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Trump's Taxpayer-Funded Ad Warns of Final Battle Ahead of Midterms; One Killed, Four Injured in Powerful Nor'easter That Lashed East Coast; Economists See Inflation Staying Hot Through Mid-2027. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired September 28, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The, quote-unquote, final battle before the midterms. President Trump's new ad targeting Democrats getting him in more hot water, but there's new CNN reporting as well on the aggressive new push coming from the White House to try to turn things around before it's too late.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, the deadly nor'easter finally losing strength and going out after more coastal flooding, lashing coastal communities from Virginia to Massachusetts with flooding and powerful winds. Tens of thousands in the dark this morning. We're tracking that storm.

Plus, it's going to get loud in Texas. Next hour, SpaceX is going to try to launch the most powerful rocket ever built, marking a monumental step forward for the company if all goes according to plan.

John and Sara are out today. I'm Danny Freeman with Kate Bolduan, and this is CNN News Central.

BOLDUAN: President Trump is calling it the final battle, and this morning, CNN has new reporting inside his strategy for the midterms, though his own advisers are acknowledging that they are bracing for impact come November. One tells CNN the best case scenario now, holding the Senate and likely losing the House.

And here's a quote for you, it's obviously going to be effing rough. Yes, welcome to 7:00 A.M. on a Monday. That is the mood behind the scenes. But out front, the White House has launched another ad ahead of Election Day with the president, once again, front and center. And, again, it is paid for by the American taxpayer.

In this one, the president is warning of the, quote, final battle against communists and what he calls the deep state. It ends with the line and disclaimer, paid for by the U.S. government.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: And we will liberate America from these villains once and for all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: That ad played during at least two NFL games on Sunday. It's the third taxpayer-funded ad featuring the president in just the span of a week.

The White House continues to call these ads public service announcements, saying they're educational and unapologetically patriotic. But even some of the president's own party are questioning that and questioning the spending here.

CNN's Alayna Treene is live this morning at the White House for us. And you have new reporting, Alayna, on the final sprint strategy, if you will, from here. What are you picking up?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Kate. Our colleagues Kristin Holmes and I did a lot of reporting, talked to many Trump advisers, people on the president's political operation outside allies and Republican strategists, and what's clear is the mood has greatly soured among the president's closest advisers about what is going to happen in the midterm elections.

You read that quote, but I do want to highlight it again, one of the Trump adviser telling me that it's obviously going to be effing rough, saying that they believe one of the best case scenarios is that Democrats hold onto the Senate -- or excuse me, what Democrats face in 2022, which is when they held onto the Senate but lost the House. That's what they're thinking could potentially be the best case scenario for Republicans just a couple weeks from now on November 3rd when voters go to the polls.

And, look, what we're going to see from the Trump administration is despite a lot of this anxiety that people are internally feeling, they're still planning this aggressive campaign push and having the president on the road multiple times a week between now and November. And, really, that's all about getting at this idea of turnout, trying to juice turnout among his fiercest supporters.

I can tell you from my conversations with the president's advisers there was a strategy that they had in 2024, which was to try and target independent and more moderate-leaning Republicans and conservatives, and try to get them out, and that is what helped Trump win the general election roughly two years ago now. But that's not what they're doing this time.

They recognize that it's going to be very hard to get these kind of more swing voters across the line for Republicans, and so that's why they're so focused on using the president to try and turn out his base, and that's what he means when he tells voters across the country to pretend that he's on the ballot.

The problem with that is they recognize his approval numbers are very low right now, and also a lot of Republicans in these polls showing that they are unhappy with the Iran war. They are anxious and have concerns about high gas prices, and so they have to try and manage this in the weeks ahead.

[07:05:01]

Now, all of this comes, as you mentioned, Kate, that they have this new ad out paid for the U.S. government, one of several ads we've seen like this in recent weeks, really featuring the president front and center. And one thing I just want to point out about that most recent ad that aired yesterday, I actually saw it watching football with my husband this weekend, is that it echoes what Trump said in a 2023 speech.

It's almost identical as well to a 2024 ad that the president had released on the campaign trail, so just a little context for the imagery that they're reverting back to ahead of the midterms this year.

BOLDUAN: Yes, and also then continues the questions of is it a campaign ad or not, if it looks so much like a campaign ad of the recent past.

It's great to see you, Alayna. Great reporting from you and Kristen, as always, I appreciate it. Danny?

FREEMAN: This morning, what's left of that deadly and powerful nor'easter is still dumping rain on parts of the northeast. The storm killed at least one person and injured four others. Now, it lashed the coast, causing massive waves and testing sea walls built to protect homes just south of Boston.

