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Clancy Jury Resumes Deliberations; North Carolina Sends out Ballots; Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA) is Interviewed about the Mail-In Ballot Battle; Labor Day Travel To be Busy. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired September 04, 2026 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Talk to them again, which we just saw him do.

What did you make of what's happening in court right now? Because you've been on this side of the defense, watching all this and having to sit and court and wait for a jury to deliberate.

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Without question. So, Sara, we're understanding that the tensions, obviously, are very high. The impact of this jury's verdict is very significant.

We're talking about the distinction between murder and, if the event the jury determines that, because it was an action with intention and deliberation, that's a big deal, right? That's life in jail. If you're talking about the jury deciding that she was insane because she didn't appreciate the rightfulness and wrongfulness of her conduct, that's another set of circumstances. You don't get released, but you're in a mental institution. So, it's under that backdrop and context in which the defense attorney is advocating for their client.

That said, the judge has to be very careful about really interfering with the jury about taking over the province of the jury. The jury and the jury alone gets to make a decision as to what the specific facts are based upon who's credible, who's not, what they view the evidence as suggesting, you don't appreciate the actions or you do, that's their role. The judge's role was to merely instruct you on the law.

And judges are very, very reluctant to emphasize specific words, right? Reasonable doubt, you give the instruction, but you don't want to weigh in, such as you're suggesting that one thing is more important. So, I think what this judge is doing is the judge is protecting the integrity of the process.

Last point.

We all have to understand and recognize that simply because you have a lone holdout, they're entitled to that. When the judge instructs a jury and says, hey, we want you guys to deliberate, we think you -- there's no other jury that can do it better than you. We trust you. We respect what you do. But if you have a firmly held conviction, you could stick with it. But in the event that you want to reconsider, and you could and should in good faith, you should do that. But the judge, other than that, cannot invade the province of the jury. And that's what this judge is doing being very clear about not impugning or otherwise degrading what the juror's role is here.

JIMENEZ: I want to bring in Margaret McLean, former prosecutor, trial attorney and host of "The Margaret McLean Show" on YouTube.

You know, there is the big question going in to whether the judge would actually be questioning this juror. And we got the answer. The judge saying that he saw no need for an inquiry of this particular juror, and that the juror instructions show that reasonable doubt does not necessarily mean proof beyond all further possible doubt.

I wonder what you made of that conclusion drawn by the judge, whether that was expected and the impact you think that may have on further deliberations.

MARGARET MCLEAN, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Well, I agree with the judge here. He's -- again, I agree with what Joey said as well, he's protecting the integrity of the process. Now, he has a point with reasonable doubt, because reasonable doubt does not mean beyond all possible doubt. It's to a moral certainty. So, the language is archaic in my opinion. If this one juror has a one percent doubt, but believes, based on the evidence, that Lindsay Clancy is guilty, he's following instructions. And I'm wondering, I'm saying he, because Kevin Reddington said he.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

MCLEAN: So, we don't know officially if it's a male or -- a male or female. We have three male jurors. So -- but yesterday the note indicated that this juror was not applying reasonable doubt to the facts or the verdict. I thought it was very bold of Reddington to say in open court that this juror lied. He made a false statement. So, I thought that was interesting. I've never heard this before.

JIMENEZ: Yes. And the prosecutor even pushed back saying this wasn't an indication of lying, that it showed disagreement, which obviously jurors -- that's what you do when you're deliberating.

SIDNER: Right. That's the whole thing (ph).

JIMENEZ: But not so much rising to that further level.

SIDNER: And let me just sort of cap this off with saying, we really ought to think about where we are right now. We now know, because of the note, that this is 11 jurors to one.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

SIDNER: And the one person that is a holdout, we're learning about because of the conversation or what was written down. And then the attorney for the defense, you know, standing up and saying, OK, this is what was said, and was careful not to say the number, but clearly the number was in there. So, they know who the juror is.

But it is significant that we're in a situation where you have 11 jurors to one in this, and we may be seeing, I don't know, there's a possibility of a mistrial, but we now know there's not the possibility of having another juror who is waiting in the wings come in to replace this juror. The judge has been clear.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

SIDNER: Thank you so much. More on this breaking news coming up in just a bit. Thank you to our Joey Jackson, our Margaret McLean, and our Jean Casarez for all of that.

We will be right back

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:39:22]

JIMENEZ: North Carolina is at the center of the mail-in voting battle this morning, as the state becomes the first to send out ballots for the midterms, just two months away from Election Day officially. But this comes as President Trump's administration has filed an emergency appeal asking the Supreme Court to let him enforce his new voting rules that could limit mail-in voting. A federal judge is keeping those rules on hold for now, but a lot of implications as voting is getting underway.

