaska on Friday to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. Kyiv and its allies fear being sidelined and worry any deal could reward Moscow’s occupation of Ukrainian territory.

Breakdown