In Atlantic City, where I was over the weekend, water levels surged to the highest point since Super Storm Sandy 14 years ago. At one point, more than 80,000 customers were without power across the northeast. That's since dropped, thankfully, to under 20,000.

The storm also causing a huge travel headache, nearly 600 cancellations yesterday. Already today, 101 flights have been canceled.

Meteorologist Melissa Nord has more.

MELISSA NORD, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Danny, a long-lived early season nor'easter over the weekend, and it's still not done yet. This is video coming in from where Derrick Van Dam was on Sunday in Hull, Massachusetts, the waves crashing along the shore. You can also see some of that foam. That is from how that wave action really generated a lot of energy along with the winds.

And satellite imagery show the center of that storm actually moving onshore the coast of New Jersey. But now we are past the peak intensity. We are past the peak of those wind gusts, which were in excess of 70 miles per hour, and we're seeing the center of circulation now back over the open waters just south of Long Island.

But meanwhile, the counterclockwise winds around that are really pulling in a lot of moisture to Long Island, New York City, in towards Boston this morning, so making for a messy commute in a lot of these locations. Now, a lot of this rain, though, is light. There's some embedded pockets of moderate rain, but it's the longevity of this system that most people are ready to be done with. Peak wind gusts have come down a lot. We had some of the peak wind gusts overnight that were on the order of 30, 35 miles an hour.

This morning, first thing, those wind gusts around 25 miles per hour. Still, a lot of rain to impact the morning commutes. Not seeing as much flight delays yet, but we could see a few of those delays trickle in as the flights get going this morning.

Here's the forecast radar. So you can see we're still dealing with rain this morning in New York, but watch by the end of the day, clearing New York, Philadelphia, Boston, still some heavy rainfall for that morning commute. Then all that moisture lifts up the coast, and we are left with the coast of Maine still getting in on rain first thing on Tuesday morning.

So, still not done with it yet, but past the peak of this nor'easter's intensity. Danny?

FREEMAN: Yes. Thank goodness, past the peak. All right, Melissa Nord, thank you so much for that. Kate?

BOLDUAN: All right. So, next hour, SpaceX and its massive Starship rocket is set to blast into orbit for the first time ever. This would be a monumental step forward for space exploration. The ripple effects could be seismic. We're watching for this launch. Does it happen? And if it does, what happens when it gets in the -- it gets up there?

New details also on the five men arrested on suspicion of terrorism near an air base used by U.S. forces. What investigators are saying now about a possible motive.

And there's new data coming out this morning on inflation, painting a dire picture from top economists. You may not see relief when it comes to higher prices until well into next year. We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:10:00]

BOLDUAN: A new warning now coming from top economists on inflation today. An overwhelming majority of experts surveyed say they now expect inflation to remain hot beyond 2026 and through the middle of next year.

CNN's Matt Egan joins us now with all of this great news, per usual. What are you learning?

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Kate we've been dealing with high inflation for so long. Yes. The last time inflation was what's considered healthy, Joe Biden was just finishing his first full month in the White House, and Tom Brady had just won his first Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Bucs. So, we're talking about early 2021, and it's been five and a half years of high inflation since then. This new survey suggests we're going to have to wait a bit longer, right? Just 5 percent of economists surveyed by the National Association for Business Economics expect inflation will get back to what's -- that 2 percent target by mid-2027, just 5 percent. The vast majority, 95 percent, say it's going to take place after that, and that includes 45 percent who say it's not going to happen until at least the second half of 2028, aka around the time of the next presidential election.

Now, when we look at the trend for inflation again, it's been elevated for a very long time. The dotted line here is what's considered healthy, that 2 percent. You can see it skyrocketed after COVID, 9 percent. It came down, but the 2 percent target really has remained elusive since then.

Now, four years ago, inflation was being driven by the COVID reopening, by excessive stimulus from Washington, and the Russia- Ukraine war.

[07:15:01]

Now, it's a different war, right? The Iran war has caused gasoline, jet fuel, diesel prices to skyrocket. Then you have the president's tariffs on imports and the A.I. boom, right? Companies are spending trillions of dollars right now on data centers, on computer chips, and servers to power the A.I. build-out.

Now, no matter the reason here, economists, they do think that the Fed is too easy right now, that they don't have interest rates high enough. This survey finds that 49 percent say the Fed is too easy. That's the most in over four years for this survey. Only 42 percent say the Fed is about right, and only 8 percent share the president's view, which is that interest rates right now are too high.

