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Sesame Street Works With Pentagon to Help Military Families; ABC Suspends Jimmy Kimmel After Threats From FCC Chairman; Trump Says U.S. Is Trying to Get Afghan Air Base Back From Taliban. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired September 18, 2025 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:01:05]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": 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.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Plus, getting Bagram back. President Trump says he's currently trying to get the Afghanistan air base back from the Taliban. Is that even possible? And the Pope giving his first major interview and revealing that he is concerned by some things that are happening back home in the U.S. We are following these major developing stories in many more, all coming in right here to "CNN News Central."

Today. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is applauding ABC's decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel's late night show amid public pressure from the Trump administration. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, these aren't comedians we're talking about. This is not the news.

BRENDAN CARR, FCC CHAIRMAN: Well, look, I can tell you Jimmy Kimmel is no Johnny Carson. And the issue that arose here where lots and lots of people were upset was not a joke. It was not making fun or pillaring (ph) me or the administration or the president. It was appearing to directly mislead the American public about a significant fact.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: ABC suspended Kimmel just hours after Carr, who is responsible for licensing local TV stations, very publicly pressured the company to punish Kimmel for comments he made about the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARR: When you look at the conduct that has taken place by Jimmy Kimmel, it appears to be some of the sickest conduct possible. I mean, look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there's going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: In case you're wondering what Kimmel actually said, the basis for his suspension, here's the late night comedian on Monday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST OF "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!" ABC NEWS: We had some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: With us now to discuss is Pete Dominick. He's the former warm-up comedian for Stephen Colbert on the Colbert Report. He's also the host of the "Stand Up! with Pete Dominick" podcast. Pete, thanks for being with us. Were Kimmel's comments enough, do you think, to get him suspended? Or do you think this was more of a business decision about the profitability of late night shows?

PETE DOMINICK, FORMER WARM-UP COMEDIAN FOR STEPHEN COLBERT: Neither. And we need to stop asking those questions with all due respect, Boris. If you covered the campaign, if you read Project 2025, if you know Brendan Carr, if you understand what the Trump administration has been wanting to do, this is part of their game plan. They're using the assassination of Charlie Kirk to destroy careers of teachers, educators, board members, anybody who speaks out and says anything that they don't like.

This has nothing to do with the comments that Jimmy made the other night. He's made far meaner comments to Donald Trump every night before that. This has nothing to do with anything but state control of media. This is an attack on the career and integrity of every comedian, writer and performer. This is government censorship. This is the Trump administration coming after people who come out against them. That is what this is.

SANCHEZ: Respectfully, Pete, my job is to present you with the arguments that are being made and ask you to reflect on them. So I stand by the question that I asked you.

DOMINICK: Well, respectfully Boris, I think you're an awesome journalist. I watch you all the time. I think you do a great job. I have no hesitation to push back and tell you that I think you are giving, in this case, the narrative that is coming from Brendan Carr and not looking at the narrative that they said they were going to do in the campaign. We all know what they want to do with the FCC. They are using the FCC to control the speech of people -- they don't like to promote the speech of people they do like. I know you know this. SANCHEZ: I appreciate the kind words, but again, I'm presenting you with the arguments that they're making. And as an expert on the subject matter, it's up to you to share your perspective and dismantle it as you just did, or to present your arguments to showcase your point of view. To that point, could the suspension result in other comedians altering their commentary? It seems like you think this is a form of intimidation.

DOMINICK: Seems like I think this is a form of intimidation, I'll speak for almost every comedian I have seen speak out. Absolutely. As in -- in terms -- as well as journalists. Don't you all think that this is a form of intimidation? Isn't that what you are seeing and hearing from your colleagues?

[14:05:00]

As a comedian, as a journalist, as an American who stands on the shoulders of the most courageous, civil and human rights fighters of our time, let me state without equivocation, that's exactly what this is. And there comes a time when silence is betrayal. Our lives begin to end the day we become silence about things that matter. Guess who said that? Dr. King. You know who is also speaking out against this? Tucker Carlson. Many on the right know exactly what this is. This is attack on the First Amendment. They attacked the Fourth Amendment. They're going for the First Amendment. They love the Second Amendment. All we have left is our voice in many ways, and we need to use it.

