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Trump to Headline Day 2 of GOP Convention After $5,000 Vow if GOP Wins; Democratic Sen. Fetterman Makes Surprise Video Appearance at GOP Convention; NYPD Mounting Massive Security Operation for 9-11; Former Researcher: Within a Year No Humans Will Be Needed for AI. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired September 10, 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]

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: The Niners got there a week ago to adjust to the time change. The Rams, meanwhile, got there yesterday and coach Sean McVay says they're just going to try to keep everyone on West Coast body clocks despite the 17-hour time difference. So we will see which strategy works.

And Sara, 49ers defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, his 50th birthday was on September 3rd. The 49ers left San Francisco on September 2nd and when they got to Australia, it was already September 4th. So he completely missed his 50th birthday.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All I have to say is this is a matchup for the ages because these two teams, man, they do not like each other. And let's see if jet lag jacks one of the teams up. We will see.

I'm hoping for the Rams to come out on top, as you know. Andy Scholes, it is a pleasure. Thank you so much.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

Promises, promises. President Trump promising to pay every American adult $5,000 if Republicans keep control of Congress in the midterms.

The question is whether this is legal. There are other questions as to whether he can keep his promise and what that is going to cost. Also some other surprises in the midterm.

You're hearing from a Democrat at the midterm convention for the GOP. And a surprise appearance here. Senator Fetterman at that convention causing backlash, raising questions about his party loyalty. We'll speak with his former chief of staff this hour.

And how in the world did this happen? A car stuck in the rafters of an overpass with the driver's feet seen dangling like a rag doll from there. We have so many questions about how this happened.

I'm Sara Sidner with John Berman and Kate Bolduan. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning the $5,000 promise or offer from the president as he fights to keep Republican control of Congress. This at the first ever Republican midterm convention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, both of them, I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So $5,000 per adult that could cost more than a trillion dollars. He gave no details on how he would pay for it. He has made similar offers before that went nowhere.

A $2,000 tariff rebate check and the $5,000 DOGE dividend, neither of those ended up happening. Tonight Vice President J.D. Vance speaks before the President then closes out the convention. Now it will be interesting to see kind of turnout tonight.

The bottom levels, they were full when the president was speaking, but there were some empty seats visible up there in the bleachers. Let's get right to CNN's Steve Contorno, he is at the convention site in Dallas.

Steve, tell us what we saw, what we will see. Just tell us everything.

JOHN CONTORNO, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: John, what you saw was essentially a Trump rally. It had the look and the feel of a convention, but it sounded very much like what Trump has been saying on the campaign trail going all the way back to the 2024 campaign. There was even some references to former President Joe Biden, who is certainly no longer his opponent or the Republican Party's opponent.

And talking to people inside of this arena, they said that they do have some concerns that the Republican Party is not united going into these November elections. And they were hoping that an event like this could potentially bring them together. And President Trump had a message for them, vote this November like I am on the ballot.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: So, please, I ask you this as maybe more important even than the Trump dividend. Please pretend that I'm running and get out and vote on November 3rd or sooner. Because in actuality, I really am running.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: Now, that is kind of a tacit admission of what the Republican Party is dealing with going into these midterm elections. They know that there are people who will show up to the polls to vote for President Donald Trump but tend to fall off in these midterm elections. And they want to speak to those people. That was the intention of this entire event, was to get those folks off the sideline, get them voting in November. Now, whether that happens remains to be seen.

[08:05:00]

The second attempt at that will come tonight. Vice President J.D. Vance will be addressing this crowd as well as RFK Jr. and other members of Trump's administration, other lawmakers. We also will see a remembrance for Charlie Kirk, the activist, conservative activist who was killed by a gunman on a Utah college campus one year ago today. So we can expect that tonight as well, Chris, John.

BERMAN: You can call me anything. I've been called much worse. Look, J.D. Vance, tonight will be interesting to see.

CONTORNO: Your brother, Chris Berman, I was thinking of because we were just doing football in the last segment, John.

BERMAN: The highlights are coming up in just a moment here. I was going to say about J.D. Vance. I'm curious to see if 2026 is the only year he's focused on.

Steve Contorno in Dallas, thank you very much -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm just going to guess no. Joining me right now, Ron Brownstein, CNN senior political analyst, as well as Bloomberg opinion columnist. It's good to see you, my dear friend.

$5,000, the promise of, let's put it that. Is that --

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes.

BOLDUAN: What do you see in it, Ron? And do you see any evidence that the promise of it could turn things around for them?

BROWNSTEIN: Kate, do you remember how you spent your DOGE dividend, right? I mean --

BOLDUAN: Yes, going to work because I didn't get it. Yes.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, exactly. You know, Americans are focused on their immediate financial reality. And, you know, I thought as important as this promise of the new $5,000, which, you know, over a trillion dollar in cost at a time when we are 40 trillion in debt. Needless to say, this is long odds of ever happening.