CNN's Dianne Gallagher is live in Charlotte for us.

So, can you just walk us through what's happening today in North Carolina.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Look, Omar, as far as I can tell you right now, because things obviously change very quickly these days.

[09:40:04]

Nearly 50,000 requested absentee ballots by mail are still set to go out sometime later today from North Carolina to voters officially kicking off voting in the 2026 midterms.

In fact, I just spoke with an official here at Mecklenburg County elections who tells me that they are beginning to start this process where they're going to send out the UOCAVA, those overseas and military ballots through the electronic portal to them, and also start feeding those assembled ballot packages through their machines, and then later send them out through the Post Office. So, voting will begin shortly here in North Carolina.

Now, look, this is obviously a closely watched state due to that pivotal Senate race here, but also several competitive congressional competitions as well. And, look, we are told that the back and forth over that federal action, President Trump's now paused executive order, the USPS rule that he appealed to the Supreme Court, has caused some confusion among voters who just aren't really clear on if it's in effect, does it matter, is this something they need to be worried about? And so, election officials say they've tried to explain things to voters as best they can when they get that information.

But elections officials here have projected confidence, saying that, look, they are prepared, they are ready, and they're going to be ready for whatever comes their way.

We were with them yesterday as they were going through everything, assembling those packets within the envelopes. North Carolina does happen to have barcodes on both inbound and outbound envelopes, saying that that puts them in a good position.

Now, look, separate from that federal action. There was a state board meeting today that actually added some brand-new guidance on the technicalities for curing and accepting some of these ballots and adding additional things that maybe they could be thrown out for. That was passed on a party line three-two vote by the Republican-controlled state legislature.

And, look, Omar, I've covered North Carolina for years, and I've covered voting in North Carolina for years. I will tell you that almost every single election on the first day they send those out, someone in that electronic portal returns their ballot the same day, which likely means that we will have the first votes cast in the 2026 midterm elections by the end of the day today.

JIMENEZ: Wow. And a lot of questions and implications remain for what happens the rest of election season and in other states as well.

Dianne Gallagher, appreciate the reporting for us there in Charlotte.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you so much, Omar.

Joining me now, Democratic Congressman James Walkinshaw of Virginia.

You just heard our Dianne Gallagher talking about the fact that these mail-in ballots going out already in one state, in North Carolina, and President Donald Trump's administration is, though, asking the Supreme Court, as we speak, to give the U.S. Postal Service sweeping power to withhold delivery of mail-in ballots if there is some kind of discrepancy.

What is this going to mean to voters if the court allows this?

REP. JAMES WALKINSHAW (D-VA): Well, we learned from a whistleblower this week that it wouldn't just be a voter not receiving their ballot. If there's one error in a batch of 10,000 ballots that the Postal Service in this new system they're trying to create on the fly, one error could result in 10,000 ballots not being delivered. There is no way that this system can be implemented in time for the midterm elections, which, as you all have noted, start today in a way that doesn't risk disenfranchising hundreds of thousands or millions of Americans.

SIDNER: With all that's happening with the Trump administration and the Postal Service, do you trust mail-in voting right now? I mean what is your advice to voters in this midterm?

WALKINSHAW: Well, that will depend on the outcome of the, you know, court battle here. I think the executive order, on its face, is unconstitutional and illegal. And I think the -- I hope that the courts will stand fast in rejecting it. If that doesn't happen and it moves forward, I would encourage folks to drop off their ballots at drop off boxes, certainly if they're going to vote by mail, to do it as early as possible so that there's time to correct the mistakes that inevitably the Postal Service will make.

Look, the Postal Service right now can't deliver your grandma's birthday card on time. There's no way they have the capacity to implement this system on the fly.

CORNISH: All right, I do want to ask you about something that just came in this morning. We got the jobs report in. And despite warnings about the Trump tariffs, high gas prices due to the war in Iran, it's more than double expectations with 160,000 jobs added. The unemployment rate staying where it was, not going up.

[09:45:00]

You know, the Trump administration might say, look, this is vindication of what we've been doing. Is that how you see it?

WALKINSHAW: Well, I think we'll wait to see for the revisions on the jobs report. But the challenge with this economy hasn't been jobs, it's been cost. It's the fact that costs are rising faster than wages. And I'm glad that there are jobs being created, but it doesn't do a lot of good to have a job if you can't afford gas, you can't afford groceries because those prices are skyrocketing.

So, we got to get costs under control. The tariffs are driving up costs. The war in Iran is driving up costs. And that's the key pain point for the American people, including those I represent here in Virginia.

