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Xi Leaves White House After Holding Talks with Trump; Trump Hails "Great Friendship" with Xi as High-Stakes Summit Begins; Trump Hosts China's Xi for Summit in Washington; Two of Jeffrey Epstein's Closest Advisers Reportedly Under Federal Investigation; CNN Allowed Entry to White House for First Time in Five Days; WH Press TV Pool Still Down Amid Uncertainty of CNN's Pool Status; U.S. Mortgage Rates Top 7 Percent, Dealing Blow to Housing Market 3-3:30p ET

Aired September 24, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: ... eastern islands bringing life-threatening flooding and mudslides. The Big Island will see the worst of Nolo's impacts late Friday through Saturday. This is going to be the state's third brush with a hurricane in less than two months.

And Starbucks announced they are soon going to close about 250 stores. The company says the affected locations didn't deliver the expected experience for customers and partners or were simply not financially viable. Right now it's not clear which locations are shutting down. Customers though may be seeing closing signs at cafes by this weekend.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Superpower Summit: President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping hold a critical meeting to discuss artificial intelligence, trade and the Iran war among other pressing challenges and we are following the latest.

And Homebuyer Blues: Mortgage rates hit a number that we haven't seen since President Trump's inauguration. It's just the latest roadblock for anyone looking to buy or sell a home.

And Meta's Big Bet: The company unveils a slew of devices with A.I., but those new gadgets are leading to privacy concerns.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

The breaking news this hour. President Trump and China's Xi Jinping wrapping up bilateral talks at the White House. The leaders of these two superpowers engaging in face-to-face discussions for the second time this year amid challenges with the global economy, the war with Iran and emerging risks of A.I. They're both expected to attend a state dinner later tonight. So, let's go to CNN's Kristen Holmes who is standing by at the White House on this big day.

Kristen, any indication of how these talks went?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, right now we don't have any indication. President Trump was seen showing President Xi around the White House grounds showing off some of the construction that he's been doing at the White House, but he waved off any kind of questions about what the two talked about, whether or not they talked about Taiwan, if they talked about artificial intelligence for example.

And I will tell you I spoke to a number of experts who say that they don't expect any major breakthroughs, particularly in those issues of contention between these two countries. Again, the fate of Taiwan being one of them as well as artificial intelligence, the race there, this kind of shaky trade war truce that they have now extended one more year without any kind of change so far that we've understood. As well as China's support for Russia and the war against Ukraine and their relationship with Iran.

President Trump has really downplayed those last two items multiple times ahead of this visit. He seems to really want to focus on kind of the pump and circumstance of this visit. Now, the two leaders did stand side-by-side on the South Lawn for kind of a lavish entrance, which of course we did not have pool cameras there for.

But during this, President Trump focused on their relationship saying that they were truly great friends. Whereas President Xi really focused more on geopolitics saying that the interests of the two countries were intertwined.

Now, we do have one report from Chinese state media that says that President Xi and the Chinese delegation told the United States that they hope the U.S. will oppose Taiwan independence. We have not verified those claims. I will note of course that Chinese state media was on the ground during this while the United States press pool was not.

KEILAR: Yes, very important to note. Kristen Holmes, thank you so much. Boris?

SANCHEZ: For more on this important summit, let's get some perspective from Ian Bremmer. He's the President and founder of Eurasia Group and GZERO Media.

Ian, thanks so much for being with us.

There were concerns before this summit began among Republican senators that Xi should not be getting such a warm reception, such a -- a lavish welcome to the United States. What do you think Trump is trying to accomplish with this kind of reception?

IAN BREMMER, PRESIDENT & FOUNDER, EURASIA GROUP & GZERO MEDIA: Well, especially because it's not reciprocal. That wasn't the way that President Trump was received when he went to Beijing just a few months ago. So, it does make the United States look a -- a little bit more like a supplicant or certainly a -- like they fear that they have more to lose.

Trump wants this meeting to go well. It's very important for him that the outcome is stability, that the -- the Chinese don't come back and start squeezing the Americans on critical minerals and rare earths that U.S. factories need to actually keep the lights on, to keep production going.

[15:05:00]

He wants the Chinese to buy more soybeans from American farmers, mostly in red states, because that matters to the well-being of a constituency that is important to Trump, is important to Republicans.

But -- but these things are short-term, Boris. Whether it was last year, the focus on ensuring that TikTok ends up under control of people that are politically aligned with Trump, or whether it's by getting a couple of months extension on the existing trade and tariff agreements ...

SANCHEZ: Sure.

