Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Interview with Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE): Election officials Warn The Can't Meet Trump's Mail Ballot Demands; Army Secretary Resigns Amid Tensions with Hegseth; Deadlocked Jury Resumes Deliberation in Lindsay Clancy Murder Trial; Dashcam Video Shows Violent Arrest of SUV Passenger. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired September 02, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

RANDI KAY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Now he did tell the deputies that he did take a few medications, a few prescription medications earlier that day, but he was charged with failing to take that lawful test as they put it on the scene. He also was charged with driving under the influence and had pleaded not guilty.

He said he didn't see the trailers, the pickup truck and the trailer slowing down, that he was on his cell phone and he was playing with the radio at the time. But of course, Sara, we know that this is not the first time that we've seen Tiger Woods in traffic incidents. We have that case back in 2017 here in Florida where he was found asleep on the side of the road.

They were suspicious that there was some driving under the influence taking place there and they did a toxicology test and they found that there was sleep, pain, anxiety medication in his system as well as THC for marijuana. And also back in 2009, he had that serious rollover crash in Los Angeles, which he had been working through rehabilitation since then. He did get treatment, Sara, it's important to point out.

He did say he was going to seek treatment after this most recent case in March, so we'll see when we get a look at him in court today -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Randi Kaye, I know you'll be watching all of it for us. Thank you so much for your reporting there from Stewart.

Another hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Not enough money, paper, or people. Election officials saying that President Trump's new rules for mail-in voting across the country, it could mean thousands of Americans may not receive their ballots by November.

And new CNN reporting of sources inside the Army saying that the defense secretary is damaging their efforts to adapt to the modern battlefield. What that means for the war that they're currently in with Iran.

And new video of a semi crashing into an overpass and then dangling over the roadway. And the rescue, the high stakes rescue that follows.

John is out today. I'm Kate Bolduan with Sara Sidner. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SIDNER: New CNN reporting this morning, the midterms fast approaching, as you know, and state election officials, though, are sounding the alarm warning they cannot comply with the new rules. President Trump is demanding for mail in ballots. That could mean tens of thousands of Americans could be without their ballots on Election Day.

The president signed an executive order in March aimed at imposing new limits on voting by mail. Those rules are now on hold because a judge froze the mandate last week. And though the administration is appealing. But officials say even if the blockade is lifted and they have to go forward with Trump's plan, there's simply no way they can comply in time.

Washington state's election director put it bluntly. "It's just not possible for us to meet the USPS requirement." It comes as a whistleblower reports is warning that the U.S. Postal Service's new ballot verification system was, quote, rushed and untested. Others in the IT space in that very -- looking at that very same thing, calling it a shit show. Earlier today, our Kate Bolduan spoke with Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, who released and revealed this report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): Zero percent failure is part of its design. In other words, for the first time in our history, the Postal Service is going to be acting as a gatekeeper. It is going to be screening every ballot based on information provided by election officials and the ballots provided by them and then refusing to send the whole batch of ballots -- maybe 10,000.

If there is one discrepancy, one bar code missing from one ballot, and that's the design of the system, which is why I say it is designed to disenfranchise millions of Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: All right. Joining me now is Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware here live in in person. It's good to have you here, thank you. You hear this from Senator Blumenthal, your comrade, and you then hear from a whistleblower.

I'm just curious when you hear that the state officials are saying we cannot comply. Even if the court says we have to comply, we simply physically cannot do it. What is your big worry when you hear that from state officials, not just one several?

SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE), FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: Well, one of the strengths of the American electoral system is that it's not a single federal system. It's run by local officials, mostly county officials and state officials. And frankly, everyone watching should make a plan to vote.

In case you can't get your mail in ballot, make sure you have a plan.

[08:05:00]

President Trump knows that his unpopular policies, whether it's the war in Iran or the tariff fight with Canada, the way that costs are going up and the way that his policies aren't succeeding means his party will lose these midterms. So he's just trying to change the rules rather than trying to persuade people. President Trump himself just voted by mail.

There is no proof of widespread voting by mail by noncitizens. So this is a solution in search of a problem that may well cause chaos for those who rely on vote by mail.

SIDNER: So far and over these many years that the president has said that the election system is fraught with fraud, there has been no evidence of a large scale fraud. So I do want to ask you about this whistleblower who came forward and talking about what is happening inside USPS and this plan that they're trying to implement. And he says, trying to -- or this person says, trying to rush through.

There is this idea that if one single ballot envelope that is scanned in a batch does not align with the information in this newly created portal, then the postal service would simply stop the entire batch, which could be thousands of votes from being able to be sent out.

COONS: Right.

SIDNER: Can you believe that we're here at this point in time? We are very close to the midterm election. What is that going to mean?

COONS: I'm frankly not surprised because President Trump has said publicly, the only way Republicans can lose is if the system is rigged. He didn't say rigged by whom. And so, frankly, this is spreading a lack of trust in our strong electoral process, a lack of certainty in terms of who's going to be able to vote and how and why. And I hope it doesn't deter people from voting.

