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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the Democratic Party; Christine Matthews is Interviewed about 2026 Swing Voters; Hurricane Gabrielle Strengthens; Dr. Steven Fleischman is Interviewed about Tylenol and Autism; Protecting World Leaders at the U.N. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired September 22, 2025 - 08:30   ET

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

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[08:31:23]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning, as Democrats plot their political path forward, "Axios" is reporting there's been increased buzz about New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and whether she's eyeing a bigger role in the party, potentially positioning her for either a Senate seat or a presidential run in 2028.

CNN's chief data analyst Harry Enten joining me now.

The fun team, back together again.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Hi, Sara. Yes.

SIDNER: Now, so the Democrats are looking very different than they did back in the days when her very close political ally, Bernie Sanders, and his mittens, we're in the race.

ENTEN: Yes.

SIDNER: So, just how much change are you seeing here in the party?

ENTEN: You know, when Bernie Sanders first ran for the president -- presidency about a decade ago, I just think it's just such a tectonic shift within the Democratic electorate.

OK, early choices for the Dem presidential nominee. Back in June of 2014, look, Hillary Clinton was way ahead of everybody with 69 percent. Bernie Sanders was like in ninth or tenth place with just two percent.

Look at where we are right now in September of 2025. Look how much closer AOC is to the top now than Bernie Sanders was back a decade ago. She's at 12 percent, so she has six times his amount of support. But more than that, look how much closer she is to the leader. Gavin Newsom leads the field right now but just with 21 percent. She is within ten points of Gavin Newsom. I never thought I would have seen the day when someone as liberal as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is to the leader. She's nine points back as opposed to, what, 67 points back Bernie Sanders was a decade ago at this point. If we thought Bernie Sanders was a long shot back in June of 2014, at this particular point, AOC has a very real shot, at least according to the early numbers that we see so far.

SIDNER: I can't believe it's been ten years. That's what's freaking me out. As --

ENTEN: Yes, I know. Time flies.

SIDNER: It's been a long time.

So, what about Democrats themselves and how they see a supposed outsider now?

ENTEN: Yes. So, you know, it's not just what we see on the top line. It's when we go underneath, right, and we're looking at what's underneath the numbers.

And, OK, Democrats who say that their party leaders should be replaced. If you want an outsider, this is your time. This is your time. This is not what we were looking at a decade ago. Get this, 62 percent of Democrats say their party leaders should be replaced, compared to just 24 percent who say no.

You know, you go back at the beginning of the Donald Trump presidency, the majority of Democrats said their party leaders were taking the party in the right direction. That is not the case anymore. We are dealing with a party base that wants to throw out the old and bring in the new, and a party base that, as we've spoken about on this program before, is at its apex in terms of how liberal it is with the majority of Democrats now saying that they are liberal, which is very different from where we were a decade ago when the majority of Democrats said that they were either moderate or conservative. What we're talking about is a Democratic electorate that may very well be in the mood to embrace someone like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

SIDNER: Speaking of which, she could, if she doesn't go for the presidency, she could run against someone in leadership. Chuck Schumer. What does that look like? And considering this, I'm going to make an assumption, but I'll let you show us the numbers.

ENTEN: Yes. I think that assumption you're going to make is correct. You know, if she doesn't go for the top job, maybe she wants to go for the guy who has the top job, at least on the Democratic side in the United States Senate.

And take a look here, net favorable among New York Democrats.

SIDNER: Whoa.

ENTEN: Look at this difference. Look at this difference. The net favorable rating for Ocasio-Cortez among New York Democrats, plus 46 points. Compare that to Chuck Schumer, who's only at plus 16 points. She is running 30 points ahead of Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader in the United States Senate, among her and his constituents here in the state of New York. [08:35:10]

My goodness gracious. What we are talking about is Ocasio-Cortez decides, you know what, I don't want to run for president. I want to challenge Chuck Schumer in a 2028 Democratic primary for United States Senate. These numbers suggest that that primary challenge could be very, very real. And a lot of the numbers I'm suggesting -- seeing right now suggest she would actually be a favorite at this point if she, in fact, decides to take on Chuck Schumer.

Again, this is a guy who was first elected to the United States Senate back in 1998. And now she's got a real chance to knock him off. What we're talking about is new days are here, especially for the very liberal part of the Democratic Party. It is their time to shine, at least if we're looking at the data.