BREMMER: ... or whether it's getting the Chinese to write checks. That's very different from the kinds of things that Xi Jinping is looking for. For example, on Taiwanese independence being a hard red line for the Americans, or on the Chinese ending up with a lot more in an A.I. war that they really want to win.

And, you know, if the Americans are thinking short-term and the Chinese are thinking long-term, it's a lot easier to have a successful meeting. Everyone can get what they want, at least today.

SANCHEZ: Yes, that -- that is a good point. Xi, of course, doesn't face the same accountability as officials in the United States do, though he does have his own domestic headaches, right? He -- the Chinese economy is relatively stagnant. The real estate market is suffering. There's high youth unemployment. I wonder, especially given the view in Beijing that the U.S. intends to hold China back. I wonder what he returns home with following this meeting with Trump, who clearly has made the Chinese leader seem more credible on the world stage.

BREMMER: Look, I -- I think that the Chinese leader is himself doing a good job of looking more credible on the global stage. There's been a lot of symmetry that the Chinese have been engaged in. He has welcomed world leaders from across the global South to China. He was just at the BRICS summit, and with all these bilaterals with top leaders, including a -- a more friendly engagement with a more stable relationship with India's Narendra Modi.

And, of course, the fact that he's the closest major leader to Vladimir Putin, who Trump is now inviting to the G20 here in the United States, that -- that all redounds to Xi Jinping's benefit.

But you are correct, Boris, you and I wouldn't want to be in Xi Jinping's shoes economically. The -- the only part of China's economy that's really on fire right now is their subsidized cheap export manufactured goods that are -- that look like dumping. If you're Southeast Asia, if you're Europe, if you're other countries around the world, it's causing backlash.

So, China's doing much better politically, including with the President of the United States in some ways, surprisingly, but he's facing significant challenges at home.

The reason why Trump doesn't seem to care about leaning into that is because Xi Jinping showed that he was willing, despite all of that, to take very significant economic pain when he was hit by Trump. And -- and Trump thought he was going to capitulate with tariffs that were so high, they were an effective boycott. It was the Americans that ultimately blinked.

It was President Trump that could throw a punch, but ultimately had the glass jaw. And -- and Xi Jinping may be in a tougher economic position, but politically, he has proved to the Americans that he's prepared to stand up to that pain.

You know, you've got elections in the United States in just a few weeks. Right now, it looks like the Republicans are going to lose the House and Senate on the back of the economy that's doing really poorly for many Americans.

SANCHEZ: Yes, I -- I want to go back to one of the first points that you made because there's data to back it up, and -- and that is the diplomacy that China is engaged in, especially when it comes to the global south. According to a research poll from July from Pew, China's now seen more positively than the U.S. in the 36 countries surveyed. Xi even edged out Trump in winning people's confidence. What does it tell you that U.S. influence appears to be diminishing at a time that China is -- is ascending?

BREMMER: Well, first, those numbers bounce around a lot. If you looked at them in the Biden administration, they were more favorable for the United States and a lot of those countries. And, you know, after a Trump administration, one assumes Republican or -- or Democrat, as long as there was less unpredictability, less feeling that the U.S. doesn't care about its allies, you would expect those numbers to bounce. That's number one.

Number two, the global south. China is the dominant economic trade partner with almost every one of those countries. So, those are countries and governments that feel like they need to engage with the Chinese more, and they're getting more from the Chinese. You go across Africa, a lot of countries, the U.S. is putting more into the DRC, the Democratic Republic of Congo, for critical minerals.

[15:10:05]

But the reality is the Chinese have been putting billions and billions of dollars into those countries for decades now, that actually plays.

But also, finally, you -- you were looking at the global south. If you look at advanced industrial democracies, which are the core allies of the United States: Canada, Europe, Japan, the U.K., South Korea, Australia. These are countries where the numbers have gone down, certainly, for their trust and their support for the United States. But their -- their trust levels for China are still abysmal. And if you force them to choose, even though they're not comfortable with President Trump, that isn't making them suddenly abrase (ph) -- embrace a country that is run by a communist party with no rule of law, with no independent judiciary, and with no transparency into how decisions are actually made.

Plus, at least in the United States, you know there's an election in 2028. You're getting someone else. You certainly don't know that about China.

SANCHEZ: Important context to keep in mind. Ian Bremmer, thank you so much.

BREMMER: Good to see you, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Still to come, journalists from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico allowed back inside the White House after a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to temporarily reinstate access. So, where does this legal fight go now?

Plus, a new blow to Americans trying to buy a home. Mortgage rates climbing for a fifth straight week, hitting an ugly benchmark.