SANCHEZ: So, what would you say is your call to the professionals out there, the comedians, the lawmakers, the folks that may politically disagree with you about what they need to do? What actionable thing would you like to see them do?

DOMINICK: What I would like to see is solidarity amongst anyone who is someone who speaks in public, every comedian, every journalist. I think now is the time for some kind of a general strike. We need to boycott any of these major media companies that are bending the knee. We need to speak out and speak loudly. The honor of my life, my career was getting to interview John Lewis, and John Lewis said to me that I'm getting in good trouble and I need to keep getting in good trouble. That's what we all need to do.

In the end, we are remembered not for the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. So if you want to be silent, you are letting them win. They may come for me, they may come for you. They may come for everybody who has a platform and says something that they don't agree with. We need to protect speech, including the speech that we hate in this country. That's what we're known for. And every comedian that I came up with and every journalist that I've worked with knows that. And we need to protect the First Amendment. And this is the most important point. It's a crucible point. It's an inflection point. We all need to stand up.

SANCHEZ: Beyond your call to answer the political moment, I wonder what you make of the argument that some of what is presented on late night TV, not just on Kimmel's show, but on other shows, is out of touch with Middle America and doesn't reflect their views. And that some folks were actually offended by what Kimmel was saying.

DOMINICK: No, nonsense. I don't know what you'd think Middle America is. Could you expand on what Middle America is? Who is that?

SANCHEZ: Folks that were not pleased with what Kimmel was saying. I mean, there's a big part of the population that doesn't agree with his politics. The administration has pointed to that as part of the reason why people have tuned away from outlets like "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and have tuned into other outlets that more closely reflect their views. I mean, you --

DOMINICK: I believe that's all a pile.

SANCHEZ: You've seen the ratings when it comes to other networks, more conservative networks on late night. They're going up. Do you not?

DOMINICK: First of all, no, you're talking about Fox News "Greg Gutfeld Show." It's on at 10 o'clock. You're talking not about the political moment. This is just media. There's a billion channels. The reason why fewer people are watching late night is because you can watch TikTok all day. That's why. It has nothing to do with the -- that they're not -- they're not meeting what people want or they're not appeasing middle America. Please save that.

You're talking about MAGA. You're talking about overwhelmingly white people in America that vote for Donald Trump. The vast majority of young people, the vast majority of people of color, the vast majority of Americans love Stephen Colbert. They love Jon Stewart. They love Jimmy Kimmel. And they're going to continue loving comedians and others who speak out. All these guys are making -- have millions and millions of viewers, way more than these other outlets that you necessarily mention him. So I don't buy any of that nonsense, and I don't think it's true. I don't think it is bared out by the facts either.

SANCHEZ: Pete Dominick, we appreciate you being part of the conversation. Thanks so much for joining us and for sharing your point of view and for expressing yourself freely as you should be able to do.

DOMINICK: Boris, you and Brianna do great work. I watch you guys. I appreciate you letting me disagree with some of it, but I didn't mean to impugn you as a journalist. I think you do great work and I think it's brave and I know the kind of threats that you guys get.

SANCHEZ: No. I think it's important to present you with the counter arguments to your point of view and to let you do the work of, as I said before, dismantling it, challenging it, breaking it down the way you see fit. I think that is the point of what we do. So I appreciate you joining us, Pete.

DOMINICK: I'll leave it there, Boris. Thanks.

SANCHEZ: Thanks. Brianna? KEILAR: Now to President Trump's major new statement involving the Taliban, the president earlier announcing that the U.S. is now trying to get back Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We're going to leave Afghanistan, but we are going to leave it with strength and dignity.