SIDNER: Thirty points is a huge lead.

ENTEN: Yes.

SIDNER: If that stays in place. We'll see what happens.

Harry Enten, it's a pleasure. Thank you.

ENTEN: No, no, the pleasure was all mine. Welcome back.

SIDNER: Thank you.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And before we get to 2028, a critical midterm clearly looms next fall for the whole country, of course, and there may be emerging a new and influential voting bloc that both Democrats and Republicans need to look out for and try to win over. Described in a new survey as the weighted vest women. Literally the women in all of our lives who have taken to this new wellness trend. This research coming from Bellwether Research, first shared with "Politico," conducted by Republican pollster Christine Matthews, who joins us right now.

And as I was saying in the break, Christine, when I saw this I -- first of all, I said, I know so many women like this in my life, and just fascinating look at what could be an emerging swing voter. Who is this emerging group of swing voters? When did you start first noticing the trend?

CHRISTINE MATTHEWS, PRESIDENT, BELLWETHER RESEARCH AND CONSULTING: Yes. You know, in my neighborhood, I would, you know, be out driving or walking and I would increasingly see women wearing weighted vests. There's another one. Here she comes. Another weighted vest. And so I was really curious, like, you know, do I live in a representative neighborhood or not? Is this a trend across the country? Are women adopting this? What's going on with this? And I couldn't find any data. So, I decided to do a survey.

And because we are all sort of in our own social feeds, with our own algorithms, I thought I would see the weighted vest women being more my age, sort of gen x, maybe boomer, because that's what my feed is promoting. But we found in our survey is that the adoption of weighted vest is primarily among gen z and millennial women, younger women, they want to work out, they want to burn calories, they want to improve posture. And among the older women, it's for osteoporosis prevention. So, yes. So, we found about 16, 17 percent of women have ever worn a weighted vest, 9 percent currently do. So, it's not a ginormous cohort, but it's significant. And they're really interesting.

BOLDUAN: And talk to me about this interesting element because what type of -- and it's hard to maybe extrapolate yet because you've got more work that you -- that you want to do on this. But what type of voters were these women before, and how is this -- could this be different from the soccer moms that we've talked about in politics for years?

MATTHEWS: Right. So, we've talked about the soccer moms. We've talked about the Walmart moms. What I think is interesting about this group is, in the way that we've defined these women in the past, and this is definitely a subset. It's not as big a group as soccer moms or Walmart moms. We've defined them in the past as their behaviors in relation to their families, they're soccer moms, they're Walmart moms shopping there for their families. This is a behavior that is all about these women. And increasingly, we live in a DIY era of health and wellness. And I feel like that's a really important trend in culture that's going to be shaping politics.

So, these women -- what was so interesting about them is they are divided politically. They're not MAHA moms. They're not vaccine skeptics or, you know, believe seed oils are unhealthy, that sort of thing. They pay attention to mainstream media, but they also heavily listen to podcasts. They're getting a lot of information from like influencer doctors, like Dr. Mary Clare Haber, Doctor Mike on YouTube, others. So, they -- they are not fringe and they're not entirely progressive. They're sort of in the middle.

And what we're finding politically is they pay a ton of attention to politics. They're going to be midterm voters. And they're -- but -- but they're, you know, so they, they follow mainstream information, they adopt things like weighted vest, but they don't reject, you know, some other, you know, mainstream things, like vaccines. And they're divided politically. They leaned a little bit towards Trump, as did all suburban women in the last election, but not as much as suburban women overall. And they're divided between Democrats and Republicans for 2026.

So, I'm -- I have a lot to learn about them.

[08:40:01]

And, of course, women are more complicated and, you know, multi- dimensional than just being weighted vest women. But politics is downstream from pop culture. And so, it matters to pay attention to pop culture. BOLDUAN: I love that it's, you know, it's not just how -- their lives

in relation to their families, this aspect of it, which is -- which is -- which is a new -- which is a new and important understanding of women voters, especially.

Christine, really quick before you go, before we go, what's the next area of study that you would like to look at when it comes to kind of this emerging group in order to inform politicians what issue actually is a defining issue for this group?

MATTHEWS: Right. So, my focus in the survey was really health and wellness behaviors and attitudes. I need to -- I need to add the other layers, like how are they economically, how are they on other social issues, what are their sort of more in-depth views of the two parties and, you know, what are their values? And I don't know all those things. And I don't want to sort of project what those could be.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely not, but that's -- that's what the research is for. And this is a really fascinating start.