Now, all of this explains why the market is expecting the Fed is going to have to continue raising interest rates. You remember earlier this month, they raised rates for the first time in three years. The market thinks there's a 39 percent chance of one more interest rate hike this year, but a 55 percent chance that they're going to end up raising interest rates not just next month, but in the final meeting in December as well, and only a 6 percent chance that the Fed is done for the year.

So, look, bottom line here, I mean, inflation, it has really been one of the dominant issues in this economy and really in politics for years. You think about this midterm election, the 2024 race for the White House, the 2022 midterms. And economists are saying this problem is probably going to be sticking with us for a bit longer.

BOLDUAN: Sticking with us for a bit longer, either, you know -- and what's going to shake it loose, they do not see it coming anytime soon.

It's good to see you.

EGAN: Thank you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Thanks so much.

All right, so the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Boeing has identified a software glitch that could cause critical features on the 737 MAX to fail during landing. What does this mean, and what are they doing about it right now? We've got that coming up.

And panda diplomacy is back. Two giant pandas arrived at the Atlanta Zoo after President Trump's summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. And amid all that cuteness, what does this mean for U.S.-China relations?

And for more stories that you need to get your day going, well, there you have it. My show, 5 Things with Kate Baldwin, is streaming on the CNN app and CNN All Access right now and every morning.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

FREEMAN: There is a new era of panda diplomacy between Beijing and Washington. Two new giant pandas arrived safely in Atlanta just days after President Trump welcomed Xi Jinping to the U.S. for a state visit. Our Ivan Rodriguez joins us now from outside Zoo Atlanta. Ivan, when can we see these two great pandas?

IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Danny, that is the big question on everybody's mind. Those two giant pandas arrived from China after a nearly 15-hour flight. It was a long flight for them, but they're finally here at Zoo Atlanta. People are going to have to wait a little bit though. We'll get into that in just a little.

But after that trip, they arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson. They made that ten-mile trip from the airport here to Zoo Atlanta aboard FedEx trucks, which also had pandas painted on the side of those trucks, same as that FedEx Boeing 777 had as they arrived here to Atlanta as well.

Now, let's get into the pandas themselves. We have two pandas coming in. One male is named Ping Ping. His name means peace. And Fu Shuang is the female. Her name means double blessings. And the two adult pandas are here as part of a new ten-year agreement with China, which is significant because the previous 25-year agreement with the Zoo Atlanta ended back in 2024, which meant those four pandas had to be sent back to China.

Now, this return comes at an interesting point, right, with relationships between the U.S. and China. It's a complicated relationship, but this is part of that panda diplomacy, right? That's something that we've heard now and that's been going on now for decades. Pandas have helped that relationship. It actually started back in 1972 when China sent its first two pandas to the U.S. after President Nixon's historic visit.

Hear what one mom and dad had to say about how excited they are to see those pandas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATY JUSTICE, ATLANTA RESIDENT: I was pretty excited. We have, you know, our baby, so we're excited to take her to the zoo for the first time and get to see the pandas again. So, we saw them when they were here a while ago.

ZACH JUSTICE, ATLANTA RESIDENT: I mean, I think it'll be really cool for her to be able to look back and see pictures of her with the pandas. And I know as a family we're excited any time we get to show our baby new experiences.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RODRIGUEZ: Now, if you're hoping to see Ping and Fu Shuang, you're going to have to wait. Zoo officials say that they're going to be in quarantine for about a month, and there's still no official date as to when they'll be able to come out to the zoo and the public will be able to enjoy them. Danny?

FREEMAN: All right, Ivan. So, I have a little bit of time before I have to book my ticket down to Atlanta. That sounds good. Thank you for that reporting. I appreciate it.

All right, we're following a developing story out of the U.K. this morning. Authorities revealing they've arrested suspected terrorists, claiming they were found with explosives near a military base.

Plus, the holy grail of rocketry, SpaceX is set to launch the world's most powerful rocket. In just a few minutes. We're going to tell you why this mission is so important.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:00]

FREEMAN: Just minutes from now, the launch window will open as SpaceX attempts a critical test flight that could be a huge step forward for the company and space exploration. SpaceX is trying to put the most powerful rocket ever made into Earth's orbit for the first time, and deploy a new generation of Starlink internet satellites.

Joining us now is CNN Aerospace Analyst Miles O'Brien. Miles, good to see you this morning.

So, let's start here. They're calling this the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built. Can you put that into perspective? Just how big are we talking here?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AEROSPACE ANALYST: Well, size does matter, Danny. I think we can all agree on that. But the thing that is really key here is it's big and the goal is reusability.

[07:30:04]

This has been the holy grail of rocketry since the beginning. You look at the big.