SIDNER: Speaking of the war in Iran, Vice President J.D. Vance said yesterday that what's happening between the U.S. and Iran is not a war. What do you make of his comments, and why do you think the administration is hell bent on not publicly saying that this is a war?

WALKINSHAW: Well, I promise you that the families of the 800 service members who have been killed or wounded in the war in Iran believe it's a war. It's a war, and it's a quagmire. The Trump administration and J.D. Vance have gotten us stuck in, to quote Donald Trump, a stupid foreign war in the Middle East without a clear strategy to win and without a clear strategy to exit. In my view, it's past time to bring our troops home and focus on bringing down costs.

SIDNER: Also this morning, "The Wall Street Journal" publishing an interesting article. Your fellow Democrat in the Senate, John Fetterman, is often more publicly critical of Democrats than he is of Republicans. But in this new reporting from "The Wall Street Journal," they published an article and the headline is that "John Fetterman Shows Little Interest in the Work of a Senator." So, this means he could be a swing vote in the Senate. Do you see him still as a tried- and-true Democrat, or are you seeing signs that he may move over to the Republican Party? And, if so, what would that mean? WALKINSHAW: Well, Senator Fetterman has been clear that he's a Democrat and he intends to remain a Democrat. Obviously, the anecdotes outlined in that story are really concerning. I have concerns about his health and his interest or capacity to do the job, but I think he's been quite clear that, you know, at his core, his values are still with the Democratic Party. And I anticipate that's where he'll remain.

SIDNER: All right, Congressman James Walkinshaw, it's a pleasure. Thank you for taking the time on this holiday weekend Friday. Thank you. Appreciate it.

All right, whether hitting the road or taking a plane, it's going to cost you more to get away this Labor Day weekend. We have more on the near record-breaking travel weekend ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:52:30]

JIMENEZ: All right, folks, the final holiday weekend of the summer is here. And it's going to be a busy and expensive one. Americans expected to pack airports and highways at near record levels this weekend. For example, TSA is projecting more than 17 million people will take to the skies this weekend and into next week.

CNN's Pete Muntean will be monitoring a lot of those folks live at Reagan National Airport for us.

So, Pete, how are lines looking now, and what are we -- what are you expecting to see over the course of the day?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Here is the good news, Omar. Even though we are at the unofficial end of summer travel and it's really going out with a bang, this is the official start of what is called shoulder season, meaning that things get cheaper, it's the autumn time, planes are less crowded. This is a good time to travel now after this holiday rush. Although right now the numbers are huge. A lot of people still trying to squeeze in one last break of the summer.

Fifty-two thousand flights anticipated by the FAA to be handled by their air traffic controllers nationwide today. Hard to believe that that number is actually not the peak of the entire week. Yesterday, that number was expected to be 54,000. And 2.9 million people in total anticipated to go through airport security screening at airports nationwide today. That is the busiest of the Labor Day travel rush. So, we are seeing big lines here at Reagan National Airport, also at airports across the country.

The big thing here, though, is the weather, Omar. The good news is, there were ground stops at Fort Lauderdale and Chicago O'Hare. Two big hubs. Those have thankfully been canceled. There is a ground stop because of thunderstorms still in place. Detroit's airport, huge hub for Delta Airlines, that will have a big impact on international flights as well.

There is also a delay program put in place by the Federal Aviation Administration for flights going into Boston Logan International Airport because of runway construction there. They're installing a new EMAS system for airplanes that go off the end of the runway there.

This is so key because things may unravel later in the day. And the FAA also warning of potential ground stops here in D.C., in Philadelphia, at all three of the New York airports, Newark, JFK and LaGuardia. So, we will see as the day develops.

Also a concern of thunderstorms in Florida, in Miami and Tampa, at Orlando. So, this could have a huge impact as the day goes on.

Of course, so many people may want to pivot to driving. And the bad news about that is, today is essentially the worst day of driving for the Labor Day rush.

[09:55:05]

Twelve noon to 8 p.m. local time where you are, that's when AAA says that traffic will be the worst. So, if you want to get a jump on it, leave now. The good news, though, is that people driving actually may beat some of these really high airfares. The average domestic airfare, Omar, $750 for a round trip ticket during this Labor Day rush. $800 for some of the biggest, biggest destinations. So, a lot of people spending, and it's not really having a damper, clearly, on Labor Day travel.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Hey, and gas prices also up too. So, good luck to folks traveling.

Pete Muntean, good to see you. Appreciate it, as always.

SIDNER: You're going to pay either way.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

SIDNER: That's what we're learning.

JIMENEZ: It is.

SIDNER: Unless you just stay home.

JIMENEZ: Trying to make memories, though, this weekend.

SIDNER: Exactly.

Thanks for joining us. "SITUATION ROOM" is next. Have a great weekend.

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