If you're not happy with the costs you're paying, with the policies that whoever represents you is pursuing, then come out and vote. It's going to take extra determination and engagement. But frankly, this effort to rush through a new, untested nationwide screening role for the U.S. Postal Service is a needless burden on the right to vote, which is the most foundational vote for Americans in a democracy.

SIDNER: I do want to ask you about one of the things that you brought up, one of the things Americans are very concerned about, and that is the war in Iran. We have just seen the U.S. and Iran trading strikes, Iran responding and retaliating after strikes by the U.S. On Tuesday, I want to just put up what Trump said at night, saying he's not trying to force Iran to the negotiating table, but instead he says, "I like our position now much better, with almost total control of the Hormuz Strait and their economy totally collapsing. They are just playing out the inevitable. When are the Iranian people going to rise up and fight?"

Do you think that the U.S. is in a much better position now, as he has put it?

COONS: No. Look, frankly, this war of choice has cost us. It has cost us 18 service members' lives, hundreds and hundreds of Americans injured, the infrastructure of the region, the oil and gas infrastructure has been hit and hit and hit again, and this was entirely foreseeable.

If standing back and imposing a blockade and escalating sanctions was the right strategy to bring to heel the Iranian potential nuclear weapons program, we should have done that instead of launching a war of regime change and striking thousands of targets throughout Iran. The Iranian regime is stronger, more aggressive, more repressive today than when we started. Remember, President Trump, as he announced this war six months ago, was saying it was a war of regime change.

The regime hasn't changed. It was a war to get rid of their ballistic missile launchers. They're still launching them.

It was a war to prevent the Iranians from supporting regional proxies. The Houthis are still strong and still firing. It hasn't succeeded, and it's cost us tens of billions of dollars and the readiness of our armed forces.

So, frankly, I don't see us as being in a stronger position.

SIDNER: I want to ask you about the readiness of the armed forces because you had a huge shakeup where the Army Secretary submitted his resignation. Our source is saying because he was butting up against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and giving him a warning about, you know, the Army's transformation and its readiness. What is your concern when you hear another top brass official in the military walking away or being fired, but in this case, he walked away?

There have been many top officials walking away.

COONS: Yes, dozens. Sara, I remember being briefed months ago on how our key strategic advantage against the PRC, against the Chinese People's Liberation Army, was that Xi Jinping was firing a whole series of his most senior generals and admirals for corruption. And I said, excuse me, what are they thinking looking at us when Hegseth has abruptly fired or Trump has abruptly fired the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the Chief of Naval Operations, Randy George, the Chief of Staff of the Army with decades of experience.

[08:10:00]

We're seeing an entire generation of military leaders being forced out the door. And I'm heart sick that Secretary Dan Driscoll, who was innovative, who was determined to transform the Army, to learn the lessons of Ukraine and to apply them. We need leaders like that in the military.

We do not need a leader who is solely there because he is compliant and loyal. That's not been the history of our military. And our military gave President Trump and Secretary Hegseth plenty of caution about this war in Iran. They've wandered into a box canyon they're having trouble getting out of. And the costs are simply mounting the cost in terms of readiness, our being able to defend the United States and our interests around the world. And that's an urgent issue that more Republicans need to speak up about in Congress.

SIDNER: Senator Chris Coons, thank you for making it here this morning.

COONS: Thank you.

SIDNER: We do appreciate it. Lots on the table right now.

All right, dead locked for hours. Ahead, there is a question if there will be a verdict today or not, or if the jury will remain deadlocked in the Lindsay Clancy case where she is accused of killing her three children. We are monitoring the court as we speak. It will begin in less than an hour.

Plus, saved in the nick of time. New video showing the moment a woman pulls two young children to safety before that cataclysmic flood ends up in her neighborhood.

This morning, we are closely tracking the urgent search inside those hydro tunnels where hundreds of workers remain trapped.

And some sticker shock this morning. A growing number of universities charging more than $100,000 a year for tuition. New data showing whether the cost is worth it. Those stories and more ahead.

[08:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Next hour, all eyes will be on the jury in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial. They're set to return now for a fifth day of deliberations, but with huge new questions now hanging over it all, after telling the judge that they were deadlocked. Yesterday morning is when this happened, and the judge told the jury then to go back in and keep working.

But then by mid-afternoon yesterday, the jury asked to go home for the day. Lindsay Clancy is accused of strangling and killing her three young children. She has pleaded not guilty.

Her defense all along was that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis, and they argue should not be held criminally responsible for the children's deaths. The jury has now spent about 23 hours weighing the evidence and deliberating behind closed doors. They need to reach a unanimous verdict if they're going to reach it.

CNN's Ivan Rodriguez is outside court. Ivan, what are you hearing from there today?

IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: OK, good morning. Within the hour, we should hear that the jury has arrived. At that point, the judge will bring the jury into the courtroom, ask them if they've been exposed to anything that could impact their deliberations, and typically, we've seen those deliberations begin right around 9:15, so we could be about an hour exactly away from those deliberations beginning now for their fifth day. Now, yesterday, the judge also acknowledged that, look, this has been a long trial, he told jurors, with more than 80 witnesses and 300 exhibits, and also get a chance to hear from now what Clancy's attorney, Kevin Reddington, had to say about all of these developments as he exited the courthouse yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kevin, if you have to retry this, do you think that your client is emotionally prepared to do it again?

