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America's Choice; Troubling Conditions On USS Lincoln; National League MVP; Landmark Court Battle. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired August 18, 2026 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:31:20]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Happening today, several states holding key primaries, the latest test for President Trump's influence just as he faces some dismal polling numbers. The new Reuters/Ipsos poll puts his approval rating at just 33 percent. That is the lowest of this term. It matches the lowest of either term for him in Reuters/Ipsos.

With us now is Andrew Desiderio, Senior Congressional Reporter for Punchbowl News. And, Andrew, this made me think of your fine reporting yesterday. I was watching you as you were hearing from Senator Jim Justice, a Republican from West Virginia, speak to you on one of the things he said.

As he said that he thinks Republicans might be missing what's going on. Everyone sat back and said, it'll be OK, he said. I've been the voice that's been saying, you people are living in a cave if you don't see that folks out there are hurting. Whether it'd be gas prices or food prices or whatever it may be, they're hurting. And we need to absolutely be more in tune with them.

All right. So talk to us about the message the senator was trying to deliver and to whom exactly?

ANDREW DESIDERIO, SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, PUNCHBOWL NEWS: Well, first off, he was trying to deliver it to the rest of his party, right? He said that Republicans do have a lot to run on, but they haven't done a good job of marketing those accomplishments in his view. He's, of course, referring mostly to the extension of those tax cuts last year from 2017.

But it's difficult to ask voters to reward you, essentially, for simply extending existing tax cuts when they're still struggling to make ends meet. And that's the point he was making, is that we have to be doing more as a party to show that we are trying to address these issues. And at the same time, he invoked the war in Iran several times to make the point that gas prices, fertilizer prices, groceries prices are still way too high and that people back home in West Virginia are still hurting.

BERMAN: Yes. You know, and he is supportive of the war in Iran, but at the same time --

DESIDERIO: Right.

BERMAN: -- it feels like he's trying to figure out a way to message it, which is something we're seeing around the country with Republicans, Andrew.

DESIDERIO: Yes, absolutely. He did stand by the decision to go to war with Iran initially, but he repeated what many Republicans said at the outset of this war when we first asked them about this, which was they hope it's short. They hope it's a sort of condensed conflict and we can get this over with and move on. And of course, with wars like this, you can never put a timeline on it.

You can never truly predict how long it's going to take. And now we're at the point where we're less than 100 days out from the midterms, and these economic repercussions are being felt, you know, very acutely.

BERMAN: And we're less than a hundred days out from the midterms, and Republicans and administration officials are campaigning in places that you wouldn't expect. We saw -- well, first of all, you never expect to see a defense secretary overtly campaigning. Pete Hegseth is really the first to do this, but he was out in Iowa yesterday.

There's this renewed focus, or new focus, I should say, for Republicans on Iowa. They seem very concerned that this state, which has been quite red over the last 12 years, could be in play for governor, for senate, there are House races there. Where's the concern?

DESIDERIO: All of the above, John. And I want to zero in specifically on the Senate race. Josh Turek is a top recruit of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. He is showing that he can potentially defeat Congresswoman Ashley Hinson, who is the Republican nominee for that seat.

Of course, Joni Ernst, the incumbent Republican, is retiring. But you see how Democrats have really expanded the senate map to the point where we're talking about them potentially winning the majority. I mean a year ago, that was something that was a pipe dream, right?

[07:30:13]

Now we're talking about them winning in states like Iowa, like Ohio, like Alaska, for example, potentially even Texas as well, given who the Republican nominee is down there, of course, the attorney general, Ken Paxton. So I think it just speaks to how Democrats have been able to capitalize on Donald Trump's unpopularity more broadly, specifically with the war in Iran. When you look at fertilizer prices, for example, in a place like Iowa, that matters a lot.

BERMAN: Yes. And there is a through line to what Jim Justice told you and what we're seeing in Iowa and the President's poll numbers on Reuters/Ipsos, all of that connected to the same environment we're in.

DESIDERIO: Absolutely.

