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Former Federal Judge Warns of Threat to Midterm Elections, Democracy; Gas Prices have Gone Up More this Year than Normally in an election year; Sydney Sweeney Ad Under Fire; 78th Primetime Emmy's Kick Off Tonight. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired September 14, 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]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: There's a new take today on concerns around the security of the midterm election. One conservative legal icon and an outspoken critic of Donald Trump since Trump's first term now says that it's not November 3rd, Election Day, that he's concerned about. It's January 3rd, 2027, that he's keeping his eye on so closely.

Judge Michael Luttig is who we're talking about. He served 15 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals, appointed to the bench by George H.W. Bush. He now argues in a new essay that even if Democrats win enough seats to take back control of Congress, he fears that President Trump and Republicans are laying the groundwork to stop that from happening.

Here's just one bit of what he writes in part. "That catastrophic end to democracy could well come on January 3rd, 2027, when Trump and his Republican congressional allies wage the final battle in Trump's determined war to corrupt America's democracy and deliver a lasting political victory over the Democrats."

Judge Michael Luttig joins us now. Judge, thanks so much for being here. Alarming what you write, and it's not just a warning of watch for this date.

You actually tick through step by step how you think Republicans and the president would go about this, starting with the House Speaker, removing the House clerk. Briefly, how would this unfold?

J. MICHAEL LUTTIG, FORMER FEDERAL JUDGE: OK, thank you for having me with you this morning. The president of the United States has been publicly musing about this final battle for years now. In his imagination, it would be a final battle in which he vanquishes his political opponents, the Democrats in particular, and reigns supreme.

For the past year and a half, since he returned to the White House in January of 2025, he's been very publicly planning for this final battle, leading up to just last week at the so-called Republican National Convention in Dallas. The president exhorted Republicans around the country to go out on November 3rd and cheat like hell. And then, of course, the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, joined in that chorus by assuring the Republicans that he and the House Republicans and the president of the United States would never allow the Democrats to take over the House of Representatives.

So there's an easy answer to this. Any other president of the United States that we've had for 250 years would have immediately assured the American people that this catastrophe, unavoidable catastrophe, would never happen. And it would be easy for the president of the United States and Mike Johnson to assure the American people today that it will never happen.

It's totally within their control. But you can be assured that neither man will assure the American people that this final battle will not occur in January.

BOLDUAN: Beyond, what is the role, you write about this, but the role of the Supreme Court potentially in this?

LUTTIG: Well, the key word there, Kate, is potentially. Obviously, the country has never faced anything like this in its 250-year history. And, of course, neither has the Supreme Court of the United States.

[09:35:00]

Scholars for many years now have taken the position that the Supreme Court would never intervene in such a catastrophic event for America's democracy, as would occur on January 6th -- January 3rd, 2027. In my article for the New Republic, I have taken the position, for the first time to my knowledge, that the Supreme Court would have an obligation under the Constitution of the United States to adjudicate that matter, which means to judge whether the House of Representatives had constitutionally refused to seat Democrats to the 120th Congress or not. That's just my own view, but it is shared by some of the greatest constitutional minds in America today.

BOLDUAN: Beyond the courts, you do call upon House Republicans, the way you write it, is to decide that they are not going to betray their oaths. I mean, we've heard Speaker Johnson and others, I would say, that it seems kind of regular campaigning statements of they can't allow Democrats to take over the majorities of Congress. But to be fair to them, have you heard from anyone that they're explicitly saying, I'm ready to violate my stated oath of office in order to prevent that from happening?

LUTTIG: Well, no, Kate, and of course, they're not going to say that ever. There's never been a politician, to my knowledge, in 250 years who would say that. The point for you, the media, and for the American people is that if Donald Trump, Mike Johnson, and the House Republicans, you know, bring on this next January 6th in a catastrophic battle for America's democracy, they will have violated their oath to the Constitution and to the American people.

I don't really care what they say about it, and neither should you.

BOLDUAN: Judge Michael Luttig, thank you for coming on this morning. Appreciate your time -- Sara.

LUTTIG: Thanks. SIDNER: Thank you, Kate. Tonight, television's biggest stars take center stage as the Emmy Awards celebrate this year's best. We delve into the chances of your favorite shows.