And later, the newest testimony in the Caleb Flynn murder trial. What he promised his mistress just one day before his wife was killed.

That and much more, coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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[15:15:48]

SANCHEZ: This just in to CNN. Two of Jeffrey Epstein's closest advisers are reportedly under federal investigation. This marks a major development for the hundreds of survivors and victims who have pushed for accountability and for those who may have aided the notorious sex offender.

KEILAR: Yes, CNN's MJ Lee has this new reporting. All right. Who are the individuals that the investigators are looking at?

MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL ENTERPRISE CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is potentially a major development in the Jeffrey Epstein saga that federal investigators are reportedly investigating two of Jeffrey Epstein's closest advisors. They are Darren Indykee, who was his longtime lawyer, and Richard Kahn, his longtime accountant.

This is news that was first reported by The Wall Street Journal this week, and we spoke with a source who was interviewed by investigators earlier this year, and our understanding in speaking to our source is that they are currently interviewing potential witnesses, including Epstein's survivors.

They are soliciting documentation, like emails and checks, from the people that they are interviewing, and that they are interested in basically a range of issues that these two men, Indyke and Kahn, would have had familiarity with. So, including the many shell companies that Epstein had set up, including the Florida Science Foundation, which, as you guys know, was this bogus nonprofit that Epstein had set up right around the time that he pled guilty, and where survivors have told us, he continued abusing us using that office while he was serving jail time.

Now, SDNY is not commenting. This is the Southern District of New York. We reached out to Indyke and Kahn's lawyers. Meanwhile, a DOJ spokesperson tells us this. They said, "We don't comment on the existence or lack thereof, of investigations. We have always said, with regard to Epstein, that if the evidence presents itself, we will investigate."

Just in the big picture, a couple of reasons that this is potentially, again, a really big deal. Indyke and Kahn's proximity to Epstein first comes to mind. I mean, these were, again, people who worked for Epstein for many, many years, would have been intimately familiar with the ins and outs of Epstein's business dealings, and some survivors have said, just straight up said, they enabled Epstein's criminal conduct.

The other thing is that this is obviously a big deal for the many hundreds of survivors who have been pushing for, as you said, Boris, accountability. They have wanted more transparency, more prosecutions, more investigations. And for so many of them, they've said all along, it is a no-brainer to look into Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn. You have to do a better job of looking into what they potentially knew, particularly given that when they sort of look back at the history of the Epstein saga, Ghislaine Maxwell is the only person up to now who has been prosecuted in the U.S. for anything related to Epstein.

I should importantly note that both men have previously told Congress, they knew nothing about Epstein's criminal conduct.

KEILAR: Yes, but lots of questions about how they could not know, right? And that's one of the things we hear from lawyers of victims.

LEE: That's right. They have always said, look, the people who were in Epstein's inner circle, not to mention his social circle, these are all people who should really be asked a lot of questions about what exactly they knew, and it's exactly what you said. How could they have not known is a sentiment that a lot of survivors feel.

KEILAR: MJ, thanks so much for the reporting. Really appreciate it.

Today, a win for the media in President Trump's battle against the press. CNN, MS NOW, and Politico have regained their access to the White House after a Trump-appointed judge ordered the administration to restore it. This order is in effect for two weeks as the outlets' lawsuit over the restrictions moves forward.

SANCHEZ: But before the White House followed the judge's ruling, it did not. This morning, on-site security turned away multiple journalists from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico, despite the judge issuing his decision hours before. A source says that White House staffers tried to get clarity on the court order from senior officials, but initially got no answers.

Let's talk about this with CNN Chief Media Analyst Brian Stelter.

Brian, the ban on the press is temporarily suspended, but this isn't decided yet.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: No, I wish I could say this was all over, it's all resolved now, because these three bad news outlets do not want to be the story.

[15:19:59]

But there will be more to come on this in the next couple of weeks, because as you all both just said, there is that temporary nature of the restraining order. This will only apply for 14 days, and already the judge in the case, Judge Kelly, has signaled that he will -- he will expect motions on the next stage of this court battle, known as the preliminary injunction. Those briefs will be due in the next few days. There will be a timeline set up for that -- that proceeding.

Now, the President and the administration, Justice Department, could decide to drop this, could decide to go ahead and give up and -- and move on to some other fight. We know the President has a tendency to do that. He'll move on sometimes to some new fight. We don't know in this case if he'll do that, or if he'll want to continue to come up with new ways to enforce some type of ban.

Yesterday, Ted Boutrous, the attorney for the news outlets, he predicted there would be further shenanigans, that's the word he used, further attempts by the administration to try to inflict pain over the Pentagon. That's what Pete Hegseth did. He came up with a different kind of policy to push journalists out of the Pentagon, and there are no longer journalists working in the Pentagon complex.