BERMAN: Andrew Desiderio, always enjoy your reporting. Thank you very much. Kate?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump is now flat out dismissing reports of concerns of mental health and supply issues aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. The aircraft carrier has been deployed for more than 250 days, redirected to the Middle East for the war with Iran. And concerns about the American sailors on board have been growing by the day, enduring what may soon become a record setting amount of uninterrupted time at sea now.

The ship may break a record for the longest trip away from its home port for a US Carrier since the Vietnam War. And here is what the President said yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: I was at a group meeting and an admiral came up to see me over the weekend. And it was at a big group and he happened to be an admiral, retired. He said, I've been on ships that are out there much longer than that, sir. And I know people on the Lincoln.

They say it's beautifully-maintained and beautifully taken care of. And other people went out and they found out to be true. It was fake news reporting from CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Joining me right now is Natalie Oliverio, Pentagon Correspondent for the Military Times, also a Navy veteran. Natalie, thank you for being here.

You've done a lot of reporting on this, on the growing concern spoken to many families of sailors on board. Does that -- how does the President's remarks align with what you are being told by those on the aircraft carrier and their families?

NATALIE OLIVERIO, PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT, MILITARY TIMES: Thanks, Kate. They don't align. One military spouse told me last night that it is infuriating to hear the commander in chief speak about our servicemembers this way.

The ships are not intended to seamlessly run that long without extreme maintenance every single day. And the sailors that keep that ship going need the same maintenance every day too.

BOLDUAN: What is the impact of hearing their concerns that mean families are speaking up now. I mean, what is the impact of that concern which they're already -- they're already, of course, hesitant to speak out publicly when they're -- when their loved ones overseas and serving. But having their concerns then dismissed, I mean being called fake news. I mean, what are you hearing from the families on this?

OLIVERIO: Families are feeling a loss of confidence. They are looking for reassurance in a really vulnerable time. And leadership seems to be really short on compassion. That is the missing piece to this puzzle.

You can have as many visits to the Lincoln as you want. You can say the wonderful job that the sailors are doing because they are, they are maintaining. But how much longer can they maintain? We are riding on the resilience of our sailors, assuming that it's open-ended. It's a bottomless supply of resilience, but how much longer can that be sustainable.

BOLDUAN: And that's a, I mean, it is a critical question and they all want to know when they're loved -- when they're going home, which keep that -- it's been extended and extended and -- but now the carrier, USS Washington, is on its way to the Middle East to relieve the USS Lincoln. What does this though whole thing say about the Navy's ability to kind of sustain carrier operations at this pace?

OLIVERIO: You know, I think that when Admiral Cooper visited the USS Lincoln, you know, he acknowledged that the mental and physical demands are extraordinary. And to move another carrier strike group from the Western Pacific, near China, to reroute them to the Middle East is not a small thing.

It's not a tap and go. There is a process to a change of command, especially under deployment. So this is a really big deal. We're currently not present in the Western Pacific right now, which is also a really big deal. And I am not sure how the Navy will respond, but I know that families everywhere.

[07:40:01] And the George Washington Battle Group and the USS Abraham Lincoln Battle Group are constantly queued in to the news, to each other, trying to make sense of what's going on, trying to stay afloat, of what they need to tell their kids and trying to show up to work in the morning, trying to keep it going day after day while hearing that there's mental health crises, that there's bad food, that there's no showers, that the toilets are broken.

Anyone who has loved someone and been away from that person, for any amount of time, can understand the stress of that human condition and what that leaves our families holding.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Natalie, thank you so much for your reporting. Thank you for coming on. Sara?

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. This morning, oil prices on the rise again after the two month window to negotiate an end to the Iranian conflict expired with no deal in sight. They are hovering now, those prices, about $90 a barrel or above, making the situation even more dicey. The US emergency oil reserves are now at their lowest level in more than 40 years.

CNN's Matt Egan is here. What does this all mean, this combination of things that are happening?

MATT EGAN, SENIOR BUSINESS REPORTER, CNN: Well, Sara, look, the President has argued that the US has total control over the Strait of Hormuz. I think the oil market is saying otherwise. We are seeing some nervousness about the war, about this supply crisis creep back into the market.