[14:10:00]

We're going to keep Bagram, the big air base that -- one of the biggest air bases in the world. We gave it to them for nothing. We're trying to get it back by the way. OK? That could be a little breaking news. We're trying to get it back because they need things from us. We want that base back. But one of the reasons we want the base is, as you know, it's an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Bagram Air Base is located just north of Kabul. And certainly, you remember these scenes from the Kabul Airport. People chasing down airplanes after President Biden was withdrawing U.S. troops in 2021. A Pentagon report says $7 billion of U.S. military equipment was left behind at Bagram Air Base at the time.

CNN's Natasha Bertrand has some new reporting on this. Tell us about your new reporting, Natasha, but also, something that the president is alluding here to, which is that he disagrees with how Bagram was left, considering it was his administration that brokered the agreement that said that all U.S. and coalition forces would leave Afghanistan.

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, Brianna. So what we're learning is that the president has been ordering his national security team for months now to find a way to get Bagram back into U.S. hands. It has been controlled by the Taliban since 2021. It was relinquished by the U.S. back in July of 2021 to the Afghan government, which of course fell just about a month later and was taken over by the Taliban.

But the reason why the U.S. relinquished that air base to begin with was because of this agreement that President Trump struck with the Taliban in 2020, just prior to leaving office, that essentially mandated the full withdrawal of all U.S. forces from the country in exchange, essentially, for certain security guarantees from the Taliban. Now, according to our sources, there are several reasons why the president has been kind of fixated on this. One, of course, is that he believes that it was simply a failure and embarrassment by the Biden administration to give up the air base, which was so important and so strategic for the U.S. military for decades when it came to Afghanistan.

But then there are a number of other reasons that his national security team has articulated, including the need to surveil China which has a border approximately 500 miles away. And as you heard President Trump say earlier today, they are according to him, building nuclear missiles very close by. And so having a base so strategically located would allow the U.S. to better surveil the Chinese activity.

Other reasons are because the U.S. wants access to certain rare earth elements inside Afghanistan, according to our sources, as well as mining. They want to establish a new counter-terrorism node against ISIS to potentially conduct new operations against ISIS in the country. And they want to possibly reopen a diplomatic presence in the country. And all of those things, all of those objective, sources stress to us that those are going to require U.S. troops to be on the ground.

And so, what the president is effectively proposing here is to put U.S. troops back into Afghanistan several years after, of course, that very chaotic withdrawal that led service members to be killed as well as hundreds of Afghans as well during -- in a terrorist attack in Kabul during that evacuation process. And so, this is obviously not happening any time in the immediate future. The U.S. has been trying to figure out a way to get the Taliban to give it back. And President Trump has said that he is looking to leverage the U.S.' essentially position over the Taliban to try to get concessions from them, including getting Bagram back. So we'll have to see how this plays out, but it's something that the president is taking very seriously.

KEILAR: All right, Natasha Bertrand live for us at the Pentagon. Thank you so much.

Still to come, Former Vice President Kamala Harris revealing that Governor Tim Walz was not her first choice for her running mate. Who she says she really wanted but decided was actually too risky. Plus, after reports of people getting trapped inside of burning Teslas, when rescuers cannot open the electric door handles, the car maker says it has an idea to fix the problem. Then later, Dr. Sanjay Gupta answers your questions about the so-called 'Kissing Bug' after the CDC warns the deadly disease from it is here to stay. We'll have that much more coming up on "CNN News Central."

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[14:18:48]

KEILAR: As the outcry over Jimmy Kimmel's suspension grows, so do questions about who may be next. After applauding ABC for pulling Kimmel's show, President Trump took aim at Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers saying, "That leaves Jimmy and Seth. Do it, NBC!!!" The comment mirrors the president's statements over the summer when CBS announced the cancellation of the late show hosted by Stephen Colbert. The president then writing, next up will be Jimmy Kimmel. But taking a step back, here's what President Trump said about free speech on Inauguration Day and after.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I will also sign an executive order to immediately stop all government censorship and bring back free speech to America. (APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Never again will the immense power of the state be weaponized to persecute political opponents

I'm pleased to report that America is also a free nation once again. No longer will our government label the speech of our own citizens as misinformation or disinformation.