Plus, Sidney Sweeney, bearing all in a new sports gambling ad. Why some female athletes from around the world are firing back, saying this ad is a problem. Those stories and more ahead.

[09:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, here's a live look at oil prices. You can see a big jump overnight. Brent crude up near $109 a barrel.

West Texas near $104 overnight. The price of gas at the pump now rounded up to about $4.32 a gallon, which is pretty high. With us now, CNN Chief Data Analyst, Harry Eten.

Talking about gas prices here, it kind of feels like gas prices have gone up more this year than they do normally in an election year.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yes, Johnny B, but you want to talk about a problem for the incumbent party, for the Republicans. We are talking about record high spikes in gas prices. Just look at this.

OK, you know normally gas prices do go up during the course of an election year, during the course of a midterm year, but never this high. This is record breaking. We are talking record breaking for a midterm this century.

Changing gas prices from January 1 to September 14. The average for a midterm cycle this century is 18 percent. But look at this on the right side of your screen.

52 percent rise this year. 52 percent rise. Up like a rocket, right?

Look at that. My goodness gracious. By far the highest on record.

The prior high was just 27 percent. This is nearly double the prior record high. We are talking really, really large jumps here.

BERMAN: And this is for the year, this election season. If you're thinking about heading past Labor Day into November, where does that compare to past years?

ENTEN: Yes, normally what you see is in the prior month, that is from August 14 to September 14, normally you go down. So again, looking at 21st century midterm elections, went down all of them prior to 2026. This year, however, the gas prices have actually been going up, up and away.

They have actually risen. Up 6 percent over the last month. So normally you're getting, hey, there's some relief going on with gas prices as we go into the midterm election.

Not this year. In fact, the relief, not there at all. In fact, there is more pain at the pump now.

BERMAN: Every other election?

ENTEN: Every other election, midterm election this century. At this point, what you're looking at, the prior month change, the gas prices all went down. This year, we're seeing the exact opposite. Gas prices are going up.

BERMAN: All right. Now what do people say about, oh, you know, this is the war in Iran. Maybe it's worth it.

ENTEN: Yes, OK. That's an argument that President Trump has made. He liked those Republicans running for Congress to make.

But the American people? Uh-uh, they don't buy it.

Look at this. Willing to pay more because of the Iran war. Overall, 71 percent say they are unwilling compared to just 29 percent who say, well, look at this number among independents.

81 percent. 81 percent. Four in five say they are unwilling to pay for higher gas prices because of the war in Iran.

President Trump's argument, not winning the day.

BERMAN: What are the prediction markets saying about where gas prices might be by Election Day?

[09:45:00]

ENTEN: Yes, OK. You might say, hey, I'm able to be some relief. No more $4 gas prices.

Uh-uh. Kalshi prediction market, look at this. Chance gas prices on Election Day above $4 a gallon. Now a 59 percent chance compared to just a 30 percent chance at the beginning of the month.

That is a doubling. This is big, big, big, big, big league problems for Republicans running. These numbers hold.

You can say, adios amigos, goodbye to that Republican majority in the House and maybe the Senate as well. Increasingly so.

BERMAN: Moving in the wrong direction.

ENTEN: You got it right.

BERMAN: Harry Enten, thank you very much.

ENTEN: Thank you, my friend.

BERMAN: A lot of news this morning. We'll be right back.

[09:50:00]

BOLDUAN: So there's a new ad campaign featuring Sidney Sweeney. I guess half-naked-ish -- is getting some real attention and some serious pushback from female athletes. The ad done for the sports prediction market called No Big is being slammed for its hypersexuality.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FELICITY PALMATEER, AUSTRALIAN SURFER: With the ad that we saw Sidney Sweeney do is very damaging especially for young females getting into sport for females and sport for females in general. Just hypersexualized content.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Another four-time Olympic swimmer from Australia spoke to CNN about this as well saying quote, "Not only is this a kick in the face to every woman who has dedicated her life to perfecting her craft but every woman who enjoys sports for what it really is -- for teamwork, friendship, dedication, excellence, unity, the list goes on.

In Michigan the Coast Guard rescued a 70-year-old hiker on a remote island in Lake Superior. The man had been missing for more than a week, you guys, after going on a solo hike. The Coast Guard says when they found him, he was injured and suffering from hypothermia.

A helicopter as we can see fortunately was able to take him to safety. He is now being treated for those injuries. Goodness.