You know, apart from that, the President's message was literally, again, we are in a golden age. Prices are coming down. Basically, you don't know how good you have it.

And, you know, that is a tough message when 75 percent of Americans are describing the economy as fair or poor. And most people are saying they're having making sacrifices to deal with the high cost of living. You know, this felt like, you know, offering I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today, you know, kind of the Popeye line. I mean, it was something off in the future rather than in a response to what people are immediately feeling today. And as such, I don't think it's going to have a huge effect on the election.

BOLDUAN: One question is, but then what effect does the Fetterman surprise video appearance have on, I don't know, the Democratic Party? I mean, he endorsed the convention. He talked about working with -- he talked about bipartisanship.

He talked about working against extremes. And he talked about his friendship and admiration for Republican Senator Dave McCormick in introducing him. And then after the fact, declared that he is a Democrat.

I mean, I'll add the but. I mean, what does this do?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, well, I think one, if you look at the polling and you look at the trajectory of his behavior, I think you could say pretty close to categorically that John Fetterman will never again be a Democratic nominee for Senate in Pennsylvania. He is not going to win the Democratic Senate primary in 2028 in Pennsylvania. Now, you know, Joe Lieberman lost the primary in 2006 and ran and won as an independent.

That might be an option for Fetterman. And if the Democrats end up winning four Senate seats in November and get to a 51-49 majority there, I think after last night is an increased risk that Fetterman could switch parties for the final two years of this term and give the majority back to Republicans. But it's only at 51-49 that it that it matters.

And I think Democratic anxiety that he might take that step, despite all his protestations about his loyalty to the party, I think is obviously going to rise after last night.

BOLDUAN: I'm glad you brought up control of the Senate because is we saw very much last night. President Trump is trying to say that he is on the ballot. He thinks that works in in Republicans favor.

You wrote this week for Bloomberg about the Alaska Senate race of all of them and why it offers some interesting clues into what's working for and what's working against Republican efforts here in the in the Senate race. Tell me.

BROWNSTEIN: Right. Other than Maine, which Kamala Harris won, every other Senate seat the Democrats are seriously contesting is in a state that voted all three times for President Trump. And that's Iowa, Ohio, Texas, Alaska, even Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, as more long shots.

What's given Democrats the opportunity in those states is that strikingly, even though Trump won many of them by double digits, his approval rating in all of them now is below 50 percent.

[08:10:00] And you have the same discontent over high prices, particularly gas prices and the war that you are seeing elsewhere. If you look at Alaska, a state that has elected only four Democrats to the Senate, only one since 1980. You know, it's a place where traditionally you would kind of close the book and Republicans would be strongly favored.

But you have the same kind of discontent you are seeing elsewhere in the country. What I found in Alaska was if you look at all -- and I think this would be equally true in Ohio and Texas and Iowa and the other states I mentioned -- Democrats have a lot of things working for them this year that they don't usually have going in their favor. Republicans have one big thing still working for them, which is that most voters in these red states are still leery of the National Democratic Party, maybe a little leery of putting National Democrats in control of the Senate.

And I came out of Alaska feeling that that is either that is going to work for Senator Dan S. Sullivan in this complicated race, or it's not because, you know, so many of the other dynamics in the race are now working in the Democrats' favor. But you still have this one very big hurdle.

Democrats are mostly contesting Senate seats in red-leaning states where there's still a lot of suspicion of the National Party and the ability of these candidates, these Democratic candidates, to separate from that National Party, as Peltola is really trying to do, will probably be decisive in those races.

BOLDUAN: Super interesting. It's great to see you, Ron. Thank you so much -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you, Kate. Enormous security efforts being made right now as we speak, as we mark 25 years since the 9-11 attacks.

We are also tracking oil prices this morning. They have shot up. Brent crude there, going up even further this morning, the cost of a gallon of gas spiking six cents now overnight.

And brand new video of a bridge suddenly collapsing with workers still on it. Those stories and more ahead.

[08:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: Tomorrow marks 25 years since the September 11th terror attacks. As the nation prepares for this solemn anniversary, NYPD is ramping up security with what officials deem the largest deployment of officers in recent years. The security is already visible.

Fencing is going up around Lower Manhattan, and there are street closures. Twenty-five years after the deadliest attack on U.S. soil, officials say the terror threat has evolved.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REBECCA WEINER, NYPD DEPUTY COMMISSIONER FOR INTELLIGENCE AND COUNTERTERRORISM: The threat is quite different from where it was 25 years ago. It's decentralized geographically with the rise of al Qaeda and ISIS affiliates globally. It's diversified tremendously ideologically.

