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CNN News Central

Shooter Identified in Killing of Three Police Officers in Pennsylvania; Free Speech Advocates Alarmed After ABC Takes Kimmel Off Air; Meta's New A.I.-Powered Smart Glasses Unveiled; Nvidia Will Take a $5 Billion Stake in Intel; Military Helicopter Crashes Near Base in Washington State; Judge Blocks U.S. From Expelling Guatemalan Minors; Sesame Street Works With Pentagon to Help Military Families. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired September 18, 2025 - 13:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[13:30:00]

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: -- Identities of the officers who died in this shooting yesterday. Still, so many unanswered questions. We are, though, expecting a press conference from authorities around 3 p.m. Eastern Time today. Boris?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": And in the meantime, Gabe, have we gotten any update on the officers still hospitalized?

COHEN: We haven't at this point, and again, we're expecting more information, hopefully later today. As of late yesterday, they had been critically injured. They were in the hospital where we understand they remain today. Although it's important to note they were stable as of late yesterday.

SANCHEZ: Gabe Cohen live for us in Pennsylvania. Thank you so much.

Coming up, questions swirling about the future of late-night television after ABC pulls Jimmy Kimmel's show off the air. We'll discuss in just moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:35:00]

SANCHEZ: ABC's decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel over his monologue about the death of Charlie Kirk's amplifying debate about what impact this could have on American voters, especially ahead of the midterm elections.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Let's talk about this now with Larry Sabato, the Director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. He just released a new book titled " Campaign of Chaos: Trump, Biden, Harris, and the 2024 American Election." All right, Larry, how are you seeing Kimmel's suspension here?

LARRY SABATO, THE DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: It's part of a piece. It's all of a piece. If you look back to the beginning of the administration, it is more about intimidation than it is their censorship. It's really more about self-censorship via intimidation. It has worked with television stars, with the television networks. It's worked with newspapers. It's worked with universities, including mine. It's worked with law firms. And this is the way they have communicated their opposition to what people are saying and doing. They can't target every critic, so they pick out prominent ones, and they treat them rather badly or they make sure they're treated rather badly, and that sends the message to everybody else and then people self-censor.

SANCHEZ: And wasn't that long ago, Larry, that a lot of the folks now happy with this suspension of Kimmel were advocating for free speech and an absolute version of free speech, including posts on social media, including the misinformation that Kim was accused of propagating. Do you think Republicans have shifted?

(LAUGH)

SABATO: They haven't shifted? They flip-flopped. It's a complete flip-flop, not even a half flip-flop because what they're really saying, and I've seen this before and it truly has happened on the left as well as the right, the message is free speech for me and not for thee. You can have free speech as long as I agree with what you're saying. Well, that defeats the whole purpose of free speech. The First Amendment is there to protect speech you hate, not the speech you love. Everyone knows this at least in theory, but in practice, they don't want to hear things they disagree with.

KEILAR: So where does this -- where do you see this going? What is the culmination of this?

SABATO: I hope it's not going where I fear it is and where I see things potentially going when things get dark, and that is the authoritarian highway. At first, I thought maybe we were taking a step or two in that direction, then it was a step a day. And now, we've got a high-speed vehicle on the authoritarian highway. And I do believe the Trump administration is moving there because they've been so successful at it. People have caved. They have bent the knee. Almost all of these institutions and supposedly powerful individuals have bent the knee. Some because of riches and money, and others because of political fear as in Congress with the Republicans. They're sock puppets for Donald Trump. They do whatever he says.

It's not that bad with the Supreme Court, but let's face it, six out of the nine are conservative Republicans, three of them appointed by Trump. So we'll see what happens in the 2026 elections. If Democrats can get a hold say of the House of Representatives, maybe you can have an institutional opposition. But right now, there's no opposition that really matters. It's not happening. It's not coalescing. And the Democrats have done an exceptionally poor job, even though I admit, they don't have that institutional power that they'd like to have. But in terms of organization and communicating their message, they get pretty low on the grade scale. I'd say D or F.

SANCHEZ: Is there any historical comparison in American history or parallel to this moment?

