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Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) On Judge's Order For Trump To Restore White House Access To CNN, MS NOW, Politico "Immediately"; FDA Chief Nominee Faces Confirmation Hearing After Outbreaks, Recalls; Nor'easter Takes Aim At East Coast. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired September 24, 2026 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:33:58]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, breaking news this morning. You're looking right now at live pictures of the White House there where CNN reporters are still waiting to be allowed back in after a federal judge ruled overnight to reinstate access. President Trump abruptly banned CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House grounds last week.

Our Betsy Klein joining us now live from outside the White House on the streets there, not on the White House lawn where you normally are. What did you experience this morning?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, Sara. Well, getting to the White House North Lawn is the goal, but right now some CNN staff have been unable to access White House grounds. And that comes after Judge Kelly ruled overnight just about -- just about 1:00 in the morning, extending this temporary restraining order that would require the White House to allow CNN to enter -- to reinstate what's known as our hard passes. My hard pass was seized by the U.S. Secret Service on Saturday after President Trump announced and then implemented his ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico.

[07:35:05]

So after the judge issued that temporary restraining order overnight, we tried to access White House grounds. We went to a U.S. Secret Service checkpoint just across the street from here around 6:10 this morning and I gave them my driver's license as well as my press ID. And they looked at it, they put it through the system and said that I was not approved for entry. I asked to speak to a supervisor. They referred me to the press office. I also showed them this temporary restraining order. They were unable to allow me onto White House grounds.

A few moments later, however, one of our producers was able to access the White House and then a few moments after that, one of our photojournalists also attempted to access the White House. His hard pass was also seized by U.S. Secret Service. But this is very fluid because it's very early in the morning. It is not yet normal business hours, so we're waiting to see if this is some sort of clerical error when we will indeed be reinstated.

Now the White House, the Department of Justice Trump, Trump administration's argument in this legal case is that this is a matter of national security.

I want to read to you a little bit from the judge's order. He says, "The court is skeptical, at least on this record, that defendants' interest in safeguarding national security is the actual motivation for or is even advanced by the revocation of plaintiffs' hard passes."

So again, we're going to try a little bit later this morning to get in. We have submitted all of our information -- my name, Social Security number, all of the relevant information that they need to let me into White House grounds. I followed up with the press office. We have also asked the White House for comment on this, but as of right now we are still not allowed on White House grounds.

And the other thing I should note is that this is a very busy day for White House press coverage. There is a state visit. A few hours from now President Trump is going to welcome Xi Jinping of China for an official arrival ceremony. They're going to have meetings together that will be covered by the press. There is also going to be a state dinner a little bit later today.

So we have a lot of work to do, and we are hopeful that we can get onto White House grounds soon, Sara.

SIDNER: As are we, Betsy Klein. Great job throughout all of this. Thank you so much. And we will be updated to see what happens throughout the next couple of hours if you can actually get to where you do your job. Appreciate it -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. With us now is Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland. Senator, good to see you this morning.

So right now, Betsy and some others of the CNN crew not allowed back in. A judge ordered that they have to be let back in overnight.

How surprised were you by this ruling?

SEN. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-MD): Well, John, this is a very important and positive ruling.

You know, we have President Xi here in the United States now, and I'm sure he would approve because this is how President Xi treats his press in China. And what we've seen from this president is authoritarian envy. He wants to essentially mimic the powers that President Xi has.

Fortunately, we have a constitution in the United States that provides for a free press. So it's going to be very important that this ruling be upheld, and that CNN and the others get access to the White House.

BERMAN: You mentioned the president's meeting with President Xi. President Xi, of course, is in town for three days. One of the topics they should be discussing, one would think, is artificial intelligence.

And President Trump just put out a statement on social media that said, "A big day with President Xi of China. Superintelligence, SI... -- the president doesn't like to call it artificial intelligence, apparently -- "...will be a topic of discussion, but I want to leave it exactly

where it is. That is China's position also. Our guardrail is the DOJ!" And he signed it "President DJT."

Now, I think you and a bunch of other Democratic senators who sent the letter overnight feel otherwise here. What do you want to see today?

VAN HOLLEN: Well, you're right, John. What we want to see is the leaders agree at the very least to put in place guardrails in order to protect the American public and to protect the public in China and elsewhere around the world. I mean, we know that these advanced AI programs can jump their containment, get on the internet and cause a huge amount of damage to infrastructure, whether it's water infrastructure, whether it's transportation, whether it's in the financial sector.