I'm hoping that's not going to happen in this case, but we don't know yet. More concretely and more urgently, there's also a big unknown about the TV press pool. That's why we're still not seeing many images of President Trump and the Chinese leader at the White House today.

The pool is still in limbo, still in a holding pattern. That's because the five major networks that make up the pool, they're still waiting on confirmation from the White House that CNN will be allowed to fulfill its pool duties in the future.

At the moment, the pool doesn't have that reassurance, so it has not filmed any of Trump and Xi's events so far today, still in a holding pattern when it comes to normal TV coverage of the President.

KEILAR: All right, Brian Stelter, thank you.

And coming up, it's getting even harder to get into the housing market. Mortgage rates climbing to their highest level during either of President Trump's terms. We'll have that next.

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[15:26:17]

KEILAR: Buying a home just got even more expensive. Mortgage rates have now topped 7 percent, sitting at 7.03 percent for a 30-year fixed rate. It is the fifth straight week of rising mortgage rates, making it even harder to realize that American dream of owning a home. We're joined now by personal finance expert and co-host of The Ramsey Show, George Kamel.

George, great to have you here to talk about this. Just put this into perspective for us. Just how high are these rates?

GEORGE KAMEL, CO-HOST OF THE RAMSEY SHOW: Well, when you look at a 7 percent mortgage rate compared to a 3 percent mortgage rate on a $400,000 loan, that could be the difference of $975 a month in your payment. So, this is a big blow to people who are hanging on to that low interest mortgage rate. It's kind of golden handcuffs. They might want to move. This wasn't their forever home, but they're feeling stuck because they can't afford that extra thousand bucks a month.

KEILAR: Yes. For comparison, only seven months ago, the average rate dipped below 6 percent. So, the difference there, obviously a little bit -- not quite the same amount as what you said there, but even that can make the difference for people, right?

KAMEL: Absolutely. I mean, going from a 6 percent to 6.25 percent, that's about 65 bucks a month. So, the bigger the spread, the bigger that payment is going to get. And it's causing a lot of people to stay on the sidelines on the housing market, even though there's so much inventory out there. There's 58 percent more sellers than buyers right now. But it's still not moving the needle too much because buyers are still going, hey, the home prices are high. The rates are high. I still can't afford that monthly payment.

KEILAR: Yes, we're seeing the signs stay in the yards in a way that we didn't before. A lot of times I would see that houses had sold in my neighborhood and I didn't know until after the fact they went so quickly and that's not the case anymore.

George, talk to us about the bond market, because it has a lot to do with this. It's not something that the average person usually has to pay attention to. But this morning, the 10-year Treasury yield rose to the highest level since 2007. Explain how this works and what this means.

KAMEL: Absolutely. So, the thing to note is that bond prices have an opposite relationship with bond yields. And so, as these investors are getting spooked with high energy prices, high oil, inflation is going to stay hot. The investors are going, hey, the Fed is probably going to have another rate hike. So, therefore, I'm going to sell off my bonds. It's less attractive now when I can go make more in the mortgage market.

So, what happens is the mortgage market now has to compete. And so, the mortgages are now more expensive to keep up with those higher yields in the bond market. And therefore, when it costs Uncle Sam more to borrow money, we're going to see that across the board. And that's affecting everything, including variable rate debt, like your credit cards, HELOCs, even adjustable rate mortgages. Those are all immediately affected, whereas the mortgage prices, those were baked in because the investors saw this Fed rate hike come in a long time ago.

KEILAR: How connected are high energy prices, in part from the Iran war and higher mortgage rates?

KAMEL: Well, when you think about oil, it's not just about your gas tank. This affects everything. Everything in production, trucking, shipping, logistics, airplanes, food. And so, what that's doing is keeping inflation hot. And so, what the Fed is doing is saying, hey, we might have to have another rate hike to basically curb all the borrowing that's happening to cool inflation.

And so, you're having a lot of things happening at once. And it's causing sort of a standstill, not just in the housing market, but everywhere else.

KEILAR: When do you see this changing, George, and starting to get a little better for Americans?

KAMEL: I wish I had a crystal ball and a magic wand. I could tell you, hey, the rates are going to go down three months from now. But the truth is, nobody knows. And so, what I do is control what I can control. I control my household spending, my budget, my ability to avoid debt or aggressively pay off debt if you have it. That's the things you can control.

[15:30:06]

So, I have an app called EveryDollar. I do my budget every month to make sure that we've got enough to ...