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Interview with Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL): Ex-Special Counsel Jack Smith to Testify on Trump Prosecution; Iran's Hormuz Chokehold Weakens as Mideast Oil Exports Rebound; Lindsay Clancy Back in Court for First Time Since Mistrial; New Ban Impacts $80 Million Worth of Canadian Alcoholic Beverages. Aired 8:00-8:30a ET

Aired September 29, 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]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: This is just really good luck. Some of those skydivers are trained EMTs, and they help the four people on board the crash plane until emergency crews could get there. Three were taken to the hospital.

It's unclear at this point what caused that plane to go down, but there is an investigation now underway.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

All right, top of the eight o'clock, we are standing by for a hearing on Capitol Hill that could get real testing. Former special counsel Jack Smith, who indicted Donald Trump twice, is set to testify before a Senate committee where Republicans have been relenting, unrelenting in their attacks on Smith.

Also, very soon, Lindsey Clancy will be back in a Massachusetts courtroom. Will prosecutors reveal if they plan to try her again for her children's deaths, or will the defense convince a judge to dismiss the case entirely?

And opening weekend goes wrong. A new rollercoaster gets stuck at the top, 19 riders strapped in, trapped, and hanging on for dear life. How this all ended.

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

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: I will not be silenced. That is the declaration that we were expecting to hear today from former special counsel Jack Smith. Very soon, he is going to be sitting before the Senate Judiciary Committee for a public hearing a long time coming.

Fireworks expected. This is all about the investigations Smith spearheaded that led to two cases against Donald Trump, one over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and another over Trump's handling of the classified documents -- his handling of classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago.

Both cases were dismissed before trial. In his prepared opening statement, Smith says that he continues to stand by his decision to prosecute the president, says that the charges were, quote, "the result of the evidence," and warns that Trump's attacks are weakening the justice system. The president denies wrongdoing.

But the focus for Republicans today, not those charges really at all. It's more to do with how, how Smith went about his investigation. The title of the hearing says it all, oversight of Jack Smith's abuse of authority and the targeting of Republicans and related matters.

Smith gets to have his say, but there are some limits to what he's allowed to say. A judge's order bars him from discussing the second volume of his report on the documents case -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And with us now is Senator Dick Durbin from Illinois. He is the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee. You will be part of that questioning, Senator.

And this hearing and having Jack Smith before your committee was very important to you. You've been pushing for this for a while. Why is it so important to you?

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL), RANKING MEMBER, JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Because the Republicans in the White House and in Congress have been beating on Jack Smith like a cheap pinata for a year. And for a year, he has said, I will appear before your committee under oath and answer all questions. A year ago, the Democrats on the committee said to the Republican majority, stop making these speeches and call this witness before us.

And they refused until this morning.

BERMAN: One of the things that Republicans have attacked Smith for is the collection of and the analysis of phone records, phone data from some members of Congress. To what extent do you feel like you need more explanation from Jack Smith on this?

DURBIN: Trust me, that'll be one of the first questions asked. And it turns out that the information that led to the disclosure that members of Congress were in direct contact with the president came from the White House. Jack Smith did what he was supposed to do, gathering the evidence.

These were phone calls made by President Trump during the January 6th assault on the United States Capitol with members of Congress to try to get them to buy into the big lie. It was relevant and it was not a wiretap. They're not going to the substance of any conversation, as I understand it, but simply the fact that the president spoke to these members of Congress.

BERMAN: Is there any way or what way do you think you can get information, be it from Jack Smith or others, on the Mar-a-Lago investigation, the documents and the records that he kept at Mar-a- Lago? Because as you know, the judge overseeing that case has basically sealed that information and to this date, Smith really hasn't been able to answer questions.

[08:05:00]

DURBIN: And of course that judge has been partial to the White House in the judge's rulings. But having said that, the second half of this investigation by Jack Smith is being held up by court order, not by his decision. So I hope that we can get to the second volume of this at some future date.

BERMAN: So Senator, both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal today are reporting on oil that is moving through the Strait of Hormuz. They use sort of the same analysis that 10 million barrels of oil moving through each day through the Strait of Hormuz. The Journal's lead line was, "Iran's ability to choke off oil flowing through the Strait and use it as leverage in talks with the U.S. is breaking down." If that's the case, if more oil is flowing through, about 80 percent of the pre-war levels, to what extent does that show that the administration's strategy with Iran is working?