So it simply makes sense that the powers -- the two powers that are working on advanced AI agree to safeguards to protect us, to protect them, and protect others. And so now you have Donald Trump saying he doesn't care about protecting the American people. That's the message he's sending.

BERMAN: He says he wants to leave it exactly where it is. What would the effect be of leaving it exactly where it is?

[07:40:00]

VAN HOLLEN: Well, we know from the engineers at these frontier AI companies that where it is right now is unsafe because they're developing programs that they cannot contain that jump into the internet -- we saw that with Hugging Face -- and can create a huge amount of damage, which is why this is an urgent matter. And yet Donald Trump somehow thinks that he's the great genius, as he calls himself, and can prevent that. You can only prevent that by putting in place mandatory safeguards, and it makes sense, of course, to negotiate that with China.

BERMAN: Overnight, we learned that President Trump has invited Russian leader Vladimir Putin to the G20 meeting in December at the president's golf club in Doral. Vladimir Putin hasn't attended the G20 in years.

Do you think it's a good idea to have the Russian leader on U.S. soil meeting with the G20?

VAN HOLLEN: I don't think this is the right time, John, to have Vladimir Putin on American soil at the G20.

And this goes to a larger issue, right? Donald Trump thinks he can somehow ingratiate himself with these authoritarian leaders, whether it's Vladimir Putin, whether it's President Xi, whether it's Kim Jong Un. He believes that he somehow has the ability to persuade them to do what he wants. Well, we know that's not true because we're still watching Putin's aggression in the war in Ukraine that Donald Trump said he was going to end a long time ago because he knew how to deal with Vladimir Putin.

The reality is these leaders are getting the better of Donald Trump while he tries to suck up and ingratiate himself with them.

BERMAN: This, of course, is campaign season. I think we're 40 days away at this point from the midterm elections. You've been actively involved in campaigning for all kinds of candidates, but essentially Democratic candidates for the U.S. Senate.

The New York Times has an article this morning about former Congresswoman Mary Peltola, who is running for Senate in Alaska in a very tight race there. I'm just going to read you a quote from this article. "Mary Peltola's political operation has been marked by tumult, a pattern that stretches back to her time in Congress. Former aides described angry and profane outbursts, sometimes directed at aides and sometimes expressed about others who had displeased her."

What kind of an impact do you think this could have on the race and how would you advise she address it?

VAN HOLLEN: So, John, I think at the end of the day, voters in Alaska or wherever they are, are going to vote for a senator who is going to address the fundamental issues they're facing every day. And they are being squeezed economically every single day by Donald Trump's illegal war in Iran, which is raising prices through the roof. They're being squeezed by his across-the-board tariff taxes. So these are the things that voters are going to focus on as they go to the polls.

And she's a great candidate. We have great candidates across the country. And the reality is that people are sick and tired of Republican senators who are rubber stamps for Donald Trump's policies, including his illegal war.

BERMAN: I should note that in a statement to The New York Times, Peltola's campaign denied any pattern of abusive behavior but did acknowledge she had sometimes struggled to deal with grief, losing her mother and her husband a couple of years ago.

Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, a lot going on this morning. We appreciate you talking through it -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So today, President Trump's pick to now lead the FDA will be facing lawmakers in a first Senate confirmation hearing. Her nomination comes on the heels of multiple high-profile of outbreaks and food recalls, including a deadly outbreak of Cyclospora linked to lettuce this summer that spread to 21 states and sickened nearly 13,000 people. There's an E.coli outbreak that was linked to frozen blueberries. Another E.coli outbreak linked to raw dairy. Also a salmonella outbreak linked to some jalapenos.

Joining us right now is Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, a former principal deputy commissioner of the FDA and a pediatrician. This is one of the many topics that Dr. Overton will face in

questioning today, and let's start with this.

With the cyclospora outbreak, with these recalls on other food items like what I just listed out, it seems like a lot, Dr. Sharfstein.

I mean, do you think we are seeing an uptick in foodborne illness?

DR. JOSHUA SHARFSTEIN, FORMER PRINCIPAL DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, FDA, PEDIATRICIAN, VICE DEAN FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PRACTICE AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, JOHNS HOPKINS BLOOMBERG SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH (via Webex by Cisco): I do. I think there are a lot of people who were quite sick from the cyclospora outbreak and it took the FDA a long time to figure out the problem and the update has not been communicating clearly about it. For a while they -- it looked like it was just Taco Bell, then it's not just Taco Bell. Then the FDA said it made an error.