So as you mentioned, Brent Crude, it's back above $90 a barrel for the first time since late July. WTI, the US benchmark, at about $85 a barrel. But the real action is actually beneath the surface where we are starting to see red lights flashing. In particular, a key measure of refining profitability.

It's known as the diesel crack. It skyrocketed above $100 a barrel yesterday for the first time ever. This shows two things; one, refiners are printing money right now. And two, it shows that the market is very tight. There's just not enough fuel out there.

A veteran analyst, Bob McNally, he told me this is man bites dog news. And it does show that the market is screaming out that supplies are tight. And that's because you've got a situation where three of the world's major refining hubs, they're in crisis. It's the Middle East, Russia, because of the war with Ukraine, and then China is limiting its own exports, is really just the US refiners right now that are carrying the load.

And when we look at fuel prices, they haven't gone up as much as feared, but they're still up massively from this time a year ago. Look at this. Gas is 30 percent more expensive than this time last summer. Diesel, 48 percent, that's huge.

Diesel is the workhorse of this economy, right? It powers the trucks that haul all the stuff that we buy online. It powers the trains. It's what power powers the tractors that farmers use. Jet fuel, 73 percent more expensive than this point last year, and we know that airlines have not been shy about passing those costs along to consumers as well.

And look, prices, they would be even higher if not for two things. One, the fact that China has slashed its oil imports more than anyone even thought was possible. And two, the fact that the US is draining emergency oil at just a historic pace.

Look at the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, another 5 million barrels were drained last week alone. Look at this line, all the way on the right side. It's going almost straight down. It's now at its lowest point since late 1982, back when the Reagan administration was just filling up the SPR for the first time.

Now look, there's still a lot of crude in the SPR. However, back to back wars, the Russia-Ukraine war and now the Iran one have clearly wiped out just a huge chunk from the SPR. And look, there are limits here, right? At a certain point they'll reach an operational floor.

This is not a bottomless pit of energy. Even though, of course, it has helped shield consumers from even higher prices.

SIDNER Certainly here it has in the United States. Matt Egan, thank you so much.

OLIVERIO: Thank you, Sara.

SIDNER: Really interesting to look at all those different facets. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Meta kicking off what could be their biggest court battle yet as the tech titan faces allegations the platform, its platforms are designed to are addicting kids, harming their mental health and also violating their privacy. And also this, an oil tanker, an oil tank, erupts in flames after a lightning strike.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my God. Holy (inaudible).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:44:32]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right. The Red Sox beat the Diamondbacks 11-1 and for that we give thanks. But there were other games as well, including some other all time phenomenal performances. Pete Crow-Armstrong is having a season for the ages. Let's get right to CNN Andy Scholes for all the action and there was plenty. Andy?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes. Good morning, John. So, you know, the Astros' Yordan Alvarez, he's going to win that American League MVP Award. But in the National League, I mean, we got a battle between Pete Crow-Armstrong and Shohei Ohtani, and both making their MVP cases last night.

The Cubs, they were hosting their cross town rivals, the White Sox. First inning, PCA gets a hold of this one. This is his 29th home run of the season. The Cubs were down in the bottom of the ninth, but they tied the game on a Nico Hoerner single.

[07:50:12]

So we go to extras and in the 10th, PCA up again. And he calls game. The two run walk off, sending Wrigley into a frenzy. PCA is the sixth player ever to hit a leadoff and walk off home run in the same game. He's the first to do it since 2010. Cubs won a fun one there 7-5.

So is that going to be the MVP moment that gives PCA the edge? Well, Shohei Ohtani said not so fast. Dodgers in Denver playing the Rockies. Fifth inning, Ohtani crushes this one, his 28th homer of this season. And he wasn't done.

Next inning, runner on, and Ohtani absolutely unloads on that one. That ball went 452ft. Dodgers won big over the Rockies 11 to 5.

Meanwhile, back in LA, there is drama brewing over the Lakers sale. Last week, Dodgers owner Mark Walter, he announced he was selling the Lakers to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner at a $12.5 billion valuation.