Christine, thanks so much for coming in. I really appreciate it.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And how do they compare to the weighted vest dudes who, like, you know, like the crew here who all work up -- out in the gym upstairs wearing the weighted vest?

BOLDUAN: We will -- that's the next round of research as well, JB.

BERMAN: We can't wait to see it.

All this, this morning, Hurricane Gabrielle strengthening in the Atlantic with signs that the hurricane season might be about to get more active.

Let's get right to CNN's Derek Van Dam for the latest.

Good morning, sir.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, John.

Seventh named storm of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season. Second hurricane. Fortunately, this is looking more like fish food, which is good news for the East Coast, but there will be some indirect implications from this storm right now. Actually, this is very interesting. Noticing that this is just upgraded live on television. It was a category one just five minutes ago, now a category three. So, that would officially make this a major hurricane. Still need to look at the National Hurricane Center's update from that because that could be an off hour update.

But regardless, this is now showing a major hurricane. But it veers east of Bermuda. This is going to kick up a lot of surf, especially over Bermuda, but also the eastern seaboard, specifically from North Carolina's shoreline northward into Canada, right? So, this is the area that we have a high rip current risk for the next couple of days.

And, yes, this is really helping wake up the Atlantic. So, we're going to monitor two different areas with a high likelihood of development. So, these waves, these tropical waves that are marching westward, we'll have to keep a very close eye on.

Another thing we're keeping a close eye on is on the other side of the planet. We're talking the western Pacific also waking up. This is Super Typhoon Ragasa, equivalent to a category five hurricane. Look at that, just lashing the northern Philippines. Why are we talking about this? Well, this system is huge, first of all. It's a buzzsaw hurricane. But this storm is going to move into a very populated area of southeast China. Look at Hong Kong, just on the fringes of this. By Tuesday into Wednesday local time, already flights canceled. Double check if you're traveling to Macau or Hong Kong in the days to come. This will impact many, many people across that part of the world.

John.

BERMAN: Yes, a big powerful storm with a tight eyewall right now.

Derek Van Dam, good to see you this morning. Thanks so much.

All right, chaos on the runway. Inside the sudden policy shift that had passengers demanding to deplane.

And do you want a house, a car, a family? Good for you. But be prepared to wait. A new report finds the American dream will now cost more than ever.

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[08:48:01]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think you're going to find it to be amazing. I think we found an answer to autism. How about that?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: All right, that was President Trump teeing up his upcoming announcement that's supposed to happen today at the Oval Office. The president is expected to claim that there is a link between the risk of autism in children and the use of the pain reliever Tylenol during pregnancy.

Here now to discuss, Dr. Steven Fleischman, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Thank you so much for being here this morning.

OK, first and foremost, because there are a lot of people looking at this with great concern. Are there studies that show a link between Tylenol use during pregnancy and autism? DR. STEVEN J. FLEISCHMAN, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN COLLEGE OF OBSTETRICIANS

AND GYNECOLOGISTS: Good question. Weve been studying acetaminophen, which is the active ingredient in Tylenol, for probably over 20 years. And intermittently, over time, there have been some causal relationships that have been suggested. The problem is, most of the studies that have suggested any relationship are biased by what we call recall bias, where patients are asked afterwards, did they take Tylenol during pregnancy? The biggest trials that have been done in the most appropriate manner, where we prospectively follow, look whether or not they're taking Tylenol. And in a great study done last summer in Sweden, they looked at siblings, so you take out some of the genetic variables, and found no association between the use of acetaminophen and autism or other neurodevelopmental disorders.

SIDNER: Can you explain, just for us laypeople, the difference between a causal link and an association and what that looks like? Is there a huge gulf between those two for the studies that did find some association?

FLEISCHMAN: Yes. You know, when you think about it, I'll give you a perfect example. Why does someone take acetaminophen in pregnancy? Most of the time they take it because they had a fever, they have a headache, maybe they have some pain from an autoimmune disorder. So, when you are looking at someone who's taking acetaminophen, the question is, is the acetaminophen the reason for the development of autism or is it the underlying condition that that need -- that person needed to take acetaminophen for?