[07:45:00]

But really, what people need to know is how they can avoid getting sick. It's what I call the explosive diarrhea rule. If you have explosive diarrhea, public health is losing. These agencies and FDA, in particular, need to help people avoid getting sick and move quickly to do that.

BOLDUAN: Doctor, so what does it mean that the FDA is or is not doing right? I mean, when -- from the -- what system is breaking down? Is it just communication or are they focused in the wrong places or there just aren't simply enough people? You've been inside? What do you think has happened?

SHARFSTEIN: Sure. This is a critical moment for the integrity of the FDA and let me explain what I mean by that.

When the FDA is working well, then there are great scientists, people whose lives have been devoted to protecting the public, able to do their jobs, making the key decisions based on science. And then the agency can communicate what it's deciding and how it's acting very transparently.

But what's been happening, and we see this a little bit on food and in other areas too, is that decisions are coming in from on high, interrupting the ability of the agency to do its job. And that means the agency is losing confidence with consumers, with patients, with clinicians and with companies. We want companies to be making great products for the American market first but that is happening less and less. And so we need an FDA commissioner who's going to restore FDA and invigorate FDA so that the people who are there can truly do their jobs.

BOLDUAN: To the other major topics that Dr. Overton is likely to face -- questions about the abortion drug mifepristone as well as her stance. Vaccines is likely to be a flashpoint as well. If -- she would be the first FDA commissioner who is openly opposed use of mifepristone, which is the most common form of terminating a pregnancy in the United States right now. You talk about the need for an FDA commissioner to restore and invigorate the agency. It sounds like you have real concerns that Dr. Heidi Overton is the person to do that.

What questions do you think she should be asked or what concerns do you have?

SHARFSTEIN: So what gives confidence that -- in the FDA? It's because the right people are making the right decisions with evidence. It's not because someone made a well-placed call to the White House or there's somebody who's been put there with an email signature line that says commissioner and is just making decisions that overturn what the scientists believe is the right thing to do.

I think the concern with Dr. Overton is she has expressed such a strong position on mifepristone that she may overrule the FDA itself. We know from the FDA's internal documents that the scientists there have actually resisted political interference from both sides because there are some people who think there should be no limits on mifepristone. There are some people who think mifepristone shouldn't be on the market. And very carefully, the FDA scientists have found a middle ground where there are some restrictions, there are some extra requirements. But it's important that this medication, which is safe and effective for its purpose, is available.

And if someone were to come in and change all that on a whim -- on a political agenda -- then the question for everyone is going to be what's next? Is it antidepressants? Is it mRNA vaccines? Is it other kinds of vaccines -- mRNA vaccines against cancer? It really upends the idea that FDA is a scientific agency that can be trusted.

BOLDUAN: Doctor Joshua Sharfstein, thank you so much for coming in. I appreciate your time -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Thank you, Kate.

Right now a Nor'easter gaining strength and taking aim at the East Coast and millions of people are in its path. Storms have already battered parts of Virginia. The Nor'easter is expected to thrash the mid-Atlantic with coastal flooding, strong winds, heavy rain.

CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam is tracking all of this for us. We are still in hurricane season and we're talking about a Nor'easter. It's not even October yet. What is going on here?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We like to throw -- we like to throw curveballs your way, right? Look, this is an early season Nor'easter. It's not out of the ordinary, it just doesn't normally happen in September. But we need to take it seriously. We could treat it like a tropical storm and some of the impacts will be similar. Let me show you.

We already have over wash from the Atlantic Ocean closing parts of North Carolina Highway 12 along the Outer Banks. This is what it looked like yesterday in Hampton, Virginia. Let me show you why. We have powerful northeasterly winds that have

been driving the Atlantic Ocean for days on end. This is Virginia Beach gusting to 43 out of the northeast. That is the component of the wind that is really bringing the coastal flood threat to the mid- Atlantic and southern New England this weekend.

So here's the kind of broader view -- the overarching view -- and let me just kind of advance how the storm system will develop. This is not the main event. It is actually this low that is going to strengthen because of upper level dynamics.

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Look at how it's going to hang out through the course of the weekend and get precariously close to the coastline. And you know what that means when it gets that close, it'll bring the wind threat, it'll bring the rain threat, and also the coastal erosion threat.

But this is really an I-95 corridor to the coastline concern for me because the further inland you travel, this is just going to be more of a nuisance type weekend and it will be windy, it will be rainy and kind of maybe impact your outdoor plans, but it's not going to be a deal breaker. But if you're traveling along I-95 or perhaps to the airports -- Boston Logan to Newark, for instance -- expect delays this weekend.