DURBIN: Well I can tell you that the hardship that's being visited on families and businesses in the United States is very real. They are paying much higher prices for gasoline and farmers, for example, in the state of Illinois, are facing diesel costs that are dramatically higher than ever in history. So to say that we are getting relief from the current situation is an overstatement.

I hope this comes to an end soon. This war was a big mistake. The President did not take the case for this war to the American people or to Congress.

He certainly didn't follow the Constitution, Article 1, Section 8, that said Congress has the authority to declare war. We're in the eighth month of the first year of this endless war and it should end soon, as soon as possible, to reduce the hardship that's being felt by families and businesses across America.

BERMAN: Do you think the fact if more oil is moving out of the Strait, if Iran doesn't have the capability anymore to stop it, and that's an if, do you think that might force their hand to bring this to an end more quickly?

DURBIN: There's much more to the story. The retaliation of Iran to our attack on their country destroyed the infrastructure, oil production infrastructure across the Middle East. It's going to take some time for these prices to come back down to a reasonable level.

In the meantime, American families and businesses are paying a heavy price. The President has said, suck it up, we've got a war to fight. The American people aren't buying it.

They understand this hardship is created by the President for his own purposes.

BERMAN: Senator, as you well know, it is a campaign season. You yourself are not running, and I'm sure you miss all the campaign ads that you and others had to pay for, for and against each other. There is an ad running across the country right now that at least nominally isn't a quote unquote campaign ad. It's an ad being paid for, apparently, by the U.S. government. Donald Trump on the screen here, we're just showing people what this ad says. These ads, which feel perhaps like campaign ads and promote the President himself but paid for by the U.S. government. What concerns do you have on this, and is there any role Congress should play?

DURBIN: This is a flat-out outrage to think that the taxpayers of America are paying for this fluff ad of President Trump looking heroic is nothing short of an abuse of the law and of the custom of this country. If we're going to allow incumbent Presidents to use the money of taxpayers for political purposes like this ad, God forbid what's next. This President doesn't believe any law applies to him, and this one that has been rather sacred over the years is being abused by him at a blatant display of his personality.

BERMAN: Anything you can do about it?

DURBIN: I wish. I hope it's challenged in court. I think it's the only place to go.

Trust me. The Republicans in Congress know it's terrible, a violation of precedent and law, and yet they won't even make a peep. The silence of the lambs.

BERMAN: Senator Dick Durbin from Illinois. We'll be watching the Judiciary Committee hearing. You'll be part of it in a little less than an hour.

Thanks so much for being with us -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Thank you so much, John. We are standing by for Lindsay Clancy to head back to court next hour for the first time since her mistrial in the murders of her three young children.

This hearing could help determine if she will be tried again or will avoid a second trial.

Plus, a ban on Canadian booze is officially in effect, but how quickly could you see products disappear from shelves?

And a deputy dives into the water to rescue an elderly man who fell out of his wheelchair. How they're both doing this morning. Those stories and more ahead.

[08:10:00]

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SIDNER: Next hour, Lindsay Clancy will return to a Massachusetts courtroom where she could learn whether she will be tried again for the killing of her three children after her case ended in a mistrial earlier this month. Clancy's attorney argued she should not be held criminally responsible because she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and had sought help for months. He's filed multiple motions in court, hoping to avoid a second trial. Among those motions is a push to question the lone holdout juror who said Clancy should be found guilty. CNN's Jean Casarez is joining us now from outside of the courthouse today. What are you expecting to hear in court today?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think the lead is going to be from the defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, definitely.

[08:15:00]

Sara, I want to show you there is a line of people waiting to get into that courthouse this morning. It doesn't open until 8:30, but people are here. They want to witness this for themselves today.

This is a status conference. What is the status of this active criminal case? Well, the defense is saying they wanted to conclude on three different levels.

Number one, they're asking for out and out motion to dismiss to be granted. Why? Because they say the judge should not have declared a mistrial.

There was not this last resort manifests necessity because of that lone holdout juror. The jury foreperson had sent several notes saying that they appreciated doubt, believed there was doubt, but would not apply it to the verdict as it is required by law.

Prosecution obviously refutes that completely, but the judge did question the jurors if they could follow the law, but they wanted that juror called in individually, questioned in court, didn't happen. So they're asking for the whole case to be dismissed on double jeopardy grounds, constitutional.

Number two, lack of sufficiency of the evidence. They're saying that there is no way that anyone could find beyond a reasonable doubt that Lindsay Clancy knew right from wrong because all of the expert witnesses in the trial -- prosecution too -- believe she had mental disease or defect. They believe different theories on that, but because of that, it's reasonable doubt, case should be dismissed.