KEVIN REDDINGTON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't think she is? Would you do anything different in the second trial if you have a second trial?

REDDINGTON: I don't know.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think that there's still a chance that the jury comes back with a verdict of some sort?

REDDINGTON: I hope so.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you take it as a good sign that they were at an impasse, that it's a good sign for them?

REDDINGTON: I don't know that it's a good sign or a bad sign or any sign, it's that they're working hard to try to come to a decision.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RODRIGUEZ: So what happens if jurors still can't come to a unanimous verdict? Well, the judge could send them back to continue those deliberations in an effort to reach that verdict. If jurors still remain deadlocked, then we could have the judge potentially read special instructions known as a dynamite charge, giving them a final chance to reach that unanimous verdict.

If they still can't do so, Kate, then we could potentially see a mistrial in this case, ending the proceedings and also opening the door for a future trial. Now again, we are waiting for jurors to arrive for their fifth day of deliberations.

BOLDUAN: All right, Ivan, it's all about to get underway. Thank you so much. I really appreciate that.

We're going to show you now live pictures inside a different courtroom. This one in Florida. Tiger Woods is -- you're told that Tiger Woods is there and he's about to -- it's all about to get underway.

We're going to bring that to you when it begins. Be right back.

[08:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: All right, dramatic dash camera video from a high-speed chase and violent arrest in Arkansas raising some serious concerns about police use of force this morning for how they treated the passenger in the car. Now, state troopers say that the SUV led them on a high-speed chase with speeds over 130 miles an hour for about 10 minutes. This happened last month in Blytheville, Arkansas.

They used a tactical maneuver to force the car to pull over, where it finally did stop. Troopers told 23-year-old former college basketball player Tedrick Washington, Jr., who was a passenger in the backseat, to get out of the car. You can see a trooper, though, then smash the window and attempt to pull him out, then punch him in the face, and then pull him by his hair.

Supervisor says the arrest was justified because Washington did not obey the commands from the officers. CNN's Ryan Young spoke to Tedrick Washington and joins me now. Give us some sense of what he told you.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, when you watch this video, you can understand why he feels a bit of trauma based upon this. He first says, look, he wasn't the driver.

[08:25:00]

He understands what was going on afterwards, but he felt like he was complying. When you watch this video and you see him being pulled by his hair and he's being punched several times, you understand why he's upset.

And just like you were talking about before, apparently, according to state troopers, they got behind this car. It was going 82 miles per hour in a 60 mile per hour zone. They increased their speed, according to state troopers.

It went to 113 miles per hour, then went to 130 miles per hour. They had to use spike strips to stop the car. But once the car was stopped, that driver then got in the backseat.

But you see how this is playing out with that officer throwing punch after punch to his face and he wasn't the driver. In fact, let's take a listen and watch some of this that happened just a month ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TROOPER: Crawl out the car. Crawl out right now.

TEDDY WASHINGTON, COLLEGE BASKETBALL PLAYER: I can't.

TROOPER: Crawl out. Out of the door.

WASHINGTON: I can't get out. I'm sorry.

TROOPER: Crawl out the car. Crawl out. Crawl out. WASHINGTON: Bro, let go of my hair.

TROOPER: Crawl out of here.

WASHINGTON: Bro, let go of my hair.

TROOPER: Crawl out. Get out of the car. Crawl out. Get out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

YOUNG: You have to ask yourself, Sara, at what point was he able to pull, come out, especially when his arm's being pulled through that window. So there's a lot of conversation about that in terms of what happened and sort of how much force was used. Let's not forget this was at the end of a high-speed chase.

But look, he feels like he was complying. Take a listen to some of the things he told me when we talked by phone just about this and what he's seeking at this point.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WASHINGTON: I feel like I was complying in the right way. You know, I didn't feel like I was aggressive or I tried to resist. I feel like it was excessive use of force but, that's just my opinion so I'm definitely gonna look to get justice about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: All right. So, Sara, obviously another conversation about Arkansas State troopers using force. Just last month, we were on here talking about the young lady who was arrested, who was 18, who was punched several times by a state trooper.

So now there's going to be a conversation about how this moves forward.

SIDNER: Yes, I mean, when you're watching the video, one officer is trying to pull him out the window, doesn't try to open the door, the door is open. So there are a lot of questions that remain. The other officer helping him out the door while one is trying to pull him through the window.

A big mess there and hard to watch. Ryan Young, thank you so much for your reporting there. I appreciate it.

All right, ahead, growing concerns over Army readiness. Multiple sources telling CNN this morning that Secretary Hegseth is focusing far too much on culture wars and not enough on the battlefield.

Plus, an officer charged with manslaughter for killing a college student who ended up knocking on the wrong house after a night out with friends. More details on that ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:00]