SABATO: Well, not precise. There are never precise parallels. Rarely are there precise parallels. But if you're going to cite a few examples, and this is of executives seizing power, trying to expand executive power because they don't like criticism. You'd have to go back to the great and much admired and respected John Adams with the Alien and Sedition Acts. That was certainly an example. And people actually went to jail for criticizing the president of the United States.

One of the professors that Thomas Jefferson hired when he found that the University of Virginia was let go, in part because he had served six months in jail for having the temerity to criticize John Adams. Isn't that -- that's incredible, isn't it? Sorry, I even brought that up. I hope it hasn't given anybody any ideas in the administration.

[13:40:00]

And during wars, you can -- World War I, Wilson enjoyed a lot of the censorship. He was able also to strike out at old foes. And you had some of that in the Civil War, a lot of it in the Civil War. You had some of it in World War II, and then of course, Nixon and Watergate, when the press truly was the enemy. Nixon would've liked to have said many of the things that Trump has said and gotten away with. But Nixon knew it would only make it tougher on him. But for Trump, no problem at all.

KEILAR: Larry Sabato, thank you so much for being with us. We appreciate it.

SABATO: Thank you, Brianna.

KEILAR: Still ahead, Meta has released new A.I.-powered smart glasses with some new promises. We'll give you a glimpse inside the tech that lets you see texts and photos through a lens instead of a screen.

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[13:45:34]

SANCHEZ: Meta is releasing new A.I.-powered smart glasses. So, do they live up to the hype? CNN's Clare Duffy tried them out.

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: Yeah. This announcement came at Meta's Annual Connect event yesterday where it announced updates to several of its A.I.-powered smart glasses. But the biggest announcement by far was these new Meta RayBan display glasses. So with earlier versions of the Meta RayBans, you could only interact with them by talking to them and getting an audio response. But these new displays have a tiny display screen on the inside of the right lens. So you're also getting visual feedback too.

And they come with what's called a neural wristband, so that you can navigate that display with hand gestures like tapping and swiping. So you don't have to say, "Hey, Meta" out loud in order to get the glasses to do something. I got to do a demo of this and see how they can allow you to do all kinds of things that you'd normally do on your phone, like reading and responding to text messages, video calling, watching Instagram reels, taking and viewing photos and videos. There's a navigation feature that shows you where you are on a map as you're walking so that you can get directions.

There's also live translation and captioning, so you can see the words that someone is saying while you're in a live conversation with them. And then you can also ask Meta A.I. questions about your surroundings and it'll pop up a little information screen as well as giving you an audio response. It was pretty amazing to see how quickly you get used to having this little screen in your field of vision while you're still engaging with the world around you. However, people around you can't see what's on that display or even that the display is on. And that's for privacy reasons.

But I do think it could take some getting used to if you're talking to somebody wearing these and you don't know if they're also watching Instagram reels or looking at their text messages at the same time. These glasses also are going to cost $799. So a lot more expensive than regular glasses or even Meta's earlier RayBan smart glasses. But Meta is hoping that this is going to be the next big device for the A.I. era, and that it will make it possible for people to spend less time looking down at their phones and more time engaging with its A.I. in their online lives while still looking up at the world around them. Back to you.

KEILAR: Thank you to Clare Duffy for that. And now to some of the other headlines that we're watching this hour, Intel stock jumped 25 percent after Nvidia says it will invest $5 billion into the troubled chipmaker, once a leading force in technology. Just last month, the U.S. government took an unprecedented 10 percent stake in Intel. The Trump administration hoping the investment will strengthen America's semiconductor industry. Nvidia, a leader in A.I. is going to team up with Intel to make chips for data centers and personal computers.

Also, officials are investigating a crash involving a military helicopter near Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington State, an army official telling CNN that the crash happened last night in a rural area near the base. The same official did not say whether there were any casualties, adding that the incident remains a developing situation at this time.

And a federal judge has blocked the U.S. government from expelling some Guatemalan children who were in U.S. custody. This is a lawsuit that involves 10 Guatemalan minors who are ages 10 to 17. Most of them are in ongoing immigration proceedings. The ruling means the kids cannot be removed from the United States until the court has time to consider a lawsuit in the works that argues they must be allowed full immigration proceedings under federal law. Lawyers for the children argue that they would face grave risks if they return or are returned to Guatemala.