Now we're not primarily dealing with al Qaeda or even al Qaeda-ISIS, but a proliferation of threats coming from conspiracy theories, grievances, nihilistic violence, far left, far right, anti-government, all of those things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Joining me now is CNN senior national security analyst Juliette Kayyem. She's a former assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security. It's so good to have you here.

You heard sort of all the many things that law enforcement is kind of having to try to predict and try to keep people from having to experience something terrible. Can you give us a sense of a little more of how the threat has evolved, what it means now for trying to secure those who are taking part in this solemn ceremony?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, I mean, a couple of things in terms of post 9-11. One is obviously that the terror threat has evolved as described by the NYPD, head of counterterrorism. It is dispersed.

It has many hostilities and hatreds that permeate throughout, in particular, throughout the United States. It is foreign. It is domestic.

Sometimes it is just nihilist. You just simply don't know how someone turns or why someone turns to radical violence or terrorist violence. So what does that mean for the NYPD and 9-11 is, of course, it's just going to be massive perimeter controls.

It is going to be ensuring that both from the air, ground, that nothing nefarious can get in, whether it's metal detectors, drone surveillance. That's what you're going to see on 9-11 because of the change in particular in the terrorist threat.

SIDNER: There are a few things converging on this particular 9-11 remembrance that authorities have been worried about and talked about. What are they?

KAYYEM: I'm going to put them into three buckets. So the first is just 9-11, 25th anniversary. There are lots of people who get animated by this, want to do a copycat, want to see if they can do another attack, not as big as 9-11, but even a sort of lone wolf attack on 9-11.

They like the through line of anniversaries. Anniversaries are often times when you see these kinds of attacks. The second is, of course, antisemitism because of high holidays. And so you have a heightened threat environment for the Jewish community as they celebrate just over the weekend. So 9-11, Saturday is the high holidays. So you're going to have the NYPD turn around.

But I have to say a third thing, which is, of course, equally important, which is the sort of rampant Islamophobia and Muslim bashing that goes on in this country now through attacks on the mayor of New York City.

[08:20:00]

We are seeing some of the ugliest public racism I've seen in a very long time, suggesting that the mayor of New York City should not attend the 9-11 events. That also animates radicalization against people who may be Muslim. So we have this horrible convergence of threat environment.

And I think that's why you're seeing this footprint by the NYPD.

SIDNER: Yes, and we should be clear, they're saying, look, we don't have any specific threat, but there are the myriad of potential possibilities that they are having to think through, which is why they are putting such a large force out there. Juliette Kayyem, thank you so much for your analysis.

And let me do mention, CNN special live coverage of the 25th anniversary of the September 11th attacks begins tomorrow morning, right here, 7 a.m. Eastern -- John.

BERMAN: All right, we're just minutes away now from the release of a key inflation report. What the Fed sees today and tomorrow could have huge implications.

And we are now hearing from the former AI researcher who quit after saying there are industry concerns that AI is going to kill us all.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACOB COXON, FORMER ANTHROPIC EMPLOYEE: People are starting to realize this is real technology. This is not like hype. This isn't going away anytime soon.

This is only going to get more crazy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:25:00]

BERMAN: New this morning, Axios is reporting that a Senate subcommittee is now investigating OpenAI's handling of the Hugging Face breach. That's when AI agents and a test model broke into a real company's servers. This week, a former Anthropic employee wrote quote, "The people building AI earnestly believe it could kill us by the end of the decade." This researcher spoke to CNN last night.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COXON: It sounds like something that's not real, but I think it is frighteningly real. And it's easiest to understand it if you think about real things that happened two months ago. So two months ago, OpenAI agents, AI's hacked into third-party infrastructure entirely at their own accord.

And this was like a concentrated hacking spree that they carried out of their own volition. And I think that if you extrapolate into the future, the level of capabilities of these AI's, with the same independent volition, they could cause extreme havoc. For example, hacking critical infrastructure, building extinction-level bioweapons.

There's a lot of ways that the AI could actuate itself in the world.

Right now, there's no risk of extinction. The current models, the worst they can do is maybe hack into something, potentially cause a lot of damages in infrastructure. But they're not intelligent enough to outsmart us at the level that would lead to extinction.

I think what's just crazy is to look at the rate of progress. And there is a very real possibility that in the immediate future, these are years that like next year, the year after, recursive self- improvement will happen and will enter the phase of Evan's post where he argues that there's a chance, we could all die. Like that is coming soon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Jacob Coxon resigned from his position as he was expressing these concerns -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: New details are coming in this morning from the black box data that's been recovered after the tragic and deadly cargo plane crash in Miami. What was said inside the cockpit right before the crash.

Plus, a person seen dangling from a car wedged somehow in an overpass. How this happened and how he is doing now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:00]