[14:20:00]

And I banned all government censorship and restored free speech.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: We're joined now by Republican Congressman, Barry Moore of Alabama. Sir, thank you for taking the time with us today. Are you OK with how this has all gone down?

REP. BARRY MOORE, (R-AL): Yeah, Brianna, I mean, if you look at Jimmy's ratings, the last two months, they've gone down 5 percent per month. And so I think more than anything, that was a business decision. And you could talk to Disney and ABC about that. But this seems like to me that was a business decision. Much like Fox took Tucker Carlson down. They make decisions and certainly the audience may move with the host, but that's the audience choice. And so I think ABC made the decision and at the end of the day, that's not for me to say, but I think that ABC had a decision to make based on the ratings, and that's what they did.

KEILAR: How is this not government censorship?

MOORE: How is it government censorship when ABC and Disney makes a decision to take a host down or Tucker Carlson comes down off Fox? I didn't see the left crying when they took Tucker Carlson down off Fox. So to me, it's a business decision. And these companies have to run based on what's best for their economy, what's best for their customers, and the customers are the viewers. And if people are not watching your show, you won't last too long in this business.

KEILAR: Well, as you're aware, the FCC chairman put pressure here, right, on the situation, talked about there's a -- if we're going to do this the easy way or we're going to do this the hard way. I mean, you heard what was said, the discussion of the licensing. So this is something that when you listen to what President Trump said, he had said never again will the immense power of the state be weaponized to persecute political opponents. He said, no longer will a government label the speech of our own citizens as misinformation or disinformation. And he said he banned all government censorship and restored free speech.

So I'm talking specifically about what his administration has said about this case, looking at what he has said about free speech. How do you square these things with what Brendan Carr said, where he was saying it was appearing to directly mislead the American public about a significant fact? MOORE: Well, apparently he did mislead the American public when he said it was a right wing MAGA person that actually did the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

KEILAR: That's not what he said. Actually --

MOORE: I think there was some misleading there, but that's --

KEILAR: Congressman, just for -- let's jump off of this. Let's listen to what Jimmy Kimmel said, and then we can have a discussion about it. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIMMEL: We had some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: So, it's more nuanced than what you said. I just want to be clear. But President Trump saying, no longer will our government label the speech of our own citizens as misinformation or disinformation, what did he mean by that then?

MOORE: I think he meant exactly what he said. He's not -- he's not labeling speeches disinformation. Again, I think this is a decision that ABC had to make and Disney had to make. I don't think we had any say in that. I don't think the president had any say. Now, he's one to say what he feels, but this was after the fact. And so for me, it makes sense that this was a decision. If we look at Jimmy Kimmel's ratings, they were dropping every month, Brianna.

KEILAR: So, you are ignoring what the FCC chairman said.

MOORE: Well, not all together. He just said that -- I don't know exactly what the FCC chairman said, but I remember that it was after the fact, if I understand correctly. And again, you look at the ratings, this was a business decision. This had nothing to do with politics. ABC and Disney saw the numbers. Jimmy was third at night and he was dropping five percent per month in viewership, and the audience was leaving.

They have to do things to make the economics of the show work. And so if you can't sell ads, and if a host says something that the people who are buying ads are not happy with and the audience don't want to stay tuned, then they have a decision to make from the corporate headquarters. That wasn't made in Washington. D.C., my friend, that was made at corporate headquarters either in Disney or ABC.

KEILAR: And you heard what the FCC chairman said, and you're trying to say that there's no connection between these two things?

MOORE: None at all.

KEILAR: Let's listen to what Brendan Carr said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARR: When you look at the conduct that has taken place by Jimmy Kimmel, it appears to be some of the sickest conduct possible. I mean, look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there's going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: What'd you think of that?

MOORE: Well, I mean, I think he's right in some ways that the companies need to make these decisions. And I think they did, like we said earlier.