And third is that lone holdout jurors name is Michael Desronvil. They are saying the defense, number one, they want to have their -- his confidential jury questionnaire. They want a neutral person appointed by the court to take his personal cell phone to look at it, to see what he was texting and doing during the time of deliberations.

They want the surveillance video from outside that deliberation room preserved so they can see what he is doing. And they want him brought into open court to answer a few questions. Number one, did you lie on your questionnaire?

Number two, did you follow the law? Did you believe there was reasonable doubt? And number three, what else do we need to know from you?

Now, of course, he has come out in a statement yesterday, a videotape statement for the first time we saw him saying that the focus needs to be on the three young children that lost their lives, Cora, Dawson and Callan, and not focused on him.

SIDNER: There is so much going on in this case, and ultimately the judge will make the determination as to what happens next. Jean Casarez, thank you so much. And I understand that you can join Jean for a CNN All Access special this morning on CNN.com/watch -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: A top AI maker now pumping the brakes, open AI slowing down its rollout of a new model, why it says it is scrapping the release of this latest model.

Plus, the Trump administration wants schools in America to cook more meals from scratch. Why school districts are now saying that they are struggling to keep up with this school menu overhaul.

[08:20:00]

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BOLDUAN: So while you were sleeping, President Trump's ban on hundreds of millions of dollars in Canadian alcohol kicked in. It is the latest move in the president's trade war with Canada, but hours before this ban took effect, the president even told reporters that he expects Canada to come to the United States with a deal soon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, they want to have a deal with us. They call us all the time. The problem is that they've treated the United States very unfairly.

They have been one of the worst countries in the entire world. You know, we get along with China, we get along with the people and we make good deals. But Canada has been really very difficult to deal with, actually.

And they've charged our farmers 400 percent tariffs and more. And they take advantage of us. They feel entitled.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Ban now in effect, CNN's as Matt Egan is here with more on it. What's the impact of it?

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, look, the trade war, it's clearly intensifying. It's broadening out beyond tariffs. Yes, the Trump administration banning Canadian imported wine, beer and spirits overnight.

Now, trading bans are not entirely new. In the past, U.S. officials have done this against countries like Iran, Russia and other adversaries. What's unprecedented here, of course, is that Canada --

BOLDUAN: Canada is not on that list. EGAN: No, it's a major U.S. ally, major trading partner. And yet experts say that consumers may not immediately notice a major difference. That's because companies have a time to try to beat the clock here.

Rush in imports before the ban took effect. And there's also some key carve outs here and exemptions. For example, if Canada is shipping over large quantities of whiskey, if they're in a container above four liters, they are not banned.

And some companies like Crown Royal, they already do that. They already ship large containers to the U.S. and then distribute it. So, however, the longer this goes on, the more that we might actually see a significant impact here.

And just to remind people how we got here, this really goes back to the beginning of the president's second term, right? Early last year, the president slapped tariffs on Canadian imports.

Canadian provinces, they retaliated by banning U.S. alcohol. Then just last month, the U.S. imposed these 50 percent tariffs. Canada retaliated.

And now the president has ordered this ban on certain imports from Canada.

BOLDUAN: It's like a ban in name only, though, if you've got these carve outs like you just described?

EGAN: There are a lot of carve outs.

[08:25:00]

We're going to have to wait and see how this actually plays out, because there's no precedent here, right? We don't really know exactly what's going to happen. And we've already seen a significant impact.

So because Canada banned certain U.S. alcohol brands in some of their provinces, U.S. spirit exports to Canada down 70 percent. I talked to some executives in the industry. They told me that they're really frustrated that they're caught in the middle here. They said they want to compete on taste, not tariffs.

And so, Kate, look, now we wait and see what the next shoe is to drop in this trade war and what it's going to take, if anything, to end it.

BOLDUAN: Yes. And you've got -- yes, I mean, this is this is what all is included.

EGAN: Exactly. Not just alcohol, non-alcoholic beer, whey protein and motorcycles all being banned by the Trump administration from Canada.

BOLDUAN: All right, Matt. Thank you so very much -- John.

BERMAN: All right, new CNN reporting on how some migrant children as young as two are being asked to show up in court alone and make their case to avoid deportation.

And riders forced to climb down from the top of a roller coaster. Look at that. Your hair is not supposed to be dangling over like that on the top of the roller coaster when you're stuck mid ride.

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