And take a look at this. Runners in New Jersey wading through knee- deep even waist-deep water to finish a half marathon after heavy rains brought flash flooding to parts of Bergen County bringing more than four inches of rain in a very short span of time.

The runner who took this video is a woman named Jenna Mucci pushed right through and even still set a personal best finishing in under two hours.

SIDNER: That's incredible consider. Do you know how hard it is to run through water like that's incredible.

BOLDUAN: I give you like not part of the training program, I don't think, I don't know.

SIDNER: Goodness gracious.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

SIDNER: All right, thank you Kate.

It's the TV's biggest night 78th annual Primetime Emmy Awards kick off tonight in Los Angeles. Law and Order royalty and three-time Emmy winner, Mariska Hargitay will host. Buzz is soaring for top contenders like "The Pitt", "Widow's Bay". Tonight's show will also feature iconic reunions celebrating "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Charlie's Angels".

Joining me now is Emmy award winning journalist and media personality Segun Oduolowu. Thank you so much for being here. Let's start with drama. Which shows are sort of the clear favorites that are getting a lot of buzz.

What are you expecting?

SEGUN ODUOLOWU, ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST: Hey Sara. It's good to see you as always and it's the usual suspects. "The Pitt" has 25 nominations.

So it's going to win. I mean this is outrageous. You know, it feels like a lot of history repeating.

It's the same names that we're used to so you're going to see Pitt. "Widow's Bay" is new, but pluribus is there. "Paradise" is there. "The Bear" is there -- Abbott Elementary. All over the spectrum from drama to comedy, you're going to see the names that we've been seeing any season after any season. "Hacks" is back.

You know, it's going to be the same. You said the family reunion of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." It's really going to be a union at the podium of the same stars.

SIDNER: You talked about "Hacks." There's also "Widow's Bay that a lot of people are watching in the comedy area. What do you think between those?

There's a lot of buzz around "Widow's Bay". "Hacks", of course is so well written and it's grabbed all of our attention, but it is soon to end.

ODUOLOWU: Yes, and that nostalgia play might happen because we love Jean Smart. "Hacks" is so well written, and it's been it's been a darling. But you hit the nail on the head. "Widow's Bay", if we still went to water coolers, that's what we were talking about if we still went there.

Everyone was talking about whether they liked it. Did it make sense? Was it good?

But the general consensus with it having I believe 19 nominations "Widow's Bay" is another home run hit for a new show. But I do want to say this because you know me very well, the snubbing of Taylor Sheridan and the fact that the shows that like a lot of people love like "Lioness" and Dutton -- well "Dutton Ranch" isn't eligible yet -- but his stars he's got Oscar winners all over his TV shows like "Landman". And I know it causes controversy.

But for him to have no shows, no shows for major categories none of his actors and actresses for major categories seems like a deliberate snub by the Emmys and that's unfair.

SIDNER: Look, our pop culture writer David Mack writes this idea that there's this theme emerging in many of these shows from slow horses where a group of sort of average and flawed spies contend with some of the political realities of our times. And then you've got "Hacks" of course and "The Pitt" where people are just trying to survive, trying to keep it together. Is that what you're seeing here this year of all of the shows that are on the list?

ODUOLOWU: Yes, it feels as if regular people with issues are on our TV screens and instead of escaping, we're actually entering our own lives just put on the small screen, right? And, you know, Margot's got money problems, like who doesn't? So we're seeing ourselves back on these small screens.

And that's really why the shows that we're seeing there, like, I don't want to say that no one's like this, you know, drop dead handsome movie, you know, gorgeous, whatever it just people that look like everyday people going through everyday problems is the new television. And it's exciting for some, but it doesn't feel like much of an escape.

SIDNER: Certainly reflecting where we are right now. Segun Oduolowu, thank you so much, appreciate it.

Later today, tune in for CNN and Variety "RED CARPET LIVE" special. It will stream beginning at 5 p.m. Eastern on CNN.com.

BERMAN: Of course, there's an honor just to be nominated, as we well know, having had our music nominated.

SIDNER: Here he goes again.

BOLDUAN: This is an opportunity.

BERMAN: There's our Emmy nominated music playing out. Thank you for joining us. CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

"THE SITUATION ROOM" is up next.

SIDNER: We are nominees.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)