Well, the Buss family, they still own 17.8 percent of the team. And there was a provision when they sold the team to Walter that said if he sold, they could tag along at the same valuation. Well, five Buss kids decided to do just that in a vote.

But Jeanie Buss didn't join that boat and is now contesting her siblings right to sell, according to a letter from her lawyer that was viewed by CNN. So Jeanie maintains that a 2017 court order stated that the Lakers could not be sold without her and Joey Buss' approval. Now, Jeanie had a deal with Walter to remain the governor of the team till 2030, and Iger said he was going to honor that deal but Jeanie must maintain at least a 15 percent ownership stake to do that, according to NBA rules

All right. Elsewhere, Serena and Venus taking the court together for the first time since 2022 last night as they competed in doubles at the Cincinnati Open. Looked a little rusty early on, they lost 6-2 in the first set to Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearn, but they did battle back, winning the second set 6-1 to force a winner take all third.

And the last set was a thriller. Serena and Venus, they were down 6-0, but they battled all the way back. But then they were down 9-8 and Venus double faults, and they would end up losing that. Afterwards Serena said, it was a fun night.

John, now all eyes go to New York. Is Serena going to make her return to the US Open? No confirmation yet, but it is certainly pointing in that direction. And I tell you what, it's going to be fun at Flushing Meadows if she's back on the court.

BERMAN: And they look like they were having fun. I saw smiles there. I mean, Venus didn't like double faulting, but it was cool to see them play. They look like they're having fun and it's just fun to see them, all right.

Andy Scholes, thank you very much for that. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Thank you, JB. A big question this morning, what's next for the admitted CEO killer Luigi Mangione? Yesterday, his state trial in New York was effectively put on hold. It was set to begin next month for the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

But the trial is now postponed after he pleaded guilty last week in federal court to two stalking charges connected to the same killing. Mangione admitted that he traveled to New York, he targeted Thompson and shot him. Now, his defense team is trying to argue the state case against him should be thrown out because of double jeopardy.

Joining us now, CNN senior legal analyst and former assistant US attorney in the Southern District, Elie Honig.

Elie, does Mangione have a valid double jeopardy argument here?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: I think he does, Kate. I think he has a very strong double jeopardy argument. So New York State law is very favorable to defendants who are arguing double jeopardy. It essentially says that a person cannot be prosecuted a second time for the same act or criminal transaction that he's already been prosecuted for here. And so, Mangione's argument is, well, now I've been prosecuted and convicted by the feds for the same act or transaction, for the shooting of Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan on December 4, 2024. I'm essentially being tried for the same conduct in both federal and state court. I think the state prosecutor's response is going to be a technical one, which is, OK, but the actual crimes charged in the two cases are not the same.

In the state, he's charged with murder, straightforward murder. In the federal system, he was charged with stalking an individual across state lines, resulting in death. But that's a really sort of technocratic defense that I don't think will ultimately resonate. So don't be surprised if Mangione prevails on double jeopardy and the state case gets thrown out.

BOLDUAN: So what, I mean, look, it's postponed. I mean, you really think that the state trial could not happen at all?

HONIG: There's no way we see a state trial now, Kate, because either Mangione wins, and then the state case gets thrown out. But even if Mangione loses on the double jeopardy argument, now state prosecutors can use Mangione's admissions last week when he pled guilty in federal court. They can use that against him.

[07:55:03]

So he's going to plead guilty if he loses his double jeopardy argument. Because if he does go to trial in the state, state prosecutors, exhibit A is going to be, all right, folks. In August of 2026, Mangione across the street under oath said to a federal judge, yes, I did kill Brian Thompson on that date.

So I don't think we're ever going to see a state level trial of Mangione. It's either going to be dismissed or he's going to plead guilty.

BOLDUAN: Elie, thanks for jumping on. Sara?

SIDNER All right. Thank you, Kate. The official cause of death for actress Hayden Panettiere still under investigation. The Coroner's Office is waiting for results from more testing, but says that the autopsy shows no signs of trauma. Panettiere died Sunday after she was found in cardiac arrest at a South Carolina apartment complex.