[08:50:12]

And so, in these trials where you're looking back on things, you don't really get that clear causality relationship to determine whether or not that's the reason for it. So, I think it's -- it's really premature to -- to -- to go out and say we found a cure because even in the one or two studies that suggest a relationship, that relationship is very small and -- and -- and really, I would say, poorly designed studies that came to those results.

SIDNER: I'm curious what the current guidance from your group for pregnant women is when it comes to using Tylenol or acetaminophen, which is the -- the active ingredient in Tylenol?

FLEISCHMAN: Right.

SIDNER: Are your -- your guidelines changing in any way because of this announcement?

FLEISCHMAN: They -- well, we -- we haven't seen the announcement. We're seeing sort of bits and pieces of what people are saying about the announcement, but we haven't actually seen it. But we are not changing our guidance as of now. And really there's no new data. The -- the study that is most recent that I think, you know, the secretary of Health and Human Services has been referring to was a meta analysis, which took together -- it's sort of a combination of many, many studies over many, many periods of -- of time. And those studies sometimes include studies we wouldn't agree with. But if you look back, this has been studied extensively. There are

statements out by the FDA in 2016, 2017, the Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine and our organization, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, all feel that Tylenol should be used when necessary. But as we say with -- with any medication in pregnancy, if you don't need to take it, you shouldn't be taking it. But if you need it for a fever, for a headache, or for other reasons and your physician is telling you to take it, it's an appropriate medication to use in pregnancy.

SIDNER: Is there a risk if pregnant women decide after seeing this that they're going to stop taking Tylenol and just let a fever, for example, spike and try to resolve itself without taking the medication while they are pregnant?

FLEISCHMAN: Certainly, there are -- are many things we worry about. You know, this kind of statement coming out to say that we've -- we've solved a problem is a little reckless. We know that -- that autism and these spectrum disorders are multifactorial in -- in the best case scenario. And so to -- to put out this statement that somehow we've solved it and we're going to just get rid of acetaminophen and that's going to take care of this problem I think concerns all of us because we know that research into this is not over. It is not completed. And we need to figure out what the underlying problems are. And anything that takes the eye off of -- our eye off the ball of really figuring out how we can prevent this issue is upsetting to me.

I hope that patients will turn to their physicians, who will look at the data that we have available to us, who we --we have looked at for many, many decades, to say that we feel confident that if you need these medications, we can use them in pregnancy.

SIDNER: Dr. Steven Fleischman, I do appreciate you. And I think a lot of people are looking at this and have a lot of questions and you gave some great advice, maybe talking to your doctor with your particular case is the most important advice that you will get.

Appreciate your time this morning.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: So, this morning there is panic and really mass confusion aboard many -- at least one flight, but likely many, after President Trump issued a new order raising a $215 fee for new H-1B visa applications, raising that amount to $100,000, $215 to $100,000. The announcement Friday sparked chaos on board at least one Emirates flight set to depart San Francisco to Dubai. Literally, they received the information as they're on the plane, and panic ensued. It was delayed for three hours as people were deciding whether they should stay on the plane or get off. Some of them getting off.

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentleman, it's the captain speaking. Due to the current circumstances, obviously, that are unprecedented for us here at Emirates, we are aware that a number of passengers do not wish to travel with us, and that's perfectly fine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Some of those passengers fearing that they might not be able to reenter the country and -- reenter the U.S. if they left. The H-1B is a work visa for skilled professionals, commonly used -- well, in many industries, but especially across the tech industry.

And a PSA for all the gentlemen watching. This is not the way to impress the ladies. Police in Florida say the driver of this pickup truck told them that he decided to do a burnout while they're pursuing him because he wanted to, quote, "impress girls." That's not illegal, but the police say that he was driving under the influence, which is illegal. And at one point nearly crashed into officers and pedestrians. The man is now facing multiple charges.

John.

BERMAN: I don't know that I have a response to that. I'm trying to figure out what I can say there that will get me in trouble.

BOLDUAN: That's exactly --

[08:55:01]

BERMAN: I'll just say, thank you, Kate. Thank you, Kate, for that report.

All right, new this morning, what is the price tag for a dream? How about the American dream? New data shows that living that dream now costs just over $5 million.

CNN's Matt Egan is here.