The other big story we are traveling -- are watching Tropical Storm Nolo. This is roughly 300 miles south of the Big Island and I want to show you that right now it's moving stationary. It was northerly just a few moments ago. But this update from the National Hurricane Center is not looking good. We're seeing signs that this could strengthen into a major hurricane on its closest approach to the Big Island.

Remember, there have been three near misses already for the Hawaiian Islands this weekend -- or this this season and that has brought significant damages to the Big Island, Kauai, and other areas. Now we're focusing in on Maui and into the mountainous areas of the Big Island. They could see, get this, upwards of three feet of rain. That means mudslides, flash flooding -- once again, a concern for the Big Island and Maui -- Sara.

SIDNER: Nor'easters and hurricanes all in the same time frame. It's wild. Thank you so much, Derek Van Dam.

VAN DAM: All right.

SIDNER: We do appreciate it -- John.

BERMAN: All right. One in four Americans are functionally unemployed. Brand new data this morning. We're talking 40 days before the midterms.

Olympian Simone Biles said three masked men showed up at her home and stole her car.

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SIDNER: New this morning, a new report shows the true rate of unemployment is actually much higher than the official unemployment rate reported by the government. The Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity measures what they call the functional unemployment rate, taking into account people who currently don't have jobs, are involuntarily working part-time, and people who are not earning a living wage. That rate came in at 24.3 percent in August, much higher than the 4.1 percent unemployment rate reported in August.

CNN's Matt Egan joining me now with more on this report. Give us a sense of what this report sort of means in the context of when you look at the jobs reports and you're just looking at like start numbers that don't include all of this.

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah. This does show that there's some trouble beneath the surface behind some of those really positive --

SIDNER: Yeah.

EGAN: -- headline numbers.

So this shows that about one in four -- 24 percent of Americans are functionally unemployed, meaning they're either out of work or they're not making enough to stay out of poverty. Now 24.3 percent -- that's a big number, but that's actually a decline from almost 25 percent in July. It's the first decline in five months.

Now this is coming to us as you mentioned from the Ludwig Institute, which is a group that challenges some of those traditional economic metrics as part of their efforts to lift up lower and middle class Americans. And as you noted, this is a much bigger figure than the official unemployment rate. But that's because this is trying to capture a much bigger part of the population.

So what do we mean by functionally unemployed? Well, first off, most obviously it's people who are out of work. But secondly, it's people who are not working full-time, but they want to, right -- involuntarily working part-time. And then the biggest bucket here and perhaps the most controversial one is those people who are working, but they're not earning a living wage, which Ludwig defines as $26,000 a year.

Now, I talked to a few economists, and they were surprised by just how many people fit into that last category. And they noted that some of the wage data can be sliced and diced in different ways and that what really constitutes a living wage depends on where you live, right?

SIDNER: Where you live.

EGAN: It's going to be one number here in Manhattan --

SIDNER: Right.

EGAN: -- another number in South Dakota. Still though, this can help explain why Americans feel so frustrated

about this economy. Why consumer sentiment right now is near all-time lows -- lower than during the 2008 financial crisis. Lower than during 9/11.

Now, this is a big number, 24 percent, but it's actually lower than it was a few years ago. During COVID, it was above 30 percent. And even when the job market was on fire, it never really got below 22 percent. So it's been hovering around this area.

But what really stands out to me is the gender divide because Ludwig says that the functional unemployment rate for men is just under 20 percent. But look at this, it's almost 30 percent for women, and this likely reflects some of the systemic pay inequalities that exist in the labor market. Also, childcare responsibilities for women and the fact that women play a bigger role in some of the lower wage sectors.

But still, bottom line, I do think that this indicator is helpful when we're talking about the overall job market, and it shows that beneath the surface, some people are struggling because either they're out of work or they're not making enough money to get by or both.

SIDNER: Yeah. it explains the frustration, as you said, with the economy the way it is, even though you saw those good numbers before when it comes to unemployment.

Matt Egan, appreciate it. Thank you.

EGAN: Thank you, Sara.

SIDNER: It was really interesting -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: The disgraced founder of Theranos, Elizabeth Holmes, will be able to move to a halfway house next year. That's according to new reporting from ABC News. It comes just four years after Holmes is 11 -- four years into Holmes's 11-year prison sentence for defrauding investors while running a failed blood testing startup.