KEILAR: OK, but you just said there's no connection.

MOORE: That was decision made by corporate world.

KEILAR: You just said there's no connection. And then you said, I think he's right.

[14:25:00]

MOORE: No connection.

KEILAR: The companies need to make the decisions. They made a decision. And now, you're trying -- I mean, you're kind of going in circles here. But nonetheless, I just want to talk to you about something you've said then. Let's talk about this. In 2022, you said on then Twitter, now X, big tech silence conservative voices that challenge the views of their left-wing CEO's. Speech isn't truly free if the left dictates every word. Now, the left is losing their minds that Elon Musk will allow free speech. Is this free speech, but only for the right? No free speech for the left? Do you want free speech for all? Who do you want free speech for and why should it be limited considering the First Amendment is very clear that it's for everyone?

MOORE: It's not limited, it is free speech. But when you got tech companies that made the decision with certain algorithms to take certain conservatives down to influence elections, that's a little different when the companies are making decisions to take voices down based on what they're saying and not their ratings. On social media, every individual, you don't have a rating for Twitter. You don't have a rating for X or whatever the next platform might be. And so, when you take a person down because he is conservative, that's not affecting your dollars, that's not affecting your bottom line.

ABC and Disney were making a decision based on revenue. The Metas of the world and the social media platforms were making decisions strictly based on what the message was coming from the platform and the individuals using that platform, which was supposed to be free speech. KEILAR: What do you think the message is to NBC when you have the president of the United States putting a target on those other hosts, singling them out for being next?

MOORE: The message is you hire good people for your shows. You hire people who are funny, people who can communicate and who the audience will follow. That's the message. Hire good people who will do a good job on the show and make it entertaining. This is television business. That's supposed to be late night Entertainment. It is not so supposed to be some political show. And so the decision or the message should be to those folks, you hire good people who entertain and who do it the right way and draw audiences and that draws advertising revenue. You get that.

KEILAR: Can I just why -- why do you -- why do you think it's a business decision considering they haven't said it was?

MOORE: I heard ABC and Disney let him go. And so, and that was corporate somewhere who made that decision. His ratings were down, it made sense.

KEILAR: I think it's a suspension, but they -- so did you talk to someone? I mean, why do you do believe that's --

MOORE: No. No, I haven't. I'm just --

KEILAR: This is -- so this is just your speculation?

MOORE: I'm more based on what I'm hearing.

KEILAR: Hearing from where?

MOORE: They fired him. Well, ABC and Disney fired him. So to me, that decision was made at corporate. And it's -- and if you look at the ratings, Brianna, it makes sense. The guy's third and he's not doing very good. He's losing 5 percent of his market per month. It's a business decision, plain and simple.

KEILAR: But someone could also look at the timing of what is considerable pressure. And if you're trying to tell us it's not from what the FCC chair said, that's just not believable. They could also draw a conclusion that there was clearly, a potential cause and effect here. Certainly, the appearance of one. And you are ignoring that fact.

MOORE: So, why do you think Fox let Tucker go? I mean, was it a business decision? What do you think that decision was?

KEILAR: There was a gigantic lawsuit. Do you remember how much it was?

MOORE: I do not.

KEILAR: More than $700 billion.

MOORE: Well, they had a decision to make. It was a business decision. KEILAR: Million. I'm sorry, $700 million.

MOORE: Now, I'd say $700 million is a lot of money, Brianna, but --

KEILAR: So is $700 million to some of us.

MOORE: Yeah, even so -- yeah, that's true. No, to everybody on the Hill, it should be. But let me say this, I think again, Fox made a decision. Look, they were going to get sued. Tucker had to go. A business decision, wasn't political. None of us made that decision. The same as Disney made their decision to let Jimmy go.

KEILAR: Congressman Barry Moore, thanks for being with us.

MOORE: Thank you.

KEILAR: The Pope says he's concerned about "some things happening in the U.S." That's what he said, some things, as he shares what he told Vice President J.D. Vance during their one-on-one meeting.

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