Can I get a discount?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: John, look, there's a lot of frustration over just how expensive and how elusive it feels like the American dream is. And the numbers back that up, right? Investopedia, they calculated that living the American dream costs over $5 million per household. Now, it can mean different things to different people, but they looked at this by examining eight pillars of the American dream that are typically things that people would aspire to, right? So, the first one on their retirement, that's a big one, obviously, 1.6 million right there. Health care, $400,000. Owning a home, nearly $1 million. Raising two kids, plus college, nearly 900,000. So, right there that's 3.8 million.

But as you know, John, you have kids. You got to bring them to soccer, lacrosse practice. So, car ownership, right, $900,000 right there. Then throw in annual vacations, pets and weddings, all added up, you get that $5 million. Now, here's the problem. Median lifetime earnings for an individual

American with a bachelor's degree is only 2.8 million, right? So that means to achieve the American dream, you really need to be part of a college educated, dual income household.

Now, some of this could vary, obviously, depending upon where you live, depending upon the size of your family. But as you can imagine, this is causing pessimism among younger Americans. Just 21 percent of those aged 18 to 29, they believe the American dream still holds true. That is down dramatically from 56 percent back in 2010.

And I got to tell you, I talk to young people who share these concerns, right. Gen zers who say they've applied to hundreds of jobs. And even then they landed a job that doesn't pay the bills. There's millennials who want to buy a home, but they feel like they can't right not at these prices, at these borrowing rates.

I think the good news is that mortgage rates have started to come down. There are more homes for sale. But I think any way you cut it, it is really expensive.

BERMAN: I mean, if you do no pets, no cars, no wedding, no college --

ENTEN: No dream.

BERMAN: No dream. No, you can sort of sneak in there.

ENTEN: Yes.

BERMAN: Or live twice as long. Or live to 200 years old and you'll be fine.

ENTEN: There you go.

BERMAN: Pretty discouraging stuff. Matt Egan, thank you very much.

ENTEN: Thanks, John.

BERMAN: Kate.

BOLDUAN: World leaders are gathering and headed to New York this week for the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly. And when it comes to security, whenever these world leaders are together, but especially in this year, it is an all hands on deck scenario.

CNN's John Miller had a chance to follow Secret Service as they prepare.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, we got off the x.

MATT MCCOOL, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, SECRET SERVICE NEW YORK FIELD OFFICE: (INAUDIBLE) going to die.

MILLER: Have you tried that in Manhattan traffic yet?

MCCOOL: Yes. You want to -- you want to do it again?

MILLER: Yes, let's do it again.

MILLER (voice over): On a remote former airfield in the far reaches of Brooklyn, Matt McCool, special agent in charge of the Secret Service in New York, is training for a busy week.

MILLER: And we end up facing the opposite direction. Take off. And escape the threat.

MCCOOL: Yep.

MILLER (voice over): When protecting any world leader, the most vulnerable point is the move, going from point a to point b.

MILLER: Well, that was exhilarating, or accelerating, or something- rating.

MILLER (voice over): So, as the NYPD and the Secret Service plan the motorcades for the United Nations General Assembly, it's a security challenge like no other.

MILLER: So, what are we looking at in terms of the number?

MCCOOL: So, for this year, we're looking at over 150 heads of state. And then approximately 75 spouses.

MILLER (voice over): But in the congested streets of Manhattan, spinning a car around may not be an option.

MCCOOL: The best way to survive an ambush is, don't get ambushed. But if it does occur, we have a coordinated plan. And what I can tell you is if -- if that were to happen in New York City, it's going to be met with a violent counterattack.

MILLER (voice over): At the Secret Service training center in Maryland, an attack can come at any moment.

MILLER: What's the mindset going into each day?

MCCOOL: The bad guy's here. And he's ready to go. And it's our job to stop him and stay ahead of them.

MILLER (voice over): In New York City traffic, the motorcycles are more than just ceremonial.

ANTHONY LACORAZZA, LOCAL PARTNER LIAISON, SECRET SERVICE NEW YORK FIELD OFFICE: Far from lead, merge right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Copy. Merge right.

LACORAZZA: Merge on the left posted.

MILLER (voice over): Secret Service Agent Anthony Lacorazza explains how they're critical to the operation.

LACORAZZA: On the motorcade route. Pedestrians ride in the motorcade route.

MILLER: If something suddenly occurs, there are a set of synapses that fire, reactions that happen, and it can happen very quickly.

[09:00:00]

And it can come out of nowhere.

LACORAZZA: There's always a plan. There's always multiple plans to get from -- from one point to the other. And we run those consistently. We brief them consistently.