And ahead on "CNN News Central," a partnership between Sesame Street and the Pentagon could deliver some much needed help to military families. And the fallout from the decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel for his comments about Charlie Kirk's death, we'll speak to a comedian for their take on the controversy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:54:27]

KEILAR: On today's Home Front, military families get some help from Elmo. Sesame Workshop is unveiling new digital support tools called Healthy, Happy, Ready in a collaboration with the Pentagon's Office of Military Family and Community Policy. It's an effort to help military children build lifelong habits around nutrition, movement and emotional wellness, especially while coping with the stresses of military life like moving or having a parent deploy. I recently spoke with Jeanette Betancourt. She's Sesame Workshop's Senior Vice President for U.S. Social Impact. And we started by talking about Sesame Street's long history of working with the military on family issues.

[13:55:00]

JEANETTE BETANCOURT, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF U.S. SOCIAL IMPACT; SESAME WORKSHOP: We have the dedication to our military families for over 19 years. And I think this program is not necessarily that it's different, but rather we continue to listen to our military families and the community on how we may support them best. And in this case, it's really around healthy habits, how to keep nutrition and physical activity part of your everyday moments.

KEILAR: Yeah, food insecurity is actually a huge problem for military families. When I talk to civilians about that, they're stunned to find it out. And a big focus of these resources is making the everyday stuff fun, which includes with food and making meals. Tell us a little bit about that.

BETANCOURT: Well, with the idea of meal planning, thinking ahead how you make the most of the purchases that you make around food. So for example, one wonderful meal that we recommend is how Elmo is showing along with Abby and his mom to really make hummus, but also to think of all the ingredients and how you can use those ingredients for other foods and how you may plan the week ahead. So you make sure that you have healthy snacks, that you also are making the most of the food that you are having together. And lastly, that you are doing it together as a family. And I think that's our focus, how military families who are often in transitions or have very busy life, they can fit in these family moments.

KEILAR: Kids in military families, and you allude to this, they are facing challenges that other kids are not. Right? What topics resonate the most with them, have you found?

BETANCOURT: We found one is the wonderful connection with our wonderful characters, our muppets, to see Elmo experiencing sometimes big feelings when let's say, they have to relocate or there's a deployment or a temporary duty assignment. So what we do is we model with our wonderful muppets, not only the child's voice, but then how the grownups around them can really support them, both in moments in how they connect and how they celebrate maybe birthdays or things where they may be far apart, but also the joys of military life because it really strengthens children and their families coming together.

KEILAR: OK. So we get to see Elmo, which other characters factor large in this programming?

BETANCOURT: We have wonderful Rosita as well as Abby. We have our characters who themselves are experiencing military life. Elmo has his dad who is in the Guard. And then we have Rita, who also has experienced military life where her dad is now a veteran. But more importantly, it's also the friends that come along, Abby. And one more thing is that these resources are not just our healthy, happy, ready resources, but many others because we've also remodeled our website, Sesame Street for Military Families, so that it's much more accessible to families on the go. You can have it on any platform and you have multiple resources to address whatever transitions may be happening in military life.

KEILAR: And Jeanette, what do you hear from families about what it means for the kids, for the parents to see themselves reflected in these characters that now for generations have been a part of our life?

BETANCOURT: I think what is most important is that our process at Sesame Workshop is to listen, listen to parents and families and hear what their needs are. So what you are seeing through the resources is what parents and other organizations supporting military families are asking for. But more importantly, what you see through our wonderful muppets like Elmo, Abby, Rosita, is you see that they are sharing feelings and activities and just like the children that they are watching. And so finally, it's really the voice of the child. But more importantly, it's also how we are collaborating with the military community to respond to what's important to them and their children.

KEILAR: Jeanette Betancourt, thank you so much for joining us and for talking about this. We look forward to seeing it.

BETANCOURT: Thank you so much for having us. We really appreciate it. And thank you for the support of Sesame Workshop for over the long term of years.

SANCHEZ: Free speech advocates are now sounding off after comedian Jimmy Kimmel gets yanked from the air amid threats from the FCC. The agency's chairman calling Kimmel's jokes the sickest conduct possible.

KEILAR: Plus, getting --