This morning, her-ex fiancee, with whom she shares a daughter, posted a tribute to her saying his family was going through a time of profound shock and grief. Adding, she built an incredible career through immense talent while also facing the darker sides of a very demanding industry.

Panettiere had been candid about her struggles with addiction and depression. And she was just 36 years old when she died.

A terrifying story out of Philadelphia, police are searching for a man in this creepy doll mask who's been terrorizing people downtown. Video shows a suspect chasing a woman jogging near City Hall early last Wednesday. You see it happening there?

Police say that she said he asked her, "are you ready to die?" Investigators say he also tried to forcing his way into a coffee shop before another woman fought him off, kicking him away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMEKA, FOUGHT OFF ATTACKER: So disoriented about what his goals actually were. Like, I had bags. He wasn't reaching for those. It didn't seem like he had a clear goal to like, actually get in La Colombe to do anything. So I was like, OK, well, let's see if you can fight. And he couldn't.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you kicked him in the center of his chest.

JAMEKA: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You like, you know, just like that.

JAMEKA: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER No one was hurt. Police believe the suspect is between 16 and 20 years old. John?

BERMAN: Let's see if he can fight and he couldn't.

SIDNER He could not.

BERMAN: Delivering the --

SIDNER Thank goodness.

BERMAN: All right. This morning, opening arguments begin in what could be Meta's his biggest legal fight yet. Several state attorneys general accused the company of designing its platforms to keep young users hooked, collecting children's data, and misleading the public about the risks.

The states are seeking up to $1.4 trillion in damages. Meta calls the claims unsubstantiated and rejects the proposed payout. CNN's Clare Duffy, who's been covering all these cases, is here with the latest on this. What are you learning?

CLARE DUFFY,CNN TECH REPORTER: Yes, John, I mean, this is just the latest of these cases alleging that Meta has intentionally designed its platforms to be addictive. But the potential consequences for Meta here are so much more significant. That proposed $1.4 trillion in damages.

This is part of a case that was brought by 29 state attorneys general. It will be argued in this trial by four of them; California, Colorado, Kentucky, New Jersey. They alleged that Meta intentionally-designed its platform to be addictive with features like the endlessly scrolling feed and the recommendation algorithm.

They also claim that, as you said, Meta misled the public about those risks, and that it illegally-gathered data from children under the age of 13. Throughout this trial, we could hear from Meta executives, former employees turned whistleblowers, also potentially researchers who study the impacts of social media on children's mental health.

And in addition to that massive $1.4 trillion doll in damages, which is about the same as the company's valuation on Wall Street, the state attorneys are also seeking here changes to how Meta's platforms operate. So if Meta loses this case, we could see really significant changes to how social media operates.

This, of course, just being the latest of these cases, Meta has already lost two of them and is on the hook for $1 billion, just about, in damages in those cases. And so, this could be yet another really significant verdict if Meta loses here.

Now, Meta is pushing back on these claims. They say in a statement to CNN, the AG's offer no proof that anyone in their states was misled. They claim benign features like having an additional Instagram account somehow harmed their residents, and attempts to penalize Meta for industry-wide challenges like age verification. Rather than sticking to the federal law, the states will instead decide to chase an outlandish payout.

Now, a jury will have the opportunity to hear these claims. Opening statements start today. The jury will ultimately advise the judge who will decide whether what the verdict will be in this case. This is expected to last about seven weeks, John.

BERMAN: And again, this is just the latest, as you said, and I imagine there could be more after this. Is Meta planning just to face each one as they come? Is there any way they want to get ahead of this?

DUFFY: Well, Meta did settle one of these cases brought by a Kentucky school district that was supposed to go to trial earlier this summer. We are expecting to see additional cases brought by families and school districts, Native American tribes. And so, Meta is going to face more of these cases. You know, we'll see what they decide.

I think, you know, whether or not they lose this case could certainly play a role in how they decide to handle those future cases.

BERMAN: Just one of the reasons we're watching it very closely. Clare, great to have you on it. Thank you so much.

Brand new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.